by Jimmy Leggio
The Juniors raced in their second tournament of the year at Central Islip on Sunday, June 12th. There were 13 teams in attendance with The Jr. Hares from East Farmingdale making their first appearance of the year. They had a good showing for a second year team, and they look like they will be a force to be reckoned with, especially in the Intermediate Ladder contest. There was a great crowd on hand and the teams were looking forward to running on the brand new surface at the C.I. track. There were no complaints with the track conditions and many racers commented on how they enjoyed the “grippy” surface.
Junior ladder started out just like last week with Central Islip taking first place and five points. Intermediate Ladder followed with Islip Terrace taking first place with a nice run. Watch for this young Schlager to possibly break the state record at some point this season. The Jr. Hoboes added another five points by taking first place in Individual Ladder with the Lindenhurst Jr. Snails taking second. In Cart Ladder, Islip put up a fast run (8.67 seconds to some timing in the stands) but the climber did not grasp and hold the top rung which resulted in a No Time (N/T.) Bay Shore held first place in the contest with a run of 8.94 but they had to sweat it out at the end as the Jr. Snails got a re-run after an official’s error. The Snails’ second run was not pretty and the Jr. Redskins got the five points. Coming out of the ladder contests, the Jr. Hoboes led all teams with 14 points.
After a long water test the teams finally lined up for Jr. Cart Hose, which was won by the Jr. Snails. Cart Hose was next and there were a lot of delays in the contest due to a problem with the timing lights. The track has a big crown in it and some of the cart handles came into contact with the equipment. There is a restriction in the rule book preventing the officials from adjusting the height of the timing lights during the contest so it was a bit of a hassle. Once they got the contest going, Islip took first place with Islip Terrace and Bay Shore behind them. Islip followed that run up with another five points in the next contest, Cart Hose Replacement.
Junior Efficiency Replacement was next with Bay Shore taking first place. Islip Terrace took first place in the WYE contest and the Hagerman Jr. Gamblers took second. Heading into the final contest, the Gamblers were ahead of the pack with 24 points but there were five teams right behind them. Bay Shore, Islip, Islip Terrace, Central Islip and Lindenhurst were all within 7 points of the lead, setting the stage for an interesting finale.
The Gamblers were unable to put the tournament away with their run when their nozzle-man failed to have his foot on the starting line and the team received a N/T. This opened the door for the other teams to jump ahead and win the tournament. The Hoboes missed their chance when they missed the target. The Redskins and Wolves also came up empty. The Snails had a good run, but it wasn’t enough to pass the Gamblers who breathed a sigh of relief as team after team failed to capitalize on their mistake. The contest was won by the West Sayville Jr. Flying Dutchmen and Hagerman held on to win their first tournament of the year.
The final results of the drill were as follows:
1st Place – Hagerman Jr. Gamblers
2nd & 3rd Place (Tie) – Islip Jr. Wolves & Islip Terrace Jr. Schlagers
4th Place – Lindenhurst Jr. Snails
5th Place – Central Islip Jr. Hoboes
After the C.I. drill, it looks like we have a few more contenders in the mix so it should make for an exciting season. The Juniors will be back in action on June 26th at the Hagerman track beginning at 11:00 AM.
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