RPW Exclusive: Looking Back A Bit: First Week Of June

Column By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1949, Ed Otto promoted races with a NASCAR sanction at the Buffalo Civic Center in Buffalo, NY. It was the official start of stock car racing in western, New York. Bobby Sund won the inaugural 10 lap feature. Don Hall took the A-main at Seekonk.

Seventy years ago in 1954, Joe McNulty and Moe Gherzi were the Wednesday and Saturday night Sportsman winners at the New London Waterford Speedbowl. Tom VanEpps went two for two as he won non-Ford features on both nights. George Smaldone took top honors at Seekonk.

Sixty five years ago in 1959 Don Rounds, who at one time raced on the dirt at the Kingston Fairgrounds in Rhode Island, was the Friday night winner on the dirt at the Stafford Springs Speedway. Rain washed out the New London Waterford Speedbowl for the second week in a row. It also rained at Seekonk. Up in New York State Bill Rafter scored his third win of the year at the Buffalo Civic Stadium. Bud Johnson won a 50 lapper at Lancaster over Cam Gagliardi.

Sixty years ago in 1964 Rene Charland ended Bill Wimble’s win streak on the dirt at Stafford as he took the Friday night victory over Don Wayman and George Janoski. Ted Stack made it two in a row at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl but had to wait a week to complete the feature because of a curfew. Joe Rosenfield made it two in a row at Seekonk as he won a 50 lapper.

Fifty five years ago in 1969, Charlie Jarzombek returned to Stafford but this time Bugsy Stevens was ready for him as the defending National Champion was not about to let an outsider get the best of him. When the checker dropped at 30 laps, Stevens had defended his home turf and Jarzombek had to settle for second. Bobby Santos finished third and was followed by Holly Wilder and Tom Sutcliff. At Albany-Saratoga, Lou Lazzaro made it two in a row and three out of four at the upstate N.Y. oval. Guy Chartrand finished second and was followed by Rene Charland and Bernie Miller. Lazzaro repeated at Fonda on Saturday running his string to four in a row at the place they called the track of champions. Kenny Shoemaker, in the Bobby Judkins 2x finished second with Ken Platt, third. At Norwood, Eddie Flemke in the Dave Welch-Greg Mills 79 took the win over Johnny Thompson, Billy Schulz and Pete Hamilton. Bob Potter was the Modified winner at the Waterford Speedbowl. Les Fletcher was the Daredevil winner. Les Andrews won at Seekonk. Thompson ran their 200 on Sunday. Ray Hendrick was scheduled to drive the Tant/Mitchell 11 but became fogbound at the Newark Airport. Ralph”Hop”Harrington was given the ride and ride he did as he won the event going away. Bugsy Stevens finished second with Fred DeSarro, third. Racing at Utica-Rome on Sunday night was rained out.

Fifty years ago in 1974, Charlie Jarzombek went three for three as he won twin events at Freeport on Friday night and a 100 lapper on Saturday night at Islip. Jarzombek had his work cut out for him as invaders Richie Evans and Jerry Cook were on hand. Evans could do no better than second and Cook ended up fourth behind Fred Harbach. It was still a good weekend for Evans as he won at Utica-Rome on Friday over Rene Charland and Ed Pieniezak and won again on Sunday at Fulton over Mike Loescher and Geoff Bodine. At Stafford on Saturday night, Ronnie Bouchard made it two in a row as he beat out Bugsy Stevens and Don Flynn. Also on Saturday, George Kent and Gramme Bolia shared victory lane at Shangri-La and at Waterford Lou Herman took his only Modified win. George Summers scored his third A-main of the year. At Thompson on Sunday, Eddie Flemke in the John Steiger 7 took the win over Bob Santos, Ollie Silva and Mario”Fats”Caruso. In other weekend action, Punky Caron and Ronnie Bouchard shared victories at Monadnock on Friday.

