RPW Exclusive: The Champ Trail: Looking Ahead To NASCAR Mods At Oswego, Weekly Action & More…
Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – The next event for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series Toyota Mod Classic 150 at New York’s Oswego Speedway.
The green flag waves at 8 p.m. ET on Aug. 31, with FloRacing providing coverage of all the on-track action.
The starting lineup has been reduced from 28 to 24. Hopefully this will eliminate some of the rear end turtles that do nothing for the show but get in the way. No exceptions! The racing purse has been increased $4,000 because of this with money added to the lower half of the field.
In addition, $14,000 has been added for positions 3 thru 24. A new tire rule has been put in place that will allow teams to use their allotted 11 tires any way they want.
Justin Bonsignore continues to lead the point standings leading Ron Silk by four points. Bonsignore has 419 points and Silk has 415. With six events remaining every position counts. Patrick Emerling sits in third spot with 388 points, 31 points in arears. If either of the top two has a string of bad luck Emerling could be in the hunt for top honors.
The pressure and the heat of competition is intense for not only the top two drivers but also for their crews. Austin Beers has 376 points and Jake Johnson 355. Beers and Johnson continue to impress with their skill and their finishes.
Sixth thru tenth include Craig Lutz with 349 points, Rookie Trevor Catalano* with 330 points, Kyle Bonsignore with 326 points, Tommy Catalano with 316 and, Matt Hirschman with 274. Points.
In a big surprise announcement internet racing site RacedayCT broke the news last Sunday that Jake Johnson was stepping away from his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour ride, Ole Blu No.3 which is owned by Michael Boehler and his family. Johnson, of Rehoboth, Mass., had a hard wreck in the turn one wall in the last Whelen Modified Tour event on Aug. 14 at Thompson.
There was a possibility Johnson would have to sit out at least the next series event, Saturday at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway, due to lingering effects from the wreck. Boehler said Johnson and his family decided to step away altogether from the ride.
“After the Thompson wreck, Jake is going to concentrate on school and other life responsibilities,” Boehler said. “So he’s not going to be returning to the car this year or over into next year. I think it’s just something they decided was best to do at this point.” In addition to a victory at Monadnock this year, Johnson had three top-five’s and eight top-10’s over the first 10 events of the season.
“We’re just presently looking at a couple different options to continue on the rest of the season,” Boehler said. “Hopefully we’ll have something figured out in the next couple days. We’ll make something work for Oswego. Our goal would be to finish out the season with somebody and continue running good and stay up front. That’s our goal. We’ll definitely be at Oswego.”
Jacob Perry, who has shown lots of spark in some of the open tour type events could use a break and could possibly be a good fit in the car!
It was reported by Area Auto Racing News last week that Whelen Engineering is continuing the process of renegotiating its NASCAR Modified Tour contract with NASCAR. Whelen has proposed to NASCAR to increase purse payouts and increase the point fund again with the backing of Whelen and it has to be matched by NASCAR dollar for dollar.
In Friday night action at the Stafford Motor Speedway the post full moon syndrome was definitely in effect for some competitors. Most seemed to handle the pressure well with the exception of SK Modified driver Chris Jones. In the main event, Jones had a problem with Wesley Prucker as he spun him out twice.
Race director Tom Fox made the wise choice to park Jones for the night. Jones failed to comply as he drove around the track before stopping at the start-finish line to make a little smoke. Following that he exited the racing surface for the infield. Jones has a long history of losing his cool, maybe it’s time for some anger management or just a vacation from racing.
On tap for the night were twin Late Model feature events. Cliff Saunders and Paul Varricchio, Jr. were the winners of the Late Model feature events with Saunders picking up his first win of the season and Varricchio using a last lap pass to record his second win of the season.
Troy Talman was victorious for the third time this season in the SK Modified® feature, Tyler Chapman notched his sixth win of the season in the SK Light feature, Jeremy Lavoie took down his first win of the season in the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Downey scored win #2 of the season in the Street Stock feature.
In the SK Modified 40 lapper Troy Talman was on his game as he recorded his third victory of the year. Talman started fifth and took the lead on a restart on lap 11 from Tyler Hines. Cory DiMatteo finished second with Mikey Flynn, Jon Puleo, and Hines rounding out the top-5. Sixth thru tenth included Michael Gervais, Jr., Austin Beers, Todd Owen, Dylan Kopec and Wesley Prucker.
In Modified action at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC it was championship night that closed out the 2024 season. In the fall of the year the stadium is the scene of college football.
Not a seat to be had as race fans packed the stadium to the rafters as Burt Myers went pole to pole to record his 98th victory and annex his 11th Modified track championship at the historic venue. Jason Myers finished second with Tim Brown, third. Mike Speeny finished fourth with Danny Bohn, fifth.
Now that the 2024 season at Bowman Gray has ended the SMART series will resume. The SMART season resumes this Friday night at the New River Speedway in Virginia.
The New London-Waterford Speedbowl continues to build on it’s field of weekly cars in competition. Last week there were 18 Modifieds signed in. Eric Berndt took the win over Tim Jordan and Todd Owen. Three Late Model features were run with Ryan Morgan, Ray Christian and Jason Palmer recording 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).
