Forty years ago in 1968, Bugsy Stevens scored his
first of many Martinsville wins as he won the Dogwood 300.
Thirty-five Years ago in 1973, Paul Radford
took the modified win at Martinsville. Richie Evans finished second with
Gene Bergin, Ed Flemke and Denis Giroux rounding out the top five.
Twenty-five years ago, in 1983, the NASCAR
Modifieds had their season opener at Martinsville. Richie Evans started
on the pole and ended up winning the event. Greg Sacks started on the
outside pole. His run lasted one lap as he lost an engine going into
turn three and headed for the pits. It was not a good weekend for Sacks
as he received word on Sunday morning that his sister and brother-in-law
were involved in a bad accident on Long Island. His brother-in-law
perished and his sister was seriously injured. Evans and Tony Hirschman
pretty much dominated the event. Hirschman ended up in second spot and
was followed by Brett Bodine, Roger Treichler, Bob Fuller and Joe
Mamolito. Ray Hendrick, Martinsville’s winningest driver, announced his
retirement.
Twenty years ago, in 1988, the NASCAR Winston
Modified Tour standings indicated that after two events Mike McLaughlin
was the point leader. Reggie Ruggerio was in second spot with Satch
Worley, Dave Reszendes and Rick Fuller rounding out the top five. Sixth
thru tenth included Jeff Fuller, George Kent, Carl Pasteryak, Tom Bolles
and Kerry Malone.
Fifteen years ago in 1993, the Winston Cup
contingent was in Atlanta. Morgan Shepherd was a surprise winner when
Jeff Gordon pitted for fuel while leading in the late stages of the
event. Ernie Irvan finished second with Rusty Wallace, third. Gordon
finished fourth. Mark Martin dominated the early stages before breaking
a camshaft. A scheduled Busch Grandnational event at Martinsville was
cancelled due to rain.
Ten years ago in 1998, Riverside Park opened
up the 1998 season with a 200 lap modified event. With 52 cars and 7200
spectators on hand Mike Stefanik took the pole. Stefanik led the early
going until getting passed by Chris Kopec on lap 41. Reggie Ruggerio
considered by many to be the master at Riverside came from his 25th
starting position to take the lead on lap 108. While Ruggerio led,
Stefanik was battling with Ted Christopher for second spot. The pot
boiled over on lap 187 when Christopher attempted to pass and made
contact with Stefanik resulting in both of them spinning. Stefanik was
able to restart and finished in third spot behind Ruggerio who took the
win and Tony Hirschman, who finished second. In a post race interview
Stefanik quipped, “when he (Christopher) falls out of his tree he hits
all the branches on the way down”. Dan Avery finished fourth with Ed
Flemke Jr., fifth.
Five years ago in 2003, the Wall Township
Speedway signed with NASCAR for a weekly sanction and Featherlite
Modified Tour series event. NASCAR’s elite converged upon the Bristol
Raceway for the sanctioning body’s 2000th event. Ryan Newman took the
pole with Jeff Gordon on the outside. In the preliminary Busch Series
event Kevin Harvick and Tony Raines survived numerous wrecks to finish
one-two on the event. Twenty-three of the original 42 starters were
running at the finish. The Winston Cup was also plagued with numerous
wrecks. Kurt Busch survived to take the win. On March 23, Sammy Packard
passed away at the age of 83. Packard, originally from Rhode Island, was
the last surviving member of the group that met with Bill France Sr. in
1947 to form NASCAR.
Last year, 2007, New England Auto Racers Hall
of Fame inductee Bob Potter of Norwich was named the Grand Marshal
Budweiser Modified Nationals. Potter scored over 100 victories and six
championships over a four-decade career at the Speedbowl. Potter won his
initial Speedbowl feature in 1966, the first of an estimated 150
checkered flags at the Speedbowl, Stafford and Thompson Speedways. The
Speedbowl ran their pre-season practice session on Saturday afternoon.
There were six or seven True Value Modifieds along with six or seven SK
Modifieds.
Chris Pasteryak, who was there with a SK also brought his
Whelen Modified Tour car for a shakedown run. There was a overall good
turnout of the Waterford weekly cars along with NEMA, ARTS and Allison
Legacy cars. Work is in progress in the rest room areas as well as in
the grandstand.
It had been rumored and said many times over the winter
months that the Mystic Missile No.4 would no longer be part of the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series. All those rumors would be put to
rest on April 15 at Thompson when the Missile rolled out on the track
with Long Islander Donnie Lia behind the wheel. Jerry Marquis, the
former driver of the Mystic Missile would pilot the No.00 of Joe Brady
in 2007.
While most of us in the northeast were dodging rain drops or
snow on Saturday night the Whelen Southern Modified Tour Series began
their 2007 season at the Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, NC. Northern
drivers who ventured south were Ted Christopher of Plainville, CT, Bob
Grigas of Marshfield, MA, JR Bertuccio of Centereach, Long Island, Ryan
Preece of Kensington, CT, Chuck Hossfeld from Ramsonville, NY, Jamie
Tomaino from New Jersey and Matt Hirschman from Northampton, PA.
The southern contingent ruled as three of the top five
including the winner, LW Miller were from south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
The highest finishing northerner was Hirschman who finished fourth.
Preece finished fifth. Miller, originally from Pennsylvania, resides in
Mooresville, NC. Burt Myers and Brian Loftin who finished second and
third are also from North Carolina. Ted Christopher, who drove the No.00
of Joe Brady was as high as second at one point. From lap 103 to 119
Christopher and Burt Myers were rubbing nerf bars and trading spots.
Christopher’s night ended on lap 119 when he crashed into the front
stretch wall. Christopher ended up 18th in the final rundown. Hossfeld,
who drove the southern owned Roger Hill entry was parked by NASCAR for
being over aggressive. Hossfeld was credited with the 24th finishing
position. Jamie Tomaino ended up 25th after his engine quit and
Bertuccio ended up 26th after a lap 23 accident.
Carl Edwards held off hard-charging teammate Matt Kenseth in
the final dozen laps to win the Busch Series Sharpie Mini 300 Saturday
at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn. It was a typical
crash-filled Bristol race, with 12 cautions for 103 laps and one
red-flag stoppage. NASCAR also had a miscue on pit road that confused
most of the field and gave Edwards, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman a second
chance. Edwards used that free pit stop to get fresh tires and drive to
his first win of the season, beating Kenseth to the line by 0.260 of a
second. Busch took the lead with 16 laps to go on a smooth pass around
Denny Hamlin in thick traffic and stayed there through a pair of
cautions. He had driven away from the competition when the 15th and
final caution set up a three-lap overtime sprint to the finish. Busch
and teammate Jeff Gordon were running 1-2 on the restart, but Burton
jumped past Gordon and quickly pulled onto Busch's rear bumper. Burton
looked low and Busch threw a block, then he went high and Busch blocked
that, too. Burton pulled alongside Busch as they closed in on the finish
line, but Busch nipped him at the flag for his first Nextel Cup win on a
short track. Gordon, the pole-sitter, wound up third but took over the
points lead as Mark Martin skipped the event and handed the keys to
rookie Regan Smith. Smith finished 25th.
NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow made its debut at Bristol and would
be used in 16 races in 2007 as NASCAR phases it in through the 2009
season.
This week here are
several vintage racing photos of Hall of Famer Bob Potter
courtesy of
vintagemodifieds.com
Ring my chimes at 401-596-5467 E-mail:
smithpe_97_97@yahoo.com
The Chrome Horn
'Looking Back with Phil Smith' Archive
THE END