Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1947, Dick Shuebruk was the winner in the Midgets at Seekonk. Seventy years ago in 1952 rain prevailed at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.
Sixty five years ago in 1957 Don Collins was the 25 lap Sportsman winner at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Benny Desrosier was the 10 lap non-Ford winner
Sixty years ago in 1962, Dick Beauregard made it two in a row at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl as he won the 25 Lap Modified feature. Ed Moody, who in later years would become the assistant tech inspector at the Stafford Speedway, won the 15 lap Bomber feature. At the Norwood Arena Wild Bill Slater won his first of would become a record setting eight feature wins in a row.
Fifty five years ago in 1967, the only racing was in New York State, Massachusetts and in Connecticut. Fulton Raceway ran on Saturday night with Maynard Troyer taking the win. The Fonda Speedway opened for the season with Pete Corey taking the win over Jeep Herbert and Bill Wimble. Also opening for the season was the Utica-Rome Speedway where Fran Kitchen took the win over Kenny Shoemaker, Bernie Miller, Ray Sitterly and Frank Mathalia. In Connecticut at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Newt Palm made it three in a row when he won the 30 lap Modified feature. Ron Emery was the Daredevil winner. Freddie Schulz won the season opener at Norwood. Johnny Thompson finished second with Bobby Santos, third. Rain made it two in a row at Seekonk.
Fifty years ago in 1972, the NASCAR Modifieds were in Martinsville for a 100 lap event which saw Bugsy Stevens take the win over Gene Bergin, Jerry Cook and Max Berrier. Islip opened for the season on Saturday night with Fred Harbach taking the win over Jim Hendrickson, George Wagner and Cliff Tyler. At Fonda, Jack Johnson dusted Lou Lazzaro and Maynard Forette for the win. Dave Lape and Harry Peek rounded out the top five. Stafford ran a 30 lapper on Sunday afternoon. Ronnie Bouchard in the Bob Johnson No.17 took the win over Leo Cleary, Bob Santos, Jerry Cook, Ray Miller and Smokey Boutwell. Waterford also ran on Sunday afternoon with Angie Cerase taking the 40 lap Modified win. Wally Gada was the Sportsman Sedan winner.
Forty five years ago in 1977, Ronnie Bouchard beat out Fred DeSarro and Bob Polverari as he won the season opener 100 lapper at the Waterford Speedbowl. Don Fowler was the Grand American Late Model winner. This event was the first to be promoted by Dick Williams and Coastal Racing who had leased the track from Harvey Tattersall. Jap Membrino won at Plainville and at Islip it was Wayne Anderson over Fred Harbach and Bill Park. Freeport was also running on Saturday night. Charlie Jarzombek took the win at the flat quarter over Gary Winters and George Brunnhoelzl. In the southland, Jerry Cook won a 200 lapper at Bowman Gray but had to settle for third at the Franklin County Speedway in Callaway, Va. On Sunday, Punky Caron took Monadnock by storm and at Thompson it was Fred DeSarro over Ronnie Bouchard, Eddie Flemke and Leo Cleary.
Forty years ago in 1982, The Modifieds traveled to Martinsville for a 150 lap event. Richie Evans took the win over Jim Spencer, Greg Sacks and Jamie Tomaino. Reggie Ruggiero was the winner at Riverside Park over Stan Gregger, Bob Polverari and Ray Miller. The event was marred by a crash as a result of a stuck throttle on the car driven by Dave Furoni. Furoni died as a result of injuries. Mike Stefanik was the Pro Stock winner. At Islip, John Blewett Jr. took the win over Don Howe and Bill Park and at Wall Stadium, Tony Siscone beat out Tom McCann for the win. On Sunday, Jerry Cook won an open competition event at Lancaster. In Winston Cup action at Martinsville Harry Gant ended a long string of second place finishes as he won the 250 mile event.
Thirty five years ago in 1987, the Modifieds traveled to Martinsville for the Spring 150 only to have it rained out and not rescheduled. A long trip for nothing! Bruce D’Assandro scored his first ever win in an 87 lapper at Riverside Park .Mike Stefanik, Tom Bolles, Mike McLaughlin and Ed Kennedy rounded out the top five. Steve Park was the opening night winner at Riverhead as he beat Jerry Solomito to the stripe. At Shangri-La it was Ron Shepherd over Jim Spencer and at Waterford on Sunday, Rick Donnelly took the season opener over John Anderson and Dennis Gada. In Winston Cup action at Martinsville, Dale Earnhardt took the win. Geoff Bodine was leading the closing laps when he was spun by Kyle Petty. Bodine recovered to finish third.
