Forty years ago in
1969, the All Star League visited Islip on Wednesday for a
100-lap event. Taking the win was home track favorite Fred Harbach. Gary
Winters finished second and was followed by Richie Evans, Jack Reinhardt,
Artie Tappen and Will Cagle. Albany Saratoga ran a
100-lap
double point event on Friday, which saw Eddie Flemke clean house. Guy
Chartrand finished second and was followed by Jerry Cook and Bernie Miller.
Stafford was closed.
Saturday night at Norwood, Johnny Thompson
with his small block Ford took the win over Freddie Schulz, Fred DeSarro and
Marty Bezema. Fonda ran their rained out 200 and at the checker it was Lou
Lazzaro who prevailed. Kenny Shoemaker finished second and was followed by
Ron Narducci and Rene Charland. Airborne Park in Plattsburg ran a 100-lap
double point event and it was invader, Bugsy Stevens taking the win. At
Islip Charlie Jarzombek and Fred Harbach shared the spotlight as they each
won separate events.
Hometown favorite Charlie Webster was the Modified feature winner
at the Waterford Speedbowl. Big Mike Daignault
was the Daredevil winner. At Thompson on Sunday night it was Eddie Flemke
over Stevens and Moose Hewitt and at Utica-Rome Jerry Pennock beat out Dave
Lape for the win.
Thirty five years ago in 1974,
Don Howe got the best of Charlie Jarzombek at Riverhead on Wednesday. Frank
Curtiss finished third with Junior Ambrose, fourth. On that same night, the
master, Eddie Flemke, gave a young driver named Reggie Ruggiero a lesson as
he won a 100 lap open event at Plainville Stadium. Jim Cash finished third
with Bobby Bard, fourth. Friday night at Freeport, Jarzombek played second
fiddle again as he finished second behind Dan MacNamara. Donnie Bunnell was
the Modified winner at the Waterford Speedbowl. A 200 lapper scheduled at
Islip on Saturday rained out. Bugsy Stevens was king of the hill at Stafford
despite the efforts of Eddie Flemke and Ronnie Bouchard. In New York State
action, Dick Clark won at Utica-Rome, Merv Treichler won at Lancaster, Geoff
Bodine won at Shangri-La and Richie Evans won at Fulton. In Sunday night
action at Thompson, Fred DeSarro made it two in a row and at Monadnock,
Kenny Bouchard was the victor.
Thirty years ago in 1979, Bill
Brown sold Monadnock Speedway to Bill Davis and at Danbury, starter Ted
Abbot was struck and killed while flagging a race at the historic oval.
Stafford ran twin 25's on Tuesday and drew 75 modifieds. Geoff Bodine won
the first 25 and was followed by Ron Bouchard, Jerry Cook and Bugsy Stevens.
Cook won the nightcap with Bodine following and Leo Cleary in third spot. At
New Egypt on Wednesday night, John Blewett Jr. took the win over Jerry Cook
and Richie Evans. At Stafford on Friday, Ronnie Bouchard scored a popular
win over Evans and Kenny Bouchard. Seekonk ran a 50 lapper on Saturday,
which saw Geoff Bodine take the win over Leo Cleary and Bugsy Stevens. After
two successive rain outs, Waterford got their show in and it was Rick
Donnelly taking the win over Moose Hewitt and Dick Ceravolo. At Shangri-La,
Richie Evans got his 44th win of the season. Jerry Cook finished second with
George Kent, third. At Lancaster it was Maynard Troyer over Roger Treichler
and at Thompson on Sunday, Ronnie Bouchard beat John Rosati. Also on Sunday,
Brian Ross secured twin wins at Monadnock.
