Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1949, Bob Cameron was the 20 lap feature winner at the Buffalo Civic Stadium in New York. At Seekonk, Don Hall took top honors.
Seventy years ago in 1954 Sparky Belmont made it two in arow in Wednesday night Sportsman action at the New London Waterford Speedbowl. Bob Cahoon was the non-Ford winner. Saturday night at the shoreline oval saw Johnny Thompson take the top spot in the Sportsman division. At Seekonk, Fred Astle was the A division winner. Gil Pelletier won in the B division.
Sixty five years ago in 1959, George Janoski was the Friday night winner on the dirt at the Stafford Springs Speedway. Bill Slater made it three in a row at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl as he won the 25 lap Sportsman feature on Wednesday night. Slater finished a close second to Don Collins on Saturday night. After a post race protest by Slater it was determined that the event was checkered one lap short but the finish held. Ted Stack was the non-Ford winner on both nights while Newt Palm made it three in a row as he won the Bomber feature on Wednesday night but could not back it up on Saturday night as Bill Strong won the Bomber feature. Don Hall was still winning at Seekonk.
Sixty years ago in 1964, Pete Corey was the Friday night winner on the dirt at the Stafford Springs Speedway. Kenny Shoemaker and Bill Wimble rounded out the top three. Jim Hendrickson won at Islip and Don Stives at Wall Stadium. Charlie Webster was the winner of a 60 lap Modified MadCap event at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Charlie Krashen was the Bomber winner. Ray Hallquist won a 500 lap Late Model event at Seekonk. Bobby Sprague was the 30 lap A division winner.
Thirty five years ago in 1989, Jerry Pearl was the Friday night winner at Stafford as he drove the S&S Racers No.33 to a convincing win, beating out Steve Chowanski. Bob Potter all but locked up the track championship at Waterford on Saturday when he took the win at the shoreline oval. The mod tour series was at Riverside where Mike Stefanik won out over Tom Baldwin. At Riverhead, Carl Miller held off Tom Tillotson and at Thompson on Sunday, Ted Christopher was the winner. Seekonk fell victim to rain.
Thirty years ago in 1994, Thompson ran on Wednesday with Ted Christopher taking the win over Tom Tagg. The Mod Tour was at Stafford on Friday. Jeff Fuller took the lead at the 3/4 mark of the 150 lapper to win out over Reggie Ruggiero. Carl Pasteryak started on the pole and with a very impressive run, finished third. Jan Leaty and Tom Baldwin rounded out the top five. Mike Christopher was the SK Modified winner. At Waterford on Saturday night, Phil Rondeau inherited the lead after Jim Broderick and Todd Ceravolo tangled while fighting for the lead. Mike Gada finished second with Mark LaJunesse, third. At Riverside it was Reggie Ruggiero over Steve Park and at Riverhead it was Bob Park beating out Don Howe. In Winston Cup action at Bristol, Geoff Bodine dominated the 500 lap contest until suffering water pump failure just 45 laps from the finish. Rusty Wallace was the eventual winner with Mark Martin, second. Kenny Wallace won the companion Busch Grand National event and the big news was that Ernie Irvan who had suffered life-threatening injuries at Michigan improved to the point where he was taken off the critical list.
Fifteen years ago in 2009, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series was scheduled to travel to the Chemung (N.Y.) Speedrome on Saturday, August 29. With a bad weather forecast at hand the event was called off.
In Thursday night Thunder action at Thompson in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action, Woody Pitkat scored his second win of the season in the Sunoco Modifieds. Mike O’Sullivan also took down his second win of the season in the Super Late Models. John Materas swept the action in twin features for the Late Model division. Shawn Monahan scored his first Limited Sportsman feature event of the year in dominating fashion. Brian Tagg, was tops in the TIS Modifieds while Steve Michalski was the winner in the Mini Stocks.
Woody Pitkat took over the lead on lap five and withstood a number of late race cautions to score his second Sunoco Modified feature event of the 2009 season. There were 17 Sunoco Modifieds on hand. Among the missing was Todd Ceravolo who, would sit out a few races until his father shows signs of recovery from a recent accident. As of last Sunday night, Aug 30, the popular car owner and former Waterford Speedbowl Champion is, in his wife’s words, “holding his own”. Surgery to reset broken bones had been scheduled for late last week but was put on hold as a minor complication developed. Ceravolo, 70, suffered serious injuries on Aug 21while attempting to jumpstart a farm tractor.
