Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1948, Bob Tatro was the winner in the Midgets at Seekonk.
Seventy years ago in 1953, Don Collins had his No. 106 tuned to perfection as he won the 25 lap Sportsman event on Wednesday night at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Leo Boudreau won on Saturday night. Bud Matter won non-Ford events on both nights.
Sixty five years ago in 1958 a new team which had made its debut a few weeks earlier at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl won their first feature. Gene White, who had raced at Riverside Park was the driver. The car, a Chevy powered coupe, was owned by two Connecticut River Valley residents, Bob Vitale and Vic Bombacci and carried the unique Number V-8. White won the Modified feature on Wednesday night while Red Foote won on Saturday night. Hank Stevens and Charlie Webster won non-Ford features. A few weeks later Vitale and Bombacci would split with Gene White. Replacing White would be Wild Bill Slater and the rest would be history. Slater along with his new team would become a powerful force in races from Maine to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Bobby Sprague was the winner in Class A action at Seekonk. Bob Malzohn was the winner at Old Bridge
Sixty years ago in 1963 Bill Wimble won the 25 lap NASCAR Sportsman feature at the Utica-Rome Speedway. Ed Ortiz finished second with Jim Luke, third. Bob Zeigler and Rene Charland rounded out the top five. Ortiz headed south on Sunday and captured the Modified feature at Old Bridge in New Jersey. The late Joe Csiki won the Midget feature at Old Bridge. Rene Charland, traveling with Eddie Flemke and the Eastern Bandits surprised the locals at the Islip Speedway on Long Island where he took the win. Norwood fell victim to rain. Rain also prevailed at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, Fort Dix, Seekonk and at the Stafford Speedway.
Fifty five years ago in 1968, Leo Cleary and Bugsy Stevens started the weekend with 25 lap wins at the Catamount Stadium on Thursday night. Stafford ran a 100 lapper on Friday night with Bugsy Stevens taking the win over Fred Harbach, Smokey Boutwell, Leo Cleary and Frank Faria. At the Albany-Saratoga Speedway 50 laps was the main event. Don MacTavish drove to a convincing win over Andy Romano, Jerry Cook, Rene Charland and Lou Lazzaro. Leo Cleary took the top spot at Norwood on Saturday night while at Fonda Lou Lazzaro took the victory over Dave Lape and Don MacTavish. Daring Dick Casowas the 30 lap Modified winner at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Bill Sweet was the Daredevil winner. Bobby Sprague was the Class A winner at Seekonk. Thompson ran twin 25’s on Sunday with Bugsy Stevens taking them both. Utica Rome rounded out the weekend on Sunday night with Dick Fowler taking the win over Robbie Kotary, Sonny Seamon, Dick Clark and Bernie Miller. Ray Hendrick won a 100 lapper at South Boston.
Fifty years ago in 1973, racing at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday night, rained out. The rain carried over to Saturday and washed out Stafford.Seekonk fell victim to rain. At Tioga, Richie Evans won a special holiday program over Jerry Cook and Mike Loescher. It stayed dry on Long Island where Jim Tyler took the win. It was also dry at Waterford where George Allum won the 50 lap Modified June Championship. Jerry Pearl was the Late Model Grand American winner. Sunday night at Utica-Rome saw more rain. Stafford ran a night before the fourth 150 lapper on Tuesday. Ronnie Bouchard continued his hot streak as he took the win over Richie Evans and Jerry Cook. On the Fourth, Islip ran a 100 lapper. Geoff Bodine took the win over Evans and Dan MacNamara.
Forty five years ago in 1978, Catamount Stadium in Milton, Vermont started the Fourth of July weekend on Tuesday. John Rosati took the modified special event held there. Donnie Ayer finished second with Richie Evans, third. New Egypt ran a 100 lapper on the fourth. Geoff Bodine who dropped out of the Catamount event with a flat won the event and was followed by Jerry Cook, Fred Harbach and Greg Sacks. Friday night saw Bugsy Stevens in victory lane at Stafford, Punky Caron get his seventh win of the season at Monadnock and Charlie Jarzombek won a 100 lap double pointer over Richie Evans at Riverhead. Jarzombek went on to go two for two as he won again on Saturday at Islip. At Waterford it was Bob Potter over Moose Hewitt and Mike Beebe. Seekonk saw Fred DeSarro hold off Ronnie Bouchard and Corky Cookman and at Riverside, Bob Polverari and Jerry Cook teamed up to win the Riverside 500. Richie Evans and Reggie Ruggiero finished second. Bouchard and DeSarro reversed roles at Thompson on Sunday. Other holiday weekend winners were Roland LaPierre JR at Westboro, Mike Murphy at Hudson; Dean Hoag at Tioga, Maynard Troyer, two at Spencer and one at Lancaster and Richie Evans won at Utica-Rome.
