RPW Column: Looking Back A Bit: Fourth Week Of October
Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy years ago in 1951 Dave Humphrey won the first ever Modified Championship at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl in style as he won the final racing program of the year, a 25 lap Modified event.
Humphrey, who also took the title at the Seekonk Speedway narrowly edged out Moe Gherzi for the title.
Sixty five years ago in 1956 Wild Bill Slater won the 50 lap season ending Modified event at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Charlie Webster was the non-Ford winner.
Sixty years ago in 1961 saw rain wash out the racing at the Waterford Speedbowl.
Fifty five years ago in 1966 at the World Series at Thompson, season ending twin 50’s were won by Sal Dee and Bugsy Stevens. Ed Flemke Sr was the overall winner. Don Stumph and Lenny Brown shared victory lane in season ending twin features at Old Bridge
Fifty years ago in 1971, NESMRA promoted the World Series event at Thompson which saw Supers and Modifieds running together. The Supers of the day were very unreliable which gave the full bodied cars a chance. The 50 lap main event was won by Eddie West in a Super, who had a two lap lead on the field. Don McLaren, also in a Super was second. Finishing third was Eddie Flemke who drove the Mystic Missile. Howard Brown, in a Super was fourth. Rounding out the top six were Bob Potter in the Billy Simonds Excavator Special and Leo Cleary in the Armando Riccio Flying Nine.
Forty five years ago in 1976, Geoff Bodine and Ray Hendrick, driving team cars owned by Richard Armstrong finished one-two in the season ending Cardinal 250 at Martinsville. Pole sitter Harry Gant in the William Mason No.45 led the event until retiring with a blown engine. John Bryant also led the event until losing two tires. Paul Radford finished third with Richie Evans, fourth. The 250 lap Sportsman (Busch Grandnational) event was snowed out.
Forty years ago in 1981,Geoff Bodine dominated the season ending Cardinal 250 at Martinsville as he led all but 15 laps to record his ninth win of the season. Bodine drove a modified owned by Phil Taylor. Bugsy Stevens in Bodine’s old ride, the Armstrong No.1, finished second. It was a war of attrition as only 15 of the original 40 starters were running at the finish. A challenge from Richie Evans never materialized as he dropped out after only five laps with a broken master cylinder. Maynard Troyer finished third and was followed by Kenny Bouchard, Ray Miller and Doug Hewitt.
Thirty five years ago in 1986, Charlie Jarzombek capped a successful season as he won the season ending Modified 200 at Martinsville. Reggie Ruggiero finished second and was followed by George Kent, Jeff Fuller, Jim Spencer and Carl Pasteryak.
Thirty years ago in 1991, the Featherlite Modified Tour was at Martinsville for a 200 lapper. Mike Stefanik took the lead from Jan Leaty on lap 128 and held off Leaty to take the win. Jeff Fuller finished third and was followed by Reggie Ruggiero, Wayne Anderson, Steve Park, Jamie Tomaino and Satch Worley. Harry Gant won the Busch Grandnational 200 lapper over Chuck Bown and Dale Jarrett.
Twenty five years ago in 1996, after a one week postponement because of rain, Thompson ran the season ending World Series. Steve Park, who had the pole position, cleaned house as he took the lead from Mike Stefanik on lap 105 of the 125 lap event. Stefanik had nothing for Park and had to settle for second in the final run down. Jerry Marquis finished third and was followed by Ed Flemke Jr, Tom Bolles, Bert Marvin, Tim Arre and Mike Ewanitsko. Tony Hirschman, in the Len Boehler No.3, finished 10th and sewed up the series championship. Because of numerous wrecks, the SK 30 lapper was shortened to 20 laps with Bob Potter getting the win over Jim Broderick, Scott Spaulding, Ricky Young and Don Fowler.