Twenty five years ago in 1984,
Waterford ran a special 82-lap open competition event and it was local
favorite Bob Potter beating out Kenny Bouchard for the win. At Stafford on
Friday night, Brian Ross took a popular win over Bugsy Stevens and Charlie
Jarzombek. New Egypt ran a 200 National Championship event that saw George
Kent beat the heat and the competition. Bob Park finished second with Fred
Harbach, third. Spencer also ran on Friday and it was now Winston Cup crew
chief Doug Hewitt taking the win. In Saturday night action it was Mike
McLaughlin taking a 200 lap win over Reggie Ruggiero and Richie Evans at
Riverside. Ruggiero drove a car owned by Mike Grecci who was the crew chief
for Andy Santarre. At Waterford it was Bob Gada Jr. over Bob Potter and at
Islip it was Al Hansen in victory lane. Tony Hirschman beat out Gil Hearne
for a win at Wall Stadium and at Thompson on Sunday, Art Davis was the
winner. In Winston Cup action at Nashville, Geoff Bodine took the pole but
ended up 22nd with a broken rear. Terry LaBonte took the win.
Twenty years ago in 1989, Tom
Tagg was the Friday night SK modified winner at Stafford. At Monadnock they
were still running Modifieds and Reggie Ruggiero took the win. Waterford
rained out on Saturday but on Sunday it cleared as Thompson hosted the
Modifieds. Mike Stefanik won out over Reggie Ruggiero and Doug Hevron.
Ruggiero won the companion SK event.
Fifteen years ago in 1994,
Thompson’s Wednesday show rained out. In Friday night action at Stafford,
Bob Potter held off Mike Paquette. Rick Fuller was the winner of the Pro
Stock 100.Saturday night at Waterford, Scott Spaulding got his first ever
Modified win as he beat out Mike Gada and Jerry Pearl. Riverhead ran a Race
of Champions qualifier, which was won by Tom McCann, and at Riverside, Dan
Avery took the win. The Modified Tour Series was at Loudon. The scheduled
100-lap event was called after 23 laps due to rain. Steve Park was awarded
the win with Reggie Ruggiero second and Ed Flemke Jr., third. In Winston Cup
action at Michigan, Ernie Irvan was severely injured after a cut tire forced
him to crash at high speed into the wall. After a long recovery period,
Irvan survived to race and win again.
Ten years ago, in 1999, Willie
Hardie won the postponed NO-Bull 100 at Stafford. Jerry Marquis finished
second. Ted Christopher won the regular Friday night SK 50 lapper. Earlier
in the day, Christopher qualified on the outside pole for a Grand National
event at Michigan but had his time disallowed because of illegal shocks.
Mike Gada went pole to pole at Waterford on Saturday night to win out over
Ron Yuhas Jr. Riverside and Riverhead rained out. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the
Grand National and Bob Labonte was the Winston Cup winner at Michigan. Last
but not least, Kenny Tremont got his 13th win of the year at Lebanon Valley
as he charged from third to first on the last lap.
Five years ago in 2004, with heavy
hearts the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour headed back to Stafford on
Wednesday after Tom Baldwin had been
laid to rest. Services were held at the Lucia and Orlando Funeral Home in
Patchogue on Long Island. National Speed Sport correspondent Gary London
reported that thousands came to the wake and funeral of the popular Long
Island driver. After only three days off the tour returned to Thompson on
Sunday to continue the event that was halted due to the Tom Baldwin
accident. The infield light poles in turns one and three had been moved
outside the track. The concrete blocks that protected them were also gone.
At Stafford, a fitting tribute was presented in honor of Tom
Baldwin. Video clips of his highlights in Stafford events were shown and on
the parade laps of the main event seventh place starting spot was left open
in his honor. Forty-six modifieds were on hand for the Dodge Dealers 150.
