Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1949, Bill Rafter won the first ever stand alone stock car event at the Buffalo Civic Center in western New York. Hop Harrington was the A division winner at Seekonk.
Seventy years ago in 1954, Moe Gherzi made it three in a row in Sportsman action at the New London Waterford Speedbowl on Wednesday night. Fred Luchesi ended the streak with a win on Saturday. Tom Van Epps won non-Ford events on both nights. Don Collins ventured to Seekonk where he took the A division win, Ray Smaldone was the B division winner.
Sixty five years ago in 1959, George Janoski took the Friday night win at the Stafford Springs Speedway. Rain washed out the Wednesday night racing at the New London Waterford Speedbowl. The Speedbowl did run on Saturday night with Don Collins taking the win in the Sportsman division. Charlie Webster was the non-Ford winner and Ben Hewitt was the Bomber winner. The NASCAR Short Track division paid a visit to the Buffalo Civic Stadium where Jim Reed took the win over Rex White and Lee Petty. At Lancaster, Percy Brown took the win. Seekonk fell victim to rain.
Sixty years ago in 1964, Bill Wimble made it five in a row on the dirt at the Stafford Springs Speedway. Kenny Shoemaker finished second. Eddie Flemke paid a rare visit and finished third. Flemke excelled on the asphalt but he was quick to admit that racing on dirt was not his “thing”. The NASCAR Grandnationals (Cup) were at Islip and Bridgehampton on Long Island and at Old Bridge in New Jersey. Billy Wade won at Islip and at Old Bridge while Richard Petty scored at the 2.85 mile road course at Bridgehampton. Fred Harbach was the Modified winner at Islip while Lou Lazzaro took top honors at Fonda and Billy Harman recorded the Modified win at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. George Summers got his first A division win of the year. Ray Lacky was the B division winner.
Fifty five years ago in 1969, the original All-Star League shifted into high gear with a mid-week event at Catamount Stadium in Milton, Vermont and a Friday night event at Malta, NY. Bugsy Stevens won the 100 lapper at Catamount and was followed by Guy Chartrand, Will Cagle and Buzzie Reutaman. At Malta, a young Richie Evans beat out Ed Pieniezak and Fred DeSarro for the win. With the hot dogs at Malta, Ray Miller took advantage of the situation and recorded a Friday night win at Stafford. Sal Dee finished second, with Wild Bill Slater coming home in third spot. Saturday night at Norwood, Barnie Matte held of Walter Scott and at Fonda, Jerry Pennock won a 100-lap event. At Airborne Park, Ed Pieniezak beat out Canadian, Marcell Corrivieu and Ed Flemke. Newt Palm won a 50 lap Modified event at the Waterford Speedbowl. Donnie Bunnell was the Daredevil winner. At Islip it was George Wagner and on Sunday at Utica-Rome, Jerry Cook was victorious over Sonney Seamon and Ed Flemke. Racing at Thompson, rained out as did Seekonk.
Fifty years ago in 1974, Charlie Jarzombek won at Riverhead on Wednesday over Fred Harbach and Cliff Tyler. Saturday night at Stafford, Ralph”Hop”Harrington, driving the former Tant/Mitchell coupe driven by Ray Hendrick and now owned by Richard Armstrong, beat out Bugsy Stevens and Ronnie Bouchard for the win. Shangri-La ran twin features, which were both won by Richie Evans. Donnie Bunnell, driving the Pat Doherty No. 73 was the Modified winner at Waterford. Jim Tierny was the Grand American Late Model winner. At Islip, Ted Wesnoske won out over Jarzombek and Harbach and at Lancaster, the Treichler cousins, Merv and Roger finished one-two. George Summers recorded his sixth win of the year. Richie Evans capped off the weekend with a win at Fulton on Sunday night over Jerry Cook and Maynard Troyer. In small block modified action at Thompson, Steady Eddie Flemke was the big winner over Jerry Pearl and Dave Humphries and at Monadnock, Bugsy Stevens won a 100 lapper over Bobby Gahan and Gene Bergin.
Forty five years ago in 1979, the Friday night winner at Stafford was Richie Evans with Geoff Bodine in the Lee Allard No.99 a close second and Ronnie Bouchard, third. Evans backed his Stafford win up with a win at Riverside on Saturday night. At Seekonk, Ronnie Bouchard took the victory over Leo Cleary and Eddie StAngelo. On the Island at Islip, Tom McCann and Wayne Anderson finished one-two. Islip Speedway NASCAR Chief Steward Bob O’Rourke promoted a special Modified event at Trenton on Sunday. It was 90 degrees and very humid. Forty-six Modifieds were on hand but barely over a few hundred spectators. Bodine took the 200-lap win over George Kent. Both had a lap on the field. The event was a financial disaster at the gate and that was the end of O’Rourkes’ promoting career. Other weekend winners were Maynard Troyer at Spencer, Doug Hewitt at Shangri-La, Jeff Fuller at Westboro, Richie Evans at New Egypt and George Savory at Thompson.