Twenty years ago in 2001, the only action was at Phoenix where Casey Atwood was the Winston Cup Busch Pole sitter. Jeff Burton took the win. The Busch Grandnationals were also at Phoenix. Jim Spencer was the pole sitter and was the class of the field until his transmission blew. Waiting in the wings was Greg Biffle who went on to take the win.
Fifteen years ago in 2006 the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Fall Final at Stafford was originally scheduled for Saturday but because of impending rain, the event was rescheduled for Sunday against the Waterford Speedbowl Double Down event. As predicted, high winds close to 50mph and heavy rain, close to two inches in spots, blanketed the entire New England – Long Island area on Saturday. Race teams and fans coming from Long Island were forced to drive around through New York City when the ferry terminal on Orient Point, Long Island became submerged after 6-10 foot waves from Gardners Bay crashed ashore. The Waterford Speedbowl fell victim to a flooded parking lot and track after it rained for over seven hours on Saturday. The Double Down Showdown was postponed to Saturday, November 4.
Stafford’s Fall Final took the green shortly after 4:00p.m. on Sunday. Todd Szegedy of Ridgefield, CT jumped from his pole starting position and went non-stop for 150 laps to take the win. Despite the fact that there were no lead changes there was action a plenty going on. Mike Stefanik became the Whelen Modified Tour Series Champion when he took the green as he had a decisive point lead going into the event over Ted Christopher. Stefanik finished sixth. Christopher, who crashed while running second on lap 51, lost second spot in the final standings by one point to Eddie Flemke Jr. who finished ninth. Christopher was credited with 25th finishing spot. Christopher’s car broke a left rear brake rotor, which caused his car to turn sharply into the wall. Preston City Connecticut’s favorite son, Kenny Barry finished a strong second after coming from a 19th starting spot. Zach Sylvester, from Lebanon, CT, finished third with defending series champion Tony Hirschman, fourth. Rounding out the top five was John Blewett III. Stefanik finished sixth with Donny Lia, Ronnie Silk, Flemke and Jerry Marquis rounding out the top ten.
Eight caution periods for 42 laps kept the average speed down to 64.518mph. In addition to the Christopher crash on lap 51 there were others who went out on the hook of a wrecker including Reggie Ruggerio who wrecked with Chuck Hossfeld on lap 29, Jimmy Blewett who was part of a six car wreck on lap 7 and Rob Summers who wrecked on lap 21.
In other racing action at Stafford, three track championships were decided on the track, as Frank Ruocco won the SK Modified championship, Woody Pitkat won the Late Model championship, and Shelly Perry won a 4-way battle to take the SK Light championship. Feature winners included Willie Hardie winning the 50-lap SK Modified feature, Ryan Posocco winning the Late Model feature, and Matt Gallo won the 20-lap SK Light feature.In the 50-lap SK Modified feature event, Willie Hardie won the battle, but Frank Ruocco ended up winning the war. Hardie did all that he could do to overtake Ruocco for the championship by winning the race, but Ruocco ran just aggressively enough to stay in a championship clinching position throughout the 50-lapper. The race started with Jeff Malave leading the early laps, but Woody Pitkat overtook Malave on lap-6. Pitkat held the race lead until he dropped off the pace and pulled behind the wall on lap-45, which gave the lead of the race to Hardie, who had worked his way up to second. Ruocco and Hardie started the race side by side in the 5th row, and while Hardie set sail for the front of the pack, Ruocco was never more than several positions behind Hardie, keeping himself in championship contention. Hardie took the checkered flag ahead of Malave, Zach Sylvester, Brad Hietala, and Eric Berndt. Ruocco finished seventh to win the championship by 6 points over Hardie.
On a sad note Midget Great Johnny Coy passed away on Saturday Oct 28th. Johnny raced everything from jalopies to Modifieds, but it was the midgets where he excelled. In 1958 NASCAR had a midget division. Out of 25 races Johnny won 14 of them and the NASCAR Midget Crown.
Tony Stewart was the Nextel Cup winner at Atlanta and Kevin Harvick was the Busch Series winner at Memphis.
