Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1948 Johnny Thomson made it two in a row in Midget action at Seekonk.
Seventy years ago in 1953, Red Foote made it two in a row at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl as he won a 25 lap Sportsman event on Wednesday. Freddy Luchesi was the Saturday night winner. Lou Tetreault and Tom Van Epps were the non-Ford winners. George Smaldone was the Stock Car winner at Seekonk.
Sixty five years ago in 1958, the New London-Waterford Speedbowl fell victim to rain. Joe Kelly took the Sunday afternoon win at Old Bridge.
Sixty years ago in 1963, Area Auto Racing News reported that Rene Charland won a 100 lap Modified event at Islip and Wild Bill Slater was the Modified winner at Old Bridge. Hop Harrington won the season closer at Norwood. At the Wall Stadium, Bill Chevalier was declared the Modified Track Champion and Bill Brice, the Sportsman Champion. Years later Brice would become a respected NASCAR Official on the Whelen Modified Tour Series. Billy Harman won what was believed to be his first race at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Jerry Dostie was the Bomber winner. The Stafford Speedway records indicate that Ernie Gahan won the season ending event held on dirt in the John Koszela Woodchopper Spl. The Rounds family in Rhode Island claims that Gahan was off chasing points and Koszela put Don Rounds in the car for the final event. Seekonk fell victim to rain.
Fifty five years ago in 1968, Bugsy Stevens, driving the legendary Ole Blu of Len Boehler, closed out the season and wrapped up the modified track championship with a convincing win on Sunday at Stafford. Don MacTavish finished second with Fred DeSarro, third. Fred Harbach and Holly Wilder rounded out the top five. Leo Cleary made it two in a row at Norwood on Saturday night and at the Fulton Raceway in New York on Sunday, Richie Evans took his first of 40 victories he would earn in nine seasons. Ed Yerrington ended a long dry spell as he won the 30 lap Modified feature at the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night. Donnie Bunnell was the Daredevil winner. George Summers ruled the roost at Seekonk.
Fifty years ago in 1973, the NASCAR Modified action was in the southland. Richie Evans scored a one-two punch as he won the Martinsville 150 on Saturday afternoon and won a 100 lapper at the Caraway Speedway on Saturday night. At Martinsville, Jerry Cook finished second and was followed by Bugsy Stevens and Paul Radford. Cook also finished second at Caraway as Satch Worley finished third with Stevens, fourth. Ray Hendrick, driving the Dick Armstrong No.1 finished fifth. Hendrick had blown an engine at Martinsville, which necessitated Hop Harrington and crew making a hasty motor change. At the Waterford Speedbowl in New England, Joe Trudeau was the 30 lap Modified winner and Bill Sweet took the Grand Americans.
Forty five years ago in 1978, Waterford ran on Saturday night and it was Roland LaPierre Jr. taking the win. Eddie Flemke finished second with Pete Fiandacca, third. Oswego ran their season ending 30 lapper which saw George Kent brave the cold and hold off Richie Evans for the win. Jerry Cook finished third with Doug Hewitt, fourth. Seekonk ran a 100-lap open competition event on Sunday and it was Ronnie Bouchard in the Bobby Judkins 2x taking the win over Geoff Bodine.
Forty years ago in 1983,the Fall Final was a 100 lapper. Richie Evans took the win. Kenny Bouchard, driving for Ted Marsh, finished second and was followed by Corky Cookman and Bugsy Stevens. Jerry Pearl won the companion SK modified event with Kerry Malone, second. In Winston Cup action at North Wilkesboro, Darrell Waltrip was the pole sitter and race winner.
Thirty five years ago in 1988, the Fall Final featured the SK Modifieds and Ted Christopher took the win over Bob Potter and Jerry Pearl.
Thirty years ago in 1993, Waterford ran a 150-lap event. Ricky Young took the win after taking over the lead on lap 106 when Bob Potter pitted with a soft tire. Mark LaJunesse finished second and was followed by Jim Broderick, Potter and Bob Georgiades. At Riverside Park, Stan Gregger took a win over Ed Kennedy. At the Fall Final at Stafford, Mike Stefanik took the lead from Jeff Fuller on lap 83 and went on to win the 150-lap event. Satch Worley finished second and was followed by Rick Fuller and Jeff Fuller. Steve Chowanski was the SK Modified winner. John Anderson won the SK event but was disqualified after it was discovered that his engine had an illegal crankshaft. Hermie Sadler recorded his first Grand National win at Rougemont, N.C. In Winston Cup action at North Wilkesboro, Rusty Wallace took the lead with 100 laps to go and went on to take the win over Dale Earnhardt and Harry Gant announced that he would retire as a driver at seasons end.
Twenty five years ago in 1998, the Modified Tour Series was scheduled for Flemington but was washed out. Waterford ran their season finale 100 lapper and it was young gun, Eric Berndt taking the win. Tucker Reynolds finished second and was followed by Bert Marvin, Mark LaJunesse and Todd Ceravolo. In Winston Cup action at Charlotte, Mark Martin took the win over Ward Burton. The event was stopped midway when sewage backed up and flowed across the backstretch. Mike McLaughlin won the 300-mile Grandnational event.
