Nicole Chambrello
STAFFORD – Nicole Chambrello came to Stafford Motor Speedway Friday looking for her first career podium finish in the DARE Stock division.
She earned that first podium visit in the best way possible.
Chambrello survived a pair of green-white-checkered restarts to get her first career victory in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature Friday at Stafford.
“They don’t like being too nice to me,” Chambrello said. “Those restarts were scary. I’m just super excited. I don’t know what to say.”
Chambrello, a 17-year old Berlin High School senior, is in her second year racing full-time at Stafford.
“My first win was my first podium, it’s great,” Chambrello said. “It’s amazing. When you go all season being a fifth place car, to get your first win is amazing. Unbelievable. I made my mom cry.”
Brandon Michael of Granville, Mass. was second and Trace Beyer of West Dover, Vt. third.
On the first attempt at a green-white-checkered, Chambrello actually lost the lead to Frank L’Etoile Jr., with Zack Robinson following L’Etoile to second place through turn two. But contact between Chambrello and Robinson sent Robinson to the wall, setting off a major chain reaction wreck on the backstretch.
Because of the caution Chambrello was able to go back to the lead and on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered she was up to the task of staving off the challengers behind.
“The second one, I was freaking out,” Chambrello said. “I didn’t want to overdrive it, I didn’t want to under-drive it either. I was just trying to do my best and watch my mirrors and make sure I was clear so I could get to the end.”
She deserved the win; up until that first yellow. She was leading them down the backstretch, coming to the checkers when there was a spin in the first turn with cars out of the top five. The checker should have been thrown, not the yellow. But that would have negated the chance for another contrived GWC finish that Stafford annoyingly promotes. Then, in that restart, she was one of the most involved (one could say, the cause) of that big melee that caused a few guys lots of work this week. Then they gave her back the lead for the 2nd restart, because the crowd was pulling for her. But, anyone else would have gone to the back. Again she deserved a win, but that was terrible race manipulation upstairs.
Wait, they had green white checkers after the white flag was thrown? I hate multiple green white checkers in weekly short track racing. The three most annoying words in motorsports… Lose the lucky dog rule to, if you fall off the lead lap, race your way back or, better luck next time.
Though she was one of the most involved in the melee, it wouldn’t have happened if the 93, who she clearly had the advantage on going into turn one, didn’t hook her right rear in the first place.
beserious, it’s fine if you’re rooting for someone else in the field, you may want to try to befactual before pointing fingers and making wild accusations like “race manipulation” to justify that someone else’s shortcoming or another’s success…
Unless it’s in the double digits for GWC attempts, all of the tracks have thrown the yellows accordingly and set up for GWC finishes for 10+ years, so why would that stop now?
The leaders were going through 1/2 when the 48 slammed the T2 wall hard on lap 14 while battling for 2nd, not a simple backmarker spin, that left the car crippled in front of the rest of the field and would’ve been sitting there when the field came back around at (almost) full speed – a perfectly justified yellow flag.
The melee on the backstretch, as Nate pointed out, started with the 93 getting into the RR of the 16. The 16 never spun, stopped, or anything of the sorts. The caution came out before a lap was complete, and the field was reset to the lineup from the previous restart minus the caution cars, again, just as they seemingly always have.
Aside from the yellow flag for the RAR car spinning around and never stopping in Turn 4, that race went according to protocol from green to checkered.