Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1949 the scheduled opening of the Seekonk Speedway was rained out.
Seventy years ago in 1954, Melvin “Red” Foote was the 25 lap Sportsman winner at the New London Waterford Speedbowl. Irwin Fox was the non-Ford winner.
Sixty five years ago in 1959 Leo Cleary was the Modified winner at the Norwood Arena. Jerry Humiston and George Lombardo were the Modified winners at Riverside. Dick Beauregard was the 25 lap Sportsman winner while Charlie Webster won in the non-Fords and Ed Priest made it two in a row in the Bombers at the New London Waterford Speedbowl.
Sixty years ago in 1964 Wild Bill Slater had become the Master of Competition at the Norwood Arena in the mighty V-8. Slater took the Modified feature win while Bobby Santos was the Hobby Division winner at the Norwood oval. Ed Patnoad won at Riverside and “The Flying Finn” Reino Tulonan took the win at Westboro. Ray Delisle scored his third Modified victory of the season at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Bill Scrivener was the Bomber winner.
Fifty five years ago in 1969 Bill Slater, one of the greatest drivers to ever turn a wheel in New England retired as a driver and went to work for Mal Barlow as the Race Director and General Manager of the Stafford Speedway. At the Waterford Speedbowl George “Moose” Hewitt was the Modified winner while Bill Sweet made it two in a row in Daredevil action.
Fifty years ago in 1974, the competition was in New York State. At Shangri-La on Saturday, Maynard Troyer took the top spot over Geoff Bodine, Richie Evans and Jerry Cook. At Fulton on Sunday, the roles were reversed as Bodine took the top spot and Troyer played second fiddle. Evans and Cook again followed. Art Moran Sr, who was the head mechanic at Ed Yerrington’s Service Station in Ledyard, CT, was the Modified feature winner at the Waterford Speedbowl. Ron Cote made it three in a row in Grand American action.
Forty five years ago in 1979, the rescheduled Spring Sizzler at the Stafford Speedway took center stage. Maynard Troyer won the 80-lap event over Ronnie Bouchard and Ed Flemke. Tom Druar was the 50-lap non-qualifiers event. Richie Evans and Jerry Cook elected to go south. It paid off for Evans as he won a 150-lap event at Martinsville plus a 100-lap event at Ashboro
Forty years ago in 1984, Jim Spencer scored a one-two punch as he won at Riverside on Saturday night and the Spring Sizzler on Sunday. At Riverside, Bob Polverari finished second and was followed by Richie Evans and George Kent. Corky Cookman was the runner up to Spencer at Stafford with Brian Ross, Eddie StAngelo and Tony Hirshman, following. John Falconi won the 50-lap non-qualifiers event over Tom Baldwin.
Thirty five years ago in 1989, Stan Gregger was the Saturday night winner at Riverside. Mike Stefanik won the modified 150 at Martinsville over Reggie Ruggerio and Tony Hirshman. At the Waterford opener, Ronnie Rocco won an 89-lap event but was protested by Ted Christopher. Rocco was disqualified but a day later had his win reinstated when it was found out that the scales were not working properly. As an added note, Seekonk suffered its fifth rainout.
Thirty years ago, in 1994 Mike Ewanitsko took the lead from Jamie Tomaino on lap 97 of the 200 lap Spring Sizzler and went on to win the event over Jan Leaty and Reggie Ruggiero. John Anderson was the SK winner. At Riverside, Marty Radwick scored his first win in seven years and at Riverhead, Chris Young held off Tom McCann for the win. In Winston Cup action at Martinsville, Rusty Wallace was both the Busch pole winner and the race winner.