Twenty years ago in 2003, The NASCAR Modified Tour Series was at the Stafford Speedway with the Busch North Series for the annual Fall Final. All qualifying was completed on Saturday but rain-washed out the main events, which were to be run on Sunday. The event was been re-scheduled for the following Saturday with a rain date of Sunday. There were 42 Featherlite Modifieds at Stafford. Nevin George was the top qualifier with a speed of 98.382 mph. Series point leader Todd Szegedy was a tick slower as his speed was 98.291 mph. Ted Christopher was third fastest with a speed of 98.167 mph. The re-draw for starting positions showed Szegedy on the pole with Eric Beers, outside pole. Eddie Flemke Jr. drew third with Tony Hirshman and Jamie Tomaino making up the front five. Nevin George drew 7th and Christopher, eighth. The long awaited return of Reggie Ruggerio turned into a non-event, event. Ruggerio, who teamed up with Long Island car owner Gary Cretty had the miss-fortune of having clutch problems and missed most of the practice and set-up sessions. Needless to say, he didn’t qualify.
Joey McCarthy took the Busch Pole for the Busch North Series Fall Final. Mike Johnson was second with Matt Kobyluck, third. Current series point leader Andy Santerre, who was hoping to sew up the series title, will start sixth. Christopher, Jerry Marquis and Mike Stefanik saw double duty. Christopher starts 11th, Marquis, 16th and Stefanik, 18th. Twenty-nine cars will go to post.
In Thursday night Thunder action at Thompson, Eric Berndt managed to avoid a serious last lap wreck to sew up his first ever Modified Track Championship. Berndt knew what he had to do going into the final event of the point season. With a healthy cushion on second place runner Todd Ceravolo, Berndt drove conservatively and in the end finished fifth. Ceravolo, who finished third, could only gain if Berndt had trouble, which he didn’t. Third generation driver Bobby Santos III lined up on the front row along side Kelly McDougall. McDougall, a rookie, had no business starting on the point, as she was clearly slower than those behind her. Santos got the jump and looked to be on his way to his first modified win until the last lap when his hopes ended up in the wall in turn four. Ted Christopher, who is known to intimidate his competition, put the pressure on as the pair took the white flag. Christopher took the lead between turns one and two. Santos took it back in three; Christopher took it back in four in the run to the checker. Santos bumped with Kerry Malone and hit the wall, ending his night in 16th spot. Malone limped under the checkered flag with severe front damage and was credited with fourth place. Jeff Malave finished in second spot and garnered enough points to tie with Todd Ceravolo for second in the final track standings. Sixth through tenth finishers in the 30 lap feature were Bert Marvin, Ron Yuhas Jr., Matty Adanti, Kelly McDougall and Butch Perry. David Berghman won the Pro Stock division track title in fine style as he took the win in his main event. Other feature winners were Woody Pitkat in the Late Models, Shawn Monahan, three in a row in the Limited Sportsman and Joe Godbout in the Mini-Stocks. Scott Bronczyk was crowned the Late Model Champ, Glenn Boss, the Limited Sportsman Champ and Ray Veins, the Mini Stock Champ.
The Stafford Speedway recently issued a notice stating that Bo Gunning had been suspended indefinitely. After viewing videotapes of the incidents leading up to the suspension it appeared that race officials over-reacted. First off, Gunning was not denying that he threw a punch at Ted Christopher but if one were to view why he did what he did maybe Christopher had it coming as he did attempt to take Gunning out and as a matter of fact he succeeded. Gunning was also accused of assaulting track owner Jack Arute Sr. The video showed a verbal confrontation between the two. Gunning later apologized and it was accepted. It was also stated that Gunning hit another car after the caution had been displayed. The video clearly shows Ted Christopher slamming into Gunning after the yellow had been displayed. Race officials took no action against Christopher as they said they didn’t see it. Evidently race officials at Stafford are not allowed to view videos of events and are not allowed to let a recorded video influence their decisions. Bo Gunning is no saint and he will be the first to admit it but he feels that whenever Ted Christopher is involved in a situation they tend to look the other way. Gunning swears he never said he was going to “Take care of Teddy”. What he did say to Kerry Malone was that he would not race with him, as he knew he was running for a championship. Gunning made a similar statement to Eric Berndt and Todd Ceravolo on the final night for track points at Thompson.
At the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night in regular Dodge Series weekly racing series competition Dennis Gada got his seventh SK-Modified win of the year. Gada, who had been involved or collected in many wrecks during the 2003 season, managed to keep most of the destruction behind him. Gada started near the front, which meant that he would have a fighting chance of staying alive in the point race. Looking for his fifth straight championship, Gada added 10 points to his lead over Ed Reed Jr. Reed finished sixth. The action was hot and heavy as Dennis Charette finishing second. Ron Yuhas Jr., Chris Pasteryak and John Brouwer Jr. rounded out the top five. Allen Coats won the Late Model war but it was Corey Hutchins who clinched the Championship. Other Saturday night winners at the shoreline oval were Dave Zemke in the Sportsman division, Dave Trudeau in the Mini Stocks and Mike Beebe Jr. in the Legends.
