RPW Exclusive: Looking Back: Second Week Of April

Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy years ago in 1955, Sid DiMaggio’s Speedbowl History noted that Speedbowl Race Director Rex Records resigned as president of the United Stock Car Racing Club and formed his own American Auto Racing Club, which would sanction the races at the Speedbowl. United president Harvey Tattersall and his son Harvey Jr (who collectively owned 67% of United at the time) filed a $10,000 lawsuit against Records charging that he formed his AARC and negotiated contracts with drivers while still the President of United. Additionally, the Tattersalls filed a motion for a temporary injuction against Records to stop all AARC business until the suit was settled.

However, Superior Court Judge John M. Comley dismissed the motion citing lack of evidence to the charges. The Tattersalls subsequently withdrew their claim for $10,000 in damages. The Speedbowl season opened on Easter Sunday under the AARC banner. Don Collins in his famous No. 106 was the 25 lap Modified winner. Lou Tetreault was the non-Ford winner. The AARC struggled as the season went along. Many nights, Records allowed Non-Ford cars to run with the Modifieds in their feature since the car counts were below average. Then later in the season, Modifieds were briefly replaced by Late Models as the headlining division on Wednesdays nights

Sixty five years ago in 1960, Plainville Stadium in Connecticut ran a 25 lap open competition event which was won by Steady Eddie Flemke who took the lead on lap 10 and never looked back. Tony “Jap” Membrino finished second.

Sixty years ago in 1965 Ray Delisle was the 30 lap Modified winner at was then called the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Charlie Savage took the Bomber main.

Fifty five years ago in 1970, the Stafford Speedway and the Thompson Speedway were running twin 25 lap features for the Modifieds. When the Norwood Arena decided to drop the Modifieds at the end of the 1969 season Stafford petitioned NASCAR to change their race dates from Friday to Saturday nights. NASCAR allowed Stafford to change their race night and in doing so opened up the floodgates at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway to the New Englanders who wanted to race on Friday nights. Taking the opening 25 lapper at Stafford was Carl Bugsy Stevens driving the mighty no. 3 of Len Boehler. Ralph “Hop” Harrington driving the famous Tant/Mitchell coupe that had been purchased by Richard Armstrong finished second. Fred DeSarro in the Joe Brady No. 41 finished third. Jerry Dostie and Roland LaPierre Sr rounded out the top five.

Harrington won the nightcap with Stevens a close second. Billy Greco, Ted Stack and Ed Yerrington rounded out the top five. At Thompson on Sunday Stevens took the first 25 lapper and was followed by George “Moose” Hewitt, Yerrington, DeSarro and Leo Cleary who was in the Koszela Woodchopper. Hewitt took the nightcap and was followed by Yerrington, DeSarro, Stevens and Jerry Cook. The Fonda Speedway in New York was also running twin 25’s. Rene Charland won the first one and was followed by Dave Buanno, Jerry Cook, Ron Narducci and Irv Taylor. The second 25 lapper was won by Narducci with Taylor second. Wes Moody finished third with Charland, fourth. Also running this weekend was the Fulton Raceway where Lou Lazzaro beat out Richie Evans for the win and Langley Field in Virginia where Ray Hendrick won in the new Tant/Mitchell Camaro. After two consecutive rain outs the Waterford Speedbowl finally got to run their opener. Walt Dombrowski won the 30 lap Modified feature. Johnny DeLong was the Late Model Daredevil winner.

Fifty years ago in 1975, Jack Arute had a vision that if the Modifieds switched from 15 inch wide tires to narrow ones the cars would be slower and the car owners would be spending less. His heart was in the right place but his vision was mis-guided. In the season opening Spring Sizzler Richie Evans did him one better as used eight inch rubber that was used by NASCAR’s Winston Cup division. Evans won the Sizzler with Eddie Flemke Sr, second. Freddie Schulz, Ronnie Bouchard and Fred DeSarro rounded out the top five. Racing at Fulton was called because of rain.