Ten years ago in 2011, , the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series had wrapped up their 2011 season. Congratulations to Ron Silk and the Eddie and Connie Partridge led TS Haulers Race Team. Silks season point total was 2443 while runner-up, Todd Szegedy amassed 2367 points. Eric Beers ended up in the third spot followed by Rowan Pennink and Doug Coby. Sixth through tenth were Matt Hirschman, Justin Bonsignore, Bobby Santos, Ted Christopher and Erick Rudolph. Fifty seven different drivers were in competition during the season. Fourteen different drivers ran all 16 events. Ted Christopher was the top winner with four victories to his credit. Silk and Szegedy each won three while Coby, Bonsignore and Santos had one each. Other winners were Mike Stefanik, Glen Reen and Ryan Newman.
Many race teams were taking a wait and see attitude before making plans for 2012. Lenny Sammons, Publisher and Editor of Area Auto Racing News got an interesting answer from car owner Bob Garbarino when asked about his plans for 2012. He stated that he was not making a decision about next year until he saw a schedule. Sammons quoted Garbarino, ” I don’t buy green bananas anymore” he said, alluding to the fact about making a decision when the schedule is unknown. Ryan Preece was all set for 2012 as it had been announced that he would drive the Flamingo Motorsports entry that was vacated by Mike Stefanik.
Doug Coby and Daniel Hemric were running second and third behind Glen Reen on a lap 160 restart in the recent World Series NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series event at the Thompson Speedway and got together shortly after taking the green. Hemric, from Kanapolis, NC, was driving the Roger Hill No.79 and found himself in the turn one wall and Coby spun. Based on what was heard on a scanner it was assumed that NASCAR Control felt that Coby was overaggressive and placed him one lap down. Coby stated that NASCAR did not penalize him for over aggression. “I was the one who was taken out by the 79 on that late restart and I was penalized for passing cars under caution to attempt to get my second place spot back”, he said. He added, “Brian Vance, the Tour Race Director, afterwards acknowledged that the one lap penalty was more a result of his frustration with all of the drivers for how the race was ending, and acknowledged that it may in fact have been inconsistent with other calls he made that day with regards to other drivers who were incorrectly lined up on the racetrack”.
The Valenti Modified Racing Series was at the Lee USA Speedway in Lee New Hampshire last weekend, 32 cars strong. Qualifying heat race winners were Ken Barry, Chris Pasteryak and Mike Holdredge.
Rowan Pennink took the season ending win over Les Hinckley, Norm Wrenn, Rob Goodenough and Matt Hirschman. Chris Pasteryak finished ninth and has won his second VMRS Championship.
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour wrapped up their 2012 season at the Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, NC. There were 15 cars on hand. George Brunnhoelzl III started from the outside of the front row and led every lap en route to winning the Caraway 150 season-ending event.
Brunnhoelzl took the lead from his pole-sitter and Ideal Racing teammate Andy Seuss on the first lap and was never threatened as he picked up his fifth win of the season and 11th of his career. Burt Myers picked up his best finish of the season in second place with rookie Daniel Hemric finishing with his first-ever top-three finish. Andy Seuss was fourth and Brian Loftin completed the top five. Jason Myers completed his most consistent season on the tour with a sixth-place finish with Tim Brown rebounding from a spin to finish seventh. 2011 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Austin Pack was eighth with Brandon Ward ninth and L.W. Miller completing the top 10.
Brunnhoelzl entered the night with a comfortable lead in the point standings only needing to take the green flag to wrap up the series championship. Seuss finished second in the final point standings.
Clint Bowyer hung teammate Jeff Burton out to dry on the last lap of Sunday’s Talladega race, pulling around him when the checkered flag was in sight to pick up his first win of the season and the 100th in the Sprint Cup Series for Richard Childress Racing.