Forty years ago in 1984, Modified Madness came to Stafford on Tuesday. Ron Bouchard in the Boehler No.3 beat out Richie Evans and Brian Ross for the 50 lap win. At Stafford on Friday night, Marty Radwick scored his first and only win over Corky Cookman and Reggie Ruggiero. Riverhead also ran on Friday with Carl Miller taking the win over Wayne Anderson and Fred Harbach. Evans stayed close to home and was victorious at Spencer over Tom Druar and Jan Leaty. With the exception of a Modified Championship event at Shangri-La on Saturday, all racing rained out. Brian Ross won the Circle of Champions 84 lap event over Richie Evans and Jim Spencer. In Winston Cup action at Pocono, Bill Elliott won the pole and popular Harry Gant took the win. Ron Bouchard finished seventh and Geoff Bodine ended up 12th.
Thirty five years ago in 1989, Jeff Barry won the Friday night SK modified feature at Stafford. Steve Chowanski finished second. At Waterford on Saturday, Richie Gallup won out over Ted Christopher and John Jensen. At Riverhead it was Brian Miller over Fred Harbach and at Riverside, Jerry Marquis in the Judkins 2x held off Reggie Ruggiero. Tony Siscone scored a popular victory as he won the Garden State Classic at Wall Stadium. Gil Hearne finished second. Thompson had a Modified tour event scheduled for Sunday but rain washed out the event.
Thirty years ago in 1994, Mike Christopher was the winner at Thompson on Wednesday. Stafford rained out on Friday and on Saturday, Todd Ceravolo scored his first ever Modified win at Waterford. Mark LaJunesse finished second. Dan Avery won at Riverside and Mike Ewanitsko won the Richie Evans Memorial 76 lapper at Riverhead. Monadnock Speedway announced that they were dropping the Modifieds from their weekly program as the field had dwindled to sixteen cars. In Winston Cup action at Pocono, Geoff Bodine scored a major win for Hoosier Tires as he won both the pole and the 500-mile contest.
Twenty five years ago, in 1999, Jerry Marquis was awarded his fifth victory of the season after apparent winner Ted Christopher was disqualified because of illegal mufflers. New England was in the middle of a 90-degree plus heat wave, which stretched tempers to the limit. At Waterford, Christopher ran amuck again as the lapped car of Harry Rheaume, while leading a 100 lapper took him out. Bert Marvin was the eventual winner with Dennis Gada, second. It was also on Saturday night, July 17 that John F. Kennedy Jr. along with his wife and sister in law were killed in a plane crash near Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. It was a busy weekend for the Featherlite Modified Tour. On Friday, during the day, they ran a make-up event at Nazareth. Spectators were charged only $5.00 to see the event. Ed Flemke Jr. took the win after Chris Kopec mysteriously spun while trying to pass. Mike Ewanitsko ended up second with Tony Hirschman, third. After an all night trip to Holland, N.Y. Kopec got his just do as he took the win, his first on the tour. Hirschman ended up second with Charlie Pasteryak, third. Kopec took the lead with six to go from Pasteryak.
Twenty years ago in 2004, the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Series was at the Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine on Saturday night. Thirty-nine Modifieds were on hand. Donnie Lia was the Busch Pole sitter. Tom Cravenho drew the pole and led the first 19 laps. Ted Christopher was involved in an opening lap skirmish, which all but took him out of contention as he lost numerous laps making repairs. Point leader Eddie Flemke also had his problems early on but was able to stay in the lead lap. Nevin George was the class of the field as he took the lead on lap 20 and never looked back. Despite the fact that there were six cautions for 43 laps George beat Donnie Lia by .70 seconds. Zack Sylvester, a rookie on the tour, did an outstanding job as he came from a 14th starting spot to finish third. Jamie Tomaino and Ricky Fuller rounded out the top five. Preston Connecticut car owner Art Barry must have been shaking his head wondering if he made a mistake by putting Sean Caisse in his car. During one of the early cautions Caisse was attempting to scrub the rubber off his tires when he hit his team car, which resulted in damage to both Barry team cars. Quick repairs got Kenny Barry back in competition without losing a lap and he eventually finished 13th. Sixth through tenth were Jerry Marquis, Rob Summers, Tony Hirschman, Todd Szegedy and Cravenho. Eddie Flemke Jr. continued to lead the race for the championship with 1400 points. Second, with 1342 points was former champion Tony Hirschman. Third was Jerry Marquis with 1307.
The Busch North Series was at the Waterford Speedbowl also on Saturday night. Mike Johnson led from pole to pole in what had to be considered a yawner. Mike Stefanik finished second with Matt Kobyluck, third. There were 24 cars on hand.
The Stafford Motor Speedway conducted a bold experiment on Wednesday, July 14 when they presented what was labeled as Extreme Wednesday. Instead of the usual bill of fare of SK Modifieds, Late Models and DARE Stocks the Arute family brought in the ISMA Supermodifieds and NEMA Midgets. Despite threatening weather the event drew a real good crowd, estimated to be in the neighborhood of 6,000, which would leave one to believe that the program will be repeated in 2005. Ted Christopher, the winning-est driver at Stafford, played a major role as he competed and provided a lot of excitement in both the Supermodified 80 lapper and the Midget 30 lapper. In the Supermodified event Christopher drove from a seventh place start to the lead by lap five and had it not been for a fuel starvation problem could very well have won. Chris Perley of Rowley Mass took the lead from a slowing Christopher on lap 30 and went on to lap the entire 26-car starting field with the exception of the top four. Mike Ordway finished second with Bentley Warren, Scott Martel and Rick Wentworth rounded out the top five. Christopher, who dropped out on lap 44, finished 19th. In the 30 lap NEMA feature Nokie Fornoro went from pole to pole to take the win. It was Christopher again that provided a lot of excitement as he put his mount in a three wide situation on more than one occasion. Christopher ended up third behind runner-up Mark Buonomo. Mike LaJoie was the Pro-4 modified winner.