Forty five years ago in 1980, SJ Evonsion was the Saturday night winner at Riverside Park Doug Hevron, in the Mario Fiore No. 44 finished second with John Rosati, third. Richie Evans won the 80 lap Spring Sizzler at Stafford. Brian Ross in his home built No. 73 finished second. Hevron, who won the 50 lap non-qualifiers race came from a dead last starting position to finish third in the Sizzler. Jimmy Spencer was fourth with Reggie Ruggiero, fifth. In Winston Cup action at Darlington, Bill Eliott took the win. Ron Bouchard qualified sixth and finished 13th while Geoff Bodine qualified 11th and finished seventh.

Forty years ago in 1985, a banner field of 99 Modifieds was on hand for the Spring Sizzler at Stafford. Geoff Bodine, driving the Lee Allard No.99, cleaned house as he took the win over Bugsy Stevens and Charlie Jarzombek. Bobby Vee and John Rosati rounded out the top five. Among those who failed to finish was Richie Evans who broke an a-frame and placed last in the 30 car field. Leo Cleary, who had been driving for Len Boehler since Fred DeSarro had passed away, was given his walking papers as he was informed that he was replaced by Ron Bouchard. It was also announced that the Thompson Speedway had been granted a NASCAR sanction for all future events.

Thirty five years ago in 1990, Jerry Marquis made it two in a row in Modified action at Riverside Park. Marquis drove the famous No. 2x of Bobby Judkins. Bob Polverari finished second with Kenny Bouchard, third. Dick Trayner and Tom Bolles rounded out the top five. During the running of the event Ricky Summers in the Bill Simons Excavator No. 9 set an altitude record as he rode over a wheel and sailed 25 feet into the air.

Thirty years ago in 1995, Chris Kopec picked the pole and led from start to finish at Riverside Park on Saturday night. Reggie Ruggiero finished second with Paul Corazzo, third. Tom Cravenho and Ted Riggot rounded out the top five. In NASCAR Grand National action at Hickory, NC Johnny Benson took the win after Chad Little was knocked out of the event by Kevin LePage.

Twenty five years ago in 2000, it was Easter weekend. Scheduled events at Riverhead, Wall and Waterford were rained out. The only activity was the fact that Mike Liberty filed suit against Bob Bahre and Bill France Jr. Liberty believed that Bahre and France had lied to him and had mislead him when he purchased the Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine.

Twenty years ago in 2005, The Waterford Speedbowl began its 55th consecutive year of staging auto races. Despite the cool night a good crowd was on hand. Ron Yuhas Jr figured he had a tenth place car until Shawn Monahan triggered a massive wreck that eliminated nine of the front runners. Yuhas ended up with the victory with Chris Pasteryak ending up second. Jeff Pearl finished third. Allen Coates won the Late Model feature. Danny Field edged Richard Brooks to take the win in the Mini-Stocks and Len Beebe just nipped Jeff Paul for the Legends feature. Norman Root was the Sportsman winner.

The Whelen Modified Tour opener at the Thompson Speedway provided a surprise ending and almost a new winner. Zack Sylvester was well on his way to victory until a stalled car on lap 146 of the 150 lap Modified main event bunched the field. It ended up being a green- white checkered situation. Sylvester led the restart with Chuck Hossfelt and Ted Christopher in tow. Hossfeld got under Sylvester going into turn one and about the same time Ted Christopher dove underneath both of them to take the lead. On the final lap Sylvester got by Hossfeld and raced wheel to wheel to the finish line with Christopher It looked like Sylvester nipped him by six inches. NASCAR officials saw it differently and awarded the win to Christopher. Hossfeld ended up third with Mike Stefanik, fourth. Rick Fuller rounded out the top five. Ten caution periods kept the event to a bunch of short sprints. The longest green flag period was from lap 108 to lap 146.

Kenny Bouchard led the initial start but was quickly overhauled by Eddie Flemke. Flemke led until lap 8 when Donnie Lia passed him. Two laps later, Ted Christopher took the lead. The first caution came on lap 12 when Tony Ferrente and Chris Kopec spun in turn two, collecting Tom Cloce, Kenny Barry and Tom Bolles. Christopher continued to lead as the second caution waved on lap 21 for a six-car tangle in turn one. The third caution flew on lap 29 for a 13-car melee. Christopher and Hossfeld swapped the lead until lap55 when many of the leaders pitted after Howie Brode and Eric Beers tangled in turn four. Beers went head long into the fourth turn wall and suffered shoulder injuries. Despite the many front runners pitting for tires Christopher elected to stay out. Christopher finally pitted for tires on lap 105. Tony Hirschman, who took the lead on lap 76, paced the field until his tires wore out as Sylvester powered by on lap 134. Christopher made a determined charge and until the final caution when he was running third.

