RPW Exclusive: Looking Back: Fourth Week Of May

Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Eighty five years ago in 1940 a brand new race track in opened in Thompson, CT.

The land on which the track was built had been transformed from a dairy farm into a speedway following the farm’s destruction at the hands of the infamous 1938 hurricane. Property owner John Hoenig had constructed the largest race track in the northeast and had bucked conventional wisdom by making the racing surface out of macadam instead of the traditional dirt, clay or wood that topped most tracks of the day. Hoenig had built the first ‘asphalt’ race track in the United States. Racers of the day could not wait to test the all-new, high banked speedway. None had ever raced on a surface like the one Hoenig had used, but that did not keep them or race fans away. A full field of racecars and the huge grandstands were filled to capacity for this grand opening. Opening day had brought virtually every big name in the sport. The grandstands, made from trees that had been blown down in the hurricane, were full and when the time trial session was complete, it was the D’Amore #10 that had set the fast time of the day at 26.4 seconds. “Dizzy” Vance then drove the D’Amore #10 to a win in the very first qualifying race at Thompson.

Once the qualifying heats and the consolation race were completed, the race teams worked feverishly to improve the performance of their dirt track racecars. After all, none had ever competed on a hard and fast surface like they encountered on that day in May of 1940. The feature event cars were then lined up and the green flag dropped on the field of twelve cars. Excitement filled the air and the cars roared down the long straight-a-ways and slid sideways through the turns just as if they were on a dirt track. The competition was fierce, but when the final flag flew on this historic opening day, it was the D’Amore #10 that had done it all. Yes, “Dizzy” Vance had set fast time, won his qualifying heat and then went on to claim victory in the very first feature race ever run at the Thompson Speedway.

Special thanks to Russ Dowd who provided the info on the Grand Opening of the Big T.

Seventy five years ago in 1950, Rusty Rushton was a double winner in the Modifieds at Seekonk.

Seventy years ago in 1955, Don Collins scored his fourth win of the season at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Lou Tetreault, who was equally as hot, scored his fifth of the year in the non-Fords. Fred Astle Sr. and Moe Gherzi shared Sportsman wins and Lou Tetreault was the Late Model winner at the Cement Palace.

Sixty five years ago, in 1960, Bill Slater won his fourth feature in a row at the Norwood Arena. Ted Stack was the Modified feature winner at the Waterford Speedbowl. In other action at the shoreline oval Tom Sutcliff was the non-Ford winner and Newt Palm scored his third Bomber win. At Seekonk, Ed Hoyle was the Class A winner while Hop Harrington won a Cut Down event. The Cut Downs were an early version to what we now call Super Modifieds. Johnny Roberts made it three in a row in Modified action at South Boston in Virginia.

Sixty years ago in 1965 Ted Stack was still winning at the Waterford Speedbowl as he took the Modified feature. Bill Scrivner was the winner in the Bomber ranks. Pete Corey led the New York State invasion at Stafford as he won the Friday night event on the dirt. Paul Marshall took the win at Fonda on Saturday night. At Riverside Park, Dick Dixon recorded the win. Little did anyone know it would be his last win at the amusement park speedway as he would lose his life later in the year at the Thompson Speedway when he hit a light pole on the backstretch. Jerry Cook took the Sunday night win at Utica-Rome. Tom Kotary and Elton Hill followed. Down in the southland at the Southside Speedway in Richmond, VA, Ted Hairfield won a 150 lap Modified event. Ed Flemke was scheduled to appear but fell victim to car trouble while enroute to the track and never made it.