NASCAR made it official the following Tuesday when they announced that Dennis Gada was officially the New England Regional Weekly Racing Series by Dodge Champion. It wasn’t a cakewalk by any means for the four-time Waterford Speedbowl Modified Champion. In 18 events he garnered six wins and 11 top ten finishes. Modified racing at Waterford can be rough and tumble at times and Gada has had more than his share of tumbles. Starting in the rear or near the rear just about every week Gada ran to win rather than just finish as his record shows. Much of the credit goes to car owner Harry Wyant and his crew who did yeoman’s work to keep the mighty No.3 on the track and in contention. For his efforts Gada received $45,000+ in awards. With one more week to go, Gada stood a good chance of breaking the track championship record of Al Gaudreau and Dick Dunn who have four track titles in a row. Ed Dachenhausen, a Waterford alumni, won the North East Regional Championship. Dachenhausen raced at the Chemung Speedrome in New York where he won 12 out of the 19 events he ran. Mark McFarland who raced at the Old Dominion Speedway in Virginia was named as the National Champion as well as winning the Atlantic Regional Championship. McFarland pocketed $213,000 for his efforts. Other regional champions included Tom Seets, Heartland, Mark Wertz, Southeastern Coastal, Jerry Robertson, Northwest, Rip Michaels, Sunbelt and Kyle Berck, Midwest. Following Gada in the New England Region standings were Jeff Strunk, who raced at the Grandview Speedway in Pennsylvania, Scott Bonney, who raced at the Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire, Eric Berndt, who raced at Thompson, Dwight Jarvis, who raced at Claremont Speedway in New Hampshire, Bobby Babb, who raced at the Beech Ridge Speedway in Maine, John Fortin, who raced at the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, Rick Houlihan, who raced at Seekonk in Mass, Jeff Crowley, who raced at the Star Speedway in New Hampshire and Kerry Malone, who raced at Stafford. The top-10 received their awards in Nashville, Tenn. in early November. The Short Track regionals honor second division drivers. Ryan Posocco, who raced at Stafford, is the New England Champion. Aaron Fellows, who raced at the Claremont Speedway in New Hampshire, finished second. Waterford Late Model Champion Corey Hutchins finished third followed by Scott Bronczyk, who raced at Thompson.
In Winston Cup action at Talledega, Elliott Sadler took the Busch Pole. Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified tenth but had his time dis-allowed when inspectors determined that his right side body panel was too low. Earnhardt started in the rear and made up a lost lap to finish second to Michael Waltrip. Sadler had a good run going until four laps to go when he flipped violently.
Fifteen years ago in 2008, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series headed to Martinsville VA for the Made In American Whelen 300 which was be the 13th of 16 races on the 2008 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule.
For many years, the northern contingent has had a stranglehold on victory lane while southern competitors played second fiddle. Burt Myers became the first Southern driver to win a Modified tour race in a NASCAR-sanctioned race at Martinsville since Johnny Bryant in 1985. Whelen Southern Modified Tour competitor Myers changed all that as he powered his way to victory at the historic Virginia oval. Of the 43 Modifieds on hand, Myers was fourth fastest in time trials and for the start, redrew the outside pole, starting along side another southerner, Bobby Hutchens. At the start Myers almost saw his day end before it started as he tangled with Hutchens at the initial drop of the green and triggered a massive wreck on the front stretch. Fortunately for him NASCAR declared the start false and mandated a complete restart with Hutchens and Myers back on the front row. Myers led the restart with fastest timetrialer Ryan Preece in tow. By the fifth go-round Preece had the lead. Preece pretty much dominated from then on, at least until lap 270 of the 300 lap event when Myers got by him in traffic. Myers led the final laps to collect the win and the famous Martinsville Speedway Grandfather Clock trophy. Preece finished second and was credited with being the first Northern Whelen Modified. Matt Hirschman finished third and was followed by Reggie Ruggerio and Ted Christopher. Rounding out the top ten were Todd Szegedy, Woody Pitkat, Ed Flemke Jr, Rowan Pennick and Brian Loftin.
Eleven of the original 43 starters finished on the lead lap. Sixteen caution periods for 88 laps slowed the event. Among those were had problems were outside pole sitter George Brunnhoelzl III who lost an engine, Hossfeld wrecked, Mike Stefanik lost a driveshaft, Ronnie Silk wrecked, Jimmy Blewett had his battery short out, Bob Grigas lost a rear end, Wade Cole lost his steering, Ken Heagy had rear end trouble, Andy Seuss wrecked, Billy Pauch wrecked as did Rick Fuller and Glen Reen. Richard Savory had an alternator malfunction and Jake Marosz wrecked.
The following Tuesday the Hartford Courant reported that NASCAR officials have made the decision to disqualify Myers from his victory in Saturday’s event at Martinsville. The decision handed the event victory to 17-year old Ryan Preece who drove Ole Blu, which crossed the finish line second to Myers. NASCAR officials would not comment on the situation. A NASCAR official did confirm that parts were confiscated from Myers’ car following Saturday’s event and taken to the NASCAR Research and Development Center for further inspection.
In non-NASCAR Modified racing, Tony Hirschman came out of retirement to win the annual Race of Champions at the Oswego Speedway in New York state. In True Value Modified Series racing at the All Star Speedway, Jon McKennedy took the win over Chris Pasteryak and Dwight Jarvis.
