RPW Exclusive: The Champ Trail: Speedweeks Are Completed For ’25; New Smyrna & Daytona Notes…

Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – World Series action at New Smyrna continued on Monday night. The weatherman continued to provide ideal weather for fans and competitors alike.

Temperatures were in the mid 80s during the day and the70s at night. The night belonged to Austin Beers who won the Modified Tour type 59 lapper. Beers started third after a re-draw of the top seven. Ryan Preece led the start of the 29 car field with Cam McDermott second.

McDermott spun his wheels following a lap six restart and almost wrecked those following him. Beers passed Preece for the lead on lap 13 while Ronnie Williams had his engine go sour.

There was a bit of a lucky draw involved but Beers quickly drove from third to the lead by Lap 13, built a large lead, and was able to manage the gap as the race stayed green all the way through its completion on Lap 59.

Stephen Kopcik says he ‘screwed up’ in qualifying and started ninth but methodically worked his way through the field. Kopcik did make it to second by the end, a long green flag run through lapped traffic. Kopcik was more that than satisfied with a second given that opening night has been chaotic at New Smyrna over the years. Emerling, who won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour opener on Saturday, just put himself back with his draw. He had a pole car and started seventh in the field. He took over third spot from Timmy Solomito in the closing moments. Solomito finished fourth with Craig Lutz rounding out the top five. Sixth thru tenth included Preece, McDermott, Eric Goodale, Anthony Nocella and Amy Catalano.

In other Monday night action at New Smyrna Max Reaves was the Pro Late Model winner. Brody Monahan finished fifth and Anthony Bello finished fifth, Tim Moore was the Florida Modified winner and Max Handley was the 602 Modified winner.

The full moon at New Smyrna was evident on Tuesday night. A lot of people lost their minds but Gavan Boschele gained a trophy. The new driver of the Wilson Motorsports No. 24 emerged victorious in the Clyde Hart Memorial 200 on Tuesday at New Smyrna Speedway that was otherwise an extremely messy ASA STARS national Super Late Model season opening affair. It took close to three hours to run the event.

Boschele inherited that top spot when a dominant Ty Majeski crashed off the nose of Colby Howard in Turn 1 with 29 laps to go. Boschele would fend off William Sawalich over the next two restarts to earn his second career Super victory following the Red Eye 50 at the same track in January. Seventeen cautions slowed the event that ended at 10:00pm.

Tim Moore won the 50 lap Florida Modified event.

The 50 lapper for the Tour Modifieds saw only one caution as Patrick Emerling romped to a convincing win over Jake Lutz and Steven Kopcik. Emerling started second and passed pole sitter Luke Baldwin in short order and never looked back, taking a convincing win. Jake Lutz finished second with Kopcik, third. Baldwin and Tyler Rypkema rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth included Ryan Preece, Eric Goodale, Ronnie Williams, Craig Lutz and Timmy Solomito.

The John Blewett III Memorial 76 lapper was held on Wednesday night. Patrick Emerling drove from his sixth starting spot to score the victory with Stephen Kopcik in second, Matt Hirschman third, Tyler Rypkema fourth and Jake Lutz fifth. Sixth thru tenth included Ronnie Williams, Austin Beers, Eric Goodale, Trevor Catalano and Timmy Solomito. Emmerling took the lead on lap 69.

In other Wednesday night action, Nick Hovey who races weekly at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl won the 602 Modified feature. Conner Jones won the Hart to Heart 100 for the Pro Late Models. Anthony Bello finished eighth and Brody Monahan finished ninth. Carson Brown was the Super Late Model winner after Connor Jones was disqualified.

The 2025 World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway continued Thursday with four divisions in action during the seventh night of the event. Super Late Models headlined the night with their final race of the week, the Orange Blossom 100. Tour-type Modifieds, Pro Late Models and 602 Modifieds were also in action.

Gavan Boschele put an exclamation point on a strong week by leading every lap of the Orange Blossom 100 and clinching the championship by two points over two-time champion Derek Griffith, who finished second. Gabe Sommers charged to an impressive third-place finish. George Phillips and Ty Fredrickson completed the top five.

Patrick Emerling continued his domination in the Tour-type Modified division with his third win in three nights. Anthony Nocella recorded his best finish of the week with a runner-up finish and Trevor Catalano completed the podium. Eric Goodale and Timmy Solomito rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth included Austin Beers, Jeff Goodale, Ronnie Williams, Amy Catalano and Jeffrey Battle. JR Bertuccio screwed himself out of a fourth place finish as he crashed on the final lap while trying to block Eric Goodale.

Twenty one starters went to post for the 50 lapper. Patrick Emerling took the lead at the start over Jake Lutz and Eric Goodale. Lutz was on a rail as he powered into the lead on lap nine. Lutz led until lap 33 when mechanical problems forced him to drop out, giving the lead back to Emmerling. From there to the finish Emmerling ran unchallenged to the checker.

Brody Monahan claimed his first career World Series win in the Pro Late Model division, while Hunter Wright finished second to wrap up his second consecutive championship. Monahan took the lead on lap 4 and paced the field for the remaining laps to earn his first victory in a BLR Pro Late Model!

Congratulations to Nick Hovey who made it two in a row and sewed up the division championship in the 602 Modifieds. Hovey’s car is owned by Kieth Rocco Racing and sponsored by Ceravolo Auto in Groton, Ct.