Fifty five years ago in 1970, Fred DeSarro made it two in a row in Friday night action at Malta. Eddie Pieniezak finished second with Dick Fowler, third. Stafford ran a 100 lapper on Saturday night. Ray Hendrick, up from Virginia for the weekend was a surprise winner after DeSarro had a brake lock up while leading. The biased New England crowd booed Hendrick in victory lane because they thought he had put out DeSarro. De Sarro got on the mike and told the crowd what really happened and the entire mood of the crowd changed. This was to be Hendricks’ only career win at Stafford. Eddie Flemke finished second and was followed by DeSarro, Leo Cleary and Bobby Santos. Eddie Pieniezak and Irv Taylor shared victory lane in twin 25’s at Fonda and at Plattsburg it was Dick Nephew over Andy Romano. Walt Dombrowski, a sheet metal fabricator at the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton , CT won his second Modified feature of the year driving the Majewski L&M. George Allum was the Late Model Daredevil winner. At the Seekonk Speedway a youngster by the name of Ronnie Bouchard was the Class A winner. Don Dionne was the B division winner. At Thompson on Sunday, Hendrick won a 100 lapper over DeSarro and Flemke. A make-up 35 lapper was also run with Flemke taking the win over Hendrick and Santos. John Kollar was the Sunday night winner at Utica-Rome.

Fifty years ago in 1975, rain washed out Friday night action at Stafford, Freeport, Seekonk and Utica-Rome. Islip ran a 100-lap double point event with Fred Harbach taking the win over Tom McCann and Gary Winters. At Lancaster it was Maynard Troyer over Roger Treichler and Dean Hoag. Billy Harman made it two in a row in Modified action at Waterford. Don Fowler scored his second Late Model Daredevil win of the season at the shoreline oval. Sunday night at Fulton saw Richie Evans returned to his winning ways as he beat out George Kent and Jerry Cook. At Thompson, it rained.

Forty five years ago in 1980, the New England Drivers and Owners Club, (NEDOC), voted to notify track operators of Stafford, Thompson, Westboro and Monadnock that they wanted a reduction in pit fees for drivers, owners and mechanics. With the exception of Thompson, all complied with NEDOC’s wishes. Stafford ran the Manchester Oil Heat 100 on Friday night. Richie Evans took the win over Ronnie Bouchard, Satch Worley, Jerry Cook and Mike Stefanik. Evans carried his winning ways over to Riverside on Saturday where he took the victory over Bob Polverari and Ray Miller. At Westboro it was Ronnie Bouchard over Bob Fuller. Shangri-La, Spencer, Waterford, Islip and Claremont fell victim to rain. Other weekend action saw John Blewett Jr. take the win at New Egypt on Wednesday following a tangle by leaders Jerry Cook and Evans. Stash Gregger took a 100 lap open event at Plainville, also on Wednesday, after Charlie Jarzombek hit the wall. On Sunday, a strike was called at Thompson and the Sunday night racing was cancelled after only six cars entered the pit area.

Forty years ago in 1985, Brian Ross made it two in a row in Friday night action at Stafford. Jeff Fuller finished second with Bugsy Stevens, third. Kerry Malone was the SK mod winner. New Egypt ran a 100 lapper with Bob Park holding off Jim Spencer for the win. Saturday night at Waterford, Kenny Bouchard in the Ted Marsh No.55 took the top spot over Bob Potter. Mike Lovetere was the Superstock winner. At Shangri-La, Richie Evans was in top form as he beat out Jim Spencer and Jan Leaty. At Riverside it was Doug Hevron over Bob Polverari and at Riverhead, Don Howe edged out Bob Park for the win. At Thompson on Sunday, Charlie Jarzombek closed out the weekend with a convincing win over Evans and Hevron. In SK type Modified action at Thompson, Kerry Malone took his second win of the weekend.

In Winston Cup action at Riverside, California, Terry LaBonte mastered the twisting road course.

Thirty five years ago in 1990, SK modified action at Stafford saw Bob Potter take the win. At Riverhead on Saturday night, Mike Ewanitsko beat veteran Fred Harbach for the win and at Riverside, Reggie Ruggerio won a 100 lapper over Bob Polverari and Mike Stefanik. At Shangri La, Andy Romano ended a 20-year dry spell as he won the mod feature over Dave Nichols. The mod tour was at Thompson on Sunday for a 100 lapper. NASCAR put in a mandatory pit stop, which made the racing better, but when the dust had settled, it was Mike Stefanik taking the win over Mike McLaughlin. Jeff Barry was the SK mod winner. Also on Sunday, Jerry Marquis in the Bob Judkins 2x won at Monadnock over Bruce Dell and Kirby Montieth.

