RPW Exclusive: Looking Back: Third Week Of June

Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – Seventy five years ago in 1950, Dave Humphrey took the Modified feature at the Seekonk Speedway.

Seventy years ago in 1955, Wild Bill Slater won the 50 lap June championship at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Ray Griffin was the non-Ford winner. In Wednesday night action at the Speedbowl, Don Collins scored his fifth Modified feature win and Lou Tetreault scored his seventh non-Ford win.

At the Seekonk Speedway, Norm Doquette was the Sportsman winner and Norm Perry was the non-Ford winner.

Sixty five years ago in 1960 Don Collins continued his domination at the Waterford Speedbowl as he made it five wins in a row driving the famous V-8. Ted Stack was the non-Ford winner and Ed Priest was the Bomber winner.

Red Bolduc, a crowd favorite at the Norwood Arena died from injuries sustained in a violent crash. Deke Astle was the 50 lap A division winner at Seekonk. Ernie May was the Novice winner. Eddie Crouse was the NASCAR Modified winner at South Boston, VA.

Sixty years ago in 1965 Bill Wimble scored his second win of the season at the Stafford Springs Speedway. Racing at the Waterford Speedbowl fell victim to rain. Leo Cleary put the M-2 in victory lane at the Norwood Arena on Saturday night while Irv Taylor was winning the main event at the Fonda Speedway. Billy Clarke was the Modified winner at Seekonk. Carl Tee was the B division winner.

Bob Zieglar broke Eddie Flemke’s win streak at Utica-Rome. Flemke settled for second with Rene Charland, third. Flemke was suspended following the event because of his alleged rough riding.

Fifty five years ago in 1970, the Albany-Saratoga Speedway started the weekend off with a 100 lapper. NASCAR modified point leader Fred DeSarro in the Sonny Koszela Woodchopper took the win over Bugsy Stevens and Leo Cleary. In twin 25 action at Stafford on Saturday night Billy Greco took the opener over Don Flynn and Ernie Gahan. Tom Sutcliff took the nitecap over Freddie Schulz and Moose Hewitt. Lou Lazzaro went two for two at Fonda on Saturday night, winning both 25 lap features. In the first event, Maynard Forette finished second with Ron Narducci and Dave Lape following. The second event saw Narducci come home in second spot with Don Wayman and Irv Taylor. Charlie Webster won the 30 lap Modified feature and retired on the spot. John DeLong was the Daredevil Late Model feature winner. George Summers in the Ken Curley #31 was the Modified winner at Seekonk. Al Rodrigus was the B winner.

Sunday action at Thompson and Utica-Rome was rained out. Bugsy Stevens went to Maine with the Mighty No. 3 of Len Boehler and walked off with the first ever 100 lap Modified open competition event run at the Oxford Plains Speedway.

Fifty years ago in 1975, Gary Winters took the Modified win at Freeport on Friday night. Charlie Jarzombek finished second with Art Tappen, third.

Saturday night at Stafford was action packed. With the Pocono qualifier on tap, action was at a fever pitch and tempers were short. Geoff Bodine, Dick Armstrong’s hired gun had been beating the tar out of the competition and was not the best liked driver in the field. During the running of the feature, Bugsy Stevens was making a run at Bodine on the outside. Bodine attempted to block and pinched Stevens into the front chute fence. Stevens rode the top of the fence into turn one, coming to rest at the pit entrance. On the restart, Bobby Santos in the Joe Brady No.41 went inside Bodine and solidly parked him in the turn two fence. The crowd went wild and as they towed the Santos vehicle by the grandstand over 8,000 screaming fans gave him a standing ovation. Bodine was fined $100 for rough riding and Santos was fined $50 for his action. Eddie Flemke was the apparent winner until he failed a post race weigh-in by being 60 pounds light. Fred DeSarro was declared the winner with Brian Ross finishing second. Bob Potter won his first of four in a row at the Waterford Speedbowl. Roger Charbonneau was the Late Model Grand American winner. At Islip, it was George Wagner over Fred Harbach and at Shangri-La, Richie Evans took the win over Sonney Seamon and Jerry Cook. At Lancaster, Siege Fidenza took the win in an event that saw Mike Loescher suffer injuries after a crash. George Murray was the Modified winner at Seekonk. Russ Webber was the Late Model winner.