Donnie Lia was the Busch pole sitter. Nevin George drew the pole starting
position and John Blewett III drew the outside pole. Lia drew seventh. Nevin
George took the lead at the start and led through lap 54. John Blewett III
took the lead on a re-start but his position at the point lasted only one
lap as George took it back on lap 56. Todd Szegedy, who didn’t pit for
tires, took the lead on lap 81 when George developed problems and ended up
dropping out with a bad clutch. Szegedy led the remaining laps and crossed
the finish line 1.14 seconds ahead of current series point leader Tony
Hirschman. Eric Beers, Mike Stefanik and Jamie Tomaino rounded out the top
five. Tom Bolles, who lives in nearby Ellington, finished a respectable
sixth, just ahead of leading Rookie candidate Ken Barry. Barry’s teammate
Sean Caisse resigned his ride prior to the event and is looking to pursue a
racing career elsewhere. Rounding out the top ten were Donnie Lia, Chuck
Hossfeld and Doug Coby. Hossfeld's car owner, Bob Garbarino, stated that he
was extremely hurt by recent action taken by Stafford owner Jack Arute. When
Hossfeld quit his Friday night SK Modified ride Arute became enraged as he
felt that Garbarino had cost him one of his top weekly drivers. Arute
instructed his announcing team not to mention Garbarino’s name or his
business, The Mystic River Marina. Garbarino had supported the speedway
since it was initially paved in 1967. Ted Christopher and Reggie Ruggiero,
two of the pre-race favorites, failed to finish. Ruggiero, who started 18th,
dropped out with suspension problems after completing 45 laps. Christopher,
who started 22nd, lasted until lap 52 when he broke an axle. Tony Hirschman
stretched his point lead to 55 over Ed Flemke Jr. Flemke finished on the
lead lap in 13th spot. Flemke was running in third spot on the final lap
when he spun as a result of a tire going flat. Jerry Marquis, who finished a
distant 23rd after completing only 91 laps because of an early tangle with
Ruggiero and Christopher, lost a little ground but still maintained third
spot. Christopher and Lia rounded out the top five.
The NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour returned to Thompson on Sunday
to complete the Bud Racing 150 that had been halted when Tom Baldwin had his
unfortunate accident. Not returning to re-start the event were Bobby Santos
III, Sean Caisse, Ronnie Silk and Ken Wooley. Caisse, who was the Busch Pole
sitter, had announced that he had quit the Art Barry No.21. Prior to the
start of the event speedway announcer Russ Dowd paid an emotional tribute to
the fallen Baldwin, one that left more than one with damp eyes. Ted
Christopher, who was leading when the event was stopped on August 19 when
the field took the green on lap 14. Shortly after Donnie Lia took the lead
on lap 41, John Blewett III developed overheating problems with his Sheba
No.8 and parked it on lap 44. Blewett, by the way, had won the Garden State
Classic at the Wall Township Speedway on Saturday night. At just about the
same time Tom Cravenho parked the Eddie Partridge No. 12 when it developed
an oil leak. Lia led the field until he pitted on lap 81and handed the lead
to Kenny Bouchard as the field completed the fourth of six caution periods.
Bouchard's lead lasted one lap as a determined Tony Hirschman bolted into
the lead on lap 83. Doug Coby posed a potential threat but couldn’t compete
with the former series champion who went on to take the eventual win. Coby
and Eddie Flemke Jr. slugged it out for second spot until five laps remained
and he ran out of gas, stopped and brought out the sixth and final caution.
With a green-white-checkered finish Hirschman out powered Flemke for the
win. Jimmy Kuhn finished a career best third with Ted Christopher fourth and
Rick Fuller, fifth. Rounding out the top twelve on the lead lap were Dave
Etheridge, Jerry Marquis, Eric Beers, Jeff Malave, Jamie Tomaino, Charlie
Pasteryak and Renee Dupuis. Hirschman now leads Flemke by 65 points. Roy
Smith won the Pro Stock event that had also been postponed from
August 19.
In Thursday night Thunder at the Thompson Speedway Kerry Malone won
one for the Tiger. Malone, who was a close friend of Tom Baldwin, won the 75
lap Sunoco Modified event and in victory lane dedicated his win to the
fallen competitor. Jeff Malave ended up in second spot with Todd Ceravolo,
third. Bo Gunning and Kelly McDougal rounded out the top five. Ted
Christopher was a late contender until being spun out by Adam Norton. Norton
was put to the rear for his actions. Christopher recovered to finish seventh
while Norton played it cool to finish ninth. Jeff Zuidema was the Pro Stock
winner. Point leader David Berghman was collected in a wreck while running
third and finished out of the top 10. Other Thursday night winners were
Dennis Botticello in the Late Models, Glenn Boss in the Limited Sportsman
and Todd Henshaw in the Mini Stocks.