In Whelen Modified Tour Series news, the car counts and spectators continued to be great. There were 46 Modifieds on hand and there weren’t too many empty seats as a crowd estimate of 10,000 was announced. Had it not been for the LaJoie seat and the exceptional workmanship on the Boehler No.3 Eric Beers could have suffered serious injury when he made hard impact into the turn four wall. In other Ice Breaker action James Civali won the twin Sunoco Modified SK type events. Dennis Botticello won the Saturday night 20 lap Late Model event and Charles Bailey III won the Sunday event. Joe Lemay was the Pro Stock winner and Glen Boss, the Sportsman winner. Jeff Gordon made up three laps to win the Advance Auto Parts 500 at Martinsville.

Fifteen years ago in 2010, The Waterford Speedbowl began its 60th season with renewed vigor with Blast Off 2010. When fans and competitors arrived for practice on Friday many improvements were noted including new concrete barrier walls along the front and back straight-aways and an all new coat of paint in the grandstand area. The shoreline oval was one of 10 tracks nationwide to receive funds through NASCAR’s Capital Improvement Grants program.

Speedbowl owner Terry Eames told the Norwich Bulletin that he was still working on a deal to get the Speedbowl on firmer financial footing, but that won’t affect the 2010 racing season. He also stated that any businessman whose company is in Chapter 11 can’t say they’re in great shape. But he felt confident that he and his creditors will agree on a plan in the next six to nine months, and that the plan will save the place forever. Boy, was he blowing smoke!

The biggest challenge had been fending off the creditors, something owner/promoter Terry Eames, who bought the track in early 2009, successfully did shortly after the 2009 season ended, when the group he heads filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Qualifying for all divisions was held in blustery, winter like weather. With somewhere between 230-250 cars on hand, Race Director Tom Fox said the actual count was 244, the north and south pit areas were jammed to capacity.

The Bob Valenti Modified Racing Series portion of Blast Off drew 35 cars. Among the early casualties was Rob Goodenough who lost his left front tire and hit the wall. Chris Jensen and Ed Dachenhausen withdrew because of engine problems. Dave Etheridge, Jon McKennedy and Rowan Pennick were the qualifying heat winners. Todd Annarummo was the consolation winner.

It was almost 4:30pm when the SK Modifieds ran their qualifying heats. With the sun on the way down, the temp dropped below 40deg. Keith Rocco, Ron Yuhas jr. and Jeffrey Paul were the SK Modified heat winners. Conspicuous by his absence was Ted Christopher.

Feature winners Saturday were Allen Coates (25-lap All-American Series Truck), Anthony Mocella (25-lap NEMA Lites), Norm Wrenn (25-lap Pro4 Modifieds), Max Zachem (25-lap Legends Car) and Chris Lomartire (15-lap Bandoleros).

Sunday dawned a cloudy-windy day which kept many fans home as the grandstand was a little over half full. Not bad considering. Keith Rocco started the track season off right as he led pole to pole in the SK Modified 60 lapper. Ron Yuhas jr dogged the leader in the early going but it was Todd Ceravolo who gave the winner the biggest pressure. Ceravolo, who started 11th, moved into the second spot on lap 13 and despite eight restarts Ceravolo could not muster the extra needed speed to out gun the leader. Jeff Pearl turned in a fine run as he finished third after starting near the rear. Yuhas faded to fourth while Tyler Chadwick rounded out the top five.

The Bob Valente Auto Mall.com Modified Racing Series turned out to be quite competitive. Doug Coby was the eventual winner but the star of the show was Rowan Pennick who came from dead last to challenge for the lead. Pennick actually had Coby covered at one point but Coby ran him up on a couple of restarts and if he hadn’t backed out of it he would have certainly found himself in the wall. In the end it was all for naught as Pennick appeared to run out of gas on a restart with 10 laps remaining. Matt Hirschman, who came from a 17th starting spot, seized the opportunity and took over the runner up spot to the finish. Jon McKennedy, who led the early going finished third. Andy Seuss and Jacob Dore rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Les Hinkley, Eric Goodale, Steve Masse, Dave Etheridge and Pennick. Pre-race favorite Mike Stefanik had mechanical problems right from the start as he completed only two laps, finishing 26th.