Maynard Troyer beat out George Kent at Fulton on Sunday and in twin features at Thompson Fred DeSarro and Daring Dick Caso took the top spots.

Forty five years ago in 1980, Fred Harbach was the winner at New Egypt on Wednesday. Bill Park finished second with Tony Siscone third. Also in the field was Ray Everham who finished 10th. Monadnock ran on Thursday with Marty Radwick taking the win over Kenny Bouchard. At Stafford on Friday, Ronnie Bouchard held off Corky Cookman and Richie Evans for the win. Pete Fiandacca was the Late Model winner. At Riverside Park Radwick made it two for two on the weekend while Ronnie Bouchard also went two for two as he won at Westboro. Richie Evans and Jerry Cook finished one-two at Shangri-La and duplicated their efforts at Thompson on Sunday. Other weekend winners were Moose Hewitt at Waterford, Charlie Jarzombek at Islip, Allen Whipple at Claremont and Tony Siscone at Wall Stadium.

Forty years ago in 1985, the NASCAR Tour Modifieds ran a 100 lapper at Waterford on Wednesday night. Rick Donnelly led from pole to pole to win the event. Dave Reszendes finished second with John Anderson, third. Among those who didn’t qualify were Reggie Ruggiero, Tom Baldwin and Tony Siscone. Doug Hevron won out over Jamie Tomaino at Stafford on Friday night. John Blewett Jr won at New Egypt and Jan Leaty at Spencer. Dale Holdredge won at Waterford on Saturday while Greg Sacks returned to his roots at Riverhead and took the win driving the Art Barry No.21.Ruggiero returned to his winning ways on Saturday at Riverside and on Sunday at Thompson, Lloyd Agor took the win.

Thirty five years ago in 1990, Speedway Scene, the northeast’s leading auto racing weekly at the time, did not publish as the press broke. Ben Dodge resigned as race director at Riverside Park after being accused of favoritism. He would change his mind the following week. The Modified Tour was at Stafford for a 125 lapper. Mike Stefanik took the win over Rick Fuller and Mike Ewanitsko. Also on Friday night, Jerry Marquis beat out Dwight Jarvis at Monadnock. Waterford rained out on Saturday but at Riverside twin features were run with Richie Gallup and Tom Bolles taking the wins. Dan Jivenelli went pole to pole at Riverhead and at Shangri-La, Lee Sherwood took the win.

Thirty years ago in 1995, the racing world was saddened when it was learned that Fred Harbach had passed away after suffering a heart attack. Ted Christopher got his 34th career win at Stafford on Friday night as he beat brother Mikey to the stripe. At Waterford, Mark LaJunesse scored a popular win over Dave Kutka and in Modified Tour action at Riverhead, Eddie Brunnhoelzl Jr took the top spot over Brian Ross. Brian Schofield got his first ever win at Riverside. In Winston Cup action at Watkins Glen, Terry Labonte took the win. Randy LaJoie was fired and replaced by Jimmy Hensley.

Twenty five years ago in 2000 Kerry Malone was the Friday night winner at Stafford. Jerry Marquis finished second with Lloyd Agor, third. Harry Rheaume got his first ever at Waterford on Saturday with John Brouwer Jr second. The Featherlite Modified Tour returned to Seekonk after an absence of many years. Fourty eight Modifieds and 11,000 plus spectators were on hand. Jerry Marquis took the win after taking the lead from Mike Ewanitsko on lap 126.Ewanitsko,who started in the rear had made the charge of the night only to see his tires go away. Howie Brode won at Riverhead. It was also on this weekend that the sale of the Oxford Plains Speedway from Mike Liberty to Bill Ryan Jr was firmed up.