Twin 40 lap SK Modified features were on the racing card at Stafford Friday
night. Steve Chowanski went pole to pole to win the opening feature while
Chris Jones won the nightcap after finishing second to Chowanski in the
first event. Chuck Docherty finished second in the opening event and was
followed by Ted Christopher and Todd Owen. Christopher finished second to
Jones who withstood some horrendous pressure. Woody Pitkat finished third
with Frank Ruocco and Todd Owen rounding out the top five. Ryan Posocco, who
had won the Late Model event at Stafford on Wednesday, came back to make it
two for two in Late Model Competition. Vince Gambacorta finished second in
the DARE Stock event and was awarded the win after apparent winner Scott
Hitchcock was disqualified.
Jeff Pearl won his third SK Modified feature at the Waterford
Speedbowl on Saturday night. Pearl had to hold of an overheating Dennis
Gada. Tom Fox finished third. Carl Erickson won the Late Model feature and
Richard Brooks; son of Thompson Speedway Chief Steward Dick Brooks, won the
Mini-Stock feature. Other winners were John Mainetti in the X-modifieds and
James Trenary in the Legends Cars.
John Blewett III won the 100 lap Garden State Classic at the Wall
Township Speedway.
The Nextel Cup Cars and the Busch Racing Series were in Bristol; Tenn. Dale
Earnhardt Jr. scored a clean sweep as he won both events at the ultra-fast
half-mile speedway.
Last year, 2008, The NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour invaded the Thompson Speedway. Rain cancelled
qualifying, which led to a start based on current point standings. All 33
cars on hand started the event.
Point leader Chuck Hossfeld led the opening laps before giving way
to Todd Szegedy. An incident on lap 4 involved Eddie Flemke, Ryan Preece,
Glenn Tyler, Kevin Goodale, Ricky Fuller, and Woody Pitkat. Preece and Tyler
got the worst of it as they both suffered suspension damage. The pack ran
single-file as the laps began to mount. Szegedy continued to lead with
Hossfeld and Ted Christopher. The racing was finally slowed when the second
caution flew on lap 42 for a spin by Jimmy Blewett. Blewett’s mount suffered
from a broken panhard bracket mount. During the early stages of the event
several front runners had encountered problems. After losing the top spot to
Christopher, Szegedy encountered mechanical troubles under an early race
caution necessitating a push to pit road and behind the wall. Szegedy was
able to continue several laps down.
Ronnie Silk, who had worked his way to the second spot, found
himself at the spinning end of a confrontation with Eddie Flemke. The field
was able to miss Silk. Flemke received a penalty to the tail end of the
longest line for his actions. During a caution period at lap 55 a host of
cars headed to pit road for service. When things sorted out, Silk was
leading with Bobby Grigas, who short-pitted, in second. Grigas capitalized
on the restart; moving past Silk and into the lead. Hirschman followed
through. Contact between business partners Flemke and Reggie Ruggiero
necessitated another caution.
Back under green, Grigas continued to lead Hirschman.
Lap-after-lap, Hirschman dogged Grigas. Early leader, Christopher, faltered
while Stefanik was coming on strong. The veteran started to show his prowess
after the century mark; joining Grigas and Hirschman. Silk meanwhile was
fully recovered from his earlier incident to apply pressure to Stefanik. A
bid for the third spot was slowed when Christopher, his tires worn, spun to
bring out the caution. On the lap 112 restart, Hirschman took over the lead
from Grigas with Silk following through in second. Bobby Santos was also
able to motor by and into third. Silk’s march to the front was completed
when he took the lead on lap 116. At lap 120, Christopher was back to
eighth.
Contact between Hossfeld and Stefanik sent the Mystic Missile sliding. Both
drivers were able to continue, barely missing a beat. The eleventh caution
of the event flew; however, for a spin by Wade Cole on the other end of the
speedway.
A handful of green flag laps led to a ruckus that began after
bumper tag near the front of the pack. Hirschman was the aggressor on the
lap 139 restart taking over the lead from Silk. Santos continued to run in
third followed by a hard-charging Christopher. Silk was not done as he raced
his way back by Hirschman and into the lead. The front five ran nose to tail
as they took the white and checkered flags. With two laps remaining, Pitkat
ended up against the turn four wall.
