Forty years ago, in 1968, heavy rain forced
the cancellation of Friday night racing at the Stafford and
Albany-Saratoga Speedways. Frank Faria won at Norwood on Saturday night
while at Fonda; it was Jerry Cook over Ray Sitterly and Eddie Pieniezek.
On Sunday it was the annual Trenton 200, which pitted the best of the
north against the best of the south. Mr. Modified, Ray Hendrick, driving
the famous Tant/Mitchell No.11 took the win.
Thirty five years ago in 1973, Malta started the week off
with a 30 lapper that saw Richie Evans take the win over
Denis Giroux
and Jerry Cook. At Stafford, on Saturday, Giroux again finished second
but this time it was behind race winner, Bugsy Stevens. At Tioga it was
Geoff Bodine over Cook and at Utica-Rome it was Evans again but over
Maynard Forrette. Pocono ran a special modified event with Stevens
taking the win.
Thirty years ago in 1978, New Egypt ran on Wednesday. Wayne
Anderson took the win and was followed by Evans and Cook. Evans and Cook
finished one-two at Stafford and at Monadnock, Punky Caron won his 12th
win of the season. Geoff Bodine took charge at Seekonk and at Riverside
Charlie Glazier tasted victory. At Thompson on Sunday Bodine added
another win as he held off Ron Bouchard and Joe Howard. Other weekend
winners were Fred Harbach at Islip, Roger Treichler at Lancaster, George
Kent at Tioga and Richie Evans at Utica-Rome. It was also this weekend
in 1978 that New York racing legend Don Diffendorf hung up
his helmet
and retired.
Twenty five years ago in 1983,Thompson ran a pole qualifier
for their annual 300.Richie Evans took the win and the spot over Corky
Cookman. Friday night at Stafford, Bob Polverari out dueled Bugsy
Stevens for the win. Rich Evans had quite a weekend as he won 200 lap
events at New Egypt on Friday and at Slip on Saturday. George Kent won
at Spencer on Friday and at Waterford on Saturday, Mark LaJunesse beat
out Donnie Bunnell. Marty Radwick won at Riverside and Thompson was
cancelled due to a power shortage that caused a brown out.
Twenty years ago in 1988,Ted Christopher got his fourth win
of the season at Stafford on Friday night. At Monadnock, Dwight Jarvis
was the victor. Christopher repeated at Waterford on Saturday. At
Riverside, Richie Gallup took the win. Reggie Ruggerio finished second
and sewed up the track championship. Tim Connolly drove his self-owned
modified to a win at Tioga, which happened to be a Race of Champions
qualifier. At Riverhead, Bob Park recorded his third win. Wayne Anderson
finished second and wrapped up the track championship. Ted Christopher
wrapped up the Thompson Championship on Sunday.
Fifteen years ago in 1993,Ted Christopher got his sixth win
of the year at Stafford, beating out John Anderson. The Modified Tour
Series was also at Stafford. Jeff Fuller took the lead from Jamie
Tomaino on lap 71 of the 150-lap event and went on to take the win.
Reggie Ruggerio finished second with Mike Stefanik, third. At Waterford,
on Saturday night, the races were cancelled due to a flooded parking
lot. Brian Miller won at Riverhead and Dan Avery won at Riverside. In
Busch Grand National action at Bristol, Todd Bodine took the win over
Joe Nemechek and in Winston Cup action, Mark Martin took the win.
Ten years ago, in 1998, Bo Gunning recorded his 4th win of
the season at Stafford on Friday night. Ted Christopher finished second.
Eric Berndt was the Waterford winner despite the efforts of Jeff Pearl.
Eddie Spiers beat out Rick Miller at Riverside and at Riverhead Chris
Young took the win. Mike Stefanik took the BGNN point lead after he won
at Jennerstown. In Sunday action at Thompson, Ted Christopher sat in
victory lane. Mark Martin won the Bristol Winston Cup event and Kevin
LePage was the Grand National winner.