Thirty years ago in 1992, Ricky Fuller jumped the curb in a late race pass of Jan Leaty to take the lead and eventual win at Martinsville. Mike Stefanik finished second and was followed by Leaty and Satch Worley. Dennis Gada beat out Richie Gallup to win the Waterford opener. Jerry Young was the Late Model winner after Phil Rondeau broke an axle in the late going. In Winston Cup action at Martinsville, Mark Martin took the win and made it eight in a row for Ford products. Kyle Petty crashed and burned. First on the scene was Geoff Bodine who pulled him to safety.
Twenty five years ago in 1997, Todd Ceravolo took the Saturday night win at Waterford. Eric Berndt was leading the closing laps when his engine burped and he lost power. Scott Spaulding, running second at the time slowed to avoid a collision and was unintentionally tapped and spun by Ceravolo. Dennis Gada finished second with Jim Broderick, third. Tom Fox was the Late Model winner. At Riverside Park, Reggie Ruggiero recorded his 87th career win at the 1/4 mile oval over Dave Berube and Richie Gallup. At the Stafford Sizzler, Mike Stefanik recorded his third Sizzler win. Reggie Ruggiero finished second and was followed by Mike Ewanitsko, Dan Avery and Tom Baldwin. Lloyd Agor and Steve Chowanski were the winners of the twin 40 lap SK Modified features.
Twenty years ago in 2002, Ken Wooley was the Busch Pole sitter for the Spring Sizzler. Tony Hirschman was the outside pole sitter. The event, which drew 48 Modifieds was rained out and re-scheduled for the following week. The SK-Modifieds got to run on Saturday and when all was said and done, Doug Coby took the 40-lap win over Chuck Docherty and Lloyd Agor. Numerous wrecks and spins forced the race to go 52 laps before the checker dropped. In other Saturday night action Ron Yuhas Jr. passed Rob Janovic on lap 24 of the 35 lap feature at Waterford and went on to take the win. Janovic finished second and was followed by Ed Reed Jr., Tom Fox and Dennis Gada. In Winston Cup action at Fontana, California, Jimmie Johnson scored his first win. Scott Riggs was the Busch Series winner. Other weekend winners included Tom Arre at Wall Township, Chris Young at Riverhead, Brett Hearn made it two in a row at Lebanon Valley and TJ Potrzebowski won the Race of Champions Tour Richie Evans Memorial at Tioga.
Fifteen years ago in 2007, The 2007 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series headed to the Stafford Motor Speedway on April 29. The track opened on Friday despite heavy rains that cancelled weekly racing division practice sessions. Forty-two Modifieds were on hand for practice and qualifying on Saturday. Second generation driver Matt Hirschman took the Busch Pole winner as he toured the half mile oval at 45/100th of a second faster then his father, Tony, in qualifying. Tony Hirschman, a five-time series champion, averaged 99.701 mph in his qualifying run. Reggie Ruggiero of Rocky Hill, Conn. was third fastest with a speed of 99.673 mph. Thompson Ice Breaker winner, James Civali, was fourth fastest with a speed of 99.448 mph. Ted Christopher rounded out the Top-5 in qualifying with a speed of 99.179 mph. The Top-8 qualifiers drew for starting position. Tony Hirschman drew the pole and was joined by Ruggiero on the front row. Civali and Matt Hirschman made up row number two.