Thursday Night Thunder at Thompson International Speedway saw Keith Rocco clean house as he picked up his fifth win of the season in the Sunoco Modified division. Rick Gentes resumed his late season mastery of the Late Models and Scott Michalski continued his hot streak in Mini Stock competition. Glenn Boss turned his luck around with a dominating TIS Modified win. Both Jay Macedonio in the Pro Stocks and Ed Puleo in the Limited Sportsman division enjoyed their his first wins of the season.
Rocco motored by surprise Sunoco Modified championship contender Danny Cates to take the lead near the half way mark of the 30 lap feature. Cates took the early lead with a stout pack of cars battling from second position on back. When thing shuffled out by lap five Cates continued to lead Todd Ceravolo and Rocco. Jimmy Blewett had made tracks to the front and into the fourth position. Tom Cravenho rounded out the top five. At lap 10, Ceravolo had his hands full holding off the advances of Rocco. Rocco dove low into turn four trying to get a run on Ceravolo. Rocco drifted up the track taking Ceravolo with him. Blewett peaked low looking to make it three wide. The veteran thought the better of it and settled back in line in third. Rocco was able to steal the second position from Ceravolo. Rocco was applying heavy pressure to Cates, who had encountered lapped traffic, when the caution flew for a spinning Carl Oberg. Under the caution, Ceravolo relinquished the third spot to head to pit road. He was not able to continue.
Cates and Rocco went wheel-to-wheel for the first lap of the restart before Cates, relinquished the lead to Rocco. Blewett took chase of Cates but quickly became the hunted. Cravenho made a strong move exiting turn three to get alongside Blewett eventually taking the position away. Both Blewett and Cravenho were able to get by Cates as Rocco was getting away from the field. Blewett and Cravenho were locked in a heat battle for the second position when both slipped up in the corner. Blewett was able to continue. Cravenho was forced to lift falling back to third. Cravenho gathered it up moving back by Cates once again.
In the closing laps Rocco had checked out on the field to win his fifth victory of the season. Blewett was a distance second followed by Cravenho. Cates settled for the fourth position ahead of Kerry Malone, who quietly came home fifth to extend his point lead. Rounding out the top ten were Bert Marvin, Tim Sullivan, Ricky Shawn, Josh Sylvester and Woody Pitkat. Ceravolo ended up 18th in the final rundown.
The Stafford Motor Speedway closed out their Friday night racing series for 2008. Woody Pitkat picked up his fourth win of the 2008 season in the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Joe Rzeszutek picked up his second win of 2008 in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Mark Bakaj scored win number 4 of 2008 in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Andrew Durand scored his third win of 2008 in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Todd LaPorta was a first time career winner in the 15-lap DARE Stock season. Ryan Posocco clinched his fourth Late Model track championship with a third place finish with four more championships to be decided next weekend at the 36th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend.
In the 40-lap SK Modified feature event, Woody Pitkat drove to his fourth feature victory of the 2008 season. Corey Hutchings took the early race lead and held the lead until lap-6 when Chris Jones moved to the front. Pitkat moved to second on lap-8 and he took the lead from Jones on a lap-11 restart. Over a long green flag stretch, Pitkat was steadily stretching his advantage over the rest of the field. Several late cautions kept the field tight, with Pitkat holding off Keith Rocco to the checkered flag. Zach Sylvester finished third, Ted Christopher finished fourth, and Jones rounded out the top-5. Heading into next weekend’s CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend, Keith Rocco holds a 14-point lead over Ted Christopher
At the Waterford Speedbowl, competitors were forced to start off the night on the wrong foot as they were told that they would not be receiving their checks for the previous week’s racing because of the fact that track operator Jerry Robinson was ill and was unable to sign checks. The Jeff Pearl web site reported a direct confrontation with track operator Robinson and one of his employees. “I began the evening approaching official #1 who took the heat and offered that Jerry was in the hospital passing a stone at least on Friday and believed that the reason for no checks”. “The official took my beating graciously and was very empathetic.” Robinson was in fact at the Speedbowl on Saturday night. Jeff Pearl’s wife approached Robinson and very politely asked if the drivers would be getting paid. “He got right in my face (if I had my glasses on I swear there would be spit on them), and was emphatically told “NO!” she said.
Competitors at the Speedbowl were NASCAR members and its time that the sanctioning body went to bat for them. Its not right what Robinson was doing! NASCAR needed to step in. What Robinson was doing was against everything that NASCAR stands for. Competitors have shelled out their hard earned money to belong to NASCAR and the sanctioning body needs to protect them. Rumors had already been circulating concerning a possible labor type action.
Despite all the discontent the show at the shoreline oval went on. Keith Rocco won the USG Night 35-lap SK Modified feature. Other feature winners were Bruce Thomas Jr. (Late Model), Ed Lamb Jr. (Sportsman), Kyle James (Mini Stock), Jay Palmer (Legends), and Robert Norman (Super-X Cars).
Starting from the outside-pole, Rocco held-off a determined Ron Yuhas Jr. to the checkers in leading every circuit of the event. Point-leader Dennis Gada gave chase for several circuits before Yuhas bolted into second following a lap-twelve restart. Rounding-out the top-5 was Gada, Jeff Pearl, and Tyler Chadwick.