Other Sunday winners at the Speedbowl on Sunday were Chris Leonard in the NEMA Midgets, Tim Jordan in the Late Models, Ed Puleo in the Street Stocks and Danny Field in the Mini Stocks.

Racing continues at the shoreline oval this Saturday night. A tip of the hat to Race Director Tom Fox for running a fast-efficient program.
At Thompson, Test and Tune sessions were on Saturday from 11:00am to 6:00pm. Among those on hand was Bobby Santos III in the Mystic Missile. According to those on hand the young gun looked extremely sharp in the storied car.

MadHouse star Burt Myers confirmed to Russ Dowd that he would be in competition at the upcoming IceBreaker Whelen Modified Tour Series event. Myers is one of the featured drivers in the History Channel reality series which depicts the trials and tribulations of Modified competitors at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC.

Denny Hamlin passed Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth and leader Jeff Gordon following the final restart to get his third career Sprint Cup victory at the Martinsville Speedway. The race was run on Monday due to the fact that heavy rain pelted the state of Virginia on Sunday. Kevin Harvick was the Truck Series race at Martinsville.

Ten years ago in 2015, The Thompson Motorsports Park had a practice scheduled for Friday but rain and fog prevailed. On Saturday morning the New England finally kicked in with sunny skies and temps in the 60s. Thirty five Whelen Modified Tour cars were on hand for qualifying. During an early practice session Rowan Pennink had the throttle stick wide open as he roared down the backstretch of the 5/8 mile oval. Pennink’s car went head on into the concrete wall and burst into flames when the fuel pump was severed from the engine. Pennink escaped unhurt but his car was all but destroyed form the impact and resulting fire.

Defending Tour Champion Doug Coby captured the pole position as he toured the 5/8 mile oval in 18.679 seconds (120.456 mph). Second fastest was Bobby Santos III who was a blink of the eye short with a 18.735 second run. Corey LaJoie, Ted Christopher and Timmy Solomito rounded out the top five. Slowest in the field was sophomore contender Melissa Fifield who was almost 14 mph slower than the pole sitter. She was way out of her league and needed to take a step back, sorry to say. During the running of the Ice Breaker she was lapped on lap 8, the first of numerous times. finally after completing 100 laps at an extremely slow speed she parked the car in the infield after complaining of a slipping clutch and cramps in her feet.

In other Saturday action at Thompson, Moose Douton opened up the 2015 Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park with a win in the Limited Sportsman feature after patience paid off big dividends for the Waterford, Conn. driver. Douton didn’t know he won until after the race was completed. Other winners in NASCAR Whelen All American Series action were Tyler Hines in the Sunoco Modified Lite division and Scott Michalski in the Monster Mini Stock division. Roger Turbush won in the New England Truck Series, Scott Bigelow in the NEMA Light’s, and Scott Quinn in the Vintage Outlaw’s.

The Sunoco (SK) Modifieds had a strong field of 23 cars to run three qualifying heats. Winners were Kerry Malone, Woody Pitkat and Ted Christopher.

A picture perfect day coupled with an almost packed grandstand provided the back drop for Doug Coby who appeared to be out for a Sunday drive as he clearly dominated the 150 lap NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series 150 lapper. Coby, in his Phil Moran prepared mount, took the early lead and proved from the start he was going to be the man to beat. A few early race cautions stopped him from pulling out to a commanding lead, but after a lap 36 restart, that’s exactly what he did. A red flag on lap 14 when Danny Watts hit the wall provided a slight interuption. Once racing resumed, Coby was back out to a ten car length lead over Bobby Santos and Ted Christopher.

A round of pit stops under caution on lap 75 provided a little drama as Ron Silk inherited the lead but not for long as Coby was able to jump six spots to place himself inside of the top five by lap 84 when the caution flew for Troy Talman. Coby reclaimed the lead on lap 100 when he went by Silk in turn three. Ryan Preece and Silk took tires under caution on lap 104 in hopes to give themselves a shot at Coby up front but to no avail. Timmy Solomito moved into the second spot on a restart at lap 118 putting him side-by-side with Coby for a restart at lap 122. Coby jumped right back out to the front with Santos taking over the second spot.

