RPW Exclusive: Looking Back: Final Week Of May

Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1950 the Wall Stadium in Belmar, NJ ran their first Modified race on the high banked speedway. Frankie Schneider took the win. Although not an exact copy, Wall Stadium was patterned after the Lonsdale Sports Arena speedway that was located northwest of Providence, RI.

Rusty Rushton made it two in a row in Modified action at Seekonk.

Seventy years ago in 1955, rain washed out the Saturday night racing program at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. The following Wednesday, Phil Mitchell in his powerful six cylinder Modified took the win. Lou Tetreault made it six out of 7 in the non-Fords.

George Smaldone was the Modified winner at Seekonk while the Non-Ford event was won by Mr. Leo Cleary. Benny Derosier was the Late Model winner

Sixty five years ago in 1960 George Janoski and Bill Slater won the opening night NASCAR Modified features at the Stafford Springs Speedway. It was the beginning of the second year that NASCAR sanctioned races at the Connecticut oval. Slater carried his winning ways over to Saturday night at the Norwood Arena where he made it five features in a row at the fast ¼ mile oval. Buddy Krebs inherited the lead from Joe Paleski on lap 72 of a 100 lapper at Riverside Park. Gene Bergin finished second and was so exhausted that he passed out in the pit area moments after the finish. Jerry Humiston finished third and was followed by Bill Guerney, Jocco Maggiacomo and Eddie Flemke. Local favorite Don Collins was the Modified winner at the Waterford Speedbowl. Charlie Webster was the Non-Ford winner and Newt Palm made it three in a row in the Bombers. Waterford also ran on Monday. Collins and Webster continued their win streaks as they each won twin features that were part of the Memorial Day program.

At the Seekonk Speedway, Dave Dias was the Class A winner, Les Andrews was the Novice winner, Bobby Sprague won in the Cut Downs and Tony Romit won in the Midgets.

Sixty years ago in 1965 Don Wayman continued the domination of the New York drivers as he recorded the Friday night Modified win on the dirt at Stafford. Rain washed out the racing at the Waterford Speedbowl. Waterford scheduled an event for Monday which was won by Charlie Webster. Bob Potter was the Bomber winner. Irv Taylor took the win at Fonda on Saturday night. Sunday night at Utica-Rome Rene Charland scored his second win as he held off Jerry Cook and Eddie Flemke SR.

In action at the Seekonk Speedway, Pop Silvia was the B division winner and Joe Csiki won in the Midgets. Bob McGinnis won a 267 lap Modified event at South Boston in Virginia.

Fifty five years ago in 1970 Walt Dombrowski made it two in a row at the Waterford Speedbowl as he won the 36 lap Spring Modified Championship. Mike Daignault was the Late Model Daredevil winner. At Seekonk, Dick Costa was the Class A 75 lap winner. Hank Goff was the B division winner.

Ted Hairfield won a NASCAR Late Model Sportsman event at South Boston.

Fifty years ago in 1975, it was the first night back for the big tires at Stafford. Stafford had been running under a tire rule that mandated a narrow width which was supposed to be more economical for the car owners and provide better competition. Ronnie Bouchard in the Bob Johnson No.17 wasted little time in his run to the front and when all was said and done, came home the winner. Brian Ross finished second and was followed by Bugsy Stevens, Bob Vee and John Rosati.

At Islip, Jerry Bartlet took the win over Charlie Siebert and Fred Harbach. George Kent beat out Jerry Cook and Sonney Seamon at Shangri-La in the first of twin events. Richie Evans won the nitecap over Billy Colton and Cook. Dick Dunn, in the Albert Gaudreau No.3 took the Modified win at the Waterford Speedbowl. Twin Modified events were run at Seekonk. George Summers in the Connie LaJoie 21 and George Savory took the wins. Doug Bagnell and Hank Goff were the Late Model winners.

At Fulton on Sunday, Maynard Troyer was the top dog over Evans, Mike Loescher and Cook. In open competition small block Modified action at Thompson on Sunday, Steady Eddie Flemke broke Fred DeSarro’s win streak. DeSarro finished second with John Rosati, third. Because of light crowds, the Stafford management announced that they were dropping their General Admission price to $4.00 starting on June 7. Also on this weekend, the formation of the New England-Yankee All Star League was announced.