Thirty years ago in 1995, Steve Chowanski was the Friday night winner at Stafford. Bo Gunning finished second with Mike Christopher, third. It was a night of intense action and contact. Jim Broderick and Ted Christopher were ejected for rough riding and John Anderson was ejected for climbing the starters stand to vent his feelings. The Featherlite Modified Tour was at Lee Raceway. Tim Connolly in the Bobby Fuller No.17 took the win over Tony Hirshman, Ed Flemke Jr and Tom Cravenho. Waterford cancelled at 11:00am on Saturday because of forecasted rain and by race time the sun was out! At Riverside Park, Steve Park in the Brady Bunch modified took the win over Doug Meservy and Reggie Ruggerio and at Riverhead, Tim Cintarino beat out Tom Tillotson for the win. Mike McLaughlin got his first Busch Grandnational win at Dover Downs on Saturday at the expense of fellow New Yorker, Doug Hevron who lost an engine while leading the late stages of the event. Kyle Petty won the Winston Cup event.

Twenty five years ago in 2000, Eddie Flemke Jr used an early pit stop to his advantage as he brought the Hill Enterprises No.79 home in the top spot at the Featherlite Modified Tour 150 at Stafford. Flemke pitted on lap 59 and when the rest of the field stopped on lap 85 he found himself in the lead, which he never gave up. Tim Connolly finished second and was followed by Tony Hirshman, LW Miller, Chris Kopec and Ted Christopher. Christopher overcame being put to the rear during the early going of the SK modified 50 lapper and took the lead in that event with one to go. At Waterford on Saturday, Jeff Pearl beat out Ed Reed Jr for the win and in SK Mod action at Thompson on Sunday; Christopher won out over Todd Ceravolo and Bert Marvin. In Winston Cup action at Charlotte, Matt Kenseth took the win. Jeff Burton was the GN winner. Five pit crewmembers were injured during a pre-race pyro show. In Daytona Beach, a group of blacks picketed NASCAR headquarters when the sanctioning body refused an entry of a black driver. In all fairness to NASCAR, the driver in question was very slow in a practice session at Martinsville and wasn’t even close to being competitive. They made the right decision!

Twenty years ago in 2005 At Stafford on Friday night Ted Christopher collected his 79th career win in the 40 lap SK Modified feature. Woody Pitkat appeared to be heading for the win when, on the last lap, he and Frank Ruocco tangled. While Pitkat and Ruocco were trying to collect themselves, Christopher who was running third, took advantage of their misfortune as he assumed the lead and eventual win. Pitkat recovered to finish second with Ruocco, third. Jeff Baral and Todd Owen rounded out the top five. Jay Stuart took a controversial win in the Late Models and Michael Bennett scored his fourth win in five starts in the Limited Sportsman division. Joey Ferrigno was the Dare Stock feature winner.

The Waterford Speedbowl continues to keep fans and competitors buzzing over the recent announcement that the track’s days are numbered. Speedbowl operator Terry Eames called a meeting on Wednesday, May 18, to explain to competitors what was really going on. Speaking in general terms Eames told those in attendance that the property owner, 1080 Hartford Road, LLC, had entered into an agreement that could potentially sell the property on which the Speedbowl is located to a real estate developer. He did specify that the 2005 season would continue as planned and there was a good chance that the 2006 season would also go on as planned. Rumor had it that the asking price was close to $5 million. Property values in southeastern Connecticut had soared in the last ten years and have created a housing shortage. It was also announced that the New London Submarine Base was on the US Government’s Base Closure list. If that became a reality property values could take a dive and building houses or condos on the Speedbowl property could be a bad investment. Electric Boat, which builds submarines for the US Navy had cut their workforce in half over the last ten years. The regions largest employers are the casinos which, in many cases, have hired displaced workers at low paying jobs. It’s a good guess that if the base goes the Speedbowl will stay. There are some who feel that Eames had betrayed them. When he took over operation of the track a few years back he stated that he was in it for “The Long Haul”. Evidently he hit a bump in the road !