Forty years ago in 1983, Holland ran the Modifieds on Wednesday night and Richie Evans was there to take the win. Stafford ran a 100 lapper on Friday. Reggie Ruggiero in the mighty no.44 of Mario Fiore cleaned house. Corky Cookman finished second with Bobby Vee, third. At Spencer, Magic Shoes, Mike McLaughlin beat out Jim Spencer and Richie Evans. Ruggerio carried his winning ways over to Saturday at Oswego where he won a 100 lap modified event over Evans and Jamie Tomaino. Stan Gregger won at Riverside while Bob Potter won a 100 lapper at Waterford and Riverhead went to Don Howe. At Seekonk, John StAngelo was the SK Modified winner and Jack Scott took the top spot in the Pro Stocks. In Winston Cup action in the Daytona 400, Buddy Baker won out over Morgan Shepherd.
Thirty five years ago in 1988, Stafford ran twin 50’s. Ted Christopher won the first one and Bob Potter, the second. Monadnock went to Marty Radwick. Christopher backed up his Friday night win with a 50-lap win at Waterford on Saturday. Jerry Marquis won at Riverside and Tom Tillotson won at Riverhead. Oswego again went to Ruggiero. Tom Baldwin finished second with Tomaino, third.
Thirty years ago in 1993 Friday night racing at Stafford rained out. Mike Ewanitsko beat out Ed Kennedy to win at Monadnock. Ewanitsko finished third behind Reggie Ruggiero and Jerry Marquis at Riverside Park. At Waterford on Saturday, Dale Holdredge took the win over Jerry Pearl and Bert Marvin. Todd Ceravolo was the late model winner. In Winston Cup action at Daytona, Ken Schrader, who was suspended from four events for altering his carburetor, was reinstated and fined $5,000. Schrader started last in the Daytona 400 and finished second behind Dale Earnhardt
Twenty five years ago in 1998, Thompson started the weekend on Thursday with a 100 lapper for the SK’s. Thirty-three of the first 54 laps were run under caution because of spins and wrecks. The last half was a little smoother as Teddy and Mikey Christopher finished one-two. Riding high after his Thompson win, Teddy went to Stafford on Friday night and won the 50 Lap SK Modified event there and was leading the Busch North Series event also at Stafford with three to go when he lost his brakes and crashed. Ricky Fuller inherited the lead and the eventual win. Christopher’s SK Modified win was his 40th at the Connecticut half-mile oval.
The International Speedway Corporation which owns and operates the Daytona Int. Speedway announced that the Pepsi 400 Winston Cup event scheduled there had been cancelled and would be run later in the year because of wild fires that were devastating central Florida.
On Saturday night at Waterford, Mike Holdredge won his first ever-modified feature as he held off Dennis and Mike Gada at the checker.
At Riverside, Ted Riggott beat out Dan Avery and at Riverhead; Howie Brode was the victor with Bill Park, second. In other weekend action, Ralph Nason won the Oxford 250 and Chris Ross scored his first ever Pro Stock win at Evans Mills, N.Y.
Twenty years ago in 2003 NASCAR announced that they had tested and approved the installation of the energy absorbing Steel and foam SAFER barriers at the New Hampshire International Speedway and the Richmond Raceway. The SAFER barrier is designed to absorb energy from a racecar when it hits a concrete wall.
