Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1948 Bill Randall was the Midget winner at Seekonk.
Seventy years ago in 1953, Joe McNulty was the Wednesday night Sportsman winner at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Don Collins won at the shoreline oval on Saturday night. Tom VanEpps took top honors in the non-Ford division on both nights. Ed Hill was the stock car winner at Seekonk.
Sixty five years ago in 1958 rain prevailed at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Wednesday night. On Saturday night at the CT shoreline oval Dick Beauregard took the Modified win and Hank Stevens took the top spot in the non-Fords. Old Bridge in New Jersey, fell victim to rain.
Sixty years ago in 1963 Pete Corey and Kenny Shoemaker scored wins on the dirt at Stafford. Ken Meahl won a 60 lap NASCAR Sportsman feature at the Utica- Rome Speedway. Cam Gagliardi finished second with Lou Lazzaro, third. Ed Ortiz and Bill Wimble rounded out the top five. Eddie Flemke started his weekend off with a win at the Fort Dix Speedway in New Jersey. Ted Stack was the 25 lap Modified winner at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Bill Scrivener was the Bomber winner. Bobby Sprague was the winner at Seekonk. Ralph “Hop” Harrington was the Saturday night winner at Norwood. Ted Hairfield was the Modified winner at South Boston. Steady Eddie Flemke, on his way home after a southern swing with the famed Eastern Bandits capped off his weekend with a 200 lap win at the Old Bridge Speedway in New Jersey on Sunday. Wall Stadium, on the Jersey shore, saw Don Stives take the win.
Fifty five years ago in 1968, rain washed out racing at Stafford and Malta on Friday night. Rain also washed out Fonda on Saturday night. The sky cleared at Norwood where Mr. Leo Cleary took the win. Cleary also rulled the roost when the mid-week All Star League invaded the Norwood Arena. Dave Dias was the Class A winner at Seekonk. Joe Krukowski won at Islip and Don Flynn won at Riverside Park. It was also clear at Waterford where Don Collins scored a 50 lap win. Rick Taylor was the Late Model Daredevil winner. Eddie Flemke won at Thompson on Sunday. Utica-Rome ran a 100 lapper with Andy Romano taking the win over Jerry. Cook, Richie Evans, Dave Kotary and Ron Narducci. Sam Reakes won at Fulton. Don Diffendorf won at the Spencer Speedway. Ray Hendrick and Ted Hairfield won twin modified events at South Boston.
Fifty years ago in 1973, Fred DeSarro started the weekend off with a win at Malta on Friday night. Bugsy Stevens finished second with Richie Evans, third. Stevens stayed up in New York State for a 100 lapper at Tioga on Saturday, which he won. Evans finished second with Jerry Cook, third. At Stafford, Ronnie Bouchard beat out Eddie Flemke for the win. Lou Austin finished third with Don Flynn, fourth. Bobby Sprague was the Late Model winner at Seekonk.Gary Winters was the winner at Islip. Dick Dunn, in the Al Gaudreau No.3, won his second Modified feature of the year at Waterford. Ron Cote was the late model Grand American winner.
Forty five years ago in 1978, Monadnock ran on Wednesday with a 100 lap Yankee All Star League event. Geoff Bodine took the win over Jack Bateman, Punky Caron and Bugsy Stevens. Bodine went on to win four out of five for the weekend as he also took victories at Riverside, Oswego and at Utica-Rome. Maynard Troyer was the only spoiler as he beat the Big Red machine in a 100 lapper at Stafford on Friday night. Other weekend winners were Wayne Anderson at New Egypt, Fred DeSarro in the Modifieds and George Savory in the Late Models scored wins at Seekonk, Moose Hewitt at Waterford, Greg Sacks at Islip and Tom Baldwin at Riverhead.
Forty years ago in 1983, Thompson ran a 40 lapper on Wednesday which saw George Kent take the win over George Summers and Bugsy Stevens. Friday at Stafford saw Stan Gregger put the Ben Dodge No.36 in victory lane as he beat Mike Stefanik and Ray Miller. Dale Holdredge was the winner at Waterford on Saturday. Richie Evans won 100 lappers at Spencer and Riverside. Tom Baldwin won at Riverhead and Bill Park won at Islip.