Forty five years ago in 1979, Richie Evans started the weekend at New Egypt on Wednesday with a win over Charlie Jarzombek and Jerry Cook. Evans recorded his 198th career win by taking the Friday night 30 lapper at Stafford. Ronnie Bouchard was testing tires during the day and lost the engine in the Bob Johnson 17.Don Flynn offered him his no.25 and was not disappointed as he finished second. Finishing third was Steady Eddie Flemke. Saturday at Riverside Evans made it 199 as he beat out Jerry Cook and Ron Wycoff. At Seekonk, Brian Ross took the win over Ray Lee and Joe Arcana. Islip ran a 75 lapper and it was Wayne Anderson in for the win over Don Howe and George Brunnhoelzl Jr. Evans made it a hat trick as he went four for four and recorded his 200th win as he won at Monadnock on Sunday. Reggie Ruggerio finished second with Jerry Cook, third. Other weekend winners were George Kent at Shangri-La, John Falconi Jr. at Westboro, Rick Donnelly at Waterford, George Savory at Thompson, Punky Caron at Claremont and Maynard Troyer at Lancaster.

Forty years ago in 1984, Brett Bodine won at Stafford over Charlie Jarzombek. Corky Cookman, who had been driving for Art Barry, finished last and was fired from the ride. Jerry Pearl was the SK Modified winner. At Riverside, Kenny Bouchard beat out Reggie Ruggerio and in twin events at Waterford, veterans Bob Potter and Glynn Shafer took victories. George Kent had a two-fer as he won both at Spencer and at Shangri-La. At Riverhead it was Tom Baldwin over Fred Harbach and at Islip, races were cancelled due to curfew. John Blewett Jr. won at New Egypt and Tony Siscone was victorious at Wall. In Winston Cup action at Pocono Raceway, David Pearson took the pole but it was Cale Yarborough taking the win.

Thirty five years ago in 1989, rain washed out Stafford. At Waterford John Anderson beat Harry Rice and at Riverside it was Tom Bolles over Rick Summers. The racing community was saddened to learn that Tom Druar passed away after suffering injuries at Lancaster. At Riverhead, Bob Park won out over Dan Jivenelli and at Monadnock on Sunday in a mod tour event Reggie Ruggerio won out over Jeff Fuller and Jamie Tomaino.

Thirty years ago in 1994, Mike Christopher was the Friday night winner at Stafford. Mike Paquette finished a strong second and was followed by Steve Chowanski and Bob Potter. The Featherlite Modified Tour Series was at Lee N.H. Reggie Ruggiero was the early leader until losing an engine on lap 31.From there on it was the Fuller brothers fighting for the lead when they came together and wrecked. Jamie Tomaino was the eventual winner and was followed by Jan Leaty, Charlie Pasteryak, Steve Park and Tony Ferrenti. At Waterford, Bob Potter driving for the Bunnell Bros. took the win over Chris Jones and Mike Gada. Chris Kopec held off Reggie Ruggiero and Steve Park at Riverside and at Riverhead, Chris Young beat out Tom Tillotson for the win. In Winston Cup action at Pocono, Rusty Wallace was both the pole sitter and the winner while at Myrtle Beach; Elton Sawyer was the Busch GN winner.

Twenty five years ago, in 1999, Lloyd Agor was declared the Friday night winner at Stafford after apparent winner Mike Christopher was disqualified for having illegal mufflers, Jeff Malave ended up second. The Featherlite modifieds were at Riverhead for a 200 lapper, John Blewett III took the win after unwittingly parking Tony Hirschman who had checked up to avoid a wreck. Tim Connolly finished second with Dan Avery, Rick Fuller and Tony Ferrenti following. Billy Sharp beat out Dennis Gada at Waterford and Bob Polverari scored his 36th career win at Riverside. Kenny Tremont made it eight in a row at Lebanon Valley. In Winston Cup action at Michigan, Dale Jarrett dominated the event, which went pole to pole, caution free. Jarrett lapped 38 of the 43 starters. Dale Earnhardt was the Busch South winner at South Boston and Brad Leighton won the Busch North event at Beech Ridge.