In Thursday night Thunder action at Thompson, Bo Gunning was the feature winner in the Sunoco-SK Type Modifieds. After much frustration because of various wrecks and just being in the wrong place at the wrong time Gunning finally got the monkey off his back. Bobby Santos III, grandson of racing legend and NEAR Hall of Fame Inductee Bob Santos finished second. Eric Berndt, Jeff Malave, Todd Ceravolo and Ted Christopher rounded out the top six. Like Gunning at Thompson, Ted Christopher has had his share of frustrations at Stafford. Since winning the twin 40 lap SK-Modified events on April 27 at the Nutmeg oval, Christopher has come up empty. On Friday night, He too, got redemption. After starting fifth in the regularly scheduled 50 lap main event, Christopher took the lead on a lap 15 restart and went on to record his 66th career win at the Stafford track. Jim Civali finished second with Kerry Malone, third.
The Featherlite NASCAR Modified Tour Series took the Fourth of July weekend off. With seven events into the 2003 season John Blewett III was in the point lead by 35 over Todd Szegedy. Of the sixty-seven drivers entered into competition, Blewett was the only driver to finish in the top ten in all events. Blewett had one win to his credit, as did Szegedy. Ted Christopher was the only repeat winner at this point in the season with two victories to his credit. Christopher sat third in points, 94 behind the leader. Former series champion Jerry Marquis, 112 points behind the leader, sat in fourth spot. Rounding out the top five was Chuck Hossfeld, 142 points behind the leader. Sixth through tenth were Jamie Tomaino, Rick Fuller, Eric Beers, Tony Hirshman and Dave Etheridge. The fields of Modifieds continued to be strong, as there was 35-40 at each event. Seventeen of the top twenty had run in all events.
Lee Raceway, in New Hampshire, presented an open competition Tour type Modified event on Friday, July 4. That event, promoted by Ben Dodge, was 100 laps and carried a purse in excess of $30,000. Thirty-two Modifieds were on hand with Charlie Pasteryak taking the win over Tom Bolles, David Berghman and Jamie Tomaino.
It was a hot night at the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night as Dennis Charette garnered his first win. Ed Reed Jr. made a late race challenge but because of a traction problem in the outside groove, had to settle for second. Tom Fox finished third with Rob Janovic and Ron Yuhas Jr., rounding out the top five. Brent Dragon won the 100 lap American-Canadian Tour event. Harry Reed won at Wall Township. At Riverhead, Ken Heagy took the win. Conspicuous by his absence was JR Bertuccio who sat out the event because of family problems.
Those who supported the Race of Champions Series event at the Mountain Speedway in Pennsylvania became quite upset when their purse wasn’t paid at the completion of the event.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. started on the pole for the Daytona Busch Series event and made a shambles of the race as he led every lap and took the win. Greg Biffle won the Winston Cup Pepsi 400.
Fifteen years ago in 2008, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series traveled to Loudon, NH for their first of two visits for 2008. Rain greeted fans and competitors who were on hand for qualifying on Thursday. Because of adverse weather NASCAR was forced to set the starting field of 38 cars based on point standings and the rulebook. There were 42 cars on hand, which meant that four would go home. Sent packing were Doug Coby, Jon Mckennedy, Kenny Horton and Kenny Bouchard. Among those in the field was L.W. Miller who would become the first driver to run a Spec engine in Whelen Modified Tour competition.
The four Whelen Modified Tour teams that were sent home from New Hampshire Motor Speedway after qualifying for Saturday’s New England 100 was cancelled on Thursday each received tow money from the track. Track spokeman Fred Neergaard confirmed that each team was paid $500 by the track.
Chuck Hossfeld led only one lap but it was the one that counted as won out in a photo finish with Ted Christopher. Christopher, who had led since lap 69 had a checker on his mind but Hossfeld had other ideas as he dogged him with no mercy. Ed Flemke Jr finished third and was followed by Eric Beers and Reggie Ruggerio. Sixth through tenth were Bobby Santos, Todd Szegedy, Ryan Preece, Jeff Fuller and Ronnie Silk. Hossfeld pocketed $15,600 for his efforts. Hossfeld and Christopher kept the crowd on its feet for the final ten laps as they traded positions at the front numerous times.It was by far one of the best finishes ever seen at the New Hampshire oval. Hopefully someone in the O. Bruton Smith empire will recognize the great potential the division holds. L.W. Miller, who used the new “Spec Engine” finished 20th.
The victory was the seventh of Hossfeld’s career, his third at New Hampshire and his second of the season. The Loudon Modified event had been scheduled to be televised and was to be shown on the Speed Channel on July 18. Needless to say the Whelen Modifieds took it on the chin again as the TV coverage was scrapped. On the positive side Speedway Motorsports upper management was impressed with the Whelen Modifieds to the point where they indicated the Mods could possibly get a third date at Loudon if and when the Indy Cars are added to the track’s schedule.
