RPW Column: Looking Back A Bit: First Week Of October
RPW Column By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WAVERLY, RI – Sixty years ago in 1960 George Pendergast scored a 50 lap win at the Waterford Speedbowl. Ray Moran won in the non-Fords and Ed Moody in the Bombers.
Fifty five years ago in 1965 Don Collins won a 50 lap Modified feature at the Waterford Speedbowl on Sunday. Jerry Glaude was the Bomber winner. Johnny Thompson was the winner at the Norwood Arena.
Fifty years ago in 1970, cousin’s Merv and Roger Treichler finished one-two in the Race of Champions at Langhorne. Finishing third was an outlaw driver from Rome, N.Y. by the name of Richie Evans. Dick Watson won the season ending 36 lap Modified feature at the Waterford Speedbowl. Bob Gada SR was the Late Model Daredevil winner. Walt Dombrowski was crowned the Modified Champion at the Speedbowl. Ron Cote was the Late Model Daredevil Champion. Ronnie Bouchard was the 50 lap Modified winner at Seekonk. Hank Goff was the B winner.
Forty five years ago in 1975, the Race of Champions moved to Trenton in 1972 and it was still the race to win. Ray Hendrick, driving a Dick Armstrong owned Mustang took the win over Merv Treichler, Bugsy Stevens, Charlie Jarzombek and Richie Evans.
Forty years ago in 1980, the Race of Champions was no longer a Columbus Day classic as its date was changed to September and the race itself was moved again, this time to Pocono. On this weekend, Oswego ran a season ending 30 lapper. Richie Evans took the win over Brett Bodine, Greg Sacks, Maynard Troyer and Doug Hewitt. The big event of the weekend was the DIRT 200 at Syracuse, which drew 154 cars and was broadcast by ESPN. Gary Balough, driving a car, which was a cross between a sprinter and a Supermodified with side panels and a roof off a Lincoln Continental, made the event a no contest affair. Balough, who was booed in victory lane, received $26,507 for his efforts. Balough’s win prompted DIRT officials to change the race rules, which in the future would allow only conventional dirt type modifieds to participate. Finishing second was Buzzie Reutiman with Frank Cozze, third. Geoff Bodine made a rare dirt track appearance and didn’t disappoint his fans as he came home in fourth spot. Westboro ran a 50 lapper on Sunday, which drew 39 modifieds. Ronnie Bouchard took the win over John Rosati, Joe Howard, Leo Cleary and Corky Cookman.
Thirty five years ago in 1985, the only action was an SK Modified event at Thompson which saw Wayne Dion take the win in front of a sparse crowd.
Thirty years ago in 1990, it was all quiet.
Twenty five years ago in 1995, Jerry Pearl won the season ending Modified event at Waterford. Pearl passed Todd Ceravolo with three laps to go when Ceravolo blistered a tire. Ceravolo hung on for second and was followed by Jim Broderick, Chris Jones, Tucker Reynolds Jr. and George Moose Hewitt.
Twenty years ago, in 2000, the Featherlite Modified Tour was at Martinsville. Reggie Ruggiero took the win after a controversial confrontation with Ted Christopher with eight laps to go in the 200-lap event. Christopher had taken the lead on lap 158 from Tom Baldwin and was looking to put the Gary Cretty mount in victory lane when it all came to an end on lap 192.Ruggiero dove under Christopher in turn one. The two made contact and Christopher spun and hit the wall. Jerry Marquis ended up in second spot and was followed by Tom Baldwin and Rick Fuller. Mike Ewanitsko was involved in a bad crash on lap 78.Ewanitsko had slowed to avoid a spinning car and was just about stopped when southern competitor Junior Miller came flying in full bore, rode over a wheel and all but went through the rear window of the Ewanitsko mount. The Art Barry No.21 was destroyed but the cage and bracing did its job allowing Ewanitsko to walk away from the crash. Waterford ran their season ending 100 lapper with Ron Yuhas Jr. taking the win over Tucker Reynolds and Dennis Gada. In Winston Cup action at Martinsville, Tony Stewart took both the win and the pole.
