Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1949, Ronnie Kling was the winner at the Buffalo Civic Center in New York. Seekonk rained out.
Seventy years ago in 1954, Joe McNulty was the Wednesday night Sportsman winner at the New London Waterford Speedbowl. Lou Tetreault continued his win streak as he made it three in a row in non-Ford action at the shoreline oval. Double features were run on Saturday night at Waterford with Moe Gherzi and Dom DeLaura taking Sportsman wins and John Chiangi and George LaChapelle taking wins in the non-Fords. At Seekonk, Norm Bonaface was the A division winner and George Smaldone was the B division winner.
Sixty five years ago in 1959, Japanese driver George Tet halted George Janoski’s win streak at Stafford Springs Speedway as he won the Friday night Modified feature on the dirt at the Connecticut oval. On the asphalt at the New London Waterford Speedbowl Bill Slater was the Wednesday night Sportsman winner and Don Collins was the Saturday night Sportsman winner. Dick Beauregard and Tom Sutcliff were the non-Ford winners. At Seekonk, Don Hall was the A division winner.
Sixty years ago in 1964, Kenny Shoemaker ruled the roost as he won on the dirt at Stafford Springs on Friday night over Gene Bergin and Irv Taylor. Wild Bill Slater was the big winner at Norwood on Saturday night. Other weekend winners were Bob Rossell at Old Bridge, Irv Taylor at Fonda, Al Hansen at Islip and Ernie Gahan at Victoria. Sal Dee (Delucia) won his first ever Modified feature at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Ken Dayton was the 30 lap A main winner at Seekonk. Frank Faria was the 15 lap Cadet winner.
Fifty five years ago in 1969, Eddie Flemke was the Friday night winner at Stafford. Don Flynn finished second and was followed by Sal Dee, Leo Cleary in the Koszela 15 and Ray Miller. Albany-Saratoga ran twin events and Lou Lazzaro was unstoppable as he won both. The first event saw Dick Clark finish second with Rene Charland, Bobby Santos and Jerry Cook following. In the nightcap, Andy Romano finished second and was followed by Bugsy Stevens. Flemke made it two for two as he won at Norwood on Saturday. Fred DeSarro finished second with Freddie Schulz, third. Rain washed out the Fonda 200 as Cliff Tyler was winning at Islip and Guy Chartrand was winning at Airborne Park. Newt Palm was the Modified winner at Waterford. Bill Anderson was the A division winner at Seekonk. Walt Tripp was the B division winner. Lazzaro made it three for three as he won at Utica-Rome on Sunday and at Thompson on Sunday Bugsy Stevens showed the way. Noted car owner Mario Fiore scored his first ever win as the late Gary Colturi put his Late Model in victory lane at Westboro.
Fifty years ago in 1974, Riverhead ran a 100 lapper on Wednesday, which saw Joe Krukowski, take an upset over Charlie Jarzombek and Junior Ambrose. Freeport ran a 200 on Friday night, which saw Geoff Bodine take the win on the flat 1/4-mile oval. Richie Evans finished second with Bugs Stevens and Maynard Troyer following. Saturday night action at Islip, Waterford and Stafford rained out. George Murray took the Modified win at Seekonk. Flash Flannagan was the B division winner.At Shangri-La, Mike Loescher took the win with Don Diffendorf finishing second. Merv and Roger Treichler finished one-two at Lancaster, also on Saturday. In Sunday action, Maynard Troyer beat out Richie Evans at Fulton and at Thompson, Fred DeSarro and Eddie Flemke finished one-two.
Forty five years ago in 1979, Geoff Bodine was leading the closing laps of a 100 lapper at Stafford when he missed a shift on a restart which allowed Richie Evans to sneak in to take the win. Bodine managed to finish second and was followed across the stripe by Bugsy Stevens and Ronnie Bouchard. It was a good weekend for Evans as he also scored wins at New Egypt, Holland and Shangri-La. A bad storm washed out all events in New England on Saturday and Sunday. Other weekend winners were Doug Hewitt at Spencer, Dwight Jarvis at Claremont and Roger Treichler at Lancaster.