Twenty years ago in 2005 Donnie Lia took a Sunday drive on a Saturday night as he led from pole to pole in the Whelen 150 at the Waterford Speedbowl. Lia had the entire field covered as no one could make a serious bid to take the lead away from the Long Island racer. There were 37 cars on hand for the first of two visits that the Whelen Modified Tour Series will make to the shoreline oval. Ted Christopher, who started seventh, moved into second spot after a lap 48 restart but could never touch Lia who had a full straight away lead when the final caution flew after Lia had taken the white flag. Tony Hirschman, who had given way to Christopher was entrenched in third spot but spun without any help after he went into turn three a little too hot. The event was finished under caution. Hirschman ended up eighth. Eric Beers, in the Boehler Racing Ole Blu, finished third with Jerry Marquis, fourth. Steve Whitt, in his best performance ever, finished fifth. Many drivers felt that because of the heat and the rubber laid down that there was no outside groove. Matt Hirschman and Chris Pasteryak made their maiden voyages on the Tour Series and did themselves proud as they managed to stay out of trouble and finish on the lead lap. Hirschman started 12th and finished 8th while Pasteryak started 11th and finished 20th. There were 21 cars on the lead lap at the finish. There were a few feathers ruffled along the way. Kenny Barry was critical of Jim Civale’s driving after the two got entangled and Barry found himself out for the night in last spot. Jim Storace took a hard lick on the front chute, which inflicted severe damage to his mount. Storace didn’t mention who got into him. The green waved on lap 36. Two laps later Dave Etheridge found himself in the front chute fence. He said that Rick Fuller hit him. Etheridge ended his night in 28th spot. The fourth caution of the night came on lap 68 when Rick Fuller and Nevin George along with Jamie Tomaino tangled in turn one. Tomaino and George were done for the night. The condition of Tomaino’s car was described over the PA system as being a little bit cross-eyed. Once the event was completed runner-up Ted Christopher insinuated that Lia was using a traction control device. Lea denied the charge and insisted it was just sour grapes on Christopher’s part.

In regular Saturday night action at the shoreline oval Don Fowler went pole to pole for the SK Modified win. Ted Christopher came from the back of the field to finish second. Richard Brooks served up a very exciting win in the Mini Stocks as he made a three wide pass for second spot with three laps to go before he took the lead and the win on the final lap. Allen Coates was the Late Model winner and Norm Root took the Sportsman win.

Bert Marvin became the second repeat winner in Sunoco SK type Modified competition at the Thompson Speedway on Thursday night. James Civali won the opening two events at the track during Ice Breaker weekend. Marvin’s win didn’t come easy as he took a lot of heat from Bo Gunning. Gunning faded to tenth in the final lap as he brushed the wall and had a tire going flat. Todd Ceravolo, who started on the pole, ended up in second spot. Jeff Malave, Adam Norton and Kerry Malone rounded out the top five. Jeff Zuidema won the special 50 lap Late Model feature. Other winners were Joe Lemay in the Pro Stocks, Glenn Boss in the Limiteds, Roger Larsen in the TIS Modifieds and twin features for the Mini-Stocks were taken by Shelly Perry and Terry Boudreau.

Woody Pitkat picked up his first ever Modified feature at Stafford on Friday night after he passed Chuck Docherty at the half way mark. What made the victory even sweeter was the fact that Pitkat had been fired out of the car that he passed to take the win. Willie Hardie Jr finished third. Mike Quintiliano made it two in a row in the Late Models and Andrew Durand made it two in a row in the Limited Late Models. Among the missing at Stafford on Friday night was Ted Christopher who was serving a one week suspension imposed by Racing Director Frank Sqambato. Christopher’s suspension came as a result of his unsportsmanlike conduct when he engaged in a fight in the pits on June 17. Christopher denied hitting anybody; he did admit to ripping Stanley Butova’s shirt. Butova was Frank Ruocco’s crew chief. Christopher felt that he had been singled out as he was initially confronted by Butova.

Wayne Anderson made it two in a row at Riverhead.

