Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1949, Jim Holt was the Stock car division winner at Seekonk.
Seventy years ago in 1954, Red Foote recorded his second win of the season as he won the 25 lap Sportsman feature at the New London Waterford Speedbowl. Tom VanEpps, driving a non-Ford owned and built by Dennis Thornton, formerly of Martinsville, Va, won the non-Ford feature. VanEpps, who would lose his live in an off season accident would record a total of 12 wins for the season. At Seekonk, Dave Humphrey was the A division Stock Car winner.
Sixty five years ago in 1959, Wild Bill Slater, in his first full season in the Connecticut Valley Rocket V-8 owned by Bob Vitali and Vic Bombaci, took his first of 15 feature wins in the Sportsman division at the New London Waterford Speedbowl. Charlie Webster was the non-Ford winner and John Arrigoni was the Bomber winner at the shoreline oval.
Sixty years ago in 1964 Gene Bergin was the Saturday night winner at the Norwood Arena in Mass. Down on the Connecticut shoreline at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Charlie Webster was the 25 lap Modified winner and Ed Gladue was the Bomber winner. At Seekonk, Billy Clark was the A division Stock Car winner. Mike Lawrence was the Cadet division winner.
Fifty five years ago in 1969, action in the northeast shifted into high gear. At Stafford on Friday night, Fred DeSarro in his own No.11 took the opening night win. Eddie Flemke in the Garutti-Arute No.14 was second. Gene Bergin, in the Garbarino Bros.V-4 was third with Bugsy Stevens in the Len Boehler No.3 and Ed Yerrington in the Freddies TV No.23 rounding out the top five. At the Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., Jerry Cook took the win and was followed by Richie Evans and Lou Lazzaro. Saturday night at Norwood, Johnny Thompson in his Ford powered No.122 took the victory over DeSarro, Stevens and Jack Malone. At Fonda, Lou Lazzaro beat out Rene Charland for the win. Daring Dick Caso was the Modified winner at the Waterford Speedbowl. On Sunday at Thompson, the Bugman took the main event despite stiff competition from Flemke, DeSarro, Bergin and Ed Yerrington. At the Utica-Rome Speedway it was again, Cook and Evans finishing one-two over Lazzaro and Dave Lape. Tioga Motorsports Park was called the Shangri-La Speedway. Jim Shampine was the winner there. At Seekonk, Tinker Progin was the A division winner. Frank Souza was the B division winner.
Fifty years ago in 1974, rain-washed out a scheduled 100 lapper at Utica-Rome on Friday night. Racing at Shangri-La on Saturday was also cancelled, as it was way to cold for night racing. Charlie Jarzombek went two for two as he won at both Freeport and Islip. At Stafford on Friday, Bugsy Stevens held off Don Flynn and Cook for the win. Sunday was busy in New York State as Oswego and Fulton ran afternoon and evening programs. At Oswego, Gary Reichart won the 75 lap Port City event over Maynard Troyer, Richie Evans and Geoff Bodine. At Fulton it was Bodine over Cook and Evans. Waterford ran an open show on Sunday with Dynamite Ollie Silva taking the top spot over Bugsy Stevens, Bob Santos and Glynn Shafer.
Forty five years ago in 1979, a full plate of Modified racing was on the table. The weekend started on Friday night at Stafford where Richie Evans took the win over Bugsy Stevens, Ronnie Bouchard and Brian Ross. On Saturday night, Tom Dunn fired Freddie Schulz and put Bentley Warren in his T-5. Warren turned the trick and took the win at Westboro over Joe Howard and John Falconi. At Seekonk, Bugsy Stevens beat out Ronnie Bouchard, Fred Astle and George Summers. At Waterford, Rick Donneley took the win over Dick Ceravolo, Roland LaPierre Jr. and Billy Greco. At Plainville, Ron Wycoff held of Ronnie Rocco for the win and at Islip, Tom McCann, Wayne Anderson, Greg Sacks and Fred Harbach were the top four. Shangri-La action saw George Kent over Richie Evans and Dave Nichols. On Sunday at Thompson, Joe Howard got a well-earned win over SJ Evonsion and at Monadnock it was Dunk Rudolph over Reggie Ruggerio and John Rosati. The mods also ran at Montreal in Canada where Evans beat out Satch Worley, Jerry Cook and Ronnie Bouchard.