The Stafford Motor Speedway suffered another rainout on Friday because of persistent rain showers. The rains carried over to Saturday forcing the Waterford Speedbowl to pull the plug on their racing program.
In True Value Modified Series racing at the Thompson Speedway the third time was certainly a charm for Andy Seuss who scored the victory in the third attempt to get the True Value Modified Series event in the books at the Thompson International Speedway. The event was postponed on two different occasions earlier in the season. Seuss scored his first True Value Modified Series (TVMRS) victory of the season in a drama-filled 75-lapper. Seuss took the lead late in the event and held back serious challenges from Steve Massey and Rowan Pennink to score the victory. Richard Savary had a strong run to finish second. Todd Owen joined the duo on the podium. Ted Christopher, who started scratch on the field, finished fourth. Chris Pasteryak completed the top five.
NASCAR’s Sprint Cup division had the weekend off as the Nationwide Series cars headed to Canada. Carl Edwards won the race after making a surprise pass of Marcos Ambrose on the final turn of the race. It was another lost opportunity at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for Ambrose, who has had a chance to win all three Nationwide races conducted on the street circuit since NASCAR began racing here in 2007.
Ambrose led 60 laps over the 14-turn, 2.7-mile course – including 31 in a row before the rain moved in for the second straight year. Still, the hard-charging Tasmanian figured to be a lock since he grew up racing in the rain. But after overcoming restart after restart in the crash-filled event, Ambrose slipped up at the wrong time.Edwards won a two-lap sprint to the finish on a track that was both wet and dry in spots from a light rain, making up more than a second on the final lap. Edwards began to close fast on Ambrose entering turn 10, a right-handed hairpin, and that gave Edwards renewed hope. Seconds later, Ambrose slid sideways after hitting the rumble strips in turn 14. Edwards slipped past and outraced him down the final straightaway.
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series star Andrew Ranger was third. Former Formula One star Jacques Villeneuve finished fourth on the track named for his father, and Brad Keselowski was fifth. Busch went from fourth to 10th on the final two laps.
Ten years ago in 2014, in the aftermath of the fatal accident involving NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Tony Stewart, that led to the death of Sprint Car driver Kevin Ward Jr., NASCAR issued new rules overseeing the behavior of drivers during events.
On Friday, August 15, NASCAR announced new rules stating that barring emergency situations like a fire, smoke or being sprayed by hot water or oil, a driver involved in a crash is not allowed to exit a car until directed to do so by safety personnel or a NASCAR official. They also mandated that after exiting their car a driver must either proceed to an ambulance or safety vehicle. The new rules also stated that: “At no time should a driver or crew member(s) approach any portion of the racing surface or apron or another moving vehicle at any time This rule covers all NASCAR divisions from Sprint Cup on down to weekly NASCAR sanctioned short track racing that is held at the Stafford Motor Speedway, Thompson Speedway and the Waterford Speedbowl.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series visited the Thompson Speedway this past Thursday for the Budweiser 150. The event drew 25 cars. Justin Bonsignore earned his second Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park victory this season behind the wheel of his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour entry after taking the late race lead and holding on through two restarts.
Donny Lia, who was the pole sitter, and Ron Yuhas led the field at the start with Lia getting the early lead. Tommy Barrett, Jr. moved into second on lap four before he and Lia pulled away from the rest of the field by half-a-straightaway. Barrett attached himself to Lia’s bumper, but Lia held strong in the lead despite the pressure. The first caution occurred on lap 12 when Bobby Santos hit the first turn wall as a result of a deflating tire. The restart came on lap 17 with Lia jumping to the front. Ryan Preece got by Barrett for second, but didn’t have enough to take over the lead. Lia, Preece and Barrett pulled away from the rest of the field. Barrett challenged Preece on the outside in turn three, but Preece pulled away coming out of the corner. Preece started working the bottom groove to try and make a run on Lia, but Lia was too strong and continually pulled away.