In NASCAR Sprint Cup action at Dover Downs Greg Biffle made it a sparkling 2-for-2 in the Chase for the championship using another late pass with nine laps to go and went on to hold off Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards and bolster his bid for the Sprint Cup title. Kyle Busch made it eight victories this season in the Nationwide Series, leading 157 laps and absolutely dominating to win on Saturday in a green-white-checkered flag finish. Matt Kobyluck and the Mohegan Sun Racing team locked up their first NASCAR Camping World Series East Championship Friday at Dover after posting a third place finish in the Sunoco 150 at Dover International Speedway. Kobyluck, a ten-year veteran of the series, left the event with a 219-point advantage over second place driver Austin Dillon with one race remaining on the schedule.
Ten years ago in 2013, weekly racing as we knew it would never be the same at the Thompson Speedway. The speedway was well into a $4 million project which would rebuild and modify an existing road course. The project was expected to be finished by June of 2014.
Thursday Night Thunder at Thompson which featured NASCAR Whelen Weekly racing for Sunoco Modifieds (SK type), Late Models, Ltd Sportsman and mini stocks would be no more. In past years Thursday Night Thunder ran from mid May thru September. Because of construction and rain the Thursday night schedule in 2013 was cut short.
A spokesperson for the speedway said that only six to eight NASCAR-sanctioned events would be run in 2014 on the 5/8-mile oval. From 2015 on the intent was to run only six races per year.
While there have been some lean nights, Thursday Night Thunder had become quite popular with many in recent years. Its a shame to see it go away. The Thompson Speedway had provided some of the best high speed competition in the northeast second to none.
For the most part, Sports Car racing at Thompson would be non-spectator. Its hard to figure how the speedway will recoup their outlay of funds that would be spent on the project.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was at the Stafford Motor Speedway for the Fall Final. The field of entrants continued to deplete as a mere 25 cars were on hand for qualifying. Don Lia recorded a fast lap of 18.295 seconds (98.388 mph) to edge Bobby Santos for the pole. Santos, who was attempting to become the first driver in Whelen Modified Tour history to sweep a season of pole awards at Stafford, finished second with a fast lap of 18.299 (98.366). Season points leader Ryan Preece qualified third around the historic half mile at 18.413 (97.757) while Rowan Pennink was fourth at 18.426 (97.688) and Chuck Hossfeld fifth at 18.430 (97.667).
Lia got redemption in the 150 lap Fall Final after being booted out of the lead on the last lap a Loudon on Sept. 21. From his pole starting position the Mystic Missile of Bob Garbarino carried him to a convincing win over Doug Coby by 3.231 seconds. The win was his first on the tour since Aug. 9 of 2012 at the Thompson (Conn.) Speedway. Lia led from lap 1 to lap 76 when he pitted for fuel and tires under a caution that was displayed after Ed Flemke Jr hit the wall on lap 72. Ron Silk beat him out of the pits and led laps 77-79 before Lia regained control of the lead, which he never relinquished. Rowan Pennink finished third with Todd Szegedy and Justin Bonsignore rounding out the top five. Mike Stefanik, Ted Christopher, Chuck Hossfeld, Bobby Santos and Ron Silk rounded out the top 10.
Point leader Ryan Preece carried a 41-point lead over Coby into the race and had a shot to clinch his first Whelen Modified Tour title, but after a 17th-place finish due to a late-race rear end failure, was not able to wrap it up. His advantage over Coby was 26 points going into the season finale at the World Series at Thompson on Oct 20.
There were nine cars running on the lead lap at the finish. In addition to Preese, others having problems were Eric Goodale, mechanical problems, Patrick Emerling; engine, Eric Berndt; overheating, Flemke; wreck, Wade Cole, Cole Powell and Woody Pitkat; rear end problems and Richie Pallai; accident.
Not to be out done by Keith Rocco at Waterford, Woody Pitkat did his version of the double at Stafford on Sunday as he clinched the tracks SK Modified title and the Late Model title. Rocco took the checkered flag in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, while Pitkat clinched his first career SK Modified® track championship with a third place finish. Pitkat also came up as the winner of the 30-lap Late Model feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Michael Gervais, Jr. got a good run on the outside of Curt Brainard to take the lead at the green flag. As the field came out of turn 4 to complete the first lap, Brainard got sideways and behind him Joey Cipriano got into the frontstretch wall and ripped the right front tire off of his car to bring out the caution and red flags as Cipriano’s right front briefly caught fire. The field did not complete the lap and there was a total restart of the race.
The next restart saw Gervais again get a good run on the outside of Brainard to take the lead with Doug Coby following Gervais by Brainard. Keith Rocco and Eric Berndt were also able to get past Brainard, dropping him back to fifth place. Ryan Preece was on the charge in the first couple laps, quickly working his way by Berndt and Coby to move into third on lap-4 with Gervais and Rocco occupying the top-2 positions. Rocco was beginning to apply heavy pressure to the back bumper of Gervais on lap-8 as he was looking to move into the race lead. Rocco made his move going into turn 1 on lap-11 to take over the race lead. Gervais was able to get back into line in second just in front of Preece, who was third. Berndt was fourth and Coby was fifth just in front of Rowan Pennink.
