Sitterly Races to Best-Ever ISMA Finish with Top 5 at Thompson

 

 

THOMPSON, Conn. – Otto Sitterly hauled his Nicotra Racing No. 7 east to Thompson Int’l Speedway last weekend and posted the best ISMA result of his career with a fine fifth-place run in the last 2010 supermodified race east of the Mississippi. 

 

Sitterly, whose best previous ISMA finish was a seventh in 2009 at Stafford Springs, Conn., started a deep 18^th in the 25-car field and picked off several rivals on his way to the top 10. As attrition took its toll in what Otto labeled “a long 50-lapper,” the G&I Homes Hawk Jr chassis found its way into the top five and survived to make the day a solid showing for the Canajoharie, N.Y., based group.

 

“We had a pretty good weekend,” Sitterly said. “It wasn’t a great qualifying (heat race) effort. Knowing we were all going to make the field I didn’t want to make any crazy moves. We changed the car around for Sunday and stayed out of trouble for the most part. We raced hard with a few guys and passed a bunch of cars, but it was half survival in getting to fifth. We moved the wing back quite a bit for the feature and changed some other things, and we were tight in the race but not bad.”

 

This year’s World Series of Speedway Racing marked Otto’s third race at the NASCAR-sanctioned five-eighths and he’s run decent each time. He finished ninth in his initial trip to Thompson in 2007 and broke while running well in ’08.

 

“Fifty laps (at Thompson) is quite a deal,” Otto admitted. “It seems like a long time because the track is so big. It’s a fun, fast track; we were turning about 7600 RPM out there. I make sure I’m careful because the concrete walls don’t look too inviting. It’s fun racing with guys but I also enjoy running alone and rolling it into the turns. It’s amazing how deep you can go in with the banking and wing.”

 

The race, which saw Chris Perley win and Russ Wood clinch the ISMA championship, was the Nicotra team’s third ISMA show of the year. Otto did not finish at the Albany-Saratoga opener and finished 15^th at Stafford in July. The top five at Thompson certainly shows progress for the team’s winged program, something the four-time Oswego super champ stated he wanted to accomplish before the season began.

 

About Nicotra Racing

Nicotra Racing is sponsored by G&I Homes Inc., 5 Brothers Produce, S&L Beans, Florida Vegetable, Flavor First Produce, V.L. Walker Co, Georgia Crate & Basket, Rite-Pak Produce, Quality First Produce, Magnolia Packing, Beaver River Distribution, N&N Corporation, Burnac Produce Limited and Provincial Fruit Co.

 

For more information, visit www.NicotraRacing.com.   To contact Nicotra Racing, call John Nicotra at 305-345-2437 or e-mail John@NicotraRacing.com.

 

Press written by Keith Shampine. Contact Keith at 315-657-2207.