Fifteen years ago in 2005, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour series was supposed to be at the Thompson Speedway on Saturday for the Twin 100’s that was rescheduled from June 12. Heavy rains moved into Connecticut during early afternoon on Friday and along with a forecast of rain all day Saturday, postponed the event to Sunday. By mid day on Saturday it became a moot point as over four inches of rain dumped on the Thompson area and the forecast was extended to have continuing rain through mid week. The decision was made to postpone the entire program to Saturday, October 29. Prior to all this taking place the Waterford Speedbowl also had to postpone their season ending Town Fair Tire Fall Finale. The Speedbowl selected the same weekend with their main events to be run on Sunday, October 30. In the interest of being fair to competitors and after consulting with NASCAR the Waterford Speedbowl changed its rain date to October 22-23. It’s not so much that it would create conflicts for competitors but it did create a conflict for the paying fan as there were only so many entertainment dollars to be spent by families per week. One of the tracks would have taken it on the chin.
The winds of change were beginning to blow for 2006. Word had it that the Don Barker-Bob Cuneau No.50 Whelan Modified team would be disbanded at season’s end. One of Chuck Hossfeld’s Lancaster Speedway cronies let it slip as he alluded to the fact that a Modified had been bought from Sege Fidanza for him to drive at the western New York Lancaster Speedway for the 2006 season.
It had also been heard that Kirk Alexander, one of the top guns of the northern New England based True Value Modified Series, had been approached by two Whelen Modified Series teams who were interested in securing his services as a driver in 2006. It had also been said that the True Value Modified Tour Series competitors had voted to look into racing at Thompson in 2006. The TVMS raced at Seekonk in 2005 and was expected back in 2006. Speaking of Seekonk, Whelen Modified Tour competitors were glad to hear that a fully operational scoreboard and lap counter was now in place and was operational at the Massachusetts oval.
A devastating fire struck the Troyer Engineering and Race Car Fabrication facility in Rochester, NY late Friday, October 7. A power surge in an electrical riser outside of the building sent sparks into the second floor of the building. Materials in the storage area ignited, spreading the fire throughout the facility ultimately engulfing the majority of the building. The whole left half of the shop was gone along with much of the inventory. All that was left were the outside walls. The office area and the bays were gone with the roof either burned out or collapsed plus smoke and water damage to the remainder of the shop. Troyer Engineering designed and fabricated asphalt and dirt track chassis. Company founder Maynard Troyer had begun searching for a temporary location so that chassis building would continue on schedule. A remote office had already been set up with computers and telephones.
The Stafford Motor Speedway had completed another year of racing. The next order of business would be the annual banquet and awards dinner which would be held on Friday, November 11 at the LaRenaissance Banquet Hall in East Windsor, CT. In the tracks SK Modified division Lloyd Agor wrapped up his first ever track title by 30 points over Todd Owen. Agor had 14 top ten finishes including two wins in 21 starts. Owen also had two wins in 21 starts. Willie Hardie Jr, with one win, finished third. Ted Christopher and Frank Ruocco, each with three wins finished fourth and fifth. Sixth through tenth are Jeff Baral with two wins, Keith Rocco with one win, Woody Pitkat with two wins followed by Chuck Docherty and Jeff Malave who were winless. Ryan Posocco, with two wins, won the Late Model Championship by 46 points over Tom Butler. Butler had four wins but failed to display the consistency required to be the champion. Jim Peterson, Ed Ricard and Scott Foster rounded out the top five.
For the second time in 34 years, Super DIRT Week’s premier event – the Eckerd modified championship – was postponed indefinitely by inclement weather, probably until next year. The 200-lap race, which began under caution because of wet and slick track conditions, was halted by rain after 52 laps. After race teams and a dwindling group of fans waited through four hours of on-and-off drizzle, DIRT Motorsports officials pulled the plug on their richest race of the season. The announcement, DIRT’s first postponement of the 200-lap race since the 1977 event was pushed back to the following spring, was met with anger and frustration by many race teams.
In Nextel Cup action, Mark Martin and Greg Biffle led a team sweep of the top three spots and another Roush driver, Matt Kenseth, finished fifth. But the last laugh might belong to Tony Stewart, who finished fourth to extend his Chase lead from four points to 75. It was Stewart’s 15th top-10 finish in 16 races and, more important, his third in the first four events of the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. Biffle elected not to nudge Casey Kahne out of contention during their side-by-side duel in the Busch Racing Series event on Saturday, as Kahne edged ahead yards from the finish for the victory at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.
