Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – The Monaco Tri-Track event scheduled for Wednesday was moved to Thursday due to the inclement weather forecast.
There was also a scheduled event planned for the Thompson Speedway on Thursday night. It stayed clear on Wednesday evening until around 10:00pm when all hell broke loose.
Had the Tri Track race been run, fans and competitors would have been caught in the middle of it and possibly would have been injured by the violent electric storm.
Thursday turned out to be a perfect day and night for racing with temps in the high 70s and low humidity. The Tri-Track event at Seekonk drew 34 Modifieds while Thompson drew nine re-branded 604 Modifieds.
At Seekonk, Brian Robie, who won the first heat, started on the outside pole but didn’t take the lead until lap 82 when pre-race favorite Matt Hirschman lost a little of his handling. Teddy Hodgdon ended up second with Kyle Bonsignore, third. Joey Cipriano and Austin Beers rounded out the top five. Les Hinkley finished sixth with Ron Williams, seventh. Hirschman back peddled and ended up eighth. Doug Coby and Matt Swanson rounded out the top ten. At the ¾ mark Coby had one of the faster cars and was running second before being dumped by Stephen Kopcik. Kopcik was black flagged as a result.
Following post race tech inspection, A statement from the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series was issued which disqualified Brian Robie: Failing post-race tech, the #25NH of Brian Robie is being stripped of his win in the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series event at Seekonk Speedway on Thursday, June 27, 2024.
Ed Bennett, MMTTS Director of Competition, cites, because of major component changes, the engine in Robie’s car was not a 604 crate engine as identified. Robie will now be credited with a 27th place finish along with the corresponding payout and points. Second-place finisher, Teddy Hodgdon, will be credited with his first Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series win and will be awarded the $20,000 winner’s purse and hardware.
Similarly, all other finishers will move one position forward and be awarded the corresponding payout.
Kieth Rocco was the apparent winner of the rebranded 602 Modified feature at Thompson, that is, until the tech mam cometh. Rocco was disqualified from the event for having tampered seals on his motor. The penalty awarded the victory to second place finisher Isaiah Newcomb. Danny Cates ended up second and fourth place finisher Josh Carey was moved to third.
It was not a good night for the 602 or 604 motors.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is off. Next event is at Monadnock Speedway on Saturday, July 20.
Andy Seuss received notice from NASCAR last week that he was being fined for flipping the bird to Austin Beers at the New Hampshire Whelen Modified Tour event. On Tuesday, NASCAR announced the following penalty has been issued: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Andy Seuss has been fined $500 and suspended from NASCAR until the fine is paid. He will remain on probation until December 31, 2024. As soon as the word got out Seuss’ fans rallied and paid the fine.
Stafford Speedway had full cooperation from the weather on Friday night which resulted in a near capacity crowd that witnessed a great night of racing and a spectacular fireworks display. The Speedway’s Street Stock division took center stage with their lone extra distance feature event of the 2024 season, the Midstate Site Development 30. Travis Hydar was the big winner of the night, collecting his fifth win of the 2024 season in the MSD 30. Other feature winners on the night included Troy Talman in the SK Modified® feature, Chris Meyer in the Late Model feature, Tyler Chapman in the SK Light feature, and Matt Winter, II in the Limited Late Model feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® event, Steven Chapman took the lead at the green flag but the caution came out with 1 lap complete for RJ Marcotte, who spun in turn 2. Chapman took the lead on the restart with Troy Talman taking second. Dylan Kopec was third in line with Mikey Flynn in fourth and David Arute in fifth. Owen took fifth from Arute on lap-3 while Flynn took third from Kopec on lap-4. Owen and Kopec touched going into turn 2 with both of them getting into the wall and collecting the cars of Arute, and George Bessette, Jr. to bring the caution flag back out with 4 laps complete.
Talman used a good run on the outside of Chapman to move into the lead on the restart. Chapman worked his way back to Talman’s inside on lap-6 and he retook the lead. Behind the two leaders, Austin Beers was wheel to wheel with Flynn for third with Andrew Molleur up to fifth. Arute came to a stop in turn 1 while Curt Brainard spun in turn 4 to brin the caution flag back out with 8 laps complete.Talman dove to the inside of Chapman on the restart to move into the lead. Flynn was third behind Talman and Chapman with Michael Gervais, Jr. taking fourth and Michael Christopher, Jr. took fifth from Beers. Flynn took second from Chapman on lap-15 and that move allowed Christopher to move into third and drop Chapman from second back to fourth with Gervais in fifth while Talman continued to lead the race. The caution came back out with 20 laps complete for a spin in turn 4 by Arute.
The restart saw a huge pileup in turn 3 involving Tyler Barrry, Marcotte, Noah Korner, Todd Owen, and Anthony Flannery to bring the caution right back out before a lap could be completed. Talman took the lead on the next restart with Gervais and Christopher going wheel to wheel for second. Molleur was fourth in line with Keith Rocco up to fifth. Gervais got clear into second on lap-25 with Molleur now wheel to wheel with Christopher for third as Talman continued to lead. Gervais was applying heavy pressure to Talman’s back bumper, but Talman was able to hold him off and maintain the lead. Molleur made a move to the inside of Gervais on lap-34 to move into second and set his sights on Talman for the race lead. Christopher followed Molleur by Gervais to drop Gervais back to fourth. Christopher took second from Molleur on lap-37 and immediately began to apply heavy pressure to Talman. Christopher pulled to the outside of Talman as the cars took the white flag but he came up just short at the checkered flag as Talman scored his second win of the 2024 season. Molleur finished third with Gervais and Rocco rounding out the top-5.
Sixth thru tenth included Mikey Flynn, Marcello Rufrano, Austin Beers, George Bessette, Jr..and Steven Chapman.
Across the big pond on Long Island Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway, track owners Connie Partridge & Tom Gatz had a big celebration planned for the 74th Year Celebration, complete with award winning Fireworks and “Flying Dutchman Tribute” 74 Modified feature event, a celebration Harbach himself would be proud of.
Jack Handley took the Modified win with Dylan Slepian, second. Tom Rogers was third.
Down in North Carolina at the Bowman Gray Stadium Tim Brown scored his 100th win in the first of two 35 lap modified events. Burt Myers finished second and was followed by Brandon Ward and Jason Myers. Brian Loftin won the second 25 lapper. Bowman Gray takes a week off as the SMART tour takes over for a Saturday night event at the Caraway Speedway.
It was a big night for the Gada family at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday. Adam Gada finally got win number 1 of his career, after 18 years of racing at the Bowl. He is the 9th member of his family to win a feature at the shoreline oval to add to the family legacy. He got to join his grandfather, Bob Gada Sr., great uncles, uncles, cousin,and, most important his dad, Mike as winners at their home track. Eric Berndt finished second with Rob Janovic, third. Timmy Jordan and Andrew Molleur rounded out the top five. Brody Monahan was the Late Model winner.
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).
