Driver Wally Hennessey helped to lead Team Pomp to a strong performance in the first of the two-night drivers challenge at Pompano Park on Tuesday night (March 15).
Hennessey collected wins in three of the four contest races on the nine-race card Tuesday beginning with a tight win in the first event over Team Outsider captain Yannick Gingras. Steering the 1-2 favourite, Hennessey held the lead late to score a pocket-popping neck win behind Holton over Gingras and pacesetting Manwilling, with Dexter Dunn finishing third with Thundercrest and Team Pomp completing the top five with Glide In The Wind (David Miller) and Aquillo (Kevin Wallis).
One race later, Hennessey returned to the winner’s circle with Mc Mach after finishing 1-3/4 lengths ahead of teammate David Miller, who settled for second with Drunkonaplane after a game first-over journey. Yannick Gingras finished third with pacesetter Rockntouch with each team landing a minor spot underneath; Machiatto A (Kevin Wallis) finished fourth for Team Pomp and Ey Cowboy (James MacDonald) finished fifth for Team Outsider.
Team Outsider’s lone win on the night came in an event where they swept the top three spots. Dexter Dunn cleared the lead with Hallsglensmavis and cruised to a 2-1/2-length win over Skyway Venus (Yannick Gingras) with Indian Creek Kyla (Andrew McCarthy) rallying from last for third. Team Pomp took fourth and fifth with Goldstar Rockette (Kevin Wallis) and Queen Me Again (Wally Hennessey) respectively.
In the final prelim of the night, Team Pomp shut out Team Outsider with another gate-to-wire victory by Wally Hennessey. He piloted Lyons Johnny to a two-length win over Rope The Moon (David Miller) with Prairie Midnight (Kevin Wallis) rallying for third and Bunkerhill Phil (Peter Wrenn) sneaking up for fourth.
“I’m just so glad these guys came down,” Wally Hennessey said during the night. “It’s got my adrenaline going. That takes a lot now, but I do feel really grateful to those guys for coming down here and so far it’s been going great.”
Team Pomp wraps night one with 63 points over Team Outsiders, which accrued 44 through the first four preliminaries. The driving challenge concludes on Wednesday (March 16) with Races 1, 2, 3 and 5 being the remaining preliminaries. First-race post time at Pompano Park is 7:20 p.m. (EDT).