Forty years ago in 1984, Lou Figari,the owner of the Islip Speedway passed away. After Lou died, his widow Flora took over. She had many problems with the locals over the noise. She had been offered to sell the land to the owner of a cookie factory but she didn’t because Lou would want the track to stay. After much frustration, she told them she’d sell and then the area would be over run with tractor trailers and rats. She finally put in her will that her son was to sell to the cookie people. That was the reason for Islip’s demise., which meant the track would close forever at the end of the 1984 season. The lawsuit between M & H tires and Hoosier, Stafford and Seekonk was settled in appeals court after many months of bitter fighting. M & H lost and the door was open for tracks to implement track tire rules without fear of being sued. Stafford rained out on Friday night. It cleared on Saturday. Richie Evans won at Riverside over Stan Gregger and Bob Polverari. George Moose Hewitt took a 30 lapper at Waterford over Bob Gada and at Islip, Chris Young outran Bill Park for the win. Down on the Jersey shore at Wall Stadium, Tony Siscone added another victory. At Thompson on Sunday, Mike Mclaughlin in the Len Boehler No.3 took the 30-lap win over Richie Evans and Ray Miller. In Winston Cup action at Talledega, Cale Yarborough was the pole sitter and the winner.
Thirty five years ago in 1989, the Modified tour was at Stafford for a 100 lapper on Sunday. Mike Stefanik took the win over Brett Bodine. Ted Christopher beat out Bob Potter for the SK mod win. In other weekend action, Christopher beat out Moose Hewitt at Waterford, John Blewett Jr. beat Bill Park at Riverhead and Reggie Ruggerio ruled over Dan Avery at Riverside Park. It was also the seventh week in a row that Seekonk rained out.
Thirty years ago, in 1994, rain washed out Stafford, Waterford and Riverhead. At Riverside, Steve Park in the Joe Brady No.00 started 16th and went on to win the 50 lap modified event over Stan Gregger and Reggie Ruggerio. At Seekonk, Eddie StAngelo beat out Vinnie Annarummo for the Pro Stock main event. The Winston Cup Teams were off and the Busch cars were at Loudon for the Chevy Dealers 250. Derek Cope, driving for Red Farmer, won the event after Hermie Sadler ran out of gas in the closing laps.
Twenty five years ago, in 1999, Jeff Malave beat out Willie Hardie to win the Friday night SK modified event at Stafford. Waterford and Riverside rained out as the action shifted to Loudon for the twin BGN-BGNN events. Elton Sawyer was the BGN winner and Brad Leighton, the Busch North. Nascar’s Winston Cup had an off weekend, as it was Mothers Day. In other news from the weekend, Steve Bird who led Bace Motorsports to multiple Championships was released (fired). Steve Hmiel was named as crew chief for Steve Park and The International Speedway Corporation and Penske Motorsports announced that they were merging. ISCA stock shot up and closed out the week at 43-1/8.