Forty years ago in 1984, Thompson ran a 100 lap modified event on Wednesday. Richie Evans pitted on lap 48 and blasted his way to the front to take the lead from Jim Spencer on lap 68 and never looked back. Spencer faded and was overtaken by Reggie Ruggiero and Brett Bodine. Wayne Dion was the SK modified winner. Bob Polverari was in the spotlight at Stafford on Friday night as he beat out Jeff Fuller for the win. Riverhead ran an 84-lap national championship event also on Friday. Island favorite Don Howe took the win over Tom Baldwin, Spencer and Evans. The action switched to Islip on Saturday night where John Blewett Jr. won a 200-lap event over Spencer and Bob Park. Other weekend winners were Gomer Taylor at Waterford, Billy Griffin at Spencer and Tony Siscone at New Egypt.
Thirty five ago in 1989, the only action in the northeast was at Thompson where Reggie Ruggiero won a 100 lapper over Doug Hevron, George Kent and Mike Stefanik. Rain washed out all weekend racing. The racing world was saddened with the announcement that Tim Richmond died as a result of aids at the age of 34 on August 13.
Thirty years ago in 1994, Stafford ran twin events with Bo Gunning and Frank Wainwright taking the wins. Gunning was taken to the hospital during the running of the second event after a bad crash with Richie Gallup. Racing at Waterford was cancelled after 11 laps were completed when Ted Christopher hit the fence, after riding over a wheel, getting airborne and almost taking out the starters stand. Reggie Ruggiero won at Riverside and it was John Fortin over Chuck Stuer at Riverhead. A Mod Tour event scheduled for Thompson on Sunday was rained out. Mark Martin cleaned house in Michigan as he won both BGN and Winston Cup events there.
Twenty five years ago, in 1999, Thompson ran a 100 lapper for the SK’s on Thursday night. Bert Marvin took the win after early leader Scott Quinn ran into a lapped car. Kerry Malone finished second with Jamie Asklar, third. At Stafford on Friday night, Willie Hardie took the win over Lloyd Agor and at Waterford it rained. John Fortin won at Riverhead and at Watkins Glenn, Ted Christopher passed Tony Hirschman to take the win. Hirschman finished second with Tim Connolly, third. Bryan Wall was the Busch North winner
Twenty years ago in 2004, a scheduled Wednesday night Featherlite Modified Tour Series event at the Stafford Speedway drew 47 Modifieds but had the misfortune of getting rained out. In a somewhat childish move the Stafford management informed its announcing team that they were not to mention that Bob Garbarino was the owner of the Mystic Missile that was driven at the time by Chuck Hossfeld. The Stafford management was upset over the fact that Garbarino had forced Hossfeld to give up his Friday night SK Modified ride as he was acquiring too many bad habits by running an SK at Stafford.
At the Thompson Speedway Bo Gunning, in the Eddie Partridge entry, took the Thursday night Thunder Sunoco Modified win. Kerry Malone finished second with Bert Marvin, third. Ted Christopher had a rough night as he wrecked two cars.
Stafford’s regular Friday night program rained out.
Eddie Reed Jr took the Saturday night SK Modified win over Ron Yuhas Jr, Rob Janovic and Dennis Gada. Sal Accardi was the winner at the Riverhead Raceway.
The NASCAR Cup division was at the Watkins Glen Speedway. Tony Stewart, suffering with stomach flu, took the win but was unable to go to victory lane as he had a personal accident within his drivers suit.
On a sad note, NEAR Hall of Fame member Dynamite Ollie Silva passed away at the age of 75. Silva, who won over 500 features, was a headliner for the New England Supermodified Racing Association (NESMRA) for years. A pedal to the metal racer, Silva had his racing career cut short after he hit a tree on the backstretch at the Monadnock Speedway in 1978.
Fifteen years ago in 2009, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series was at the Thompson Speedway on Thursday night for the New England Dodge Dealers presentation of the Budweiser 150. A generous purse of $84,168 was posted for the event. Day long misty conditions and a forecast of heavy rain for the evening forced NASCAR officials and the Thompson Speedway management to postpone the event to Thursday night, September 3.