Todd Ceravolo got a little closer to claiming his second Sunoco Modified SK-type championship at the Thompson Speedway on Thursday night as he made it two feature wins in a row. Taking the lead from Eric Berndt after a lap 12 re-start, Ceravolo made a determined run from there and was able to stave off the pressure applied by Berndt in the closing laps. Berndt finished second. Bo Gunning finished third after recovering from a semi-spin earlier in the event. Ted Christopher, who still leads the point standings by 8 over Ceravolo, finished fourth after coming back from a pit stop. Bert Marvin rounded out the top five. Jeff Malave, who was currently third in points, finished sixth. Malave was put to the rear shortly after a lap 12 re-start. David Berghman went two for two in Pro Stock action. Berghman, the son of three-time NASCAR Modified Champion Bugsy Stevens, won the night’s regular feature plus a make-up event from June 17. Other Thursday Night Thunder winners were Scott Michalski in the Mini-Stocks, Jeff Hartwell in the Late Models and Norm Ashline in the Limited Sportsman.
Up until Friday night, only two competitors, Ted Christopher at Stafford and Todd Ceravolo at Thompson, were able to record back to back wins. Christopher got one up on Ceravolo as he made it three in a row in SK Modified competition at Stafford on Friday night. Starting deep in the field of the 40-lap feature, Christopher dodged the bullets to take the lead from John Sandberg on lap 34. When Sandberg faded Lloyd Agor moved into second spot in the closing moments and attempted to take Christopher out. Agor’s move backfired as he found himself spinning to the infield. Sandberg moved back into second and secured his best finish of the 2004 season. Mike Quintiliano won his fourth Late Model feature of the year and Stacey Botticello secured her first win in the Dare Stocks.
While the Busch North Series event Waterford on Saturday night lacked excitement the SK Modified feature more than made up for it. Rookie driver Mark Pane started on the pole and was well on his way to his first win when the entire complexion of the 35-lap feature changed. Tom Fox, while running second, used every trick he could think of to get by as Pane blocked his every move. Coming out of the fourth turn on the final lap Fox made one final attempt to make an outside pass. Pane moved up to block but Fox had got his nose in and wasn’t about to lift. The two made contact and lost enough momentum, which allowed Dennis Charette to dive low and take the win. Just as Charette took the win, Pane, who had bounced off of Fox, clipped the right rear of Cherette’s car sending him into a spin and ultimately into the wall, trashing the winning mount. Pane ended up in second spot with Pane, third. Jeff Pearl, Dennis Gada and Ed Reed Jr. rounded out the top six. Corey Hutchings, who trashed a car after suffering tire failure a week ago, took the Late Model feature. Allen Coates finished second. Phil Rondeau crossed the finish line in third spot but was put to the rear by Track Steward Bill Roberts. Roberts made the decision based on the fact that Rondeau was overly aggressive during the event. Mark St. Hillaire ended up with third spot. Ed Gertsch won the 20 lap Sportsman feature and Joe Bavolocco won the Mini-Stock feature.
The Nextel Cup division and the Busch Racing Series of NASCAR were off for weekend. Dale Earnhardt Jr suffered second degree burns to his face and arms when a Corvette he was driving at the Infenion Raceway hit a barrier and burst into flames. NASCAR made it official on Thursday when they announced that starting at the next event in Loudon, all Nextel Cup events would finish at speed under the green flag. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that thousands of fans had been unhappy when races were completed under caution. The showed their dislike by throwing everything from beer cans to chicken bones on the track. Crew chiefs will now have to re-calculate their fuel mileage in order to be prepared for a further than posted race distance. Word had it that NASCAR was close to announcing that they hoped to be racing in the New York Metro area. The sanctioning body had been looking at a site on Staten Island and it appeared that the project would start in the near future. Needless to say it didn’t. NASCAR didn’t pay the right people off and the project never got off the ground.
Fifteen years ago in 2009, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour continued on “Summer Break before heading for the Riverhead Raceway on August 1. While the Whelen Modifieds continued to race for paltry purses at some tracks, teams that compete in the DIRT Car series had recently raced in a 100 lap event at the Cayuga County Fair Speedway in New York for a $100,000 purse that paid the winner $20,000. NASCAR rants and raves about the Modifieds and the great shows they put on yet they continued to throw crumbs their way. The recent Modified tour event at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway was clearly the best show of the weekend. Their racing purse was the least of those in competition. A recent edition of Area Auto Racing News, a highly respected trade paper based in New Jersey, stated that the total purse payout at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway was $7,005,549. The Sprint Cup purse consumed the lion’s share at $5,423,189. The Nationwide Series collected $1,197,559. The Camping World Series East purse was $217,884 and at the bottom of the barrel were the Modifieds whose purse totaled $166,917. In comparison to other Modified Tour events the New Hampshire purse was a good one. Based on the level of competition and the quality of the racing something was definitely wrong here. Hopefully those in charge at New Hampshire would correct this!