Twenty years ago in 2004, gas prices soared near or past the $2.00 per gallon mark. Lloyd Agor won his first SK-Modified win at Stafford on Friday night but it wasn’t pretty. Agor started on the outside pole of the 40 lap event and proceeded to block or ride up anyone who attempted to pass, even Ted Christopher who is known to put the bumper to a competitor when they block his progress. Christopher did more than his share of the bump and grind but in the end, finished the night in sixth spot. George Bessette finished second with Chuck Hossfeld, third. Kerry Malone and Shawn Tryon rounded out the top five. After a weeks absence Eric Berndt returned to the Friday night wars with a heavy heart, still suffering from the loss of his mom. Berndt managed to survive to finish seventh. Maybe getting back in that racecar was good therapy. It seemed that everybody blamed everybody but Bo Gunning for all the wrecks on Friday night. Gunning and car owner Eddie Partridge felt almost like they had three wins in a row by not being there. No bent cars, no tire bills and nobody was mad. Gunning was tossed out of Stafford in 2003. It was not totally his fault but that’s history now. Gunning was told he could return to Stafford if he took anger management classes. Gunning chose not to and was backed by his car owner. Mike Quintiliano made it three in a row in Late Model competition at Stafford. On Friday night he and Joe Rzeszutek swapped spots and traded paint right to the final second when Quintiliano won by a whisker. Aaron Goff was the Dare Stock winner. At the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night rain put a damper on the SK-Modified and Late Model features. A partial program was completed before the rains came with Dwayne Conant taking the win in the Sportsman division, Dave Silvia in the Mini Stocks and Silas Hiscock in the Legends. John III and Jimmie Blewett finished one –two at the Wall Township Speedway on Saturday night The Nextel Cup division had a weekend off in celebration of Mother’s Day. The Busch Racing Series was at the Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill. on Saturday night. Martin Truex Jr. continued to make a name for himself as he led 123 of the 200-lap distance. Tom Rogers was the winner at Riverhead. Bill Park finished second with John Fortin, third.
Fifteen years ago in 2009, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, after the completion of the first two, of 14 events, was on “Spring Break” Ted Christopher, who was two for two after winning the Ice Breaker at the Thompson Speedway and the Spring Sizzler at the Stafford Motor Speedway led Todd Szegedy and Ryan Preece by 35 points. Szegedy finished fifth at Thompson and second at Stafford. Preece was fourth at Thompson and third at Stafford. Donny Lia was 10 points behind Szegedy and Preece. Rounding out the top five is Jimmy Blewett, seven points behind Lia. Sixth through tenth are Mike Stefanik, Ron Silk, Woody Pitkat, Bobby Grigas, III and Jamie Tomaino.
Despite the fact that the first two events were successful at drawing very good crowds at both tracks and good car counts the competitors and those who follow the Modified Tour Series were upset with the goings on, especially from NASCAR. First off, in a completely gutless move, the sanctioning body announced through the media and the mail that the season ending awards banquet would be moving to the Charlotte, NC area and competitors would be required to attend if they wanted to receive their point money. NASCAR had made this decision before the Thompson event. Why didn’t they announce it then? A very sneaky move to say the least! The main object was to avoid confrontations between the competitors and the NASCAR officials at the race. NASCAR fails to realize that most Whelen Modified Tour Series drivers, owners and pit crews are not full time racers like those in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. Most of them have full time jobs. NASCAR says they care about their competitors, in reality that’s a lot of crap!
The next sneaky tactic by NASCAR was the announcement by mail after the running of the Stafford event that the May 22 TSI Harley-Davidson Classic at Stafford would have a reduced distance of 100 laps instead of the previously posted 150 laps. They also announced that the purse had been reduced by 20%! NASCAR and the management of the Stafford Speedway knew this before the running of the Sizzler but used the mail again in order to avoid confrontations. Another gutless move!
It was estimated that the recent Spring Sizzler at Stafford drew 8,000 fans. General admission was $35. Run the numbers, that’s $280,000 taken in at the front gate. A conservative guess would have at least another $20,000 coming through the back gate. In the current economy it’s good to see that Stafford had a good day.
NASCAR continued to discourage competitors from running rival series including the New England based True Value Series and the New York based Race of Champions Modified Series. Slowly but surely NASCAR was pushing the Modified competitors away to alternate series’ and they can’t understand why. Competitors do have another alternative, they can just stay home!
The Friday night racing season opener at the Stafford Motor Speedway was cancelled last week. It could have been because of the economy or quite possibly a threat of Swine Flu. Needless to say, it rained on and off most of the day.
