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STAFFORD – Getting your car wiggly on the track is never a good thing for a short track racer.
When the caution flew with less than a lap remaining in the Street Stock feature Saturday at Stafford Motor Speedway it wasn’t Johnny Walker’s car getting wiggly on the track, but rather him getting wiggly in the seat.
“When I saw the caution come out, literally, if I wasn’t strapped into my seat I would have been bouncing all over the car,” Walker said.
Walker used the green-white-checker finish to go from third to victory in the 20-lap Street Stock feature Saturday at Stafford.
George Bessette Jr. of Danbury was second and Meghan Fuller of Auburn, Mass. third.
Walker was running third behind Bessette and second place Nicole Chambrello when the caution flew after the white flag was thrown.
“I was so excited,” Walker said. “Third is where you really want to be [on a restart]. You don’t really want to be on the outside.”
On the restart Walker was able to get the advantage on Chambrello, then on the final lap he wedged under Bessette off turn four to take the lead for good.
“Chambrello got hung out to dry and I knew that was going to happen,” Walker said. “I was hoping to at least come home in second, but I didn’t expect George to be as loose as he was. He just left the door wide open. He was just wicked loose and I was able to stand on it and stick to the inside and bring home a win.”
Said Bessette: “I don’t know what happened. Just a rough day. I’m kind of disappointed in myself for disappointing my crew. I don’t know what happened. The same thing happened last week. The car got tight and fell off my face.”
It was the 19thcareer victory for Walker, the 2016 and 2017 division champion who is running part-time this year.
“You never know when your last win is going to be and I hope this isn’t our last,” Walker said.
Hydar “smacked” Chambrello. How many times has Chambrello gotten turned around over the years with Hydar in the vicinity? Did Fuller push him up? Might have just been too many good cars with too much momentum in too little a space in the corner. But Hydar and Chambrello seem to share an awful lot of dust up together.