In Friday night action at Stafford, Ted Christopher was the winner in the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Ryan Posocco was the winner in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Brit Andersen was the winner in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Kevin Gambacorta won the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Barry Fluckinger was the winner in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
At the Waterford Speedbowl, the 2nd annual Wings ‘n Wheels event was run in front of a packed house of fans on a hot summer night. Scoring victories were Tyler Chadwick in the SK Modifieds, Lou Cicconi in the ultra fast ISMA SuperModifieds, Rowan Pennink in the True Value Modifieds and Russ Stoehr in the NEMA Midgets. It was a long night as racing at the shoreline oval concluded at 12:20am on Sunday morning.
The SK Modified feature turned into a rolling demolition derby with many of the top contenders being knocked out of the event. Justin Gaydosh and Tom Abele Jr. shared the front row of the 25 lap event. Gaydosh moved out to the lead but the first of eight cautions waved on lap four when Dennis Charette spun out of the back half of the top five after contact entering turn one, collecting Josh Sylvester who was making his first Speedbowl appearance. Sylvester was done for the night. Eventual winner Chadwick, actually spun in turn one to bring out the second caution early in the event. He benefited by a series of multi-car incidents at the front of the field in the first ten laps, improving his position back to within striking distance.
The first of the key incidents occurred when Corey Hutchings challenged Gaydosh in the outside groove. The pair raced a little too hard for the lead, causing Hutchings to spin across the front stretch. He clipped Rob Janovic Jr which blocked the track. The wreck also collected point leader Keith Rocco and 2007 division Rookie of the Year Glenn Pressel III. The Janovic, Hutchings, and Pressel machines received extensive damage and retired from the event. Dennis Gada and Yuhas were the new front row when racing resumed. But before a lap could be completed Gada lost a left rear tire, sending him spinning into turn three wall. The field finally got some competitive racing in when the action resumed. Yuhas pulled out to the lead with Chadwick becoming a serious factor. He moved to second around the outside of Jeff Pearl on lap 12. Jeff Paul followed Chadwick into third. Chadwick was all over the leader by lap 16. Further back, Rocco was looking to re-enter the top five after his earlier incident on the back bumper of Charette. Rocco found his way past on lap 19 after looking in both the high and low grooves.
Chadwick made a daring inside maneuver entering turn one on lap 25 to pull alongside Yuhas. He completed the pass to claim sole possession of lead as the field hit the stripe the next time around. Chadwick had to master one final restart to go on to his first win of the season, coming after taking a week off to regroup. Yuhas, Paul, Pearl, and Rocco completed the top-five.
Rowan Pennick took advantage of Mike Stefanik’s soured engine and went on to record his first victory in the True Value Modified Series. Stefanik looked strong through the latter stages when signs of smoke started to show from his #66 machine. Pennink capitalized when the motor began to falter, Stefanik pulling low off turn four with seven laps remaining. Pennink went on to his first series win and is the eighth different winner in as many True Value Modified events held at the ‘Bowl. Chris Pasteryak came back from a mid-race pit stop to claim second and Kenny Horton scored his best effort in the series finishing third. Stefanik ended up in 15th spot. Rob Goodenough and Jacob Dore rounded out the top five.
Young driving sensation Ryan Morgan of Mystic, CT raced for the first time at Seekonk Speedway driving a “Allison Legacy” car. These cars are third scale NASCAR Sprint Cup cars running a sealed Mazda engine capable of speeds reaching 125-130 MPH. Morgan started the 25 lap feature event last, in sixteenth position, at the drop of the green he moved forward and was in fifth spot by lap thirteen when he was hit in the rear by another car, after a quick trip to the pits for repairs, he restarted in the rear again. As the raced progressed, Morgan worked to the front again and with three laps remaining was in second position, however, because of the earlier damage that shifted the rear more than four inches, he was not able to hold the car in the low part of the race track and settled for fourth at the stripe.
With Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch fighting it out on the final lap, Ron Keselowski swooped in to grab the lead in the final turn and hold on to the Nationwide Series race Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. Vickers finished second and Busch third, and they exchanged some heated words on pit road afterward.
After a surprising gamble on gas by his crew chief Ryan Pemberton, Vickers drove conservatively to conserve fuel on Sunday. Then he pounced when race leader Jimmie Johnson’s tank ran dry, taking the lead with two laps to go and holding on to win Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway,
Ten years ago in 2014, It was heard on the grapevine that the management of the Seekonk Speedway was putting a plan in place to add Modifieds to their Saturday night schedule in 2015. A lot of this depended on what the future held after the impending auction sale of the Waterford Speedbowl property which is slated for October.
The New England Antique Auto Racing Hall of Fame inductees for 2014 were announced. Inductees included drivers Deke Astle, Jim Martel, Mike Rowe, Fred Schulz, Ron Wyckoff, drag racing icon Bob Tasca, historian R.A. Silvia and car builder/mechanic Dave Tourigny. They, along with the still to be announced pioneer class, would be inducted at NEAR’s 16th Hall of Fame banquet Sunday, Nov. 16th, at The Lodge at Maneeley’s in South Windsor, CT.
The Sunoco Modifieds reclaimed center stage at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP) for their 20/20 Sprint event on Whelen Night, this past Wednesday, July 30th. A real good crowd turned out for the mid-week event. Ryan Preece took advantage of missteps from his competition to claim victory in a special 20/20 Sprint event of the Sunoco (SK) Modified Series.
The first segment saw Thompson regular Keith Rocco dominate while another Thompson Speedway regular and current Sunoco Modified points leader Ryan Preece battled Kerry Malone and Woody Pitkat for position in the top four. Pitkat dropped out with mechanical issues. Malone ended up second with Todd Ceravolo, third and Preece, fourth. Preece started on the pole with Rocco on the outside. Rocco’s luck ran out in the second segment as his car slowed on lap 11 as it lost power. Preece, who had taken the lead on lap 9, never looked back as he went on to take the win over Cam McDermott, Todd Ceravolo and Kerry Malone.
Preece went pole to pole to win the final 10 lap sprint. Malone finished second with McDermott, third and Ceravolo, fourth. The over-all finish saw Preece as the winner with Malone second, McDermott, third, Ceravolo, fourth and Troy Talman, fifth.
Other Wednesday night winners were, Jeff Smith in the Late Models, Joe Baxter in the Mini Stocks and Corey Hutchings in the Limited Sportsman. The final checkered flag dropped at 9:00pm sending fans and competitors home at an early hour.
The heavy rain that blanketed New England last weekend held off long enough for the Stafford Motor Speedway to get in their Friday night card of auto racing. Rowan Pennink made it two in a row by winning the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Joey Ferrigno spun and then won the 20-lap SK Light feature with a last lap pass, Duane Provost scored his third win of the season in the Limited Late Model feature, Brandon Michael scored his first win of the season in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature, and Dana DiMatteo became the first repeat Legend cars feature winner of the season in the 20-lap race. Jim Peterson used a mid-race pit stop under caution to his advantage to adjust the handling on his car and he charged his way back through the field to win the 60-lap Xtra Mart Xtra D Late Model feature.
Pennink led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his second consecutive SK Modified® victory of the season. Preece beat Rocco to the checkered flag by a nose fro second, with Williams, and Avery rounding out the top-5.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Waterford Speedbowl the shoreline oval overcame a slow start to the day due to early rain Saturday, but rebounded for another night of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action. The racing was highlighted by an extra-distance feature for the SK Modified® division, which was claimed by Keith Rocco, who turned in a record setting performance. A pair of drivers picked up their ninth wins of the year, Rocco again in the Valenti Auto Mall Late Model division and Josh Galvin in the Street Stocks. Joining them in the winner’s circle were Corey Barry and Ken Cassidy Jr. each winning for the fifth time of the season in the SK Light Modified and Mini Stock divisions, respectively. Dan Meservey Jr. won the Pro 4 Modifieds of New England feature.
