|
12/02/11
|
December 2, 2011 |
Forty
years ago in 1971, some of those in competition were Bobby Santos
in the Joe Brady No.41, Denis Giroux in the Emmerick Associates No.50, Bob
Karvonen in his own No.99, Ray Miller in his No.7, Don Flynn in his own
No.25, Hank Stevens in the Freddy's TV No.23, Ernie Gahan, Moose Hewitt in
the Bob Johnson No.17, Bugsy Stevens in the Sonny Koszela Woodchopper
Spl,No.15,Fred DeSarro in Len Boehlers Ole Blu,No.3,Gene Bergin, Ed
Yerrington, Leo Cleary in the Mystic Missile, Jerry Cook, Richie Gomes, Lou
Austin, Dave O'Neil, Billy and Freddie Schulz, Ralph "Hop" Harrington in the
Dick Armstrong No.1,Billy Harman in the Ted Marsh No.55,Bernie Miller, Tony
Russo, Winston Barrows, Moe Gherzi, Ronnie Shawn, Roland LaPierre Sr, Ernie
Caruso, Lou Toro, Ray Sitterly, Rene Charland, Ray Hendrick in the Tant/Mitchell
No.11,Eddie Flemke in the Art Barry No.09,Roger Treichler, Dutch Hoag, Eddie
Pieniezak, Jean Guy Chartrand in the Hemi-Cuda No.69,Max Berrier, Billy and
Jimmy Hensley, Mike Loescher, Paul Radford, Satch Worley, Bill Henry, Hank
Thomas, Dick Fowler, Jim Hendrickson, Andy Romano, Phil Libby, Tom Sutcliff,
Gary Winters, Wayne Anderson, Bill Scrivner, Dave Lape, Glynn Shafer, Bobby
Vee, Daring Dick Caso in the Simons Excavator No.9,Booker T Jones, Mark
Zimmerman, Bob Melnick, Lou Hennessy, Bob Potter, Dick Watson, Ron Wycoff,
Jerry Glaude, Don Bunnell, Fred "Fuzzy" Baer, Angie Cerese, Jack Lecuyer,
Dale Holdredge, Artie Moran, Dick Dunn in the Al Gaudreau No.3,Walt
Dombrowski, Jiggs Beetham, Gordon Page, Dynamite Ollie Silva, Don Kibbe,
Bobby Turner, Joe Tiezzi, Bob Holmberg, George Delmar, Dale Holdredge, Jerry
Dostie, Tom Baldwin, Frank Faria, Ed Patnoad, Bill Park, Paul Mancarella,
Lou Lazzaro, Geoff Bodine, Charlie Jarzombek, Dave Nichols, Richie Evans, Al
DeAngelo, Chuck Boos, Frank Curtis, Stub Fadden, George Wagner, Maynard
Troyer, Clayton Sonney Seamon, Joe Trudeau, Seabury Tripler, Marvin Chase,
George Murray, Don Dionne, Terry Peabody, Ed Hoyle, Mark Geer, Leo Hill,
Mike Beebe, Dave Humphrey, Ronnie Bouchard, Jon Astle, Billy Clarke, Norm
Holden, George Summers, Jap Membrino, Johnny Thompson, Merv Treichler, Dave
Kotary, Billy Greco, Roger Hill, Nolan Swift, Eddie West, Big Don McClaren
and Mario"Fats"Caruso.
Thirty-five years ago in 1976
Fred DeSarro and the mighty No.3 of Len Boehler were the track champions at
Stafford and at Thompson. Bobby Santos, the original, was driving for Joe
Brady and took the Westboro Speedway title. Geoff Bodine, in the Dick
Armstrong No.1 was the Yankee All Star League champion while Bob Potter took
the title at Waterford. Punky Caron was the “Up Country” kingpin as he won
titles at Monadnock and at Claremont. On Long Island there was still three
nights of racing. Fred Harbach took the Islip Speedway championship while
Chargin Charlie Jarzombek took the titles at Freeport and at Riverhead.