Seventeen year old Jeffrey Paul made his open wheel Modified debut at the shoreline oval in the “Wacky Wednesday” program. A standout competitor in the Legends Cars, Paul took to the limited X-Modified like a duck would take to water as he won the event Paul came back to the Speedbowl on Saturday to win the 20 lap Legends race. In Bud Nationals qualifying at Waterford on Saturday there were 29 SK Modifieds on hand. Despite the increased purse only two non-regulars plus Jim Broderick who was pinch hitting for Mark Pane who had a date at the altar, were on hand. Broderick who has been semi-retired the last few years hasn’t lost his touch as he set fast time for the 150-lap event during time trials. Frank Ruocco was second fastest with Tom Fox, third and Ted Christopher, fourth. Rounding out the top five qualifiers was Chris Pasteryak. Drizzle and the prediction for more forced the postponement of the second day of the Budweiser Modified Nationals Sunday at Waterford Speedbowl.

In some sad news, Freddy Doolittle of Norwich, CT, a Modified car owner and sponsor for many years passed away at the age of 77 on Monday, May 16. Fred owned and operated Freddy’s TV in Norwich for 52 years. During his 30+ years as a car owner the Freddy’s TV No.23 ran up and down the east coast with drivers like Bob Potter, Ron Narducci, Ed Yerrington, Moose Hewitt and Kenny Bouchard at the controls.

Fifteen years ago in 2010, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series continued on “Spring Break” After two events Bobby Santos sat firmly atop the point standings with a 15 point lead over Ted Christopher. Mike Stefanik sat in third spot, some 25 points behind the leader. Tied for fourth spot were Rowan Pennick and Todd Szegedy. Sixth through tenth were Eric Berndt, Ryan Preece, Chris Pasteryak, Eric Goodale and Erick Rudolph. After two events a total of 39 different drivers had entered into competition.

The Late Model division took center stage on Friday at the Stafford Motor Speedway with the 16th Annual Lincoln Technical Institute Late Model 100. Woody Pitkat scored a dominating win, leading the race from lap-17 all the way to lap-100 to pick up his first win of the 2010 season and the first win ever for his car owner Billy Snow, Sr. Frank Ruocco scored a dominating feature victory in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, David Webb won the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, George Nocera, Jr. won the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Jeff Jolly wired the field in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.

In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Ted Christopher took the lead from Frank Ruocco in the outside groove to lead the field, but Ruocco was glued to Christopher’s back bumper. After several cautions slowed the action in the first several laps of the race, Christopher held the lead until lap-6 when Ruocco went to the front of the field. Keith Rocco was third behind Christopher with Mark Bakaj in fourth and Zach Sylvester in fifth.

Ruocco continued to hold the lead while Christopher and Rocco were having a great duel for second place. Rocco worked Christopher over and he finally was able to get by Christopher for second on lap-20. A spin by Brad Hietala brought the yellow out with 20 laps complete. Ruocco continued to lead on the restart, with Rocco and Christopher side by side for second. Christopher took the spot, but he spun on lap-23 after contact with Rocco, which brought the caution back out. Rocco was sent to the rear of the field for over aggressive driving, moving Sylvester into second, Jeff Malave into third, and Jeff Baral into fourth for the restart.

Ruocco again held the lead with Sylvester, Malave, Baral, and Dan Avery behind him in the top-5. The top-5 ran in line until the caution came back out with 29 laps complete for a spin by Brad Hietala. Ruocco again got a good restart and kept the lead with Malave moving into second and Baral into third. Keith Rocco was now back in the mix after his penalty and moved into fourth with Ryan Preece moving into fifth place. Rocco got by Baral on the last lap, but it was all Ruocco as he led the race from lap-6 to the checkered flag to take his first SK Modified® feature victory of the 2010 season. Malave finished second, with Rocco, Baral, and Preece rounding out the top-5.