In Thursday Night Thunder action at the Thompson Speedway the Sunoco Modifieds seem to want to self destruct as numerous wrecks continue to plague the division. A lot of it is attributed to rough driving that continues to go unchecked by officials in charge of the racing program. Bump and run, bonsai the leader, knock him out of the way is the norm. If its ok for the NASCAR Cup drivers to do it I guess its ok for the local guys to do it. Hopefully Richard Brooks and Ben Dodge will read the riot act to the competitors and take action if necessary.
Thompson International Speedway implemented the new NASCAR rule where the leader decides if they want to restart on the inside or the outside. With weather moving in the action was hot and heavy. The rains came within minutes of the final checker flag of the evening. The TIS Modifieds did double duty as they ran two features, the Super Late Models had their 50 lap extra distance race. Ted Christopher took down a highly contested win in Sunoco Modified action. Larry Barnett continued his domination in the Limited Sportsman division. Tommy O’Sullivan took down his first Late Model victory of the season as did Scott Michalski in the Mini Stocks.
Kerry Malone led the field to the green flag in Sunoco Modified action. Jimmy Blewett grabbed the lead on lap 1. Malone had heavy pressure from Woody Pitkat who went low and took the spot on lap 3. Pitkat then glued himself to Blewetts’s back bumper. A lap later he went low and took the lead; however, Blewett wasn’t giving up easily. Ted Christopher now joined the fray in fourth and brought Keith Rocco with him. Rocco dove low under Christopher and took over the fourth spot and on the backstretch took over third. The action was slowed by a spin by John Catania.
On the restart Blewett jumped out to the lead but Josh Sylvester made heavy contact with the wall in between turns 1 and 2. When they went back to green, Blewett went back to the lead but Pitkat went high and took over the top spot bringing Rocco with him. Christopher went high on Blewett and took over third. Rocco took over the top spot after making slight contact with Pitkat. Christopher followed Rocco and grabbed second. Tim Sullivan had made his way up to the fifth spot. Just past halfway Christopher went low and took over the lead for a split second over Rocco who then took the spot back. Christopher inherited the lead when contact between Pitkat and Rocco sent Rocco hard into the wall in turns 1 & 2.
With the green back in the air, Christopher came across the line first. In almost the same spot where Rocco just hit, Harry Rheaume made hard contact with the wall. TC and Pitkat restarted their battle with the green flag back in the air. Sullivan went low and took the third spot from Rowan Pennink. On lap 21 Pitkat went low and took over the top spot. A spin by Rick D’Abate slowed the field again his machine onto pit road for some attention. Pitkat took the inside for the restart. It was a smart move as he took off with Christopher falling back. Christopher went low and retook the spot. Pitkat wasn’t giving up and battled back. He was looking high and low lap after lap. Pennink made contact with the backstretch wall slowing the field again. At lap 26 it was a single file restart. Christopher again took the lead but again Pitkat wasn’t going to lie down and give up. He looked high in turn 4, low in turn 1 and applied the pressure. Bert Marvin had moved his way up to fourth. After taking the white flag, Pitkat took the lead but he and Christopher made contact between 3 and 4 and TC took down the win. Tim O’Sullivan ended up in second spot and was followed by Bert Marvin, Woody Pitkat, Rick Shawn, Kerry Malone, Jimmy Blewett, Todd Ceravolo, Danny Cates and Wayne Arute.
Keith Rocco recovered from his wreck at Thompson to record his fourth win of the season at the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night. Tom Butler took down his first feature win at Stafford since 2006 in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Earl Pelletier was a first time 2009 winner in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Andrew Durand took home his fourth victory of the 2009 season in the in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Jeff Jolly became the 9th different winner in as many features this season in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
The 40-lap SK Modified® feature took the green with Wade Mattesen powering to the outside of Joe Allegro, Jr. to take the lead. Allegro settled into second with Matt Gallo, Zach Sylvester, and Richie Pallai, Jr. making up the top-5. Sylvester quickly moved to third, with Tom Bolles taking fourth and Curt Brainard moving into fifth place. Mattesen had things well in hand out front, but the action was slowed for the first time with 18 laps complete for a spin by Willie Hardie on the frontstretch. Ted Christopher and Brad Hietala spun on the restart to bring the caution back out. The lap-19 restart saw Rocco power past Mattesen to take over the race lead. The field completed one lap before Christopher and Allegro went around in turn 2 to bring the yellow back out. Rocco charged to the lead on the restart with Mark Bakaj second, Jeff Malave third, Doug Coby fourth and Frank Ruocco fifth. The field ran in line until lap-26 when Bakaj got loose in turn 4 and touched wheels with Coby, which sent both cars spinning and brought the caution back out.
After several more caution periods from lap-27 to lap-29, Rocco was still out front, with Malave, Donny Travaglin, Woody Pitkat, and Christopher behind him. The leaders ran in single file until lap-26 when Travaglin made a move to the inside of Malave for second, which allowed Christopher to follow Travaglin past Malave. Christopher and Malave would both get back by Travaglin in the last couple laps, but it was all Rocco at the front as he scored his fourth feature victory of the 2009 season. Christopher finished second, with Malave, Travaglin, and Pitkat rounding out the top-5.