Twenty years ago in 2004 the Stafford management called a mid-week meeting with its SK Modified competitors with the hope of eliminating some of the destruction of equipment on Friday nights. Less than 25 competitors showed up as the Stafford management announced that they were eliminating the use of mirrors, radios and changing tire compounds. They would also paint a yellow line on the aprons in the turns. Anyone going below the line would receive a severe penalty. In Thursday night action at the Thompson Speedway Ted Christopher scored the Sunoco SK Modified win over Jeff Malave and Bert Marvin. Christopher carried his winning ways over to Stafford on Friday night as he beat out Chuck Docherty and James Civali for the win. Tommy Fox took the SK Modified win at Waterford on Saturday night over Glen Billings and Don Fowler while at Riverhead it was Mike Andrews over John Fortin. Steven Reed got the best of John Blewett III at Wall Stadium. The NASCAR Featherlite Modifieds were at the Lake Erie Speedway. The event carried a purse of $77,753 and drew 33 cars. Tony Hirschman, who started in second spot, passed pole sitter Rob Summers on lap 14 and went on to score a victory in the 150 lap event. Todd Szegedy finished second and was followed by Jerry Marquis, Rick Fuller, Ed Flemke Jr and Summers. In other weekend action Jason Lefler won a Busch Series event at Nashville and Andy Santerre was the Busch North Series winner at Seekonk.

Fifteen years ago in 2009, The Bristol Motor Speedway hosted another Modified Test session on Monday, June 8th. The session wasn’t without a few dramatic moments, but nothing major transpired. Teams got adjusted to the super-fast high banks and got their cars more comfortable as the day went on. Ryan Preece, cut a right rear tire and spun off of turn-four. The young driver made a nice save and kept it off the wall. Also keeping it off the wall after a spin was Woody Pitkat who went on a long slide down nearly the entire length of the backstretch. Mike Stefanik was also a slider but suffered no damage. Chris Pasteryak wasn’t quite so lucky as he suffered slight rear body damage when he slid into the wall. Among the fastest was Jimmy Blewett in the Eddie Partridge TS Haulers entry.

Among the missing were Ted Christopher, Don Lia and LW Miller. Miller is currently on the mend from a serious accident that occurred in his race shop. Miller had a spring loaded shock absorber explode as he was removing it from his car that had been wrecked at the recent Franklin County event. According to reports Miller receive a glancing blow from the shock spring that shot up 18 feet, hitting and denting the roof of his race shop. The facial impact loosened up eight teeth. He ended up losing two after having dental and plastic surgery. Had it been a direct hit, Miller could have suffered devastating or even fatal injuries.

In Thursday Night Thunder action at the Thompson Speedway Norm Wrenn brought home the checkers in the Super Late Model race. Leadfoot Larry Barnett made it two in a row as he won the Limited Sportsman feature just days after undergoing arthroscopy surgery. Ten laps into the 50-Lap Late Model race, Mother Nature took over, the rain started and the race program was brought to a halt.

The Stafford Motor Speedway was the scene of an epic battle for supremacy between Keith Rocco and Ted Christopher. The duo put on a duel for the ages in the extra distance 100 lap SK Modified event, with Rocco coming out as the winner for the second time this year. Ryan Posocco took his second victory of the season in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Brit Andersen won his second race of 2009 in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Kevin Gambacorta took his second consecutive victory of the year in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Cliff Saunders picked up his first career victory in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.

The 36th Annual Coors Light SK Modified® 100 took the green with Brad Hietala, Tom Bolles, and Richie Pallai, Jr. at the front of the field. Hietala and Bolles ran side by side for several laps before Hietala got clear to the lead. Pallai made a power move by Bolles on a lap-5 restart and they dueled for the race lead. A caution with 26 laps complete slowed the action and set up a restart. On the restart, Hietala and Pallai made contact, sending Pallai towards the wall where he collected Bolles and brought the caution back out. This put Matt Gallo and Jeff Malave on the front row with Matt Gallo and Doug Coby behind them. Rocco quickly took the race lead from Gallo, but Pallai hit head on into the turn 1 wall to bring the caution back out one lap after the restart.

Rocco held the lead on the restart, with Ted Christopher, who was involved in an early race spin with Woody Pitkat on lap-4, moving into second. Coby held third, with Gallo and Eric Berndt making up the top-5. Rocco held the lead until lap-38, when Christopher moved to the front. Coby continued to run in third place, with Berndt and Malave making up the remainder of the top-5.

With the exception of a caution period with 52 laps complete for a spin by Woody Pitkat, the top-5 cars ran in line until lap-65, which is when the race turned into a great duel between Christopher and Rocco. On lap-65 Rocco moved by Christopher to take the lead only to have Christopher go with a crossover move to get back to the front. But the caution came out before lap-66 could be completed, which put Rocco on the point for the restart.