Don Lia and car owner Bob Garbarino didn’t repeat their mistake made at Thompson as they pitted for tires on lap 75 of the 200 lap Spring Sizzler. Their pit stop paid off in dividends as they won the event. Lia and Todd Szegedy swapped the lead three times over the final 29 laps. Lia took the lead for good on lap 97. Szegedy settled for second with Jerry Marquis bringing the Brady Bunch No.00 home in third spot. Mike Stefanik, who had a problem and never got to time trial, got in the event using a provisional starting spot, finished fourth. Zach Sylvester in the Curt Chase No.77 finished fifth. Fourteen caution periods for 76 laps kept Lia’s average speed at 55.147 mph. Frank Ruocco, a part time Modified Tour competitor caused the two biggest wrecks and was responsible for at least six cars being knocked out of the Sizzler. The first “Big One” came on lap 20 when Ruocco got airborne and landed on the Roger Hill No.79 driven by Chuck Hossfeld. The Hill car suffered extensive body damage and looked ready for the scrap heap. Extensive pit repairs and body work with a sledge hammer plus miles of 100 mile per hour tape kept Hossfeld on the track. Plus the fact he received two separate Lucky Dog awards and was able to finish on the lead lap in 13th spot. Carl Pasteryak and Bobby Santos III weren’t as lucky as their mounts had to be parked because of extensive damage. The second Ruocco “Big One” came on lap 117 when his radiator broke and the resulting mess collected Rick Fuller, Rob Summers and Matt Hirschman. Sixth through tenth were Tony Hirschman, James Civali, Matt Hirschman, Jimmy Blewett and Jamie Tomaino.
Among the highlights of the weekend was the release of Steady Eddie: Memories of Ed Flemke, Modified Racing’s Fastest Professor. Coastal 181 and Bones Bourcier did an excellent job on this one. Flemke became a Modified Legend in his own time. A favorite Flemke story took place at the Waterford Speedbowl in the early 1950’s. Flemke was in the Army and stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Waterford had a big race and Flemke wanted the weekend off and his superiors refused his request. Some how he was able to go AWOL and make the race. Some of his friends had his car ready when he arrived and he jumped in and went out and won the race. Military Police were waiting at the pit gate. They got a big surprise when Flemke parked his race car between turns one and two and jumped the fence and ran off into the nearby woods. To make a long story short, Flemke made it back to Fort Dix and was in his bunk fast asleep when the MPs returned from Connecticut.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action, Chris Matthews repeated his Spring Sizzler SK Light Modified feature win of one year ago, and Rick Lanagan drove to victory in his Limited Late Model feature debut. Zach Sylvester was the winner of the Coors Light 21 Means 21 SK Modified® feature event, and Ryan Posocco was the winner of the Late Model 16 feature event.
Lloyd Agor was awarded the SK Modified win after apparent winner Woody Pitkat was disqualified after officials discovered his car had an illegal rear spoiler. Jeff Baral finished second and was followed by Jeff Malave, Eric Berndt and Ted Christopher. The Late Model Feature went green to checker with first-time winner Corey Hutchings taking the win. Woody Pitkat finished second.
At the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night Shawn Monahan passed Doug Coby with 12-laps to go to win Saturday evening’s 35-lap SK Modified feature at the shoreline oval. Early leader Dennis Charette spun after contact with Kenny Horton. Jeff Paul, Rob Janovic, and Tyler Chadwick rounded-out the top-5. Last weeks winner Diego Monahan finished sixth.
Other feature winners were Bruce Thomas Jr. (Late Models), Dwayne Dorr (Sportsman), Joseph Godbout III (Mini Stocks), Ginny Quinones (USAC Ford Focus Midget Series).
At the Wall Township Speedway Kevin Flockhart won the 40 lap Modified feature. Tom Farrell, Michael Bohn, John Blewett III, Steve Reed and Shaun Craig rounded out the top five
In NASCAR Busch East competition Sixteen-year-old Joey Logano swept to the win at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina, his second NASCAR Grand National victory in less than ten days. Logano, of Middletown, Conn., held off Sean Caisse to win the NASCAR Busch East Series Greased Lightning 150. The victory comes on the heals of his NASCAR West Series season opening win at Phoenix International Raceway April 19. The West Series and Busch East Series wins were Logano’s first and second career NASCAR starts, respectively. Logano, who set the track record at 87.481 mph qualifying, took the lead from defending race winner Caisse on lap 73. Bryon Chew of Mattituck, N.Y. was third followed by Peyton Sellers of Danville, Va., and Rogelio Lopez of Mexico City, Mexico.
In Nextel Cup action at the Talledega Speedway Jeff Gordon crossed the finish line for win No. 77, breaking a tie with the late Dale Earnhardt on NASCAR’s career victory list. It was only fitting that it happened at Talladega, where Earnhardt, who would have been 56 on Sunday, won 10 times in his Cup career. But it was anticlimactic and confusing, ending under caution to leave Gordon unsure if he’d actually won and taken over sixth place on the wins list.