Forty five years ago in 1980, Richie Evans made it three in a row at Stafford as he continued to be unbeatable. Ronnie Bouchard finished second with Bugsy Stevens, third. Evans carried his winning ways over to Riverside Park on Saturday as he won out over Reggie Ruggiero and Ray Miller. Geoff Bodine was also on a tear as he went three for three as he won on Friday at Spencer Speedway, Saturday at Shangri-la Speedway and on Sunday at the Oswego Speedway. In other weekend action, Bugsy Stevens won at Westboro, Mike Beebe at Waterford, Charlie Jarzombek at Islip, Bruce Batchelder at Claremont, Tony Siscone at Wall and New Evergreen, Ronnie Bouchard at Monadnock and Roger Treichler at Lancaster.

Forty years ago in 1985, Brian Ross in his own No.73 won the Memorial Day 100 at Stafford on Friday night over Charlie Jarzombek. At Waterford two features were on tap. Rodney Tulba won the first over John Anderson and Ted Christopher, the nitecap. At Riverside Park it was Bob Polverari and at Riverhead Raceway on Long Island it was Bob Park

over Wayne Anderson. And at Wall Stadium, Tony Siscone was the king of the hill. Richie Evans won twin events at Shangri-La and Doug Hewitt was victorious at Spencer. In Winston Cup action at Charlotte, Darrell Waltrip won both the Winston and the WC 500.Tim Richmond was the Busch Grandnational winner.

Thirty five years ago in 1990, the modified tour was at the Stafford Motor Speedway for a 100 lapper which turned into a yawner as Jeff Fuller went pole to pole in an event that saw hardly any passing. Rick Fuller finished second with Tom Bolles, third. At Waterford on Saturday night, Harry Rice beat out Jim Broderick for the win and at Riverside Park it was Reggie Ruggiero over Jerry Marquis. At Riverhead it rained and at Shangri-La, Jan Leaty went pole to pole to win out over Tony Hirschman and George Kent. The Oswego Speedway ran the Richie Evans 100 for the Modifieds without a NASCAR sanction and the car count reflected NASCAR’s drawing power as only 19 cars were on hand. With many of the top guns missing, it was a good show that saw five different leaders before Jan Leaty took the checker. Chip Graves finished second with Lee Sherwood, third. At Monadnock, also on Sunday, Mike Stefanik won out over Tom Bolles.

Thirty years ago in 1995, the Featherlite Modifieds were at Stafford for a 150 lapper. Mike Stefanik took the lead on lap 72 and never looked back. Charlie Pasteryak finished a strong second and was followed by Satch Worley, Mike Ewanitsko and Rick Fuller. Bob Potter took the 50 lap SK event after Ted Christopher and Ed Flemke Jr tangled with six laps to go. At Waterford on Saturday night, Bert Marvin passed Moose Hewitt at the half way mark of the 35 lap feature and went on to take the win. Bob Potter ended up third with Jim Broderick, third. Ted Riggot took the win at Riverside Park and Ed Brunnhoelzl won out over Don Howe at Riverhead. George Kent won at Tioga and at Seekonk, veteran retired driver Tex Barry passed away after suffering a heart attack shortly after his son won the Pro Stock feature there. In other action, Bentley

Warren won the Little 500 at Anderson, Indiana and a Supermodified event at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

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 Hirschman, 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 crew members 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 the Whelen Modified Tour traveled to Stafford on Friday night only to get rained on. Forty-one Modifieds were on hand. Donnie Lia was the Busch Pole fastest qualifier as he toured the half-mile oval in 18.25 seconds. Tony Hirschman was second fastest with Chuck Hossfeld, third. Nevin George and Eric Beers rounded out the top five. The event was rescheduled for Sunday, July 3.In some good news it was learned that Mike Ewanitsko would be returning to the Whelen Modified Tour Series wars at Stafford on August 2 or at Thompson on August 18. Ewanitsko was scheduled to be driving for Ed Whelen. Ewanitsko was forced out of competition because of vision problems caused by sugar diabetes. With his problems behind him he felt he was ready to rejoin the tour.

The Waterford Speedbowl finally got a break from the weatherman, as they were able to complete a Saturday night program. Dennis Gada ended a yearlong dry spell as he held of Ted Christopher to record his 47th career win at the shoreline oval. Christopher attempted to rattle Gada with a few love taps with his bumper but it was all for naught. Christopher settled for second and was followed by Ron Yuhas jr, Rob Janovic and Jay Miller. John Puglisi won the 20-lap Sportsman feature, which went pole to pole without a caution. Bill Gertsch Jr. was second and Joe Curioso was third. Phil Evans picked up his second Mini Stock win of the year in the 20-lap feature. Evans started 12th, passed Bill Leonard for the lead with eight laps to go. Leonard finished second, followed by Joe Godbout. Moose Douton led every lap in winning the 30-lap Late Model feature. Defending division champion Corey Hutchings, making his first start of the season, was second. Mark St. Hilaire was third, followed by Charles Bailey III and Allen Coates. Lou Ciccone dominated the 50-lap International Supermodified Association (ISMA) feature. The main buzz around the Speedbowl was still the possible sale of the property in which the track is located. There were people out there that wanted to buy the track and keep it in its present form. Track PR man Pete Zanardi alluded to the fact that no track is safe forever from being sold and added that the closing of the track was a premature conclusion as it has been stated that racing would continue through 2005 and quite possibly 2006.