Despite a black flag halfway through the race, Johnny Sauter had little trouble dominating the rain-shortened SBC 250 at the Milwaukee Mile on Saturday night. The race was shortened from 250 to 200 miles after a storm dumped heavy rain on the track. Martin Truex Jr. was second, and Paul Menard finished third. J.J. Yeley was fourth and David Stremme fifth as 10 cars were on the lead lap when the race was stopped. Tony Stewart ended a long dry spell as he won the Nextel Cup event at Sonoma.

Fifteen years ago in 2010, , the Thompson International Speedway Thursday night Thunder Series was postponed due to rain showers and high humidity that made it just about impossible to dry the track. During the drivers meeting Ben Dodge alluded to the fact that may be changes in the wind at Thompson if the car counts don’t improve. There were nine Thompson Modifieds, sixteen Sunoco (SKtype) Modifieds, ten Late Models, seventeen tour type Modifieds, nineteen Limited Sportsman and twenty four Mini-Modifieds. Dodge stated that the speedway is open for suggestions. If one were to read between the lines he may have been hinting that Thompson may go with an abbreviated schedule. Despite low car counts the racing at Thompson in all divisions had been very good. All things considered the crowds haven’t been that bad. Once school gets out they would get better!

Before the rains came qualifying heat races were held for all NASCAR All American Series divisions along with the Tour-Type Modifieds. Richard Savary and Mike Stefanik earned an extra $100 for their victories in the 10-lap heat races for the Tour-Type Modifieds. The lack of support by Modified Tour car owners was quite evident as many were committed to leaving for Martinsville on Friday morning.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series traveled to Martinsville, VA for the Made In America Whelen 200. There were 37 Modifieds on hand. The decision was made to allow all to start the race. The Virginia weather was stifling hot as temps hovered around the 90 degree mark and humidity so thick you could cut it with a knife. Mike Stefanik was the top qualifier. Stefanik toured the half mile oval in 19.053 seconds. Second fastest was Todd Szegedy with a 19.128. Third through fifth were Ron Silk, George Brunnhoelzl III and Bobby Santos. The re-draw for starting positions saw Stefanik draw ninth. Frank Flemming, the highest qualifying southern Modified drew the pole starting position. Flemming was seventh fastest. Ted Christopher, who was tenth fastest, drew the outside pole.

Bobby Santos’ dream season continued Sunday at Martinsville Speedway as he captured the checkered flag in the Made In America Whelen 200. Santos, driving the Mystic River Marina Mystic Missile, pulled away from the field on a green-white-checkered finish to claim his third win in four NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races to start the 2010 season. It was ungodly hot which had an adverse effect on the crowd which numbered less than 1000 spectators. Ticket price was not a factor as they were a modest $25 for adults. Rookie Justin Bonsignore had a career-best second-place finish, followed by Todd Szegedy. Mike Stefanik, the defending race winner, settled for fourth. Stefanik, lined up on the outside of the front row on the final restart but was shuffled back on the final two laps. MadHouse Modified man Burt Myers finished fifth. James Civali, Eric Beers, Woody Pitkat, Richie Pallai Jr. and Wade Cole rounded out the top 10. Thirteen cars finished on the lead lap. There were 18 cautions for 119 laps.

Ron Silk appeared to have a car to challenge Santos. However, he pulled out of the lead under caution on Lap 174 and ran out of gas on pit lane. He finished 15th, six laps down. Ryan Preece finished 16th after a MSD Box went bad. Ted Christopher led twice in the early going only to lose many laps as his crew was forced to fix an oil leak. He finished a distant 18th. Chris Pasteryak, Eddie Flemke Jr and Eric Goodale were eliminated in an accident. Chuck Hossfeld lost a transmission and finished 25th. Jimmy Blewett finished 30th after an accident and Rowan Pennink (I spelled it right) lost an engine and finished 32nd.