From lap-66 to lap-80, Christopher and Rocco exchanged the race lead five times with spectacular, breathtaking passing. On lap-80, Rocco moved by Christopher for the lead, but Christopher again used the crossover move to his advantage to retake the lead. Christopher was able to stay out front until lap-85, when Rocco went back by. Rocco pulled Christopher by several car lengths and he maintained that lead over the final 15 laps to take his second feature victory of the 2009 season. Christopher finished second, with Coby, Malave, and Jimmy Blewett rounding out the top-5.

The Waterford Speedbowl completed three feature events before the rain came, halting the remainder of the race program just 28 laps into the Nutmeg State 100 lap ACT Late Model Tour event. Jason Palmer won his ninth consecutive Legends Car event, Al Stone III checkered the Street Stock feature and Danny Field was the winner of the Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock race. The scheduled 35-lap SK Modified feature event and remainder of the Nutmeg State 100 were postponed.

The True Value Modified Series beat the impending rain on Saturday night at the Seekonk Speedway. The 100 lapper, which drew 28 Modifieds, saw Jon McKennedy come from an 18th starting spot to take the lead from Vinnie Annarummo on lap 85 and go on to score the win. Dwight Jarvis, who started 19th, finished second with former NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series driver Jimmy Kuhn, third. Annarummo and David Berghman rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Bob Grigass, Ed Dachenhausen, Todd Annarummo, Chris Pasteryak and Steve Masse.

In some sad news George Kent’s brother and J.R.’s uncle Ron passed away on June 8 from cancer. He was crew chief on many of George’s Modified victories with many remembering the Plaza Mobil sponsorship on the rides when it was a yellow #26 Modified.

The Associated Press reported that General Motors was planning to cut back on its support of NASCAR teams in all of the sanctioning body’s professional series. Chevy spokesman Terry Rhadigan says GM, which is reorganizing through bankruptcy, is discussing what he described as incremental cutbacks in support. He said cuts will be made soon and that the discussions are “indeed NASCAR-wide.” Rhadigan would not say if one series would be affected more than others, nor would he say the size of the cuts or how much GM spends on NASCAR. The automaker, through its Chevy brand, provides cash and other support to teams including engines and parts.

In NASCAR Nationwide Series racing, Joey Logano was flawless after the restart, passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch with 10 laps to go and holding on to win the Meijer 300 at the Kentucky Speedway for the second consecutive year. In Sprint Cup racing at Michigan, Mark Martin saved just enough gas to hang on for his third victory of the season and the 38th of his Cup career.

Ten years ago in 2014, The Valenti Modified Racing Series, 34 cars strong, paid a visit to the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Thursday night. Tommy Barrett used an exciting last lap bonsai move under Todd Szegedy to take the win in the Valenti Modified Racing Series 75-lap feature. Winners in NASCAR Whelen All American Series action included a sweep by Ryan Preece in the Sunoco Modified division, Glenn Boss in the Late Models, Shawn Monahan in the Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman division, and Chad Baxter in the Monster Mini Stocks. Scott Quinn checkered the Vintage Outlaw feature event.

Barrett, who is getting a reputation as a villain, played his predictable game as he faded from his outside pole starting spot leaving Todd Szegedy and Ted Christopher to slug it out and wear out their tires. Szegedy and Christopher ran nose to tail and at one point had a half lap lead on the field. By lap 55, Keith Rocco was within a car length of Christopher.

A caution flew at lap 66 after Eric Goodale hit the turn one wall set the stage for the fireworks to come. Szegedy held off Christopher on the restart as Rocco moved into second place and relegated Christopher back to the fourth spot. Barrett, with an unbelievable burst of power, came out of nowhere to move into the third position. On lap 68 Barrett appeared to have been shot out of a cannon as he blew Rocco away and set his sight on the leader. Shortly after being passed it appeared that Rocco checked up a bit and was tagged by Christopher, sending him into the backstretch wall

On the restart, Szegedy drove out front once again with Barrett on his bumper. Rowan Pennink passed Christopher for third. Szegedy began to pull away but Barrett glued himself to Szegedy’s rear bumper. Shortly after Szegedy was given the white flag Barrett, in a last ditch bonsai move, dove low and hard into turn one. In the flash of an eye Barrett rode Szegedy high and came close to being planted in the concrete wall. Barrett went on to take the win. Szegedy recovered to finish sixth. Rowan Pennink ended up second with Christopher, third. Richard Savary and Dave Etheridge rounded out the top five.