The True Value Modifieds went up country to Maine for an event on Saturday at the Wiscasset Raceway. Rain prevailed forcing a cancellation.
The Thompson Speedway’s Thursday Night Thunder program fell victim to rain.
The Stafford Motor Speedway put their Late Model division on center stage Friday night with the first of two extra distance 100-lap feature events of the 2008 season. Waterford’s Dillon Moltz drove to his third consecutive Late Model feature victory of the season in the 100-lapper, with Woody Pitkat winning the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Mark Bakaj winning the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Joey Ferrigno winning the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Robert Thompson winning the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event.
At the Waterford Speedbowl second generation driver Jay Miller ended a long dry spell as he captured his first ever feature win at the shoreline oval. Miller is the son of NEAR Hall of Fame driver Ray Miller. Miller took the lead on the fourth lap of the 35 lap SK Modified feature from Wendell Dailey but in the end had to contend with Dennis Gada and Keith Rocco for the win. Miller held on as Gada and Rocco followed across the finish line. Rob Janovic and Jeff Paul rounded out the top five.
Other feature winners were Tim Jordan (Late Model), Walt Hovey (Sportsman), Raymond Christian III (Mini Stock), and Shaun Buffington (Legends).
In Sprint Cup racing at Loudon, Kurt Busch had strategy and luck on his side. Tony Stewart had neither. Busch wound up ending his 29-race winless string in the rain-shortened Lenox Industrial Tools 301, while the frustrated Stewart simply added another disheartening loss to his own winless string that has reached 31 races. It is the first victory for the Penske Racing driver since September at California Speedway, and it came on a day when two-time Cup champion Stewart dominated, leading 132 of 284 laps, only to see the hard luck that has dogged him all season continue.
Runner-up Michael Waltrip, who had not finished better than 23rd, used the same strategy as Busch. The two-time Daytona 500 winner said he was hoping the race would go to the end because he believed he had a faster car than Busch. But Busch believed he could hold the top spot. Stewart, who dominated the second half of the race on the 1.058-mile oval, held off a challenge from two-time reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson late in the race and appeared on the way to his first victory since August at Watkins Glen, N.Y. But Stewart and most of the other drivers who had been racing at the front of the pack did not have enough gas to get to the end. On lap 271, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had been in the top 10 all day, started toward pit road and was hit from behind by Jamie McMurray, who then spun into David Ragan, bringing out a caution. Stewart and the rest of the front-runners pitted under the ensuing yellow flag, while Busch and seven other drivers who had pitted more recently than the leaders, stayed on track. The race restarted on lap 279, but there was another caution on lap 280, with Clint Bowyer and rookie Sam Hornish Jr. crashing, then Juan Pablo Montoya slamming into series points leader Kyle Busch, Kurt’s younger brother, moments later. Montoya was later assessed a two-lap penalty by NASCAR for rough driving and finished 32nd.
The rain that had been threatening for much of the afternoon began falling during that caution and, moments after the cars were red-flagged onto pit lane just before completing lap 285, NASCAR called the race, leaving Busch on top, ahead of Waltrip, J.J. Yeley, Martin Truex Jr., Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson and Casey Mears, all of whom had stayed on track during the previous caution.
In Nationwide action at Loudon Tony Stewart got track position, restarting third after taking just two tires during his final pit stop on lap 129 of the 200-lap event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He took the lead on lap 136 from fellow Cup star Carl Edwards on lap 136 and led the rest of the way. Teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finished second and third.
Ten years ago in 2013, The Thompson Speedway was quiet. At the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night Ryan Preece, for the second consecutive week and fifth overall of the 2013 season, took the win in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Mark St. Hilaire won the 30-lap Late Model feature, Chase Dowling racked up his division leading third win in the Xtra Mart Xtra D 25-lap SK Light Modified feature, Albert Saunders was a first time winner in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and his twin brother Cliff Saunders was the big winner in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
In the SK Modified 40 lapper it appeared that Keith Rocco would unseat Ryan Preece as top dog but it wasn’t meant to be. Rocco went from third to the lead on the first lap and was holding his own. It all came to an end on lap 13. Ryan Preece had moved by Todd Owen to take over the second spot. Somehow Owen got back by Preece and made contact with Rocco as they exited turn four. Rocco spun out of the lead and Owens car was inflicted with severe damage to the right front of his car. Once the dust settled Preece had inherited the lead.