Five years ago in 2003, the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour
Series returned to the Stafford Speedway on Tuesday night to complete
the rain-postponed ASB 150 from August 8. With no rain in sight, the
event was completed. When the dust settled, Todd Szegedy sat in victory
lane. It was his fifth career Modified tour win and his first at
Stafford. Szegedy is a graduate of Stafford’s SK-Modified ranks. The
action resumed after a lap 61 red flag on August 8. Eddie Flemke Jr.
assumed the pole starting position. The first five laps were run under
caution, which allowed competitors to change tires. Flemke elected to
pit on lap 65 along with Szegedy and a host of others. Dave Etheridge to
the front, followed by Don Lia and Ricky Fuller. The trio had pitted
before the rains came on the initial date. Etheridge, who recently had
become engaged to Renee Dupuis, led for three laps. Lia, who has shown a
lot of promise and potential in his rookie season, took the
lead and held it until lap 73 when he was passed by Rick Fuller.
Szegedy’s big break came on lap 85 when Etheridge and Nevin George got
together in turn three. As the field took evasive action to avoid the
potential wreck, Szegedy made the right move and went from tenth to
fourth during the melee. When the event re-started on lap 90 Szegedy
wasted little time as he went from fourth to second and as the field
completed lap 91, he had passed Fuller for the lead. Fuller faded to
third as Szegedy took the checker. Nevin George finished second. John
Blewett III and Chuck Hossfeld rounded out the top five. Sixth through
tenth were Tony Hirshman, Jamie Tomaino, Tom Cravenho, Tony Ferrante Jr.
and Eric Beers. There were a total of six cautions for 61 laps. Szegedy
continued to lead the series point standings by 103 points over Blewett.
Chuck Hossfeld sat in third spot with Ted Christopher and Jerry Marquis
rounding out the top five. Christopher had a poor finish, 18th, after
getting involved with Hossfeld and wrecking. Marquis ended up 23rd.
Early race leader Eddie Flemke Jr. was an unfortunate victim as he was
robbed of a potential win as a result of a broken shifter which resulted
in a missed shift by Donnie Lia on a lap 119 re-start and resulting pig
pile that saw him get turned into the front stretch wall. Flemke’s crew
got him back in the event. With less than five laps from the finish
something broke and he hit the wall again and ended his night in 21st
spot.
Ted Christopher, another potential winner, also had one of those
nights as he crashed after making contact with Chuck Hossfeld on lap
126. A replay of the incident showed that Hossfeld was making a pass and
was under him when he attempted to pinch him down. Hossfeld didn’t back
off and the resulting contact saw Christopher in the wall, ending his
night in 18th spot.
In Thursday night Thunder action at Thompson, the Sunoco SK-type
modifieds went 75 laps. For the most part the racing was clean and green
with only a few minor cautions. Bo Gunning, who has had an up and down
season, took the win over Eric Berndt, Todd Ceravolo, Bert Marvin and
Kerry Malone. Gunning closest challenger was Berndt who took the lead
during a re-start with 15 to go. Five laps later Gunning powered his way
to the lead and never looked back. Eric Berndt continued to lead the
point standings with a 26-point edge over Jeff Malave. Malave was never
a factor on Thursday as he finished 7th in the final rundown. Todd
Ceravolo sat third in points, 18 behind Malave. Bert Marvin and Gunning
rounded out the top five. Among the missing at Thompson on Thursday was
defending track champion Ted Christopher. According to reports
Christopher’s car never left the shop as he experienced engine problems.
Other Thursday Night Thunder winners at Thompson were Joe Lemay in
the Pro Stocks, RJ Marcotte in the Late Models, Mike Cavanaugh in the
Limited Sportsman and Eric Bourgeois in the Mini Stocks.
At the Stafford Speedway on Friday night, Bo Gunning carried his
winning ways over from Thompson as he copped the first of the twin 40
lap SK-Modified features run. Gunning took the lead with five laps to go
from Willie Hardie. Lloyd Agor made a late race charge and finished on
Gunning's bumper. Willie Hardie, Ted Christopher and Jim Civali rounded
out the top five. Jim Williams won the second 40 lapper over Jeff Baral,
Chuck Docherty, Bo Gunning and Todd Owen rounded out the top five. Ryan
Posocco picked up his fourth win of the season as he beat out Kenny
Horton for the victory. Bob Leone was the Dare Stock winner.