The race went into overtime, with a green, white, checker, single-file
restart at lap 152. An uneventful final two laps gave Silk his third career
win. Hirschman settled for second over Santos and Christopher and Stefanik.
Many tongues were still wagging over the last lap incident at
Stafford between Ryan Preece and Todd Szegedy. Szegedy roughed up Preece to
get the lead as they both apparently over-drove a bit going into the first
turn. When the pair made contact NASCAR Director Chad Little felt that
Preece had deliberately hit Szegedy. After watching a video produced on the
Stafford website it appears that Szegedy was just as much at fault in the
incident. Little, who is getting to be known as the “Invisible Man” made
himself scarce after the call and was unavailable for comment. Preece and
Boehler Racing took a lot of abuse after the event, which was uncalled for.
Thursday night Thunder Racing at Thompson came very close to being washed
out as torrential rain pelted the speedway in mid-afternoon. Keith Rocco
cleaned house in the Sunoco Modifieds. In other Whelen All-American Series
racing, Lady Luck was finally on the side of George Bessette scored his
first Pro Stock feature win of the 2008 season. It was the fifth win for
Late Model ace Jeff Zuidema and Ernie Larose scored a popular win in Limited
Sportsman division. Brian Sullivan took over the ride for his brother Tim in
the family-owned TIS Modified to score the victory in only his second start.
Scott Michalski led his racing family with a Mini Stock feature win.
Rocco looked like he was shot out of a cannon rocketing out from his fifth
starting position to take the lead before the completion of the lap one
restart. The second generation had the entire field covered as he survived
numerous restarts throughout the 30 lap feature. On lap 25, Tom Cravenho
moved to the inside groove to take the lead from Rocco. On lap 27, Rocco
slid to the inside groove to retake his lead. Rocco never looked back as he
ran to the finish in the No. 1 spot. Cravenho settled for second. Todd
Ceravolo was able to take the third position from Danny Cates. Bob Grigas
edged out Kevin Goodale to finish fifth.
The Stafford Motor Speedway fell victim to rain on Friday night.
Ted Christopher led Keith Rocco by 6 points. Curt Brainard sat in third
spot, 78 points behind the leader. Kenny Horton and Woody Pitkat rounded out
the top five. Rocco suffered a setback on August 8 when he was a victim of
overaggressive driving by New Jersey racer Steven Reed. Reed was serving a
one race suspension.
At the Waterford Speedbowl, the shoreline oval enjoyed one of its
biggest crowds in a long time with their Racing Against Cancer Night, which
brought in the International Super Modified Association along with the True
Value Modified Series and the Northeastern Midget Association to compliment
the tracks SK Modifieds. Lou Cicconi scored the 50-lap International Super
Modified Association feature while Chris Pasteryak scored his first
ever-open wheeled Modified win as he won the 100 lap True Value Modified
Series event. Other feature winners were Randy Cabral (Northeastern Midget
Association), and Ron Yuhas Jr. (SK Modifieds).
Opening with a bang, the 50-lap International Super Modified
Association endured a pair of serious crashes before the first lap was
completed. After getting underway, it was Dave Shullick Jr, executing a
daring outside maneuver to snare the lead passing several cars. Out-front
until the nineteenth circuit, Shullick was then overtaken by Mike Ordway Jr.
Cicconi was the leader when the second red-flag occurred on lap forty-eight,
setting the stage for a 2-lap dash for the checkers. Cicconi got the bite on
the restart, prevailing by a comfortable margin over Mike Lichty, Chris
Perley, Mike Ordway Jr., and Bobby Santos III.
Kirk Alexander led until just beyond halfway of the True Value 100
when Chris Pasteryak bolted into the top-spot after a restart. The two
engaged in a see-saw battle for the lead following the numerous cautions
that plagued the second-half of the event, Pasteryak getting the advantage
each time. Shelly Perry pounded the first-turn wall on lap-96, evaporating
the huge lead that Pasteryak had amassed. The final restart saw the popular
second-generation racer again forge-ahead, finishing several lengths ahead
of Alexander and Jeff Malave in scoring his first-ever victory in True Value
Modified Series competition. Completing the top-5 was Dwight Jarvis and Ted
Christopher.