In the end, Preece picked up his second consecutive victory and his fifth of the 2013 season. Woody Pitkat came home in second, with Eric Berndt, Danny Cates, and Matt Galko rounding out the top-5. Ted Christopher had been running third on lap 24 when he dropped out with mechanical issues. He was credited with an 18th place finish in the 20 car starting field. Rocco rallied from his spin to finish 11th.
From Stafford Preece headed for the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island where he continued his winning ways.
The Valenti Modified Racing Series was at the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH with 30 cars strong, a huge crowd and 90 degree plus heat. Dwight Jarvis, a 40 year veteran of the open wheeled Modified wars took the lead from Chris Pasteryak on a lap 87 restart and went to win the 10th annual Valenti Modified Racing Series ‘Firecracker 100’. The win was Jarvis first of the season, his fifth series victory at Monadnock, and his seventh career win under the VMRS banner. He also becomes the fifth different winner in five races to date.
Jarvis made a late drive through the pack he beat Pasteryak for the lead when the Connecticut driver spun his tires on a late restart. Pasteryak, who in the end settled for second, had led the race a total of 66-laps. Defending series champion Jon McKennedy finished third in the Art Barry owned car after starting 15th. Rowan Pennink and Richard Savary rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth place finishers were, Norm Wrenn, Dale Holdridge, Max Zachem, Tommy Barrett, and Jim Boniface.
There were nine caution flags, mostly for minor spins.
With temperatures in the high 90’s action at the Waterford was a a fever pitch. The popular
shoreline oval hosted the Overdrive Radio 300, its mid-season championship event for its six core racing divisions. Winning extra-distance NASCAR Whelen All-American Series races on the night included Tyler Chadwick who scored a memorable victory in the night’s big 100-lap SK Modified® race. Keith Rocco picked up his fifth win of the year in the Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model division while Corey Hutchings and Ken Cassidy Jr. each won for the fourth time of the year in the Street Stocks and Mini Stocks, respectively. Glenn Griswold was a first-ever winner at the Speedbowl in the SK Light Modified division and Dylan Izzo scored his third INEX Legend Cars win of 2013. Chadwick beat back one of the division’s best-ever to claim the NASCARWhelen All-American Series SK Modified® feature. Keith Rocco moved in over the final charge to the checkered flag to stage a great finish with Chadwick that had fans on the edge of their seats. Kyle James hung on to third over Ted Christopher, who was fourth. Rob Janovic rounded out the top-five. The win was Chadwick’s third on the year and second consecutive in the extra-distance SK 100 event. Chadwick also picked up the “Rough & Tumble” driver of the race award for his hard earned victory. Twenty two Modifieds went to post for the event.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series had a week off to prepare before heading to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Town Fair Tire 100. The event would be shown live by the Speed Channel beginning at 1:00pm.
Ryan Preece, who had won three of the five events run this season, leads the point standings by 32 points over Rowan Pennink. Three points behind Pennink was Mike Stefanik. Justin Bonsignore and Doug Coby rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Ron Silk, Don Lia, Ted Christopher, Eric Goodale and Bobby Santos.
It’s become somewhat of a joke as shortly after the recent Riverhead Raceway event that Ted Christopher has hit just about everything there is to hit except the lottery. Christopher hopes to hit the lottery in New Hampshire when he gets redemption with a win. Christopher was in contention to take the win at New Hampshire last fall when he was hit and turned into the wall in the closing moments by Don Lia.
Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC the lights were out as the southern Modifieds were at the Caraway Speedway. George Brunnhoelzl III went wire-to-wire on Saturday to score a record 20th career win. Brunnhoelzl’s biggest threat came late in the race when Andy Seuss challenged for the lead. He pushed Brunnhoelzl through Turn 4 on Lap 135, but spun while going for the lead a lap later, bringing out the fifth caution of the night. Seuss made a fierce charge back to the front after the restart, taking third at the finish behind Kyle Ebersole. They were followed by Brian Loftin and Gary Putnam, with his first career top-five finish. Sixth through 10th were Burt Myers, Luke Fleming, Danny Bohn, J.R. Bertuccio and Mike Norman.