Barrett is bringing life and excitement back into Modified racing similar to the way Geoff Bodine did it in the mid and late 70’s. Barrett’s style of racing brings fans to the races. Some come to see him win and some come to see him get wrecked. Hopefully no one will get hurt in the intrim.

The Sunoco Modified division kicked off their night with the remaining 17 laps of a feature held over from May 15 with Ryan Preece in victory lane. Preece held off Keith Rocco on a late-race restart for the win. Danny Cates, Todd Ceravolo and Woody Pitkat rounded out the top five.

In the regularly scheduled 30-lap Sunoco Modified feature, Preece once again proved to be the man to beat as he held off Pitkat on a late-race restart for his second straight win. Rocco finished third and was followed by Cates and Kerry Malone.

The Stafford Motor Speedway fell victim to violent thunder storms for the fourth week in a row. The Whelen Modified Tour Series, rained out twice, will try again at Stafford this week.

In a prepared statement the Waterford Speedbowl management announced the creation of a new position, penalties following Saturday, May 24th’s racing program, and the departure of one member of their staff. As a result of post race inspections following the May 24th race program, SK Modified® division competitors Craig Lutz and Keith Rocco were each fined $500.00 for failure to abide by rule 2.11.5 D of the Speedbowl rulebook. The rule requires the use of wheel tethers on the front wheels of SK Modified® cars. Also announced was the departure of long time SK Modified® division tech inspector Everett Marvin who failed to conduct a pre-race inspection of the cars that had had major work done following destructive wrecks at the shoreline oval. To give Rocco and Lutz the benefit of the doubt, chances are they honestly forgot to re-install the wheel tethers.

As a result, a new position of Race Vehicle Safety Coordinator has been created. The sole responsibility of the newly created position will be overseeing that all cars participating in the Speedbowl’s track race divisions are compliant with track mandated safety regulations.

Lutz and Rocco paid their fines and got somewhat of a redemption as they finished one-two in Saturday night’s SK Modified feature. Lutz, who travels from Long Island every week, spent the opening half of the race trying to find a way around Diego Monahan. Lutz fell to third place for a lap when Ted Christopher inched ahead of him, however slight contact between Monahan and Christopher on lap-16 sent Monahan spinning out of turn two, drawing the yellow flag. Christopher was placed to the rear of the field during the caution period, handing the lead to Lutz.

The toughest part of the race for Lutz was holding back Keith Rocco the rest of the way. Lutz held on during an initial assault by Rocco, then got a brief breather before Rocco raced to his outside over the final four laps. The two raced inches apart and even shared some contact during the final laps. Lutz put forth a determined effort to keep Rocco’s final charge at bay, able to pull ahead out of the final corner to claim the checkered flag. Rocco was forced to settle for second and Tyler Chadwick ran among the front runners all race to finish third. Rob Janovic Jr and Shawn Thibeault rounded out the top five. Christopher recovered from his penalty to finish sixth.

Other NASCAR Whelen All-American Series wins went to Ken Cassidy Jr. who was back in the winner’s circle during an extra-distance Mini Stock feature and Jason Palmer recorded his first Valenti Auto Mall Late Model win of the season. The Northeast Mini Stock Tour race was won by Toby Wells and Robin Berghman picked up the victory in the visiting New England Pro Four Modified race. Jordan Hadley won the X-Car feature.

At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, Howie Brode swept the Twin 30 feature events for his 2nd and 3rd wins of the young season leaving him just two points back of point leader Ryan Preece 135 to 133. The two wins put Brode at 18 career victories.