In other racing, Kirk Alexander came from a dead last starting spot to win the True Value Modified Series event at the Seekonk Speedway and Tom Rogers and JR Bertuccio shared victory lane at the Riverhead Raceway. Jimmie Johnson won the World 600 Nextel Cup event and Kyle Busch won the Busch 300. Dan Weldon won the Indianapolis 500. Female driver Danica Patrick almost won it as she finished fourth.

Fifteen years ago in 2010, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series continued on “Spring Break”. Selected drivers from the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour participated in a test held by Hoosier Tire at Lime Rock Park. In preparation for the Whelen Modified Tour’s inaugural visit to Lime Rock Park on July 3, drivers Ted Christopher, Rowan Pennink, Bobby Santos and Todd Szegedy took part in four 20-minute sessions throughout the afternoon at the Connecticut road course.

Selected drivers from the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Southern Modified Tours participated in a test held by Hoosier Tire on Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway. In preparation for the second running of the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 combination race for both Whelen Modified Tours, Whelen Modified Tour veteran Mike Stefanik, along with Southern Tour regulars James Civali and Burt Myers took part in the all-day session.

The Stafford Motor Speedway returned to racing action with a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program on Friday, May 14th. Woody Pitkat picked up his first win of the 2010 season in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature that ended up being a war of words between Pitkat and runner-up Ted Christopher. Dillon Moltz got win number two of 2010 in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Joey Cipriano, 15, scored his first career victory in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Andrew Durand won the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Cory Casagrande was the second first time career winner of the night by taking the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.

Racing at the Waterford Speedbowl is a five letter word, ROCCO. Keith Rocco continued his dominance by winning for the fifth time in six event in the 35-lap SK Modified feature at the Waterford Speedbowl Saturday night. Rocco out handled and out drove Ron Yuhas JR on lap 25 and survived three restarts as he continued his domination of the SK Modified division at the shoreline oval. Yuhas held on for a runner-up finish. Tyler Chadwick, Rob Janovic Jr and Jeff Pearl rounded out the top five.

Other feature winners were 18-year-old Chris Meyer in the Street Stock event, Ken Cassidy Jr. in the Mini-Stock event, Allen Coates in the truck and Anthony Flannery in the Legends Cars race.

The Bowman-Gray Stadium, known as the MADHOUSE, in Winston-Salem NC had scheduled twin 25 lap features for their Modified division. Local runner Lee Jeffreys was the fastest in qualifying with a lap of 13.433 seconds (67.0 mph) on the quarter-mile track, and he started from the pole position in the first Modified race as a result. Jeffreys went pole to pole for his 15th career victory. Burt Myers finished second, Jonathan Brown third, Randy Butner fourth and Tim Brown fifth. The night cap event was rained out.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame opened in Charlotte, NC. In celebration of this event the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island ran a 100 lap NASCAR Modified event. Whelen Modified Tour Series driver Ron Silk took top honors in the event after waging a heated battle with Tom Rogers. Silk and car owner Eddie Partridge walked off with $3,025. Wayne Anderson, 63, 1994 NASCAR national modified champion suffered a heart attack while competing in the 100 lap race Saturday night at Riverhead, NY Raceway. Anderson was revived by the track crew. He was removed to St. Vincent’s hospital where he is said to be in “stable” condition. From Medford, N.Y. Wayne, who had been racing since 1965, is the son of the late legend, Axel Anderson.

In Sprint Cup action at Dover Kyle Busch swapped the lead with Jimmy Johnson throughout most of the 400-mile race run in front of thousands of empty seats. Busch missed the tripleheader sweep on the one-mile concrete track by just a couple gallons of gas. He was in position to win the Trucks Series race on Friday but ran out of gas at the end. He easily took the checkered flag in Saturday’s Nationwide series race as he raced about 800 miles in three days. Jeff Burton was second and Matt Kenseth third. Denny Hamlin and David Reutimann rounded out the top five.

It looked like O. Bruton Smith, owner of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH was ready to go to battle stations with the New Hampshire Governor along with State and local police. The town of Loudon was looking to be paid $174,500 for police and fire coverage, the same cost as the September 2009 race weekend. Bruton Smith believed adequate coverage could be provided for $75,000. Jerry Gappens, the speedway’s executive vice president stated that none of Smith’s seven other speedways has to pay for local emergency services. Smith says he will pay for police and fire for June’s race at $75,000.