Jimmie Johnson, after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup 400, became the first driver in 31 years to sweep Daytona International Speedway, accomplishing the feat with a dominating run Saturday night for his fourth win of the season. The Daytona 500 winner was the first driver since Bobby Allison in 1982, and the fifth overall, to win both races in a season at Daytona.
Matt Kenseth pulled away from traffic on the final restart of Friday night’s Nationwide Series race at Daytona, cruising to a comfortable win.
Five years ago, 2018, The Tri-Track Modified Series in conjunction with Open Wheel Wednesday was on tap at the Seekonk Speedway last week. Advertised as paying $10,000 to win, the event drew a whopping 39 cars and a packed house of fans at the track that D.Anthony Venditti built with his bare hands in 1946.
Unfortunately, rain intervened on lap 22 of the event. The 100 lapper will be continued this Tuesday night, July 3. Richard Savory will lead the restart with Matt Hirschman in the runner-up spot. Rounding out the top five will be Keith Rocco, Rowan Pennink and Ron Silk. Four qualifying heats were run with Rocco, Mike Willis, Hirschman and Pennink taking the wins. Two consolations were needed to fill out the field with Ryan Preece and Carl Mederios Jr taking the wins.
The New London-Waterford Speedbowl beat the rain as they got their Wacky Wednesday program in ahead of the rain. Marc Shafer was the 25-lap Super-X winner, Steven Olsen was the winner of the 25-lap X-Car event, John O’Sullivan was the Legends winner and Maddie Harkin was the 20-lap Bandolero winner.
The Stafford Motor Speedway presented the 3rd Annual NAPA Auto Parts SK 5k, which paid the winner $5,000 out of a purse of over $27,000. With the Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Sales Gambler’s Challenge bonus of $5,000 and a total heat race bonus of $2,000 from Wheelers Auto of Hamden, the total posted awards were over $34,000. Ronnie Williams won the NAPA SK 5K and in victory lane he pulled the winner take all chip for the Dunleavy’s Gambler’s Challenge to give himself a pay day of $10,675 with purse and contingencies added together. Other feature winners on the night were Al Saunders taking down his first career Late Model win and earning himself a $500 bounty from Stafford Speedway for ending Tom Fearn’s 6-race winning streak, Marcello Rufrano was a back to back winner in the SK Light feature, Jeremy Lavoie scored his fifth win of 2018 in the Limited Late Model feature, and Nicole Chambrello won the Street Stock feature one week after barrel rolling her car.
After swapping the lead numerous times, Williams took the lead following a caution on lap 73 with Keith Rocco in second. Eric Berndt was side by side with Chase Dowling for third with Mike Christopher Jr in fifth. Rocco was applying heavy pressure to Williams while Berndt was able to finally get clear into third on lap-77. Rocco got to the inside of Williams and he had the lead by a nose at the line on lap-78. Rocco got clear into the lead on lap-79 but Williams came right back on lap-80 and he took the lead with a pass in turn 3. Dowling was now third behind Williams and Rocco with Berndt and Christopher making up the top-5 with 20 laps to go.
With 10 laps to go, it was still Williams followed by Rocco and Dowling. Berndt was fourth with Christopher still fifth. Williams led Rocco to the checkered flag to pick up his second win of the 2018 season. Dowling finished third with Berndt and Christopher rounding out the top-5.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the track at Riverhead Raceway on Saturday, July 7.
Down on the Connecticut shoreline at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, Kyle James continued his domination of the SK Modifieds as he won the delayed 80 lap season opening Blast Off. James has now one three out of four SK Modified events run at the Speedbowl so far in 2018. Keith Rocco, the tracks all time winner, made his first appearance of the year at the track but could do no better than third. Also on hand was Matt Hirschman who could do no better than eighth. Dylan Izzo finished second and was followed by Todd Owen, Tim Jordan and Rocco. Izzo was later disqualified, along with Tim Jordan, who finished fourth. That moved Todd Owen to second and Keith Rocco, who started 10th and never seriously challenged for a podium spot, in third. Rocco, who spun out on lap 66, was presented with the Hard Charger Award, given in memory of the late John Anderson.