Coby pulled away to a huge lead before caution was out again at lap 135. Coby handled the restart as well as he had any other, but this time it was Pitkat who took over the second spot. On the final lap, a five car tangle in turn four resulted in Coby taking the checkers under caution.

Following Coby and Woody Pitkat at the finish was Santos. Ted Christopher and Ryan Preece rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth were Timmy Solomito, Eric Goodale, Donny Lia, Ron Silk and Todd Szegedy.

Ten cautions for 54 laps kept Coby’s average speed at 67.514mph. Eighteen of the original 35 starters finished on the lead lap.

In other Sunday action, Ryan Preece won in the Sunoco Modified Series, Marc Curtis in the Late Model division, Scott Sundeen in the Limited Sportsman, and Eric Bourgeois in the Mini Stocks. Other winners included Dillon Moltz in the Granite State Pro Stock Series and Scott Quinn in the Vintage Outlaws.

Taking over an hour to complete the 75 lap distance, Ryan Preece used a late-race pass to slingshot past Keith Rocco on lap 69 and drive on to the victory in the Sunoco Modified 75 lap race. It was a battle right down to the wire in a race that was plagued by 12 caution periods. Preece and Rocco swapped the lead numerous times but in the end it appeared that Rocco lost some power in his engine. Woody Pitkat finished third and was followed by Bert Marvin and Kerry Malone.

The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour series visited the Langley VA Speedway last Saturday. After a John Smith spin in Turn 2 on Lap 45, Burt Myers was forced to the pits to change a cut right rear tire. He thought the early setback ended any chance for a decent finish. He was mistaken.

Myers piloted his No. 1 Remington SCT/Citrusafe/Speedway Auto Auction Ford into first place on Lap 88 of the Pepsi 150 at Langley Speedway and never relinquished the lead, capturing his second consecutive win at the southern Virginia oval and first victory of the 2015 season. The win gives Myers, the 2010 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion, a total of 16 career wins on the Tour.

Kyle Ebersole, driving the No. 5 Ebersole Excavating Ford, elected to stay on track as the leaders pitted during cautions at various points during the race, waiting until Lap 140 to get his new tire. He returned to the track in fifth position with seven laps remaining in the race, then worked his way to second with two to go, but was unable to catch Myers and finished in the runner up spot.

George Brunnhoelzl III started from the pole and led the first third of the race, until pitting after the third caution. He ran in the top five throughout the race but had to settle for a third place finish. Defending Southern Modified Tour champion Andy Seuss finished fourth, and Frank Fleming kept his streak of top-10 finishes at Langley Speedway intact with a fifth place result. Jason Myers, J.R. Bertuccio, Jeremy Gerstner, Gary Putnam, and Bobby Measmer Jr. rounded out the top 10.

There were 15 cars on hand for the event. The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour begins its spring break and will return to action on July 4 at Caraway Speedway.

While the New London-Waterford Speedbowl has received a new lease on life, hopefully for many years, another historic speedway, the one-mile New York State Fairgrounds Speedway in Syracuse, NY may meet its demise after the running the Super Dirt Week event this coming fall. The one mile speedway, known as the Moody Mile, has been in existence for 109 years.

Area Auto Racing reported that New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo made the opening round of the demise when he allocated $50 million for capitol projects at the fairgrounds. The money promised to Onondaga County executive Joanie Mahoney is earmarked for a project which she says will turn the fairgrounds into a modern facility that can be profitable year round. Her vision and that of Fair director Troy Waffner is to tear down the 16,000 seat grandstand and remove the one mile speedway. In its place would be an Ice Plex for Hockey leagues, an Equestrian Center for horse shows, an RV Park along with useable grass and tree areas.

On a sad note, former Speedway Scene owner and editor Val LeSeur sent word that his best friend and son, Bob passed away at the age of 53 after suffering a heart attack in South Carolina. During the Speedway Scene years Bob served a vital role as he covered the NASCAR Cup and supporting events with his camera and his pen. Bob was pre-deceased by his Mom, Anne.

After having won several honors at the North Carolina Masters swimming championships a week ago, Bob was working towards competing in the Nationals. After his shift at the Y, he was doing laps when he suffered a heart attack.

