March 31, 2010, 3:00AM
By Mike Wisniewski
Special to the Times
After an off season of assembling a new race car, simply refurbishing the same one or advancing to a new a division, all drivers want to work out any kinks with their ride before the start of a season.
This past weekend at Bridgeport, over 100 teams participated in two practice sessions.
On the big track on Saturday, Wade Hendrickson lived up to his moniker of the Flying Farmer in the Big Block Modified class. The 2009 champion was clocked at 111 mph in an early session on the 5/8th mile oval.
In other Big Block Modified action, Barnsboro’s Jesse “The Thrill” Hill had an interesting afternoon in his debut of the “X” car owned by Gino Postorivo begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting. During his second practice run, a loose oil line on the motor produced a billow of smoke and a brief appearance of flames.
Following a repair, Hill returned for additional hot laps.
Mike Franz from Paulsboro renumbered his ride to Z28 to honor his Dad.
Frank Franz, a longtime race car owner, lost his battle with cancer in February.
Ed Firth, the 72-year-old racer who has competed at the speedway since the opening in 1972, drove in a few practice sessions.
Former Bridgeport Speedway promoter, Dave Adams, returned to the cockpit and shook down his ride for the upcoming season.
Also on Saturday, several rookies in the Crate Modified division took maiden voyages in new cars on the outer dirt track.
Dave Damiano, a multi-feature winner in the 4-Cylinder Stocks on the quarter-mile speedway, looked very comfortable in his first appearance.
Moving up from the Micro-Sprint ranks, Kyle Newcomb was all smiles after his debut.
Newcomb, a youngster from Hammonton, was impressive as he passed a few veteran drivers on the track. Unfortunately, one local rookie did not have a good day as Sewell’s Matt Budd experienced a blown Crate Modified motor.
A brief shower on Sunday caused a 45-minute rain delay during the test-and-tune session on the quarter-mile raceway.
Notes: The 39th season of racing at Bridgeport Speedway, which is located at exit 14 off Interstate 295 in Logan Township, gets underway this Friday.
RTS Chassis will sponsor the 25-lap features for the 270cc and 600cc Micro-Sprints with $500 going to the winner of each event on the quarter-mile speedway. Also, the 4-Cylinder Stock Cars will be in action.
Gates open at 5 p.m. with the first green flag waving at 7 p.m. General Admission is $12 for adults with children 12 and under admitted free.
The Big Block Modified season starts with a 30-lap Tri-Track Big Block Modified series race on Saturday, April 10.
The URC Sprint season opener and the debut of the new Crate Modified class will complete the show. Qualifying events start at 6 p.m. A rain date of Sunday, April 11 has been set for this event.
Go to www.bpspeedway.com for more information.
