Arre picks great time to turn his season around

WALL TOWNSHIP — Maybe it was because Tim Arre was so overwhelmed by the standing-room-only crowd at Wall Township Speedway Saturday night.

Or maybe he was so impressed that Winston Cup drivers Michael Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Steve Park and Kenny Wallace were in attendance. Or perhaps the help of old friend and engine builder Jim Hagaman got him on the track. Regardless of the reason, Toms River’s Arre turned around what has thus far been one of his most disappointing seasons ever to win the Busch Beer Modified 35-lap main event for the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series at the third-mile paved oval Saturday night.

"I guess you could say this was the perfect night to turn it around," said Arre, who has been plagued by mechanical problems most of the season. "The big crowd, the Winston Cup drivers here, I love it."

Arre started his black J. Fletcher Creamer No. 4 from the fifth starting slot and immediately started to advance.

When he avoided a pile-up at the front of the pack just a few laps into the contest, he lined up second behind Wall’s Mike Carr on the restart.

Arre then hounded the leader for a couple of circuits before charging into the lead. Howell’s Ken Woolley Jr. and Frank Polimeda of Fort Lee followed him through.

From that point on, Arre held his ground to take the win, while Woolley, Polimeda and Joe Mongeau were tight for most of the 35-lap race and at the finish line for second through fourth. Carr held on for fifth.

"With the way our season was going, I was more than ready to give up," Arre said. "I’ve got to thank everyone involved with this team. If I was ready to give up, they had to be, but they didn’t. I also have to thank Jim Hagaman. He came through for us this week and really got our motor running strong. It was obvious tonight, you could see the difference."

After meeting with fans and signing autographs, the quartet of Winston Cup drivers battled in their own 30-lap main event. While Waltrip and Marlin took turns leading early, Kenny Wallace took control off a restart with eight laps remaining to grab his first-ever Wall Township Speedway win by a half car length. Waltrip, Marlin and Park followed.

"This is great. Not only can I say that I’ve raced at Wall, but I can also now say that I have won at Wall," Wallace said. "I know all of us had a great time here today. The track is great and the people are real nice. We all had a lot of fun."

Just after the Modified main event, with four feature races still on the agenda, a problem with the electric line coming into the speedway forced many of the lights around the track and in the pit area to go out. Despite the efforts of workers and officials, the events soon had to be postponed for the evening.

It was announced that the Pro Stock, Street Stock, Truck Series and Legend Cars main events that could not be run will be contested this Saturday (Aug. 2) along with the regularly scheduled five division racing program.

That makes this Saturday night a big evening with five racing divisions competing in nine main events. The Modifieds are set for a 35-lapper, while the Pro Stocks and Street Stocks will each compete in two 25-lappers, and the Trucks and Legend cars will each battle in two 20-lappers. Because of the huge amount of racing on the card, action will start one hour early at 5 p.m.

Also on the weekend agenda will be Friday-night action on the 1/5-mile paved "inner oval." Bandolero cars, Micro Stocks and Go-karts will star in this show, with gates opening at 5:30 p.m. and racing starting at 6:30 p.m.