WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The home team winning streak is over at the Turkey Derby.
James Civali led all 100 laps of the tour-type modified feature Saturday at Wall Township Speedway, becoming the first New Englander to win the holiday classic and the first driver from outside New Jersey to score since George Kent triumphed 28 years ago.
Civali had never raced on Wall’s high banks, but he looked like an old pro in the Ramar-Hall/Liberty Limousine Chevrolet, the backup car for his regular Whelen Modified Tour ride. The key moment for Civali came when he withstood a side-by-side challenge from defending race winner Jimmy Blewett from laps 59 to 62, despite Blewett’s intimate track knowledge.
In a race where stopping for tires had become the accepted strategy, Civali’s Hoosiers endured 100 green-flag laps on a sunny day with ease.
“It got a little free at the end, but not enough you would notice it,” he said.
Blewett rallied from involvement in a wreck at the start to regain the runner-up spot on the 56th circuit, but with a green-flag run of more than 40 laps, he never got another clear shot at Civali after his mid-race challenge failed. Blewett finished .43 second behind, with Tony Ferrante, Jr. third, Rowan Pennink fourth and Earl Paules fifth. 
Tim Arre took sixth in a ride he picked up on race morning, with Brian Crammer, Danny Sammons, Billy Pauch, Jr. and Matt Hirschman completing the top 10.
The major story of this race unfolded the second the green flag waved. Polesitter Reggie Ruggiero got loose and squeezed outside front-row starter Blewett into the guard rail before slamming the armco himself and spinning in front of the field, all before reaching the first turn. 
Civali, starting third, had a closer view than he really wanted.
“It was a case of cold tires. It looked like he spun the tires and went up the track,” Civali said.
Ruggiero was out on the spot while Blewett restarted at the rear of the field after repairs, along with former Derby winner Pete Brittain, who was also involved.
Civali and Hirschman led easily until Pennink and Blewett hooked up to move forward in tandem, reaching third and fourth places on lap 45. Hirschman pitted for tires under caution one lap before the halfway mark, expecting the parade of caution flags, which had reached 11 by that time, to continue and aid his march to the front. Instead, the green flag remained in force until lap 91 when Jamie Tomaino spun in turn three.
The final laps saw Hirschman drop from sixth to the tail of the lead lap with a vibration from a loose wheel. Surprise contender Dave Sapienza ran out of gas while running fourth. Southern modified star Burt Myers, who, like Civali, had never turned a lap at Wall before Saturday, set fast time but redrew seventh and was never in contention.   
The finish:
James Civali, Jimmy Blewett, Tony Ferrante, Jr., Rowan Pennick, Earl Paules, Tim Arre, Brian Cranmer, Danny Sammons, Billy Pauch, Jr., Matt Hirschman, Jamie Tomaino, Ken Wooley, Jr., Dave Sapienza, Ken Darch, Brian DeFebo, Les Hinckley, Pete Brittain, Tom Farrell III, Burt Myers, Anthony Sesley, Danny Bohn, Michael Bohn, Bobby Grigas, Nevin George, Barry Callavini, Rodney Gruber, Reggie Ruggiero.