The second caution flew on lap 40 for debris spotted in turn one. Lia continued to set the pace when racing resumed at lap 46. Preece got hung up on the inside groove and dropped back to fourth behind Doug Coby and Yuhas. Preece’s luck continued to turn for the worse, however, when he got turned coming off turn four.
Racing resumed on lap 58 with Lia leading the way. Barrett and Coby rounded out the top-three with Barrett only a car length behind Lia. The field strung out single file until the caution flew again on lap 73 when Patrick Emerling got loose and hit the outside wall in turn two. Emerling pitted with a right front flat. Lia led a contingent of lead lap cars onto pit road, but it was Timmy Solomito out first. Glen Reen inherited the lead for the restart. Reen held off the hard-charging Ron Silk to keep the lead on the restart, but Silk was able to get a run on the bottom to take over the top spot on lap 83. Barrett followed suit to take over second on lap 85 while Matt Hirschman took over third. Lia, meanwhile, was on the move and had advanced to third by lap 95.
The long green flag run worked into Silk’s favor as he worked his way through lapped traffic with ease. Barrett remained within distance, but couldn’t get close enough to challenge. The race took a surprising turn at lap 124 when Emerling spun in turn one collecting Barrett and Lia, ending their night. Coby and Justin Bonsignore took over second and third.
Silk drove to the front on the restart at lap 129 but caution quickly came back out when Rowan Pennink spun in turn four. Coby took the lead when racing resumed at lap 135, but the action wasn’t over yet. Justin Bonsignore used the bottom groove to take the lead on lap 136 in turn four. Coby remained glued to his bumper, but the race came to a halt quickly when Yuhas and Eric Goodale hit hard in turn two.
Bonsignore led the field back to green with only nine laps remaining. Coby hung tough on the inside, but Bonsignore was able to prevail and hold on to the lead. Coby, Silk and Preece went three-wide for the second spot with Silk coming out with the position. Caution would realign the field back to the last completed lap with Coby back in the second position beside Bonsignore for the restart. Bonsignore cleared Coby heading into turn one to hold on to the lead. Hirschman advanced to second with Coby holding on to third at the finish. Preece and Silk rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Timmy Solomito, Ted Christopher, Todd Szegedy,Glen Reen and Spencer Davis.
In other racing action at Thompson Kerry Malone led the way in NASCAR Whelen All American Series action with a convincing victory in the Sunoco Modified 30-lap feature event. Also picking up wins were Larry Gelinas in the Late Models, Eric Bourgeois in the Monster Mini Stock division and Corey Hutchings in the Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman division. Art Chartier won the Vintage Outlaw feature.
In Sunoco (SK) Modified action, Malone used two three-wide moves to take the lead on the third lap of the Sunoco Modified feature and led the remainder of the 30-lap Sunoco Modified feature. Troy Talman took the early lead, but had Malone to deal with as he shot up to the front to challenge heading into turn three. Talman held the lead as they came to the line. On lap three, Talman’s night took a dramatic turn when he and Keith Rocco made contact in turn two and took him out of the lead and out of contention. Malone used the outside groove for the restart with Tyler Chadwick getting relegated back to the sixth spot after starting on the front row inside groove. Todd Ceravolo, Ryan Preece, and McDermott rounded out the top-four. Malone pulled out to a five car length lead as the remaining top-five, which included Rocco, ran nose-to-tail.
As the laps wound down, Malone and Ceravolo pulled away from Preece, who had slipped back by ten car lengths. Meanwhile, Rocco got by McDermott for the fourth spot at lap 26 and began to close in on Preece. Malone approached lapped traffic as he took the white flag, but it didn’t slow him down at all as he cruised to checkered flag ahead of Ceravolo. Rocco, Preece and McDermott rounded out the top five.
The Stafford Motor Speedway ran under somewhat chilly skies on Friday night. Taking down NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly feature wins on the night were Keith Rocco, his first at Stafford this year, in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Adam Gray in the 30-lap Late Model Feature, Nick Salva in the 20-lap SK Light feature, Norm Sears in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, Andy Marchese in the 15-lap DARE Stock, and Cory DiMatteo in the 20-lap Legend Cars feature.