Twenty five years ago in 1999, Waterford and Riverside ran on Saturday night with the Stafford Spring Sizzler on Sunday. Twin events were run at Riverside. Rene’ Dupuis became the first modern day woman to win a Modified event as she beat out Dan Avery. Dave Berube was the other mod winner at Riverside. At Waterford, Bill Sharp won the 35 lap modified event. Mike Gada finished second with Bert Marvin, third. Phil Rondeau scored his 98th career late model win. At Stafford, Rick Fuller changed tires with two to go and blasted his way to the 200 lap Sizzler win. Chris Kopec finished second and was followed by Tom Baldwin, Tony Hirschman and Carl Pasteryak. Second generation driver, David Berghman suffered a broken rib and an injured spleen after a big wreck on the front chute. Twin SK-40s were run as part of Sizzler weekend. Taking wins were Todd Szegedy and Bob Potter. In Winston Cup action at Talledega, Dale Earnhardt took the lead from Dale Jarrett with 13 laps to go and went on to take the win. Terry Labonte was the Busch Grandnational winner.
Twenty years ago in 2004, the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Series was at the Stafford Motor Speedway for the 33rd Annual Spring Sizzler. A total of 52 Modifieds were on hand looking to qualify for 33 starting spots. Todd Szegedy, who was the Busch Pole sitter at Thompson, made it two for two, as he was the fastest of the fast. Second fastest was Tour Series part timer Jeff Malave. Reggie Ruggiero was third with Tony Hirschman and John Blewett III rounding out the top five. The top ten re-drew for starting spots with Eddie Flemke Jr. picking the pole and Ted Christopher the outside pole. Szegedy picked eighth and Malave, ninth. Qualifying for a Featherlite Modified Tour Series event had become extremely difficult as only 1.621 mph separated the pole sitter from the 28th and final time trialed spot.
Saturday at Stafford was extremely busy as the track’s regular divisions were also in competition. The first of two SK Modified features to be run saw Eric Berndt jump out from his outside pole starting position to lead the entire 35-lap distance. Ted Christopher finished second with Mike Holdredge, third. Shawn Monahan won the 21 means 21 feature that actually is a consolation event. Five-time track Champion Bob Potter finished second. Monahan ended up 12th in the first feature and Potter finished 26th. Chuck Hossfeld in his first outing in an SK finished 22nd.
When Jerry Marquis and car owners Mike and Janice Boehler left Thompson after getting wrecked in the closing stages of the IceBreaker they were totally dejected. They felt they had a good shot to win until an untimely trip into the wall put an end to their day. The Boehlers and Marquis are racers. They put their defeat behind them and rebuilt the legendary Ole Blu for the Stafford Sizzler. Their efforts paid off as they came from a 29th starting position to take the win in the 33rd Annual event. Ironically, a Boehler car won the First Spring Sizzler, run in 1972 with the late Fred DeSarro driving. Tony Hirschman finished second in the 200-lap grind with Ed Flemke Jr., third. Rounding out the top ten were Todd Szegedy, Tom Bolles, Ted Christopher, Ricky Fuller, Tony Ferrente Jr., Zach Sylvester and Jamie Tomaino.
Marquis took a lot of pressure from Ed Flemke Jr and Tony Hirschman in the closing laps. Pole sitter Ed Flemke Jr led the first ten laps before giving way to Chuck Hossfeld. Hossfeld led until lap 117 when he pitted under caution when it became apparent that a shower would not shorten the event. Marquis, who started in 29th spot, made a determined run to the front and inherited the lead when Hossfeld pitted. Ole Blu had the necessary handles to run the low groove. Hirschman got real close but couldn’t muster that little extra that would have put him in the lead at the end. Ted Christopher was the Sunday SK-Modified winner and Mike Quintiliano was the late model winner.
At the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night Justin Gaydosh had good reason to celebrate his 20th birthday when he scored his first ever-modified feature win. Blocking big time in the closing laps, Gaydosh was able to keep second place finisher Ed Reed Jr. at bay. Chris Pasteryak finished third. Ted Christopher made a quick trip from Stafford but fell victim to ignition problems in the early going. Other Saturday night winners at the shoreline oval were Corey Hutchings in the Late Models, Norman Root in the Sportsman, Glen Colvin in the Mini-Stocks and Mike Pepe in the Legends Cars.
