Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1949, Jin Holt scored his fourth win of the year at Seekonk.
Seventy years ago in 1954 Johnny Thompson, who in later years be one of the top guns at the Norwood Arena, was the Wednesday night Sportsman winner at the New London Waterford Speedbowl. Money Bags Moe Gherzi was up to the task on Saturday as he won the 50 lap July 4th Sportsman event in the Garutti Bros. No.14. Tom Van Epps and John Chiangi were the non-Ford winners. At Seekonk, Freddy Luchesi was the A division winner and Ed Hoyle was the B division winner at Seekonk.
Sixty five years ago in 1959, George Janoski was the Friday night winner on the dirt at the Stafford Springs Speedway. Bill Slater in the V-8 went two for two as he scored Sportsman division wins at the New London Waterford Speedbowl on Wednesday and Saturday. Charlie Webster and Rene Charland were non Ford winners while Ben Hewitt and Walt Dombrowski were Bomber winners. Dave Humphrey made it two in a row at Seekonk. Bill Torrisi took the win at the Buffalo Civic Stadium. The following day Jeno Begolo won a 50 lapper at Lancaster.
Sixty years ago in 1964 it was announced that NASCAR Grandnational (Cup) driver Glenn “Fireball” Roberts had passed away after being badly burned at the Charlotte Motor Speedway back in May. New Jersey driver Tommie Elliott had a near perfect weekend as he went three for four as he scored feature wins at Fort Dix on Thursday, Vineland on Friday and at Wall Stadium on Saturday. Joe Kelly was the spoiler as he won at Old Bridge on Sunday while Elliott finished fifth. Al DeAngelo won at Islip and Bill Wimble got his fourth at Fonda after Lou Lazzaro was disqualified for rough riding. Wimble also made it three in a row, five for the year on the dirt at Stafford Springs. George Janoski and Rene Charland followed. Ray Moran was the winner of a 50 lap Fourth of July Special Modified event at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Dave Humphrey was the A division winner at Seekonk.
Fifty five years ago in 1969, the Fourth of July weekend started of on Friday at Stafford and at Malta. Stafford ran a 100 lapper which saw southern invader Ray Hendrick make an appearance. Bugsy Stevens was the kingpin and made it known that he was not about to play second fiddle to the man they called Mr. Modified. Stevens took the event with Hendrick, second. Fred DeSarro finished third with Bobby Santos, fourth. Dave Kotary was the winner at Malta with Guy Chartrand, second. Saturday night at Norwood, Billy Schulz beat out Johnny Thompson and Roland LaPierre Sr. for the win. At Islip, Fred Harbach was the winner with Booker T. Washington Jones finishing second. At Fonda, Kenny Shoemaker made it two in a row and at Airborne Park; Guy Chartrand made it four in a row. Glynn Shafer made it two in a row at the Waterford Speedbowl as he won the 50-lap holiday special. Larry Crandall was the Daredevil winner. Dick Costa was the A division winner at Seekonk. At Thompson, on Sunday, it was Bugsy Stevens holding off DeSarro for the win.
Fifty years ago in 1974 the holiday weekend started on Wednesday, July 3 when Stafford ran a 150 lapper. Jerry Cook took the win over Geoff Bodine, Brian Ross and Richie Evans. Cook backed his Stafford win with a 100-lap win at Utica-Rome on Friday night. Evans finished second with Bernie Miller, third. Freeport was also scheduled to run on Friday but was rained out. In action on Saturday night, Bugsy Stevens won at Stafford. Ronnie Bouchard was the runner-up. At Islip, Jim Hendrickson in the Ferrente x3 beat out Gary Winters and Charlie Jarzombek. Glynn Shafer won the scheduled 30 lap Modified event at Waterford. Ron Cote was the Grand American late model winner. Fulton ran twin events on Sunday with Evans and Bodine each taking victories. In other weekend action, Gene Bergin beat out Fred DeSarro at Star Speedway on Thursday. DeSarro beat Deke Astle at Seekonk on Saturday and at Thompson on Sunday, won out over Angie Cerese and Tony Russo. Paul Radford won a 100 lapped at Oswego plus scored victories at Metrolina and Hickory in North Carolina. George Summers made it two in a row at Seekonk.