True Value Modified Racing Series point leader Jon McKennedy roared to his third win of the season and his sixth career victory Saturday night, July 18, as he captured the “Maine-ly Sports 100” at the Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, ME. McKennedy, fast in earlier practice sessions, won his qualifying heat, and started on the pole in the 100 lap event. McKennedy jumped into the lead from his pole starting position and held it until passed by Rob Goodenough on lap 17. Andy Seuss took over the top spot on the 43rd lap and held off the constant challenges of Goodenough, and then McKennedy, until lap 77. McKennedy, using lapped traffic to his advantage, grabbed the top spot from Seuss. McKennedy then set a torrid pace to go on and score the win.
Dwight Jarvis who started 16th in the field, finished in a respectable runner-up spot, with David, Pinkham, last years race winner, finishing third. Pinkham started last in a 22 car field. Seuss finished fourth, with Eddie Dachenhasuen, making a late race charge finishing fifth. The race, slowed by only two caution flags on laps 16 and 98, was run off in just 28 minutes.
The racing action at Waterford Speedbowl took on a different look as the regular Saturday night divisions had the night off. The first ever Saturday Wild ‘n Wacky racing event took place at Waterford Speedbowl under sunny and warm conditions. The Legends Car series was in the spotlight, competing in a national qualifier event with the winner earning a guaranteed berth in the Raceceiver Legends Nationals at Georgia’s Lanier Speedway in October. Berlin, CT competitor Jason Palmer continued his domination in the division this year, bouncing back from early race trouble to secure the win. Ledyard’s Charles Beal won his second consecutive Super X-Car race, Willington’s John Bowes dominated the X-Car event, and David Flammia Jr. of Waterbury was the late benefactor in winning the X-Modified race. Tyler Chalue won the Bandolero race.
The Seekonk Speedway ran their annual Open Modified 100 on Wednesday, July 15. Chris Pasteryak started 8th and after dogging Mike Stefanik for many laps, passed him for the lead and eventual win on lap 85. For his efforts Pasteryak collected $10,000. Jon McKennedy finished second and was followed by Jimmy Kuhn, Stefanik and Matt Hirschman.
Kyle Busch dominated the NASCAR Nationwide Series again, cruising to victory in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 on Saturday. Reed Sorenson finished second and Carl Edwards was third. Mike Bliss and Brad Coleman rounded out the top five. The Nextel Cup division had the week off.
Ten years ago in 2014, The fourth of July weekend began on a wet note as heavy rains from Hurricane Arthur forced officials of the Stafford Motor Speedway to cancel their holiday special. The Inaugural NAPA SK 5k was postponed last Thursday to Friday July 25th due to the impending threat of Hurricane Arthur. The SK 5k, dubbed the biggest race in SK Modified history, will take place in three weeks on July 25th under what will hopefully be beautiful clear skies. Close to three inches of rain was recorded in Connecticut from the storm.
The Valenti Modified Racing Series took on the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH on Saturday night. Richard Savory, who won the series race at Lee NH recently made it two in a row and three for the year. With 28 cars strong, three qualifying heats were run. Savory started 14th and at the half way 50 lap mark was running sixth behind leader Chris Pasteryak. Savory waited until the closing moments as he took the lead with only three laps to go. Pasteryak settled for second withJustin Bonsignore, third. Rowan Pennink who qualified thru the consi came from the rear to finish fourth. Russ Hersey rounded out the top five.
At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, One week ago Bill Park and his team were thrashing on the orange no. 20 in the Riverhead Raceway pit area following a crash in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Hoosier Tire 200 with Todd Szegedy behind the wheel. Seven days later that same orange no. 20 car, albeit with a new white nose, was in Riverhead’s victory lane with Ryan Preece celebrating his second win of the season.
While Preece put down the fastest lap in time-trials earlier in the evening it was clear that he didn’t have the fastest car during the Cromarty Cup 50-lap feature. But as Preece said at the end of the night, sometimes you get lucky, and he ended up winning this race for the second year in a row even with only leading just the last three laps.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Waterford Speedbowl the shoreline oval’s l’s mid-season championship Overdrive Radio 300 event hit the asphalt Saturday night with extra distance racing by the track’s regular six divisions. The big winner was Keith Rocco scoring top honors in the night’s 100-lap SK Modified® main event. Bruce Thomas Jr. won an entertaining 50-lap Valenti Auto Mall Late Model race, while Jeff Smith was a first-time winner in the SK Light Modifieds after an impressive performance. Josh Galvin was back in Victory Lane in the 50-lap Street Stock race and Garrett Denton won his second consecutive race in the night’s 50-lap Mini Stock event. Mike Christopher Jr. won his third straight INEX Legend Cars race to round out the winners.
Rocco, the class of the field, as he methodically picked his way through the top ten until he landed in the lead on lap-34. He was in control the rest of the way to pick up his seventh win of the year in the division. Rob Janovic put forth a strong effort to wind up runner-up. Jeff Rocco had a solid outing to run among the top-three all race and finish third with limited appearances in the division in 2014. Tyler Chadwick and Kyle James completed the top-five.