Racing at the Waterford Speedbowl was cancelled due to rain. The sun was out at 3:00pm and it ended up being a pleasant day and evening. There was lots of standing water in the infield which meant that the water table at the shoreline oval was quite high. Keith Rocco held a commanding 19 point lead over Ron Yuhas jr in the SK Modified division. Sitting in third, 64 points in arears was Diego Monahan. Tyler Chadwick and Rob Janovic were tied for fifth.

In Long Island racing action, defending NASCAR Modified champion John Fortin of Holtsville escaped a close call late in Saturday’s 35-lap feature event at Riverhead Raceway to drive to his 23rd career victory before a chilled and windswept collection of die hard fans. The win moved John into sole possession of 11th on the all-time win list, four behind Don Howe and John Berkoski who share 9th at 27 victories.

The Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem NC ran a 100 lapper on Saturday night in front of another packed house. MadHouse TV star Burt Myers scored his first victory of the year at the historic track. Myers started 16th on the field. Brian Loftin finished second with Brentt Elliott, third and Brad Robbins, fourth. Defending track champ Tim Brown rounded out the top five. Jason Myers, another MadHouse star finished ninth after drawing the scratch starting spot. Junior Miller ended up 15th.

Internet web site Speed 51 reported that defending Bowman Gray Stadium (NC) Modified champion and Madhouse television personality Tim Brown told Speed 51 Radio that SPEED TV had been negotiating with the History Channel to buy the rights to the reality television show. Brown said that even though he wasn’t happy with how he was portrayed in the first season of the show he would consider being a part of a second season. He told 51 Radio that although a film crew has been taping at Bowman Gray this year, it might be too late into the season for a deal to be made and a possible SPEED version of Madhouse might not appear until the 2011 season.

Because of the fact that it was Mother’s Day weekend the Nationwide Series ran on Friday and the Sprint Cup race was run on Saturday night at the Darlington Raceway. The weekend belonged to Denny Hamlin as he won both events.

Ten years ago in 2015, Keith Rocco achieved immortality at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night as he became the shoreline oval’s all time feature winner. Rocco scored a one-two punch as he won the Late Model and SK Modified feature events which gave him an overall feature win total of 108, besting a total of 106 wins by Late Model competitor Phil Rondeau who is now retired as a driver. Rocco, who is 30, has at least 20 good years of racing ahead of him and could very well set a record that will never be broken.

Other winners were Ryan Waterman in the Limited Sportsman, Corey Barry in the SK Lites and Wayne Burroughs Jr in the Mini-Stocks.

In the SK Modified event Rocco took the lead shortly after the half way mark and was never pressured after that. Diego Monahan finished second with Joe Gada, third. Rounding out the top five was Tyler Chadwick and Ted Christopher.

The Stafford Motor Speedway hosted the Valenti Modified Racing Series this past Friday night in addition to their regular racing program. Doing double duty were Ryan Preece, Ted Christopher, Woody Pitkat, Rowan Pennink, and Keith Rocco.

In the Valenti Modified Racing Series 80 lapper Woody Pitkat took the win over Keith Rocco, Todd Szegedy, Ted Christopher and Todd Patnode.

Pitkat took the lead at the 50 lap mark with Ryan Preece in second. Rocco was side by side with Szegedy for third with Kirk Alexander right behind them. A multicar incident in turn 2 brought the caution out with 51 laps complete.

Rocco, who led the early going, went back to the lead on the restart with Pitkat second, Todd Szegedy third, Preece fourth, and Todd Patnode fifth. Pitkat was applying pressure to Rocco’s back bumper but was unable to make a pass. Rocco and Pitkat were beginning to pull away from Szegedy in third in a 2-car fight for the lead. Pitkat was able to make a pass for the lead on lap-68 and with 10 laps to go, Rocco was looking high and low to get back around Pitkat. The caution came back out with 74 laps complete as Norm Wrenn took a hard hit into the wall coming out of turn 4.

The order for the restart was Pitkat and Rocco on the front row, Szegedy and Christopher in the second row, and Preece and Patnode in the third row. Pitkat took the lead on the restart with Rocco slotting into second behind him. Szegedy got by Christopher for third and Patnode was fifth. Pitkat was able to hold Rocco off to the checkered flag to pick up his first Valenti Modified Racing Series feature victory.

