CONCORD, N.C. — A.J. Russell entered Saturday’s John Blewett III Memorial East-West Shootout for supermodifieds at Concord Motorsport Park with a borrowed motor and a mission.
“We heard Perley was unbeatable, and we beat him,” the Clovis, Calif., driver exclaimed in victory lane after the marathon 50-lap feature.
Driving his 410-cubic-inch West Coast super against the big blocks from the Northeast, Russell surged from 14th in the starting lineup to take the lead from Doug Didero on lap 26 and prepared for the challenge of Chris Perley, the ISMA champion and 11-time feature winner in 2007.
Perley, the fastest qualifier who lined up 15th in the inverted field, was up to fifth at the halfway mark. He took fourth from early leader Rob Reid two laps later and inherited third when Didero pitted with overheating. Standing between Russell and Perley was Ohio driver Charlie Schultz, who had no intention of letting the expected showdown materialize. Perley finally cleared Schultz with 15 laps remaining, but had nothing for the flying Russell on a final restart or in the traffic that marked the last 10 laps.
“I tried to make a race of it, but he was too far ahead,” Perley explained.
Schultz was an impressive third, giving each of the three centers of winged supermodified activity —  California, New England, and Ohio — a spot on the podium. Nevada’s Dale Lamborn crossed the line fourth, but he was penalized for jumping the last restart, giving Mike Lichty credit forfourth and Rob Reid fifth.
A bumper crop of 34 supers started the first East-West contest since 1995, resulting in a rash of early cautions that slimmed the field with less than half finishing the 50 laps.
No injuries were reported in the feature tangles, but Mike Barnes was hospitalized overnight following a major crash in Friday’s time trials. Barnes was released to return home Saturday.
The finish:
A.J. Russell, Chris Perley, Charlie Schultz, Mike Litchey, Rich Reid, Dale Lamborn, Mike Ordway, Jr., Mark Sammut, Scott Martel, Brad Noffsinger, Joey Payne, Jr., Ray Graham, Jr., John Torrese, Brandon Bellinger, Ernie Coppo, Jr., Justin Belfoire, Moe Lilje, Jim Birges, Joe Gosek, Howie Page, Sean Sauer, Doug Didero, Tim Jedrezejek, Harry Stone, Rob Summers, Lou Cicconi, Jr., Bobby Dawson, Bobby Dalton, Jim Shirey, Rich Castor, Larry Lehner, Kelly Miller, Brandon Fisher, Martin McKeefery.