Forty years ago in 1969, Martinsville
finally got to run the annual Cardinal 500.Ray Hendrick in the famous Tant/Mitchell
No.11 picked up his 31st win of the season. Bugsy Stevens finished second
and put himself in the NASCAR record book as the first three time NASCAR
National Modified Champion. Perk Brown finished third and was followed by
Jerry Cook, Leo Cleary, Billy Hensley, Richie Evans, Bernie Miller, Don
Diffendorf and Don Miller. The final Modified standings showed Stevens the
champion. Rounding out the top ten were Cook, Bobby Santos, Jimmy Hensley,
Fred DeSarro, Billy Hensley, Don Miller, Lou Lazzaro and Ray Hendrick.
Thirty five years ago in 1974, the 1975 season began on Nov 10,1974.The
Modifieds ran at the then paved Metrolina Fairgrounds Speedway in North
Carolina. Harry Gant in the William Mason No.45 took the win over Jerry
Cook, John Bryant and Bugsy Stevens.
Thirty years ago in 1979, Shangri-La closed out their season with George
Kent, driving the Cal Smalles No.41 taking the win. Richie Evans finished
second and was followed by Jerry Cook and Doug Hewitt. Waterford closed out
their season with a 100-lap open competition event, which saw John Rosati
take the win after losing a lap in the early going because of a flat tire.
Rosati made up his lap and passed Rick Donnelly for the lead and eventual
win with ten laps to go. Donnelly finished second and was followed by Dick
Dunn, Ronnie Rocco, Bob Potter and Dickie Doo Ceravolo.
Twenty five years ago in 1984, there was no racing but the Arute family had
announced that they had entered into a lease with Harvey Tattersall for the
Waterford Speedbowl for 1985. Racing at Waterford would be under the NASCAR
banner.
Twenty years ago in 1989, with a new grandstand in place, Thompson got to
run the World Series. Doug Hevron won the 75 lap modified portion. Mike
McLaughlin finished second and was followed by Rick Fuller, Mike Stefanik
and Reggie Ruggiero. Bob Potter was the SK type winner.
Fifteen years ago in 1994, Barefoot Bob
McCreadie annexed his 46th win of the
DIRT season as he won the Eastern States 200 at Middletown, N.Y.
Ten years ago, in 1999, Speedway Motorsports announced that third quarter
earnings were $6million less than expected. The stock market had a negative
impact as 3.2 million shares were traded in one day, which caused the stock
to drop from 45-15/16 to 28-1/2.
Five years ago in 2004, a good number of the northeastern modified teams
headed south to Concord, North Carolina for the 2nd Annual North vs. South
Shootout. Forty-five modified teams were on hand. The top five in time
trials were John Blewett III, Eric Beers, Nevin George, Fred Query and Ed
Flemke Jr. Qualifying heat winners were Donnie Lia, Ron Silk and Jerry
Marquis. Consolation winners were Reggie Ruggiero and Jim Willis. The
northern modified contingent led by Donnie Lia took nine of the top ten
finishing spots in the 100 lap Shoot-out. Eric Beers took the lead at the
start. Southern competitor Jay Foley triggered a massive wreck on lap two
that eliminated ten cars including Reggie Ruggiero and Jim Broderick.
Caution laps didn’t count as Beers led the restart on lap three. John
Blewett III powered by and led from lap 4 to 53. A caution for debris was
thrown on lap 53 with just about all lead lap cars making a mandatory pit
stop. Jerry Marquis
elected to short pit while just about everyone else took on right side
tires. Marquis led the pack out of the pit area and once the green dropped,
Marquis kept the legendary Ole Blu in the lead. The lack of new tires bit
him as Lia took the lead on lap 86 and led the final 14 laps to victory.
With less than ten laps to go Marquis spun from his fourth position and
ended up 11th. Eric Beers ended up finishing in second spot with Nevin
George, third. Bob Santos III turned in another fine run as he finished
fourth. Rounding out the top five was the 2003 winner John Blewett III.
Eddie Flemke Jr. finished sixth with Doug Coby in the Mansfield CT based
entry, seventh. Rounding out the top ten were Ron Silk, Freddie Query and
Lisbon Connecticut paving contractor Charlie Pasteryak. Marquis slipped to
11th in the final rundown. Pre race favorite Ted Christopher had a top five
car until sidelined with broken rear end gears on lap 82.
Sad news came from Michael Boehler, President of Boehler Racing. Jimmy
Fournier, Chief Mechanic and Tire Changer for Boehler Racing passed away on
Monday, November 1. Jimmy was a trusted and loyal member of Boehler Racing
since the early 1970’s. Lenny now has his main man with him!
Joyce and Dick Ceravolo of Groton, Ct, owners of the Team 31 SK Modified,
hosted a victory party in recognition of their Sunoco Modified Track
Championship at the Thompson Speedway in 2004. Guests of honor included
driver Todd Ceravolo, crew chief Rick Ceravolo and their pit crew along with
their wives and friends. Started by Dick Ceravolo in 1969, Team 31 had been
responsible for six track championships, three at Waterford and three at
Thompson.
