Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Forty five years ago in 1978, the NASCAR Modifieds had an early season event at Hickory, North Carolina. Geoff Bodine took the win over Richie Evans, Jerry Cook, Wayne Anderson, Gary Cretty, Joe Thurman and Fred Harbach.
Twenty five years ago in 1998, Jim Spencer took the lead with 25 laps to go and went on to win the Busch Grandnational 300 at Las Vegas. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second. Randy Lajoie provided some excitement on the last lap when he flipped. Mark Martin was the Winston Cup winner.
Twenty years ago in 2003 the NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series racing teams headed for Las Vegas. Because of intermittent rain qualifying for both events were run at night. Many of the teams arrived late after they were stuck in an ice storm in Texas. Terry Labonte was the Winston Cup Busch Pole sitter. Matt Kenseth took the lead after a pit stop on lap 237 and held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the win. Michael Waltrip finished third. In last lap action, Jimmie Johnson and Sterling Marlin wrecked while fighting for eighth spot. Joe Nemachek won the Busch Series race over Kevin Harvick.
Fifteen years ago, in 2008, The big event in the northeast was the second annual Speedway Expo at the Big E in West Springfield, MA. The brainchild of Dick Berggren, Speedway Expo had something for everyone who is involved in auto racing. The show served as a preview of the upcoming season with many tracks showcasing their facilities.
On Saturday, Speedway EXPO hosted a Toast ‘n Roast and the featured guest was Ted Christopher. Among the favorite Modifieds on display was the No.61 Richie Evans Ghost Rider that was restored by Spearpoint Racing and the original Ernie Wilsburg ’82 Troyer that won just about every major race in the 82-83 season with Greg Sacks and Charlie Jarzombek at the controls.
With the announcement of the television package for the NASCAR Developmental Series, formerly Busch North, Busch East or whatever, it appears that once again the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series, which in words from NASCAR is the sanctioning bodies most competitive division, has got what the cow left behind after she jumped the fence! While 24 races in the NASCAR Developmental Series would be televised, only two Modified events, June 28 at Loudon and Sept 21 at Martinsville, would be televised.
Among the hot topics coming out of the Waterford Speedbowl was the rumor of former flagger and race official Bill Roberts taking over as General Manager, replacing Bill Roth who left at the conclusion of the 2007 season. Roberts was employed by the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics.
In Sprint Cup racing at Las Vegas, Carl Edwards won for the second time in six days. Edwards had to overcome an early pit road penalty, escape NASCAR punishment on a second pit road mishap, then hold off a rusty Dale Earnhardt Jr. on a pair of late restarts Sunday. The celebration of Carl Edwards’ second consecutive victory was short-lived: His winning Ford Fusion failed a post-race inspection at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that could lead to severe penalties for his team. NASCAR officials discovered the lid was not on the oil tank box of his race-winning car and the parts were sent back to North Carolina to be checked. Dale Earnhardt Jr finished second. Greg Biffle was third and was followed by Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. Kasey Kahne was sixth, followed by David Ragan, Travis Kvapil, Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin.
Mark Martin took Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Victory Lane by winning the Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, then immediately apologized for an accident he started in the closing laps that took out a teammate. Martin added to his series record with his 48th victory in a car owned by Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports. But the win came at the expense of Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski, who races full-time for Earnhardt, .Martin was sixth following a final round of pit stops when the race restarted with 10 laps to go. With four fresh tires on his Chevrolet, he sliced his way toward the front while chasing cars that had only taken two tires. Edwards and Keselowski were racing side-by-side when Martin closed on Edwards’ bumper. Slight contact sent Edwards’ car wiggling across the track, and he slid high directly into Keselowski to wreck both cars. Martin slipped into the lead, then held on in a two-lap shootout to the finish.
Ten years ago in 2013, In some good news it had been learned that NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Championship car owner Curt Chase of Mansfield Center, Ct would join driver Ron Yuhas, Jr. and the Mike Murphy owned KLM Motorsports as the team’s crew chief for the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season .
Bob Finan, Public Relations Chief at the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island reported that Bob Raissman the Media scribe for the NY Daily News said Fox hosted a big NYC Gala to introduce their 24-hour sports network, Fox Sports 1 or FS1. The network would reside where the SPEED channel resided, not good news for the racing community. The change would place in August, just in time for the new NFL season.
Sam Hornish Jr. snapped his winless streak in dominant fashion at the Nationwide Series The Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday, surviving two late race cautions to hold off Las Vegas native Kyle Busch. In Sprint Cup racing Matt Kenseth won on his 41st birthday in just his third start for his new team, barely holding off Kasey Kahne at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for his 25th career victory.
Five years ago in 2018, In some welcome and important news, the New London-Waterford Speedbowl had announced that the proposed changes to the Waterford town Noise Ordinance, which would have disrupted their operating times and schedule has been completely thrown out by the town’s Public Health, Recreation and Environment Committee. In short, no further actions or changes would be needed.