Harbach was also the track champion at New Egypt in New Jersey. Jerry Cook
was the NASCAR Modified champion but had no track titles to his credit in
his native New York state. Richie Evans was the champion at the Spencer
Speedway. Maynard Troyer took the title at Lancaster and Sonny Seamon at
Shangri-La. George Kent took the championship at Fulton and Will Cagle was
the Schaeffer Series champion as well as the champion at Rolling Wheels. Jim
Shampine was the King of the Supers at Oswego and Dan Bridges was the Late
Model champion at Plattsburg. Bob Polverari was the Champion at Riverside
Park and Jim Hendrickson in the Ferrente x-3 was the man at Wall Stadium.
Thirty years ago in 1981 Richie
Evans had a big year. In addition to the NASCAR National Modified
championship he won track championships at New Smyrna, Stafford and
Thompson. George “Moose” Hewitt was the Modified Champion with Harry Rice
taking the title in the Super stocks. Rit Patchen was the Danbury champ and
Wayne Anderson was champion at Islip. Jerry Marquis was the Sportsman champ
at Stafford. Pat Chambrello was the Street Stock titleholder. Punky Caron
was the Monadnock champion while Jeff Fuller took the top spot at Westboro.
Bugsy Stevens was the Modified Champion at Seekonk and Stash Gregger was the
champ at Riverside. George Kent was the top dog at Spencer and at Shangri-La
while Roger Treichler took the top spot at Lancaster. Doug Hevron was the
Champion at Oswego wile John Blewett Jr won the title at New Egypt. Mike
Weeden was the track champion at Lee. Darrell Waltrip was the Winston Cup
champion and Ronnie Bouchard was awarded Rookie of the Year. Tommy Ellis was
the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman champion.
Twenty five years ago in 1986
Reggie Ruggiero, driving the Mario Fiore No.44 won the New Smyrna Modified
Championship. Wayne Anderson won the title at New Egypt while Tom Mauser won
it at Wall. Bob Potter won another Modified Championship at Waterford. Brian
McCarthy was the Super Stock champ. Mike Stefanik ended being the last
Modified Champion at Stafford as the Mods were thrown out in favor of the SK
Modifieds. Wayne Dion was the SK Modified champion and Scott Poirier, the
Street Stock titleholder. Dion was also the SK Modified champion at
Thompson. Spencer Speedway in New York also dropped the Modifieds after Jan
Leaty won the Modified title. George Kent won the title at Shangri-La and
second-generation driver Ken Troyer won it at Lancaster. John Rosati won the
Modified Championship at Riverside Park. Hs younger brother Tom won the Pro
Stock title. John Blewett Jr was the Champion at Riverhead. At Oswego, Brian
Ross won the Modified title while Bentley Warren won the Supermodified
Championship. Jimmy Spencer was the NASCAR Modified Series champion and
second generation driver Larry Pearson won the Late Model Sportsman title.
Dale Earnhardt Sr was the Winston Cup Champ.
Twenty years ago in 1991 Mike
Ewanitsko was the Modified Champion at New Smyrna. Jerry Marquis had a big
year driving for Bob Judkins as he won track championships at Monadnock and
Riverside Park as well as the NASCAR Northeast Regional Championship. Wayne
Anderson won the Riverhead championship and Lee Sherwood won the Modified
Championship at Shangri-La. Champions at Stafford were Bob Potter in the SK
Modifieds and Chuck Zantarski in the Late Models. At Waterford it was Ricky
Young in the SKs, Phil Rondeau in the Late Models and Mike Holdredge in the
Strictly Stocks. Mike Christopher was the SK Modified champion at Thompson.
Mike Stefanik was the NASCAR Modified Tour Series champion and Ricky Cravens
was the Busch North Series champ. Taking Rookie of the Year honors was Tony
Hirschman. Bobby Labonte was the Busch Grandnational Champion and Dale
Earnhardt Sr was the Winston Cup champ.
Fifteen years ago in 1996,
Tiger Tom Baldwin was the New Smyrna Modified champion. Doug Didero made it
three in a row at Oswego while Ted Christopher annexed Stafford in the SK
Modifieds. At Riverside Park, Dave Berube took top honors in the Modifieds
while Eddy Carrol took the Pro Stock title. Dick Houlihan won the Pro Stock
championship at Thompson and Chuck Steuer was the Modified champion at
Riverhead. At Waterford Jimmy Broderick won the Modified title and John
Brouwer took top honors in the Late Models. Dave Dion was the Busch North
Series champion and Randy Lajoie made it two in a row in the Busch
Grandnational division. Sege Fidenza won his sixth championship at Lancaster
and Tony Hirschman won the NASCAR Modified Tour Series title. The big news
of the week was that Winston Cup crew chief Larry McReynolds left the Robert
Yates No.28 for the Richard Childress No.3.