At the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night the flag was flying at
half-mast in honor of Dan Brigham who had passed away. Brigham, a
lieutenant in the Cohanzie Fire Department, was the officer in charge of
Safety at the Speedbowl. The Modifieds at the shoreline oval ran twin
25’s because of the fact that time was running out to meet the minimum
of 18 events required to have drivers eligible for NASCAR Dodge Weekly
Racing points. Dennis Gada, who was thought to be retiring at season’s
end, cleared up a misunderstanding as he stated that he was retiring
from the SK- Modifieds, not from racing all together. The four-time
track champion is looking to climb the ladder a bit, maybe into a tour
mod or a Busch North Series car. The hardest part about getting a ride
in the tour series cars is money or the ability to bring it with you. In
the first of the two features Gada made it three in a row and five
overall for the season. Pete Pavone finished second with John Brouwer
Jr., third. In the nightcap, Rob Janovic took the win after coming back
from a crash in the first feature. Janovic, who is close friends with
the Brigham family, dedicated his win to the recently departed Daniel.
Dennis Charette finished second with Gada, third. Based on his recent
finishes, Dennis Gada had moved by Ed Reed Jr. for the modified point
lead. Other Saturday night winners were Russell LaJoie in the Late
Models, Ed Gertsch in the Sportsman with Dan Darnstaedt and Glen Colvin
victorious in the Mini Stocks.
At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island Joe Hartmann came home the
winner over John Fortin. JR Bertuccio and Frank Vigliarolo Jr. were both
given a week’s suspension for their on track confrontation and at Wall
Township, Kevin Flockhart took top honors over Tim Arre.
The Busch North Series was at the Beech Ridge Speedway in Maine.
Mike Olsen was awarded the win after apparent winner Mike Johnson was
put to the rear of the rear of the lead lap cars as officials noticed
that he jumped the green flag on the final restart.
In Winston Cup action at Bristol, Kurt Busch took the win and was
loudly booed in victory lane by the many fans who felt that he had
agitated Jim Spencer to the point where he got violent. Kevin Harvick
finished second. Michael Waltrip bumped Ron Hornaday out of the lead
with 34 laps to go and went on to take the Busch Series win at Bristol.
Jim Spencer filed an appeal of his suspension, which was denied by the
NASCAR commission.
Last year, 2007, The 2007 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
traveled to the mid-west, Mansfield, Ohio to be exact. The entire area
had been under siege from heavy rains and tornado threats but the event
went on as scheduled. That is until lap 108 when the race was called
after repeated attempts to dry a rain soaked track. With his brother
serving as his spotter and tracking the weather on his cell phone, James
Civali elected not to pit with the leaders and was out front when NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour officials called the rain-shortened Mansfield 150
at Mansfield Motorsports Park. Doug Coby, driving the Mansfield CT based
No.77 of Curt Chase, finished second and rookie Woody Pitkat was third.
Point leader and Budweiser Pole Award winner Donny Lia was fourth and
Eric Beers fifth. Ronnie Silk, Matt Hirschman, Ted Christopher, Todd
Szegedy and Bobby Grigas III rounded out the top 10.
Coby led the first 13 laps before Civali made the pass. Silk moved
to the front seven laps later and led until a lap 54 caution. Silk
elected to pit along with the fifth-place car of Szegedy and nine
others. “We were leading and the car was really good,” Civali said.
“When Ronnie got by me, the car got free. But then it stayed the same.
It had 90 hard laps on it, too. But it never changed that whole run. It
looked like Ronnie got free and then kept getting (more free).”
Following the restart, Civali and Coby built a straightaway lead over
third-place Pitkat on the half-mile banked oval. The field was bunched
briefly following a lap 96 caution. Rain brought out the caution at lap
104 and the red at lap 108.
Twenty-seven cars were on hand. Donny Lia was the top qualifier as he
toured the Ohio oval in 15.274mph. Ronnie Silk was second fastest with
James Civali, third. Ryan Preece and Matt Hirschman rounded out the top
five.
Lia maintained his points lead at 131 over Szegedy and 139 over
Hirschman. The next NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race will be at
Martinsville (Va.) Speedway Sept. 1.