Thirty five years ago in 1988, the Waterford Speedbowl ran a 100-lap open competition event on Wednesday, which paid $4,000 to win. John Anderson took the win over Tom Bolles, Jamie Tomaino and Richie Gallup. Anderson backed up his win with others at Stafford on Friday and again at Waterford again on Saturday. Reggie Ruggerio was a double winner as he won at Monadnock and at Riverside. Wayne Anderson won a Richie Evans memorial event at Riverhead and Bob Potter scored at Thompson on Sunday.
Thirty years ago in 1993, Bob Potter scored his 17th career win at Stafford on Friday over Mike Christopher and Bo Gunning. Potter backed it up with his 90th career win at Waterford on Saturday night. Chris Jones finished second with Jerry Pearl, third. The NASCAR modified tour series visited Riverhead Raceway on Long Island. Hometown favorite, Steve Park sat on the pole and went on to win the caution filled event. There were twelve yellows for 68 laps which kept Park’s average speed at 32.459 mph. Reggie Ruggerio finished second and was followed by Rick Fuller and Ed Flemke jr. Ed Kennedy was the winner at Riverside Park. In Winston Cup action at Watkins Glen, Bill Elliot took the win over Terry Labonte.
Twenty five years ago in 1998, Rob Summers scored his first ever-modified victory as he won a 75 lapper at Riverside Park on Tuesday. Dave Berube led the event until the two to go mark was reached when Chris Kopec who was down one lap intentionally blocked him. It was a payback for an incident on the 59th lap when Berube and Kopec tangled with the end result being Kopec spinning out and losing a lap. Berube recovered and finished second. Dan Avery, Bob Polverari and Rick Miller rounded out the top five. Lloyd Agor was the Friday night SK-Modified winner at Stafford as he won out over Curt Brainard, Ted Christopher and Jamie Asklar. Tension was high and tempers were short at Stafford. Jim Broderick along with car owners Angie and Tony Cerese were suspended for one week for fighting and Bo Gunning was put on probation for shoving an official. Dennis Gada beat out Eric Berndt and Don Fowler at Waterford and Al Ermarino went pole to pole at Riverhead. Saturday night at Riverside saw Ted Riggot in victory lane and at Thompson on Sunday Mike Christopher was victorious over Bert Marvin and Richie Gallup. The Featherlite Modifieds were at Loudon as a second division to the IRL. A sparse crowd of 20,000 was on hand as Tony Stewart won the IRL event. Mike Stefanik took the lead from Jan Leaty on lap 81 of the 125 lap modified event. In taking the win, Stefanik went over the one million-dollar in earnings mark. Reggie Ruggiero finished second and was followed by Leaty, Tony Hirschman, John Blewett III and Tom Connolly. In Winston Cup action at Sears Point, Jeff Gordon took the win and in Busch Grandnational action at Watkins Glen, road racer Ron Fellows took the win.
Twenty years ago in 2003, Brad Leighton took the lead on lap 43 in the BGNN 150 at Stafford when Dave Dion spun in oil and went on to take the win, his fourth of the year. Jeff Taylor finished second with Dion, third. Stafford’s SK Modified event rained out. Waterford ran a 100 lapper on Saturday night with Eric Berndt taking the win over Jeff Pearl and Tucker Reynolds. Riverhead went to Frank Vigliaro Jr. In 100degree heat, Bert Marvin went pole to pole at Thompson. Todd Ceravolo finished second with Tom Fox, third. At Riverside, Rob Summers won a 125 lapper over Ted Riggott and Bob Polverari. In Busch Grandnational action at Milwaukee, Casey Atwood hit Jeff Green on the final lap and went on to take the win over Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Glenn Allen. In Winston Cup action under the lights at Daytona, Dale Jarrett took the lead on lap 146 of the 160 lap distance and took the win over Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Burton.