In Modified racing in the Southland, two nights of racing at the Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina were on tap. Jason Myers won a race without leading a green-flag lap. Myers took the lead after front runners Lee Jeffreys and Tommy Neal wrecked. During the clean up the rains came and Myers was declared the winner when the race was called. Burt Myers was the winner on Saturday night after he dumped Junior Miller on the final lap. Miller became incensed and chased Myers with his car before being subdued by police. The win stood. Myers sent Junior Miller spinning in the final turn of the final lap of a wreck-filled 100-lap Modified race and went on to notch his 60th career victory at Bowman Gray. Myers, Bowman Gray’s defending champion and current points leader, completed a worst-to-first recovery. He started from the rear of the 23-car field as result of a draw.

Miller, Bowman Gray’s all-time leader in feature-race victories, had ended a five-year winless drought just a week earlier. He was a turn away from winning again when he got a shot from behind from Myers and went spinning. Myers gathered his partially-sideways car and made it to the checkered flag. Lee Jeffreys wound up second and Kyle Ebersole third. An enraged Miller sped after Myers and rammed his car into Myers’ car.

In NASCAR Sprint Cup action, Jimmie Johnson raced his way to another routine romp at Dover International Speedway. Johnson was the class of the field in a race red-flagged for 22 minutes because of a pothole in the concrete track. Johnson led 272 of 400 laps, and won consecutive races for the 13th time. The six-time Cup champion swept Dover in 2002 and 2009 and won races in 2005, 2010, 2012 and 2013. Brad Keselowski was second, followed by Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin.

Five years ago in 2019, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series headed to the Thompson Motorsports Park Speedway on Wednesday, June 5. Less than 24 hours prior to the event NASCAR and the speedway announced that the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race scheduled for Saturday, June 15 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park had been cancelled and will not be replaced. The June 15 event at Thompson would go on with the American-Canadian Tour being the featured division along with Thompson’s regular divisions.

There were 31 Modifieds on hand for the Thompson 125 on hand. Because of the fact that bad weather was moving in the Whelen Modified event was moved up to the third spot on the night’s feature event schedule.

Justin Bonsignore became the first driver to win five consecutive NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in April, and on Wednesday, he increased that number by one. Bonsignore scored his sixth straight win at the historic Connecticut oval, pulling away from the field after passing Jon McKennedy on a restart on lap 87 and never looking back. It was the 22nd career win for the Holtsville, New York, native and his second of the season. The victory was his 11th at Thompson, a number that leads all active drivers.

Doug Coby, who won his second consecutive Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award in qualifying, led the opening 13 laps, fought a tight condition early that dropped him to the bottom of the top 10. But after a quick pit stop by his Mayhew Tools team, Coby mounted a charge up to second at the finish.

Craig Lutz, who led a race-high 73 laps, finished third, Lutz turned in an outstanding performance. Former NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion Burt Myers was fourth, driving for the injured Dave Sapienza, while Ron Silk rounded out the top five. Eric Goodale was sixth, followed by Matt Swanson, Sam Rameau, Max Zachem and Woody Pitkat.

Twenty six of the original 31 starters were running at the finish. Among those who failed to finish were Anthony Nocella and Patrick Emerling who crashed in turn one on lap 98, Melissa Fifield who once again was going to slow parked it after completing 87 laps, Jimmy Blewett dropped out on lap 32 with ignition problems and Joey Mucciacciaro dropped out on lap 4 with an oil leak.

Once again Racefans.tv did an outstanding job of providing coverage and ample exposure to the track and competitors sponsors.

The Sunoco (SK type) modifieds provided a pleasant surprise in the form of Max Mclaughlin. Ryan Preece stole the show with a vintage run from 8th spot. Preece passed McLaughlin with four laps to go and went on to take the win. McLaughlin, son of former NASCAR Modified Champion Mike McLaughlin had never laid eyes on the Thompson track. Starting ninth in a Keith Rocco owned car, McLaughlin ran the track like he had been racing there for years. McLaughlin took the lead on lap 13 after a slick move and held off Preece until the closing moments. McLaughlin held on for second with Rocco, third. Troy Talman and Woody Pitkat rounded out the top five.

The SK Light© Modifieds closed out the night with Bryan Narducci looking to continue his perfect win record at Thompson seeking a seventh victory in his seventh start in the division. Narducci worked his way through traffic to the top five when a significant wreck eleven laps into the 20-lap feature brought out the red flag for track cleanup. Narducci found himself trapped in third place after the restart allowing Steven Chapman to pull away. Narducci saved the best till last and was able to move to second with four laps to go and on the final turn of the final lap Narducci drove it in deep, pushing Chapman up the track and took the win continuing his perfect run in the SK Light© Modifieds. Narducci is expected to compete in a tour type modified at Stafford next week.