Pennink made a move under Coby on lap-12 and with 13 laps complete, Curt Brainard nearly spun and collected the car of Coby who did a 360 spin to bring the caution out. Back under green Rocco took the lead with Preece moving into second. Pennink moved up to third with Danny Cates moving by Gervais for fourth. Right behind Cates and Gervais was Woody Pitkat, who was fighting for the championship along with Preece. Tommy Membrino, Jr. spun in turns 3+4 to bring the caution out with 19 laps complete.
Rocco again took the lead with Preece settling into second. Pennink was third with Pitkat moving by Cates to take over fourth. Membrino spun coming off turn 4 and collected the cars of Brainard and Tim Sullivan to bring the caution out with 21 laps complete. Rocco resumed his lead with Preece holding off a challenge from Pennink to remain in second. Pitkat was fourth behind Pennink with Bobby Santos, III moving around Cates for fifth place. Preece was beginning to apply pressure to Rocco’s bumper for the race lead but Sean Foster spun in turn 4 to bring the yellow back out with 26 laps complete.
Rocco took the lead again back under green with Preece right behind him. Pennink was still third with Pitkat right behind him in fourth and Santos was fifth. Pennink got loose in turn 2 on lap 31 which allowed Pitkat and Santos to both get by and drop Pennink back to fifth. With Pitkat in third right behind Preece, he was in the position he needed to be in order to clinch the championship.
Rocco pulled away from Preece in the closing laps to pick up his second win of the 2013 season. Preece finished second while Pitkat finished third, which was enough to give Pitkat the SK Modified® championship by 2 points over Preece. Santos finished fourth and Pennink rounded out the top-5.
Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl It was a big night for the Waterford Speedbowl’s most-celebrated driver on Saturday. Keith Rocco, who unofficially won the Late Model seasonal points title on September 21 captured his third title in the SK-Modified division Saturday night. Rocco did the double as he won both features on the final regular Saturday of the racing season. It was his ninth win of the year in the SK-Modified race and fourth straight Late Model feature win. Rocco’s two wins on the night brought him within one victory of the single-season record of 23 wins at the track, accomplished by Don Collins in 1960. Rocco has four chances to eclipse the mark at the track’s Finale Weekend, next Saturday and Sunday, when he’s scheduled to compete in four different divisions.
Also at the Connecticut shoreline oval Corey Hutchings, Ken Cassidy Jr. and Dylan Izzo put the finishing touches on division titles. Hutchings clinched the Street Stock division, Cassidy the Mini Stock division and Izzo the Legends Cars division. Other feature winners Saturday were Phil Evans (Street Stocks), Cassidy with his third straight Mini Stock win, Izzo (Legends Cars), Brad Voglesong (X-Cars) and Dave Yardley (Super X-Cars).
In the 35 lap SK Modified feature, Rocco started in fourth position and quickly was in contention, moving up to second behind Monahan by lap-2 when Rob Janovic Jr. spun in turn one to trigger the yellow flag after the field scattered around his spinning car. Rocco powered into the lead over Monahan after two false starts by the front row trying to restart the race on lap-2. After a Jeff Gallup spin on lap-6, another great restart over Monahan enabled Rocco to drive away from the field. Kyle James moved to second place on lap-11 around Monahan and when Tom Abele Jr. tried to follow, Monahan shut the door and the two came together. Monahan collected his car and held the spot but lost ground to James, who began a pursuit of Rocco’s lead which already had grown to several car lengths.
Behind Rocco and James, the best battle was for third as four cars ran together. Abele continued to pester Monahan while Craig Lutz had caught the pair looking to improve his position as the race approached halfway. Abele went to the outside lane in his quest to get by Monahan, working hard as Monahan tried to hold him off. Finally on lap-21 Abele had the spot after several laps trying. Lutz struck quickly on Monahan to pick up fourth position, dropping Monahan to fifth a lap later. James couldn’t reel in Rocco, but the lead evaporated when Jim Larsen Jr. spun in turn four just ahead of Rocco, returning the race to caution with seven laps remaining.
A good restart allowed Rocco to easily resume his lead over James, who settled back into second over Abele. Rocco quickly extinguished any hopes James may have had to spoil his championship-clinching run, pulling away. Rocco went on to score the win unchallenged with James second and Abele third. Lutz finished fourth and Janovic rebounded from his spin to take fifth.
Rocco’s title in the SK Modifieds® gives him three for his career at Waterford, joining back-to-back championship seasons in 2010 and 2011. Coupled with the Late Model championship he clinched a week previous, Rocco became the only driver in Speedbowl history to win both crowns in the same season.
Sixth thru tenth in the SK Modifieds were Diego Monahan, Tyler Chadwick, Todd Ceravolo, Joe Gada and Nichole Morgillo.
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour was in action at the Caraway Speedway in North Carolina. A short field of 16 cars went the 150 lap distance on the 0,455-mile banked oval. Pole sitter Burt Myers led the first 62 laps before giving way to Andy Seuss who led the balance of the event. Myers faded to eighth in the final rundown. George Brunnhoelzl III finished second with John Smith, third.
In NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, Jimmie Johnson once again dominated at Dover during Sunday’s AAA 400, leading a race-high 243 laps. Joey Logano continued his domination of Dover Int’l Speedway on Saturday as he cruised to his fourth-straight NASCAR Nationwide Series victory at the one-mile concrete oval.