The Nextel Cup division along with the Busch Racing Series of NASCAR was in Talladega, Alabama. Martin Truex Jr., a graduate of the Busch North Series, took the Busch Series win over Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Gordon took the lead in Sundays Aarons 499 Nextel Cup event six laps from the finish. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was running second. Earnhardt was making a run at Gordon with four laps to go when a wreck brought the field under caution. NASCAR rules state there is no more racing to the finish line when the caution is displayed and it was determined that Gordon had three quarters of a car length on Earnhardt at the time of the caution. NASCAR was unable to restart the event and Gordon was declared the winner. When Gordon took his victory lap he was greeted by unruly and unhappy race fans that threw everything from Beer cans to chicken bones on the track.
The Busch North Series opened their season at the Lee USA Speedway. Andy Santerre took the win over Joey McCarthy, Eddie MacDonald, Ryan Moore and Mike Stefanik. Dave Dion was the Busch Pole sitter. There were only 27 cars on hand for the 150 lap event that saw seven caution periods for 48 laps
It appeared that the anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR over the awarding of Nextel Cup dates might be coming to an end. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that the Texas Motor Speedway would get a second Nextel Cup date as part of the settlement. Other tracks could very well be paying the price as it had been said and written that race dates at Rockingham, North Carolina and at Darlington in South Carolina may go away.
Fifteen years ago in 2009, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was on a two week break before heading to Stafford Springs Connecticut for the annual Spring Sizzler. In the mean time NASCAR made a ruling that could very well have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Hartford Courant reported that competitors, drivers and owners, would be required to attend the season ending banquet in order to receive their point moneys and season ending awards. The vast majority of Whelen Modified Tour Series competitors have been fiercely loyal to NASCAR in the past but that could very well be changing. What really has the competitors riled up is the fact that they signed and agreement to comply with NASCAR’s banquet requirements without even knowing it. That’s what happens when you sign your name to something before you read it. Defending series Champion Ted Christopher said he was not happy with having to go to Charlotte but in the end, he was there. The competitors were, as had happened many times before, hoodwinked by NASCAR. The agreement that the competitors signed stipulated that the competitors must attend the season ending banquet as they had in previous years, never stating that the venue had changed. It was a gutless move on NASCAR’s part to say the least!
Like the formerly loyal competitors to the Busch North Series before them, NASCAR was slowly but surely putting the screws to the competitors who race on the Whelen Modified Tour. Many of the former Busch North Series competitors now compete in the ACT Series or the PASS series. Slowly but surely the Modified competitors are leaning toward the True Value Modified Series.
Jason Christley, NASCAR manager of communications for the weekly and touring divisions had all but called the competitors including defending WMT Champion Ted Christopher ignorant and stupid as he referred to those who compete and follow the Modifieds as the “”torch-and-pitchfork mob”. Hopefully when some of them show up in Charlotte this fall they would be wearing their Sunday best bib over-alls and carrying pitchforks unless of course NASCAR has a hidden dress code clause that the competitors signed without knowing.
Rumor had it that NASCAR may hire Jerry Robinson to sit in a dunk tank just in case any Waterford competitors show up in Charlotte this fall!
After three straight weeks of rainouts the Waterford Speedbowl finally got to open their doors for the 2009 season. Keith Rocco picked up where he left off in 2008 as he won the opener as he nipped Ron Yuhas Jr at the finish line in the 35 lap SK Modified feature. Yuhas, who started on the pole, was the only other leader of the event. Rob Janovic Jr. was third, followed by defending champion Dennis Gada. Tyler Chadwick rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Diego Monahan, Jeff Pearl, Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., Don Fowler, and Justin Gaydosh. Among those who ran into tough luck was Jeffrey Paul who dropped out with engine problems.