In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series division racing at the Stafford Motor Speedway it was a history making night. Three weeks after Joey Cipriano became the youngest driver to ever win a feature race at Stafford, Tommy Barrett, Jr. lowered that record by winning the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature for his first career win. There were two other first time winners at Stafford as Matt Gallo scored his first career SK Modified® victory in the 40-lap feature, and Josh Wood was a first time career winner in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature. Woody Pitkat continued his white hot start to the 2010 season with his second consecutive and third overall win of the year in the 30-lap Late Model feature, and Kevin Gambacorta nailed down his second win of the year in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature.

The Waterford Speedbowl saw Mark Bakaj earn his first career SK Modified® win, looking impressive in route to victory. Ed Puleo returned to Street Stock victory lane for his second win of the season. Ian Brew won his first Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock race of the year in dominating fashion, while Allen Coates won another A.B. CDL Driver Training Center Truck race. Anthony Flannery continued his early season mastery of the Legends Cars division, picking up another win.

The Bowman-Gray Stadium, in Winston-Salem, NC had another slam-bang night of racing with a northern flavor. Defending track Modified champion Tim Brown won the first of two 25-lap Modified races as he led all the way to his second victory of the season and his 52nd career win at the North Carolina oval. His night went south in the second 25 lapper as a confrontation with James Civali negated him to a 20th place finish. Brown, running sixth in the second race, was clipped and spun by Civali. He dropped to the rear of the field, in 20th place, and then rode Civali into the fence a few laps later. Civali said he gained 18,000 fans for spinning out Brown at the Madhouse. Brian Loftin was the eventual winner. Chris Fleming finished second with John Smith, third.

MadHouse star Burt Myers who had qualified earlier in the day at Martinsville was able to maintain his points lead as he finished 10th in the first race and fourth in the second race. It was also a tough night for Zach Brewer, who was sidelined in the second race after an opening-lap crash with Ryan Preece, and Jonathan Brown. Junior Miller was never a factor as he finished 12th and 6th.

At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island Donny Lia not only made his return to Riverhead Raceway, but found the way to victory lane in the No. 15 of Wayne Anderson. Anderson is on the mend after suffering a heart attack.

Denny Hamlin was the Sprint Cup winner at the Pocono International Raceway. Brad Keselowski raced to his third NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the year and ninth overall, easily holding off rival Carl Edwards on Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway.

Ten years ago in 2015, the word from former Modified car owner Mario Fiore was that Tommy Barrett probably won’t race again this year. Fiore further stated that Barrett will race in 2016 as he has MGM sponsorship to bring to a team. He also hinted a possible return to racing when he stated “If no takers I know someone who can run a modified team as good as any out there”.

Barrett, of Millis, Mass., was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs after a traffic stop at 1:48 a.m. on April 17 in Willimantic. He was also cited at the time for driving unreasonably fast and failing to signal a turn.

At the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night Rowan Pennink took his fourth win of the year in the SK Modified® feature, Michael Scozelli was a first time winner in the Late Model feature, Nick Salva scored his second win of the year in the SK Light feature, Glenn Bartkowski was a first time winner in the Limited Late Model feature, Alexandra Fearn won for the second consecutive week in the DARE Stock feature, and Devin O’Connell was a winner for the third consecutive week in the Legend Cars feature.

In a green-white-checkered finish, Pennink took the lead at the green with Justin Bonsignore immediately attaching himself to Pennink’s bumper. Bonsignore tried to make a move but Pennink was too strong to be overtaken and he nailed down his fourth win of the 2015 season. Ryan Preece finished third, with Sean Foster and Ted Christopher rounding out the top-5. Among the missing was Woody Pitkat who was serving a one week suspension because of a confrontation his car owner had with the crew of Ryan Preece on June 12.

The SK Modified® top-5 finishers each received a $300 bonus from Xtra Mart, which meant the feature winner took home over $2,000 in purse and contingency bonuses while the 2nd through 5th place finishers went home with $700 or more.

The Valenti Modified Series ran twin 50’s at the Lee Speedway in New Hampshire on Friday. Chris Pasteryak coupled a third in the first 50 and a win in the second fifty to become the overall winner. Each feature awarded points towards the series championship standings, but the overall finish of the event was determined by each driver’s combined finish. After finishing third in the first 50-lap feature, the field would be inverted for race number-two and Pasteryak found himself starting from the 18th position. He quickly charged towards the front before diving to the inside of Mike Willis, Jr. on lap 43 to take over the top spot. From there, he pulled away from the field to record the win.