Forty five years ago in 1979, the Fourth of July weekend started on Wednesday at Westboro with an open competition 50 lapper. The event drew 33 cars. On the start, nine cars were wrecked including pre race favorites George Summers and Bugsy Stevens. Geoff Bodine who was trying to make a name for himself in the Southland came north and took a ride with Lee Allard. Bodine won the 50 lapper and was followed by Charlie Jarzombek, Fats Caruso and Jerry Cook. On Thursday night the action switched to Holland. Maynard Troyer blew while leading and opened the door for Richie Evans to step in and take the win. Cook finished second with George Kent, third. On Friday night, Stafford presented the annual Ferrara 100. Bodine and Satch Worley driving Allard team cars finished one-three with Ronnie Bouchard being the spoiler, finishing second. Cook was fourth. On Saturday the racers got a break as all racing in New England and New York State rained out. On Sunday the Modifieds ran at Oswego and at Thompson. At Oswego it was a repeat of Stafford as Bodine and Worley were again one-three. This time Richie Evans was the spoiler. Roger Treichler was fourth. In small block action at Thompson, George Savory took the win over Leo Cleary and Ron Bouchard who borrowed the ride of Fats Caruso after his own suffered engine problems
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Forty years ago in 1984, Spencer Speedway had an event scheduled for July 4th but it was rained out. Friday night at Stafford belonged to Reggie Ruggiero as he beat out Brett Bodine and Kenny Bouchard for the win. Riverside and Waterford rained out on Saturday but Riverhead was able to get their show in with Wayne Anderson holding off Tom Baldwin for the win. Shangri-La ran double features with Jim Spencer scoring a one-two punch, winning both. Racing at Thompson on Sunday also rained out.
Thirty five years ago in 1989, the Modified tour series visited Riverhead on Wednesday. Reggie Ruggiero went pole to pole to win the 151-lap event over Dan Jivenelli, Mike McLaughlin and Steve Park. Park had been running second at the 125-lap mark when he tangled with Mike Ewanitsko. Rounding out the top five was Wayne Anderson. At Stafford on Friday, Mike Christopher took the 35 lap SK Modified win over Bob Potter. Waterford ran a 50 lapper with David Gada taking the win. Riverside set an all time attendance record as the track reported 9264 spectators on hand. Bob Polverari won the Modified event over John Zavisa. The Mod tour series headed for Oswego on Sunday. Tony Hirschman held off Mike McLaughlin who finished second with Ruggiero, third. In other weekend action, Jeff Malave won at Riverhead; Randy Hedger at Shangri-La and Tony Jankowyak won a Race of Champions qualifier at Pulaski, VA.
Thirty years ago in 1994, Stafford started the holiday weekend off with a 100 lapper, which was won by John Anderson. On Saturday night at Waterford, Phil Rondeau scored one of his two modified wins as he beat out Mark LaJunesse, Bob Potter, John Anderson and Todd Ceravolo. Jerry Young was the late model winner. At Riverside Park, Reggie Ruggiero all but owned the place as he crossed the finish line ahead of Tom Cravenho and Dan Avery. At Riverhead it was Bill Park over Eddie Brunnhoelzl. On Sunday, July 3, Ed Flemke Jr. scored his first ever-Modified tour win as he won a 102-lap contest at Tioga. Wayne Anderson finished second with Chris Aman, third. On Monday, July 4, Lancaster ran a 150 lapper. New England invader Rick Fuller took top honors over Jim Rudolph and Jan Leaty. In Winston Cup action at Daytona, Jim Spencer did the bump and grind with Ernie Irvan over the final laps and raced home the winner, by inches.
Twenty five years ago, in 1999, Brad Leighton took the lead on lap 43 in the Busch Grandnational North 150 at Stafford after Dave Dion spun in oil. It was Leighton’s fourth win of the year. Jeff Taylor finished second with Dion, third. Stafford’s SK Modified event rained out. Waterford ran a 100 lapper on Saturday night with Eric Berndt taking the win over Jeff Pearl and Tucker Reynolds. Riverhead went to Frank Vigliaro Jr. In 100-degree heat, Bert Marvin went pole to pole at Thompson. Todd Ceravolo finished second with Tom Tagg, third. At Riverside, Rob Summers won a 125 lapper over Ted Riggott and Bob Polverari. In Busch Grandnational action at Milwaukee, Casey Atwood hit Jeff Green on the final lap and went on to take the win over Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Glenn Allen. In Winston Cup action under the lights at Daytona, Dale Jarrett took the lead on lap 146 of the 160-lap distance and took the win over Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Burton.