Even after the governor assembled a committee to deal with New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s concerns about the cost of police and fire coverage at the track, the speedway and Loudon police Chief Bob Fiske were about $100,000 apart on the cost of covering next month’s NASCAR race weekend.

The Loudon NASCAR weekend runs from June 23 to June 27. With a little over a month to go there was still plenty of time to resolve the disagreement. When it comes to dealing with state and local authorities Smith is as tough as nails and in most cases gets his way. Smith has the power and the money to plow the Loudon Racetrack under and move it to another state if he has to. The state of New Hampshire and the towns around the speedway needed to realize how much money is generated into the state and local economies before making a final decision. Police officers from Loudon and towns across the state make $43 per hour to work the race weekend.

Ten years in 2015, The stars and cars of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series headed for the New London-Waterford Speedbowl for the Mr. Rooter 161 on Saturday night. The event, the only stop of the year at the shoreline oval drew a near overflow crowd and a jam packed parking lot. Track owner Bruce Bemer and his staff have done wonders with the infrastructure of the facility including a manicured grassy infield, remodeled rest rooms, clean and neat concessions and a fully painted grandstand. In a statement from track General Manager Shawn Monahan “Wow. What a great night at the races. I appreciate my staff. They are so respectful and driven to succeed. The crowd was record breaking, the morale was through the roof, and the racing at the bowl is second to none. Thank you to everyone who made it happen! ” Prior to the start of the evening’s events a special plaque was presented to Keith Rocco and 108 balloons were released in honor of his landmark 108 feature wins. Rocco, by the way, is closing in on the 200 mark for career wins overall. In addition to 109 at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl the 30 year old driver has 50 wins at the Stafford Motor Speedway and 37 wins at the Thompson Motorsports Park Thompson Speedway giving him a grand total of 196 career wins.

The Mr.Rooter 161 drew 33 Whelen Modifieds, 12 which are based on Long Island. Donny Lia, from Jericho, New York, posted a fast lap of 13.965 seconds (96.670 mph) around the .375-mile oval for his 21st career pole, and second in a row in this event. Keith Rocco, the winningest driver in Speedbowl history, qualified second-fastest at 13.975 (96.601). The entry blank said there would be 28 starters, NASCAR allowed all 33, including Melissa Fifield, to start the event. The young lady clearly does not belong on the track with the high speed modifieds. During qualifying she was 11.575 mph slower than the pole sitter. Starting in the rear, she was lapped in 8 laps. NASCAR needs to place her in a lower division before she hurts someone.

The starting grid for the Mr.Rooter event went straight up from time trials. Lia took the lead at the drop of the green with Rocco in tow. Ryan Preece moved into the second spot on lap 22 while Lia blocked. Lia led through lap 46 before being overpowered by Preece on lap 47 as they entered turn three. Preece survived at least three restarts before giving way to Doug Coby who managed to slip by to lead laps 128 and 129. Preece retook the lead on lap 130 following a caution when Justin Bonsignore hit the front stretch wall. Rocco, who was still a contender in the late stages saw his hopes of a top five come to an end on lap 121 when Coby forced him into contacting the wall a getting a flat.

Todd Szegedy in the Mystic Missile set the stage for a green-white-checkered finish when he hit the backstretch wall on lap 158. Going past the 161 lap mark Preece took the lead on a Lap 163 restart anf continued to lead the final two laps to record the win. Coby finished second with Ted Christopher, third. Max Zachem finished a career high fourth after starting 33rd with Woody Pitkat, fifth. Sixth through tenth were Bobby Santos, Patrick Emerling, Rowan Pennink, Spencer Davis and Keith Rocco. Twelve of the original 33 starters were on the lead lap at the finish. There were 12 cautions for 73 laps in the event that took one hour-18 minutes and 30 seconds to complete.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour continues this coming Friday, June 5 with the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 at Stafford (Connecticut) Motor Speedway. Following the Stafford event it’s on to Thompson on Wednesday June 10 for the Mr Rooter 125. Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP) has extended an invitation to NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour teams for an open test day on Friday, June 12, to be held on the 1.5 mile road course.

In other Saturday night action at the Speedbowl, Keith Rocco scored career win 109 as he won the Late Model event. Anthony Flannery was looking to run away with the race that he had led since the fourth lap and had a huge lead, but with nine to go, a spin brought out the yellow flag. Rocco who was running a distant second, blew him away on the restart. In the SK Modified 35 lapper Rocco played second fiddle to Ted Christopher. Christopher fought off a late race Rocco challenge and hung on for the win. Tyler Chadwick placed third. Chris Meyer passed Al Stone III on the final lap and won the 25-lap Limited Sportsman feature. Ken Cassidy Jr. won the 25-lap Mini Stock feature.