Steve Masse, who substituted for Rowan Pennink in the Gary Casella-owned No. 25 machine, made his way to the front from the fourth starting position and held off a hard-charging Jon McKennedy to claim the victory in race number-one. Getting through traffic and making his way towards the front from the 20th starting position would be a challenge for Masse during the early stages of the second race. He would eventually begin his charge during the middle stages of the race, but came up short by just two positions. The Bellingham, Massachusetts driver would finish fourth in the second race and record an overall total of five (1+4), which would be good for second overall.

Jon McKennedy looked to be the guy to beat, but like Masse he struggled making his way through the field early on in the second 50-lap feature. The former VMRS champion would be able to make his way to the seventh spot when the checkered flag waved. His finishes of second and seventh would earn him a total of nine and the final podium finishing spot.

Woody Pitkat, on a one race suspension from Stafford, recorded a pair of sixth-place finishes and finished fourth and Richard Savary (8+5=13) rounded out the top-five.

The New London-Waterford Speedbowl fell victim to rain on Saturday night. The bowl has made a remarkable turn around since being purchased by Bruce Bemer. The doom and gloom that had followed the track for many years was gone and had been replaced with a positive attitude from competitors and fans alike.

At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island on Saturday night many NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour teams were on hand to hone their skills for the up-coming week’s Hoosier 200. Among those on hand were Modified Tour champion crew chief Phil Moran and Doug Coby, 2015 NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler winner Woody Pitkat and his Buzz Chew Chevrolet #88 team along with Justin Bonsignore #51 and Eric Goodale #58 who were also getting ready for the Hoosier Tire 200 on June 27th. Needless to see a great night of racing was lost because of heavy rain that prevailed.

Going into the Hoosier Tire 200, after five events Ryan Preece led Woody Pitkat by a mere five points. Preece had two wins and Pitkat, one. Doug Coby, with two wins, sat in third, one point behind Coby. Rounding out the top five were Bobby Santos and Todd Szegedy. Sixth thru tenth were Timmy Solomito, Ted Christopher, Patrick Emerling, Rowan Pennink and Eric Goodale.

Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem NC Jason Myers cruised to victory in the first of two 25-lap Modified Division races, and his brother Burt was right behind him.

In the second Modified race, John Smith broke through for his first victory of the season after three top-three finishes previously. Again, it was a wire-to-wire winner with Smith starting on the pole thanks to the Madhouse Scramble.

Following the Myers brothers in the first event were Tim Brown, Chris Fleming and Ronnie Clifton. Bo Bo Brown finished second in the nightcap. Jason and Burt Myers finished eighth and ninth respectively.

Erik Jones has had one heck of a week. It started with a victory in the ARCA/CRA Super Series Battle at Berlin 251 at Michigan’s Berlin Raceway on Tuesday, followed by a triumph in Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Iowa Speedway. He closed out the weekend on Sunday by winning the rain delayed NASCAR XFINITY Series Owens Corning Atticat 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, his third victory of the week and second career victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

On a sad note, Jimmy Jorgensen, a member of the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame and one of the premier owner/mechanics in Northeastern auto racing history, passed away Thursday, June 18.

From Riverside Park, where his “Flying Zero” won three championships between 1958 and 1962, to the 1969 Indianapolis 500, where he experienced the heartbreak of being first alternate, the 2012 Hall of Fame inductee left a lasting legacy on New England racing. He was successful with the URC Sprint Cars between the Modifieds and the Indy Cars.

Five years ago in 2020, The Stafford Motor Speedway began their 2020 racing season on Friday night with a new twist. The state of Connecticut mandated no more than a 25% attendance of fans be in the grandstand. Stafford holds 10,000. The 2500 allowed tickets went quick. In a bold move Stafford put its racing program on Pay per View. The newly offered option will be produced in-house by Stafford Speedway with management splitting the proceeds from the venture approximately 50-50 with track competitors. The bottom line is, about 25 percent of the price paid for the broadcasts will be returned directly to the track competitors.

