RPW Exclusive: The Champ Trail; NASCAR Mods At Seekonk, Stafford’s Weekly Action & More…

Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour visited the Seekonk Speedway on Saturday night.

It was a perfect night for racing at the Massachusetts 1/3 mile oval with 23 cars on hand for the 150 lap contest.

Matt Hirschman was the fastest qualifier touring the oval in 11.945 seconds. Second fastest at 11.961 was Austin Beers. The first eight redrew for starting spots. Hirschman drew eighth spot and Austin Beers drew the pole. At the drop of the green Beers jumped out into the lead with Matt Swanson and Jake Johnson in tow. Johnson had the heat turned up as he took over the second spot on lap 28. Point leader Ron Silk started 11th and by lap 58 had moved into 8th spot. At the half way mark, lap 75, Beers continued to lead. Johnson was second followed by Justin Bonsignore, Swanson and Jacob Lutz. By lap 66 Hirschman had displaced Lutz and moved into fourth spot. Hirschman could almost smell the victory as he continued his march to the front, passing Bonsignore for third on lap 98 and by Johnson on lap 117. On lap 120 the first and only caution flew for Tyler Catalano who spun.

Following the restart it was neighbor against neighbor as they both live on the same street in Pennsylvania. The pair ran wheel to wheel until Beers faltered after the pair banged wheels.on lap 130. In a non-related incident, Johnson who was running third spun and allowed Silk to move into the third spot. At the finish it was Hirschman followed by Beers, Silk, Justin Bonsignore and Stephen Kopcik. Sixth thru tenth included Jacob Lutz, Justin Bonsignore, Patrick Emerling, Jake Johnson and Matt Swanson.. The next stop for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be the series’ most prestigious venue, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, for the running of the Mohegan Sun 100 on June 22 at 6:40 p.m. ET. FloRacing will provide live flag-to-flag coverage.

Stafford Speedway hosted AZ Roofing Kids Night on Friday, May 31st, the first of three kids nights scheduled for the 2024 season. It was a night of first-time 2024 winners with Marcello Rufrano taking the SK Modified® feature, Paul Varricchio, Jr. the Late Model feature, Nickolas Hovey the SK Light feature, Kyle Theriault the Limited Late Model feature, and Tyler Trott the Street Stock feature. There were two kids big wheel races with Joseph Davenport and Max Ayers the winners. The car count continues to be very healthy. There were 27 SK Modifieds, 30 SK lites, plus a good assortment of Street Stocks, Late Models and Limited Late Models.

Cory DiMatteo had a string of three in a row in the SK Modifieds but found himself starting deep, 18th, in the SK Modified field. After numerous restarts it came down to a near three wide finish with Marcello Rufrano taking the win. Anthony Flannery took second by a nose over Andrew Molleur in third with Michael Gervais nipping Todd Owen at the line for fourth. Owen rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth included Dylan Kopec, George Bessette Jr, Steven Chapman, Mike Christopher Jr and Cory DiMatteo.

In the SK Lite 20 lapper, Nick Hovey scored a convincing win over Tyler Chapman and Sami Anderson. Women competitors have made their presence known as they consistently run to win rather than just start and run in the rear week after week.

At the New London-Waterford Speedbowl it’s amazing on how well they do without any PR or advertising. Jon Puleo took the SK Modified feature over Kyle James, Andrew Molleur, Timmy Jordan and Todd Owen.

Down in North Carolina at the Bowman Gray Stadium New Jersey native Danny Bohn held off Bert Myers to take the victory in a 100 lap Modified event. Bohn started seventh. Chris Fleming finished third with Jason Myers, fourth.as a crowd of over 10,000 looked on.

In NASCAR Modified action at the Riverhead Raceway it was JB Fortin over JR Bertuccio and Chris Young.

Riverhead Raceway owners Connie Partridge and Tom Gatz announced on Friday three 2024 inductees who’ll be enshrined on the Cromarty Wall of Champions Saturday August 17th during an on-track ceremony. The 2024 inductees will be unique as it’s the first time since inception none of the three are being enshrined for driving or owning race cars. “Big” Bob O’Rourke longtime NASCAR chief steward and race director, Ray Bouchard, award winning crew chief and Bob Finan, former announcer and public relations director will be inducted prior to the Baldwin, Evans & Jarzombek 77 race program.

On a sad note, Carl “Bugsy” Stevens passed away on Monday, May 20. RIP Champ! We lost a remarkable individual to say the least. Bugs was highly respected by his peers and loved by his thousands of fans.

A funeral service was conducted with a huge crowd of family and friends paying tribute. As a final tribute he was taken one last lap around the Seekonk Speedway just prior to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event held there on Saturday night. Even in death. The former champion drew thousands of fans to send him off as his remains circled the track in one of Len Boehler’s Modifieds driven by David Berghman.

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).