In a somewhat surprise announcement, longtime Nashua, New Hampshire businessman Norman Wrenn Jr. purchased Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH. Wrenn bought the 3/8 mile speedway from John “Red” MacDonald and wife Judy, track owners for the last 33-years. Wrenn made the disclosure Tuesday, February 27.
Wrenn, in his 40th year in the propane gas business, is also a successful stock car racer, dating back to 1983. A many time feature winner and track champion, Wrenn has competed in Pro Stock, Pro-4 modified, and Modified Racing Series competition over a 35-year career. Wrenn ironically won his first Pro Stock race at Lee in 1993.
One week after a dominant victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick was in a league of his own yet again in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition, leading a commanding 214 laps en route to victory in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch ended the day in second and acknowledged that there was simply no catching Harvick on Sunday afternoon. Kyle Larson finished a distant third, followed by Martin Truex and Ryan Blaney to complete the top-five. Only nine of the 37 cars that started the race finished on the lead lap.
Kyle Larson finished a distant third, followed by Truex and Blaney to complete the top-five. Only nine of the 37 cars that started the race finished on the lead lap.
In the Xfinity series event, Larson started second and dominated the 200-lap event, leading a race-high 142 laps en route to his first Xfinity Series victory of the season and the ninth of his career.
Last year, 2022, The times they are a changing. In the last two years the price of gasoline has climbed to almost $4.00 per gallon. Those that are affected the most are those on a fixed income including senior citizens, veterans and those with illness who are on a full disability. Many of those in the three groups are race fans who, because of no fault of their own, will be unable to afford fuel costs to get back and forth to the races. As an example those living 60 miles from a track and having a vehicle that gets 20 miles per gallon will spend at least $24 dollars for fuel. Thanks to the miracle of FloRacing that cost can be trimmed to $6 per week or less. In addition you watch from the comfort of your home. In addition to all of NASCAR’s touring divisions FloRacing covers weekly racing at numerous asphalt and dirt ovals. It’s well worth looking into and as a wise man once said, “You can have your cake and eat it too”!
With Florida Speedweeks in the rear view mirror it’s time to look forward to the upcoming asphalt Modified season. On the docket last weekend was the season opening SMART (Southern Modified Auto Racing Tour) at the Florence, South Carolina 4/10 mile speedway on March 5. This tour is comprised of competitors mostly from the Bowman Gray Stadium. Burt Myers is the defending series champion. This event was live streamed by FloRacing.
Under 75deg skies, 23 modifieds took time. Bobby Mesmer was the pole sitter with a time of 17.086sec. Second fastest was Brandon Ward at 17 171 sec and third was invader Matt Hirschman with a time of 17.225 sec.
Because of disorganization and numerous delays the event took forever to get started. Based on a re-draw Mesmer started sixth. In the first 30 laps there was 3 lead changes for the “Jerry Hunt Supercenter” 30 lap stage winner and the #07 Dennis Holden taking the money for winning that stage. Brandon Ward was running second with Matt Hirschman, third. Following the restart on lap 31, Jason Myers spun on lap 34 bringing out a quick caution. The event went green and on lap 50 Hirschman would take the halfway bonus for leading at lap 50. Caleb Heady who was driving the Tommy Baldwin no,7ny was running second with Bobby Labonte, third and Jamie Tomaino, fourth.
On lap 66 Cody Kohler would spin in turn 3 closing the field back up and the pit crews would go to work. Most of the front runners including Hirschman and Heady who changed right rear tires. When the race resumed on lap 67 there would be another caution for a checkup of Brian Loftin which caused the cars of Greg Butcher and Gary Young to tangle and sending Butcher over the bank. Florence has no walls in turn 1 and on the back straightaway.
There would be another caution on lap 69 when Bobby Labonte and Jeremy Gerstner tangled on the back straightway, causing Labonte to spin and Gerstner to get sent over the bank.
In the closing laps Heady would try and make a final charge for the lead but would come home race runner up behind Hirschman who went on to record his 203rd lifetime win. Heady finished second with Brandon Ward, third. Burt Myers was never a factor and finished fourth with Jonathon Brown rounding out the top five. Sixth thru tenth were Bobby Labonte, Brian Loftin, Jimmy Wallace, Jason Myers and Bobby Measmer Jr.
The next event for the SMART Modifieds will be on Saturday, March 19 at the Southern National Speedway in North Carolina.
Alex Bowman won in a dramatic overtime ending Sunday in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – gambling on a two-tire final pit stop for his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and holding off the field in a two-lap sprint to decide the NASCAR Cup Series race. The runner-up finish for Larson, who led three times for 27 laps on the day, was good enough to propel him into the championship lead for the first time this season. He holds a six-point advantage over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., who finished eighth on Sunday.