Bruce Thomas Jr picked up his 30th career win at the shoreline oval as he went pole to pole to take the victory. Vin Esposito finished second and Allen Coates was third. Flyin Ryan Morgan of Mystic made his grandfather Jack a happy guy as he scored his first win of the season Saturday night at the Waterford Speedbowl by winning the twenty lap Legend’s feature. Morgan had to survive three caution flags with two laps to go, however, the 15 year old was able to pull away on the restarts to hold off second place finisher, Joe Cipriano and Tony Flanagan who finished third.
Other winners were Danny Field (Mini Stocks) and Josh Galvin (Street Stocks).
Ted Christopher and Joe Brady were a little off their game as they settled for a seventh place finish in a NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour Series event at the Lanier Speedway in Braselton, Ga. Andy Seuss took the lead in the 150 lap event on lap 43 from Christopher. George Brunnhoelzl III finished second. L.W. Miller and Burt Myers made contact in Turn 2 on the final lap while racing for third, and Myers went spinning. Miller went on to score his best finish of the year in third, with Brian Loftin and Jason Myers completing the top five. There were only 14 Modifieds in competition. Seuss received $2,000 for his efforts.
In Nationwide Series racing at the Phoenix Int Speedway Greg Biffle and his Roush Fenway Racing team gambled their way to a record win Friday night. Biffle didn’t pit on the last stop, holding onto his lead by staying on the track while almost all the competition ducked in for fresh tires. A bunch of late cautions prevented anyone from catching Biffle, and he held on for the win. He had to hold off Jason Leffler over several late restarts, and again on a final two-lap sprint to the finish. Leffler also chose not to pit on the last stop, a decision that moved him up to second, where he finished behind Biffle. The victory gave team owner Jack Roush 100 wins in the Nationwide Series.
Brad Keselowski finished third for the third consecutive week. Joey Logano, the previous week’s winner at Nashville, was fourth and was followed by Kevin Harvick.
In NASCAR Sprint Cup racing at Phoenix Mark Martin took a popular win. At 50 years, three months and nine days, Martin became the third-oldest winner in NASCAR history with the victory. He broke a 97-race winless streak dating back to Kansas in 2005, and solidified what everyone inside NASCAR already knew: The guy is still at the top of his game. Tony Stewart finished second.
Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, N.H. won the American Canadian Tour New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 at the Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H. The race was the first qualifying event for the ACT Invitational, which will be run Sept. 19, 2009, at NHMS. Leighton got by Joey Polewarczyk, last year’s Governor’s Cup winner, for the lead on lap 130 and led the rest of the way. Polewarczyk, of Hudson, N.H., held on for second and Scott Payea of Milton, Vt. was third.
Former Camping World East Series star Sean Caisse bested longtime Sprint Cup Series veteran Ken Schrader to pick up his first ARCA RE/MAX Series victory Sunday in the Carolina 200 at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway. Caisse, of Pelham, N.H., spent much of the afternoon in Rockingham chasing Schrader at the front of the field. But with less than three laps remaining Schrader ran out of fuel, opening to the door for Caisse to go to the front in his Venturini Motorsports ride.
It was the sixth career ARCA start for Caisse, who was the Camping World East Series runner-up in both 2006 and 2007, winning seven events in the division during that span. Schrader led 185 of 200 laps at Rockingham. The only laps Caisse led all day were the final three.
The International Speedway Corporation announced that James C. France, 64, was stepping down from the role of Chief Executive Officer effective June 1, 2009. Mr. France would remain Chairman of the Board of Directors in a non-executive capacity. In addition, the Company’s Board of Directors announced the promotions, also effective June 1, 2009, of several executives to positions of new responsibility.