Randy Cabral notched a popular victory in the 25-lap NEMA Midget
feature, his third of 2008 at the Speedbowl. Passing Mike Keeler for the
lead with fourteen remaining, Cabral simply checked-out from the competition
during an extremely fast-moving event that incurred only one caution period.
Following Cabral was Keeler, Joey Payne, Greg Stoehr, and William Wall.
In the evening’s 35-lap SK Modified feature, pole-sitter Shawn Monahan
immediately took the lead before yielding to an outside-move by Ron Yuhas
Jr. with twenty-three circuits remaining. Shortly after, Monahan was
eliminated for the night after the lapped-car of Kevin Orlando jacked-up the
leaders resulting in the first caution. At the green it was again Yuhas,
followed by Dennis Gada and defending champion Ron Janovic Jr. Within a few
laps the caution again waved when Matt Gallo slammed the third-turn barrier
with bone-jarring force. Next to fall victim to the wreckers was
past-champion Todd Ceravolo, punted by Rob Summers after getting
out-of-shape and spinning. Yuhas dominated the closing laps, finishing a
comfortable margin ahead of Janovic, Gada, Doug Coby, and Keith Rocco
Carl Edwards took the lead in the pits, then drove away for his
first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory at Michigan International Speedway in
Brooklyn, Mich. It was his 16th overall series win. The reigning series
champion was trailing fellow Sprint Cup driver Tony Stewart when the leaders
drove onto pit road under a caution flag on lap 93. Edwards, driving a Ford
for Roush Fenway Racing, came out in front and easily led to the end of the
125-lap race on the 2-mile oval. Edwards, who led a race-high 71 laps on the
way to his third Nationwide victory of the season, was nearly 3.5 seconds
ahead of runner-up Brian Vickers before Danny Efland crashed at the start of
the last lap. The race finished under caution. Tony Stewart wound up third,
followed by Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Mike Bliss and 18-year-old rookie Joey
Logano of Middletown. Joe Gibbs Racing got caught in an ugly way Saturday
following the CarFax 250 at Michigan International Speedway. Stewart, making
his last Nationwide start for Gibbs, drove the No. 20, and 18-year-old
rookie Joey Logano was seventh in the No. 18. The two Gibbs Nationwide
Series teams, which have dominated competition in the division this season,
weren't working in the gray area, they weren't bending the rules, they
weren't finding holes in the rulebook, they were caught cheating. NASCAR
inspectors discovered magnets on the gas pedals of the Gibbs No. 18 car and
No. 20 car before the cars were set to be tested on a NASCAR dynamometer,
which measures horsepower. The magnets essentially served as stops, not
allowing the gas pedal to be depressed all the way for the test, which would
have altered the results to show the cars with lower horsepower than they
actually had. It was an action team owner Joe Gibbs said: "Goes against
everything we stand for as an organization."
Joey Logano, who finished seventh in the No. 18 car and Tony
Stewart, who was driving the No. 20 car, were penalized 150 championship
points and place on probation until Dec. 31, 2008. Car owner Joe Gibbs was
also penalized 150 points for each car in the owner’s standings. No. 20 team
crew chief Dave Rogers and No. 18 team crew chief Jason Ratcliff were each
fined $50,000 and indefinitely suspended from NASCAR. Also, from the No. 18
team, car chief Dorian Thorsen engine tuner Michael Johnson and crew member
Toby Bigelow were suspended indefinitely from NASCAR. From the No. 20 team,
car chief Richard Bray and engine tuner Dan Bajek were suspended
indefinitely. NASCAR also put both teams, in their entirety, on probation
until Dec. 31, 2008.
Carl Edwards completed a weekend sweep at Michigan International
Speedway beating NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Kyle Busch off pit road on
their last stops and driving off for his fifth Cup win of the season and
second in the last three races. David Ragan held on to finish third,
followed by Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth.
That’s it for this week from 11 Gardner Drive, Westerly, RI, 02891.
Ring my chimes at 401-596-5467. E Mail smithpe_97_97@yahoo.com.
. All other photos courtesy of Tom Ormsby and
VintageModifieds.com Phil Smith has been a
columnist for Speedway Scene and various
other publications for over 3 decades.