The Nextel Cup and the Busch Racing Series divisions of NASCAR were in
Phoenix, Arizona. Jamie McMurray was the Busch Series winner and Dale
Earnhardt Jr. pulled out the win in the Nextel Cup
George Bush defeated John Kerry for the President of our country.
Last year, 2008, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series settled into a long
winter’s sleep with the exception of the upcoming Banquet of Champions,
which would be held at the Mohegan Sun Casino on Saturday, September 13.
The weekly stars of NASCAR headed for Las Vegas for the 27th annual NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series awards banquet at the Rio Hotel. NASCAR, series
sponsor Whelen Engineering and track operators gathered to honor national
champion Philip Morris, plus U.S. state, Canadian provincial, and track
champions from throughout North America.
Morris, of Ruckersville, Va., made history, becoming only the second driver
to win the title more than once. Morris, the champion also in 2006, joined
five-time champion Larry Phillips in the series’ very elite category.
Morris, who raced at the Motor Mile Speedway in Virginia entered 28 events
and scored 14 victories. Including the wins he had 23 top fives. Finishing
second was Brian Harris who raced at the West Liberty Raceway in Iowa.
Harris had 35 top fives in 38 starts including 20 wins. Third is Marty Ward
who raced at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina. Ward
recorded 22 top fives in 24 starts including 13 wins. Fourth was New
England’s own, Keith Rocco who raced at Stafford, Waterford and Thompson.
Rocco entered 49 events and scored 32 top fives including 11 wins. Rocco
drove for three different car owners. Rounding out the top five was Jeff
Strunk who raced at the Grandview Speedway in Pennsylvania. Strunk ran in
only 20 events but made the best of it as he had 19 top fives which included
four wins.
NASCAR also honored their state champions. Rocco, who made his Whelen
Modified Tour debut at the 2008 World Series at Thompson took top honors as
the Connecticut State Champion. Rocco was also the 2008 SK Modified Champion
at the Stafford Motor Speedway. Woody Pitkat, who, like Rocco raced at all
three tracks, finished second. Pitkat entered 29 events and recorded 13 top
fives, which included six wins. Jimmy Blewett, with 12 top fives in 25
starts, finished third. Blewett raced at Thompson and Stafford. Doug Coby,
who also raced at all three tracks, finished fourth. Dennis Gada who won a
record seventh Modified Track Championship at the Waterford Speedbowl,
rounded out the top five. Gada, who raced only at Waterford, scored 13 top
fives in 21 starts which included three wins. Sixth through tenth in the
final NASCAR State standings are Rob Janovic from the Waterford Speedbowl,
Todd Ceravolo from the Thompson Speedway, Jeffrey Paul from Waterford, Ted
Christopher from the Stafford Motor Speedway and Tyler Chadwick from the
Waterford Speedbowl.
At the Waterford Speedbowl the word had it that Jerry Robinson’s lease of
the shoreline oval was up as of November 1. According to reports Mr.
Robinson had removed himself and his belongings from the facility. In the
mean time competitors who raced in the season ending Fall Finale had not
been paid.
In NASCAR Sprint Cup action, Carl Edwards won for the second straight week,
squeezing a victory out of his last tank of gas. The combination of the win
by Edwards and a 15th-place finish by Jimmie Johnson in the Dickies 500 at
Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth left Edwards 106 points behind NASCAR
Sprint Cup points leader Johnson with two races remaining. Edwards dominated
most of the race, leading 199 of the first 264 laps on the 1 1/2-mile oval.
Edwards, who inherited the lead when Greg Biffle pitted with 13 laps
remaining, beat runner-up Jeff Gordon by more than 8 seconds still had
enough gas left to do a couple of victory doughnuts. Edwards went the final
103.5 miles on his last fill-up.
Kyle Busch won the O'Reilly Challenge Nationwide event at Texas Motor
Speedway to capture his 10th win of the season, tying him with Sam Ard for
the most wins in a season in the series, and giving Joe Gibbs Racing it's
19th win of the year. Carl Edwards finished second followed by Mark Martin,
Joey Logano, and David Ragan. The race was slowed by 5 cautions for 20 laps
and there were 4 lead changes among 10 leaders.
On November 4 Barak Obama became the first African-American to be elected as
the President of the United States.
That’s it for this week from 11 Gardner Drive, Westerly RI 02891. Ring my
chimes at 401-596-5467. E-Mail is:
smithpe_97_97@yahoo.com
This week are several vintage racing
photos from
the collection of the late Danny Pardi, courtesy of
SpeedwayLineReport.com &
VintageModifieds.com.
John Bergenty
Stub Fadden
John Falconi
Jeff
Fuller
Lou Funk, Jr.
Hank Stevens
.
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.
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