Rocco’s SK Modified® win was the 63rd of his career. More significantly, that makes him the division’s all-time wins leader in the track’s 64-year history. Overall, his grand total shakes out at 98 wins which include his late model victories. Rocco dodged early incidents which plagued the 40-lap feature, eliminating multiple cars from competition. The race began with Jeff Gallup and Craig Lutz on the front row but only one lap was completed before Shawn Monahan was collected in bumper tag throughout the field, bringing out the yellow flag.
Gallup briefly led before Lutz got around him on lap-3. Tim Jordan moved into second position and Ed Puleo third before Ted Christopher got caught up in a skirmish on the backstretch to bring out the caution flag on lap-8. A major incident occurred after the restart among cars battling for a spot among the top five. Several cars wrecked in turn one on lap-9 including Nichole Morgillo, Kyle James, Rob Janovic Jr., Jeff Rocco and Jeff Goodale, who were each done for the evening with considerable damage. Keith Rocco also received damage in the wreck, however he stayed on the race track.
Jordan got by the outside of Lutz on the next restart, leading lap-10. Lutz and Puleo made contact entering turn one on lap-12 sending Lutz around, dropping both from the lead cars as caution waved again. Rocco jumped up to third for the ensuing restart, then moved to second on lap-13 on the inside of Paul Kusheba. He stayed on Jordan’s rear bumper until he found room to his inside on lap-15, pulling into the lead. The remainder of the race ran without another yellow flag and the field fired off the final stretch of laps under the green flag. Jordan finished runner-up and Tyler Chadwick was third. Kusheba and Diego Monahan completed the top five.
With the win, Rocco moved ahead of Dennis Gada to ascend to the top of the SK Modified® division’s win list. Gada, the only seven time champion in track history, dominated the division in the late 1990’s through recent years prior to his retirement as a driver. The SK Modifieds® have been the headline at the track since 1985.Rocco also checkered the 30-lap Valenti Auto Mall Late model feature, his ninth of the year and third in a row in the division.
In Modified racing in the Southland, Danny Bohn survived a spin in the last lap of the NASCAR Southern Modified Tour Strutmasters.com 199 at Bowman Gray Stadium after getting clipped by Joe Ryan Osborne, who was engaged in a battle for position with Gary Putnam at the tail end of the lead lap. Bohn somehow managed to recover and finish first. Canadian Cole Powell finished second, and Luke Fleming was third.
Andy Seuss kept his lead in the tour standings. The Hampstead, N.H., driver recovered from a collision with Jason Myers that dropped him back to 11th, but he worked his way back to fifth. It was a tough night for Bowman Gray’s Myers brothers, who between them had won three of the previous nine tour races at the stadium. Jason Myers was running fourth when he slammed into the guardrail coming out of the final turn on a restart just past the midway point, and his car was too damaged to continue. Burt Myers’ car wouldn’t start as result of a motor problem after his arrival for afternoon practice. He borrowed a car from fellow Bowman Gray driver John Smith and scrambled to get it to the track in time to race, without benefit of any practice laps. Burt Myers, who had to start at the rear of the 19-car field, made it up to eighth at one point but had car issues near the midway point and lost two laps. He wound up 10th.
NASCAR Modified Tour regulars Ron Silk and Tommy Barrett, facing a long trip from the Northeast, canceled their scheduled appearances because of the threat of rain.
Riverhead Raceway on Long Island had a light field of 10 Modifieds. Taking the win was Jason Agugliaro over Tom Rogers Jr. Ryan Preece finished third.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed a season sweep of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Pocono Raceway Sunday by winning the GoBowling.com 400. Earnhardt came out on top of a crazy day at the 2.5-mile venue that included intense pit strategy, wild restarts, a 13-car pileup on lap 117 and a three-lap dash to the checkered flag.
Brad Keselowski survived a late-race battle for the lead with Michael McDowell, then pulled away to win Saturday’s U.S. Cellular 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway.