In NASCAR Sprint cup racing at the Texas Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson had to out-duel Kevin Harvick and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. over the final 15 laps to score his second win of the season and the 72nd of his career. Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS moved from seventh to first over the final 25 laps, using aggressive passes exiting turns to gain a lead he never relinquished. In 2012 Erik Jones made headlines by out-driving Kyle Busch to capture the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla. On Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, Jones did something even more impressive by outrunning former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to capture his first NASCAR XFINITY Series triumph.

Five years ago in 2020, The latest word from Daytona Beach was that NASCAR is postponing the scheduled events on May 8-9 at the Martinsville Speedway. Their intention remains to run all 36 races, with a potential return to racing without fans in attendance in May at a date and location to be determined. That also means that the Whelen Modified Tour event scheduled for May 8 at the southern Virginia tack is also cancelled and may or may not be rescheduled.

The Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park announced on Friday, Apr 17, that the 46th annual Liquid Death Icebreaker, originally rescheduled for May 15-16, will not happen during that weekend as it has been postponed to a yet to be announced later date.

Scheduled racing at Stafford is on track. Opening night will be on Friday, May 22 with a full card of live racing. One week later, Friday, May 29, will see the Call before You Dig Pro Late Model Special event followed om Saturday and Sunday with the Annual Spring Sizzler.
In the meantime, new events have been added to both Stafford Speedway’s driver and fan iRacing leagues including a new invite only Tour Type Modified Invitational set for Friday, May 15th. All Phases Renovations has stepped up as the presenting sponsor of the four event series that will include three different types of cars as well as weekly payouts for the top-3 finishers.

The 4-race schedule is set to include a Street Stock race, Late Model race, and two Tour-Type Modified races. The first 3 events will pay a weekly $250 purse across the top-3, including $150 to win, $75 for 2nd and $25 for 3rd. The Modified Invitational scheduled for Friday, May 15th will pay $350 to win, $200 for 2nd, and $150 for 3rd. The 80-lap Tour-Type Modified event will be invitation only. Winners from Friday’s events will have a guaranteed entry in the Invitational. Additional criteria to enter the race will be announced in the coming weeks.
On a sad note noted race tire man Bobby Summers passed away at the age of 83. Summers began his 60-year career in the tire business in 1955 working for the Firestone Tire Company in Indianapolis. While with Firestone, Bob worked with some of the legends of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway such as; Mario Andretti, the Unser family, A.J. Foyt, as well as many NASCAR Grand National drivers. When Bob left Firestone in 1981, he got a phone call from Bob Newton, Hoosier Tire’s founder. Shortly thereafter, he got into the business as a Hoosier Tire distributor.
For over 30 years, Bob has built his business and enjoyed success by surrounding himself with a team of knowledgeable, hardworking people including his son Rob. High-performing Hoosier tires are products that provide customers with maximum performance at affordable prices. His family-oriented business model and personal philosophy have launched him into long-term success selling “Tires Designed for Champions.”

Last year, 2024, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series was on Spring Break. Next stop for the tour will be on May 4 at the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH. After three events Ron Silk with two wins and a second is the point leader with a nine point edge over Justin Bonsignore. Jake Johnson currently sits third, 15 points behind Bonsignore. Craig Lutz sits in fourth spot, six points behind Johnson. Rounding out the top five is rookie sensation Trevor Catalano who is 5 points behind Lutz. Catalano was on the march to the front at Thompson when a dead battery did him in.

The SMART Modified Tour continued this past Saturday at the Hickory Speedway in North Carolina with a 100-lap event. Twenty-five Modifieds were on hand for qualifying. Matt Hirschman brought the Pee-Dee car on what was a last-minute choice to head south. Hirschman had originally planned on competing in a Race of Champions event in Pennsylvania which was cancelled due to a bad forecast. Hirschman qualified for the pole as he toured the speedway in 14.126 second fastest. The top four re-drew for starting spots. Hirschman drew no.1. Danny Bohn who was second fastest, drew the third starting spot. Burt Myers drew fourth and Joey Colter drew the outside pole.