Gordon, who started on the pole, ran up front at times during the race but was 14th on a restart with 10 laps to go. But he stormed to the front and with three laps to go passed Jamie McMurray for the lead a split-second before a caution came out. It set up a the green-white-checkered flag finish, with Gordon out front on the restart. But before the field reached full speed, a wreck far behind the leaders brought out the caution and effectively ended the race.Tony Stewart, embroiled in controversy all week for likening NASCAR to pro wrestling, was knocked into the wall far ahead of the first accident. He bounced off the outside wall, slid down the track and into the inside wall, then stood fuming on the apron as he waited for the field to pass. He made an angry gesture at Jamie McMurray and David Gilliland as they passed under caution. Jimmie Johnson, Gordon’s teammate, finished second as Hendrick Motorsports cars continued their season-long domination. Hendrick drivers have won six of the first nine races.Kurt Busch was third, Gilliland fourth and McMurray finished fifth. Kevin Harvick was sixth, followed by Earnhardt, David Stremme, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Kentucky Speedway revised their lawsuit against NASCAR and the International Speedway Corporation. Kentucky Speedway is no longer is demanding a Nextel Cup race in its federal lawsuit against NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. In an amended complaint filed Friday, April 20, the speedway said it wants NASCAR to develop “objective factors” for the awarding of Nextel Cup races, the France family to give up control of either ISC (a public company that operates tracks and whose majority of voting stock is owned by the Frances) or NASCAR (a private company owned by the Frances) and for ISC to sell at least eight of the 12 tracks it owns that host Nextel Cup events. The 41-page complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Covington, also reveals some of the speedway’s attempts to bring NASCAR’s top racing series to Gallatin County. The speedway filed suit in July 2005 alleging NASCAR and ISC violated antitrust laws by restricting which tracks host Nextel Cup races and trying to “monopolize the market for hosting premium stock car racing events.” In the original complaint, the speedway asked for Nextel Cup races to be awarded through a competitive bidding process. The complaint details some specific attempts by the speedway to secure a spot on the Nextel schedule. According to the new complaint, the track offered New Hampshire International Speedway owner Bob Bahre $360 million to buy the facility that holds two Cup races annually. NASCAR and ISC have denied the allegations contained in the original complaint.
Ten years ago in 2012, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series headed to the Stafford Motor Speedway for the annual Spring Sizzler. There were 34 cars on hand for Modified time trials on Saturday. Ryan Preece earned his second Coors Light Pole Award in as many attempts this season when he took the top qualifying spot. Preece blistered the half-mile with a record lap of 17.924 seconds (100.424 mph). Corey LaJoie, a full-time NASCAR Kids and Nephews (K&N Pro Series East) driver that made his Whelen Modified Tour debut was second-fastest with a qualifying lap of 17.936 (100.357). Rounding out the top five were Eric Berndt, Mike Stefanik and Justin Bonsignore. Donny Lia, Doug Coby, Ron Silk, Keith Rocco and Jimmy Blewett brought home the rest of the top 10 qualifiers.
The track’s SK Modified division enjoyed an extremely high car count that necessitated the running of four qualifying heats. The high car count didn’t phase Ted Christopher as he went out and scored his 95th career win in the division at Stafford. Christopher took the lead from Ryan Preece on lap 11. Preece pressured Christopher until the final moments when he gave way to Eric Berndt who ended up in second at the checkered flag. Preece finished third with Danny Cates and Chris Jones rounding out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Curt Brainard, Michael Gervais, Glen Reen, Woody Pitkat, Matt Galo and John Jensen. Pre-race favorite Keith Rocco suffered mechanical issues and fell out early finishing in 30th spot. Rocco got a little redemption as he won the Late Model feature.
Doug Coby sailed to his third career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory in the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler. The Milford, Conn., driver led the final 89 laps of the 200-lap event en route to the victory over a pair of drivers who are well accustom to success on the historic half-mile . Pole sitter Ryan Preece and Keith Rocco finished second and third respectively. Preece was the 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified Division champion at Stafford and Rocco was the 2008 and 2010 track champ. Rounding out the top five were Ron Silk and Jimmy Blewett. Justin Bonsignore was sixth, followed by Ron Yuhas Jr., Woody Pitkat, Mike Stefanik and Bryon Chew.
