Dutilly takes Icebreaker 100 at Desoto Speedway

2/5/2017

Freedom Factory

Dutilly takes Icebreaker 100 at Desoto Speedway

Dutilly takes Icebreaker 100 at Desoto Speedway
By SCOTT LOCKWOOD
Desoto Speedway

For most of Saturday night’s Icebreaker 100 for the Sunshine State Challenge Series Super Late Models at Desoto Speedway, the young guns fought amongst themselves at the front of the field of some of the state’s top drivers.
But when the dust settled after 100 laps of furious racing action, it was a familiar face that outfoxed the young hotshoes as Jesse Dutilly parked it victory lane for his second SSCS win for 2017.
An eight-car inversion put Anthony Cataldi and 17 year-old Michael Atwell on the front row and fast-qualifier Jesse Dutilly back in eighth. Cataldi grabbed the early lead when Atwell nearly lost control in front of the field at the end of the first lap. Cataldi, Nick Neri and Atwell had settled in at the front when caution flew for Jonathan Guy’s stalled car on lap 8. Atwell went from third to first on lap 15 and began inching away from the rest of the pack. Dylan Bigley, Chris Fontaine and Dutilly were battling for fifth several laps later, but Fontaine spun on lap 24 to bring out another yellow.
Dutilly began his march to the front on the restart, using the high line to get to fourth place in just a handful of laps. He passed Cataldi for third on lap 36 and was the fastest car on the track for the middle portions of the race. Sergi and Dutilly were in a heated battle for second when another caution flew for Bigley’s stalled car five laps before the halfway point. Neri got the jump on Atwell on the restart and would pace the field with Atwell and Dutilly directly on his bumper until Cataldi brought out the caution with his stalled car in turn four on lap 67. Dutilly lined up outside of Neri on the restart and spent the next several laps taking shot after shot at Neri’s rear bumper. On lap 81, Dutilly jumped to the outside and cleared Neri by the time the field got to the start/finish line. He would pull out to a five-second lead in the closing laps and go on to the victory.
“In our last race (at 417 Speedway in Punta Gorda) the young guys were running up front and we were running fifth - and it was the same thing tonight,” Dutilly said. “Those kids are fast and they’re getting there. Nick did everything he could do to keep the lead. We went back to what we know and put some stuff in the car from last year and it was really fast. It was super fun racing and I couldn’t be any happier.” Atwell got by Neri for second with six laps to go and would finish in the runner-up spot. Sergi, Neri and Steve Gill rounded out the top five.

Tom Zimmerman and newly-crowned Sportsman champion Brooke Storer led the field to green for the 25-lap Sportsman feature. Storer took the lead at the green flag and found herself in a battle with Aaron Williamson over the first several laps. Williamson used an outside pass to take the lead just prior to the halfway point and drove on to his second straight Sportsman feature victory.

The 30-lap SSCS Bomber feature saw Aaron Holmes take the lead from Jeff Pacheco on the second lap and pace a frantic battle between George Gorham and Josh Todd for the second spot. Thompson got by Gorham for second and began chopping into Holmes’ lead over the next several laps. Thompson caught Holmes with five laps to go and the pair swapped paint several times in the closing stages of the race. Thompson nearly got by on the outside when the leaders took the white flag, but Holmes slammed the door and held on for the victory. Gorham finished third.
In the 25-lap Mini Stock feature, Johnny Marra grabbed the early lead and was quickly joined at the front of the field by Ren Wright Jr. and Laura Mammina. Wright took the lead on the fifth lap and spent the remainder of the race with Mammina directly on his tail. Mammina made a last-ditch effort to get by with two laps to go, but Wright held her off and drove off to his second win of the season.
In other action Saturday night, Seth Adams took the lead early and went on to win the SSCS 25-lap Legends Feature; and Adam Briggs won the Mini Cup feature.
Next week Desoto Speedway will host the Take Aim Gun Range Street Stock Shootout 50-lap main event for the Street Stocks along with the SSCS Modified Minis, Mini Stocks and Strictly Stocks.

2-04-2017
DESOTO SPEEDWAY RACE RESULTS

Super Late Model