Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy years ago in 1953, Dave Roghoff won the 100 lap Fall Championship at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Charlie Schreiber was the non-Ford winner.
Sixty five years ago in 1958 Wild Bill Slater won the 25 lap Modified feature at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Charlie Webster was the non-Ford race winner and Turk Hewitt was the master in the Bombers. Pete Frazee won the season closer at Old Bridge.
Sixty years ago in 1963 everybody’s friend George Pendergast was the 50 lap Modified race winner at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. During his racing career George would wear many hats including that of STP representative, Thompson Speedway promoter and Advertising Manager for Speedway Scene, a regional Racing Trade paper. Pendergast was quite a character, to say the least. Dick Caso was the Bomber division winner at the Speedbowl. At the Thompson Speedway the World Series consisted of twin 50 lap events which were won by Fats Caruso and Leo Hill. Dennis Zimmerman was the overall winner. Marty Zengali was the Class A winner at Seekonk.
Fifty five years ago in 1968 Bob Potter won the 30 lap Modified feature at the Waterford Speedbowl. Wayne Smith was the Daredevil winner. Seekonk rained out. Bugs Stevens was the World Series winner at Thompson.
Fifty years ago in 1973, it was all quiet with no racing.
Forty five Years ago in 1978, New England had one of its darkest racing days as popular Fred DeSarro went over the third turn bank at Thompson and suffered what would end up being fatal injuries. DeSarro was warming up the Len Boehler No.3 when, for no reason, went out of the track. Kenny Bouchard and Bugsy Stevens were first on the scene and assisted rescue crews. DeSarro was taken to the Rhode Island Hospital where he laid in a coma for a month before passing away. The races at Thompson went on and Bouchard, who had torn the roof off of DeSarros’ car earlier in the day, took the win with a heavy heart. Ray Miller finished second and was followed by George Summers.
Forty years ago in 1983, the Thompson World Series modified event was a 40-lap affair. George Summers, in the Art Barry No.21 led the entire distance and took the win over Bob Polverari, Richie Evans and Brian Ross. In victory lane Summers announced that he had taken his last ride and was hanging up his helmet, thus ending a brilliant and successful career that saw hundreds of wins and many track championships in New England. Charlie Savage was the SK winner with Mario”Fats”Caruso, second. Doug Hevron was the Supermodified winner.
Thirty five years ago in 1988, it was all-quiet as no races were scheduled.
Thirty years ago in 1993, the only show in town was the Busch Grand National North Series at Lime Rock and Ken Schrader was the winner.
Twenty five years ago, in 1998, Mike Stefanik sewed up the Modified Tour Series Championship when he won the Thompson World Series. Stefanik also became the first driver in the 50-year history of NASCAR to win back-to-back championships in two separate divisions. Rick Fuller finished second and was followed by Chris Kopec, Mike Ewanitsko and Tim Connolly. Connolly led the first 47 laps of the 125-lap event before Chris Kopec punted him. Ted Christopher won the 30-lap SK event over Jim Broderick, Bert Marvin, Scott Quinn and Todd Ceravolo. The Busch North Series finished out their season at Lime Rock. In true championship style, Stefanik won that one too. In Winston Cup action at Daytona Beach, Jeff Gordon won the forest fire delayed event and in Busch Grandnational action at Gateway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the win after late race leader Buckshot Jones broke an oil line.