After three straight rainouts the Waterford Speedbowl looked to be on the upswing. Car counts had been a little light but the spectator count had been on the rise. Much of the credit had to go to the competitors and loyal fans who had beat the bushes and got the word out that there is in fact racing, good racing at the shoreline oval. Track management had not advertised but it seems that word of mouth has done the job. Front gate attendance at the shoreline oval took a step backwards Saturday. The SK Modifieds, the big draw, had the night off. Bruce Thomas Jr. returned to Victory Lane as he won the Late Model feature in strong fashion. Other winners from the night included Allen Coates in the NEATV Truck Series, Al Stone III in the Street Stocks, Phil Evans in the Mini Stocks, and Jason Palmer repeating in the Legends Cars feature. The stands were almost empty without the SK’s. Despite the fact that the SKs were off, the admission was still $14 for the grandstand. There were only 12 Late Models, 24 Legend’s,(light for that division), not a bad field of stockers and 4 cylinders and only 7 trucks.
In some sad news it was learned that former Modified driver Billy Schulz had passed away at the age of 73. Schulz, along with his brother Fred were competitors at the Norwood Arena for many years.
Kyle Busch passed Carl Edwards on the first lap of a restart with 22 laps to go and won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Friday night at Richmond International Raceway. Busch, who led four times in the Lipton Tea 250, made the move that counted in the third and fourth turns on the 229th trip around the 0.75-mile oval. Edwards led the previous 71 laps, with Busch seemingly the only other driver with a car to contend.
Tony Stewart was second, followed by Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman and Mark Martin. Burton and Martin both recovered from earlier accidents – Burton spun after contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Martin was involved in an accident with Martin Truex Jr. – for their strong finishes.
Ten years ago in 2014, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series headed to the Stafford Motor Speedway for the annual Spring Sizzler. Originally an open competition event and the brainchild of Dick Berggren, Bruce Cohen and Lew Boyd, the Sizzler had become one of the premier events for the NASCAR Modifieds.
Rain greeted competitors and fans at Stafford most of the day on Saturday. A little before 4:00pm the rain stopped and a weather window opened which allowed practice and qualifying for the Whelen Modifieds. The gray, wet day for the season opener at Stafford Motor Speedway will be a memorable one for Tommy Barrett, Jr. of Millis, MA who set fast time in qualifying to earn his first career NWMT 21 Means 21 pole award with a time of 18.221 second lap around the half mile oval. The 18 year old bested a field of 27 Modifieds including Woody Pitkat with a time of 18.262 who will line up on the outside bringing the field to green for the prestigious NWMT NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler 200. Rounding out the top five were Justin Bonsignore, Doug Coby and Ryan Preece.
Sunday morning dawned somewhat drismal at Stafford but it didn’t hold back the fans as they jammed the parking lot and filled the stands. Bobby Santos defended his 2013 Spring Sizzler win as he made it two for two as he won the 200 lap race. Santos started eighth and was never out of the top five all day. Pitting for fuel on lap101, Santos’ crew got him out in fourth spot. By lap 110 he was third and on lap 120 shot by Tommy Barrett for the lead which he maintained for the remaining 80 laps. Barrett slipped a bit but was still in contention until less than 15 laps to go when he and Ron Silk were sent to the rear on a restart as officials felt they had stopped to avoid a late race wreck.
Doug Coby ended up in the runner up spot and was somewhat upset over a lapped car that was blocking his progress on the final lap and ultimately cost him a possible shot for the win. Rowan Pennink finished third with Justin Bonsignore and Woody Pitkatrounding out the top five. Sixth thru tenth were Timmy Solomito, Ted Christopher, Donnie Lia, Matt Hirschman and Ron Silk. Barrett ended up 11th.
There was quite a bit of merit to Coby’s complaints about cars the were way off the pace and which should have been parked by NASCAR. T.J. Zacharias, the driver who stood in the way of Coby making a last ditch effort, was nine laps down at the end and should have used better sense. Melissa Fifield, who never sat in a Modified and was lapped for the first time at lap 13. NASCAR used poor judgment when they didn’t signal her to park the car. Granted, she has a right to be there but should have used better judgment and started her racing in a SK Lite, not an all out Modified. Five years have passed and she is still a turtle!