Five years ago in 2016, It took two long days but the season ending Bemers Big Show at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl was not completed but it wasn’t because track management and competitors didn’t try. Heavy rain and wind all but washed out the scheduled racing for Saturday. Late in the day the Granite State Pro Stock 75 lapper was run but that was it as rain again fell on the shoreline oval shutting activity down. The other 14 features that we were scheduled to run on Saturday will be run on Saturday, Oct. 29.In the Pro Stock event, Dave Farrington took the win after DJ Shaw, who had led from the start, pitted with tire problems with seven laps remaining.
Forty one cars were in the pit for the Tri-Track Modified Series Finale. It was windy and cool and a good day for racing. Ron Silk took the lead following a restart on lap 15 and won the first of two 35 lap qualifying heats which carried a $3,000 payday. Justin Bonsignore finished second with Woody Pitkat, third. John Keivman, Dennis Perry and Ted Christopher followed. Tommy Barrett Jr has been all but invisible since his arrest for driving under the influence came back in a big way as he won the second 35 lap qualifying heat. Barrett passed pole sitter Keith Rocco following a restart on lap 15 and never looked back. Rocco finished second and was followed by Les Hinkley, Ryan Preece and Eric Berndt. Barrett started ninth. Steve Masse won the 25 lap consolation event.
The entire starting field redrew for starting spots in the 65 lap main event. Jeff Gallup drew the pole with Mike Holdredge on the outside. Holdredge led the early going. The first yellow was displayed on lap 41 when Gallup spun on the home stretch. Shortly after, Woody Pitkat and Dwight Jarvis made contact in turn three with Pitkat taking a hard into the wall. Another quick caution slowed the race for a spin by Dennis Perry in turn two on lap 43 and then a final caution came out when Keith Rocco spun in turn two. Matt Hirschman, who started fifth was waiting in the wings took over from there and was never headed. Les Hinkley moved into the second spot just past the 40 lap mark but was unable to mount a challenge and at the checker was the runner-up. Hirschman received $5,000 for his efforts. Silk was able to come home in third spot after starting back in 22nd. Holdridge was able to hang on for a fourth place finish, while Richard Savary captured a fifth place finish. Rowan Pennink, Steve Masse, Ryan Preece, Andy Jankowiak and Rob Summers completed the top 10.
The Waterford SK Modifieds were also part of the program. Internet web site RaceDayct reported that their feature, called the Nationals was scheduled for 75 laps but was cut short when Diego Monahan clobbered the pit gate to the extent that it was impossible to repair. Ted Christopher had just taken the lead from Ryan Preece after a bump and run and was declared the winner. The win was worth five grand but Christopher never got to spend it as he was disqualified when track officials found illegal fuel in his tank. Paul Kusheba IV, who finished fourth, was also disqualified for using illegal fuel. Both claimed they bought the fuel at the track. Maybe they should take legal action against the fuel company who sold them the illegal fuel. John Holland, president of New England Racing Fuels told internet site Speed51 that there was nothing wrong with his fuel.
In the end, Preece got the big check. Ronnie Williams was moved from third to second and Keith Rocco from sixth to third. Todd Owen finished fourth. Steve Masse, who finished fifth in the original finish, was penalized two positions as he had a weight issue, but he still finished fifth because of the disqualifications. Rowan Pennink ended up sixth with Matt Hirschman seventh and Dennis Perry, eighth.
Keith Rocco won the division championship with Dennis Perry finishing second. As a result of Christopher’s disqualification Joey Gada ended up third behind Perry in the standings and Tyler Chadwick moved to fourth. It was Rocco’s fourth consecutive SK Modified championship and sixth title in the division overall. Rocco’s father-in-law former track champion Todd Ceravolo who is fighting cancer was the Grand Marshal of the event.
In action below the Mason-Dixon line Burt Myers won at Caraway in North Carolina as he took the final feature and the season championship for the Southern Modified Racing Series. Brian Loftin finished second with Jason Myers, third. Tim Brown and LW Miller rounded out the top five in the 13-car field. It was sort of a triple crown achievement for Burt Myers as he also won the track championship at Bowman Gray Stadium and the NASCAR Whelen Southerm Modified championship.