Five years ago in 2018, The big news of the week was the announcement that Ryan Preece had secured a ride in NASCAR’s top division, the Monster Cup Series, for 2019. JTG Daugherty Racing announced a new driver to their two-car lineup, signing 27-year-old Ryan Preece in a multi-year contract. Preece will join JTG Daugherty Racing for his first full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season starting in the 2019 DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway driving the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Its ironic that Preece’s car will carry the same number that carried Ronnie Bouchard to his Talladega 500 victory in 1981.
At the Stafford Motor Speedway it was the season ending 46th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final Weekend which include the NAPA Auto Parts Pit Party, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (150), SK Modified® (40), Late Model (30), SK Light (20).
Justin Bonsignore was the fastest car in group qualifying on Saturday and scored his 10th career pole. The pole, which he earned with a fast time of 18.157 seconds (99.135 mph), was also his fifth of the 2018 season driving for Kenneth Massa Motorsports. Second fastest in the 31 car field was Chase Dowling. Dave Sapienza, Eric Goodale and Burt Myers rounded out the top five.
The Bonsignore cousins took all the glory in the Whelen Modified Tour Series 150 lapper. Kyle scored his first win and Justin sewed up the championship. Justin finished 12th, but he left Stafford with a 64-point lead in the championship point standings. The maximum amount of points a driver can earn in one event is 48.
Craig Lutz, driving a brand new LFR Chassis, finished second while Doug Coby crossed the line third after leading 13 of the final 18 laps. Chase Dowling, who led a race-high 84 laps, didn’t pit for tires during the race and faded late, finishing fourth, while Ron Silk rounded out the top five. Rob Summers was sixth, followed by Dave Sapienza, Chris Pasteryak, Timmy Solomito and Burt Myers.
In other weekend action at Stafford, Mike Christopher made it three wins in a row in the SK Modifieds. Christopher drives for his aunt Quinn who is the widow of the late Ted Christopher. Christopher took the lead from Todd Owen after a lap 22 restart. Keith Rocco finished second with Owen third.
In the SK Lites, Alexander Pearl took the win. Andrew Molleur was second and Glenn Griswold third. Title contenders Marcello Rufano and Bryan Narducci wrecked following a restart on lap 15. Rufrano had the lead. When the green flag flew Naducci challenged Rufrano for the lead. The two cars made contact on backstretch causing something to break on Rufrano’s #88 modified going into turn three and the car went full throttle into the outside wall. Narducci stopped just before turn four. Both SK Light Champion contenders were out of the race. Rufrano was scored nineteenth in the in the finish which gave him the 2018 SK Light Championship. He was one position ahead of Bryan Narducci. Rufano stated that following the contact he got a right front flat tire and then the left front went down causing him to hit the wall hard in turn three.
Saturday action at Stafford saw feature events for its Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions, as well as a feature event for the Vintage All-Stars and the special Ladies Challenge feature that raised over $35,000 for various charities. Taking feature wins were Ryan Fearn in the Limited Late Model feature, George Bessette, Jr. in the Street Stock feature, Scott Dion in the Vintage All-Stars feature, and Debbie DeSanctis in the Ladies Challenge feature.
On the Connecticut shoreline at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Kyle James took the SK Modified 40 lapper over Todd Owen and Timmy Jordan. It was James’ eighth win of the season. Jonathan Puleo was the SK Lite winner, Anthony Flannery, the Late Model winner, Peter Bennett won twin Legends features, Jordan Hadley was the Limited Sportsman winner, Charles Canfield was the Mini Stock winner and Duane Noll was the Truck division winner.
In the SK Modified event, Perhaps the most impressive move was pulled off by James. After Owen took the lead from Tim Jordan, James moved into second and spent 15 laps trying to make dive-bomb move on the inside. That didn’t work. On the final lap, however. James changed his strategy, went to the outside and flew past Owen. He won by 0.049 seconds.
Across the big pond at the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, Tom Rogers Jr. won the 2018 NASCAR Modified Finale as Kyle Soper claimed his first career Modified championship. When the 40-lap NASCAR Modified feature lined up Saturday night Tom Rogers Jr. of Riverhead trailed Kyle Soper of Manorville by 10-points for the championship. When the race took the checker flag Rogers had won the battle winning his 4th race of 2018 but the 22-year old Soper won the war securing his first career NASCAR Modified championship off his 4th place finish. Soper driving for Wayne & Joette Anderson beat Rogers out by 6 points for the 2018 Whelen All American Series title and earlier in the night won his second consecutive Late Model championship.
The Charlotte Motor Speedway transformed their facility to a road course. Many cars were wrecked. Chase Briscoe validated his place as a Ford Performance development driver with a convincing victory in Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 200 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
Briscoe, who has driven part-time in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge this season in addition to select NASCAR national series starts, put together a perfect final stage to capture the win at the 17-turn, 2.28-mile circuit. He pitted just prior to the end of the second stage break, inherited the lead when the rest of the frontrunners came down for service and never looked back after that. Ryan Preece finished fourth.