Twenty years ago in 2003, The NASCAR Modified Tour Series was supposed to be at the Seekonk Speedway on Sunday but Mother Nature had different ideas as showers fell on the track just about all day. Because of the fact that Sunday was the last day listed on the permit that the Speedway has with the town the entire D.Anthony Venditti Memorial program has been canceled. This was the second event that the NASCAR Modified Tour Series has lost in 2003. A June event at Riverhead on Long Island was also canceled after rain-washed out the intended date. The Stafford Speedway held their first annual Invitational on Saturday. The event drew a fair crowd but considering all the football and baseball, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. With the exception of the winner, Doug Meservy, Stafford regulars took the first six spots as Waterford Speedbowl regular Rick Young finished seventh. Following Meservy was Ted Christopher, George Bessette, Bob Santos III and John Sandberg. Attrition was high as only eleven of the 25 starters were running at the finish including five cars on the lead lap. Woody Pitkat was the Late Model winner and Mike Como was the DARE Stock winner. Alan Johnson won the DIRT Eckered 200 at Syracuse. Johnson started sixth and took the lead on lap 173 after a pit stop on lap 94. Ken Tremont finished second with Frank Cozze, third. Johnson walked out of Syracuse with $50,000 plus $30,000 in contingency awards. Sam Sessions won the PASS Big Dawg Pro Stock event at Wiscasset Speedway in Maine and walked away with $100,000. Twin features were run at Wall Township with Ken Woolley and Kevin Flockart taking the wins. The annual Lancaster Open was also run on this weekend. Zane Zeiner took the win over Siege Fidenza. Attrition was high as only 12 of the original 33 starters finished. The Winston Cup and Busch Racing Series were at Charlotte. The Busch Series event was scheduled for Friday night but fell victim to rain and was run on Saturday afternoon. Greg Biffle took the win after leading the final 38 laps. Michael Waltrip finished second. The Winston Cup event was run on Saturday night. Tony Stewart passed Ryan Newman with 15 laps to go and went on to take the win. Newman finished second and was followed by Jimmie Johnson, Bill Elliott and Jeff Gordon.
Fifteen years ago in 2008, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series ventured to the Chemung Speedway in western New York. The 3/8 mile track, originally built by the Bodine family drew a sparse field of only 25 cars. The Chemung event with a somewhat reduced purse consisted of time trials, two 25-lap heats and a 120 lap feature that ended up finishing under caution. Matt Hirschman, who was the fastest on the clock, won his qualifying heat and after starting on the pole led wire to wire to win his second NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win of the season. Hirschman entered the event 89 points behind Ted Christopher in the championship chase. With Christopher’s seventh place finish, Hirschman narrowed the gap to just 55 points with only the Stafford Fall Final and Thompson World Series weekends remaining.
Todd Szegedy dogged Hirschman for most of the event but settled for a runner-up finish and held up his spot in third in the season standings. Mike Stefanik finished third. Chuck Hossfeld, Ronnie Silk, Erick Rudolph, Christopher, Bobby Grigas III, Rowan Pennink and Woody Pitkat rounded out the top 10 finishers.
At the Waterford Speedbowl it was good news and bad news. The good news was that competitors received their checks that had been held back. The bad news was that they were told not to cash them until Monday. One competitor thought he would pull a fast one and attempted to cash his check at the bank where the check was issued. He was told there were insufficient funds in the account to cover the check.
The shoreline oval ran their season ending Fall Finale, a two day event, On Saturday three SK Modified qualifying heats were run. Taking the wins were Shawn Monahan, Dennis Gada and Jeff Paul. In other Saturday action Jason Palmer won the 25-lap Legends Town Fair Tire Finale feature while it was Shaun Buffington scoring the 2008 Saturday Night Legends championship. Other feature winners were Norm Wrenn (Pro-4 Modifieds), Todd Bertrand (NEMA Lites), Glenn Boss (N.E Sport Modifieds), Corey Hutchings (Outlaw Stocks), David Flammia Jr. (X-Modified),Steve Barrett (Super-X Cars), Buddy Strede (X-Cars), Kathy Civardi (Women On Wheels Super-X), and Stephanie Bennett (Women On Wheels X-Car).
Sunday dawned in typical Waterford fashion. It was raining cats and dogs. Shortly before noon a strange thing happened, the rain stopped and the sun came out. It was too late; the cards of the fans had been dealt. Apparently many of them had made other plans as the vintage grandstand at the shoreline oval was all but empty when racing finally started. Because of the adverse weather the scheduled pit party was cancelled. The actual racing started about two hours late with Ken Cassidy coming from a dead last start to win the Mini Stock event. Randy Cabral won the NEMA Midget event and Brandon Plemmonds won the 50 lap Sportsman event. Things were looking up, the SK Modifieds were on the track for a tire heating session when the red flag was displayed bringing everything to a screeching halt. Evidently a bad accident on nearby Route 85 deemed it necessary for the Speedbowl’s ambulance to leave. Per state law, once the ambulance leaves the property all racing stops. After a little over a half hour an ambulance appeared and racing resumed. The 100 lap Modified event was a typical Waterford slam-bang event with survival of the fittest the order of the day. Diego Monahan led a large portion of the race untilbe dislodged by Keith Rocco and Rob Janovic. Both had a war of their own when on a late race restart Rocco didn’t go which resulted in Tyler Chadwick and Monahan hitting the front stretch wall. To make matters worse, at ten after nine, the fog started rolling in. At 9:20pm fans and competitors breathed a sigh of relief when the checkered flag was dropped on the event. Keith Rocco took the win and was followed by Rob Janovic, Ron Yuhas JR and Dennis Gada. For Gada it was monumental as he was now in a league of his own as he is the only seven time champion in Speedbowl history.