Five years ago in 2019, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series was at the Stafford Speedway on Friday night. It was Doug Coby’s night before a crash in turn three suddenly changed the complexion of the race. Coby was fastest in practice, earned his sixth Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award in qualifying, and drove away with the race early. It was looking like Coby was going to celebrate a complete sweep of the night and his 13th career Stafford win.
But the caution changed everything. With only six cars on the lead lap, pit strategy was key in the finishing order. Teams are only allowed to take one tire per pit stop under caution, but most of them made their way down pit road more times than one during the yellow. Coby’s Mayhew Tools team elected to take three tires, but he was also down pit road another time for fuel only. After four stops, he restarted sixth for the final dash.
Matt Swanson and Justin Bonsignore took the green flag on the front row, but it wasn’t long before Silk took the top spot with a daring three-wide move off turn two. From there, it wasn’t quite clear sailing, as Jon McKennedy was on the back bumper looking to pounce. But Silk was able to hang on for his third Whelen Modified Tour win of the season.
After restarting sixth, Coby managed to charge back to a third-place finish, while Swanson was fourth, and Craig Lutz fifth. In victory lane Coby expressed his view of the one tire per stop rule with a few choice expletives. Its just plain stupid to have this rule because it is not saving anyone money.
Coby was visibly upset as he walked in circles while trying to regain his composure. When asked if he was heartbroken during his front stretch post-race interview, Coby did not mince words. “I don’t get heartbroken, I get f****** pissed off,” Coby said. He added, “Stupid f****** rules is what it is. It’s this gimmick, bullshit of this one-tire stop,” Coby said during the post-race press conference. “Why does it take five laps to even go back to green for a single car spin with whatever to go? That’s altering the race. Line us up and go… It’s just dumb.”
The event went non-stop except for a caution on lap 147 for a minor accident in turn four. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the track on Wednesday, August 14, at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park for the Bud ‘King of Beers’ 150.
After regaining his composure Coby issued the following statement: “apologize to the race fans and more importantly the kids in the stands for swearing on the PA after the race. I’ve pretty much kept my emotions in check for the bulk of my career but this one got the best of me for many reasons. Not thrilled with a 3rd but really impressed with our racecar tonight. If I didn’t have to conserve fuel I think there would have”.
In regular weekly action at the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night scoring Whelen All-American Series feature wins were Keith Rocco in the SK Modified® feature, Tom Fearn in the Late Model feature, Teddy Hodgdon in the SK Light feature, Matt Clement in the Limited Late Model feature, and Zack Robinson in the Street Stock feature.
In the SK Modified 40 lapper, Rocco, who started 12th, took the lead from Eric Berndt on lap-16 but Berndt came back to Rocco’s inside on lap-18 to retake the lead. Not to be outdone, Rocco steamed his way back past Berndt in turn 3 on lap-19 to take the lead at the line. Rocco cleared Berndt on lap-20 while Andrew Molleur and Glen Reen were side by side for third. Reen finally got clear of Molleur on lap-24 and Christopher followed him by Molleur to take fourth and drop Molleur back to fifth place.
With 10 laps to go, Rocco was still in command with Berndt, Reen, Mike Christopher and Cory DiMatteo in the top-5. Molleur had slid back to eighth as Ronnie Williams was up to sixth and Todd Owen was seventh. Reen got by Berndt with a pass in turn 4 on lap-34 to move into second with Christopher right behind Berndt in fourth.
Rocco led Reen to the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2019 season. Berndt finished third with Christopher and DiMatteo rounding out the top-5. It was Rocco’s 65th career win at Stafford.
In the SK Lites, Jonathan Puleo couldn’t get close enough to Hodgdon to make a move as Hodgdon took down his third win of the 2019 season. Bryan Narducci finished third with Joey Ferrigno and Alexander Pearl rounding out the top-5.
In the Late Models, Tom Fearn took the lead in the final moments when Michael Bennett spun leader Tyler Leary. When Bennett was put to the rear Fearn assumed the lead and went on to record his72nd career win which ties him with Bugsy Stevens for third on the all-time win list at Stafford.