In the SK Modified feature. Rocco got clear of Ryan Preece on lap-35 and Rowan Pennink was almost alongside Preece but he fell back into line in third. Pennink got ahead of Preece on lap-37 but Preece came back the very next corner and moved back in front of Pennink for second. With all the shuffling going on behind him, Rocco had pulled out to a slight lead and he led the field back to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2014 season. Preece finished second, with Pennink, Woody Pitkat, and Dan Avery rounding out the top-5.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Waterford Speedbowl local favorite Rob Janovic Jr. claimed the night’s SK Modified® victory, his first of the year. Bruce Thomas Jr. took his third Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature win, Josh Galvin won for the tenth time in the Street Stocks, and Ken Cassidy Jr. took his sixth Mini Stock win of the year. Brendon Bock won his first ever Speedbowl feature in the evening’s INEX Legend Cars race and Allen Coates recorded another win in the New England Truck Series at his home track.
In the SK Modified feature, Keith Rocco used a late race surge to take second, passing Tim Jordan for the spot on the final lap. Jordan was third and Diego Monahan was fourth, with Craig Lutz fifth.
The Valenti Modified Racing Series was at the Seekonk Speedway for a 100 lapper on Saturday night. Norm Wrenn scored an upset win after the front runners tangled on the last lap. To set the stage, Justin Bonsignore was leading Richard Savory when the took the white flag. Savary got into the back of Bonsignore in turn two and got them both out of shape. Rowan Pennink got clear of both going into turn three. Bonsignore slammed Pennink in the center of the corner, getting them both out of shape and Wrenn got by off four to take the win. Pennink ended up second with Bonsignore, third. Richard Savory and Bob Goodenough rounded out the top five.
Something kind of strange happened at Seekonk. It seems that local runner Todd Annarummo has incredible luck when it comes to drawing starting positions. Annarummo, who is not a VMS regular, started on the pole in the second heat and started on the outside pole in the feature. It just seems strange that when ever a Modified race is run at Seekonk Annarummo always draws an up-front starting spot??
In Modified racing in the Southland, Burt Myers led all the way in the first 50-lap race for Bowman Gray Stadium’s featured Modified Division and claimed his division-leading fifth victory of the season. Chris Fleming survived and won a wild second Modified race, capturing his career-best third victory in one season. Myers, a six-time Bowman Gray champion, started from the pole position in the first Modified race after a draw for the top starting spot among the fastest six qualifiers.
Riverhead Raceway on Long Island hosted twin 30’s for the Modifieds. Tom Rogers Jr won them both.
Jeff Gordon raced to his third NASCAR Sprint Cup victory of the year, holding off Kevin Harvick on Sunday for his first win at Michigan International Speedway since 2001.
Chris Buescher took the lead on the 68th of 90 laps in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and nursed his fuel the rest of the way to hold off Regan Smith and Brian Scott. Smith, in particular, was waiting for Buescher to run out of gas.
Five years ago in 2019 The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series rolled into the Thompson Speedway on Wednesday evening, Aug 14.for the Bud ‘King of Beers’ 150. Thirty one cars were on hand along with a full house of fans. Doug Coby earned his fourth victory of the season in the Bud ‘King of Beers’ 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, breaking Justin Bonsignore’s streak of six consecutive wins at the Connecticut oval. It was Coby’s 28th career Whelen Modified Tour victory, his sixth career at Thompson and it increased the points lead with just five races remaining in the championship points schedule.
Coby dominated the early laps after earning his seventh Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award of the season in qualifying. When the caution flag flew on lap 84, Coby was leading the charge over Bonsignore, and both of them led the field down pit road. Coby elected to take his fresh tires on the pit stop, and exited the pits second, behind Bonsignore. Coby restarted third, after Jon McKennedy used some strategy to earn the lead. He wouldn’t get back to the top spot until the final laps. After former series champion Bobby Santos III took the lead on lap 129, a caution with just 11 laps to go left Santos, Craig Lutz, Bonsignore and Coby at the front. All four of them had led laps, but only three of them would finish. At the green, Santos stumbled with a transmission issue, Lutz spun his tires, and Coby hung a hard left to clear all of them, into the lead. He never looked back. “When someone messes up in front of you, you hope you have enough room, you crank it to the left, and hope no one is going to spin you,” Coby said of the restart dash.