In True Value Modified Series action at the Lee USA Speedway Jon Mckennedy took the win over Jimmy Kuhn, Les Hinkley, Ed Dachenhausen and Mike Holdredge.
In Sprint Cup action, Tony Stewart ended his winless season at Talladega Superspeedway when NASCAR ruled Regan Smith’s last-lap pass was illegal. Smith was in second and trailed Stewart for the final three laps around Talladega. The rookie made one desperate attempt for his first career victory by ducking inside the two-time champion to attempt a pass. Stewart blocked him, and Smith went below the yellow out-of-bounds line. After he beat Stewart to the finish, NASCAR reviewed the move, a driver is allowed to pass if officials believe he was forced under the line, and declared it illegal. The ruling gave Stewart his first win of the season and snapped a 43-race winless streak dating to Watkins Glen last year. It also was his first career Cup win at Talladega, which has taunted him for 10 years as he finished second a maddening six times. Paul Menard was a career-high second and was followed by rookie David Ragan and Chase drivers Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer. Smith was dropped all the way to 18th. The race had a NASCAR-record 31 lead changes.
Ten years ago in 2013, internet racing news site RaceDayCt announced that Hill Enterprises, which owns the No.79 driven by Woody Pitkat on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series, would cease operations following the conclusion of their season at the Thompson Speedway. It is another spike in the heart of NASCAR’s oldest series. While those at NASCAR continue to pat themselves on the back the Modifieds continue to die a slow death. The recent Fall Final at Stafford drew 25 cars, one less than at Loudon in September. The July Loudon event drew a season high of 32. The slimmest field was at Monadnock where 23 of the ground pounders showed.
If one were to look at the big picture of the future of NASCAR Modified Tour Racing one would see a bleak one. In addition to the Hills dropping out it looks like Mike Stefanik’s days are numbered. Jamie Tomaino has said that once he sells his house in New Jersey he will pack it in and head south and Bob Garbarino, now in his mid-70’s has hinted that his days on the tour are numbered. Where does that leave the Modified Tour in 2014? Maybe 21 or 22 cars if they are lucky.
Mario Fiore, who has 35 Modified Tour wins to his credit pretty much hit the nail on the head when he said ” Everybody is trying to come-up with reasons why racing in our area is going down the tubes. Ever hear of Super Asphalt Week ???? Hell NO cause there ain’t one. There is NO marque event at this level of racing on asphalt.” He added, ” New Hampshire pays $10 to 14 thousand, Bristol pays under $10 thousand, the Stafford Sizzler a total joke but the big DIRT event at Syracuse pays 50 large. Look no further for one of the reasons why racing in our area is failing miserably”
Keith Rocco scored a “two-fer” at the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday and in the process re-wrote track history. Rocco wrapped up the 2013 season at Connecticut shoreline oval with 24 wins overall, breaking the record of 23 wins in one season set by Don Collins in 1960. Rocco won the rain delayed 50 lap Late Model feature and the 50 lap SK Modified Fall Finale. Rocco’s scorecard shows he won 10 of the 24 SK Modified features run plus 12 of the 21 Late Model races run. He also scored wins in the Pro Four Modifieds and in the Valenti Modified Racing Series.
Other Saturday winners at the Speedbowl were Josh Galvin who scored a popular victory in the Street Stock race and Garrett Denton who won a special Mini Stock Shootout event.