Fifteen years ago in 2008, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series visited the Thompson Speedway on Thursday night with a new format that consisted of a 75 green flag lap event. Ronnie Silk ended a long dry spell for himself and car owner Roger Hill as he beat out Ted Christopher for the win. Silk, who previously won at Thompson on September 23, 2007, took the lead from Ted Christopher on lap 53 and never looked back while en route to his first win of the season. Bobby Grigas III and Kevin Goodale ran wheel to wheel for the first 21 laps when they tangled in turn four. Goodale spun to the infield and was able to restart at the rear. Grigas ran with Ed Flemke Jr on his bumper until lap 27 when Flemke tapped and spun him in turn four. NASCAR felt the hit was intentional and put Flemke to the rear. Flemke agreed and went willingly. Ted Christopher inherited the lead with Silk in second spot when the field restarted. Christopher survived numerous restarts as the night wore on and the night got cooler. Christopher’s luck ran out following the 12th caution. The yellow flag period dragged for too long resulting in Christopher’s tires cooling off and losing traction. The resulting restart saw Silk rocket from his outside row starting spot and taking the lead upon entering turn one. Christopher managed to hang onto second spot and was followed at the finish by Mike Stefanik, Chuck Hossfeld and Tony Ferrante Jr. Sixth through tenth were Todd Szegedy, Matt Hirschman, Bobby Santos, Kevin Goodale and Ryan Preece.
Earlier in the evening Grigas nabbed his first career Coors Light Pole Award. The second-year driver turned in a time of 18.751 seconds (119.994). He ended up 21st, one lap down. There were 38 Modifieds on hand. A year ago the Modifieds were 10 stronger. The competition was top shelf but competitors were not happy with the format. Despite the fact that the purse for the event was reduced admission prices remained unchanged. Pit area population was down as was the grandstand.
Among those spotted at Thompson were driving legends Carl Bugsy Stevens, Leo Cleary, George Savory and Billy Harman. Despite being crippled up by racing related back injuries the Bugman still has his sense of humor and quick wit. Cleary, the eldest of the group is in the best of health and shape as is Harman who is now an accomplished golfer. Savory is the youngest of the bunch and enjoying his retirement by bankrolling his son’s racing efforts.
Like their big brothers at Thompson the True Value Modified Series at Waterford turned into a wreck fest. The 100-lap event took a little more than 2 hours to complete. A long delay resulted when extensive repairs had to be made to the tracks Armco barrier. Twelve of the 25 cars that started the event were running at the finish. Les Hinkley was the winner. Former Speedbowl regulars Chris Pasteryak and Mike Holdridge, Kirk Alexander, and Vin Annarummo rounded out the top-5. Holdridge was the early leader before being passed by Les Hinckley, Ted Christopher, and Pasteryak. Christopher was later issued the black flag for a smoking motor and retired from the event. Coming out on-top in several restarts, Hinckley repeatedly resisted the charges of Dwight Jarvis, the latter retiring after contacting the wall on lap-70, the victim of a flat right-front. With Pasteryak and Holdridge in-tow, Hinckley lengthened his lead in the final stages of the event, winning by a comfortable margin.
The Thompson Speedway’s Thursday Night Thunder program ran under the features only format. Todd Ceravolo took top honors in a tremendous Sunoco Modified war. Sixteen-year-old Derek Ramstrom scored his second straight win in the Pro Stock division. Tim Sullivan followed suit with consecutive wins in the TIS Modifieds. Jeff Zuidema continued his domination of the Late Model division with his third win of the short season. Mike Romano, in Mini Stocks and Scott Sundeen in the Limited Sportsman division also scored victories during Charter Communications’ presentation of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
The Stafford Motor Speedway ushered in the summer season with fireworks in the air and on the track with the 8th annual Summer Blast-Off Presented by Town Fair Tire NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program. The big winners of the evening were Keith Rocco in the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Dillon Moltz in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Chris Matthews in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Bill Davis in the Limited Late Model feature, and Scott Roy in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
The 40-lap SK Modified feature saw Keith Rocco out duel Ted Christopher to pick up his first feature win of the 2008 season. Doug Coby took the lead at the green and held the lead until he spun on lap-7, which gave the lead to Woody Pitkat. Pitkat held the race lead until lap-19 when Rocco outpowered Pitkat on a restart. Rocco stayed out front until lap-25 when Ted Christopher moved to the front. Christopher held the lead until contact from Jeff Malave sent him spinning on lap-28. Malave was black flagged, which put Rocco back out front. Christopher charged his way back through the pack, but couldn’t find a way around Rocco. Rounding out the top-5 behind Rocco and Christopher was Jimmy Blewett, Tom Bolles, and Curt Brainard.
