MILLER SCORES SECOND OF USAC EAST COAST SEASON AT LINCOLN
By: Nick Fillman – USAC East Coast Sprint Cars
Abbottstown, Pennsylvania (August 5, 2023)………Kenny Miller lll of Morgantown, Pa. was able to score his second Rapid Tire Services, USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series, Presented by Capitol Renegade victory on Saturday night at the Lincoln Speedway. Miller was the victor in a hotly contested future event over a persistent Steven Drevicki, and a fast-closing Briggs Danner.
Kenny Miller lll and Preston Lattomus led an all 23 front row for the 25-lap feature event at the Lincoln Speedway, with Miller getting the best of Lattomus on the initial start. Carmen Perigo quickly moved his way to the outside of the speedway and was able to move around Lattomus for the runner up spot, with Steven Drevicki rolling the bottom to perfection and moving inside the top five early on.
Miller was up front and running on the bottom side of the speedway, as Carmen Perigo was utilizing a very high entry into the corners, before cutting down the banking to the bottom side and staying right with Miller for the race lead as the field completed the open pair of laps. Drevicki continued to close in on Lattomus for third, with JT Ferry completing the top five as drivers battled tooth and nail for positions throughout the field.
Unfortunately, the red flag would fly on lap three as Christopher Allen Jr would go for a hard tumble down the front stretch after making contact with the Scott Frack machine. Mike Thompson was also collected in the incident that necessitated the red flag, while Austin Graby, Jonathan Swanson, and Bruce Buckwalter Jr were collected in a different incident as the field was slowing for the red flag.
The night would be done for all drivers but Mike Thompson, who was able to complete repairs and rejoin at the back of the field for the remaining 22 laps of feature event action. While the field was about to come back to the green flag, trouble struck another competitor inside the top ten, as Tommy Kunsman quickly darted off the speedway and nosed into the trailer, abruptly ending his evening.
The field was able to get back to green and complete one lap, before the caution flag flew again on lap four, for another spin on the speedway. With the quick yellow completed, the field stacked up and was ready to go for the final 21 laps of the feature event.
Miller nailed his restart and began to pull away slightly from Perigo who was not about to quit on running the high side of the speedway utilizing his diamond maneuver to get a run down the banking and off the corners. Drevicki quickly moved by Lattomus for the third spot, with Briggs Danner now making moves around the outside of Kyle Spence, JT Ferry, and beginning his battle with Preston Lattomus for the final spot inside the top five.
Most drivers continued to run around the bottom side of the speedway with the exception of a handful of drivers. Try as he might, Perigo was beginning to lose ground on race leader Kenny Miller lll and was allowing Steven Drevicki to draw in closer and closer, before Drevicki was able to make the pass to the bottom side of the speedway and take over second around the halfway mark of the feature event. Around that same time, Briggs Danner was able to dispatch Preston Lattomus for fourth, and set his sights on Perigo for third.
Further back in the top ten, Joey Amantea refused to let the high side die, and ran the groove in virtually by himself, making passes to the outside of multiple drivers as he marched his way toward the front of the field. Amantea was locked in a fierce battle with JT Ferry for the seventh position for multiple laps before working around Ferry. Amantea, and Kyle Spence then found themselves locked in a battle for position as they closed in on Preston Lattomus for the final position inside the top five.
Up front, Drevicki was glued to the rear bumper of race leader Kenny Miller lll. Drevicki was much faster getting into the first and second corners, but Miller had a great drive on the exit of two and four and would stabilize the slight advantage that he had over the three-time series champion. Danner had separated himself from Carmen Perigo and the battle for third and was stuck in a bit of a no man’s land gap. He was gaining on the leaders but was not yet able to be in contention for either of the top two positions.
Meanwhile, further back in the top ten, Joey Amantea was finally able to roll around the outside of Preston Lattomus, and then Kyle Spence to take over the fifth-place position. Spence had switched his lane from the bottom to the high side, and was turning quick laps with Amantea, trying to reel in the front four cars as the laps began to dwindle.
With just five laps to go, Drevicki continued to hunt Miller for the race lead, not giving him an inch. Drevicki repeatedly dropped the nose to the inside of Kenny Miller but did not make any contact with the race leader as they fought nearly wheel to wheel on multiple occasions for the race lead.
Try as he might, Steven Drevicki could not get a good enough clean run to the extreme bottom side of the speedway as Kenny Miller lll went on to score the victory with Drevicki in tow. Briggs Danner finished a close third, with Carmen Perigo Jr and Joey Amantea completing the top five.
The win for Kenny Miller lll is the fourth of his career and marks the second time the driver has won two events in the same season since his series debut in 2020. Miller has a busy work schedule outside of racing that takes him all over the country, so events are limited for the talented driver from Morgantown, PA. The team’s recent addition of a 600 sprint back to their fleet, with opportunities for Miller to stay fresh on Wednesday nights at Action Track USA, has no doubt helped keep Miller fresh and ready to compete for more victories.