With two events in the books Justin Bonsignore with 86 points, led Coby and Woody Pitkat by two points. Timmy Solomito was fourth with Santos, fifth. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour goes on Spring Break until Friday, May 23 when the Stafford Motor Speedway would host the TSI Harley-Davidson 125.
In other action at Stafford on Sizzler weekend, Ryan Preece won the 40 lap SK Modified feature over Danny Cates and Rowan Pennink. Preece started 14th in the 28 car field. He worked his way up to fourth by lap 13. On a lap 14 restart Pennink went past Joey Cipriano for the lead with Preece following to second. After another caution, on lap 15, Preece went by Pennink for the lead and never looked back. Pennink, driver of the No. 99 SK Modified feature at the track, was disqualified from his third place finish in Sunday’s 40-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature.
According to a release from the track, Pennink, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., was penalized for violating rule 20E-12.3 Coil Over Shocks of the 2014 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified rulebook. Jay Stuart led every lap to win the 30-lap Late Model feature event, and Toby Wells was the winner of the 25-lap NorthEast Mini Stock Tour feature.
A packed house on a perfect spring Saturday night welcomed another season of Bowman Gray Stadium stock-car racing. Burt Myers, the defending Bowman Gray champion, started from the pole position, momentarily lost the lead to Tim Brown, got it back and then held off a final charge by Brown on the final lap to win the season-opening Hayes Jewelers 200.
Tim Brown jumped the lap 70 restart to get the lead but after about 30 hits on his rear bumper he let the faster Burt Myers back by on lap 88. Myers was sideways twice from Brown hits but he never spun or lost control. Brown settled for second with Jason Myers, third.
The event drew 28 cars and a over-flow crowd which filled the 17,000-seat stadium. Among those in the field was 63 year old Junior Miller, now in his 40th season, who ended up ninth in the final run down.
The Waterford Speedbowl cancelled its NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing program scheduled for Saturday, due to damp weather and light rain that was forecasted throughout the evening. In the SK Modified division only 35 points separated the top five. Defending champion Keith Rocco had a 16 point cushion over Ed Puleo. Craig Lutz sat in third spot with Tyler Chadwick, fourth. Rounding out the top five was Rob Janovic Jr. Rocco was also the point leader in the Late Model division as he held a 23 point edge over Bruce Thomas Jr.
Crews had been working day and night in order to bring the conditions of the grandstands up to state standards.
Joey Logano came out on top of a wild four car battle in the final nine laps to win Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Int’l Raceway. The final nine-lap dash saw Logano come from fourth on the restart to overtake Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski in an intense battle that left several drivers with hot tempers.
Kevin Harvick didn’t mind staying up late Friday night. Harvick dominated the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Int’l Raceway for his first Nationwide win of the year. Heavy rain throughout the evening caused the start of the 250-lap event to be postponed until after 10 p.m. It didn’t end until early Saturday morning, but Harvick, who starts fifth in Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 Sprint Cup race, made sure he left with the trophy. He led 202 laps in what was his seventh career Nationwide win at Richmond. Chase Elliott, Harvick’s JR Motorsports teammate, finished second.
Five years ago in 2019 , The Stafford Motor Speedway and NASCAR have shifted gears as the 48th edition of the NAPA Spring Sizzler® at Stafford Speedway was postponed because of impending rain last weekend and has been rescheduled for a one-day, May 10, event. The weekly divisions will run a features only event. The regular Stafford divisions were rescheduled to run their part of the program this past Saturday afternoon, weather permitting.