Taking down weekly feature wins on the night were Rowan Pennink in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Michael Bennett scored his third win of the season in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Joey Ferrigno won for the second time in 2015 in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Duane Provost won the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, Frank L’Etoile won the 15-lap DARE Stock feature, and Devin O’Connell was the winner of the 20-lap Legend Cars feature.

The Riverhead Raceway on Long Island saw Ryan Preece take the Modified win over John Fortin and Kyle Soper.

Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem NC Tim Brown won the first of two 25-lap races for the Modified Division and matched Junior Miller’s all-time mark of 73 wins. Brown beat out John Smith and Chris Fleming in the first of two twin 25 lap events. In the night cap, Dean Ward took the win over Burt Myers and Randy Butner.

In other Modified racing in the south, Burt Myers out ran his brother Jason in Concord, NC KOMA Unwind Modified Madness Main on Friday night. The 1/2-mile tri-oval at the Concord Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina came alive again for the first time since late 2012 to a packed house and a full pit area.

In a somewhat related manner it was announced the North-South Shootout would return to Concord in the fall.

Juan Pablo Montoya won the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race and held off reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion and teammate Will Power by 0.1046 of a second.

At the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards’ final fuel run lasted 59 green-flag laps, just enough to capture his first Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup victory. Edwards, runner-up Greg Biffle and third-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. saved the requisite fuel after pitting when most of the race leaders stayed out on a lap 338 caution. Fortune favored the bold trio. Austin Dillon won the Xfinity Series event.

Three former champions, a legendary hard-living driver and a successful track executive have been selected for the Class of 2016 into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The men will be inducted on Jan. 22 in the NASCAR facility in uptown Charlotte, N.C.

The late Sprint Cup champion Bobby Isaac made the HOF on his fifth try. Two-time Cup champion Terry Labonte made it on his second and six-time Modified Series champion Jerry Cook made it on his sixth. The late Curtis Turner, one of stock car racing’s most endearing personalities, made it on his seventh. And in something of a surprise, Bruton Smith of Speedway Motorsports Inc. made the Hall on his third try.

Five years ago in 2020, NASCAR announced Friday, May 29, that it had rescheduled the 2020 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season-opening race, the Wade Cole Memorial 133 presented by Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair, to Sunday, June 21. The championship points event was moved to Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway.

The race, which was postponed by rain generated by Hurricane Bertha, had been scheduled for Saturday, May 30 at South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach Speedway.

The event will be held without fans in attendance in line with the current NASCAR policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Jennerstown’s original Whelen Modified Tour event slated for May 23 has been rescheduled for Saturday, August 22. Event procedures for June 21 will be significantly modified in accordance with CDC, OSHA and state and local government recommendations – teams will be limited to eight people per car number. That will include all members of the team, from driver to crew members to car owners. The event will include practice and qualifying, and the race will not have pit stops. In addition, NASCAR and the track will be maintaining social distancing protocols throughout the event.

Down in North Carolina racing continued at the ACE Speedway. Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson, at the request of Governor Roy Cooper, appealed to track owners Robert Turner and Jason Turner on Saturday afternoon to call off the night of racing. But Ace raced on, with increased safety measures, while a smaller yet still ample turnout of fans showed up. Spectators had their temperatures taken and identification information recorded for public health tracing purposes upon entering the speedway. A group of reporters, though, some from national outlets and others from statewide publications, weren’t allowed in.

Twin 50’s for what they call Pro-Modifieds were run. Tim Brown of Tobaccoville supplied a carbon-copy performance of the previous week, leading wire to wire to win the opening event of the night. Burt Myers picked up his first Ace victory of the season in the nightcap, after passing Bradley McCaskill to lead the final 40 laps. Following Brown in the first 50 lapper was Chris Fleming followed by Dennis Holdren, Danny Bohn, Burt Myers, Jason Myers, Brandon Ward, Kevin Orlando, James Civali, Bradley McCaskill, Mike Norman and Chris Williams.In the second 50 lapper, Brown followed Burt Myers. Third was Brandon Ward followed by Bradley McCaskill, James Civali, Jason Myers, Chris Fleming, Danny Bohn, Dennis Holdren, Mike Norman, Chris Williams, Gary Young Jr and Kevin Orlando.