Twenty years ago in 2004, The NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Series was on their mid season break. The next event would be at the Beech Ridge Speedway in Scarborough, Maine. With eight of the 19 scheduled events already in the record books Eddie Flemke Jr. sat atop the point standings with a 70-point lead over former series champion Tony Hirschman. Flemke, who won at Waterford on May 15, had finished in the top five on seven occasions. Flemke and his Roger Hill owned race team had a game plan to run hard and run safe in 2004 and if their first half performance was any indication, they could very well be sitting at the head table at season’s end. Hirschman, who won at Stafford on May 28 and at Lake Erie on June 12, had a total of five top fives. Jerry Marquis, who won the Spring Sizzler at Stafford on April 25 and at Riverhead on June 5, sat in third spot despite being the division’s top money winner. Marquis was 113 points out of the lead and including his wins, has 5 top fives. Ted Christopher, who won the season opening IceBreaker at Thompson, was 156 points out of the lead in fourth spot. Christopher’s win came at the expense of Todd Szegedy who was disqualified when officials determined he had an illegal rear end gear. Ricky Fuller, all though winless, rounded out the top five. Fuller had one top five in eight starts and is 238 points behind the leader. Sixth through tenth in the standings were Jamie Tomaino, Chuck Hossfeld, Tony Ferrante Jr., Tom Bolles and Tom Cravenho. Kenny Barry was the leading rookie and sat in 11th spot. Other Modified Tour Series winners at the mid-season mark are Todd Szegedy at Nazareth on May 23 and Reggie Ruggiero at Wall Township on June 26. The Featherlite Modified Tour Series had been one of the strongest in NASCAR as events consistently draw between 40-50 cars per event.
The Busch North Series was also off for the weekend. Car counts could have been better but the dedication of those in competition was very high.
Cool heads on a hot night prevailed at Thursday night Thunder at the Thompson Bert Marvin who has had more than his share of bad luck in 2004 finally got a break and recorded his first win of the season as he took the top spot in the Sunoco Modified SK type event. Marvin jumped into the lead on lap two and never looked back. Pole sitter Adam Norton spent a lot of time looking in his mirror as he bounced off or cut off just about everyone who attempted to pass. The mirror driving didn’t work as he ended up 12th at the finish. Kerry Malone finished second but had nothing for Marvin. Bo Gunning, Ted Christopher and Todd Ceravolo rounded out the top five. David Berghman became a three-time winner in the Pro Stock division while Ryan Posocco got his first in Late Model action. Other winners were Scott Sundeen in the Limited Sportsman, Roger Larson in the Mini Stocks and Randy Cabral in the NEMA Midgets.
Ted Christopher beat out defending SK Modified champion Kerry Malone at Stafford on Friday night. The modifieds played second fiddle to the Late Models who were showcased in a 100 lapper that went to Tom Butler. Rounding out the top five in the SK Modified feature were Chuck Docherty, Woody Pitkat and Jeff Baral.
Ted Christopher carried his winning ways from Stafford over to Waterford on Saturday night as he made it two out of three for the weekend. Christopher led the 100-lap feature from lap 30. Tom Fox finished second but had nothing for Christopher. Keith Rocco, who is on Christopher’s crew, made it two in a row in Sportsman competition. Phil Rondeau waited until the final lap of the Late Model feature to steal the glory from Allen Coates as he won the exciting Late Model feature. It was announced that Late Model driver Brandon Plemons had been suspended from racing at any NASCAR track for the remainder of 2004. Plemons, who was also fined $250, deliberately smashed his car into the driver’s door of Carl Erickson on June 26.
The Nextel Cup division and the Busch Racing Series of NASCAR were at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida. Mike Wallace was the surprise winner of the Busch Series event as he went from fifth to first in the final lap. If Jason Lefler hadn’t been so intent on mirror driving and spinning out his competition he might have won. The Pepsi 400 got a two hour late start because of monsoon type rain in central Florida. Jeff Gordon was the eventual winner. Two spectators were slightly injured from lightning earlier in the day. It had been learned that former modified ace Greg Sacks has entered the upcoming Nextel Cup event at Chicagoland. Sacks would drive a former Ray Everham car now owned by himself, James Wilsburg and Ed Raabs. Wilsburg is a former crew chief for Sacks when he drove Modifieds.
Fifteen years ago in 2009, In Thursday Night Thunder action at the Thompson Speedway rain prevailed.
Ted Christopher returned to familiar ground at the Stafford Motor Speedway. Christopher drove to his second victory of the 2009 season and his third overall win in the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Jim Peterson took down his first win of the season in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Brit Andersen scored his third win of the 2009 season in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Shawn Thibeault picked up his first career victory in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Kyle Casagrande picked up his first career victory in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature a week after his twin brother won his first career DARE Stock feature.
The Waterford Speedbowl celebrated the nation’s birthday in grand fashion, hosting the 12th annual Pepsi 300 on a beautiful summer evening. The Speedbowl’s leaders in the four NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions each performed up to their lofty status. Keith Rocco checkered the SK Modified race, Bruce Thomas Jr. won in the Late Models, and Danny Field was the Mini Stock winner. Ronnie Oldham finished in second in the Street Stocks, while it was Walt Hovey taking down the event win.