The weather cooperated somewhat and the 2019 season began. Healthy fields including SK Modifieds (30) plus SK Lites (32) were on hand. Opening Day winners were Keith Rocco in an SK Modified® photo finish, Michael Wray was declared the Late Model winner after Kevin Gambacorta was found with an illegal shock absorber and disqualified, Bryan Narducci in the SK Light feature, Jeremy Lavoie in the Limited Late Model feature, Michael Hopkins in the 30-lap RMSPCO.com Street Stock Triple Crown #1 feature, and Mike Teague in the Vintage All-Stars feature.
With 10 laps to go in the 40 lap SK Modified feature, Rocco was still out front with Michael Gervais right on his back bumper. The lead duo had pulled away some from Todd Owen in third who was now fending off challenges from Ronnie Williams with Joey Cipriano in fifth. The caution came out with 32 laps complete for a spin on the backstretch by David Arute.
Rocco took the lead on the restart and behind him it was a high speed pace lap with Owen and Gervais side by side for second and Cipriano and Williams side by side for fourth. Owen took second with Gervais falling back to third while Cipriano took fourth and Mike Christopher Jr got by Williams to move into fifth. The caution came back out with 36 laps complete for a spin in turns 3+4 by Membrino.
Rocco took the lead back under green with Gervais taking second. Christopher got by Owen to take third place on lap-38 with Cipriano in fifth. Arute and Eric Berndt took a spin into the frontstretch infield to bring the caution back out with 38 laps complete.
Rocco held the lead on the restart with Gervais trying his hardest to stay with him in the outside groove. Coming off turn 4 to the checkered flag Gervais and Christopher split Rocco who was running on fumes as he was out of gas and nearly made a pass for the win but Rocco won the race by a nose. Gervais edged out Christopher for second with Cipriano and Owen rounding out the top-5.
Racing fans who waited roughly seven hours for the finish of the SK Modified race Saturday afternoon most certainly got their money’s worth. The race was one filled with carnage, with seven yellow flags in total and a wreck in turn three of the final lap. Only 17 of the 27 cars finished on the lead lap, and eight drivers failed to reach the halfway mark.
The win also took Rocco to a new career overall total of 261 wins which include 150 victories at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, 60 at Thompson and 51 at Stafford Speedway.
In the SK Lites at Stafford Bryan Narducci led Teddy Hodgdon to the checkered flag to win the first race of the season. Noah Korner edged out Alexander Pearl at the line for third with Mark Bakaj rounding out the top-5.
.Racing at the Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina fell victim to rain.
Riverhead Raceway on eastern Long Island came alive for the 2019 season this past weekend. Kyle Soper in the Wayne Anderson mount took the 50 lap NASCAR Modified win. Soper of Manorville, LI, had to come from the back of the field not once but twice before he could lay claim to his 10th career win Saturday night on a chilly and damp evening. Track owners Eddie & Connie Partridge and Tom Gatz who suffered a track record eight rain outs in 2018 ignored rain that was as close as a mile away from the track and were able to complete the seven division opener.
Chris Young perhaps drove the best race of his budding NASCAR Modified career when he raced his way into second on lap 43. Chris flying the red Riverhead Building Supply colors made famous by his later father was on the march when the race concluded settling for runner-up money. Dylan Slepian also impressed in his Eastport feeds Chevy leading 40 laps of the race before claiming third place honors. John Fortin Sr. and John Beatty Jr. rounded out the top five.
John Spence advises that due to weather delaying the installation of new bleachers and much needed work in the parking area and the track’s safety wall after last weekends heavy rainfall, this Saturday’s grand re-opening and appearance by the Valenti Modified Racing Series at Monadnock Speedway has been cancelled. The track opener is now scheduled for May 25 and will not include the VMRS. At this time the series is scheduled to compete a week later at Monadnock on June 8. The next event on the Valenti Modified Racing Series schedule is May 18, & 19 at Lee USA Speedway.
In a somewhat related matter, the Tri-Track Modified Series (TTOMS) recently announced a change to the opening event of the 2019 season. While remaining over the holiday weekend, the second annual Claremont 100, originally scheduled for Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, will now be run on Sunday, May 26 at Claremont Speedway in Claremont, NH.
“Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have had to move opening day for the Series,” said Managing Director Wayne Darling. “We expect the same great racing action from a strong and competitive field of cars.” The purse for the Claremont 100 is over $50,000 with $7,000 to win, $1,200 to start and at least $500 to non-qualifiers. The 100-lap main event for the ground-pounding Modifieds will also feature round one of the Ron Bouchard’s Auto Stores Challenge Cup. The rain date for the event will be Memorial Day, Monday, May 27.
In NASCAR Monster Cup racing at Dover Deleware, Martin Truex and crew chief Cole Pearn didn’t let rain, an inspection failure that dumped the car to the rear or even a maligned race package affect their push toward the finish. Truex, who is from Mayetta, New Jersey, has long considered Dover his home track, led 132 laps and dominated runner-up Alex Bowman by a breezy 9.5 seconds to win at Dover for the first time since 2016. He had no complains about the new high drag, high downforce, 750 horsepower package that led to track-record speeds posted in qualifying. Kyle Busch, the 2015 NASCAR champion, peppered his comments on the package with profanity and said his complaints to NASCAR would fall on deaf ears.
Ryan Preece finished 28th.
Last year, 2023, Unfavorable weather forced Stafford Speedway officials to postpone the 51st NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler® to Friday, May 12th and Saturday, May 13th. The updated schedule moves the NAPA Auto Parts Duel and American Canadian Tour 75 to an evening event Friday, May 12th with feature racing schedule for 6:45pm. The 51st NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler® will now be held Saturday, May 13th with feature racing scheduled for 3:15pm. All tickets are good for the rescheduled dates.
“We’ll have to wait a few more weeks to kick-off the 2023 season,” noted Stafford CEO Mark Arute. “With so many teams and fans traveling for the NAPA Spring Sizzler® we have decided to make the call a bit earlier than usual. We took a look at the conflicts and decided that May 12th and 13th is the best option for teams and fans. We’ll come back in two weeks and celebrate the 51st running of the NAPA Spring Sizzler®.”
Due to the condensed Friday May 12th evening schedule, Street Stocks and Limited Late Models will be pre-qualified for their feature and Vintage All-Stars have been moved to the NAPA Fall Final. Rain date for the rescheduled event is tentatively set for May 14th.
There were 135 cars on hand to test and tune, including 23 Open Mods, 26 SK Lights and 16 SK Modifieds. Those in hand got their first look at the Soft Walls installed in turns one and two, the all-new Beer Garden which overlooks the track and the new installation of grandstands.
With the Stafford Sizzler on hold until May 12-13 action switches to the Monadnock Speedway where the Whelen Modified Tour makes its next stop, “The Dual at the Dog”
The Bowman Gray Stadium avoided the weekend’s foul weather and for the second week in a row played to a full house. Twin 25’s for the Modifieds were on tap. Chris Fleming won the opener with Tim Brown, second and Bert Myers, third. In the night cap. Daniel Beasom took the win over Brandon Ward and Bert Myers. The Mods go 100 laps at Bowman Gray this week
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.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified tour returns to action as the Men that live by the Grace of God and 600 horsepower travel up-country on Saturday May6 to the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH.
In NASCAR Cup action at Dover in Deleware Sunday’s event fell victim to rain and was run on Monday. Martin Truex Jr. made sure this NASCAR weekend at Dover Motor Speedway would be one to bookmark in the family keepsake album. Truex held off Ross Chastain in a lengthy duel in the final stage, then survived a late restart racing side by side with Ryan Blaney to win the Würth 400 NASCAR Cup Series race on a beautiful May Day at the Monster Mile.
It was the fourth Dover win for Truex, snapping a 54-race winless streak. He is the 10th driver to win four or more Cup Series races at the Monster Mile.The win also completed a Truex Dover sweep as his brother Ryan won the A-GAME 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday. Ryan Preece finished 17th.
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).