Other Wednesday night winners at Thompson were Scott Michalski in the Mini Stocks, William Wall in the Late Models and Brent Gleason in the Limited Sportsman.

At the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night, It was a banner night for Late Model driver Kevin Gambacorta as he celebrated his 11th wedding anniversary in style by winning the 30-lap Late Model feature and Gambacorta’s son Kolton won the Kids Big Wheel race that was held on the front stretch as part of Kids Night. Other winners were Eric Berndt in the SK Modified® feature, Alexander Pearl in the SK Light feature, Gary Patnode was a first time career winner in the Limited Late Model feature, and Zack Robinson won the Street Stock feature.

In the SK Modified 40 lapper, Keith Rocco got by early leader Eric Berndt for the lead on lap-23 but his lead didn’t last long as Berndt retook the lead from Rocco on lap-25. Troy Talman was running in third with Cory DiMatteo fourth and Glen Reen was fifth with Todd Owen and Ronnie Williams right behind him in sixth and seventh place. With 10 laps to go, Rocco was still giving chase to Berndt for the lead with Talman, DiMatteo, Reen, Owen, and Williams still making up the top-7. Rocco couldn’t get close enough to Berndt to make a move as Berndt notched his second win of the 2019 season. Reen finished third with Talman and DiMatteo rounding out the top-5.

In the SK Lite 30 lapper Alexander Pearl beat out Nick Anglace and secured his second win of the 2019 season. Teddy Hodgdon came home in third with Bryan Narducci and Mikey Flynn roundin out the top-5.

At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island Roger Turbush scored his first ever NASCAR Modified win. John Fortin finished second with Kyle Soper, third. On tap this weekend at the eastern Long Island raceway is the $32,650 Islip 300.

Racing at the Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina fell victim to rain.

Ron Williams was the Valenti Modified Racing Series winner at Monadnock. Kirk Alexander was second.

In NASCAR Cup action at Brooklyn, Michigan, Joey Logano won the pole in qualifying and then led for more than three-quarters of the actual race. Logano won his second NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, holding off Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. in overtime on Monday because of a Sunday rain-out.

Former NASCAR CEO Brian France pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in New York’s Hamptons in 2018. Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said the 56-year-old France pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and undergo alcohol counseling. If he meets the requirements, the charge will be reduced to a traffic violation, a mere slap on the wrist.

Last year, 2023, Where are all the cars? Tracks in the northeast that host open wheeled Modifieds are close to running on empty as far as car counts go. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series drew only 20 cars at Seekonk. Riverhead Raceway on Long Island had only 14 Modifieds. Spencer Speedway in up-state New York drew 21 cars for their Race of Champions event. Wall Stadium in New Jersey drew only 10 Modifieds and the New London-Waterford Speedbowl had 15. The Stafford Motor Speedway appears to be holding their own as they had 25 cars in their SK Modified field last week.

The regular Friday night racing series at the Stafford Motor Speedway produced nothing short of an epic battle in their 40 lap SK Modified feature. Marcello Rufrano started sixth and wasted little time in his charge to the front as he took the lead on lap 3. Jimmy Blewett started tenth and as Rufrano took the lead, moved into fifth with Keith Rocco on his back bumper. By lap six the heat was on as Blewett took it up a notch and moved into third with Rocco coming on strong in fourth. Blewett moved into second on lap 11 with Rocco still in tow.

The 40 lapper went under caution on lap 26 when Mike Christopher took a hard shot into the turn four wall. The new Safer Barrier did its job and saved the young driver from injury. Back under green the three way battle continued. Blewett actually took the lead twice but Rufrano rebounded. Following a restart on lap 38 Cory DiMatteo moved into second but with the feature winding down Blewett made a hard charge under DiMatteo and took the runner-up spot back. Rocco got caught in the shuffle, losing spots.

Rufrano took the win with Blewett, second. DiMatteo settled for third with Tyler Hines, fourth. Patrick Kopcik rounded out the top five. Rocco ended up sixth. DiMatteo expressed his displeasure with Blewett’s driving but as the late Ted Christopher once said, “If you want to make friends, go to camp”.