Rookie sensation Carson Loftin continued his domination of the SMART ranks as he scored yet another win, his fourth. Starting sixth in the 100 lapper, the 16 year old paced himself, stayed out of trouble, breaking into the top four on lap 20. Hirschman, who had led from the start, had Danny Bohn on his bumper. Joey Colter, who had been running third, passed Bohn for second on lap 25. The first caution of the day flew on lap 36 for Chris Pasteryak who had spun the Gary Putnam no. 77 in turn four. One lap after the restart, Loftin passed Colter for second.

By lap 50 Loftin and Hirschman were wheel to wheel. The two ran wheel to wheel for 19 laps when Loftin took the lead at the start-finish line. Once in the lead Loftin opened almost a full straight s way lead. At lap 79 the yellow was displayed for debris on the track. Just about all the front runners pitted for their allowable single tire. For the most part, competitors swapped their left side tires from front to rear plus installed a new tire on the right rear. On the restart Loftin jumped out into the lead and was followed by Hirschman, Tom Buzzie, Joey Colter, Burt Myers and Luke Baldwin. As Hirschman began to fade, Myers came alive. By lap 86 Myers had moved his way into second spot. Try as he might, Myers was unable to get the necessary steam and at the checker, settled for second behind Carson Loftin. Hirschman held on for third with Joey Colton, fourth. Jake Crumb rounded out the top five.

Following the event SMART confiscated the engines of the top three finishers. SMART will go on Spring Break starting this weekend, giving way to Bowman Gray Stadium which opens on Saturday, April 20. The next event for SMART will be at the Franklin County Speedway in Callaway, Va. On Friday, May24.

Sunday at the 4th annual Northeast Classic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Anthony Nocella slugged it out with Jon Mckennedy to win the 50 lap tour type modified rvent. With two to go Nocella used a low move through turn two to go back to the front. But McKennedy was able to cross over off the corner and got back to the lead into turn three. With McKennedy low and Nocella high, the pair came to the white flag side-by-side. With Austin Beers pushing him from behind into turn one, it was Nocella getting the advantage over McKennedy and powering off of turn two with a huge lead. With his foot to the floor Nocella powered his way to the checkered flag. Mckennedy finished second with Austin Beers, third. Matt Swanson and Ron Williams rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth included Doug Coby, Woody Pitkat, Ted Hodgdon, Mike Collins and Tyler Hines. A paltry field of 15 tour type modifieds were on hand.

The turn-out of ACT Late Models showed 39 cars on hand. Jessie Switser was the 50 lap winner. Derek Gluchacki finished second with Alexandre Tardif, third. A very slim field of six 604 Modifieds were on hand. Danny Cates took the 20 lap win over Tyler Barry. Twenty six Super Late Models were on hand with Eddie McDonald taking the win over DJ Shaw and Ben Rowe. Twenty five Street Stocks went 25 laps with Ryan Waterman taking the win.

In NASCAR Cup racing, after facing a great deal of adversity in the last 18 months, Chase Elliott returned to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series, capturing the victory in Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. In doing so, the Dawsonville, Georgia-native earned his 19th victory at NASCAR’s top-level, snapping a 42-race winless streak that dates back to October 2022 at Talladega Superspeedway. Brad Keselowski was credited with a runner-up finish, after his No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang came to life on fresh tires in the race’s closing stages. William Byron, who turned Ross Chastain battling for second on the final lap, was credited with a third-place run. Ryan Preece finished 12th.

In a recent statement Matt Hirschman explains the whys and why nots of the recent decision to cancel the Tri-Track event that was supposed to run on Saturday, April 6, that has now moved to October. “In a time when weather forecasts are at our fingertips 24/7, we probably don’t realize how much of a negative affect this has on race event attendance. In the days leading up to a race if the forecast is poor or even a little questionable people are already deciding to not attend and making other plans. The weather can be unpredictable on any given day but yet we are making a decision to attend days or even a week in advance. A race promoter is often faced with a decision to move forward with the event or cancel/postpone based on the forecast that may or may not be accurate.

For example two weeks ago at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park the Saturday card was stopped short of completing the modified feature by rain and cold/damp conditions. For those that did attend I totally understand being disappointed. To spend your hard-earned money and not get to see a complete program especially the headline division is frustrating. Please keep in mind as team owner the cost to compete in this event will nearly double as the only expense that won’t be replicated will be our pit passes. On the flip side had we completed the feature the track would have paid the full purse despite not getting the crowd needed to cover the cost of the event. Before going to social media to complain or bash the race tracks remember we are all in this together. It can cost the race teams thousands of dollars and the race tracks potentially tens of thousands of dollars when Mother Nature isn’t kind. Another example is when a track or series does postpone an event in advance like the Race of Champions did they should be applauded not criticized for looking out for the fans, competitors and themselves to avoid a situation where everyone loses. Let’s hope for better weather days ahead so we can all enjoy the sport we love!” signed, Matt Hirschman #60.