Word came from Bob Finan on Long Island that due to Federal and Local regulations regarding the Covid-19 virus, Riverhead Raceway regrets to announce that all events in the month of June have been cancelled. They will continue to monitor the regulations set forth by the State and we will be ready to race when those regulations change and allow. The good news is Suffolk County entered Phase 1 of reopening last Wednesday May 27th. Phase 4 is the phase needed for Riverhead Raceway to get back to normal.

The NASCAR Cup series headed for Bristol Tn on Sunday where Brad Keselowski inherited his second win in a week when the leaders crashed in front of him with a lap remaining at the Bristol Motor Speedway. He won the Coca-Cola 600 seven previous at Charlotte Motor Speedway when a caution with two laps remaining helped him get to victory lane.

The victory dropped into Keselowski’s lap when Chase Elliott and Joey Logano collided as they raced for the win. Keselowski was third with a lap and a turn remaining when opportunity opened. Logano cleared Elliott for the lead with three to go, but Elliott stalked him while seeking his second win in three days. Clint Bowyer was second for his best finish in a year. Ryan Preece finished 12th on the lead lap.

Word comes from Stafford – Waterford – Thompson announcer Matt Buckler that Ken Cassidy Jr. is leaving the Mini Stock division to move up to the Pro Truck Series. The mini-stock stats are impressive, five track championships in seven years and 66 wins, putting him 10th on the all-time Waterford win list. But that’s only part of the story. The stats don’t tell you all the side-by-side battles the mighty No. 11 had, especially with Sean Caron, without laying a fender on each other. He was a clean driver and used intelligence, not his bumper, to win a lot of races. It doesn’t tell you his work ethic. In addition to Saturdays, he was at the Bowl every Wednesday night helping someone. In victory lane, he never bad-mouthed anyone. He did what he was supposed to do — thank his sponsors, and it always was a long list. . He came off a sick bed to win races. That’s how tough he is. Just because of the nature of local racing, big winners get booed. Ken Cassidy never got booed. That’s because he was first-class, on and off the track. He was the Master of the Mini Stocks. Because of his work ethic, there’s no question he’ll be a master in the truck series as well.

Chase Elliott’s streak of bitter defeats in NASCAR’s frantic first push of rescheduled races finally ended with his first Cup victory of the season. Elliott won Thursday night in the rain-delayed event at Charlotte Motor Speedway to close a brutal 12 days for NASCAR. The event, postponed Wednesday night, was the fourth Cup race since the series resumed racing May 17.

Denny Hamlin finished second in a Toyota with three crew members sitting at home under suspension for an infraction Sunday night. His crew chief, car chief and engineer earned automatic four-race suspensions when a piece of tungsten fell off Hamlin’s car on a pace lap.

Last year, 2024, On a sad note, Carl “Bugsy” Stevens passed away on Monday, May 20. RIP Champ! We lost a remarkable individual to say the least. Bugs was highly respected by his peers and loved by his thousands of fans. A funeral service was conducted with a huge crowd of family and friends paying tribute. As a final tribute he was taken one last lap around the Seekonk Speedway just prior to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event held there on Saturday night. Even in death. The former champion drew thousands of fans to send him off as his remains circled the track in one of Len Boehler’s Modifieds driven by David Berghman.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour visited the Seekonk Speedway on Saturday night. It was a perfect night for racing at the Massachusetts 1/3 mile oval with 23 cars on hand for the 150 lap contest.