A big spike was driven into the heart of the speedbowl early in the evening when an official with his mouth drove Sid DiMaggio and his crew out of the track which they have done so much for no pay. A Waterford Speedbowl rule states “No crew member could touch a car after it crossed the inspection pad for time trials”. Evidently an official got his jockey shorts twisted when an adjustment was made to an in-car camera. Fans were sad to learn that the Sids Vault team has left the Bowl. With all the free advertisement and promotion the track has received it would be a smart move on the part of track operator Terry Eames to mend the fences that this over zealous official has torn down.
In Modified racing in the Southland, Andy Seuss continues to roll in NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour events at Caraway Speedway. The 27-year-old from Hampstead, New Hampshire, completed the sweep on the day’s on-track events at the .455-mile banked asphalt oval. Seuss was fastest in practice, won his eighth pole Coors Light Pole Award at the track and led every lap en route to winning the Daggett Shuler Attorneys At Law 150 at Caraway. It was his fourth consecutive victory at the track and 10th of his career. Following Seuss was George Brunnhoelzl III, J.R. Bertuccio, Danny Bohn and Kyle Ebersole.
Gary Putnam was sixth, followed by Jason Myers, Bryan Dauzat, Spencer Davis and David Calabrese. The wire-to-wire win was the fifth of Seuss’ career and fourth at Caraway. He won the 2014 season opener in similar fashion. There were 19 cars on hand. Among those who had problems was Burt Myers who completed 72 laps before retiring with electrical problems which placed him 17th.
The Bowman Gray Stadium was quiet for the holiday. On Saturday night 20 southern Modifieds ventured to the Hickory Speedway in North Carolina for the KOMA Unwind American Freedom 125. Zach Brewer took the win over Burt Myers, Bobby Sheffield, Mike Speeney and Jason Myers.
Aric Almirola won a rain-shortened Coke Zero 400 at Daytona Int’l Speedway, which ended after 112 laps and the fourth rain delay of the weekend. In the process, the Richard Petty Motorsports driver collected his first career Sprint Cup victory and the first for car owner Richard Petty’s legendary No. 43 since April 1999. Friday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Subway Firecracker 250 produced another classic Daytona Int’l Speedway finish. Kasey Kahne used a push from Ryan Sieg on the final lap to overtake Regan Smith to win Saturday’s event at Daytona Int’l Speedway by a scant .021 of a second.
Five years ago in 2019, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series had the weekend off in order to prepare for a double header scheduled at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Riverhead Raceway on Long Island ran on Wednesday night. John Beatty Jr who came within inches of winning the July 6 Whelen Modified Tour event got his just due on Wednesday night in a 50-lap midweek special. The win was the 7th of Beatty’s career and in a odd statistical twist 3 of those 7 victories have come on a Wednesday night with John having swept Twin 50 lap NASCAR Modified races in 2018. Second generation driver Chris Young finished second while Kyle Soper claimed third place money. Dave Brigati and Craig Lutz rounded out the top five.
At the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night tour style modifieds took center stage for an 80-lap race around the Connecticut half-mile, Ronnie Williams came home as the big winner, holding off Matt Swanson in a four lap sprint to the finish.
The SK Modified® division ran their regularly scheduled 40-lap feature as well as the 2nd Annual TC 13 Shootout, a 13 lap race contested between the top-13 finishers from the 40-lap feature that paid the winner an extra $1,313 from a purse of nearly $7,000. Stephen Kopcik won the 40-lap SK Modified® feature and Keith Rocco came up the big winner of the TC 13 Shootout. Other feature winners included Tom Fearn in the Late Model feature, Bryan Narducci in the SK Light feature, Alexandra Fearn in the Limited Late Model feature, and Zack Robinson in the Street Stock feature.
In the SK 40 lapper, Kopcik got clear from Rocco and Owen got clear from Cipriano with ten to go. Kopcik then pulled alongside Ron Williams in a fight for the race lead. Kopcik got clear to the lead on lap-33 with Keith Rocco and Williams now side by side for second behind Kopcik with Todd Owen on the back bumpers of Williams and Rocco.
Williams cleared Rocco for second on lap-34 and was all over Kopcik’s bumper looking to retake the lead. Williams dove to the inside of Kopcik into turn 3 on lap-37 but couldn’t make the pass. Rocco and Williams were side by side for second coming to the white flag and Rocco took the spot at the line. Rocco couldn’t get around Kopcik as he took down his first win of the 2019 season. Williams finished third with Owen and Glen Reen rounding out the top-5. Following the completion of the 40-lap feature, Ted Christopher’s niece Nicole redrew the number 7 to invert the top-7 of the 13 cars transferring into the TC Shootout.
In the 13-lap TC Shootout, Joey Cipriano took the lead on lap-1 with Eric Berndt and Todd Owen side by side for second. By lap-3 Owen was in the lead, Cipriano and Keith Rocco were side by side for second, Berndt was fourth and Glen Reen was fifth. Rocco took the lead from Owen on lap-5 but Owen wasn’t going away quietly. Owen ran side by side for a lap with Rocco before nearly executing a crossover move on lap-7. Owen was able to get to the inside of Rocco on lap-8 and he had the lead at the line. Rocco came back to Owen’s inside on lap-10 and took the lead by a nose at the line. Reen was third with Kopcik up to fourth and Cipriano fifth.