Business First of Louisville reported that the likelihood that Kentucky Speedway will be awarded a 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup race had become even more remote because an antitrust lawsuit by the track founders against NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. now likely won’t be resolved until July at the earliest. The case, which is in U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, is not included in the hearing calendar finalized Monday for a two-week session beginning April 20. Although the court could still add the case to the schedule, that would be rare in a case such as this one. The next two-week hearing session begins June 8 – the Monday prior to the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the track.
NASCAR Chairman Brian France has said that NASCAR will not consider a realignment request for a Sprint Cup date from current owner Speedway Motorsports Inc. until the case is resolved. NASCAR typically begins the sanctioning process in April or May, and France has said that the track is running out of time to begin the realignment process.
The appeal hearing would center on whether there is enough evidence for a trial, and a decision on whether to affirm or repeal a judge’s January 2008 ruling in favor of NASCAR and ISC likely would come anywhere from three weeks to six months after the hearing. If the Kentucky Speedway founders win the appeal, the case would then be scheduled for trial.
The founders of Kentucky Speedway, who sold the track to SMI in December, allege that sanctioning body NASCAR and track operator ISC illegally conspire to keep tracks such as Kentucky from obtaining Cup dates. NASCAR, a private company owned by the France family, and the publicly traded ISC, whose majority of voting stock is owned by the France family, deny those claims. SMI is listed as a co-conspirator in the case.
The Associated Press reported that Brazilian race car driver and “Dancing With The Stars” champ Helio Castroneves was acquitted on April 17 of most charges that he worked with his sister and lawyer to evade more than $2.3 million in U.S. income taxes.
A federal jury acquitted Castroneves on six counts of tax evasion but hung on one count of conspiracy. When the sentence was read, Castroneves broke into sobs and leaned against his attorneys for support. The jury also acquitted Katiucia Castroneves, 35, who is her 33-year-old brother’s business manager, on the tax evasion counts but also hung on the conspiracy. Michigan motorsports attorney Alan Miller, 71, was acquitted on all three counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy. The jury deliberated six days after a six-week trial.
Ten years ago in 2014, The main event in New England was the running of the re-scheduled Blast Off at the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday and Sunday. Literally tons of cars from New England and Long Island were at the Connecticut shoreline oval. In total, 13 race divisions saw action on the three-eighths mile oval, with seven feature races run Saturday evening.
Keith Rocco hit a home run as he went three for three on Sunday as he won the SK Modified 64 lap Blast Off, the Late Model feature and the 100 lap Valenti Modified Racing Series 100. Rocco, clearly the class of the field in all three divisions, took the lead in the 64 lap SK Modified feature on lap 10. He started on the pole in the 100 lap VMRS event and led every lap.
Following Rocco in the SK 64 lapper was Craig Lutz, Kyle James, Ted Christopher and Shawn Thibeault. Chris Pasteryak finished second to Rocco in the Valenti Mods, Todd Szegedy finished third with Jeff Rocco, fourth and Max Zachem, fifth. Sixth through tenth were Mike Holdridge, Eric Goodale, Anthony Nocella, Todd Annarummo and Mike Willis, Jr. In the Late Model feature Bruce Thomas finished second with Jason Palmer, third. Glenn Boss and Vince Esposito rounded out the top five. Sixth through twelth were Jeff Smith, Anthony Ryan, Nick Sowa, Joe Gada, Mike Sweeney, Rich Duranti and Ryan Morgan.
Qualifying for Sunday’s six big events took place Saturday afternoon. Leading the way were the Rocco brothers, as Jeff and Keith each picked up heat race wins in the Valenti Modified Racing series. Ted Christopher won the Series’ third heat race while Justin Bonsignore won the 15-lap consolation race. Jeff Rocco followed up his strong Valenti Modified run by earning pole position honors for Sunday’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified® division’s 64-lap race which commemorates the track’s number of years in operation. He won his qualifying race in that division as well, joining Christopher and Todd Ceravolo as winners in the three qualifiers.