At the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night Keith Rocco picked up his second win of the 2015 season in the SK Modified® feature, Tom Fearn picked up his first win of the season in the Late Model feature, Matt Swanson was a first time career winner in the SK Light feature, Trace Beyer got his second win of the season in the DARE Stock feature, and Cory DiMatteo won his second Legend Cars feature of the season. The Xtra Mart Xtra D 25 program on Friday, May 29th on what was also Military Appreciation Night. Xtra Mart Convenience Stores put up a $500 bonus that was split evenly among the top-5 finishers in the extra distance Ltd. Late Model feature event. Al Saunders was the big winner, taking his second feature win of the 2015 season in the 25-lap Ltd. Late Model feature.

Rocco added to his racing legacy as he scored his 50th overall feature win at the half mile oval. Rocco got by Ryan Preece on a lap 34 restart to take over the race lead while Matt Galko and Woody Pitkat were third and fourth. Todd Owen got around Dan Avery to move into fifth but it was Rocco and Preece glued together at the front of the field with 3 laps to go. Rocco held Preece off to the checkered flag to pick up his second win of the 2015 season. Galko finished third, with Pitkat and Owen rounding out the top-5.

The Riverhead Raceway on Long Island announced that time trial qualifying would be used for the remainder of 2015. The original idea of running some features via handicapping has been scrapped. With some of the Riverhead regulars at Waterford a lean field of 13 NASCAR Modifieds were on hand. In twin 30 lap events Kyle Elwood won both. Sadly, with the format at Riverhead, competition is at an all time low.

Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem NC two nights of racing were on tap this past weekend. Tim Brown, in striking distance of Junior Miller’s all-time feature win mark of 73 for more than a year, finally pulled ahead with a win in Friday night’s Midway Mobile Storage 100. It was his 74th career victory, which put him one ahead of Miller, who is still an active competitor.

Brown, who won a record ninth Bowman Gray championship in 2012, tipped his hat to his race team for another milestone. Brown, who works full time for Michael Waltrip Racing, started third. He took the lead from Ronnie Clifton in the 63rd lap and held off runner-up John Smith and third-finishing Chris Fleming, who was the fastest qualifier with a season-best lap of 13.288 seconds (67.7 mph).

It was also a big night for Burt Myers who won a $6,000 prize by winning the Colors Edge Challenge. Myers, one of four top qualifiers who had the option to start at the rear of the field for a chance of winning the challenge bonus with a top-four finish, took the gamble and won. He started 17th and finished fourth.

Brown, who became Bowman Gray Stadium’s all-time leader for feature-race wins on Friday night, added another victory on Saturday night and boosted his record total to 75. Brown, who drew a pole starting position, led all the way in a 100-lap race for Bowman Gray’s featured Modified Division, fending off challenger Burt Myers through six double-file restarts. Myers finished second, John Smith third and Danny Bohn finished fourth and picked up a $3,000 bonus for taking the Colors Edge Challenge.

Jimmie Johnson survived multiple late-race restarts on old tires to capture Sunday’s FedEx 400, his 10th at the ‘Monster Mile’ at Dover and his series leading fourth victory of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Chris Buescher bumped teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. out of the race lead with 10 laps left, then saved enough fuel to score his second NASCAR XFINITY Series victory of the season on Saturday at Dover Int’l Speedway.

Five years ago in 2020, In some real good news, it looked like the Stafford Motor Speedway may drop the green flag on racing as soon as the first week of July. Under Connecticut guidelines the track will be limited to allowing a 50% capacity to their admission. Stafford holds 10,000 people which would allow 5,000 fans. A tentative schedule calls for 20 events which would push their season out to the end of October. The track had not released when and how its three Whelen Modified Tour events will be run. Tour events generally draw in excess of 5,000 fans.

NASCAR has announced that the ARCA Menards Series East and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will resume their 2020 seasons and fans can watch the races live on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will open its season with the Wade Cole Memorial 133 presented by Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair at Jennerstown Speedway on Sunday, June 21 at 2:30 p.m.

In a related matter NASCAR and New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials announced that the July 18 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Nor’Easter 100 had been cancelled. NHMS officials made the announcement in conjunction with announcing that the previously scheduled July 19 Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 has been postponed to Aug. 2.The NASCAR Xfinity Series event scheduled for the track on July 18 has been moved to Kentucky Speedway.