With 81 career feature wins, Keith Rocco is one of the winningest drivers in Stafford Speedway history, trailing only Ted Christopher with 131 wins, Woody Pitkat with 83 wins, and Tom Fearn with 82 wins. Among his 81 career wins, Rocco has won just about everything there is to win at Stafford with the exception of the NAPA Spring Sizzler® and the NAPA SK 5k. Rocco has met with misfortune the last 2 years driving Mark Pane’s #57 M & M Stone Creations car which has prevented him from making the NAPA Spring Sizzler® starting field, but he is looking forward to turning his luck around in this year’s 52nd Annual edition of the “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring”.
Rocco’s career overall total of 303 wins include 154 victories at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, 73 at Thompson and 81 at Stafford Speedway. Rocco would join the late Ted Christopher and the late Bob Potter as the only drivers in track history with four or more SK Modified championships. Christopher had nine titles at Stafford and Potter had five. The 2020 Stafford SK Modified title was Rocco’s 18th NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Division I track championship over 14 years, which set a new NASCAR record. Rocco has eight titles at Thompson.

In 1967 the Stafford Motor Speedway was paved. The NASCAR Modifieds were the headline division. For 20 years thru 1986 Stafford would host and provide competition from the best in the busines from throughout New England, New York State, Long Island and from the south. Names like Eddie Flemke, Bugsy Stevens, Fred DeSarro, Reggie Ruggerio, Ray Miller, Richie Evans, Maynard Troyer, Geoff Bodine, Charlie Jarzobeck, Greg Sacks, Wayne Anderson, Jamie Tomaino, Satch Worley and Ray Hendrick would be in the line-up and would record victories.
The all new book, The Modified Years At Stafford, by the Grace of God and 600 hp, is gaining interest and has become a must have in race fans and competitors library. Race by Race, Year by Year, it’s all there. Read all about it! Books are now available on Amazon.com and Coastal 181 (877-907-8181 toll free) and are available thru Stafford’s web site in their store. Order yours now. Makes a great gift!
With the cooperation of the Arute family another book has been published with pictures and biographies of the 50 Greatest Drivers at Stafford.

The Stafford Motor Speedway had become the epicenter of NASCAR Modified racing in the northeast by the late 1980’s. From its dirt beginnings to its lightning-fast asphalt, Stafford had become the toughest and most gratifying track to score a victory. The Arute family which has owned and guided the destiny of the facility commissioned their thousands of loyal fans to name their favorite drivers. In alphabetical order so as not to offend anyone:

Tom Baldwin, Gene Bergin, Brett Bodine, Geoff Bodine, Ken Bouchard, Ron Bouchard, Mario “Fats” Caruso, Rene Charland, Ted Christopher, Leo Cleary, Tim Connolly, Jerry Cook, Corky Cookman, Pete Corey, Fred DeSarro, Richie Evans, Mike Ewanitsko, Ed Flemke, Sr., Jeff Fuller, Rick Fuller, Ernie Gahan, Bill Greco, Bo Gunning, Ray Hendrick, George “Moose” Hewitt, Tony Hirschman, George Janoski, Charlie Jarzombek, George Kent, Buddy Krebs, Randy LaJoie, Jan Leaty, Jerry Marquis, Mike McLaughlin, Ray Miller, Steve Park, Bob Polverari, Bob Potter, Brian Ross, John “Reggie” Ruggiero, Greg Sacks, Ollie Silva, “Wild” Bill Slater, Jimmy Spencer, Mike Stefanik, Carl “Bugsy” Stevens, George Summers, Jamie “The Jet” Tomaino, Maynard Troyer and Satch Worley.

Books are priced at $17.95 each and be purchased at the track at the Novelty Booth or at the Stafford Motor Speedway on line store. Books are also available at Amazon.com and at Coastal181 (877-907-8181).