The Stafford Speedway broadcasts were distributed through the SpeedSportTV Network. Paul Arute said that through the agreement with SpeedSportTV the track will keep 50 percent of the revenue from broadcast purchases. Arute said about half of that income will then be funneled directly back to teams participating in each event. Stafford Speedway. TV events will be priced at $20 for regular Friday night racing events and $30 for Open Modified and Pro Late Model events. Broadcasts will be available for all events at the track in 2020 except for those involving the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour which will be covered by NBC’s TrackPass.

For anyone who travels over 50 miles the Pay per View is good option. Friday being a workday makes traffic heavy plus the fact that gas being over $2.00 per gallon the $20 spent for Pay per View is affordable for a family of four!

In a non-related item, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has approved a comprehensive action plan to allow fans to attend the rescheduled NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, Aug. 2. The race will be broadcast live on NBCSN, Sirius XM NASCAR radio and PRN affiliates worldwide at 3 p.m. ET. The grandstands and suites at “The Magic Mile” will be open to race fans subject to social distancing requirements and additional health and safety protocols. The rescheduled Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 will be the largest fan event in New England since the onset of the pandemic.

In opening night action at Stafford before a sold out crowd, 126 cars lined the paddock area with Keith Rocco taking the SK Modified® feature, Wayne Coury, Jr. in the Late Model feature, Jonathan Puleo in the SK Light feature, Andrew Durand in the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Hydar in the Street Stock feature all becoming the first drivers to reach NAPA Victory Lane in 2020 at Stafford.

In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Ronnie Williams and Todd Owen went side by side for the lead at the green with Williams getting clear on lap-2. Michael Christopher, Jr. was third in the early laps with Cory DiMatteo moving into fourth and Keith Rocco was fifth. Rocco and Owen swapped the lead until lap 34 when he took it for good. Stephen Kopcik made a move to the inside of Woody Pitkat on lap-38 to move into third. Williams followed Kopcik by Pitkat to take fourth and drop Pitkat back to fifth. Sixth thru tenth were Mikey Flynn, David Arute, Matt Vassar, Michael Christopher, Jr. and Joey Ternullo, Jr. Rookie contender Bryan Narducci, finished 12th.

The win also took Rocco to a career overall total of 280 wins which which include 68 at Stafford Speedway, 150victories at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl,and 63 at the Thompson Speedway.

It appeared that the Stafford Motor Speedway management team hit a home run with its new Friday night format. The 2500 allowed attendance was a sell out as well as a great participation of Pay per View fans. The competitors are happy as they get a bonus from the TV money!

The Whelen Modified Tour never publicizes its purses. The Monadnock event will pay a winner’s purse of $6,000 with $3,250 to be paid for second and $2,600 for third, with a total purse of more than $40,000. Any cars that don’t qualify for the race will still earn $500 if they pre-registered early and $300 if they registered day of the event.

Pocono Raceway became the first track in NASCAR history to hold three national series races on the same day. Round 2 at Pocono went to Denny Hamlin. Hamlin seized the spotlight, specifically in Victory Lane when Pocono had to set up lights after the race ended in the dark. Hamlin topped Kevin Harvick on Sunday night to win the second Cup race of the weekend at Pocono Raceway and flip the result of the opener. The 1-2 finish out of each driver is a clear sign two of the best drivers in the game are poised again to make a championship push.

The rain wreaked havoc with the third NASCAR race of the day at Pocono. Brandon Jones opened the day with a win in the Truck series race, and Chase Briscoe won the Xfinity event. Harvick snapped an 0-for-38 drought at Pocono, taking the checkered flag Saturday at one of two tracks where victory had eluded him.