Ten years ago in 2010, The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour made its first visit to Tri-County Motor Speedway in North Carolina . MadHouse star Burt Myers passed John Smith with five laps to go to record his first win of the season in the Tri-County 150. It was Myers’ seventh career win and first since he was credited with a victory as the highest finishing NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour driver in the combination race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in Sept. of 2009. Smith wound up second, followed by Andy Seuss in third. Brandon Hire finished fourth and James Civali fifth.
There were 12 lead changes among six drivers with Civali using his bonus points for leading a lap to hold on to the points lead by just three points over Seuss (1,460-1,457). Myers started fifth. There were five caution periods for 21 laps. Twelve of the 19 starters finished on the lead lap.
In action on the Connecticut shoreline at the Waterford Speedbowl Kyle James of Ashaway, RI drove a great race to claim his first career SK Modified® win. Keith Rocco of Wallingford used a third place finish to clinch the division track championship and finish off his sensational season. Tim Jordan of Plainfield won his fourth Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature. Brandon Plemons of Uncasville was the Street Stock winner, his second checkered flag of the year. Waterford native Chris Williams won the Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock feature, another second time winner in 2010. Allen Coates of Ledyard and Howard Payne of Shelton split the A.B. CDL Driver Training Center Truck races.
Ron Yuhas closed in to James’ bumper for the final two laps as Rocco made it a three-car race for the win. James held the bottom lane and did a masterful job as he went on to take his first career win in the division in his first season behind the wheel of a Modified. Yuhas was second ahead of Rocco in third. Diego Monahan and Tucker Reynolds rounded out the top-five.
Ace Photographer Howie Hodge reported that Ted Christopher won the ISMA Supermodified race on Saturday night (9/25) in Berlin, Michigan driving the Clyde Booth 61. In 1999, Christopher climbed aboard a Paul Dunigan –owned supermodified for the first time ever. It was at Thompson Speedway. He started dead last. He won. Saturday at Berlin Raceway in Michigan, Ted climbed into the Clyde Booth 61 for the first time, at a track he’d never seen before, started dead last and won!
The Thompson Speedway ran a make-up event on Sunday which closed out their regular racing season. In a somewhat surprising announcement Special Consultant Ben Dodge hinted that the speedway management was thinking of possibly dropping Thursdays off their weekly schedule and going back to Sundays. Dodge asked the competitors what they thought of the change. This writer’s opinion was to leave well enough alone. The attendance on Thursdays has been good. The shows are good and they get over early. Moving to Sundays will not improve attendance, chances are during the summer months it will hurt. With racing on Thursdays the race fan can have his cake and eat it too! Fans get their weekly racing fix without interfering with family activities on Sundays. Chances are moving to Sundays won improve car counts. The only thins that will improve car counts are higher purses and a better economy. Just my opinion!
On a blustery Sunday, the 2010 champions were crowned in all six NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions at Thompson International Speedway. The evening also featured what would ultimately be the fourth leg of the Tour-Type Modified Shootout originally scheduled for August 5, 2010. Mike Stefanik of Coventry, RI, who crossed the stripe in second, was declared the winner of the event after post race technical inspection. At the checkers, it appeared as if Long Islander Justin Bonsignore had posted his first Modified victory at Thompson. Officials deemed the fuel in Bonsignore’s #51 to be in violation of the rules. Stefanik was awarded the victory. Charlie Pasteryak had a great run to come home second. Erix Goodale, Shelly Perry and Keith Rocco completed the top-five.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action Ronnie Silk turned in a dominating performance to score his first victory of the season in the Sunoco Modifieds. Ted Christopher, who finished fourth, had sewn up the championship prior to the start of the night’s events. made it a run to the end in the chase for the Super Late Model championship by winning the event. His rival Derek Ramstrom chased him to the checkers to secure the 2010 divisional title-his second straight.
In the Late Models, Tom O’Sullivan of made winning a family affair as he posted the feature victory. Rick Gentes wore the 2010 Late Model crown. Scott Sundeen bested the field in the Limited Sportsman division in an attempt to dethrone Larry Barnett. He won the battle but it was Barnett winning the war with his second straight divisional title. Keith McDermott ran to the victory in the TIS Modifieds taking the victory from the 2010 champion R.J. Marcotte. In the Mini Stocks it was Dwayne Dorr posting the feature victory while Chuck Rogers earned the championship.