In other Friday night action at Stafford, the track’s Limited Late Model division took center with their lone extra distance feature event of the 2023 season, the Riley Generators 30. Jeremy Lavoie was the big winner of the night, taking his first win of the season in the extra distance event. and Andrew Durand took home his first win of the 2023 season in the Late Model feature event. Both Brian Sullivan and Ryan Waterman scored their third wins of the 2023 season in only 4 races in the SK Light and Street Stock divisions respectively. Where was Ron Williams on Friday night? Open Tour type Modifieds will be added to the Friday night program.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series visited the Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts on Saturday night. In operation since 1946, the track has been under the guiding hand of the Venditti family since day one. Twenty cars were on hand with a fair crowd in the stands.

It was another “Sunday” drive on a Saturday night as Matt Hirschman dominated the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s return to Seekonk Speedway on Saturday night, rolling to victory in the Seekonk 150. Hirschman won the Mayhew Tools pole award to kick-off the night and then led the entire 150-lap distance to take the feature win. It wasn’t his first Modified win at Seekonk, but the Pennsylvania native became the first two-time Tour winner in 2023 in the sixth race of the season and blew away the field by doing it in a classic dominating performance.

While Hirschman led the race, Doug Coby and Ron Silk tried to chase him down. As they chased him through lapped traffic, Hirschman lapped the fourth-place car in the final laps of the race. However, a caution allowed three-time series champion Justin Bonsignore, who was fourth, to get his lap back. At the end of the race, just five cars were on the lead lap.

“Pretty dominant performance, doing it from the pole,” Hirschman said. “It’s not a pit-stop race, so as long as you have a car that’s going to handle and stay with you, you can keep it out front. I believe this [race] was a big unknown for a lot of teams because of the [new] pavement and the characteristics of the track changed. I think I’m going to like it. This has always been a good track for me, not a great track. But now winning a Whelen Tour race here — we’ve kind of won it all here.”

Hirschman picked up the victory over Coby, Silk, Bonsignore and Anthony Sesely. J.B. Fortin, Jon McKennedy, Austin Beers, Kyle Bonsignore and Anthony Nocella completed the top 10. Saturday’s Seekonk 150 featured three cautions, two of which were the products of Jake Johnson spins. The third and final caution of the race came when Nocella spun with just 16 laps remaining.

It was extremely cool once the sun went down on the east end of Long Island at the Riverhead Raceway. Chris Rogers became a first time winner as he out ran Chris Young for the Modified win. Jack Handley Jr. finished third with Dylan Slepian and Tom Rogers Jr rounding out the top five..

Down on the Connecticut shoreline at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Anthony Flannery was the SK Modified winner, a survivor of the fittest. Shortly after the start of the SK Modified feature 12 of the 15 SK Modifieds on hand were collected in a wreck in turn two. The event was put on hold in order for crews to make repairs and the event was completed later in the evening. Following Flannery at the finish was Andrew Molleur, Troy Talman and Adam Gada. Ryan Morgan made his return to racing with a fifth place finish.

The Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina ran a 100 lap Modified event with Lee Jeffreys taking the win over Burt Myers who admitted he missed a shift in a late race restart.

A big shout-out to Ryan Preece who got to show his stuff in Sonoma, California when he went pole to pole to win the ARCA event held there last Friday. Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR Cup event. Preece finished 13th on the lead lap.

On a sad note, Dave Tourigny, a vital part of the Sonny Koszela Woodchopper Racing Team passed away on Thursday, June, 8, 2023. Modifieds designed, built and maintained by this Rhode lslander have notched close to 200 victories and secured several championships for drivers Fred DeSarro, Bugs Stevens, Ken Bouchard and Mike Stefanik. As part of the Koszela racing operation, his equipment won at dozens of tracks including such legendary Modified haunts as Stafford, Thompson, Albany-Saratoga, Oswego, Pocono, Richmond, New Hampshire and Martinsville (nine wins). He played a role in three National Modified championship runs (1970 with DeSarro, 1989 and ’91 with Stefanik) and three Stafford crowns (1970 and ’74 with Stevens, 1986 with Stefanik).

He was inducted into the NEAR Hall of Fame in 2014.

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).