There were three lead changes among three drivers. Preece led from the drop of the green until lap 98. Preece had roughly a quarter lap lead on Doug Coby when the caution came out for a spin by Rowan Pennink. Eric Berndt assumed the lead when most of the top ten pitted. Berndt led through lap 109 when he was passed by Preece and Coby. Two laps later Coby surged into the lead and never looked back. With the victory, Coby secured a locked-in starting position for the inaugural UNOH Battle at the Beach during 2013 Speedweeks on a temporary short track at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Six cautions slowed the field which kept Coby’s average speed at 92.260 MPH. Caution No.1 came on lap 21 when Gary McDonald spun in turn two. John Jensen spun in turn four on lap 33 bringing out the second caution. The third caution was for Rowan Pennink who spun in turn two into the grass area on Lap 95. McDonald brought out the 4th caution as his engine expired on lap 123. Caution No.5 came on Lap 150 as car Donny Lia spun into the grass on the infield of the front stretch. The final caution of the day came on lap 160 for a spin that involved Richie Pallai. Fifteen of the original 28 starters finished on the lead lap. Among those who failed to finish were Corey LaJoie and Ted Christopher. LaJoie retired with suspension damage after making contact with another car. Christopher had a loose spark plug wire and ultimately retired from competition on lap 187 with a severe vibration.
At the Waterford Speedbowl, defending track champion Keith Rocco earned his third win of the season as he took the 35-lap SK Modified feature at the Connecticut shoreline oval. Rocco started eighth in but moved into second place following a restart on lap 4 and flew past Frank Mucciacciaro on lap 6. Never looking back, he held off Jeff Pearl following a pair of mid-race restarts and then Rob Janovic Jr. over the final 10 laps. Janovic ended up in the runner-up spot at the finish while Pearl finished third, Tom Abele and Mucciacciaro rounded out the top five.
In Late Model competition Dillon Moltz won his second race by capturing the 30-lap Late Model feature, Ken Cassidy won the 25-lap Mini Stock feature for his fourth victory of the year and Walt Hovey took the checkered flag in the 25-lap Street Stock feature. Other winners were Scott Limkemann (20-lap X-Cars feature) and Duane Noll (25-lap New England Truck Series feature).
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour went into an extended Spring Break and would not be back in action next until July 6 for the Firecracker 150 at Caraway Speedway. In the mean time the Modifieds would be racing at Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC.
Burt Myers won the season opener at Bowman-Gray for the second straight year, on the heels of winning a second straight season championship. The race, a 200 lapper for the featured Modified Division, had a few interesting twists for a near-capacity crowd at the 17,000-seat stadium. Myers unseated Jeffreys, who was seeking his first season-opening victory since 2005, for the final time in the 161st lap. Myers tagged Jeffreys from behind coming out of the fourth turn, and that sent Jeffreys spinning to an eighth-place finish.
Myers lost the lead once more, when he was passed on the outside, by brother Jason Myers. But Burt Myers made the final pass, from the outside, and took the lead for good with 21 laps left. Transplanted New Jersey racer Danny Bohn ended up second with Tim Brown, third.
Speedy pit work put Kyle Busch in the lead with 13 laps remaining and from there Busch took care of business, winning his fourth straight spring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond Int’l Raceway in Saturday night’s Capital City 400. Dale Earnhardt Jr finished second despite fighting brake problems.
Tony Stewart, who led 112 laps of the three-quarter-mile oval, came home third in the Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet after losing the lead in the pits. In Richmond Nationwide Series racing Kurt Busch pulled away from Kevin Harvick and went into cruise control. There were less than 30 laps to go, and Busch thought he had the fastest car. Then Denny Hamlin “came out of nowhere and he had to hold him off in a stirring side-by-side, last-lap duel to win the Nationwide Series race at Richmond in a car owned by his younger brother, Kyle.
Five years ago in 2017, While the Stafford Motor Speedway and the Thompson Motorsports Park sat on solid ground things did not look good for the impending season at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. The story had been told over and over. NASCAR was out, many of the employees quit and competitors were having second thoughts as to where they want to race. Its a shame because the shoreline oval provides some of the beat competition there is. The May 6 Modified Touring Series event and the two Tri-Track events had not been cancelled.