Ryan Blaney stole a surprise victory in the debut race of the “roval” at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The roval was a unique combination speedway and infield road course created to improve the racing at Charlotte. The unusual layout and unfamiliarity made it a treacherous circuit for the 16-driver playoff field because it was an elimination race for four of the contenders.
Last year, 2022, The Stafford Speedway came alive on Friday night for a regular Friday night of weekly racing and Sat, 24th which included the 49th annual NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final. The Fall Final include the Tri-Track series. The Tri-Track Open had 51 entries on hand. The competition was second to none as a capacity crowd looked on.
In the Tri-Track Fall Final 80 Ron Silk scored a decisive victory over Jake Johnson and Matt Galko under chilly but clear conditions. Silk took the lead from Ryan Preece on lap-67 with a pass in turn 4. Just as Silk was glued to Preece’s back bumper Preece was now all over the back bumper of Silk and he nearly took the lead on lap-69 but couldn’t complete the pass. Silk fended off several more challenges, but the caution came out with 73 laps complete for a spin in turn 3 by Anthony Flannery.
On the restart going into turn 3, Preece got turned around which brought the caution back out. This put Johnson alongside Silk for the restart with Craig Lutz and Keith Rocco on row 2. Silk charged into the lead back under green with Lutz and Johnson side by side for second. The caution came back out with 74 laps complete for a spin on the backstretch by George Bessette, Jr.
Silk took the lead on the restart with Johnson taking second. Galko moved up to third with Matt Swanson taking fourth and Lutz slid back to fifth with Rocco in sixth. Silk led Johnson to the checkered flag to win the NAPA Fall Final. Galko finished third with Swanson and Lutz rounding out the top-5. Sixth thru tenth included Keith Rocco, Matt Hirschman, Mikey Flynn, Andrew Molleur and Eric Goodale,
In other Saturday action at Stafford, Anthony Bello was victorious for the second time during his rookie SK Modified® season, His efforts were wasted as he was disqualified after it was discovered that the ride height of his car was tampered with post race. Mike Christopher Jr was awarded the win and Keith Rocco was moved up to second. Steven Chapman dominated the 20-lap SK Light Invitational, and Tony Ferrante, Jr. won the Vintage All-Stars race. Todd Owen finished 5th in the SK Modified® feature, which was good enough to clinch his second consecutive SK Modified® track championship.
In Friday night action at Stafford, Marcello Rufrano used a last lap pass on Troy Talman to claim his second SK Modified® win of the 2022 season, Tom Fearn notched his 5th Late Model win of the season, Tyler Chapman took down his third SK Light win of the season, Kevin Cormier scored the second win of his rookie Limited Late Model campaign, and Travis Hydar locked up his fifth Street Stock win of the season. Hydar’s victory allowed him to clinch the Street Stock championship a week early while Adam Gray’s third place finish in the Late Model feature was good enough to clinch his fourth career Stafford Late Model championship.
Race of Champions Series management, in conjunction with Lake Erie Speedway in North East Pa. and telecast / streaming partners MAVTV on FloRacing, have made the decision to adjust the schedule for the 72nd Annual Lucas Oil Race of Champions, the final day of Presque Isle Downs & Casino Race of Champions Week and push the conclusion to Saturday, April 22, 2023 with an inclement reschedule date of Sunday, April 23, 2023. The television schedule for the new date will be updated in the future.
. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour takes one more week off before heading to the Thompson Speedway on Oct 9. With 14 of the 16 events run Jon McKennedy holds a three-point lead over Justin Bonsignore and Ron Silk who are tied for the second spot. Eric Goodale is a distant fourth, some 22 points back. Rounding out the top five is rookie Austin Beers, 47 points in arears. Sixth thru 10th include Tommy Catalano, Kyle Bonsignore, Craig Lutz, Doug Coby and JB Fortin.
The Riverhead Raceway closed out their regular Saturday night season. Kyle Soper collected his fourth NASCAR Modified championship over the past five years at the eastern Long Island speedway Saturday night when he won the 50-lap feature event for his 29th career win moving him to 11th on the all-time win list. Soper recently also clinched another New York State NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship on the strength of his four-win season in the Wayne & Joette Anderson owned machine.
At the conclusion of the program Bob Finan, who has been the announcer for 50 plus years announced his retirement. Through the years quite a bit has changed at Riverhead including owners,track officials and competitors has changed. But one constant has been the same, Bob Finan behind the mic. Thanks for all your efforts and have a happy and healthy retirement!
In NASCAR cup racing, There was fire. There was rain. There was pain. There was lightning. And heat. There were tires that didn’t want to stay together. At its end, more than five hours after it started, Tyler Reddick was the king of the road, winning Sunday’s 500-mile NASCAR Cup Series playoff chase around Texas Motor Speedway. Following in the top five were Joey Logano, Justin Haley, Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe.
The all new book, The Modified Years At Stafford, by the Grace of God and 600 hp, is gaining interest and has become a must have in race fans and competitors library. Race by Race, Year by Year, it’s all there. Read all about it! Books are now available on Amazon.com and Coastal 181 (877-907-8181 toll free) and are available thru Stafford’s web site in their store. Order yours now. Makes a great gift!
With the cooperation of the Arute family another 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.
That’s about it for this week from 11 Gardner Drive, Westerly, RI 02891. Ring my chimes at 401-248-1307).