Todd Ceravolo captured his second feature of the weekend when he won the 35 lap SK Modified feature at the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night. An early wreck collected Rob Janovic Jr., Ron Yuhas Jr., and Jeff Pearl. Only Janovic was unable to continue. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr. assumed the lead briefly before yielding to Ceravolo. Within 5-laps, the yellow flew again for an incident involving Ted Christopher, Don Fowler, and Glenn Pressel III. On the restart Ceravolo resumed the point, pressed by Keith Rocco and Doug Coby. With 23-laps remaining, Coby and Rocco tangled, the latter sent to the rear for rough-riding. Rebounding after an early spin, Dennis Gada eventually passed Shawn Monahan for second. Jeff Paul and Rocco completed the top-5. Other feature winners were Bruce Thomas Jr. (Late Model), Al Stone III (Sportsman), and Phil Evans (Mini Stock). The Speedbowl enjoyed one of the biggest crowds they have had in quite a while.
Carl Edwards was desperate to get back into victory lane in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and he wasn’t about to let Clint Bowyer stand in his way at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis. Edwards shoved his fellow Sprint Cup series standout sideways with 25 laps to go, then held off Middletown native Joey Logano for his first Nationwide victory of the season after dominating the series last year. But Edwards decided not to do his trademark backflip in victory lane, choosing a subdued celebration because of the death earlier in the day of drag racer Scott Kalitta and the fact that he didn’t win the way he intended to. Logano finished second.
Kyle Busch snapped the slump that plagued him as he won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., for his first Sprint Cup victory on a road course. Busch, who had a poor qualifying run and started 30th, steadily moved through the field and grabbed the lead from defending race winner Juan Pablo Montoya on an early restart. It was Busch’s series-best fifth win of the season, and 11th overall spanning all three of NASCAR’s top series. It also was his second road course victory of the season, following a Nationwide win in Mexico City in April. David Gilliland finished a career-best second, followed by Jeff Gordon.
Ten years ago in 2013, The Thompson Speedway Thursday Night Thunder Series fell victim to first mist followed by heavy rain. The speedway management pulled the plug at 10:00am in order to save competitors the hassle of having to leave work early.
At the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night Ryan Preece made it two in a row in SK Modified competition. Preece rallied after a mid race tangle with Rowan Pennink. Preece was sent to the rear for being overly aggressive. Tom Bolles finished second, with Pennink coming back to finish third. Woody Pitkat, and Ted Christopher rounded out the top-5.
Other Friday night winners at Stafford were Tom Fearn in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Ronnie Williams in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Austin Bessette in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Kris Fluckiger in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature. Richie Pallai, Jr. was the winner of the 15-lap CARQUEST Champions For Charities race.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series traveled to the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island Saturday night. Riverhead, a tight and fast quarter mile always provides plenty of slam-bang action and this event kept the reputation alive with 92 of the scheduled 200 laps, which was extended to 207 because of the multitude of wrecks, run under caution. Ryan Preece, who inherited the lead on lap 193 when leader Ted Christopher spun his wheels on a restart and was drilled by Eric Goodale. In the resulting spin, Christopher clobbered the speedway pace car which had just pulled into the infield. Preece, who now had three in a row in Modified Tour competition, led the rest of the way outdistancing Goodale to the finish. John Beatty Jr., Shawn Solomito and Mike Stefanik round out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Woody Pitkat, Ken Heagy, Frank Vigliarolo Jr., Bryon Chew and Ed Flemke Jr.
There were 28 Modifieds on hand. Preece began the race on the front row, overtaking pole winner Ron Silk on Lap 44. A wreck on lap 95, however, knocked the eventual winner out of the top 10, eventually forcing him to pit row for damage. Preece would battle back in the second half, working his way back up to the front row on Lap 183, alongside then race leader Ted Christopher. The two would battle it out over the next 10 laps until Christopher got spun on lap 195, giving Preece the lead for good.