The Modified Touring Series organized by principal Gary Knight of Charlestown, NH has announced three races for 2017 at the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH. The MTS held one race this year at that same track during the summer which paid $15,000 to the winner. Teams will be racing the 2017 season for a $40,000.00 point fund and a per race event of $3000.00 to win. MTS will also be introducing an exciting points chase that will ensure that each race will keep competitors and fans on the edge of their seats every time the drivers hit the track. Knight is currently in talks with other tracks for more dates for the upcoming season. Meanwhile the Tri Track Modified Series has issued the following: TTOMS wishes to thank all sponsors, teams, media, fans and competitors for their hard work and dedication to the racing for the 2016 season. It was announced that Wayne Darling and Mark Pennink would be taking over operation of the Tri-Track Open Modified Series.
In NASCAR Sprint cup action Joey Logano punched his ticket to the third round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a victory Sunday afternoon in the Hellmann’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Last year, 2020, When the Tri-Track Series rolled into the Stafford Motor Speedway on Saturday it brought back fond memories of the first Spring Sizzler in 1972 when Dick Berggren, Bruce Cohen and Lew Boyd put their heads together to create what is now considered “The Greatest Race of the Spring”. Fast forward to 2020, The first visit to Stafford could very well be considered the “Greatest Race of the Fall”. Tons of Modified Race cars, (51 ) a huge purse paying $10,000 to win plus contingencies and a packed house with all the law would allow. The event was co-promoted by Ed Bennett and Wayne Darling. On April 25, 2004, Jerry Marquis scored victory in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Spring Sizzler 200 at Stafford Speedway. It marked the last time a Tour Type Modified event at the Arute owned facility attracted an entry list eclipsing 50 cars. Fifty-four cars showed up that day at Stafford Speedway looking to make a 33-car field. Names like Tom Baldwin Sr., Ken Bouchard and Mike Christopher Sr. were part of a group of 21 drivers that didn’t make the feature that day.
With 51 cars on hand to qualify for 32 starting positions, there was also a 25-lap B-Main feature that sent the top-2 finishers to the main event and paid a purse of nearly $10,000 to the non-qualifiers. Chase Dowling held off Matt Hirschman through a host of mid-race restarts before pulling away from the field in the closing laps to win the race and the $10,000 payday. Noah Korner won the B-Main and Dylan Izzo finished second to advance into the CBYD 81 main feature.
The Call Before You Dig 81 took the green flag with Ronnie Williams going outside Burt Myers to take the early lead. Ryan Preece went from fourth to second on the start with Chase Dowling taking third. Myers moved into line in fourth, just in front of Woody Pitkat. Pitkat got around Myers to take fourth place on lap-4 and Keith Rocco took fifth on lap-5 as Myers was sliding backwards to ninth place. Dowling took the lead from Williams on lap-12 just before the caution came out for Marcello Rufrano who spun into the front stretch grass.
Dowling took the lead back under green with Williams, Pitkat, Preece, and Tommy Barrett, Jr. lined up behind him. Matt Hirschman was up to sixth place and he took fifth from Barrett on lap-15 while up front, Pitkat and Preece both got by Williams to move into second and third. Preece took second from Pitkat on lap-20 while Dowling was starting to stretch out his advantage up front. With 25 laps complete, the running order was Dowling, Preece, Pitkat, Hirschman, Williams, Doug Coby, Joey Cipriano, Barrett, Jon McKennedy, and Michael Christopher, Jr. The caution flew with 30 laps complete for a spin in the middle of turns 3+4 by Noah Korner. Under the caution period, most of the field of cars came to pit road for service. The cars that stayed out were Preece, Coby, Christopher, Eric Goodale, Dylan Izzo, and Matt Swanson. The order for the restart was Preece and Coby on the front row, Christopher and Goodale in row 2 and Izzo and Swanson in row 3. Several cars piled up on the restart in turn 1 involving Marcello Rufrano, Dave Etheridge, Matt Galko, Anthony Sesely, Brian Robie, and Ryan Doucette, while on the backstretch Jon McKennedy and Woody Pitkat came together and collected the car of Sapienza to bring the red and yellow flags out as Pitkat’s car was pinned on its side against the backstretch wall.