On the east end of Long Island, t had been over a month since defending Riverhead Raceway NASCAR Modified champion Kyle Soper had visited victory lane but that all changed Saturday night at the conclusion of the 50-lap feature event as Kyle drove to his 7th win of the 2019 Whelen All American Series. The win was the 16th of Soper’s career which tying him with Ryan Preece of Berlin, Ct. for 27th on the all time win list. Craig Lutz of Miller Place was runner-up in his family owned Riverhead Building Supply Chevy while John Fortin Sr. scored another top three finish with a third place showing in the John’s Fuel Oil Chevy. Dylan Slepian and Tom Rogers Jr. completed the top five.
Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium Burt Myers continued his winning ways in the 100-lap NASCAR Modified race after defeating James Civali and Tim Brown. It was Myers’ fifth win of the season and his 83rd win in the career of Myers, who has won nine championships, including the last three. He also slightly increased his points lead over Brown, the 10-time champion.
“I don’t care who you pull for, I don’t care where you sit. If you didn’t like that tonight you need to leave,” Myers said. “Listen, nobody knows our personal lives. All you know is these car numbers. Ninety % of the guys that drive these cars put the same effort, the same blood, the same sweat, the same tears, the same time away from their family.
Saturday’s race was the final Fans’ Challenge of the season where the top four qualifiers in the Modified Division have the option to start in the back of the field. Because nobody won the last Challenge $6,000 was on the line for the drivers. Lee Jeffreys, Brandon Ward, Civali and Myers qualified in the top four, but Myers was the only one who elected not to take the Challenge. Civali finished runner-up and won all of the $6,000.
Among the missing were Jonathan Brown and Jason Myers. NASCAR penalized Brown and Myers for their roles in an incident at Bowman Gray Stadium (NC) on Saturday, July 27, levying fines and suspensions for both drivers. Per a tweet from @NASCARHomeTrack, both drivers would miss this this past Saturday’s 100-lap Modified feature and receive $1,000 fines after the incident.
The action was hot and heavy at the Thompson Motorsports Speedway last Sunday. For the second straight week, Woody Pitkat was celebrating a checkered flag. Pitkat earned his second Late Model victory in a row in the 25-lap feature, but four other drivers also joined him as winners. Keith Rocco scored his second Sunoco Modified victory of the season, while Chris ‘Moose’ Douton (Limited Sportsman), Tommy Silva (Mini Stocks) and Bryan Narducci (SK Light Modifieds®) also were in Victory Lane.
Rocco, who hadn’t been to Victory Lane since the season-opening Icebreaker in April, started sixth and worked his way to the lead by lap 11. Kyle James was able to lead the first four laps, before handing the lead over to Todd Owen. It wasn’t long before Owen, Pitkat, and Rocco were dueling it out for the top spot.
Rocco would lead the final 19 laps of the feature, earning his second victory of the season in the first six races. The win also allows the seven-time and defending champion to extend his points lead even more heading down the stretch run. The win also took Rocco to a career overall total of 276 wins which include 150 victories at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, 61 at Thompson and 65 at Stafford Speedway.
Woody Ptikat finished second and was followed by Todd Owen, Ronnie Williams, Troy Talman and . Kyle James.
Bryan Narducci returned to his dominance in the SK Light Modified division, scoring his fifth victory in the first six races of the season. Narducci quickly got to the point on lap two and cruised to another win. In 10 career races at Thompson, Narducci has been to Victory Lane in nine of them. In the most recent event, he saw his eight-race winning streak snapped after he was dumped in turn four on the final lap while leading.
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park returns to racing on Wednesday, August 14, when the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour rolls into town for the 30th annual Bud ‘King of Beers’ 150. All five NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions will also be in competition for the mid-week special.
In NASCAR cup racing, Chase Elliott put an emphatic end to his summer-long struggle, making a statement with a dominating win on the road course at Watkins Glen International.
A year after racing to his first career NASCAR Cup victory at The Glen, Elliott won a second time in the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports on Sunday, besting Martin Truex Jr. just as he did a year ago. Elliott, who started from the pole, led 80 of 90 laps around the speedy 2.45-mile layout to become the first repeat winner in nearly a decade, since Marcos Ambrose in 2011-12.