Ten years ago in 2001 the track
champions were Ted Christopher at New Smyrna and in the SK Modifieds at
Stafford. Christopher was also the NASCAR New England Regional Champion and
the NASCAR National Champion, a title that was worth $160,000. Punky Caron
was the Pro Stock Champion at Claremont and John Fortin was the Modified
Champion at the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island. Dennis Gada was the SK
Modified Champion at Waterford while Bert Marvin was the Sunoco Modified
Champ at Thompson. Mike Olsen was the Busch North Series Champion and Mike
Stefanik won his fifth Featherlite Modified Title. Art Barry was the
Champion Car owner. Jimmy Blewett took the title at the Wall Stadium and
Eric Beers was the Champion at Pocono Mountain Speedway. Brett Hearn became
the MR DIRT titleholder for the fourth time. Jeff Gordon took the Winston
Cup title for the fourth time in nine years while Kevin Harvick took the
Busch Series title.
Five years ago in 2006,
NASCAR’s elite were in New York City where Jimmie Johnson was crowned the
2006 Nextel Cup Champion. He became the 28th driver to win the championship
on NASCAR’s premier series, winning the championship by 56 points over Matt
Kenseth. He collected a point fund award of $6,785,982, bringing his 2006
season total winnings to $15,770,125 – a new single season winnings record.
NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter was
honored with the Buddy Shuman Award, presented at the National Motorsports
Press Association's Myers Brothers luncheon on Thursday. The award is
presented annually by NASCAR in recognition of an individual who has made a
significant contribution to the growth of Cup Series racing. Louis Grier
"Buddy" Shuman was a pioneer NASCAR Grand National driver and tough
competitor who was well respected by his peers. He died in a hotel fire in
1955. NASCAR established the Buddy Shuman Award in 1957 to recognize
outstanding contributions to NASCAR racing. Also honored was Benny Parsons,
NASCAR's 1973 Cup champion and a veteran broadcaster who was named the 2006
recipient of the National Motorsports Press Association's Myers Brothers
Award. The award, named in honor of former NASCAR competitors Billy and
Bobby Myers, was presented today during the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers
Awards Luncheon in New York. Parsons is the 47th recipient of the award.
Parsons, who had 21 wins in 526 starts between 1964 and 1988, has more
recently been a member of NBC/TNT's race broadcast team for the NASCAR
Nextel Cup. Parsons, 65, underwent treatment for lung cancer earlier this
year.
Last year, The Stafford Motor
Speedway welcomed a guest list of nearly 500 people consisting of teams,
drivers, sponsors, and employees on Friday night, November 19 at the La
Renaissance Banquet Facility in East Windsor to officially honor Keith
Rocco, Ryan Posocco, Matt Galko, Dan Flannery, and Tony Membrino, Jr. as the
2010 Stafford Motor Speedway NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track
champions.
With Stafford Motor Speedway broadcasters Matt Buckler and Joe Coss
serving as the Masters of Ceremony, the 41st annual Stafford Motor Speedway
NASCAR Champions Awards Ceremony not only honored the five track champions,
it also honored the top-20 points finishers from the SK Modified®, Late
Model, SK Light, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions. Other awards
that were presented during the evening's festivities were Most Popular
Driver Awards, Most Improved Driver Awards, Reliable Welding & Speed Rookie
of the Year awards, and the Craftsman Mechanic of the Year Award.
The race for the 2010 SK Modified® championship began and ended
with Keith Rocco in victory lane. In between his season opening CARQUEST
Tech-Net Spring Sizzler and CARQUEST Fall Final feature victories this
season were 8 more feature wins to give Rocco a Stafford SK Modified® record
10 wins. In 20 starts this season, Rocco collected 16 top-5, and 19 top-10
finishes along with his 10 wins for an amazing average finish of 3.4, which
allowed him to win the championship by a whopping 138-point margin over
Woody Pitkat. Rocco also finished in 7th place in the Late Model points
standings this season with one victory.