The Stafford Motor Speedway is doing its best to keep the interest up in racing at their track which appears to be the only game in town at this point. The grandstands are up at Waterford but work has come to a screeching halt and the powers that be at Thompson could care less about oval track racing at this time . Stafford has presented IRacing events which have become quite popular and the state of Connecticut has begun to allow private test sessions.

Stafford is toying with the idea of staging live racing without fans on a pay per view basis. A cost of $20 per event has been thrown around. All things considered with Stafford’s great announcing staff and their top flight production crew the pay per view idea could turn into a hit. Recently Stafford has been uploading some of its prior events, the latest being the 100th SK Modified feature.

The New York State based Race of Champions Modified Series and the Lake Erie Speedway located in management have been able to secure a return to racing date with events taking place on Friday, June 26 and the originally scheduled show on Saturday, June 27.

Masks or facial coverings will be recommended, and social distancing will be practiced due to state and county established restrictions due to COVID-19 as Erie County Pennsylvania moves into the “green” phase of the state’s reopening plan.

Phased reopening in all states varies based on the guidelines set forth by local, regional and state authorities. Until spectators are permitted In New York it is not financially feasible for many speedways and series, including the Race of Champions management plan at Spencer Speedway in Williamson NY, to conduct racing events. All Race of Champions events that are run will follow all guidelines as set forth by any authority including the CDC.

The Race of Champions is a sanctioning body presenting Modified and Stock Car racing on asphalt and dirt surfaces throughout the Northeast, with events in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey with primary marketing partners Hoosier Racing Tire, VP Racing Fuels, Printed Image of Buffalo, Waddell Communications, Pilat Graphic Design, TDH Refrigeration, RPM Newsletter and Workshops; Sherwood Racing Wheels, DirtTrackDigest.com, Wilbert’s U-Pull It and Speed51.com. The 70th annual Race of Champions weekend will take place in 2020 at Lake Erie Speedway in North East, Pennsylvania and is the second longest consecutive auto-racing event in North America, second only to the Indianapolis 500.

There was racing in New England this past weekend. The grandstands might have been quiet, but the pit area wasn’t Friday night at Claremont Motorsports Park in northern New Hampshire. The Granite State Pro Stock Series opened their season at the New Hampshire oval with no spectators in attendance due to state and local guidance and the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a full field of cars in four divisions, including the Pro Stocks, and a live broadcast on Speed51.com, track and series operator Mike Parks put together a show that was the first of its kind in the region.

In the top event of the night, Ray Christian III used a late pass of Angelo Belsito to net the victory in the Let’s Go Racing 100 for the Pro Stocks. Christian worked inside the top-five for much of the race, while pouncing late, passing DJ Shaw for second and Angelo Belsito for the lead. He would drive to victory at Claremont for the second straight time. Christian was victorious on Labor Day weekend of 2019 as well at the tricky oval. Belsito, a former Pro Stock champion at Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts, took the lead early, but struggled to get off the corners late, settling for third at the checkered. Shaw would pass Belsito late and finished .615 seconds behind Christian.

Just hours after a very successful test session at the Stafford Motor Speedway on Thursday June 4th Long Island based MSM Elite Motorsports team owner Mark S. Mina announced that his team with veteran driver John Beatty Jr. of Merrick at the wheel would enter the delayed 2020 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour opener Sunday June 21st at Jennerstown Speedway. The Long Island based MSM Elite Motorsports team will venture out to western Pennsylvania to compete in the Wade Cole Memorial 133 presented by Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair.

The Wade Cole Memorial 133 presented by Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair will be the 14th career start on the WMT for John Beatty Jr. who along the way has posted two top fives and four top tens in 13 previous starts. Beatty also has a NASCAR WMT pole to his credit on June 28th, 2014 prior to the 200-lap WMT event at Riverhead Raceway. John led 108-laps total in the race eventually won by Eric Goodale of Riverhead, Beatty would finish 12th in his family owned machine.

In NASCAR Cup racing, Kevin Harvick cruised to victory Sunday over Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. in the event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, leading the final 55 laps on a day that began with the series acknowledging the social unrest in the country.

Before taking the green flag, the 40 cars stopped in front of the towering, empty grandstands on the front stretch to listen to a message from NASCAR president Steve Phelps and observe a 30-second moment of silence in the wake of George Floyd’s death while in police custody.

Ryan Preece finished 26th.

In some sad news, Robert Bagot who video recorded races at Stafford, Waterford and Thompson has passed away. Robert posted his work on U-Tube for everyone to enjoy. RIP.