James took home $5318.00 in total prize money! ($2600 in base payout from the Speedbowl: $1550 in winner’s contingency: $1168 in lap contingency)
Other Saturday night winners at the Speedbowl was Steven Chapman picking up his first career victory in the SK Lites, Shawn Gaedeke got his second win of the season in the 30-lap Sportsman feature and Charles Canfield got his second consecutive victory in the 25-lap Mini Stock feature.
Across the big pond on Long Island, the Riverhead Raceway held their 68th Year celebration. Kyle Soper, driving the Wayne Anderson entry, took the win over Tim Rogers Jr and Dave Brigetti.
Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, In the first 25-lap Modified race, Bobby Measmer Jr. won after pole-winner Lee Jeffreys exited. Measmer collected his second win of the season, holding off the rest of the field for the last 12 laps. In the second 25-lap Modified race, Burt Myers won for his 78th career win at Bowman Gray.
In NASCAR Monster Cup racing, Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson bashed and banged all over the track during an electric final lap. As Busch began to celebrate his dramatic victory, Larson gave him a thumb’s up.Busch outdueled Larson down the stretch Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, earning his fifth victory of the season. Kyle Larson used the high line at Chicagoland Speedway to pass Kevin Harvick and drive away to a dominant victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday.
Last year, 2022, The Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series Open Wheel Wednesday at the Seekonk Speedway started off the holiday weekend. The Modified 100 lapper paid $10,000 to win. Thirty two Modifieds were on hand for an absolutely perfect night of racing. Four qualifying heats were run with Max Zachem, Kirk Alexander, Woody Pitkat and Carl Medieros taking the wins.
Matt Hirschman left little doubt why he is called Money Matt as he walked off with the $10,000 first place money in the Tri-Track Open Wheel Wednesday event. Starting fifth, Hirschman worked his way to the front and took the lead from Woody Pitkat on lap 32. Hirschman survived five restarts that resulted from cautions being thrown. He had one close call when Dylan Izzo was about to be lapped on lap 53 when he spun in front of the leader. Hirschman avoided contact with the spinning car.
The surprise of the night was the run turned in by Kyle Bonsignore who came from mid pack to finish second, passing Anthony Noscella on lap 85. Noscella ended up third with Matt Swanson and Austin Beers rounding out the top five.
This past weekend was a busy one at Stafford. Friday night saw see a full card of weekly racing events plus the GAF Roofing Open Modified 80. NASCAR Cup competitors Ryan Preece and Ryan Newman were in the Open 80 field. Saturday night was the 2nd Annual SRX Superstar Racing Experience & RaceChoice.com SK Modified® Showdown (50). The Saturday night event was sold out. Those who were unable to get tickets watched it live on CBS.
David Arute scored his second win of the season in the SK Modified® feature, Andrew Molleur notched his first Late Model win of the season to end Adam Gray’s winning streak at 4 races, George Bessette, Jr. took down his first win of the season in the SK Light feature, Matt Clement was a first-time winner in 2022 in the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Downey was a career first time winner in the Street Stock feature. Woody Pitkat won the GAF Roofing 80as he dominated the race to take down his second consecutive open modified victory at Stafford after winning the Bud Light 80 in June.
In the SK 40 lapper, Arute started fifth and took the lead from pole sitter and early leader Troy Talman on lap 12. Early favorites Bryan Narducci and Ron Williams were eliminated onlap two. Williams, in his attempt to pass Narducci, went to the grass, lost control and drilled Narducci into the fence between turns three and four. Keith Rocco looked to be heading to a podium finish until the closing moments when he was passed by Marcello Rufano and Todd Owen and had to settle for fourth. Anthony Bello rounded out the top five.
Pitcat started fifth on the Open 80. Wasting little time, Pitkat took the lead on lap 6 from Eric Goodale. At the halfway point of the race, Pitkat was still in command with Chase Dowling in second. Eric Goodale, Marcello Rufrano, and Ryan Preece made up the top-5 with Cory DiMatteo, Anthony Nocella, Matt Galko, Dana DiMatteo, and Ron Williams rounding out the top-10. The caution came out with 44 laps complete for a spin coming out of turn 2 by Matt Gallo. Under the caution the entire field with the exception of Tommy Barrett, Jr. came to pit road for tires and adjustments. Goodale won the race off of pit road followed by Pitkat, Williams, Dowling, Ryan Newman, Galko, Nocella, and Dana DiMatteo.