Rocco’s record-setting victory in the SK Modified® race was not easy. He made a steady march to the front to move into second position on lap-16, trailing leader Kyle James. James, looked strong at the front and pulled away from Rocco during a green flag run that brought the race to lap-33. A caution flag enabled Rocco to pull outside of James for the restart, which he timed perfectly to power into the lead as the field completed lap-34. James wrecked out of second position on lap-38 trying to mount a challenge to reclaim the lead from Rocco, looking to have a car to contend. He made contact with the front stretch retaining wall before his car came to rest in turn one with suspension damage. Rocco had to master two restarts over Ted Christopher the rest of the way to earn the victory. Rocco got away following the final one to race to the win, his tenth of the year in the SK Modifieds®. Christopher finished in second and Craig Lutz of Miller Place, NY was third.
The Valenti Modified Racing Series was at the Lee USA Speedway last weekend as a part of their annual Octoberfest program. Thirty Modifieds were on hand. Tommy Barrett started 12th, pitted during a caution on lap 56 when his crew changed left side tires around. Barrett then made a determined march to the front to take the lead from Steve Masse on lap 91 and went on to score the win. Masse ennded up second with Jon McKennedy, third. Richard Savory and Les Hinckley rounded out the top five. Fourteen cars were on the lead lap at the finish.
The Modifieds of DIRT had their big weekend at the Syracuse, N.Y. Fairgrounds. Billy Dunn led the Salute the Troops 150 at Syracuse one mile oval on Saturday until he ran out of gas while taking the white flag, giving the win to Brett Hearn on the final lap. On Sunday, Dunn watched others run out of gas in front of him and took the lead with just three laps to go when leader Stewart Freisen’s tank ran dry. He held on from there to win the Syracuse 200 as Super DIRT Week XLII wrapped up at the New York State Fairgrounds. Just 24 hours before, Dunn stood alone in the pit area wondering what might have been. But on Sunday, he was standing on the roof of his big-block modified celebrating the biggest moment of his racing career in front of a capacity crowd.
Early on, Friesen was the man to beat as he held off defending race winner Brett Hearn until a caution on lap 83 sent most of the front runners to the pit area, including Dunn who was 11th at the time.
Two-time winner Vic Coffey would assume the lead until he ran put of gas on lap 118. Kenny Tremont had pitted earlier on lap 44 and was hoping to run up front for awhile before sneaking back down pit road again for his final stop. Tremont set a blistering pace, lapping cars as quickly as he could, but a 71-lap, green-flag run forced him to the pits for fuel under green, costing him a lap and the victory.
That left Tim McCreadie in the top spot with Friesen and Hearn right on his tail. McCreadie was one of those drivers who was hoping to run the final 117 laps without a stop. But during a red flag with just nine laps to go his right-rear tire went flat, forcing him to the pits and out of the lead. And Dunn noticed that as he sat just inside the top ten. Dunn also pitted on lap 83 when all of the cars at the front of the pack came down pit road. Most of those cars decided to chance it and run the rest of the race without stopping. But unlike most years when it could have been relatively easy to run the final 117 laps without a stop, this year the caution laps after lap 175 would not count, making for a race considerably longer than the traditional 200 laps. So Dunn pitted again at lap 166, determined to make sure he had enough fuel for the end of the race, no matter how long it took.
When the race went back to green after the red flag, two-time Syracuse 200 winner Friesen was in the top spot and Dunn was just inside the top 5. First Billy Decker ran out of fuel followed by Hearn, Jimmy Phelps and Friesen, who slowed on lap 198 leaving Dunn alone out front. But after losing the lead on the final lap the day before, he knew that anything could happen. “I wanted to see that white flag,” Dunn said. “I knew that once we crossed the white flag, even if a yellow came out, that would be the end. Once we got the white flag I knew nobody was going to pass me because I could go as hard as I needed to. That last lap was kind of enjoyable.” It was also enjoyable for college student Larry Wight as he also benefited from others running out of gas in front of him with a second-place finish. And this was after he saw his plans go out the window earlier with his stop on lap 83.
In NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour action at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Burt Myers took advantage of Ryan Preece’s bad luck to take the lead and eventual win. Preece had set fast time and lead 138 of the season-ending UNOH Southern Slam 150 on the 1/4 mile flat track. Preece had engine trouble in the form of a broken rocker arm. Kyle Ebersole finished second with George Brunnhoelzl III in third spot. Brunnhoelzl, the first driver to win four tour titles overall, wrapped up his third straight tour championship by taking the green flag. Tim Brown was fourth, and Danny Bohn fifth.