Last year, 2024, 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. Rising Modified competitor Luke Baldwin will make his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 22. Driving the Pace-O-Matic No. 7VA for Sadler-Stanley (SS) Racing, Baldwin will compete with NASCAR’s best during the only NASCAR National Series weekend of the New England racing season. It was 34 years ago that Loudon opened it’s doors thanks to the efforts of Bob Bahre.

Ron Silk continues to lead the point standings with a 16 point edge over Justin Bonsignore. Jake Johnson sits in the third spot, 29 points in arears of the leader. Austin Beers and Patrick Emerling round out the top five. Sixth thru tenth include Craig Lutz, Kyle Bonsignore, Trevor Catalano, Matt Hirschman and Tommy Catalano.

Stafford Speedway Stafford Speedway has all good intensions of running the Casella Open 80 until heavy rain stepped in postponing the event after lap 5; The event will resume this coming Friday, June 14. The speedway even rescheduled the event earlier in the evening but to no avail. Qualifying heat winners were Dana DiMatteo, Chris Pasteryak and Woody Pitkat. Southern invader Carson Loftin made his Stafford debut but had no luck as his car suffered a mechanical problem which placed him at the rear of the starting field. Loftin will return to try again this week.

The Casella Waste Open 80 took the green flag with Woody Pitkat taking the lead with Anthony Bello right behind him in second. Teddy Hodgdon and Michael Christopher, Jr. were wheel to wheel for third place with Chris Pasteryak in fifth. Hodgdon moved into second on lap-4 and lap-5 Christopher took third with Bello fourth and Pasteryak fifth. The caution flew with 5 laps complete as Pasteryak went around coming out of turn 2, which collected the cars of Keith Rocco, Anthony Flannery, Nick Salva, George Bessette, Jr., and Eric Goodale. Under the caution flag, rain again started to fall and postponed the completion of the event.

Other Friday night winners were Connor Jencik who was a first-time Stafford feature winner in the Limited Late Model feature and Jason Lafayette who notched his first Street Stock feature victory of the 2024 season.

Kevin Rice reported that Matt Hirschman continued his New England hot streak as he took home the huge payout that went to the winner in the Winchester Open 100 Saturday at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H. Matthew Kimball , the 2023 winner of the event, was second. Jon McKennedy. was third. It was Hirschman’s 251st career win.

Hirschman traveled from Pennsylvania to pocket a $9,053.88 winner’s share with his 251st career Modified win despite the best efforts of three Granite State drivers who gave area fans plenty to cheer about. Hirschman worked his way to the lead on lap 47 from a sixth starting position in the 2nd Annual Winchester 100, which paid a purse of $54,292.76. It was far from over, however, as 22-year-old Matthew Kimball of Bennington took control of second place by lap 55, and then he chased the veteran Hirschman to the end.

Earlier in the race, Brian Robie had local fans on their feet as he raced for the lead against Connecticut star Ronnie Williams. The lead duo raced even, with Robie on the outside for many laps but unable to complete the pass because of having a 604 crate motor in his car, which is a horsepower disadvantage.

“Really surprised at how well it ran,” Robie said. “Started ninth and I think we were in second on lap five. We were going pretty good. Had a nice battle there for the lead. We just got screwed up when I think the 66 (Austin Kochenash) lost an engine. We were able to go back out and start tail and drive back up to seventh. It exceeded my own expectations, being under-powered.”

The story of the final race of a 36-year-career for Kirk Alexander was one for the books. He had a fast car, but the race leader in his heat race crashed hard into the back stretch wall and Alexander found himself wrecked, with the entire right front ripped off of his car after just one lap on the track. He thought his career was done there, but his crew and others who worked on other cars in the pit area wouldn’t let that happen. They spent the next couple of hours putting the car back together, and with a chain taken off of their hauler holding the exhaust pipe on the car, Alexander was able to start his final race, albeit from the 24th position.

By lap 37, Alexander was in seventh place and well on his way to making history one more time at his home track. Then disaster struck again, as two cars slowed on the front stretch. It put Alexander into a melee that involved several cars in turn one. He pitted and returned to make his final laps, despite having a car damaged for a second time, finishing in position 12 to earn the Hard Charger Award for gaining the most positions in the event.

The feature payoff was very healthy to say the least. In addition to Hirschman’s $9,053.88, Matt Kimball received $3,425, McKennedy received $2,550, Andy Jankowiak received $3,153.38 for fourth spot and Teddy Hodgdon, $2,050 for fifth. Sixth thru tenth included Max Zachem $2,475, Brian Robie $2,525, Nate Wenzel $1,600, Ronnie Williams $4,064.50 and Jeffrey Battle $2,100.