The True Value Modified Series visited the ultra fast ¼ mile high banked Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH. Kirk Alexander started the race on the outside pole and did what he does best; he drove his car hard right to the front to capture the lead. He then held on to the number one position for 100 laps to dominate and win the TVMRS race. Les Hinckley was Mr. Consistent during the night of competition running at a steady pace to come across the start finish lien in second. Running in the top ten in points for the TVMRS, young Rowan Pennink has continued his competitive run with the series finishing the night with a podium finish. Dwight Jarvis and Rob Goodenough rounded out the top five.
In NASCAR Sprint Cup action in Daytona, Kyle Busch passed Tony Stewart right before the final lap to take the lead, but Stewart chased him down and calculated his next move. Stewart closed in on Busch’s bumper, and slight contact sent Busch drifting up the track. Busch slid back down to maintain his lead, then tried to slide in front of Stewart to block Stewart’s next move. The cars were too close together and Stewart hooked Busch’s right corner to send Busch sailing into the wall.
The contact triggered a multiple crash behind them, but Stewart sailed through for his second points win of the season. The two-time series champion was leading the points in his first season as co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, which he overhauled from a backmarker team into a title contender after 10 seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing. It was a horrendous wreck for Busch, who climbed from his car apparently unscathed but had to be forced by four NASCAR officials into a waiting safety vehicle. He finished 14th and refused to comment after the race. Jimmie Johnson was second, and Denny Hamlin, Busch’s teammate, finished third. Carl Edwards was fourth, and Kurt Busch fifth.
Clint Bowyer won the Nationwide Series race at Daytona, holding off Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards in a green-white-checkered finish.
Ten years ago in 2014, The Valenti Modified Racing Series made its first of three visits during the 2013 season to Stafford Motor Speedway for the Inaugural VMRS 80. Taking the checkered flag was former Stafford SK Modified® regular and 2003 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Todd Szegedy.
Ted Christopher started on the pole of the 80 lapper and led until lap 9 before giving way to Eric Goodale. Goodale had built up a comfortable lead but Christopher was beginning to erase that advantage as the race neared the halfway point of 40-laps. The top-2 cars had a margin of a half straightaway back to the trio of Keith Rocco, Todd Szegedy, and Rowan Pennink. With 44 laps complete, Dave Schneider, Norm Wrenn, Mike Willis, Jr., and Todd Owen spun coming out of turn 4 directly in front of Goodale, who had to stop to avoid crashing into the spun cars. Goodale was able to maintain the race lead for the restart.
On the restart, Christopher got a good run on the outside of Goodale and he moved back to the race lead for the first time since lap-9. Szegedy was also on the outside of Goodale and he was trying to take over second. Szegedy cleared Goodale after a lap of side by side racing and now Rocco was on the outside of Goodale and he got around Goodale to move into third on lap-47.
Szegedy was now looking to make a move around Christopher for the race lead. With Szegedy looking for a way around Christopher, Rocco was looking for a way to make a pass on Szegedy as the action at the front of the pack was picking up in a hurry. The caution came back out with 50 laps complete for Dylan Kopec, who spun in turn 4.
The restart order was Christopher and Szegedy on the front row, Rocco and Goodale in the second row, Pennink and Tommy Barrett in the third row, Justin Bonsignore and Anthony Nocella in the fourth row, and Chris Pasteryak and Richard Savary in the fifth row.
On the restart, Savary got into the turn 2 wall and Matt Mead spun in turn 2 to bring the caution right back out before a lap could be completed. Back under green, Christopher took the lead with Szegedy quickly slotting himself into second behind Christopher. Rocco was third, with Goodale and Pennink lined up behind him. Szegedy made a strong move on lap-53, but Christopher was able to keep Szegedy behind him. Szegedy made another strong move on lap-58 to get alongside Christopher and he made his move stick for the lead on lap-59. With Szegedy now in front, he began to slowly pull away from Christopher after riding behind him for so many laps. Szegedy was continuing to stretch out his advantage over Christopher in the closing laps while Rocco was applying heavy pressure to Christopher’s bumper in a fight for second. Szegedy led the field back to the checkered flag to pick up his first VMRS feature victory. Christopher was able to hold off Rocco for second, with Pennink and Goodale rounding out the top-5.