In features run on Saturday night at Waterford, Rick Williams scored a first-ever victory in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Light Modified race. Dylan Izzo continued his domination of the INEX Legend Cars division winning for the second straight week while Zach Thomas and Jon Porter won for consecutive weeks in the X-Car and Super X-Cars, respectively. In touring series races, P.J. Stergios of Candia, NH won the NEMA Lite feature and Chris Turbush of Riverhead, NY won the NewEngland Truck Series race. Oakdale’s Derek Debbis checkered the INEX Bandolero feature for the youth racing class.
There were 33 Valenti Modified Racing Series Modifieds on hand. The SK Modified car count totaled 25. The next event for the Valenti Modified Racing Series is a 100 lapper at the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series was off as competitors made preparations for the upcoming Spring Sizzler at the Stafford Motor Speedway on April 27. While most of the Modified teams enjoyed the weekend off their southern counter parts were racing at the Langley Speedway in Virginia.
George Brunnhoelzl III led the final 67 laps of the 150 lap event after passing points leader Andy Seuss, and survived a green-white-checkered finish for his first win of the season. Twice in the first three races, Brunnhoelzl finished second to Seuss. It also extended Brunnhoelzl’s tour record for career wins to 21. Seuss came home second and David Calabrese was third. Luke Fleming and Ryan Preece rounded out the top five. Seuss took the lead on Lap 62 from Ryan Preece, who won the Coors Light Pole Award earlier in the day. Burt Myers was sixth, followed by rookies Bobby Measmer Jr. and Joe Ryan Osborne, Jason Myers and Gary Putnam. There were 17 cars on hand.
Chase Elliott drove around Elliott Sadler on the last lap of Friday’s VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway to score his second-straight series victory.
Kevin Harvick turned around all the bad luck he has faced in the last five weeks by winning Saturday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Harvick dominated at the 1.366-mile oval Saturday after starting from the pole, leading 239 of 374 laps.
Five years ago in 2019, The 48th edition of the NAPA Spring Sizzler® at Stafford Speedway was rained out and re-scheduled for the following Saturday and Sunday. Shortly before NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour teams were scheduled to take to the track for group qualifying, officials decided that the weather forecast for the remainder of Saturday, and the duration of Sunday, wouldn’t allow the event to take place.
Prior to the rain, snow and sleet, teams did have two practice sessions, with defending series champion Justin Bonsignore pacing both of them. There were 30 cars on hand. Following Bonsignore on the speed charts were Doug Coby, Chase Dowling, Rob Summers, Ron Silk, Craig Lutz, Joey Cipriano III, Jeff Rocco who was pinch hitting for Burt Myers, Timmy Solomito and Tommy Catalano.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour continued to be the best competition that NASCAR has to offer.
While it was raining in Connecticut close to 10,000 fans came out in North Carolina for opening night at the Bowman-Gray Stadium where Brian Loftin surprised many of the people who came to watch Saturday’s races after he won the scheduled 200-lap Modified race. The race went to 203 laps and Loftin defeated Tim Brown to win his first race at Bowman Gray since 2010. For the first 125 laps Burt Myers and Tim Brown traded the lead numerous times. Myers’ hope for victory went away on lap 125 when James Civali bulled his way into Brown and Myers in an attempt to take the lead. Civali did get the lead but lost it on lap 193 when Brian Loftin did to him what he did to Myers and Brown. As he headed to the pit area to change a flat tire Civali attempted to take Loftin out under caution but was unsuccessful. Finishing up with a green-white-checker situation Loftin held off Tim Brown for the win. Chris Fleming finished third followed by Lee Jeffreys and Randy Butner who rounded out the top five. Jason Myers finished eighth and Burt Myers finished tenth.
At a track where Ronnie Bouchard had his greatest moment Ryan Preece followed suit as he finished a fantastic third behind Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman in the NASCAR Monster Cup event at the Talledega Super-Speedway.