A few did not have a good night on the Island. Doug Coby never made it to the main event. During time trials he had the misfortune of having his throttle stick which resulted in a hard crash between turns one and two. Without a back-up car and unable to make repairs, Coby was unable to start but was awarded last place points for making an attempt to compete. Justin Bonsignore’s night ended after 93 laps as his car suffered broken suspension parts. Don Lia and Eric Berndt finished 15th and 16th as a result of losing laps because of minor accidents. Ted Christopher ende up 18th as he was unable to continue after his confrontation with the pace car. Todd Szegedy ended up 19th as a result of an accident as did Ron Silk who ended up 20th.
Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC Burt Myers held off brother Jason Myers at the start of the first of two 25-lap races for the featured Modified Division and held on the rest of the way. Tony Black, a second-year Modified driver, etched his name on Bowman Gray’s all-time list of feature-race winners with a victory in the second 25-lap race. Myers won the pole position for the first 25-lap Modified race with a lap of 13.358 seconds (67.4 mph) on the quarter-mile track.
Brother Jason hung on for more than a full lap before Burt Myers, who nearly spun after hitting a patch of dirt on the track, finally cleared him and sailed on to his 55th career victory, which tied him for fourth with Paul Radford on Bowman Gray’s all-time list. Jason Myers finished second, Danny Bohn third, Tim Brown fourth and John Smith fifth.
At the Waterford Speedbowl Keith Rocco continued to be the class of the field as he won his fifth SK Modified feature of the season to highlight a fast-paced night NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing at the Connecticut shoreline oval on Saturday. Diego Monahan took the lead on lap 8 and before Rocco and Craig Lutz joined Monahan for a hard charging three-way battle until lap 26, when Rocco used a crossover move out of turn four to take the lead.
He never trailed again, but had to hold off charges by Monahan and Kyle James to cross the finish line first. James finished second and Lutz wound up third while Rob Janovic Jr. was fourth and Todd Ceravolo placed fifth.
Other Saturday night winners were Dillon Moltz (Late Models), Brandon Plemons (Street Stocks), Bill Leonard (Mini Stocks), Giovanni Giarratana (Legend Cars) and Ed Ryan (Super X-Cars).
Brad Keselowski took his final lead on the 156th lap and went on to a rain-shortened victory Friday night in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway.
Matt Kenseth was the winner of the rain postponed Sprint Cup event at Kentucky
Five years ago in 2018, The Stafford Motor Speedway started the weekend of racing off with a new winner in their SK Modified division, Joey Cipriano. Cipriano started on the outside pole and led the entire 40 lap distance. Other winners were Tom Fearn, who extended his Stafford track record with a 6th consecutive Late Model win, Marcello Rufrano scored win number four of the 2018 season in the SK Light feature, Ryan Fearn took down his third win of 2018 in the Limited Late Model feature, and Brandon Michael scored his second win of the season in the Street Stock feature.
Mike Christopher Jr finished second with Steven Kopcik, Glen Reen, and Ronnie Williams rounding out the top-5.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series headed south last Saturday, June 23, to the 3/8 mile Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va. Ryan Preece passed Justin Bonsignore for the lead on Lap 131, and he never looked back en route to his second NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory of the season.
The triumph was the 22nd of his career, and his first at the 0.396-mile Virginia oval. The 27-year-old has now been to Victory Lane in seven of his last 19 stars in Whelen Modified Tour competition.
When the caution flew on Lap 103 for a planned mid-race break, Bonsignore, Doug Coby and Eric Goodale elected to stay on the track and take over the top three spots. On the restart, Coby lost positions, and eventually cut down a left-rear tire which caused him to crash that ended his night.
On the following green flag, Preece began to hound the back bumper of Bonsignore’s No. 51 Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet, and attempted to make the pass multiple times but to no avail. Finally, on lap 131, Preece took the bottom lane off turn two, and cleared to the point down into turn three. He was not challenged for the remainder of the race.