Denny Hamlin was third, Erik Jones fourth for Gibbs and Ryan Blaney fifth in his No. 22 Penske Racing Ford after starting from the rear of the field.
The 2019 NEAR (New England Auto Racers) Hall of Fame has announced their inductions for 2019: Mike Joy – legendary motorsports announcer, Ed Flemke Jr. – Modified driver and race car fabricator, Wayne Dion – Modified driver, Vinny Annarumo – Modified driver, Jack Doyle – Drag Racer, Brad LaFontaine – longtime Modified crew chief and car builder, Ric Mariscal – operator of the ProNyne Motorsports Museum in Pawtucket, R.I. and Bob Webber Sr. – longtime operator of Star Speedway in Epping, N.H.
Chuck Hossfeld, former Whelen Modified Tour front runner, made the following announcement “I’ve chosen this beautiful Friday August 2nd to announce 2019 will be my final year as a race driver. Over the years I’ve been fortunate to have the support of many partners and sponsors to help me pursue my dream. The people I’ve been involved with on my team and others I’ve driven for have been 2nd to none. I’ve dedicated years to this love and don’t regret 1 minute of it. Having said that, we will continue to defend our 2018 ROC CHAMPIONSHIP and do everything in our power to repeat in 19. After that I will personally along with Sharilyn Sheesh continue our quest for “continued happiness” He added, “I always say that 😊. The fun we had should have been illegal, some was… Thanks Mom and Dad for the start some 30 years ago.”
Last year, 2023 The Northeast was hit with a viscous heat wave and high humidity along with violent thunderstorms. Thompson got their Twisted Tea Open Tour Modified event in the record books along with Donleavy’s Modified Night at Stafford. The racers and fans endured and the events went off as planned.
Twenty one Modifieds were on hand and when all was said and done Ron Silk found himself stop the leaderboard. Silk took the lead from Anthony Bello on lap 26 and never looked back. Ronnie Williams finished out the night in third spot with George Bessette jr rounding out his night in fourth spot. Rounding out the top five was Chris Pasteryak.
Alexander Pearl had one of his best nights ever as he scored a double shot winning twin SK Lite events. His father Jeff and his grandfather Jerry have been his mentors and appears that they have done a good job in passing the torch. Following Pearl in the first SK Lite event were Isaiah Newcomb, John O’Sullivan, Todd Douillard and Meghan Fuller. In the second SK Lite event Tyler Chapman was the runner-up and was followed by Nickolas Hovey, Newcomb and O’Sullivan.
Other Wednesday night winners were Nick Johnson in the Late Models, Nick Johnson in the Limited Sportsman and Jarred Roy.
The Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park oval will be back in action on Wednesday, August 16th with the return of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour! The nationally-renowned NASCAR Modifieds bring the thunder back to the hills of Eastern Connecticut along with the SK Light Modifieds, ACT-type Late Models, Limited Sportsman, and Mini Stocks for the third Wednesday night showdown of the 2023 season!
Stafford Speedway returned to racing action on Friday, July 8 with the 6th Annual Dunleavy’s Modifiedz Night with the SK Lights taking center stage with a 40-lap extra distance event that paid a guaranteed $1,750 to win. The action was hot and heavy as was the weather as temps were in the upper 90’s as was the humidity. Brian Sullivan was the big winner of the night, taking his fourth win of the season in the extra distance, extra money Dunleavy’s Modifiedz Night feature event. Other feature winners were Marcello Rufrano taking win #2 of 2023 in the SK Modified® feature, Tom Fearn made it back to back wins and 3 wins overall in the Late Model feature, Matt Clement took down his third win of the season in the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Hydar scored his third win of the season in the Street Stock feature. As part of Kids Night, there were two Kids Big Wheel races that were won by Joseph Davenport and Charles Hamer..
In NASCAR Cup racing, a big shout out to Ryan Preece for his impressive fourth place finish at Richmond.
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).