Word came from noted author Mark “Bones” Bourcier that three-time NASCAR National Modified champion Bugs Stevens phoned to report that he’d fractured a couple of vertebrae (one thoracic, one lumbar) in a slow-speed Florida bike-riding crash. “That’s the fourth time I’ve busted my effin’ back,” Bugsy declared. True enough; the first was when he sailed the Boehler #3 coupe out of Thompson (CT) Speedway in the late ‘60s, and the second was in 1982 at Stafford Motor Speedway, also in Connecticut, when his left-rear tire deflated as he barreled into turn one aboard the Garbarino #4. Like most champions, Bugs didn’t crash often, but when he did, it was usually a doozy. The third broken back, like this last one, was in another post-retirement fall. So Bugsy was in some pain (again), but his sense of humor remained intact, and he had me laughing at eight or ten lines that, sadly, cannot be repeated here. In just a few weeks he’ll hit his 86th birthday, but mentally he’s still 17 going on crazy. Anyway, keep our pal in your thoughts. He’s one of a kind, which is a good thing, and he’s also one of the greatest American short-track racers of his generation. Get well quick Champ.
Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) has announced it had received a non-binding proposal from Sonic Financial Corp. to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock not already held by Sonic.
Sonic is owned and controlled by Bruton Smith and family. Smith being the founder of SMI. The offer is $18 per share. SMI operates eight racetracks on the NASCAR schedule: Charlotte, Atlanta, Bristol, Texas, Las Vegas, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as well as Sonoma Raceway and Kentucky Speedway.
In November it was announced NASCAR had made a non-binding bid to acquire all the outstanding shares of Class A and B common stock of International Speedway Corp. (ISC). The move would make the company private.
Last year, 2023, The SMART Modified Tour paid a visit to Hickory Speedway in North Carolina. The speedway surface had more cracks on its face than a 90 year old farmer. The end result showed that Caleb Heady in the Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 7NY led every lap of the Hickory Hundred, but it won’t show how much Carson Loftin hounded him on a green-white-checkered finish set up by a Jeremy Gerstner spin with one lap remaining. Prior to that, Loftin was starting to eat into the lead before the final caution and Heady was going to have to earn that victory the hard way one way or the other. Loftin gave Heady a friendly shove coming out of Turn 4 on the white flag lap but couldn’t complete the pass.
Heady broke through to override a frustrating misfortune filled start to his spring. “All three races have been misfortunate (sic) runs,” Heady said in Victory Lane. “It sucked to have two poles and have nothing to show for it. We’ve got a hundred laps led and a trophy coming back home with us now.”
A Gerstner spin with 31 laps to go also set up controlled pit stops for teams to take their right rears. The biggest crash of the night occurred five laps later when Joey Coulter spun off Turn 4 and collected Jake Crum, Jason Myers and Spencer Davis.
Loftin, the son of Brian Loftin, continued to hound Heady over the remaining laps but couldn’t close out either on the long run or the overtime finish, but it was still his best career finish in Tour competition. Burt Myers with Jonathan Brown and Ryan Newman rounding out the top five.
The next SMART event will be on May 26 at the Franklin County Speedway located in the heart of the Moonshine Capitol of the World in Callaway, Va.
Pro All Stars Series (PASS) and American-Canadian Tour (ACT) officials invited Open Tour-type Modifieds to join the Northeast Classic at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway this past weekend. Jon McKennedy slugged it out with Anthony Bello to make it two in a row at the track known as the magic mile. It was a classic Modified race, too bad there was hardly anyone there to watch it.
PASS and ACT need to hire a competent Public Relations person to get the word out and create the hype that would make fans want to attend their event. A competent PR person would also get the results out in a timely manner.
Matt Swanson finished third. Matthew Kimball and Chris Young rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth included Anthony Nocella, Kirk Alexander, Brett Meservey, Ryan Doucette and Woody Pitkat. All tolled only 20 Modifieds were in the field.
