Bachetti outduels Ricci for ‘Gobbler’ win in Accord, N.Y.

ACCORD, N.Y. » Andy Bachetti outdueled Mike Ricci in a crowd-pleasing, backand-forth battle to close out the 2017 Northeast outdoor dirt-track season Saturday at Accord Speedway.

Bachetti, of Sheffield, Mass., took over the lead for the final time with 13 circuits remaining in the 50lap big-block/small-block Modified main and raced to a $5,700 payday for his firstever ‘Gobbler’ victory in the event’s fifth running. Bachetti received $5,000 from the posted purse, $500 from Upstate Automotive and an additional $200 Halfway Leader bonus from Land Hoe Maintenance LLC.

Run on an unseasonably warm late-November day, the ‘Gobbler’ filled the Accord facility to overflow with jam-packed grandstands and a pit-bulging 177 race cars on hand.

The day’s events were presented by Superior Remodeling and Upstate Automotive.

“What an awesome day,” Bachetti, a two-time Short Track Super Series (STSS) champion, said after climbing from his black and fluorescent green No. 4. “It was hard racing there with Mike (Ricci). He’d get me, I’d get him. It was tough with the restarts and lapped cars thrown in.”

After their on-track combat, Bachetti and Ricci shook hands with huge smiles in Victory Lane.

“What a turnout here today,” Bachetti said. “It’s nice to see the place packed!”

Bachetti led the ‘Mashed Potato’ Modified field to the green flag, but it was Ricci – a master of the Accord bullring – who was able to wrestle the lead away at the outset. Ricci set the pace, with Bachetti in tow, for the race’s first 12 laps.

Mired in lapped traffic, Bachetti and Ricci slapped rubrails with Bachetti emerging out front for the first time on lap 13.

Ricci never let Bachetti out of his grasp.

On a 26th-lap restart – in a wild exchange – Ricci regained command of the lead. During an ensuing stretch of green-flag racing Ricci put some distance between his No. 17 and Bachetti.

However, a final restart on lap 37 changed the complexion of the race.

With sparks flying on the frontstretch, Bachetti squeezed past Ricci. For the remainder of the race, the two ran nose-to-tail with Ricci working to the inside.

Bachetti held on for the win by less than a carlength.

“I think Mike might have been a little better than us,” Bachetti said. “It was about track position there at the end and that (last) restart worked out in our favor.”

Ricci, of Tillson, N.Y., settled for a runner-up finish in a stout end of the season that included strong runs at Afton (N.Y.) Motorsports Park and Orange County (N.Y.) Fair Speedway in Short Track Super Series events.

Two-time ‘Gobbler’ winner Anthony Perrego of Montgomery, N.Y., settled for third, lurking just behind the leaders for the entire distance in Brian Smith’s No. 44. Perrego thrilled the crowd earlier in the day coming from the final row of his heat race to pick up the win.

Joe Judge of Highland, N.Y., used the outside lane to climb to fourth late in the going, nosing out Ryan Godown of Ringoes, N.J., in the Lincoln Auto Body No. 5 owned by Dieter Schmidt.

Utilizing the low line to rebound from a mid-race tangle, Mike Gular of Boyertown, Pa., turned his second career Accord start into a sixth-place finish, with Jerry Higbie of Newburgh, N.Y., Tyler Siri of Horseheads, N.Y., 23rd-starter Brian Malcolm of Lake Ariel, Pa., and Jimmy Wells of Rosendale, N.Y., completing the top-10.