Bubba Wallace will line up from third place in Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, after crossing the checkered flag first in Thursday’s first of two 60-lap duel races. Wallace, driving the No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, was able to get himself out in front of the pack courtesy of a push from Tyler Reddick, holding the lead against a pack of hungry challengers. It’s the first victory in the Daytona Duels for Wallace, and the second for 23XI Racing.

An already great Speedweeks for Austin Cindric got even better, after capturing the victory in Thursday’s second Duel at Daytona International Speedway. The former champion of the Daytona 500 began the weekend with a strong qualifying result on Wednesday, earning himself a spot on the outside of the front row to start Sunday’s 500-mile contest, alongside Chase Briscoe.

Unlike Briscoe and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team, who retired early from their 60-lap qualifying race, Cindric stayed in it to win it, which in the closing laps of the event ultimately paid off. It didn’t come without some controversy, though. On the final lap of the qualifying race, Erik Jones got a massive shove on the backstretch from Chris Buescher, surging the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entry neck-and-neck with Cindric. As the pair raced side-by-side towards the checkered flag, the field crashed in a major way behind them, causing NASCAR to display the checkered flag moments before the leaders crossed the start-finish line.

Erik Jones crossed the start-finish line with the lead, by 0.004 seconds, and after completing the cooldown lap, parked it on the fronstretch waiting to be interviewed as the race-winner.

But, after some review by NASCAR, it was determined that Cindric was the leader at the exact moment of caution, giving him the victory.

It wasn’t the greatest World Series of Asphalt for Matt Hirschman but he broke through winning on the final night at New Smyrna Speedway. Hirschman started fourth after a redraw as Ron Williams led the 22 starters to the green in the Richie Evans 100. Williams led just over half way when Hirschman took the lead on lap 55. As Williams continued to fade Patrick Emerling closed in and took over the second spot on lap 61. With Williams backing up, Jake Lutz took over the fourth spot on lap 68. The 100 lapper ended up going non-stop with Hirschman taking the big win. Patrick Emerling finished second and wrapped up the series championship. Rypkema finished third with Jake Lutz in the fourth slot. Austin Beers rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth included Anthony Noscella, Amy Catalano, Cam McDermott, Brian Robie and Williams.

Hirschman has now won eight out of the last eleven Richie Evans 100s. Other Friday night winners were James Stalnaker in the Mod Minis and Jesse Powers in the Bombers.

The final Modified point standings showed Patrick Emerling as the series champion by 54 points over Jake Lutz. Timmy Solomito was third followed by Austin Beers and Eric Goodale.

In action at the Daytona International Speedway Jesse Love was the Xfinity 300 winner. Patrick Emerling started 35 and finished 10th. Justin Bonsignore was not as fortunate. After starting 15th Bonsignore was turned and crashed in the closing moments. He escaped unhurt and was credited with a 25th place finish. William Byron won the Daytona 500. Ryan Preece was running in 12th place with five to go when he was collected in a nasty wreck which placed him 32nd at the finish. Thankfully he emerged unhurt.

On a sad note, former Thompson Speedway announcer and General Manager Russ Dowd passed away this past week. He was 75 years old. Dowd began announcing at Go-Kart events as a teenager. He began calling races at the big track at Thompson Speedway in the mid 70’s. His deep voice, understated rhythm and overall coolness made him one of the most memorable announcers in short track racing history in the Northeast. He was the announcer at Thompson for 37 years.

Dowd retired from the announcer’s booth at Thompson. Over his span at Thompson he also spent time serving as the track’s general manager and director of operations. He also spent 13 years in the announcer’s booth at Stafford and could be heard over the years at numerous other tracks across the region. Dowd was inducted into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame in 2024.

Stafford Speedway and Tick Mike’s Organic Tick & Mosquito Spray have partnered for a new midseason point series that will include a $20,000 point fund for SK Modified® teams. The Tick Mike Triple Crown will be made up of the 3 extra distance events for the SK Modified® division: Casella Waste SK Modified® 80 – June 6th, Call Before You Dig Senators Cup 50 – June 20th and the 12th Annual NAPA Auto Parts SK 5K – August 1st.

“We’re excited to put this program together with Mike, Tyler, Ginny, and the entire Naproco [Tick Mike] team,” explained Stafford COO Paul Arute. “They are as passionate about SK Modified® racing as we are. We are also changing the qualifying procedures for these three races to use the +/- method similar to our Open Modified events.”

“The SK’s are what people really want to see. We have friends down in North Carolina and they can’t wait every week to see the SK’s on FloRacing,” continued Meyhoefer. “The competition should be crazy this year and we felt like doing something with these extra distance races was a good thing and this will allow us to promote our product rather than just having my face on a billboard. We think Stafford is the best short track in the country and that’s all thanks to the Arute family and everything they do.”

Coastal 181, Reading For Racers has released their 2024-2025 Catalog of great books. Among the newer titles is “Lazzaro, the man and his machine”. Lou Lazzaro became one of the Northeast’ most revered drivers of all time. He was equally as good on dirt as he was on asphalt. For many years he raced and won, sometimes three to five times a week at his home tracks, the Albany Saratoga Speedway in Malta, NY, Fonda Speedway in Fonda, NY and at the Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York. Lazzaro was a regular track representative for the All Star League that raced on dirt and asphalt tracks during the late 60’s. The most remarkable thing was that he did it all with the same car. One of his biggest fans believe it or not was Richie Evans. Other great reading in the Coastal 181 catalog include “Ray Everham-Trophies and Scars”, “Bugsy”, “Richie”, “Eddie Flemke” and “The Soul of a Modified” Lenny Boehlers Ole Blue. Call Coastal181 at 877-907-8181.

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).