There were 33 Valenti Modifieds on hand. In other Friday night racing at Stafford, Chase Dowling beat out Woody Pitkat to win the 45-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature. It was the first career SK Modified victory for Dowling, who was making his fourth start in the division. Pitkat finished second with Dan Avery, third. Dylan Menditto won the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature. Johnny Walker, won for the second consecutive time in the 20-lap DARE Stock feature and Austin Bessette was the Limited Late Model winner.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series visited the Waterford Speedbowl last Saturday night. The event drew 28 cars and a full house of spectators for the Mr. Rooter 161. Donnie Lia in the Bob Garbarino Mystic Missile was the pole sitter. Bobby Santos was second fastest. Lia jumped out at the start and led the event for 133 laps before an inside move by Santos on the low side between turns three and four caught Lia by surprise. Santos had tried to pass Lia numerous times on the outside but to no avail. Lia, finished second. Ted Christopher finished third. Santos and Lia ran the event non-stop without a pit stop while Christopher pitted and came from the rear to the front. Justin Bonsignore and Patrick Emerling were fourth and fifth, respectively. Sixth through tenth were Ryan Preece, Woody Pitkat, Keith Rocco, Ron Yuhas, Jr. and Doug Coby.
The shoreline oval took its toll on many of the competitors. One of those was Tommy Barrett who had worked his way from a 14th starting position to the runner-up spot when he fell victim to a flat tire and hit the wall which ultimately placed him 24th in the final run-down. Ron Silk was also a contender until a bout Timmy Solomito and the wall in turn three ended his night on lap 145. Silk ended up 20th.
Justin Bonsignore took over the points lead from Doug Coby, who finished 10th, by two points. Santos is third, three back of Coby. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour now heads to the Riverhead (New York) Raceway this coming Saturday, June 28.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Waterford Speedbowl Ed Puleo picked up his second SK Modified® win of the season and Bruce Thomas Jr. landed his second Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature win of 2014. Bill McNeil took his first Street Stock victory and Ray Christian III won the Mini Stocks.
At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, Former Legend Race Car champion Kyle Ellwood of Riverhead at just 18-years old realized his life long dream Saturday night when he topped a non-stop 35 lap NASCAR Modified feature at Riverhead Raceway. Modified weekly racing appears to be in trouble on the Island as only 12 cars were on hand.
In Modified racing in the Southland, Tim Brown ended a long dry spell as he won the first of what was supposed to be two 25 lap features for the Modifieds at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC.
Brown won the pole and led wire-to-wire to win Saturday’s only race in the Modified Division. Rain finally ended racing for the night just as the Modified cars lined up for the second race. Brown, who now has 71 victories at the place they call “The MadHouse” trails all time winner Junior Miller by two wins. Miller, who is in his 60’s is still an active competitor at Bowman Gray and has recently purchased a new car from North East Race Cars. Burt Myers, the Modified Division points leader, stayed glued to Brown’s tail most of the race and wound up second.
Carl Edwards held off a late charge from eight-time road course winner Jeff Gordon to win the Sonoma Toyota/Save Mart 350, his first road course victory and the 23rd triumph of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. Gordon finished second with Dale Earnhardt Jr, third. Brendan Gaughan won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Five years ago in 2019, The Tri-Track Open Modified Series continued at the Seekonk Speedway as part of their Open Wheel Wednesday program. The 100 lap Modified event which payed $10,000 to win drew 30 Modifieds. Ron Williams, who has been on a roll of late, took the checkered flag and the big check that went with it.
Williams took the lead from Matt Swanson on a restart with 10 laps to go. For Williams, part of his plan was pit strategy in the event. Front runners were split between pitting at lap 43 after a caution for a Carl Medeiros spin and pitting on lap 55 after a turn-four incident with Kirk Alexander and Dana DiMatteo.
Williams was among those who at lap 43, which allowed him to move ahead of contenders such as Ron Silk, Matt Hirschman, Keith Rocco and more who pitted 12 laps later. Tommy Barrett also passed Swanson in the closing laps to take the runner-up spot, closing in on Williams over the final green-flag run but ultimately ran out of time. Swanson, who ended up third, went non stop. Pre-race favorite Matt Hirschman finished fourth with Todd Patnode, fifth.
At the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night a near capacity house of fans witnessed the 6th Annual NAPA Auto Parts SK 5k, which paid the winner $5,000 out of a purse of over $27,000. With the Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Sales Gambler’s Challenge bonus of $5,250 with a contribution from Newtown Pools and a total heat race bonus of $1,500 from Wheelers Auto of Hamden, the total posted awards were over $34,000. Ronnie Williams became the first SK Modified® driver to win the NAPA Auto Parts SK 5K in consecutive seasons and in victory lane he pulled the 11th through 20th place finishers for the Dunleavy’s Gambler’s Challenge. Al Saunders held off Tom Fearn in the Late Model feature to score his second win of the year, Teddy Hodgdon locked down his second win of the year in the SK Light feature, Jeremy Lavoie reached victory lane for the third time this season in the Limited Late Model feature, and George Bessette, Jr. notched his second win of the year in the Street Stock feature.