Anthony Nocella and Matthew Kimball led the charge to the green. The first caution would come on lap 3 as Kimball’s right-rear tire blew, sending him spinning on the frontstretch with the rest of the field scrambling for safety. Nocella retook the lead on the restart before a lap 11 caution for Mike Collins who went into the turn two wall. On the return to green, Anthony Bello and Matt Swanson battled for the lead back-and-forth for over twenty laps as a five-car breakaway developed.
Jon McKennedy and Anthony Bello traded the lead in each corner before the final caution flag would fly on lap 48 for the spinning Woody Pitkat in turn two. The two-lap shootout between McKennedy and Bello began with a side-by-side slugfest that also featured Nocella and Swanson pushing the leaders from behind. Bello threw a last lap power-shot underneath Jon McKennedy in turn three to try and steal away the win but the veteran powered back coming out of turn four to take his second-consecutive Northeast Classic victory.
In other action at Loudon, Eddie MacDonald won the 50 lap PASS event, Derek Gluchacki won the ACT 50, Nick Anderson was the Mini Stock winner and Ryan Waterman won the Street Stock event
In NASCAR Cup Racing, Congratulations to Ryan Preece who topped the competition to earn his first career NASCAR Cup Series Busch pole award with a lap of 94.779 mph in his No. 41 SHR Ford at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Kyle Larson took the win. Preece finished 15th.
Over at the Stafford Speedway only 25 Reserved Seats left for the 51st NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler. Over 40 modifieds entered. To guarantee their appearance the speedway requires each entrant to post a guarantee that they will be there.
Congratulations to the late Mike Stefanik who has been added to the list that makes up NASCARs 75 Greatest Drivers. A versatile driver who built and drove many of the cars he won with, made a name for himself as a Modified Tour standout, Stefanik became a NASCAR Hall of Famer in the 2021 class. The Rhode Island campaigner won seven championships in Modified competition and added two more in the former Busch North Series. He was also Rookie of the Year in the Craftsman Truck Series in 1999. Stefanik has been inducted in the NEAR Hall of Fame and is memorialized in the book, “The Fifty Greatest Drivers of the Stafford Motor Speedway”
With the cooperation of the Arute family a book has been published with pictures and biographies of the 50 Greatest Drivers at Stafford.
The Stafford Motor Speedway had become the epicenter of NASCAR Modified racing in the northeast by the late 1980’s. From its dirt beginnings to its lightning-fast asphalt, Stafford had become the toughest and most gratifying track to score a victory. The Arute family which has owned and guided the destiny of the facility commissioned their thousands of loyal fans to name their favorite drivers. In alphabetical order so as not to offend anyone:
Tom Baldwin, Gene Bergin, Brett Bodine, Geoff Bodine, Ken Bouchard, Ron Bouchard, Mario “Fats” Caruso, Rene Charland, Ted Christopher, Leo Cleary, Tim Connolly, Jerry Cook, Corky Cookman, Pete Corey, Fred DeSarro, Richie Evans, Mike Ewanitsko, Ed Flemke, Sr., Jeff Fuller, Rick Fuller, Ernie Gahan, Bill Greco, Bo Gunning, Ray Hendrick, George “Moose” Hewitt, Tony Hirschman, George Janoski, Charlie Jarzombek, George Kent, Buddy Krebs, Randy LaJoie, Jan Leaty, Jerry Marquis, Mike McLaughlin, Ray Miller, Steve Park, Bob Polverari, Bob Potter, Brian Ross, John “Reggie” Ruggiero, Greg Sacks, Ollie Silva, “Wild” Bill Slater, Jimmy Spencer, Mike Stefanik, Carl “Bugsy” Stevens, George Summers, Jamie “The Jet” Tomaino, Maynard Troyer and Satch Worley.
Books are priced at $17.95 each and be purchased at the track at the Novelty Booth or at the Stafford Motor Speedway on line store. Books are also available at Amazon.com and at Coastal181 (877-907-8181).