Preece took the lead on the restart with Christopher in second. Izzo was third but on lap-32 Dowling went 3-wide with Izzo and Swanson to move into third and then he took second from Christopher. Izzo got into the backstretch wall on lap-37 and he limped back to pit road but his car came to a stop just at the entrance to pit road to bring the caution out. Swanson spun on the restart coming out of turn 2 to bring the caution flag right back out. Goodale spun on the front stretch to bring the caution out again before a lap could be completed on the next restart. The third restart saw Dowling power his way around Preece in the outside lane to take the lead. Hirschman followed suit and moved into second with Joey Cipriano taking third, Ronnie Silk fourth, and Christopher fifth. Preece slid back to sixth place but he would lose that place to Williams on lap-41. Rufrano spun in turn 3 with 45 laps complete to bring the caution out.
Dowling took the lead on the restart with Hirschman in second. Cipriano was third followed by Silk and Williams but the caution came back out with 46 laps complete as Preece and Coby both got into the turn 3 wall and were done for the night. Dana DiMatteo was black flagged and parked for the remainder of the race by Tri-Track officials for making contact with Preece and Coby.
Hirschman and Dowling went side by side for the lead for 2 laps after the restart with Dowling getting clear to the lead on lap-49. Cipriano was third in line followed by Silk, Williams, Korner, Owen, Goodale, Rufrano, and Pasteryak. The caution came back out with 52 laps complete for a spin by Pasteryak in turn 4 that also involved Rufrano.
Dowling took the lead back under green with Hirschman right behind him in second. Cipriano and Silk were side by side for third place with Williams and Owen side by side for fifth. Noah Korner spun on the backstetch to bring the caution back out with 56 laps complete. Dowling again took the lead on the restart with Hirschman slotting into second. Williams and Cipriano were side by side for third place with Goodale in fifth. Cipriano got clear of Williams for third on lap-58 before the caution came back out with 59 laps complete for spins in turn 3 by Andy Jankowiak and Christopher.
The restart was called back by officials and the second restart saw Cipriano spin through the front stretch grass to bring the caution right back out. The next restart saw Dowling again take the lead with Hirschman right on his bumper for 2 laps before Korner spun in turn 4 to bring the caution back out with 60 laps complete. Dowling shot back into the lead on the restart with Williams pulling alongside Hirschman for second. Justin Bonsignore was up to fourth and Swanson and Goodale were side by side for fifth place. Williams was able to clear Hirschman for second on lap-63 while Goodale’s car dropped off the pace and he pulled behind the pit wall. This made the running order Dowling, Williams, Hirschman, Bonsignore, and Swanson with 18 laps to go.
With 5 laps to go it was still Dowling in command with Williams, Hirschman, Bonsignore, and Swanson giving chase. Hirschman and Williams were fighting hard for second place, which was allowing Dowling to slowly build up a lead lap by lap as the field closed in on the checkered flag. Dowling led the field to the checkered flag to win the race and the $10,000 payday that came with the victory. Williams finished second with Hirschman, Bonsignore, and Swanson rounding out the top-5. Sixth thru tenth included Richard Savary, Les Hinckley, Todd Owen, Ronnie Silk and Burt Myers.