The Mansfield Motorsports Park also hosted the NASCAR Busch East
division where Sean Caisse won the pole and the race. Caisse raced to
the finish under the threat of rain, and the skies opened up during
victory lane celebrations, but the race did get to run its advertised
distance. 1) Caisse 2) Matt Kobyluck 3) Joey Logano 4) Jerry Marquis 5)
Jeffrey Earnhardt.
Twin State Speedway track owner Dennis Fleury announced on Friday,
Aug 17 at the drivers meeting that Twin State Speedway would not be a
NASCAR track in 2008. The Twin State Speedway is located in Claremont,
NH.
In True Value Modified Series action at the Monadnock Speedway in
Winchester, NH numerous rain delays were encountered and the scheduled
100 Lap event was stopped on lap 42 with Rob Goodenough in the lead.
Goodenough took the lead from Chris Pasteryak on lap 27. The TVMRS
series declared Saturday nights Monadnock race, stopped on lap 42 by the
second of two thunderstorms, an official race. Rob Goodenough was
declared the official winner followed by Les Hinckley and Kirk
Alexander. The track had announced a Sept 22 continuation but the series
felt it was in the best interests of its competitors to declare the race
official. Mike Holdredge and Pasteryak rounded out the top five.
In regular Thursday Night Thunder action at the Thompson Speedway
the management, fans, friends, and family joined the racing community in
mourning the tragic loss of John Blewett III.
A night of fiercely competitive racing was a fitting homage to the
fallen racer. Two races, the Late Models and Mini Stocks, were decided
by mere feet at the line. An emotional Kerry Malone of Needham, MA
visited victory lane in the Sunoco Modified main event held in Blewett’s
memory. Rick Gentes of Woonsocket, RI, scored his eighth win of the
season in a Late Model thriller while Mike Romano of Pascoag, RI added
to his win tally by inches. Norm Wrenn of Nashua, NH, took home his
second win of the season in the Pro Stocks. Keith DeSanctis of Monson,
MA, pulled off a similar feat with his second win in the Limited
Sportman division. Tim Sullivan of S. Windsor padded his point lead with
another TIS Modified feature victory on Thursday night.
Out of respect for Blewett the Sunoco Modified drivers filed
side-by-side to the infield. Front row starters Josh Steeves and Danny
Cates lowered the flag to half-mast before track announcer Russ Dowd
gave a heartfelt tribute to John and Reverend Don Rivers led the crowd
in prayer. With the safety lights on all the track vehicles, Karen
Lussier delivered a tender rendition of the National Anthem. A flag,
still all night, waved effortlessly during the Sunoco Modified main
event.
Cates immediately motored out to a sizable lead over Steeves and
Steve Masse. A scary moment near the start of the race saw the red flag
flying. On lap three, Ricky Shawn launched over the tire of Bert Marvin
sending his car flipping, making a complete rotation, before landing on
his wheels and hitting the wall in turn three. Shawn was not hurt in the
incident.
The youngsters Cates and Steeves vied for the lead when racing
resumed. Their time at the head of the pack was short-lived with Kerry
Malone on the move. In a half lap, Malone was the new leader. After
freeing himself from Masse, he took second from Cates in turn one of lap
four, he took the lead from Steeves exiting turn two. Steeves continued
to run in second while Masse had his hands full with Keith Rocco. Cates
began to fall back. Tommy Cravenho, who started deep in the pack after
being involved in a heat race incident, was working his way through the
pack. Marvin had begun to work his way back toward the front as well.
After a disqualification in the heat, Pitkat was making tracks from deep
in the field. The mount of Glen Griswold went up in smoke to bring out
the second caution of the event. A chain of events on the ensuing
restart found James Harrison hard into the outside wall. Todd Ceravolo
and Pat Moreau were also involved. The restart at the
halfway marker pitted Malone against Steeves with Rocco laying in wait
in third. Malone easily resumed his spot at the head of the pack while
Steeves and Rocco battled. Rocco came out on top of an aggressive battle
for the second spot on lap 17.
Pitkat and Masse made contact in turn two. Both cars slid out of
the corner with Masse eventually losing the handle. The remainder of the
pack was able to avoid the spinning Masse. Pitkat lined up in the fourth
position on the restart behind leader Malone, Rocco and Steeves.
