Nick Cupolo Captures Sportsman Headliner at Humberstone
By Dave Sully
(Pt. Colborne, Ontario) Nick Cupolo executed a dazzling run to the front from 13th to win his first 25 lap Sportsman Feature at Humberstone Speedway on Sunday, August 15th. Cupolo took the lead from rookie Gerry Lindberg on lap 13 and then won going away.
Lindberg, with his best run of the season, took the early lead after an aborted start and then a multi car scrum on lap one. He held the lead through three restarts, while Cupolo was turning heads as he flew around the outside.
Lying fourth on a lap 11 restart, Cupolo quickly moved to third and then dusted off both Cody McPherson and Lindberg on lap 13 to claim the point. The race went caution free the rest of the way. Greg Panunte came from 15th to finish second, followed by McPherson, Brad Rouse, who went off 11th, and Lindberg to round out the top five.
Of his strong performance, Cupolo commented, “We struggled in the beginning a little bit on the bottom. We didn’t have the right gear for the bottom. We went too low. But it’s fast on top always with this car. That’s what we had it set up for.” The car had a new number and color scheme. Cupolo explained, “After that flip (a recent nasty wreck that destroyed his car), I wanted to get rid of all that bad luck.” It seemed to have worked so far.
In other action, Jason Fontaine took the lead on lap six and then outlasted a fast closing Kevin Knapp to win the 20 lap Street Stock Feature. Steve Vandersandon won his first ever 4 Cylinder Truck Feature, while twin 15 lap Mini Stock Features, a part of the Joe Cosco Memorial Series, where the second race is fully inverted and the winner is decided by the best finishes in both, went to Rocco Conte and Baden Curtis. For Curtis, it was his first victory after twenty years of trying, a true story of perseverance. Rocco Conte ended up with the win in the combined format. Finally, Dave Larocque drove to his third win in the Pure Stock event.
Results:
SPORTSMAN: (25 laps) Nick Cupolo, Greg Panunte, Cody McPherson, Brad Rouse, Gerry Lindberg, Mark Dixon, Rick Bellante, Adam Leslie, Kevin Sharpe, BJ Willard, Dave Dykstra, Ryan Susice, Greg Rauscher, Luke Carleton, Rob Murray, Aaron Vasas, Doug Banner, Rick St. Pierre, Bill Gill, Gordon Hermanson, Jeff Armstrong, and Darrell Farraway. Heat winners were Lindberg, Sharpe, and Bellante.
STREET STOCKS: (20 laps) Jason Fontaine, Kevin Knapp, Dave Small, Bill Bleich, Brian Schmidt, Kevin Aube, Tyler Anderson, Barry Beck, Adam Nicholls, Mark Fawcett, Mark Dayman, Rob Disher, Jordan Fidler, Kevin Kocarik, and Ed McNamara. Heat winners were Aube and Fontaine.
PRO TRUCKS: (20 laps) Steve Vandersandon, Rick Book, Andy Imbeault, Cameron Kocarik, Mike Touvey, Danny Wurster, Rob Sauter, Bill Beales, Adam Williams, Kevin Conley, Bob McNamara, Hillary Haegens, and Greg Haegens. Heat winners were Wurster and Vandersandon.
MINI STOCKS #1: (15 laps) Rocco Conte, Rob Goulding, Garnet Wilson, Aaron Wiley, Kyle Pelrine, Brandon Iuduciani, Chris Laskey, Mike Taylor, Austin Wood, Greg Wilson, Sam Rodgers, Dylon Sliter, Jeff Hill, Ryan Spoar, Brittany Myers, Baden Curtis, Dave Bailey, Kevin Clow, and Evan Curtis. Heat winners were Iuduciani and Garnet Wilson.
MINI STOCKS #2: (15 laps) (Field Inverted) Baden Curtis, Rob Goulding, Rocco Conte, Ryan Spoar, Evan Curtis, Kyle Pelrine, Aaron Wiley, Brandon Iuduciani, Austin Wood, Chris Laskey, Mike Taylor, Garnet Wilson, Jeff Hill, Sam Rodgers, Dylon Sliter, Kevin Clow, Greg Wilson, Dave Bailey, and Brittany Myers.
PURE STOCKS: (15 laps) Dave Larocque, Mike Green, Jason Coutu, Marcel Michaud, Jackie Giancola, John Vineski, Sam Iftody, Rick Moreash, Sammi Pierce, Terry Wilson, Brad Booker, Terry Ronning, and Tyler Lafantaisie. Heat winners were Wilson and Moreash.