Dowling, the driver of the No. S&S Asphalt Paving machine owned by Ben Dodge, rolled to a dominant win in the inaugural Tri Track Open Modified Series race at the Connecticut half-mile. The race win came with a smooth $10,000 check courtesy of CBYD and Tri Track — just a small portion of a purse that was over $58,000. Thirty-two cars started the race, while 51 Modifieds showed up in the pit area to attempt to qualify. It was the largest, and most talented, Modified field seen in a race in multiple decades of racing. While Dowling celebrated the victory, Hirschman clinched his fifth career Tri Track title driving the No. 60 Modified.
The major wreck of the race happened off turn two on lap 30, just after the cycle of controlled caution pit stops. After Doug Coby had a mechanical failure at the green flag and stacked up the outside lane, multiple cars wrecked, drawing a caution in turn one. It was in turn two where most of the carnage happened — with Woody Pitkat ending up halfway up the wall on his side. Pitkat, Jon McKennedy, Dave Sapienza and others escaped without injury, but were sidelined for the rest of the race.
Tyler Chapman held off his brother Steven to win the SK Light feature while Frank L’Etoile, Jr. continued his late season hot streak at Stafford by winning the Street Stock feature.
The event was deemed a rousing success in all aspects including car counts, grandstand occupancy and Pay per View audience
The New London Waterford Speedbowl was back in action with their three day event The Fall Finale. Keith Rocco didn’t have a good day at Stafford on Saturday as he finished dead last on the Tri-Track event but he more than made up for it on Sunday as he won the 75 lap SK Modified main event that closed out the racing season at the shoreline oval. Rocco continued to build on his record setting feature win total. Rocco brought his track win total to 153 wins, 92 of those in an SK Modified. Rocco also has 49 career Late Model victories, four Limited Sportsman division wins, four Valenti Modified Racing Series victories, two Truck Series wins, one Pro Four Modified win and one NEMA Lite win during his career at Waterford. The win also took Rocco over the top to a career overall total of 292 wins which, in addition to the 153 at the speedbowl also include 65 at Thompson and 74 at the Stafford Speedway.
Todd Owen was second and Andrew Molleur, third. In some late race drama when Molleur was leading with Owen on his tail, the two made contact on a lap 71 restart. The resulting jingle sent Owen up the track, opening the door for Rocco to close on Molleur’s tail. Rocco executed a pass for the lead one lap later. One final caution waved with one to go which resulted in a green – white -checker finish. Rocco was first under the checker. Tim Jordan recorded a 10th place finish in the 75-lap SK Modified feature to clinch his first SK Modified championship at the track.
Thirteen other racing divisions resulted in a jammed pit area. The winners were: Ryan Tibman in the Three Quarter Midgets, Joey Polowarczyk won the 100 lap Granite State Pro Stock 100, Derek Gluchacki won the Late Model 30 lapper, Corey Fanning was the Legends Winner, Jason Chicolas was the Limited Sportsman winner, Mark Panaroni was the Mini Stock winner, the NEMA Midgets winner was Avery Stoehr, Jake Trainer was the NEMA Lite winner, Adam Petty was the Open Street winner, Doug Meservy was the Pro Four winner, Michael was the Sport Truck winner, Robert Bloxsom was the SK Lite winner and Andrew Morin was the Regular Truck winner.
The Riverhead Raceway continued their Saturday night racing program. Last season NASCAR Modified talent CJ Lehmann went on a late season hot streak at Riverhead Raceway winning two of the final four NASCAR Modified feature events at the track. History just might have a way of repeating itself as on Saturday night CJ won the second to last 50-lap main event of 2020. It was Lehmann’s first win of the delayed season third overall of his career.
Riverhead Raceway owners Eddie & Connie Partridge and Tom Gatz figure there is only one way to send off the challenging 2020 race season into the sunset and that is in spectacular fashion as they announced plans for the 4th annual Islip 300 Saturday November 14th. The Partridge and Gatz ownership team are also happy and excited to announce that East West Marine Services has signed on to be the title sponsor of the $32,650 Tour Type Modified extravaganza that rewards the winner with a $7,000 payday.