In the SK 100 lapper, Williams went by Chase Dowling to move into second on lap-83and he began to set his sights on Keith Rocco for the lead. Rocco had led since lap 72. Williams was about a tenth of a second a lap quicker than Rocco and with 13 laps to go, he was right on Rocco’s back bumper. For the final ten laps Rocco and Williams ran wheel to wheel as the put on a brilliant display of their driving talents. Williams pulled ahead as they exited turn four heading for the finish line.
Chase Dowling finished third with Joey Cipriano, fourth and Andrew Molleur, fifth. Sixth thru tenth was pole sitter Marcello Rufrano, who was followed by David Arute, Tony Membrino, Jr.,Todd Owen and Tyler Hines.
Thanks to the efforts of the Arute family and NASCAR the event was live streamed on Fanschoice.TV. Race sponsor NAPA as well as Whelen and the speedway itself received thousands of dollars in world wide exposure to potential customers.
The Valenti Modified Racing Series next competes at Monadnock Speedway July 6. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads to the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island also next Saturday, July 6.
At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island Kyle Soper did it again as Anderson Motorsports is seven out of nine for the season in the NASCAR Modifieds.
In racing at the Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina Burt Myers recorded the fastest qualifying lap at Bowman Gray this season, in 13.217 seconds, and went wire-to-wire to win the first of two 25-lap Modified races Saturday night. He held off Lee Jeffreys and Jonathan Brown, who worked from fifth to third. Tim Brown recorded his 91st win when he took the checker in the second 25 lapper. Jonathan Brown, driving a car recently purchased from Jimmy Blewett, finished second with Burt Myers, third. Bowman Gray shuts down for a week and will return to racing on July 13.
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park attempted to return to action on Sunday, June 30, with the second appearance by the Lock City Drift Street Series helping to headline a full card of racing. All five of Thompson’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions were scheduled as their championship battles hit the halfway point. Unfortunately rain prevailed. Track officials called the race just after 4:15 p.m. telling fans their wristbands would serve as credit towards any forthcoming race in 2019 at the speedway. Lock City Drift, which served as a companion event to the oval track racing, was able to complete the second event in their 2019 Street Series schedule on the Clubhouse Circuit.The oval race was rescheduled to Sunday, September 1. Thompson Speedway’s next oval track event will take place on Sunday, July 28 again featuring the track’s five NASCAR Whelen All American Series divisions.
Alex Bowman’s first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup victory at Chicagoland Speedway was as much a lesson in perseverance, determination and guts as it was a show of his raw talent. It took it all those qualities for the 26-year-old driver to reach Victory Lane for the first time in Sunday’s Camping World 400. Bowman’s No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet held off a hard-charging Kyle Larson for the win by .546-seconds – the two young drivers door-to-door in the closing laps, exchanging the lead twice in the final eight laps of the race.
Last year, 2023, The Monaco Ford Tri-Track Series visited the Seekonk speedway on Wednesday night. Twenty eight Modifieds were in competition for the $10,000 to win event. Qualifying heat winners were Doug Coby, Matt Swanson and Sam Rameau. A near capacity crowd all but filled the cement palace to the brim.
Austin Beers sat on the pole with Kyle Bonsignore on the outside. Pre-race favorite Matt Hirschman started sixth with eventual winner Matt Swanson, eighth. A wreck at the three quarter mark involving Sam Rameau and Jake Johnson worked to Swanson’s advantage as he was able to sneak by and assume the lead. Matt Hirshman took over second spot at that point but his car’s handling dropped off as he gave up the runner-up spot to Austin Beers.
At the finish it was Swanson taking the win over Beers and Hirschman. Richard Savory and Doug Coby rounded out the top five. Coby ran around the bottom of the top-five for much of the first half of the race until the wreck off turn two on lap 49 left him no where to go. During the caution period, the team worked to repair the car and Coby returned to the track, restarting from 19th. He was able to pass 14 cars up into fifth before the finish.
At Stafford on Friday night, Cory DiMatteo was a first time winner in the SK Modified® feature, Kevin Gambacorta became the first repeat Late Model feature winner of the 2023 season, Tyler Chapman scored his second win of the year in the SK Light feature, and Devon Jencik was a first time winner in the Limited Late Model feature event. Stafford Speedway’s Street Stock division took center stage on Friday, June 30 with their lone extra distance feature event of the 2023 season, the Midstate Site Development 30. Ryan Waterman continued his dominant ways in 2023 by picking up his fifth win of the season in seven races.
