BUTLER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Tony Rispin is a true blue Irishman, hailing from the village of Kildalkey, Meath, Ireland so to say he had the luck of the Irish when he won the 4/6-Cylinder Enduro at Evergreen Raceway on Sunday afternoon would be an understatement.
It was Rispin’s first win at the one-third-mile oval in 11 years.
“It felt great today, lucky but still a great day, it was about time my luck turned around, it’s been over 10 years since I last won a race here at Evergreen,” said Rispin.
“I was wondering there for a while when my luck would run out but as the race went on it just got easier and easier. You didn’t have to take as many big chances when you have to go through the middle on the straights as the field thinned out.”
Rispin, a two-time Enduro champion at Evergreen, was slotted back in the 36th starting spot for the outset of the 100-lap grind. However, early on he was having transponder issues and was forced to pit and make a change. Since it was under a track caution, Rispin did not lose any laps in the process.
While Rispin was able to get his problems solved, the race was being handled at the front by Justin Carneavale who led the early going over Michael Klotz and Michael Mujsce III. By lap 19 Enduro/4-Cylinder Stock specialist Harry O’Neill, who started two spots behind Rispin, had maneuvered his way into the lead.
From that point, O’Neill was looking tough as his No. 126 was having little trouble getting around heavy traffic that dotted all around the race track.
Unlike Rispin though, O’Neill wasn’t as lucky when on the lap 37, he got clipped by a car he was attempting to lap and crashed hard into the turn one barriers. O’Neill’s day was done.
When the field was sorted out, Rispin was now the new leader over Paul Mercante and Rob Longo.
“I started way back in the 12th row and in one of these events it gets very hard to know where you’re at as far as your position and you can have four or five cars that get out front early,” Rispin said. “Then I didn’t see Harry O’Neill and I knew he was still in the race and is obviously going to be running good.
“But then when they took me in to replace the transponder and I knew I was doing well and was trying to watch the (score) board and I couldn’t see my number up there. But then when Harry (O’Neill) was knocked out they told me I was leading and luckily we held our own the rest of the way.”
Rispin would continue to pull away from the pack, lapping cars with ease and steering clear of trouble, almost.
On lap 65 his luck almost ran out when he was making a move to get by a lapped car, but contact was made and he suddenly went sideways. Rispin made a tremendous save and got the car pointed back right without losing his spot.
“When you get by someone once and maybe twice then you know you can trust them no matter if you’re on the outside or inside but sometimes it doesn’t always work out that way,” said Rispin.
When he crossed the finish line he had lapped all but second, third and fourth. It was his first Evergreen win since June 3, 2012.
“I tried street stocks once and I just couldn’t afford it to be honest,” Rispin said. “But with the Enduro’s you get the adrenalin going with all these cars out here, cars spinning out in front of you, it’s a big rush for me this type of racing.”
In the Spectator Drags that started out the day, Charlie Guardino was the winner.
The Finish:
Feature (100 laps): 1. Tony Rispin, 2. Rob Longo, 3. Jason Bentzoni, 4. Paul Mercante, 5. Mackenzie Adams, 6. Mark Rittenhouse Jr., 7. Mike Mujsce III, 8. Justin Carneavale, 9. Tony Hilliard, 10. Stewart Smith, 11. Michael Klotz, 12. Jake Oswald, 13. Mariah Lawrence, 14. Jeremy Randy, 15. Destinee Arnold, 16. Jacob Shearer, 17. Jeremy Spanburg, 18. Larry Spencer III, 19. Victoria Burd, 20. Dan Boughton, 21. Evan Wood, 22. Travis Frantz, 23. TJ Kapish, 24. Kevin Behler, 25. Adam Kratzer, 26. Adam Kraus, 27. Kevin Brown, 28. Mitch Sharpe, 29. Jerry Daignault, 30. Harry O’Neill, 31. Cliff Jones, 32. David Duran, 33. Mike Green, 34. Mike Mujsce Jr., 35. Blake Snyder, 36. Jimmy Ayre, 37. Rachel Morgan, 38. Corey Koch, 39. Brian Kohut, 40. Brian Halecki, 41. Danny Cascioli