Dirt modified ace Anthony Perrego notched his first win in a 600 sprint last Saturday. The victory came during the East Coast Nationals at the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, New Jersey. The event was part of the Indoor Auto Racing Championship.
Perrego competed in an entry owned by Bobby Hentschel.
“I drove Bobby’s sportsman once or twice,” said Perrego, of Walden, New York. “He helps me with my modified. He’s always there when I need him. We always talked about me trying his 600cc micro. He’s been on my case to give it a try, so I did.”
The 600 sprint offered a new challenge for the seasoned modified driver.
“This car was a totally different animal setup-wise,” Perrego said. “We had our hands full learning how to set it up. We were not great in practice, but each practice session we got a little better. Even though we were green, Bobby figured it all out by talking to different people.”
On Friday night, Perrego time-trialed 17th fastest. He qualified through the B-main and finished ninth in the feature.
The next night, Perrego won the B-main. He started the feature in 11th.
“Running 25 laps on Friday helped me prepare for Saturday,” said Perrego. “For the Saturday feature, the track burned off and became slippery like the modified tracks we are used to, which played into our hands.”
Perrego raced through the field with Brian Carber applying pressure all the way to the finish. When the checkers waved, Perrego came across the line first to collect the $5,000 winner’s share.
“Brian Carber is one of the best, and when he rolls up next to you, you’re in trouble,” Perrego said in victory lane that night. “We went down there to have fun — win or lose. But, by Saturday, the competitive spirit in me kicked in.”
His first weekend in a 600 left Anthony Perrego wanting more.
“I’m going to try to make a few shows at Action Track [USA in Kutztown, Pennsylvania],” said Perrego. “Next year, we will have to go to Tulsa [for the Tulsa Shootout], for sure.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