The 60th Annual Sunoco Race of Champions was held at the Oswego Speedway in Oswego, NY. Former NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Tony Hirschman came out of retirement to win the event. Chuck Hossfeld finished second with Matt Hirshman, third.
Kyle Busch took a dominating romp on the concrete and rolled into the NASCAR record book. Busch set a single-season record for wins in the Nationwide Series, taking the checkered flag for the 11th time in only 23 races on Saturday at Dover International Speedway. Busch was tied with Sam Ard for the previous record with 10 wins. Busch also won 10 races in 2008, matching the record Ard set in NASCAR’s second-tier series in 1983.
In Sprint Cup action, Jimmie Johnson had a perfect weekend on the track. He won the pole, dominated again in another victory at Dover International Speedway, and even held his baby daughter in his arms in Victory Lane for the first time.
Five years ago in 2015, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series traveled to the Stafford Motor Speedway for the annual Fall Final. Twenty seven cars were on hand for practice and qualifying which started late Saturday due to intermittent rain. Fresh from their encounter at Loudon, Doug Coby and Ryan Preece qualified one-two for the 150 lap event. Coby garnered his ninth career Coors Light Pole Award with a fast lap of 18.329 seconds (98.205 mph). It was his fifth overall in 2015 behind the wheel of the No. 2 Dunleavy’s/HEX Performance Chevrolet. Following Coby and Preece in the qualifying results top 10 were Timmy Solomito, Bobby Santos, Donny Lia, Ted Christopher, Chase Dowling, Ronnie Williams, Eric Goodale and Woody Pitkat.
True to form, wannabee driver Melissa Fifield qualified next to last at 83.141mph, 15.064mph off the pole speed. NASCAR is doing a gross injustice to the entire field as they continue to let her drive around at a snail’s pace.
In other Saturday action at Stafford, taking feature wins were Tony Membrino, Jr. in the SK Light feature, David Arute in the Ltd. Late Model feature, Brandon Michael in the DARE Stock feature, and Noah Korner in the Legend Cars National Qualifier event. Stephen Kopcik won the SK Light championship, Al Saunders clinched the Ltd. Late Model championship, and Frank L’Etoile, Jr. scored his second consecutive DARE Stock championship.
It was cool and blustery but the sun shown brightly at Stafford on Sunday. In preliminary action Eric Berndt won the SK Modified 40 lapper. Ted Christopher finished second and Ryan Preece, third with Rowan Pennink, fourth. Pennink sewed up the division championship. Mike Christopher Jr rounded out the top five. Michael Bennett won the 30 lap Late Model contest.
Doug Coby made it two in a row as he scored a decisive win over Ryan Preece as he won the Fall Final. Long Island drivers Timmy Solomito, Donny Lia and Shawn Solomito rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Chase Dowling, Matt Swanson, Jamie Tomaino, Ken Heagy and Todd Szegedy. All tolled, fifteen of the original 27 starters were on the lead lap at the finish.
Preece, the 2013 champion who was the runner-up to Coby in 2012 and 2014, rebounded from an accident and pit road penalty to finish second at Stafford. Woody Pitkat, who entered the race weekend with the points lead, finished 12th after being involved in a late-race wreck.
Unofficially the fight for the title couldn’t be tighter as Preece and Coby are tied at 565 points and Pitkat is at 561 point in third spot.
Seven caution periods and two red flag conditions slow the progress of the event. The first caution was displayed on lap 29 for Todd Szegedy who spun in turn four. Szegedy lost a lap but in the course of the event made it up to salvage a tenth at the finish. The second caution flew on lap 48 when Jeff Goodale spun in front of the field as he was about to be lapped. At the same time Dave Sapienza and Dave Salzarulo spun together in turn two. The third caution flew for Matt Swanson who spun in turn two. The fourth caution came at the 100 lap mark when James Civale spun and was tagged by Ryan Preece. Also collected in the mêlée was Patrick Emerling, Jeff Goodale, Ted Christopher, Justin Bonsignore, Ronnie Williams and Shawn Solomito. The red flag was displayed on lap 102 in order to clean up the track and to tow Emerling and Williams to the pit area. Bobby Santos brought out the fifth caution on lap123 when his engine came unglued. A red flag resulted to get the track cleaned of the oil spilled. Ted Christopher spun in turn four on lap 130 bringing out the sixth caution. Max Zachem was also involved. Christopher got collected on the resulting restart and was eliminated from the event. The seventh and final caution was for James Civali who suffered a flat right front tire and stopped in turn three.