Twenty four of the original 31 starters were running at the finish. Among those who failed to finish was Santos who finished 23rd with a broken shifter, Tommy Catalano with suspension problems, Joey Mucciacciaro with radiator problems, Kevin Shea with handling problems, Walter Sutcliff retired after a crash on lap 13, Melissa Fifield had her right foot fall asleep after 11 laps and Kyle Elwood lost an engine after only three laps..
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series takes a week off before heading to the Super Modified capitol of the world, the Oswego Speedway on Saturday, August 31. Doug Coby continues to lead Justin Bonsignore and Ron Silk by 47 points. Craig Lutz sits fourth, some 85 points back and Eric Goodalerounds out the top five, 107 points back.
All five NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions were also in competition, along with the NEMA Midgets, where veteran sprint car star Sammy Swindell was in competition. Among those who were slated to be missing from the weekly venue were Sunoco Modified driver Todd Owen who had been disqualified from his third-place finish in the August 4 feature event and suspended from the next two NASCAR events at Thompson Speedway, following laboratory results taken on tire samples from his car. Owen has also been fined $500 for the infraction. In the SK Light Modifieds®, driver Bryan Narducci had been disqualified from his victory on Sunday, August 4, and suspended for the next two NASCAR events at Thompson Speedway. Narducci’s No. 01 was found with tires that did not clear laboratory testing after the August 4 event. He was also fined $500 for the infraction. Following penalties handed down to Todd Owen (Sunoco Modifieds) and Bryan Narducci (SK Light Modifieds®), Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park officials have accepted a request for an appeal from both competitors. The appeal will not take place prior to Wednesday’s 30th annual Bud ‘King of Beers’ 150, meaning both Owen and Narducci will be eligible to compete in their respective divisions for the night.
Driver Keith Caruso was fined $500 for failing to relinquish illegal parts found on his car following his victory on July 28. The fine must be paid before Caruso can return to NASCAR competition at Thompson Speedway. Limited Sportsman driver Ryan Waterman was suspended for one NASCAR event following contact under yellow flag conditions during the August 4 race. He was also put on probation for the remainder of the Whelen All-American Series season. Limited Sportsman driver Randy Waterman was suspended for two NASCAR events at Thompson Speedway for contact under yellow flag conditions and off-track behavior. Randy Waterman is also on probation for the remaining of the NASCAR season. Limited Sportsman driver Scott Sousa was also placed on probation for the remainder of the NASCAR season following off-track actions during the August 4 race day.
Keith Rocco made it two in a row in the Sunoco (SK type) Modifieds. Rocco started seventh and in the words of announcer Matt Buckler, “If he dug any harder he would end up in China”. Taking the lead on lap 10, Rocco and Ron Williams staged a spirited battle but in the end Rocco was not to be denied as he streaked under the checkered flag. It was his 62nd career win at Thompson. Williams finished a close second and was followed by Woody Pitkat, Todd Owen and Troy Talman.
The only way to beat Bryan Narducci is either park him or wreck him. Narducci was headed for the front in the 20 lap SK Lite 20 lapper when he made slight contact with Alber Ouellette. Ouellette ended up in the wall and officials parked Narducci. Teddy Hodgdon took the win over Wayne Burroughs.
Other Wednesday night winners at Thompson were Avery Stoehr in the NEMA Midgets, Shawn Monahan in the Limited Sportsman, Doug Curry in the Mini Stocks and Brian Tagg in the Late Models.
Foxwoods® Resort Casino, located near Ledyard, Ct, announced its new three-year partnership with Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, home of the first purpose-built road course and first asphalt high-banked oval in America. Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park fans will have the opportunity to take advantage of Foxwoods promotions and special offers throughout the racing season including a Circuit One Luxury Driving Experience held at Foxwoods Resort Casino. Evidently those in charge at the casino are aware that live TV presentations give unlimited visibility to Foxwoods.
In regular weekly racing at the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night the Late Model division had top billing with their extra distance Late Model 50 feature event. Ryan Fearn came away the big winner on the night, capturing his first career Late Model feature win. Fearn’s winnings from the night totaled $3,450 with $1,200 in purse money, $1,900 from the Gaston Racing Enterprises High Roller Challenge that saw Fearn roll a 1 in victory lane for the winner takes all option, and $350 in contingency bonus money from iRacing, New England Racing Fuel, Sunoco, and Bob’s Painting and Del’s Vinyl Siding. Other winners on the night included Ronnie Williams in the SK Modified® feature, Bryan Narducci in the SK Light feature, Alexandra Fearn in the Limited Late Model feature, and Meghan Fuller in the Street Stock feature.