Matt Hirschman was the fastest qualifier touring the oval in 11.945 seconds. Second fastest at 11.961 was Austin Beers. The first eight redrew for starting spots. Hirschman drew eighth spot and Austin Beers drew the pole. At the drop of the green Beers jumped out into the lead with Matt Swanson and Jake Johnson in tow. Johnson had the heat turned up as he took over the second spot on lap 28. Point leader Ron Silk started 11th and by lap 58 had moved into 8th spot. At the half way mark, lap 75, Beers continued to lead. Johnson was second followed by Justin Bonsignore, Swanson and Jacob Lutz. By lap 66 Hirschman had displaced Lutz and moved into fourth spot. Hirschman could almost smell the victory as he continued his march to the front, passing Bonsignore for third on lap 98 and by Johnson on lap 117. On lap 120 the first and only caution flew for Tyler Catalano who spun.

Following the restart it was neighbor against neighbor as they both live on the same street in Pennsylvania. The pair ran wheel to wheel until Beers faltered after the pair banged wheels.on lap 130. In a non-related incident, Johnson who was running third spun and allowed Silk to move into the third spot. At the finish it was Hirschman followed by Beers, Silk, Justin Bonsignore and Stephen Kopcik. Sixth thru tenth included Jacob Lutz, Justin Bonsignore, Patrick Emerling, Jake Johnson and Matt Swanson.. The next stop for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be the series’ most prestigious venue, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, for the running of the Mohegan Sun 100 on June 22 at 6:40 p.m. ET. FloRacing will provide live flag-to-flag coverage.

Stafford Speedway hosted AZ Roofing Kids Night on Friday, May 31st, the first of three kids nights scheduled for the 2024 season. It was a night of first-time 2024 winners with Marcello Rufrano taking the SK Modified® feature, Paul Varricchio, Jr. the Late Model feature, Nickolas Hovey the SK Light feature, Kyle Theriault the Limited Late Model feature, and Tyler Trott the Street Stock feature. There were two kids big wheel races with Joseph Davenport and Max Ayers the winners. The car count continues to be very healthy. There were 27 SK Modifieds, 30 SK lites, plus a good assortment of Street Stocks, Late Models and Limited Late Models.

Cory DiMatteo had a string of three in a row in the SK Modifieds but found himself starting deep, 18th, in the SK Modified field. After numerous restarts it came down to a near three wide finish with Marcello Rufrano taking the win. Anthony Flannery took second by a nose over Andrew Molleur in third with Michael Gervais nipping Todd Owen at the line for fourth. Owen rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth included Dylan Kopec, George Bessette Jr, Steven Chapman, Mike Christopher Jr and Cory DiMatteo.

In the SK Lite 20 lapper, Nick Hovey scored a convincing win over Tyler Chapman and Sami Anderson. Women competitors have made their presence known as they consistently run to win rather than just start and run in the rear week after week.

At the New London-Waterford Speedbowl it’s amazing on how well they do without any PR or advertising. Jon Puleo took the SK Modified feature over Kyle James, Andrew Molleur, Timmy Jordan and Todd Owen.

Down in North Carolina at the Bowman Gray Stadium New Jersey native Danny Bohn held off Bert Myers to take the victory in a 100 lap Modified event. Bohn started seventh. Chris Fleming finished third with Jason Myers, fourth.as a crowd of over 10,000 looked on.

In NASCAR Modified action at the Riverhead Raceway it was JB Fortin over JR Bertuccio and Chris Young. Riverhead Raceway owners Connie Partridge and Tom Gatz announced on Friday three 2024 inductees who’ll be enshrined on the Cromarty Wall of Champions Saturday August 17th during an on-track ceremony. The 2024 inductees will be unique as it’s the first time since inception none of the three are being enshrined for driving or owning race cars. “Big” Bob O’Rourke longtime NASCAR chief steward and race director, Ray Bouchard, award winning crew chief and Bob Finan, former announcer and public relations director will be inducted prior to the Baldwin, Evans & Jarzombek 77 race program.

In NASCAR Cup racing, Austin Cindric stormed into Victory Lane on Sunday afternoon at Gateway, snapping an 85-race winless drought after teammate Ryan Blaney ran out of gas one lap too early. Ryan Preece finished 29th.

With the cooperation of the Arute family a 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).