In NASCAR racing action at Charlotte, Kyle Busch raced to his 11th Nationwide victory of the year Friday night, giving him a season sweep on the 1 1/2-mile track. Busch edged Nationwide title contenders Austin Dillon and Sam Hornish Jr. to win for the eighth time in the series at his favorite track. Busch and wife Samantha donated the winnings from the race to the Pretty in Pink Foundation that provides financial assistance and support to underinsured and uninsured North Carolinians with breast cancer. The victory pushed Busch’s series record to 62. He has 19 victories this year in NASCAR’s three national series, also winning four times each in Cup and Truck. Overall, he has 124 victories in the three series, winning 28 times in Cup and 34 in the Truck circuit.
Brad Kesoloski was the Sprint Cup winner.
Five years ago in 2018, The 56th annual Sunoco World Series at the Thompson Motorsports Park Speedway took center stage this past weekend with the Whelen Modifieds, Sunoco (SK) Modifieds, Super Late Models, Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Midgets and everything in between which were in competition throughout the three-day weekend. When the pit gates opened on Friday a flood of over 200 racing cars entered the pit area.
Thirty-two Modifieds were on for qualifying on Saturday. Ronnie Williams captured the pole for the season ending event. Williams toured the 5/8 mile oval in 18.664 seconds for a speed of 120.553 mph. Justin Bonsignore was third with Doug Coby, fourth. Rounding out the top five was Jon McKennedy.
Bonsignore won the battle and the war as he captured his eighth win of the season in the Sunoco World Series 150, ending his title run by celebrating both a race win and a dominating championship.
Bonsignore started third, but ran just outside the top five for the first half of the race. During a caution on lap 81, he rolled the No. 51 Phoenix Communications Chevrolet to pit road and changed tires. Quick work by his team allowed him to exit the leader of the race, and he never relinquished the top spot. Jon McKennedy used a late stop for tires, and passed Ron Silk in the final turn, capping his season with a second. Silk was third, followed by Ryan Preece, who led a race-high 83 laps. Burt Myers rounded out the top five. Doug Coby was sixth, followed by Matt Swanson, Bobby Santos III, Chris Pasteryak and Eric Goodale.
Twenty five of the original 33 starters were running at the end. Among those who failed to finish were Dave Sapienza who crashed, Andrew Krause dropped out with ignition problems, Timmy Solomito tangled with Gary McDonald on the start, Cory Osland had mechanical problems, Chase Dowling dropped out after 82 laps with ignition problems, Melissa Fifields latest excuse was handling as she retired after completing 72 laps, Dave Salzarulo had engine problems and Gary McDonald crashed on the opening lap.
Todd Owen made it two for the weekend as he beat out Ryan Preece for the win in the 30 lap Sunoco Modified main event. It was pretty much the last time in the foreseeable future that Preece would be driving a Sunoco Modified as he will be racing full time next year in NASCAR cup competition. Keith Rocco needed only to start the event in order to wrap up the division championship, his third in a row. Rocco dropped out after being involved in a mid race crash. Andrew Molleur finished third with John Studley, fourth. Kyle James rounded out the top five.
The Friday night of racing served as a warmup for the action still to come with the crowning of Thompson Late Model Champion and the penultimate race of the 2018 Granite State Pro Stock Series season as the highlights of the evening.
The Late Models have been the most competitive division all season at Thompson Speedway both in terms of points and the variety of winners. Four different drivers entered the season finale with wins to their credit but one without a victory was Nicholas Johnson who used consistency to open a slim seven-point lead on Tom Carey, III coming into the final race of the year. In the end though it was a battle between Carey and Johnson. Johnson finished fifth completing a season of perfect top five finishes and winning the division championship in the Late Models. Mark Jenison took advantage of the hard racing behind him to charge to the race win.
The Granite State Pro Stocks took to the track later in the evening with a 50-lap feature. As for the race win it was all Eddie MacDonald who dominated the event to score his first win of the season.
The Lite Modifieds held a 20-lap feature that saw the battle for the win become one-two punch with cousins Bryan Narducci and Alexander Pearl duking it out in the front row for much of the event. Narducci was able to hold off Pearl and get the jump on a restart with two laps to go to take the checkered flag for his third win of 2018 at Thompson and repeat as a World Series weekend winner after claiming victory in 2017 which was his first race in the Lite’s at the Big-T. Narducci, who has persevered through cerebral palsy to become a rising star on the local racing circuit, was named the Whelen All-American Series Division III national champion last month.
Despite Mother Nature raining on the party early, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park successfully held day number two of the 56th Annual Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing on Saturday, Oct. 13. Todd Owen, driving a car formerly driven by Rowan Pennink, won the 50 lap Valenti Modified Racing Series 50 lap battle but it was Woody Pitkat who overcame adversity and won the series championship. Pitkat finished 30th after the rear end in his car expired.
In the front of the field the early battle was between Keith Rocco and Chase Dowling with Rocco having the advantage in the opening laps. By lap 16 Dowling had hunted down Rocco and made the pass for the lead where he remained until a restart with six laps to go allowed Owen to get a jump, pushing past Dowling before the final caution waved on lap 45. Owen held the lead off the last restart winning a wild and eventful Valenti Modified feature. Owen said restarts were key to his success at the end of the night.
Dowling finished second and was followed by Matt Swanson, Anthony Kocella and Anthony Flannery. A big shout out to Bryan Narducci who finished seventh.
Other Saturday winners were Jake Johnson-American-Canadian Late Model Tour, John Zych-NEMA Midgets, Brett Meservy-Pro 4 Modifieds, Allen Coates- Pro Trucks and Desmond Skillings- North East Minis. William Wall crossed the finish line second to fellow local Jake Johnson of Rehoboth, MA, who appeared to have pulled off a shocker of his own after taking the lead with four laps remaining in his first ACT start. Johnson’s joy was short-lived, however, as the young racer was disqualified in post-race technical inspection for a chassis infraction. This gave the victory to Wall, who had been strong in previous ACT events at the speedway and finally broke into the winner’s circle on Northeast Late Model racing’s biggest stage.
It was a long day as the final checkered flag dropped at 11:55pm.
It was forty one years ago that George Summers ran his last race driving the Art Barry #21. It was in the World Series and he won it! In victory lane he announced his retirement. Since then he has been inducted into the NEAR Hall of Fame and the Seekonk Speedway Hall of Fame. George’s daughters Kathie Summers Grice and Mary Summers Cortese announced that their dad will be inducted into the Living Legends Hall of Fame in Daytona Beach, Fl on the Wednesday before the running of the Daytona 500. Congratulations to George and his family.
In Monster Cup NASCAR racing, Aric Almirola capped an absolute Stewart- Haas Racing rout at Talladega Superspeedway with an overtime victory that earned him an automatic berth into the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs.
On a sad note, George DeSarro, youngest brother of the late Fred DeSarro and beloved husband of Jo Ann (Falcone) DeSarro, of Riidam Way, Charlestown, passed away at Yale New Haven Hospital on Sunday, October 14, 2018. He was 74. Born in Providence, RI, he was the son of the late Alfred and Helen DeSarro.
George worked as an Assembler for Stanley Bostitch for over 48 years until his retirement. He was a communicant of St. Vincent de Paul Church and a member of the National Street Rod Association and The Good Guys of America. In his younger days he raced hydroplanes with his brothers.
In addition to his wife, he leaves his two daughters, Heather Ann Dessaules and husband Gus of Pawcatuck and Chris-Ann Ward and husband Mike of N. Stonington; his brother Roger DeSarro of Hopkinton; two grandchildren, Kerinn Kennedy and Jacob Dessaules; and several nieces and nephews. Visiting hour were omitted. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at 10am on Friday, Oct 19 at St.Vincent de Paul Church, 7 Church St., Bradford, RI.
On a sad note, George DeSarro, youngest brother of the late Fred DeSarro and beloved husband of Jo Ann (Falcone) DeSarro, of Riidam Way, Charlestown, passed away at Yale New Haven Hospital on Sunday, October 14, 2018. He was 74. Born in Providence, RI, he was the son of the late Alfred and Helen DeSarro.
George worked as an Assembler for Stanley Bostitch for over 48 years until his retirement. He was a communicant of St. Vincent de Paul Church and a member of the National Street Rod Association and The Good Guys of America. In his younger days he raced hydroplanes with his brothers.
Last year, 2022, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour headed to the Thompson Speedway on Oct 9. With 14 of the 16 events run Jon McKennedy held a three-point lead over Justin Bonsignore and Ron Silk who were tied for the second spot. Eric Goodale is a distant fourth, some 22 points back. Rounding out the top five was rookie Austin Beers, 47 points in arears. Sixth thru 10th included Tommy Catalano, Kyle Bonsignore, Craig Lutz, Doug Coby and JB Fortin.
The Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park ended the 2022 season with the 60th Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing which could very well have been last at the northeast Connecticut oval. The weekend racing series was highlighted by three-straight days of Tour-type Modified racing including the Modified Racing Series on Friday, the $10,000 to win Thompson Outlaw Open Modified Sunoco 100 on Saturday and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on Sunday with the Sunoco World Series 150. It’s a known fact that the leasing of the speedway by the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) and PASS has not been a money maker. Trying to run non-sanctioned Modified events was a disaster in the pit area. The Late Models and Street Stocks had good showings but they don’t pay the bills. Despite all the rumors it was announced at a pit meeting with competitors that PASS and Act (Cris Michaud and Tom Mayberry) would lease the Thompson track in 2023.
World Series action began on Friday night. The Thompson Late Models, 18 of them, took to the field led by Mike Benevides and Brian Tagg. At the green flag, following heat race qualifications, Derek Gluchacki held a narrow seven-point lead over defending champion Ryan Morgan as the 18-car field thundered to the starting line. Benevides went on the defense early, squeezing Woody Pitkat into Nick Johnson coming three-wide out of turn two, sending Johnson careening into the wall while collecting Tagg and Donald Macrino.
A late race restart would pit Derek Gluchacki against Ryan Morgan as the two came to the line dead-even before three-wide racing in turns one and two involving both John Lowinski-Low and Tom Carey. Morgan would sneak through the tangle and lead all the way to the end to claim the World Series victory over Gluchacki and Tom Carey III. Both Ryan Morgan and Derek Gluchacki were tied atop the Late Model standings.
Incorrectly given the championship in victory lane, further investigation and multiple scoring re-checks found that both Derek Gluchacki and Ryan Morgan had two wins and two second-place finishes, bringing the tie-breaker down to Morgan’s next highest finish of 5thon Icebreaker weekend over Gluchacki’s next-best of 8th on August 17th. Morgan is officially the 2022 Thompson Speedway Late Model champion.
In other action, The Modified Racing Series, thirty-two strong, took the green flag with Craig Lutz taking the early lead over Anthony Bello and Mike Christopher Jr. Also starting early, Ronnie Williams quickly sliced his way up to third and then second in the early goings around Christopher Jr. in the Tommy Baldwin ride and Bello.
The first caution would come out on lap 41 for the stopped Tommy Barrett ride in turn three with steering issues plaguing the #17 machine. The restart would pit Williams outside of Lutz before a big caution on the frontstretch sent Mike Collins up and over the hood of Tyler Berry at the start/finish line and Kevin Iannarelli making contact that ruined his night. The second restart would see Williams power away with the lead, Max Zachem following him around Lutz before the final caution-flag flew on lap 52 for the spinning RJ Marcotte in turn four.
On the final restart, Ronnie Williams again pulled away on the outside lane over Max Zachem and never looked back, taking the win followed by Zachem and Eric Goodale at the line. Matt Swanson and Craig Lutz rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth included Anthony Bello, Jake Johnson, Mike Christopher Jr, Todd Owen and Spencer Davis. With Jacob Perry’s finish over Kirk Alexander, the young Pawcatuck, Connecticut driver would take down the 2022 Modified Racing Series championship with his 11th place finish.
Saturday was a busy one at the Thompson oval. Twenty five cars were in the 100 lap Outlaw Modified event. Ryan Preece scored a convincing win over Woody Pitkat and pocketed $10,000 for his efforts. Matt Swanson finished third with Austin Beers and Eric Goodale rounding out the top five.
In other action, Mike Christopher Jr beat out Todd Owen and Cory DiMatteo in the Sunoco (SK) mods, Matt Swanson scored in the Supers, Garrett Hall. won the 75-lap Pro All-Stars Series feature, Tom Carey III took the win in the 75-lap American-Canadian Tour feature, Dave Trudeau won the 20-lap Mini Stock feature and Brett Meservey. won the 22-lap Harry Kourafas Memorial Pro-4 Modified feature
In NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series qualifying twenty four cars were on hand. Ronnie Williams surprised the troops as he garnered the pole position. Williams toured the .625-mile Thompson Speedway oval to the tune of 19.073 seconds. Second fastest was Ron Silk with Patrick Emerling, third. Doug Coby and Craig Lutz rounded out the top five.
Eric Goodale left little doubt that he is a credible member of the Long Island Gang as he won the Phoenix Communication 150. In an event that went almost non-stop, only one caution for a minor tangle on lap 12, Goodale started 13th and methodically charged his way to the front passing early leader Doug Coby onlap 78 for the lead. As Coby’s car faded Goodale opened up a sizable lead. After contemplating a late race pit stop for fuel and a tire Goodale opted to stay out and took a chance that he would not run out of fuel. With ten laps to go both he and second place runner Mike Christopher slowed considerably but didn’t run out of fuel. Anthony Nocella finished a distant third with Patrick Emerling, fourth and Kyle Bonsignore, fifth. Jon McKennedy, the last driver on the lead lap, finished sixth.
Non-tour regular and recently crowned Riverhead Raceway Track Champion Kyle Soper finished seventh with Doug Coby, eighth. Ron Silk and Bobby Santos III rounded out the top ten. Pre-race favorite Justin Bonsignore finished 14th, two laps down. Pole sitter Ron Williams faded right from the start and ended up 16th, three laps down. Ryan Preece suffered a flat right front after the lap 12 caution and never recovered as he finished 17th, three laps down. Craig Lutz was running third in the early going and was forced to pit under green for a loose left rear wheel and ended up in 23rd spot.
By virtue of Mike Christopher’s second place finish, Tom Baldwin Jr wrapped up the 2022 Whelen Modified Tour Owners Championship.
In other Sunday action at Thompson Scott Sundeen was the Limited Sportsman winner. Larry Barnett, still going strong at 60 clinched his sixth division title after finishing ninth. Mike Christopher made it two out of three in the Sunoco (SK) Mods. Todd Owen finished second with Cory DiMatteo, third. Alexander Pearl scored his first ever win at Thompson as he beat out Tyler Barry for the SK Light win. Shawn Monahan won the Exit Realty Truck feature and Avery Stoehr was the NEMA Lite winner.
In NASCAR Cup racing, Christopher Bell found his only path to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. On fresh tires, thanks to a strategic pit stop under caution on Lap 105, Bell passed Kevin Harvick to the outside through Turns 1 and 2 after a restart on Lap 111 and pulled away to win Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.
In Super Dirt Modified competition at the Oswego Speedway in New York On a night that will be remembered for years to come, Matt Sheppard etched his name on one of the most historical pages in Super DIRT Week’s history book.
After claiming the SRI Performance/Stock Car Steel & Aluminum Pole Award Thursday night at Oswego Speedway, Sheppard started on the front row for the $50,000-to-win, 200-lap, Billy Whittaker Cars 200 during the 50th Running of NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week and fought every step of the way to secure that win
Kevin Rice of the Union Leader in New Hampshire reported an impending sale of the Lee USA Speedway. LEE USA Speedway finished its auto racing season on Sunday with questions looming about what the future of the three-eighths mile paved oval will be. Lee has been in operation since 1964 and talk of another potential sale surfaced as cars circled the track a week ago.
Wrenn’s son, Norm III, was operating the track until his unexpected passing from a brief illness due to an internal infection in November of 2020. Since his death, it has been an admitted struggle for both dad Norm and mom Shirley to be at the track. Wrenn said he has spoken with Ben Bosowski, who owns and operates Hudson Speedway — and is also the co-owner with Wrenn of Claremont Motorsports Park — about a potential sale.
Norm Wrenn, a Nashua businessman. purchased the track from Red and Judy MacDonald in February of 2018. They had owned the property since 1986 before deciding to retire from racing. When asked Sunday by the Union Leader about the potential sale, Wrenn said that a sale was possible, but he added that no purchase- and-sale agreement has been signed.
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).