The all new Modified Touring Series made its debut on Saturday night at the Monadnock Speedway, a high banked quarter mile track located in Winchester, NH. The event drew a full crowd at the New Hampshire oval. Ryan Preece started fifth on the 19-car field and made quick work on his march to the front passing Richard Savory on lap 14 for the lead and eventual win in the 125 lap event. Jon McKennedy finished second with Rowan Pennink, third, and Chris Pasteryak, fourth. Savory faded to fifth. Sixth thru tenth were Woody Pitkat, Les Hinkley, Tommy Barrett,, Eric Goodale and Kirk Alexander.
“Thrillin’ Dillon” Moltz, a graduate of weekly racing at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl and the Stafford Motor Speedway scored a big win in American-Canadian Late Model Tour competition at the Lee Speedway in Lee, NH. Moltz started off the day strong by winning his 12-lap heat race. After playing it patient for the first 50 laps of the 150-lap event, Moltz went on the attack snatching the lead from Jonathan Bouvrette on lap 56. From there, Moltz could not be touched, with the race’s one yellow flag on Lap 98 not being much of a hindrance.
Springtime in North Carolina means warmer weather, blooming flowers, and most importantly the start of racing season at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem. The 69th season of NASCAR racing action was supposed to take the green with the Hayes Jewelers 200. Just as the competitors were about to strap in their mounts the skies opened up, forcing officials to re-schedule the event to the following Saturday night. Burt Myers is the pole sitter.
Jimmie Johnson had the best car when it counted most during Monday’s rain delayed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Johnson ran in the top-10 most of the day, but it wasn’t until the final 125 laps when Johnson really made his presence known. Johnson took the lead for the first time with 107 laps remaining in the 500-lap event and once out front, he showed why he is a seven-time champion of the NASCAR Cup Series.
Erik Jones overcame a pit road speeding penalty with less than 100 laps left to capture Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Daniel Hemric finished fifth to earn the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus.Jones was penalized on lap 230 for speeding on pit road and was sent to the rear of the field.
Last year, 2021, On tap was the inaugural Northeast Classic at Loudon’s New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Rescheduled from Sunday, April 18, some of the biggest names known to motorsports fans in the region converged on “The Magic Mile” for a six-division card that offered something for everybody.
The 50-lap, $5,000-to-win Tour-type Modified shootout was won by Bobby Santos III. Chase Dowling finished second with Ron Williams, third. Eric Goodale and Mike Christopher Jr rounded out the top five.
Reigning American-Canadian Tour (ACT) champion Jimmy Hebert of Williamstown, VT finally scored a long-awaited victory at Loudon’s New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) on Sunday, April 18 in the inaugural Northeast Classic. Hebert was awarded the win following post-race technical inspection, giving the veteran a triumph he’d been chasing for his entire decade-long Late Model career.
In the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Model National Championship event, Hallowell, ME’s Johnny Clark got his first “Magic Mile” win after a 50-lap barnburner.
Emerson Cayer recovered from a stumble on a late-race restart to win the 20-lap North East Mini Stock Tour feature.
Jimmy Renfrew Jr. earned some redemption after his ACT Late Model misfortune by winning the 8-cylinder Street Stock Open. Renfrew utterly dominated the event, going wire-to-wire in the 25-lap feature.
Jason Ferreira dominated the 25-lap EXIT Realty Pro Truck Challenge feature to win the series’ first-ever NHMS visitThe ACT Late Model Tour and PASS Super Late Models also had 50-lap, $5,000-to-win Northeast Classic showdowns. The EXIT Realty Pro Truck Challenge, North East Mini Stock Tour, and 8-Cylinder Street Stock Open complete the card.
Get well wishes to race announcer and reporter Matt Buckler who is currently being treated after testing positive for COVID-19. Buckler is part of the announcing team at the Thompson Speedway. Buckler, a longtime reporter at the Journal Inquirer of Manchester, is also an announcer at Stafford Speedway and the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. He will not be part of the announcing crew for Stafford Speedway’s opening weekend of events April 24-25.
Also on the sick list with Covid 19 is Scott Tapley, race director at Thompson, Stafford and Riverhead.
In NASCAR cup racing, Alex Bowman passed Denny Hamlin on a restart with 10 laps to go and drove away at Richmond Raceway for his third career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. Ryan Preece finished 29th.