The cars came to the white flag with Owen glued to Rocco’s back bumper. Rocco held off Owen’s last ditch effort to take the checkered flag and the $1,313 winner’s purse. Kopcik finished third behind Rocco and Owen with Cipriano and Berndt rounding out the top-5.
In the SK Lites, Bryan Narducci continues to be the real deal as he wracked up his fourt win of the season at Stafford. In an event that went non-stop, Narducci started 15th and took the lead after sliding by Mikey Flynn in turns 1+2 on the final lap.
The Valenti Modified Racing Series was scheduled to run at the Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire on Friday night. When that event was cancelled late in the afternoon some competitors opted to go to Stafford which swelled the field of cars in competition to 30.
Ron Williams got a good run to Todd Owen’s inside on lap-56 and he took the lead on lap-57. With 20 laps to go, the order was Williams in the lead with Eric Goodale, Owen, Matt Swanson, Matt Galko, Chase Dowling, Rocco, Christopher, Molleur, and Gallup making up the top-10.
With 10 laps to go, Williams was slowly stretching out his lead over Goodale in second while Swanson got by Owen to move into third. Dowling was now looking to get by Owen to take fourth with Rocco right behind Dowling. Dowling took fourth on lap-73 and Rocco took fifth from Owen on lap-74 as Williams continued to pull away. Williams’ advantage was erased by the caution for a spin by Kopec in the middle of turns 3+4 with 75 laps complete.
Williams took the lead on the restart with Goodale in second. Owen drifted up the track in turn 4 to lose a couple spots but the race stayed green until a multi car spin brought the caution back out with 76 laps complete.
Williams took the lead while Swanson pulled alongside Goodale for second. Swanson cleared Goodale on lap-78 with Rocco in fourth and Galko in fifth. Goodale and Swanson touched wheels with Goodale going through the grass and rejoining the track to keep the race under green. Williams led Swanson to the checkered flag to pick up the win. Rocco finished third with Galko and Christopher rounding out the top-5.
Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium it was Girls Night Out with all females getting in for $2.00. Jonathan Brown held off James Civali and Burt Myers on Saturday night in the 100-lap race for his first win of the season. Brown started fourth, took the lead on lap 42 after he, Jason Myers, Tim Brown and Danny Bohn made contact coming around turn 4. Jonathan Brown got through unscathed and took first place. There was another caution on lap 59 and Burt Myers moved to second ahead of Civali. Civali slipped past him coming around turn 1 on the restart.
After another caution on lap 81, Jonathan Brown led and bolted past Burt Myers and Civali. Saturday’s race was one of the Fans’ Challenge races in which the top four qualifiers in the Modified Division have the option to go to the back of the field to try to finish in the top four to collect all or a portion of the $3,000 Challenge. Brown elected to do it in the last Challenge in June, but after qualifying second on Saturday, he chose not to do the Fans’ Challenge.
In 100-lap Modified races there’s a full-field redraw anyway, and with double points in all divisions Saturday night, he wanted to take the chance at a straight redraw. Tim Brown was the points leader by 10 points over Myers, but Myers, the nine-time and three-time defending champion, finished runner-up and Tim Brown finished eighth to allow Myers to overtake Tim Brown and lead the points by 10. Jonathan Brown went from fourth place to second and trails Myers by four points.
Last year, 2023, At Stafford on Friday night, fans, competitors and officials were greeted with 84 deg temps and humidity so thick you could cut it with a knife. The Open Modifieds were the main event, going 80 laps, while the SK Modifieds went 40 laps and the SK Lights went 20 laps.
In the GAF Roofing Open 80 there were 17 cars on hand. Needless to say it was Woody Pitkat’s night as he out distanced George Bessette to score his 82nd win at the track which placed him second only to the late Ted Christopher in all-time wins. Starting on the outside pole, Pitkat took the lead from pole sitter George Bessette as they entered turn three on the opening lap. Bessette, who had been parked by officials for over aggressive driving in the SK Light feature, took the lead following a restart on lap 16. Matt Galko chose not to pit during a caution period on lap 29. With fresh rubber Pitkat and Bessette retook the top spots on lap 62 and ran one-two to the finish. Teddy Hogdon finished third with Chris Pasteryak and Glen Rean rounding out the top five.
Keith Rocco ended a long dry spell as he put the Dan Avery owned SK Modified in victory lane by an almost photo finish over Jimmy Blewett. Rocco started fourth and took the lead in turn three on lap two. Rocco took a lot of pressure from Anthony Bello and at one point after a lap 31 restart took the lead. Rocco fought back to regain the lead one lap later. In the meantime, Jimmy Blewett who started ninth, worked his way into third spot with Todd Owen in tow. Following a restart on Lap 33 Blewett moved into the runner-up spot and tried every trick in the book to overtake Rocco who would not be denied the win. Bello tangled with Owen on the last lap which allowed Owen to move into third. RJ Marcotte took over the fourth spot and Mike Flynn the fifth spot while Bello recovered from his confrontation to finish sixth.
The win by Rocco took him to a career overall total of 304 wins which also include 154 victories at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, 71 at Thompson and 79 at Stafford Speedway.