It was kind of an”All in the Family” night as Ryan Fearn won the Late Model event and Alexandra Fearn won the Limited Late Model event, her third of the year, and Bryan Narducci, his sixth of the year, and his cousin Alexander Pearl finished one-two in the SK Lite event.
In the SK Modified feature, Ron Williams took the lead back under a mid-race restart while Stephen Kopcik and Keith Rocco resumed their side by side duel for second. Rocco got clear of Kopcik on lap-33 and Cory DiMatteo was now side by side with Kopcik for third with Michael Gervais in fifth. Kopcik took third on lap-34 with Gervais pulling alongside DiMatteo for fourth. Up front, Rocco pulled to the outside of Williams on lap-35 and the two leaders were once again side by side. Williams cleared Rocco on lap-37 with Kopcik diving to the inside of Rocco for second. Coming to 2 to go, Rocco was right on Williams’ back bumper. Rocco tried a crossover move but Williams was able to fend off his challenge. The two cars touched going into turn 3 but Williams was able to maintain the lead with Rocco still in second. Rocco made one last bid for the lead in turns 3+4 but Williams took the checkered flag to pick up his second consecutive win and fifth of the 2019 season. Rocco finished second with Kopcik, Gervais, and DiMatteo rounding out the top-5.
On the east end of Long Island, in weekly NASCAR Modified racing on a bullring track sometimes being in the right place at the right time is as important as any other ingredient for success and such was the case for former multi-time champion Tom Rogers Jr. of Riverhead Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway. Rogers pounced on a late race opening to race his Denise & Ken Darch owned machine from third to first notching his third win of the 2019 NASCAR Whelen All American Series. As the checker flag waved Tom Rogers Jr. moved to within 8 wins of the all time track record held by the late legend “Charging” Charlie Jarzombek at 63 tallies.
Dylan Slepian, knocking on the door for that elusive first career NASCAR Modified win would have to be content with runner-up money in the My Guy Auto Supply NAPA Auto Parts Chevy while championship leader Kyle Soper crossed the line third in the Eastport Feeds Chevy. Heading into the final month of racing Soper enjoys a 74-point margin over Rogers. John Fortin Sr. and Dave Brigati completed the top five. It was good to see Dave Sapienza back in a Modified. Sapienza suffered back injuries in an early season NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series event at the Wall Stadium. He finished eighth.
Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium Burt Myers capped off the Bowman Gray season with his 10th Modified championship and fourth in a row. The 10 championships tie him with Tim Brown for the most titles in the division. Prior to the event, Myers led Brown by seven points and needed to finish two positions ahead of Brown. After leading late in the race, Myers finished third. Brown finished well back in the pack after he and Chris Fleming rubbed wheels and bounced off the guard rail on lap 145 of the scheduled 150 laps. Brandon Ward and James Civali, who was third in the points chase, bumped crossing the finish line and Ward won in what turned out to be 166 laps.
But it was Myers who stole the show for the fourth straight season. And he celebrated his championship by doing a doughnut in the infield. Then he got out of the car and held up an orange No. 10 placard. The conversation between Myers and his crew continued on the radio late in the race, when he led as late as lap 154. But Civali bumped Myers and Myers maintained his steering and went back to third. Myers finished the season with five wins to give him 84, seven less than Brown, the leader.
John Spence advised that the Saturday night program of the Valenti Modified Racing Series at the Monadnock Speedway (Aug 17) was cancelled due to pending forecasts calling for thunderstorms. It is unknown if the event will be rescheduled.
Denny Hamlin chased down Matt DiBenedetto in the closing laps of Saturday night’s Monster Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway and denied the underdog an upset victory. DiBenedetto had learned four days before the race that Leavine Family Racing wasn’t bringing him back for a second season, and a Bristol victory would have been a tremendous résumé boost during free agency.