There were three different leaders. Preece took the lead at the start and held it thru lap 96. Lia led laps 97 to 105 and Coby led from lap 106 to the finish.
Glenn Donnelly, the man who first organized and promoted Super DIRT Week in 1972, will keep the event alive in the future, thanks to an investment by the State of New York.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced at a press conference held at the New York State Fairgrounds that the Super DIRT Week event would move to the Central New York Raceway Park (CNYRP) in Central Square in 2016. New York State will invest $5 million in the development of the racetrack.
Tony Stewart announced that he will quit Sprint Cup racing after 2016, but will not retire as a driver. That was the overriding message he delivered to an SRO audience on Wednesday afternoon at Stewart-Haas Racing in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Kevin Harvick dominated the AAA 400 at the Dover International Speedway for his first victory since March 15. The defending Sprint Cup champion led an incredible 355 of 400 laps and withstood a challenge from Kyle Busch to punch his ticket into the Contender round of the Chase.
Regan Smith overcame persistent rain showers and challenges from the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch while trying to save fuel to win Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Hisense 200 at Dover Int’l Speedway.
Last year, 2019, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returned to the track for the annual NAPA Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway. Saturday morning at Stafford saw a hint of fall with highs in the 40s before the sun came up. A banner field of open wheeled Modifieds were on hand including 34 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour cars, 34 SK Modifieds and 33 SK Lights. It was great to see the late Bob Potter remembered with his car number (51) and checkered flags painted on the infield grass. Potter’s car, the 51 that he and Jiggs Beetham built in the Freddy’s TV garage in Norwich paced the field with former SK Modified champion Jerry Pearl at the wheel. Mike Stefanik was also remembered as a throw-back X-6 driven by Timmy Solomito paced the Whelen Modified Tour field.
In somewhat of a surprise, Chris Pasteryak took the pole for the Fall Final. Pasteryak toured the half mile oval in18.515mph which equates to 97.218mph. Doug Coby was a tick off with a time of 18.548 which placed him on the outside pole. Bobby Santos III was third fastest with Justin Bonsignore and Ron Silk rounding out the top five. In other Saturday action at Stafford, feature events for its Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions, as well as a feature event for the Vintage All-Stars and the special Ladies Challenge feature that raised over $18,000 for various charities were run as part of the Saturday NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final Weekend festivities. The Street Stock feature was also the third and final leg of the RSMPCO.com Street Stock Triple Crown that split $4,500 from RSMPCO.com among the top-10 finishers with Meghan Fuller taking home the winner’s share of $1,000. Taking feature wins were Matt Clement in the Limited Late Model feature, Fuller in the Street Stock feature, Don Howe in the Vintage All-Stars Feature, and Nicole LaRose in the Ladies Challenge. Jeremy Lavoie clinched his second consecutive Limited Late Model track championship and Zack Robinson became the 2019 Street Stock track champion.
Sunday dawned bright with mid 70-degree temps. The perfect weather led to a near capacity crowd that witnessed the inaugural win of Craig Lutz ending a long dry spell. Lutz, who was making his 66th start on the tour. Lutz who has been a contender all year, took the lead from Doug Coby on lap 118 and in the end was pulling away from Justin Bonsignore who had passed Coby who was beginning to fade, held on for third. Chuck Hossfeld, who did an all nighter after running in the Race of Champions at Erie Pa, finished fourth. Matt Swanson, in Ole Blu, rounded out the top five. Ron Silk finished sixth, followed by Bobby Santos III, Woody Pitkat, Chase Dowling and Patrick Emerling.
Lutz started ninth and rode inside the top 10 for the duration of the race but shined when it mattered most. Chris Pasteryak earned his first career Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole award in qualifying, and led the first six laps, before Coby took control. Bonsignore took the lead from Coby just before halfway and paced the field until a caution just after lap 100, when leaders pitted multiple times for tires. It would be the only caution of the day that Coby, Bonsignore and Lutz entered pit road.