After competing at one of Steven Drevicki’s least favorite tracks last time out, Drevicki was on familiar territory on Saturday night as a former winged 358, and USAC East Coast winner at the Lincoln Speedway. Drevicki recorded a runner up finish to Briggs Danner in a loaded heat race number two and continued his big rebound season. Drevicki finished just one spot ahead of Danner, which will keep the points gap at a manageable margin heading into next week at Winchester.
Briggs Danner continued his consistency and came home with a solid podium effort. The former series champion was busy while the series was away, competition during Indiana Sprint Week with the USAC National Series, where he recorded a runner up finish after leading many laps of the feature at the Bloomington Speedway. Look for Danner to compete next week in the full Xtreme Midget Series events in Eastern PA and New Jersey.
Coming off his first career USAC East Coast Win at Action Track USA, Carmen Perigo also continued his massive year, picking up a heat race win, and battling for the race lead early on. Perigo’s diamond line unfortunately faded for the Stoystown, PA driver who has six non-wing sprint car victories on the season. In the end, Perigo was still able to complete another solid night of action coming home inside the top five.
Joey Amantea was one of three USAC East Coast Drivers to head west to Indiana Sprint week, where he recorded solid runs, including some inside the top ten among the world’s best. Amantea was able to win a thrilling heat race three, blasting the high side of the speedway around Ed Aikin late in the going, and utilized the same moves to complete a top five run after falling back early. Amantea also appeared to have a soft left rear tire for much of the feature event, but it did not stop the young driver from battling hard for position.
Up next for the USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series is the second of two visits to the banks of the Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Virginia on August 12th, before finishing off the month at the always entertaining Action Track USA on Sunday, August 20th.
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USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT CARS PRESENTED BY CAPITOL CUSTOM TRAILERS RACE RESULTS: August 5, 2023 – Lincoln Speedway – Abbottstown, Pennsylvania
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 21-Carmen Perigo (6), 2. 23m-Kenny Miller III (9), 3. 76-Mike Smith (1), 4. 1-Patrick Chilmonik (3), 5. 39x-Scott Frack (7), 6. 7B-Aidan Borden (8), 7. 67-Jason Cherry (4), 8. 96-Lee Kauffman (2), 9. 44-Gary Huston (5). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 39-Briggs Danner (1), 2. 19-Steven Drevicki (3), 3. 23B-Preston Lattomus (5), 4. 22-Kyle Spence (4), 5. 71-Chris Allen Jr. (7), 6. 17J-Jonathan Swanson (2), 7. 45-Brett Rose (8), 8. 117-David Swanson (9), 9. 28-Tim Stallings (6). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 88J-Joey Amantea (5), 2. 7-Ed Aikin (1), 3. 18T-J.T. Ferry (3), 4. 21K-Tommy Kunsman (8), 5. 11-Mike Thompson (2), 6. 5B-Bobby Butler (6), 7. 83-Bruce Buckwalter Jr. (7), 8. 7G-Austin Graby (9), 9. 48G-George Loux (4). NT
SEMI: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Aidan Borden (1), 2. Bobby Butler (3), 3. Jonathan Swanson (2), 4. Bruce Buckwalter Jr. (6), 5. Austin Graby (9), 6. Brett Rose (5), 7. George Loux (12), 8. Lee Kauffman (7), 9. David Swanson (8), 10. Jason Cherry (4), 11. Gary Huston (10), 12. Tim Stallings (11). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kenny Miller III (1), 2. Steven Drevicki (7), 3. Briggs Danner (8), 4. Carmen Perigo (3), 5. Joey Amantea (6), 6. Kyle Spence (11), 7. Preston Lattomus (2), 8. J.T. Ferry (5), 9. Aidan Borden (17), 10. Bobby Butler (16), 11. Mike Thompson (15), 12. Ed Aikin (4), 13. Jason Cherry (21), 14. Mike Smith (9), 15. Patrick Chilmonik (10), 16. Tommy Kunsman (12), 17. Scott Frack (13), 18. Chris Allen Jr. (14), 19. Bruce Buckwalter Jr. (19), 20. Jonathan Swanson (18), 21. Austin Graby (20). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Kenny Miller III.
**Chris Allen Jr. flipped on lap 3 of the feature.
USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT CARS PRESENTED BY CAPITOL CUSTOM TRAILERS POINTS: 1-Briggs Danner-727, 2-Steven Drevicki-658, 3-Joey Amantea-535, 4-J.T. Ferry-518, 5-Bobby Butler-490, 6-Ed Aikin-465, 7-Bruce Buckwalter Jr.-464, 8-Carmen Perigo-428, 9-Mike Thompson-418, 10-Chris Allen Jr.-396.
NEXT USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT CARS PRESENTED BY CAPITOL CUSTOM TRAILERS RACE: August 12, 2023 – Winchester Speedway – Winchester, Virginia