Cravenho rounded out the top five with ten laps to go. The race was set
for an exciting finish after the restart that found Malone and Rocco on
the front row. Malone got a great run to retain his lead. Pitkat made
quick work of Steeves to move into the third spot. Pitkat dove low in
turn one in search of the second spot, to no avail. Rocco was able to
maintain the position. Malone could not get any breathing room despite
the battling between Rocco and Pitkat. Equally as exciting was the
battle for the third spot as Marvin and Cravenho did battle. Over the
final two laps, things settled down with the top five going nose to
tail. Malone ran to the checkers a wisp ahead of Rocco. Pitkat
was glued to the bumper of the #6 as they streaked to the checkers.
Marvin topped the secondary battle taking fourth over Cravenho.
In victory lane Malone dedicated his win to John Blewett. “I will
miss racing with him,” said Malone. “I will miss that twinkle in his
eyes. God Bless John Blewett.”
Woody Pitkat continued his high-speed freight train approach to
racing in the SK Modified division at the Stafford Motor Speedway as he
made it five feature wins in a row. Tom Fearn ended Ryan Posocco's
three-race Late Model winning streak by taking his third Late Model
feature win of the 2007 season, Josh Sylvester came home a first time
winner in the SK Light Modified feature, Rick Lanagan won his sixth
Limited Late Model feature event of the 2007 season, and Duane Provost
joined Sylvester as a first time winner by taking the DARE Stock feature
event victory.
The 40-lap SK Modified feature took the green with Richie Pallai,
Jr. leading the first lap and then surrendering the lead to Todd Owen on
lap-2. Zach Sylvester took the lead from Owen on lap-7, and by lap-10,
Woody Pitkat was on Owen's bumper looking to take the lead. Pitkat got
the lead on a lap-11 restart by powering to the outside of Sylvester.
Pitkat led lap-20, which earned him a $100 bonus from event sponsor
Porter & Chester. The race began to take on a long green flag run, and
Pitkat slowly built his advantage up over Sylvester and the rest of the
field. With 5 laps to go, Pitkat's lead was about 2 seconds ahead of
Sylvester and Pitkat cruised to his fifth consecutive SK Modified
feature victory. Sylvester finished second, with Owen, Malave, and Ted
Christopher rounding out the top-5.
At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island Justin Bonsignore of
Holtsville, the 2006 NASCAR Modified Rookie of the Year, came of age
when he scored his first career win before a large crowd on Donaldsons
VW-Subaru night in a 35-lap main event. The 18-year old driver led all
the way in earning the popular victory.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Waterford
Speedbowl Veteran Tommy Fox prevailed over Dennis Gada in one of the
closest SK Modified races of the season at the shoreline oval.
Exchanging the lead numerous times over the final circuits, Fox used the
inside lane to keep the defending champion at bay until the checkers.
Rob Janovic Jr., Jeff Pearl, and Tyler Chadwick rounded-out the top-5.
Other feature winners were Bruce Thomas Jr. (Late Model), Jack
Aquilina (Sportsman), Danny Field (Mini Stock), and, Michael Gervais
Jr.(Legends).
The New London Day reported that Waterford Speedbowl property
ownerTerry H. Eames, 53, of 41 Pine Island Road, was charged Sunday with
driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and failure to obey a
stop sign.
Carl Edwards clinched a berth for the Chase for the Nextel Cup
championship by winning Saturday night's race at Bristol Motor Speedway,
leaving Dale Earnhardt JR farther from contention with his fifth-place
finish. With only two races to go before the championship field is set,
Earnhardt is 158 points away from the 12th and final qualifying spot.
Before an estimated crowd of 115,000, Kasey Kahne won the Food City 250,
his seventh career NASCAR Busch Series victory.
That’s it for this week from 40 Clark Street, Westerly RI 02891.
Ring my chimes at 401-596-5467. E Mail
smithpe_97_97@yahoo.com.
This week are
several vintage racing photos
Courtesy of
VintageModifieds.com
From the collection of Danny Pardi
Wade Cole
Rick Fuller Danny
Gaudiosi
Jack Lecuyer
Bob Walker
Allen Whipple
The Chrome Horn
'Looking Back with Phil Smith' Archive
THE END