Bonsignore settled for second, with Matt Hirschman charging back up through the field late to finish in third. Timmy Solomito and Eric Goodale rounded out the top five. Chase Dowling finished sixth, followed by Ronnie Williams, Rowan Pennink, Chris Pasteryak and Blake Barney.
Preece was out front in the No. 6 TS Haulers Chevrolet for a race-high 83 laps, while Bonsignore was out front for 25 laps.
Bonsignore holds a 23-point advantage in the championship standings over Dowling, while Timmy Solomito is 44 points back in third. Craig Lutz, who had his motor expire on lap 29, dropped to fourth in the standings.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the track at Riverhead Raceway on Saturday, July 7. In a somewhat related matter, Jeff Rocco who drove Eddie Harveys Ni.1 to a 15th place finish drove all night from Langley in Virginia to the Mid-Ohio Road course where he finished second in an event run there.
While the Whelen Modified Tour headed south the Valenti Modified Racing Series headed north to the New Hampshire International Speedway for the New England Short Track Showdown. On and off rain all but wiped out Saturday’s activity at the Loudon oval with the exception of one bright spot. In his first ever laps around New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Jacob Perry recorded the fastest lap during Saturday’s abbreviated Modified Racing Series practice session for the New England Short Track Showdown.
Sunday’s weather wasn’t much better except it was dry. The racing was great, too bad hardly anyone saw them as the grandstands were all but empty. Ron Silk won the 50 lap Valenti Modified Racing Series 50 lapper while Reid Lanpher accomplished a rare feat as he beat Eddie MacDonald at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Lanpher powered around the 10-time NHMS winner on the final lap to win the $5,000-to-win Granite State Pro Stock Series race. Alby Ovitt won the Street Stock race which was red-checkered with 13 laps remaining and Nick Maniatis won the North East Mini Stock Tour feature.
In the VMRS 50 lapper, Silk started outside front row and was quickly joined by Anthony Nocella and Woody Pitkat, as the class of the field. The three swapped the lead position several times throughout the 50-lap sprint.
Three caution flags created very competitive restarts with several drivers making up ground and making things interesting over the final 12-laps. Jon McKennedy was making one of his late race charges when he developed brake issues and fell off the pace. Nocella, who was punted by Silk in the closing laps, e overcame it for the top-five finish. Pitkat was troubled by a kill switch issue to knock him from winning his second consecutive series race at NHMS.
Richard Savary finished second with Les Hinckley, third. Rounding out the top five was David Schneider and Nocella,
Down on the Connecticut shoreline at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl rain prevailed, washing out Saturday nights program. The Speedbowl did run its Wacky Wednesday program. Dylan DeCoster started on the pole and led every lap to capture the 25-lap X-Car feature as part of the Speedbowl’s Wild and Wacky Wednesday.
In other action Wednesday, Don Berge, at the age of 55, showed he still knows how to get to victory lane when he overwhelmed he field in the extra-distance 35-lap X-Car feature. John O’Sullivan survived a frantic battle with Peter Bennett to prevail in the 25-lap Legends feature while Ethan Simmons pulled in his first Bandolero feature victory after the winner was disqualified due to a technical violation.
Across the big pond on Long Island, the rain and mist that wiped out Waterford moved to eastern Long Island and wiped out the Racing at the Riverhead Raceway.
Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, It was another great night for the Myers family at Bowman Gray Stadium on Saturday. Burt Myers held off Tim Brown for the win in the 100-lap Modified race, and brother Jason Myers and Chris Fleming split the $9,000 Fans’ Challenge after finishing third and fourth respectively.
Burt Myers, an eight-time Modified champion, cruised for his fourth win of the year and 77th for his career.
Martin Truex Jr. won the NASCAR Cup Series race in Sonoma on Sunday, using a clever pit strategy to cruise to his second career victory on the challenging road course.
Truex easily held off Kevin Harvick for his second win in three weeks and his third victory of the season in his Furniture Row Racing Toyota.
The defending Cup Series champion waited to pit until the 81st lap, a full eight laps later than Harvick. Truex and his crew chief, Cole Pearn, appeared to use a bit of trickery on the decision, bluffing an earlier move to the pits and enticing Harvick into pit lane instead.