Last year, 2024, Thursday Night Thunder returned to Thompson Speedway for the first of three dates in 2024 on Thursday, June 13 with the Nutmeg State 50 presented by Twisted Tea! Along with continued track championship action for the Sunoco 604 Modifieds, Late Models, AZ Roofing SK Light Modifieds, Street Stocks and Mini Stocks, Thursday night was headlined by the $5,000-to-win Nutmeg State 50 for the Outlaw Open Modifieds presented by Twisted Tea!

One must feel sorry for the ACT Group as they are making an honest attempt at Thompson. The Hoenig third generation made it clear a few years ago that all they care about is their god dammed Sports Cars and the oval track competitors who wont forget that for a long time. A clear message was sent last Thursday night when fans showed up and saw an almost empty pit area. There were only six Modifieds, seven Mini Stocks, eight 604 Crate Modifieds, twelve SK Lights and sixteen Street Stocks.

Ron Williams jumped out to take the lead on lap 2 and never looked back as he collected $5,000 for the win. Matt Swanson finished second with Jacob Perry, third. Rounding out the field was RJ Marcotte, Kevin Folan and Josh Carey. In the Late Model feature Nick Johnson inherited the lead when race leader Ryan Lineham and second place Matt Lowinski-Loh took each other out in turn two. Ryan Morgan finished second and Brian Tagg, third.. Tyler Chapman won the 25-lap SK Light Modified feature. Ryan Waterman took the 20-lap Street Stock feature and Jared Roy took the 15-lap Mini Stock feature.

Keith Rocco was the 604 Modified winner. Danny Cates was second and Jon Puleo third. Rocco’s career overall total of 304 wins include 154 victories at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, 74 at Thompson and 81 at Stafford Speedway.

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.

Stafford Speedway had all good intensions of running the Casella Open 80 on June 7 until heavy rain stepped in postponing the event after lap 5. The event was rescheduled to be completed on Friday, June 15 until a forecast of severe weather forced cancellation again. This coming Friday, June 21. Friday is also qualifying day for the Whelen Modifieds at Loudon which means the drivers who wish to compete at Stafford will have to hustle to do the double.

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.

At the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Todd Owen returned to victory lane as he beat outAnthony Flannery for the SK Modified win. Nick Hovey was the SK Lite winner and Douglas Curry was the Late Model winner,

Down in North Carolina at the Bowman Gray Stadium twin 50’s were on tap with Tim Brown and John Holeman taking the wins.

In NASCAR Modified action at the Riverhead Raceway JR Bertuccio was the Modified winner. CJ Lehman was second with Justin Brown, third.

On a sad note, Area Auto Racing News announced last week that the Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, NY has been sold and will go out of existence. The plan for the 50 acres that the track sits on will include housing, restaurants and other businesses. The proposed project is being heralded as a way of lowering rising housing prices in the area for the growing computer chip industry. Global Industries built a plant a few miles away from the speedway and employs 2500 people who travel a lot of miles to get to work.

The Albany-Saratoga Speedway was built and run by Joe Lesick. It opened in 1965 with a United Stock Car sanction. The track, asphalt at the time, went with NASCAR and became a place for the New York Modified competitors. When the Stafford Speedway shifted to Saturday nights in 1970 the Malta track became a mecca where the best from New York and New England would race each other on Friday nights. One og the greatest competitors who races at Malta was Lou Lazzaro. Lazzaro was so good he raced the same car that he ran on Friday, then took it to the dirt at Fonda on Saturday and then to the then paved Utica-Rome Speedway on Sunday night. The only thing he changed on the car each night were the tires. One of his biggest fans was Richie Evans.

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. Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series management announced that their Open Wheel Wednesday event at Seekonk Speedway would feature a $20,000 to win purse as part of an additional $28,000 increase in the overall purse for the race.

Since then the purse has only continued to grow, with an additional $5,500 added. The additional money added brought the total purse for the event to $80,150, which will make it the highest paying Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series event in the division’s 11-year history. On Tuesday, June 11, an additional $4,000 was added to the purse, increasing the payout for second, third, fourth and fifth place by $1,000 for each position. On Wednesday the series added another $1,500 to the purse, with increases of $300 for each position sixth through tenth.

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.