In the SK Modified 40 lapper Cory DiMatteo driving a car designed and built by Eddie Flemke Jr at RaceWorks Fabrication took a hotly contested win. After starting sixth, DiMatteo powered his way into the lead on the outside of Keith Rocco on a restart following a caution on lap seven. Marcello Rufrano was now third behind DiMatteo and Keith Rocco with David Arute, fourth and Jimmy Blewett fifth.
At the halfway point of the race, it was still DiMatteo out front with Rufrano, Rocco, Arute, and Blewett giving chase. Teddy Hodgdon was up to sixth with Jon Puleo, Mikey Flynn, Anthony Bello, and Michael Gervais, Jr. making up the top-10. Arute took third from Rocco on lap-23 and that move opened the door for Blewett to take fourth and drop Rocco back to fifth in the order. Rocco spun going down the backstretch and into turn 3 to bring the caution out with 27 laps complete. DiMatteo took the lead on the restart with Rufrano right behind him in second. Arute got loose in turn 4 and he slid back several spots to ninth place as Flynn was now third, Hodgdon fourth, Troy Talman fifth, Anthony Flannery sixth, Stephen Kopcik seventh, and Blewett eighth. Blewett took seventh from Flannery on lap-32 while Rufrano was applying heavy pressure to DiMatteo in the fight for the lead. The caution came back out with 33 laps complete for Wesley Prucker, who spun coming out of turn 4.
DiMatteo streaked back into the lead on the restart with Rufrano still holding second place. Flynn was third with Hodgdon fourth and Kopcik fifth. Kopcik went by Hodgdon on lap-37 to move into fourth while Rufrano was still searching for a way to get around DiMatteo. Rufrano took a look to the outside of DiMatteo on the final lap but he couldn’t make a move as DiMatteo took down his first win of the 2023 season. Rufrano finished second with Kopcik, Hodgdon, and Flynn rounding out the top-5.
The smoke from the Canadian fires was evident off the second turn but it didn’t deter the racers or the fans. Kevin Gambacorta was the Late Model winner. Jacob Perry started on the pole and led most of the event until he was dumped by Adam Gray. Perry restarted and finished third. Amanda West turned in an outstanding performance as she led 17 of the 20 lap distance in the SK Lights. West was passed by Tyler Chapman on lap 17 and ended up 4th at the finish.
Down on the Connecticut shoreline at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Todd Owen raced to his first victory of 2023 in the 35-lap SK Modified feature. Andrew Molleur was second with Anthony Flannery, third.
The Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina was silent. The southern action moved to the SMART venue at the Caraway Speedway where Burt Myers took the 99 lap win over Tim Brown. Ronnie Williams showed the SMART troops how the northern guys do it as he came from scratch (24th) starting spot to finish third. Williams drove a car owned by Jamie Tomaino. Joey Coulter finished fourth with Brian Loftin rounding out the top five.
Tom Rogers Jr scored his Modified 63rd NASCAR Modified win at the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island. The victory by Rogers tied the all-time record formerly held by the late great Charlie Jarzombek. When the checker flag waved history was made with Tom Rogers Jr. who won his first Modified race May 8th, 2004 notched career win 63 in the Stakey’s Pumpkin Farm Chevy. “I don’t care if I win another race being up there with Charlie now” Rogers commented. Tom pulled his winning car up just short of the winner’s circle, he explained, “I did that because legends like Charlie and Freddy belong there”. Rogers and car owners Denise & Kenny Darch earned a $900 bonus from the Harbach family.Kyle Ellwood pocketed $600 in bonus money for his second place tally in the Buzz Chew Chevrolet entry, while Matt Brode in the Steven’s 112 Ford machine was third earning $300 in bonus dollars. Justin Brown and John Beatty Jr. were fourth and fifth.
In the Racers Supporting Racers 100 at the Star Speedway in Epping, New Hampshire Todd Patnode went pole to pole to take the win. Matt Hirschman passed Matt Swanson with two laps to go. Swanson finished third with Teddy Hogdon, fourth. Patnode was the only driver in contention who did not make a tire stop.
Hirschman was buried back in 17th place after tangling with another car on lap 68. Four laps later, a major wreck occurred after Brian Robie was hit and spun out in front of the field in turn four. Donnie Lashua and Matt Kimball were also eliminated in the melee after their cars ended up under the car driven by Mark Bakaj. Because of the fact that he was not involved Hirschman was able to gain nine positions without passing a car. Hirschman broke into the top five on lap 76. Three laps later he was third.. With ten to go the pressure was on with Hirschman on Patnode’s bumper.