The decision left fresher tires on Truex’s car down the stretch and allowed him to pass Harvick for the lead around the final hairpin turn with 20 laps to go.
Last year, 2022, There were no weather issues at Stafford last week as it was a perfect night for racing. One hundred six cars were in the pit area including 29 SK Modifieds and 25 SK Lights. A real good crowd was on hand. Stafford Speedway’s Street Stock division took center stage on Friday, June 24 with their lone extra distance feature event of the 2022 season, the Midstate Site Development 30. Travis Hydar was the big winner of the night, scoring his third win of the season in the Midstate Site Development Street Stock 30. Ronnie Williams ended a long dry spell as he notched his first win of the season in the SK Modified® feature, Adam Gray continued his hot streak with a fourth consecutive win in the Late Model feature, Derek Debbis scored win number two of 2022 in the SK Light feature, and Gary Patnode won his second race of 2022 in the Limited Late Model feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® event, a multicar melee broke out mid pack and the back half of the field was collected in a wreck that brought the red and yellow flags out. All tolled, 12 cars were collected. Chris Jones was the culprit who triggered the wreck. On the restart, Dan Wesson and Tyler Hines raced wheel to wheel for the lead with Hines taking the lead by a nose at the line. Hines drove straight into the turn 1 wall on lap-2 to bring the caution back out. He stated that something broke on the left front of his car.
Yellow fever continued as Brian Sullivan got into the frontstretch wall and Anthony Bello spun in turn 1 to bring the yellow right back out again. Wesson took the lead on the next restart with Michael Christopher, Jr. almost taking second from Michael Gervais, Jr. before falling back into third. Ronnie Williams, who started seventh, was fourth with Keith Rocco in fifth but the caution flew again with 4 laps complete for Teddy Hodgdon, who spun in turn 4. Wesson took the lead on the restart with Gervais holding off a challenge from Williams for second. Christopher was fourth in line with Bryan Narducci and Todd Owen side by side for fifth place. Gervais made a move to the inside of Wesson on lap-7 and he took over the race lead. Williams couldn’t quite follow Gervais by Wesson as Wesson held on to second place. Wesson then made a bid for the lead on lap-10 but Williams went by him to take over the lead and drop Wesson back to second. Narducci was now up to third with Gervais fourth and Marcello Rufrano in fifth. Narducci made a move to the inside of Wesson lap-14 to move into second and Rufrano was challenging Gervais for fourth place while Williams continued to lead the race.Gervais took third place from Wesson on lap-20 while Rufrano couldn’t quite follow him by Wesson as Williams was still leading Narducci. Rocco and Cory DiMatteo were heavily contesting seventh place with Rocco able to hold DiMatteo off for now. DiMatteo was finally able to make a pass stick on Rocco to take over seventh place on lap-32.
Williams led Narducci to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2022 season. Gervais finished third with Wesson and Rufrano rounding out the top-5. Sixth thru tenth included Todd Owen, Cory DiMatteo, Keith Rocco, Stephen Kopcik and Michael Christopher, Jr..
Derek Debbis was the 20 lap SK Light winner. Tyler Chapman finished second with Alexander Pearl, third.
A big shout-out to Ryan Preece who held off charges from Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar to win Friday night’s Rackley Roofing 200 NASCAR Truck event at the Nashville Superspeedway. The win was an encore performance for Preece, who scored his first Truck Series victory in last year’s Nashville race. A part-time utility player in the Ford camp this season, Preece triumphed for the second time in his eighth career start.
In addition to the traditional guitar trophy, Preece also earned a $50,000 bonus for winning the second event in the NCWTS Triple Truck Challenge. Preece also recorded a sixth in the Xfinity series event at Nashville. Chase Elliott won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series traveled to Riverhead, NY on Saturday for the Buzz Chew 200. Twenty six cars were on hand. Ron Silk took the pole after he toured the quarter mile oval in 11.637sec. Second fastest was Timmy Solomito with an 11.637 time. Rounding out the top five was Craig Lutz, Tommy Catalano and Kyle Soper.