Concord-based Speedway Motorsports Inc. disclosed that it has reached a definitive merger agreement worth $800 million to take the company private. In April, privately held Sonic Financial Corp. proposed buying Speedway Motorsports’ 40.8 million outstanding shares for $735 million. The merger agreement approved by the Speedway Motorsports (NYSE: TRK) board is for $19.75 per share, or $806.6 million. Sonic Financial is owned by Bruton Smith and his family, who already control 70% of Speedway Motorsports. Both companies are based in the Charlotte area. The deal is expected to close by the end of September.
This marks the latest move within NASCAR to consolidate ownership of the sport’s main entities as part of what is envisioned as a major overhaul of the racing series. In May, International Speedway Corp. (NYSE: ISCA), a Daytona Beach, Florida-based track operator, approved a $2 billion merger with sanctioning body NASCAR. In both instances, taking the publicly held track operators private will give the companies greater freedom to add and subtract races and make other changes in collaboration with NASCAR itself. The France family owns NASCAR and holds a dominant position in International Speedway.
“It will be interesting to watch it unfold,” said Steve Lauletta, a sports marketing consultant and former president of NASCAR team Chip Ganassi Racing. “It’s easier to make decisions with their new structure and with NASCAR’s new structure, but they are (together) going to have to make some tough decisions.”
Speedway Motorsports owns eight NASCAR tracks around the country, including Charlotte Motor Speedway. Bruton Smith, 92, is the company’s founder and executive chairman. His son, Marcus Smith, is 45 and became CEO in 2015. Major changes are anticipated for the 2021 season, when NASCAR’s largest track operators will be privately owned. Whether further consolidation may occur is unknown.
“It makes it easier if they want to roll everything up together,” said Mike Boykin, CEO of Bespoke Sports & Entertainment, a marketing firm that represents several NASCAR corporate sponsors. “(Either way, the sport) can make changes quicker and it allows them to call audibles or push initiatives without some of the politics that existed before.”
NASCAR lost more than half of its TV audience between 2005 and 2021. Stock-car racing has struggled to attract younger fans and a significant portion of its core audience has abandoned the sport. Declining ticket sales forced both companies to remove grandstands and luxury suites. At the Charlotte track, the number of seats has been cut in half — to 79,000 — since 2008. There are 75 luxury suites at the speedway, compared with 113 a decade earlier.
Wells Fargo forecasts $464 million in revenue and per-share earnings of 94 cents for Speedway Motorsports this year. Weaknesses in the sport, according to the analyst report this month, include aging tracks in need of investment, including at Speedway Motorsports; status quo or worse fan interest; increasing competition from other sports leagues and entertainment options; and a lack of spending power among NASCAR fans. More than half of stock-car racing fans earn less than $50,000 — less than its big-league sports rivals. Declining ticket sales have hurt the industry with revenue at International Speedway and Speedway Motorsports falling by 17% and 25%, respectively, from peak levels, according to the Wells Fargo report.
Last year, 2023, Friday night at Stafford was a perfect hot summer’s night for auto racing. David Arute scored his first win of the 2023 season with a dominating drive in the SK Modified® feature, Kevin Gambacorta took his fourth win of the season in the Late Model feature, Meghan Fuller was a career first-time winner in the SK Light feature, Rich Hammann used a last lap pass to pick up his first win of the season in the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Hydar scored his fourth win of the season in the Street Stock feature.
Starting on the outside pole, Arute jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Dylan Kopec who started 10th and by lap 13 had moved into the runner-up spot. Jimmy Blewett who started eighth was also on the move as he charged into the fourth spot. The first and only caution flew on lap 14 when Wesley Prucker came to a stop in turn 2. Kopec took the lead on the restart but it was Arute back in control by lap17.
For the last half of the race Arute set a torrid pace as he led the field to the checkered flag. Kopec finished second with Anthony Flannery, Todd Owen, and Jon Puleo rounding out the top-5. Jimmy Blewett finished sixth with Michael Gervais, Jr., seventh. Keith Rocco, Troy Talman and Teddy Hodgdon rounded out the top ten.
Megan Fuller romped to her first ever SK Light Modified win. Starting fourth, the second generation driver skillfully worked her way to the front and took the lead from Tyler Alkas on lap 17 of the 20 lap event. With her foot to the floor, Fuller took the checker with Alexander Pearl and George Bessette closing fast. In victory lane she gave thanks to her dad, Rick Fuller and to Kieth Rocco Racing.