At the New London-Waterford Speedbowl , Timmy Jordan became the first repeat winner in five SK Modified events this season at the shoreline oval. Jordan got his first win of the season on May 11. Todd Owen was second and Andrew Molleur third.

Down in North Carolina at the Bowman Gray Stadium twin 25’s were on tap for the Modifieds. Lee Jeffreys won the opener with Tim Brown, second, Chris Fleming, third and Burt Myers, fourth. The top ten were inverted for the second 25 lapper. Brandon Ward went pole to pole to win the second 25 lapper over Kyle Southern, Jason Myers, Randy Butner and Burt Myers.

Bowman Gray modified driver Daniel Beeson had his eyes on the Mystic Missile hauler for years before its owner, Bob Garbarino agreed to part ways with the truck. Garbarino owned the Mystic Missile Racing team, hauling the NASCSR Modified up and down the east coast for years with a slew of highly successful drivers. Beeson finally convinced Garbarino to let him get the truck back on the road to haul his modified that he races mostly at Bowman Gray.

In NASCAR Modified action at the Riverhead Raceway John Beatty waited until the closing laps to take the lead and ultimate win.in the Oval Speed Unlimited Bubba 150. Timmy Solomito the new race leader with Justin Brown alongside for the restart, Timmy just 27-laps away from a potential $10,000 plus payday. When the race resumed on lap 124 Solomito led Brown, but right behind them was a very fast JB Fortin sitting third. Fortin, looking for a second straight win worked his way past Brown on lap 126 for second, quickly setting sail for leader Solomito. The car on the move, however, was that of John Beatty Jr. who quickly caught and passed Fortin for second on lap 140. With just ten laps to go, question became could Beatty catch leader Solomito in time. As the laps moved along Beatty was right on Solomito’s rear bumper when the yellow flew for a JR Bertuccio spin on lap 144.

With the field lined up for a six-lap shootout business was about to pick up in a hurry. After the green waved Chris Rogers who made his way to third saw an opening and took it briefly passing both Solomito and Beatty with a bold three wide maneuver. Before Rogers could lead a lap, Beatty was able to duck under both he and Solomito exiting the second turn to take the lead with just four laps left. Solomito was the odd man out losing several spots in the jingle while Rogers moved to second.

With the dueling checker flags waving in the air, a victory that seemed to be get away from him late in the race with his worn right rear, came back to John Beatty Jr. in the MSM Elite Motorsports Chevy. “It’s truly an honor to win Bubba’s race, I know how much he meant to Dennis Freese of Oval Speed and Team Park” Beatty offered post-race, “I was really wondering if we gave one away with our pit strategy, but it all worked out in the end.” As to the wild ending he added, “Timmy is one of the best here, things got wild for a second and we put ourselves in a position to win, would have been fun to battle him. I am especially happy for my owner Mark Mina and my team and family who sacrifice so much so that we can do this”.

In victory lane Beatty was presented the $5,000 Race Winner bonus from the family of Bob “Bubba” Patanjo. Then Rich Gerbe of HighMark Building announced since his challenge was not won by Solomito, he would take the $5,000 and award $1,000 to each of the top five teams because as he put it, “the best Modified drivers race right here at Riverhead Raceway. what a race” Gerbe proclaimed. Additional bonus money earned by the Elite Sound Studio driver included $1,105 in lap money, Natural Designs Most Laps Led, $250, Ryan Preece Racing Halfway Leader $200, Ryan Preece Racing Lap 40 & 41 Lap Leader $100

Chris Rogers turned more than a few heads with his runner-up showing in the Coors Light Chevy, earning the $200 Steve Park Hard Charger Award. Chris also won the Luck of the Draw $200 bonus from Dennis Freese & Wayne Anderson. Mark Stewart of Riverhead was in the mix all race long before placing third in the Cromer’s Market entry. CJ Lehmann impressed with a fourth-place effort after a two-year layoff, Owen Grennan was a solid fifth.

In NASCAR Cup action on the road course in Sonoma, Ca. Kyle Larson powered to victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, avoiding the early chaos that derailed the days of others and riding fresher tires down the stretch to notch a home-track win at Sonoma Raceway. Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led 19 of the 110 laps in the Toyota/Save Mart 350, and he claimed his second win on the 1.99-mile road course by 4.258 seconds. His third win of the season also marked the 26th of his Cup Series career.

Michael McDowell drove home as the runner-up in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. Chris Buescher took third, with Chase Elliott fourth and Ross Chastain fifth. Ryan Preece finished 18th.

The up coming Tri-Track Series event that will honor Vinnie Annarummo is slated for Wednesday, June 26 at the Seekonk Speedway. Management of the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series will double the winner’s share for the event – making the race $20,000 to win.

. 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.