| hoveround
August 10, 2012
11:55:52 AM
Entry #: 3960424
| The turnout for round two of the 5th Annual Micah J. Aumen Invitational Race for the Cure Busch Cup Memorial Open might have been lacking in numbers, but the effort put forth by the four God-fearing christians who strapped into their steel chariots surely pleased both Him and the baseball gods. Well, all except Mark Fagnani, whose pathetic performance surely made Jesus weep. Still, it was an exciting night of wheel-to-wheel action. In the prelim, a match race was held, pitting Twins veterans Matt Martin and Scott Meckley against brash rookies Anthony Lippy and Fagnani. Lippy and Fagnani broke out of the gate early in an attempt to get the jump on the M&M boys, but their plan fell apart from the start. Martin navigated the slick oval like the seasoned veteran he is to easily take the win with Meckley finishing second. Making Martin and Meckley's efforts even more impressive was the fact that they had to avoid a spinning Lippy or Fagnani in virtually every corner. The feature was run on the hornets, and the starting order was an inversion from the original finish, with Fagnani and Lippy up front and Meckley and Martin trailing. Fagnani led until the first turn, when he spun violently on the slick surface. Lippy inherited the lead and somehow managed to keep his car straight despite the tricky track conditions. Meckley got by Fagnani and had Lippy in his sights, but the youngster was unfazed, mockingly laughing at Meckley and all of his competitors around every turn. Meckley was within a couple of car lengths when the one-to-go sign was flashed, but the sand that covered the high side of turn one prevented him from making up any ground. Lippy drove the final lap with his hand in the air and thumb up. Martin, who had to settle for third, angrily tossed his car keys into the air in frustration. They were found hours later in a nearby corn field. Meckley immediately called SPL commissioner Parker Lerew after the race, filing a protest that Lippy was underweight. But Lerew would not uphold the protest, saying he had more important matters to consider at the moment, such as whether rubber paddles are legal. Martin, Meckley, and Lippy all demanded that Fagnani be drug tested after the race, as only someone severely impaired could wreck as often as he had. Fagnani was unfazed, saying afterward, "it took me one and 3/4 races to figure out that the gas was on the right, after that everything was fine." Lippy, meanwhile, couldn't understand all the media's attention over him becoming a rare rookie champion. "I just got done beating nine Mummasburg Mets," he said. "So handling three New Oxford Twins was pretty easy."
|