The block was on. A yellow on lap 96 set the stage for a race ending sprint. On the restart Hirschman got the bite and got half way by. The two made contact with Hirschman dropping to third before regaining control as Matt Swanson took over second. Hirschman got back by Swanson when the white flag was displayed but ran out of time to get his hands on the $10,000 winners check.
The Racers Honoring Racers 100 was a joint effort between MDP Motorsports Promotions and promotional team The Racing Guys to pay tribute to the contributions and successes of New England’s racing legends. Supermodified star Bentley Warren, Modified racer Butch Perry, car builder and owner Art Barry, and former Star Speedway patriarch Bob Webber, Sr who. were all recognized in Saturday’s second running of the event.
MDP Motorsports Promotions and The Racing Guys thank their longtime supporters for making these events possible, including Ron Bouchard Auto Stores, Key Auto Group, Maurice Enterprises of Claremont, N.H., Hoosier Tire East, and Fuller RV Sales & Rental.
The NASCAR Cup cars took to the streets of Chicago which turned into a battle with the elements. When the Grant Park 220 turned topsy-turvy at the 49-lap mark, the change didn’t slow New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, the first driver to win a race in his first NASCAR Cup Series start since Johnny Rutherford accomplished the feat 60 years ago. The three-time Supercars champion charged from eighth on a Lap 61 restart to the front of the field and won the series’ first-ever street race on the Chicago Street Course in overtime. What changed the tenor of the race dramatically was NASCAR’s decision near the midpoint of the event to shorten the race from the scheduled 100 laps to 75, putting a large group of cars that had pitted on Lap 43 inside their fuel window.
The New Zealand racer passed Haley for the lead on Lap 71 and beat him to the finish line by 1.259 seconds, after the sliding car of Bubba Wallace knocked Ricky Stenhouse’s Chevrolet into the Turn 1 tire barrier to cause the ninth caution on Lap 74 and force overtime. The decision to shorten the race was a saving grace for Elliott, who had crashed his No. 9 Chevrolet during qualifying and started from the rear of the field in a backup car. Elliott held third after the final restart and finished ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch, who were fourth and fifth, respectively. Ryan Preece finished fifteenth.
On a sad note, Ken Meisenhelder, one of the true pioneers in capturing racing content through his KGM Video, passed away last Wednesday, June 28.. Before his video work, Ken was a driver, competing on the NASCAR Cup circuit from 1969-1971, scoring a trio of Top 10 finishes.
But it’s his work behind the camera that he will probably most be remembered in New England racing circles. With that challenging last name, we always called him “KGM Ken” and he couldn’t have been more generous with other media over the years in letting them use his footage. Ken was a pioneer in capturing content, his archives are seemingly endless. Not only with decades of events at Riverside Park Speedway and Stafford Speedway, but he also recorded races throughout New England, New York and Pennsylvania tracks, both on dirt tracks and asphalt. He was also proficient in format transfers, taking film reels from people like Howie Hodge and Dan Pardi and converting them into video form (which was no easy task back in the day and the quality is top shelf for its time). He’s right up there with the like of Paul ‘Tremaine’ Trowbridge as someone who was ahead of their time using media to promote & preserve our sport.
It was just three years previous that the ownership and management of the Thompson Speedway didn’t care about the weekly competitors after they announced that only the top ten in each division gets paid, the rest get what the cow left behind after jumping the fence.
From the way it looked on the sign-up sheets the weekly competitors got the message of the purse reductions. As the beginning of the season got closer only 11 Sunoco (SK type) Modifieds had signed up. Of the 11 cars signed up one is a Keith Rocco spare car and one is a car registered to Matt Hirschman. Ten Late Models, 12 Limited Sportsman, 13 Mini Stocks and 12 SK lights are also signed up. It looks like the competitors got the message that the track does not want them.
It’s a shame that the present promotors are paying the price for the direction the track owner chose to take.
In 1967 the Stafford Motor Speedway was paved. The NASCAR Modifieds were the headline division. For 20 years thru 1986 Stafford would host and provide competition from the best in the busines from throughout New England, New York State, Long Island and from the south. Names like Eddie Flemke, Bugsy Stevens, Fred DeSarro, Reggie Ruggerio, Ray Miller, Richie Evans, Maynard Troyer, Geoff Bodine, Charlie Jarzobeck, Greg Sacks, Wayne Anderson, Jamie Tomaino, Satch Worley and Ray Hendrick would be in the line-up and would record victories.
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).