Barrett led the field back to green but he only lasted on lap in front before Pitkat took the lead on lap-45. Dowling moved up to second with Williams taking third and Goodale fourth as Barrett fell back to fifth. Newman took fifth from Barrett on lap-48 and Barrett continued to slide backwards, falling outside the top-15.
Williams made a move around Dowling to move into second place on lap-55 while Pitkat continued to hold the race lead. Goodale was still fourth with Dana DiMatteo up to fifth. Dana DiMatteo worked his way past Goodale on lap-74 to move into fourth place while Dowling and Williams were both still trying to catch Pitkat for the race lead.
Pitkat led Williams and Dowling to the checkered flag to pick up his second consecutive open modified victory at Stafford Speedway. Dana DiMatteo finished fourth with Goodale rounding out the top-5.
Based on the near sellout on Friday and the absolute sellout on Saturday night the Arute family hit a home run for the weekend.
The speedway played host to the RaceChoice.com SK Modified® Showdown as part of the Superstar Racing Experience event held Saturday night, July 2nd. Stephen Kopcik took the lead on a late restart and led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2022 season.
The Speedway welcomed the Superstar Racing Experience back for another visit to the Connecticut half-mile facility that was shown live on CBS. Ryan Newman took the lead from Marco Andretti with 5 laps to go in the 75-lap feature event and went on to take down the checkered flag.
In the Saturday night SK Modified 50 lapper Todd Owen who had led since lap 20 got out of shape on lap-45 as Marcello Rufrano moved into the lead with Kopcik to second, and Anthony Bello to third as Owen fell back to fourth. The caution came back out with 45 laps complete for a multi-car incident in turn 4 involving the cars of David Arute, Jon Puleo, Noah Korner and several others.
Rufrano and Kopcik went wheel to wheel for the lead on the restart with Owen and Bello side by side for third. Kopcik got clear to the lead on lap-48 with Owen and Rufrano now side by side for second. Owen took second as the cars hit the white flag with Dana DiMatteo taking fourth from Bello. Kopcik led Owen to the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2022 season. Rufrano finished third with Dana DiMatteo and Bello rounding out the top-5.
In the SRX 75 lapper, Marco Andretti took the lead on a lap-66 restart with Newman moving up to second as Tony Stewart slid back to third. Paul Tracy was fourth and Bobby Labonte was fifth, just in front of Hailie Deegan. Stewart fell back to fourth on lap-68 as Tracy moved up to third place. Newman dove to the inside of Andretti on lap-70 to move into the lead with 5 laps to go. Newman led the final 5 laps to take the victory. Andretti finished second with Tracy, Stewart and Labonte rounding out the top-5. Matt Hirschman ended up eighth.
The Riverhead Raceway and the New London-Waterford Speedbowl cancelled their Saturday night events due to a forecast for heavy rain on Saturday. Both tracks got skunked by the weather bureau as it never rained as predicted!
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series heads for the Wall Stadium at the Jersey shore this coming Saturday night. After seven events Ron Silk holds an 18 point lead over Eric Goodale. Jon McKennedy and Tommy Catalano are tied for third spot, 22 points back. Rounding out the top five is Justin Bonsignore, 33 points back. Sixth thru tenth include Austin Beers, Kyle Bonsignore, Craig Lutz, Dave Sapienza and JB Fortun. The only winner in the top ten is Justin Bonsignore who has two victories to his credit.
In NASCAR cup racing at Road America Tyler Reddick defeated Chase Elliott to secure his maiden victory marking the first road course win for Richard Childress Racing since Watkins Glen in 2006, 16 years ago.With 16 laps remaining, Reddick was able to reel Elliott in enough, to the point where he could take advantage of a mistake by the race’s dominator in Turn 5, completing the pass for the lead – and eventually, the victory.
On a sad note, former Stafford Motor Speedway Chief Scorer Beverly Flynn passed away . She had countless friends in the NASCAR Modified ranks, at Stafford and throughout the Northeast. Formerly Beverly Sarkisian, she married the late Bill Flynn, well-known engine builder, in the ’80s, and they created a nice life together. She had a great laugh and a terrific sense of humor, and she will be missed.