In an event laced by numerous cautions, Kyle Soper was able to do what no Riverhead regular was able to do as he became the first Riverhead regular to win a Whelen Modified Tour event at the eastern Long Island oval. Soper, who started fifth was an early leader only to lose it to Justin Bonsignore on lap 145. Bonsignore appeared headed to victory when his tires began to lose their grip. Soper passed Bonsignore with 10 laps to go and opened up a sizable lead to the finish. Bonsignore hung on for second with Ron Silk, third. Jon McKennedy and Dylan Slepian rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth included Kyle Bonsignore, John Beatty Jr, Timmy Solomito, Austin Beers and Doug Coby.
At the New London Waterford Speedbowl,. Eric Berndt scored his third SK Modified win of the year. Dana DiMatteo was second with Timmy Jordan third. Ray Christian Jr. made it two in a row in the 30-lap Late Model feature. Kyle Gero won the 25-lap Truck feature. Gero is the son of Mike and Kim Gero and is also the grandson of the late George “Moose” Hewitt.
Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium Burt Myers ended a long dry spell. Myers, a 10-time points champion, has struggled this season to find his footing, but he had everything working to perfection with a 25-lap victory in the first Modified Division race on Saturday. He grabbed the pole with the fastest time of the season, then held off defending champion Tim Brown for his 85th career win. Brown is the all-time leader with 94 wins. In the second Modified Division race, which was 25 laps, Jonathan Brown took advantage when leader John Holleman and Brown got tangled up late. Brown had the least amount of damage and continued, but Holleman spun out and in the spin collected Junior Snow. Brandon Ward, the points leader at the start of the night, finished second.
On a sad note, Bruton Smith, a longtime fixture in NASCAR and a Hall of Fame inductee for building and promoting auto racing events nationwide, died Wednesday at age 95 of natural causes, according to a statement from track operating company Speedway Motorsports.Marcus Smith, his son and president of the company his father led for decades, said on social media, “While we mourn the passing of my father, we also rejoice for the life he lived and for the amazing legacy he left to inspire us all.”
Born Ollen Bruton Smith in 1927, the North Carolinian worked as a track promoter before making his mark designing and building Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval now known for annually hosting NASCAR’s longest race at 600 miles in length. The track’s first 600-miler was held at its grand opening in 1960.
With the cooperation of the Arute family a book has been published with pictures and biographies of the 50 Greatest Drivers at Stafford.
The Stafford Motor Speedway had become the epicenter of NASCAR Modified racing in the northeast by the late 1980’s. From its dirt beginnings to its lightning-fast asphalt, Stafford had become the toughest and most gratifying track to score a victory. The Arute family which has owned and guided the destiny of the facility commissioned their thousands of loyal fans to name their favorite drivers. In alphabetical order so as not to offend anyone:
Tom Baldwin, Gene Bergin, Brett Bodine, Geoff Bodine, Ken Bouchard, Ron Bouchard, Mario “Fats” Caruso, Rene Charland, Ted Christopher, Leo Cleary, Tim Connolly, Jerry Cook, Corky Cookman, Pete Corey, Fred DeSarro, Richie Evans, Mike Ewanitsko, Ed Flemke, Sr., Jeff Fuller, Rick Fuller, Ernie Gahan, Bill Greco, Bo Gunning, Ray Hendrick, George “Moose” Hewitt, Tony Hirschman, George Janoski, Charlie Jarzombek, George Kent, Buddy Krebs, Randy LaJoie, Jan Leaty, Jerry Marquis, Mike McLaughlin, Ray Miller, Steve Park, Bob Polverari, Bob Potter, Brian Ross, John “Reggie” Ruggiero, Greg Sacks, Ollie Silva, “Wild” Bill Slater, Jimmy Spencer, Mike Stefanik, Carl “Bugsy” Stevens, George Summers, Jamie “The Jet” Tomaino, Maynard Troyer and Satch Worley.
Books are priced at $17.95 each and be purchased at the track at the Novelty Booth or at the Stafford Motor Speedway on line store. Books are also available at Amazon.com and at Coastal181 (877-907-8181).
