Surging Senko
Pure stocks success at Grundy takes more than mashing gas pedal for Lincoln-Way Central grad
Just nine points.
That was the difference between Jeremiah Senko being a runner-up instead of the pure stocks champion last season at Grundy County Speedway.
He did everything he could on the final night, but Matt Chester also did what he had to do to prevail.
“I won the race, but all he had to do was finish eighth,” Senko said. “I went into the night wanting to win the race, and if I did and it didn’t work out to get the title, then I gave it everything I had.”
The second-place finish behind Chester made his goal for 2020 an easy one to define.
“Hopefully to be nine points better,” Senko said, laughing.
Senko is on pace to achieve his goal — and then some.
Going into Friday night’s program at Grundy County Speedway, Senko was the pure stocks points leader, holding a 462-438 advantage over Trevor Starek.
Senko added to his total by winning Friday’s second heat and capturing the feature win in his 2003 Chevy Cavalier.
“I have just been consistent and finishing races,” Senko said. “Every night I’ve tried to keep my nose clean and know when to take opportunities to go for the win.”
Senko, 20, is a graduate of LincolnWay Central. He played football, and as a senior was a member of the school’s state-qualifying bowling team.
He has been racing at Grundy since 2018. In his first season, he was sixth in points for the regular Friday night shows and second in points for the Saturday night special events.
The pure stocks are considered a beginners division but loaded with challenges.
“It’s a lot more difficult than it looks,” Senko said. “Everybody is running really close in times, so it’s hard to get qualifying points. And the racing is pretty hard, too. It becomes a matter of patience working your way through the field.”
And knowing when to say no to the gas pedal.
The pure stocks have a breakout rule that prohibits going faster than 19.500 seconds on any given lap of a race.
Senko has been black-flagged once this season while leading on the final lap of a heat. Six others in that race also broke out.
“I actually like the rule,” Senko said. “It keeps the playing field honest. There are so many different types of cars in this class you can’t go open rules.
“You just have to keep a good pace. When you feel like you’re having a fast lap, you have to lift a little earlier in the corner. It’s a challenge.”
Street stocks veteran Randy Weese looked every bit about to surrender the lead with five laps remaining in the feature event.
But being forced to the outside by defending track champion Eddie Ligue turned out to be a blessing.
“I thought for sure that when he was on the inside he’d be gone,” Weese said. “But once I saw that I was hanging with him and we stayed side by side … that was exciting.
“The car was just really good on the outside, and it didn’t mind being there, either. Normally the fast lane is inside, but this thing was hanging right with Eddie.”
Weese beat Ligue to the finish line by 0.190 seconds. Third place went to Scott Gardner, ahead of Rita Fields and Chad Bayuk.
Hanging high:
Late model rookie Billy Hulbert Jr. gave a big nod to crew chief Tony D’Ambrose after going wire-to-wire to win the 30-lap model feature.
“We were fighting the car this afternoon,” Hulbert said. “Tony made some adjustments and we just had a great car for the feature. He’s helpful and very knowledgeable. The car felt good and I went with it.”
Points leader Paul Shafer Jr. finished second, ahead of Scott Koerner, Nathan Kelly and Eddie Hoffman.
Blake Brown beat Tristen Batson in the Mid-American feature.
Off and running: