Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – The 2024 NASCAR Cup season was supposed to begin last Sunday, Feb 4 as the 150 lap Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was supposed to take the green.
On less than five hours’ notice, NASCAR decided to run its Cup Series’ Busch Light Clash Saturday night in order to avoid an anticipated torrential storm Sunday.
Smoking his tires in every corner after grabbing the lead on a restart on Lap 141 of a scheduled 150, Hamlin was a few yards away from the finish line when his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Ty Gibbs, spun off the bumper of Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet to bring out the seventh caution and force a two-lap shootout. On the final restart, Hamlin stayed clear of runner-up Kyle Busch and crossed the stripe with a 0.610-second advantage, earning his fourth victory in the season-opening exhibition race-most among active drivers-with the first three coming at Daytona International Speedway. Ryan Preece finished 11th. Because of the last minute schedule change because of impending weather a sparse crowd was on hand.
The winter of 2024 has come to an end as the Men that live by the Grace of God and 600 horsepower make final preparations for the Whelen Modified Tour Series opener this Saturday night at the New Smyrna Speedway. The World Series runs from Feb 9 thru Feb 17. The Whelen Modified Tour Series event is scheduled for Saturday night, Feb 10. For the third consecutive year, the Tour will open at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida as part of the track’s “World Series of Asphalt Stock Cars Racing” during NASCAR’s Speedweeks, racing under the lights. The 66th running of the DAYTONA 500 at nearby Daytona International Speedway takes place a week later to conclude the opening week of NASCAR action.
As of last Friday, 2/3 the entry list of tour type modifieds totals 37. This does not include entries for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event scheduled for Saturday, Feb 10. NASCAR released a list of 35 entries for the WMT 200 which carries a purse of $134, 047. The field of 602 Modifieds will be extremely stout as 36 entries have been received so far.
While some speedways announce their opening dates and seasons then just sit on their hands waiting for the season to start, the Stafford Motor Speedway management is out there beating the bushes for race sponsorships to make their events more lucrative for competitors. For the 2024 season at Stafford Speedway, hometown company McKinney Construction will return to the track’s contingency program. McKinney will furnish a pair of $150 bonuses each week to the 2nd place finishers from the SK Modified® and SK Light Modified feature events. McKinney’s contingency bonuses brings the 2nd place payouts up to $1,300 for SK Modified drivers® and $400 for SK Light competitors. “We’re looking forward to partnering with Stafford Speedway and all the other contingency sponsors again this season to make for a fun filled, exciting season with no rain,” said Larry McKinney of McKinney Construction. “The Arute family are great people to work with and being a hometown company, we’re happy to help out drivers in the SK Modified® and SK Light divisions. We really appreciate drivers like Todd Owen, Anthony Flannery, David and Paul Arute, Alexander Pearl, and Marcello Rufrano always coming up to us and thanking us for being a contingency sponsor. It’s always nice to get a personal thank you from drivers and those kinds of things are what makes us want to continue to be a contingency sponsor. In addition to our contingency, we’re also looking forward to working with a fellow contingency sponsor in Casella Waste to partner with Paradiso Insurance for Flag Day in the town of Stafford this year.”
Owned and operated by Larry McKinney, McKinney Construction is located on Main Street in Stafford Springs, CT. Specializing in a variety of projects for municipalities, hospitals, chain stores, supermarkets, and more, McKinney can tackle your construction needs.
After all but dropping out of sight, The 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, Jon McKennedy hopes to re-enter the auto racing spot light in the up coming season. McKennedy, driving for his own team, will confine his racing to New England speedways, is no stranger to winning races and championships. On top of the 2022 title, McKennedy finished second in the 2020 Tour standings driving for Tommy Baldwin Racing. He also picked up his first career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win at Myrtle Beach Speedway in 2018 and has another victory at Claremont Motorsports Park in 2022, which helped lead to his title.
McKennedy is a former ISMA Supermodified champion, 4-time ISMA Star Classic winner, 4-time ISMA Ollie Silva Memorial winner and 4-time Modified Racing Series champion. He has multiple Star Speedway championships to his resume, a North-South Shootout with Tommy Baldwin Racing (2018) and a championship in the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series (2014), along with many karting titles in his early years and additional race wins in multiple divisions. McKennedy was also named the 2016 North East Touring Series driver of the year.
McKennedy’s season will consist of all Modified events at Thompson, the Open Modified event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s Northeast Classic on April 13, Stafford Motor Speedway for the NAPA Spring Sizzler (April 27-28), Open Modified Mountain Masters (July 17) and the Fall Final with the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series on September 28. In addition, his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts will happen at Monadnock Speedway (May 4 and July 20), Seekonk Speedway (June 1) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway (June 22). McKennedy will compete at the White Mountain Motorsports Park (July 27) and Star Speedway (September 15).
The 2024 racing season on Long Island just got a little longer. Riverhead Raceway officials made two important announcements concerning the 8th annual Islip 300. Originally, the 300 was planned for November 9th, 2024, however, to avoid conflict with the annual North-South Shootout the Islip 300 moves to Saturday November 16th, with a November 23rd rain date. Additionally, track management is upping the winner’s ante for the Islip 300 to $10,000.
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).