Pasteryak would lead eight more laps after cycling back to the lead, but couldn’t hold the top spot, as Coby slid by, then a restart gave Lutz his opportunity. Lutz passed Coby and never looked back, minding a gap back to Bonsignore for the final 10 laps.
Twenty six of the original 34 starters were running at the end. Sixteen were on the lead lap. Five cautions for 27 laps slowed the event. The first caution came on lap 14 when JB Fortin spun on the front stretch and collected Tyler Rypkema. Fortin continued and was able to finish 17th while Rypkema retired with a broken axle. The second caution was displayed on lap 28 when Fortin spun in turn three. The third caution came on lap 41 when Sam Rameau took a hard lick in the turn 1 wall. Rameau emerged unhurt bit his car was done for the day placing him 32nd in the finish. Debris in turn three brought out the fourth caution on lap 103. The fifth and final caution was displayed on lap 111 when the track was blocked by a five car wreck. It appeared that Ron Silk hit Eric Goodale who lost control and hit the fence, breaking a spindle. Also collected were the cars of Anthony Nocella, Andrew Molleur, Silk and Timmy Catalano.
In other Sunday action at Stafford, taking down feature wins were Todd Owen in the SK Modified® feature, Wayne Coury, Jr. in the Late Model feature, and Teddy Hodgdon in the SK Light feature. Owen’s win meant he ended the season tied with Ronnie Williams in the points standings, but Williams had 5 wins this season to Owen’s 4 to make him the champion for the second consecutive season. Hodgdon came into the NAPA Fall Final as the SK Light points leader and he won his first Stafford championship in grand style by winning the race.
The 69th Annual Race of Champions was contested at Lake Erie Speedway (PA), continuing one of the most storied traditions in Modified racing. Despite a constant threat of rain that eventually temporarily delayed the Race of Champions 250, “Big Money” Matt Hirschman wouldn’t let it rain on his parade, scoring his seventh Race of Champions 250 win.
Hirschman led the field from the start, saving his tires while leading the field from the drop of the green flag. His red 60 modified would go on to lead through the fuel stop, before finally pitting for tires during a caution on lap 157. George Skora III would inherit the lead during the pit cycle, taking the lead just in time for a quick lake effect rain shower to douse the Erie, PA facility on lap 171. Despite Skora III’s prayers for the event to end, a valiant effort by track officials was able to dry the track through spitting precipitation and fog that had rolled in off the track’s namesake lake.
Skora led briefly following the rain delay, but Hirschman had no problem cutting through the field with fresh tires. Hirschman fell to tenth on the pit cycle but returned to the lead just 15 laps later. Despite late charges by Skora III and Eric Beers, Hirschman never looked back, leading the last 60 laps to score his fifth straight Race of Champions 250 win, adding to his wins at Oswego and Chemung. Eric Beers finished second with Skora, third. Scott Wylie and Austin Beers rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth were Chuck Hossfeld, Patrick Emerling, Daren Scherer, Mike Leaty and Randall Richard. At the conclusion of the event Hossfeld and Emerling did an all nighter as the high-tailed it to Stafford Springs Ct to compete in the NASCAR Whelan Fall Final Modified Series event.
Down on Long Island, Tom Rogers Jr. scored his 5th NASCAR Modified victory of the 2019 season Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway in a season ending 50-lap contest. The win was the 57th of Tom’s career moving him to just six wins behind all time track leader the late “Charging” Charlie Jarzombek. Rogers also won his 10th Figure Eight event of 2019 tying him with the late Joe Biondolillo Jr. for second on that all time win list with 53 tallies each. After a rough 2018 season weather wise that saw Riverhead Raceway rained out eight times the 2019 Saturday night NASCAR Whelen All American Series ran straight through from May until Saturday night without a rain out. The only blemish during the summer was two Wednesday night washouts in August. Dave Brigati was runner-up in his JDL Environmental Chevy while Chris Young wrapped up an impressive season with a third place finish in the Riverhead Building Supply Chevy. Dylan Slepain of and John Baker completed the top five.
AJ Allmendinger raced to his first NASCAR victory in five years Saturday in the Xfinity Series playoff race on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chase Elliott overcame a costly mistake that nearly wrecked his car to win a sloppy race in scorching temperatures on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