Tyler Barry and his dad spent the week re-building his car and their efforts paid off as Tyler won the SK Light 20 lapper. Barry took the lead on lap 6. Nick Anglace finished second with Jason Chapman, third. Brian Sullivan, who started 14th finished fourth.
In other Stafford action, Tom Fearn scored in the Late Model feature. It was Fearn’s 64th win in the division and 81st overall which placed him third on the all-time win list. Jeremy Lavoie won the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Downey took the Street Stock feature.
The long awaited 2023 SRX Series season opens on Thursday, July 13 at the Stafford Speedway. It marks the third consecutive year the series will run at Stafford and has sold out. The series will run for six consecutive Thursday nights at 9:00pm, with all events broadcast on ESPN. The division is making its first appearance at Thunder Road Speedbowl in Barre, VT on July 20. Other venues include Motor Mile Speedway in Fairlawn, Va (July 27), Berlin Raceway in Grand Rapids, Mich. (Aug. 3), Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Oh. (Aug. 10) and Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. (Aug. 17).
Ken Schrader joins a full-time lineup that already includes Marco Andretti, Hallie Deegan, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart and Paul Tracy.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour rolled into the Wall Stadium in New Jersey for the Jersey Shore 150 on Saturday night. In some good news it was learned that Anthony Noscella would be back on the Whelen Modified Tour driving the Russel Goodale No.46. Twenty two cars were on hand this hot and sultry night. Wall Stadium was modeled after the now gone Lonsdale Sports Arena that was located just outside Providence, RI. The competition at Wall was very fast and intense with non-stop excitement
Ron Silk, hot off his win at Riverhead, continued his streak as he slugged it out with Justin Bonsignore in front of a packed house. Silk, who started 11th, was in the top five before Lap 50 and took the lead for the first time on Lap 90 from pole-sitter Austin Beers. Bonsignore was able to get around Silk on a restart with 21 laps left, but the race was slowed multiple times by cautions, one of which took out Beers and Eric Goodale on the backstretch.
The final caution of the evening waved with 10 laps left with Bonsignore still leading Silk, setting up a five-lap dash to the checkered flag. Bonsignore was able to pull clear of Silk through Turns 1-2, but Silk used his bumper to move Silk out of the way entering Turn 3 to regain the race lead. Silk led the remainder of the race, though Bonsignore did everything in his power to return the favor. He gave Silk a big shot to the bumper with three laps left in Turn 3, but it wasn’t enough to regain the lead.
Six-time Modified Tour champion Doug Coby appeared to have a faster car than that of Silk and nearly got by him with 42 laps to go but contact with the slower car of Anthony Nocella took Coby out of contention just as he was making the pass for the lead. It didn’t appear intentional, but Coby was quite upset as he expressed his displeasure. Coby had also spun on lap 99 when he attempted to go under Silk
Wall regular Eddie McCarthy earned a career-best finish in third, with Anthony Sesely and Andrew Krause completing the top five. Coby finished sixth, followed by Matt Hirschman, Blake Barney, Beers and Dave Sapienza. One of the pre-race favorites Matt Hirschman had an “Off Night”. Hirschman, who had qualified third was running second on lap 43 when passed by Justin Bonsignore.
A replay of the Jersey Shore 150 will broadcast on Saturday, July 15 at 11 a.m. ET on CNBC.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to action next Saturday, July 15 with the running of the Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The green flag is scheduled to wave shortly after 6 p.m. ET, with every lap available live on FloRacing.
Nearly 16 years to the day, JR Bertuccio returned to NASCAR Modified victory lane Saturday at the Riverhead Raceway when he led wire to wire in a non-stop 50-lap feature. Michael Rutkoski was second. Chris Young was third, Justin Brown and Mark Stewart completed the top five.
Down on the Connecticut shoreline at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Todd Owen made it two in a row in the SK Modifieds. Owen took the lead from Kyle James on a restart with two laps remaining and went on to win the 35-lap feature Saturday. At the finish Rob Janovic moved into second as James faded to third. Anthony Flannery finished fourth with Eric Berndt, fifth. Tom Abele was the SK Lite winner.
The Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina provided another hot night of racing. The driver with one of the best nicknames at Bowman Gray Stadium, “The Showstopper,” was all of that and more on Saturday night in front of nearly 12,000. Chris Fleming, who will turn 60 years old on Wednesday, July 12, has a lot left in his tank and he proved it by winning the 100 lap Modified race holding off the rest of the field that included Burt Myers and Tim Brown. Fleming had the fastest car in qualifying, drew the pole, and was the leader throughout.
In NASCAR cup action at Atlanta, William Byron surged past AJ Allmendinger into the lead on Lap 167 and remained out front until an accident in Turn 3 involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece and Bubba Wallace caused the seventh caution of the evening on Lap 178. With Byron out front, the NASCAR Cup Series cars circled the track until the rain arrived and began falling more heavily. NASCAR brought the cars to pit road and red-flagged the race at 9:47 p.m. after 185 of a scheduled 260 laps were complete.With severe weather moving into the area, the sanctioning body called the race and made Byron the first four-time winner in the series this season. The victory was Byron’s second at Atlanta and the eighth of his career.
Preece, who had been running in the top ten, finished 24th.
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).