The Tri-Track Racing Series headed to the New London Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night, Aug 12. The Connecticut shoreline oval pit area was bursting at the seams as 33 Modifieds checked in to compete. A late afternoon rain storm put a damper on the program. Group qualifying was used, then a draw for starting spots.
After an almost three hour delay the Tri Track event took the green. Joey Cipriano jumped out to an early lead with Kyle Bonsignore second. Matt Hirschman was running in the sixth spot. Bonsignore took the lead on lap 7. The first caution flew on lap 29 when Anthony Bello spun. Bonsignore was leading with Cory Dimatteo second and Hirschman, third. On the restart Hirschman shot into the lead, a spot he would hold to the end. Bryan Narducci worked his way into second spot by lap 63 but had nothing for Hirschman. As the laps wore on Mike Christopher Jr moved into the third spot while Kyle Bonsignore faded to fourth with Richard Savory rounding out the top five.
The event came to a premature end on lap 82 as rain moved back into the area. The official finish showed Matt Hirschman the winner with Bryan Narducci, second with Mike Christopher Jr third. Rounding out the top five was Kyle Bonsignore and Cory DiMatteo. Sixth thru tenth were Woody Pitkat, Joey Cipriano, Ronnie Williams and Ron Silk.
Hirschman now also has taken over the points lead by 10 points over Woody Pitkat. Two races remain in the 2023 season. The series travels to Stafford Speedway on September 23rd and back at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl October 23rd to determine this years champion.
In other Speedbowl action, Late Models went 30 Laps) with Jason Palmer taking the win, the Street Stocks went 25 Laps with Aaron Plemons taking the win, the SK Lights went 25 Laps with John O’Sullivan III the winner and the Mini Stocks went 25 Laps with John Bavolacco, the winner.
At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island Timmy Solomito and his family were planning on competing in the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series event in Connecticut, however circumstances beyond Timmy’s control prevented that road trip. With a car ready to race at the Solomito family shop, they instead made the short jaunt to Riverhead Raceway, a decision that paid dividends when Timmy won the 50-lap NASCAR Modified feature at his home track. Michael Rutkoski for the second week in a row would settle for second in the Buzz Chew Chevrolet-Cadillac Camaro, while Jack Handley Jr. completed the podium in the Suffolk Precast Chevy. Tom Rogers Jr., who started scratch on the field was fourth with JR Bertuccio, fifth.
On a sad note, Jim Cromarty passed away at the age of 91. Along with his wife Barbara, they were promotors and successful business owners long before they ran Islip Speedway. They promoted the Suffolk County Fair for years and even brought it to the Islip and Riverhead combining it with racing. Jim and Barbara were involved with the original Long Island Ducks at the old Commack Arena. They owned a Roller ‘and ‘N Ice, a combined two story skating facility in Copiague on Sunrise highway. In 1984 when Isip Speedways days were numbered they bought Riverhead Raceway and moved the NASCAR short program to Long Islands last remaining facility. Towards the end of their time owning of owning Riverhead Raceway Jim and Barbara became snow birds. They wintered in the Miami area and came north for the race season.
While they had many opportunities to sell Riverhead Raceway and retire they passed on several offers. Those offers to sell the track would have closed the it and ended racing on Long Island. It wasn’t until they had an offer from the late Eddie Partridge, Connie Partridge and Tom Gatz to purchase the track did they agree to sell and continue a 60 year tradition of racing at the track, For that all Long Island race teams and fans thank you.
Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium twin 25’s were on the venue for the Modifieds. Sason and Burt Myers finished one-two in the opener as point leader Frank Fleming found himself in the wall. The second 25 saw Randy Butner take the win over Burt Myers.
In NASCAR Cup action, Michael McDowell inherited the lead on Lap 53 and never trailed again as he drove the most dominant race of his career, beating Chase Elliott to the yard of bricks by 0.937 seconds for his second NASCAR crown jewel victory while securing a playoff spot. Pole-winner Daniel Suarez was third. McDowell’s only other win was the 2021 Daytona 500. Ryan Preece finished 31st.
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).