The 2010 Late Model championship chase saw Ryan Posocco complete
the "Drive for Five" as he collected his record fifth Late Model track
championship at Stafford. The points race was a tight race all season long
between Posocco, Woody Pitkat, and Dillon Moltz, which ended up coming down
to the last race with Posocco and Pitkat separated by only 6 points as Moltz
faded from contention. Pitkat ended up winning the CARQUEST Fall Final
feature event for his division leading 8th win of the season, but Posocco
finished third, which was enough to give him the championship by the
smallest of margins, 2 points. In addition to locking down his fifth track
championship, it was also a season of milestones for Posocco at Stafford as
he surpassed 40 career Late Model feature race and he reached 50 career
victories at Stafford with 43 Late Model wins and 7 DARE Stock wins. Posocco
posted 4 wins, 13 top-5 and 19 top-10 finishes 20 starts this season.
In the SK Light Modified division, a rookie driver claimed the
championship for the second consecutive season. Matt Galko took over the
points lead midway through the season and looked to be heading comfortably
towards the championship. But Tommy Barrett, Jr. was in the middle of a
white hot winning streak, winning 8 of 9 races, while Galko finished 13th or
worse 3 times in four races leading up to the CARQUEST Fall Final, putting
Galko 6 points behind Barrett for the final race of the season. But Barrett
encountered trouble in the opening laps of the race while Galko went on to
win the race and the track championship. Galko posted 4 wins, 13 top-5, and
16 top-10 finishes in 21 starts to win the championship by 32 points over
Barrett.
One year after a flat tire eliminated him from championship
contention, Dan Flannery returned strong to the Limited Late Model division
and took the championship with a division leading 6 feature victories.
Although Flannery led the division in wins, he had to contend with Dave
Yardley, III as well as defending track champion Andrew Durand in the chase
for the championship. Heading into the final race of the year, Flannery and
Yardley were separated by only 6 points. But like Galko, Flannery won the
final race to take the championship in grand style by 12 points over
Yardley. Along with his 6 wins, Flannery also led the division with 15 top-5
and 19 top-10 finishes.
Just as the SK Light Modified division had a rookie driver win the
championship for the second consecutive season, the DARE Stock division had
the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler feature winner win the championship for
the third consecutive season. Tony Membrino, Jr. matched the feat that was
turned by Norm Sears in 2008 and Don Wood last year. Membrino enjoyed a
remarkable season, finishing no lower than seventh place all year long and
he took the championship by a 42 point margin over Jeff Jolly. Membrino
posted 1 win, 16 top-5, and 21 top-10 finishes in 21 starts this sason.
Receiving awards for Most Improved Driver were Zach Sylvester in
the SK Modified® division, Adam Gray in the Late Model division, Erica
Santos in the SK Light division, and Michael Wray in the Limited Late Model
division. The Most Improved Driver award is given to a driver who exhibits
the greatest degree of improvement in on-track performance over the past
season. Nominees are selected and voted upon by a committee of select
Stafford Motor Speedway management and track officials.
The Reliable Welding & Speed Rookie of the Year awards were
presented by Brad and Linda Hietala of Reliable Welding and Speed to Josh
Sylvester from the SK Modified® division, Tim Fogg from the Late Model
division, Matt Galko from the SK Light division, and Duane Provost from the
Limited Late Model division. The awards will be worth a $700.00 bonus to
Sylvester, and $500.00 bonuses to Fogg, Galko, and Provost from Reliable
Welding and Speed. Each Rookie of the Year bonus will be paid out in $100.00
weekly increments to each driver as they attend events during the 2011
season.
The winners of the Most Popular Driver Awards were Woody Pitkat in
the SK Modified® and Late Model divisions, Erica Santos from the SK Light
division, Andrew Durand from the Limited Late Model division, and Cory
Casagrande from the DARE Stock division. The Most Popular Driver Awards are
voted on by the fans who attend Stafford Motor Speedway race events and fill
out the ballots found weekly in the track's PitStopper Magazine.
The Craftsman Mechanic of the Year Award was awarded to Stephen
Butova. Butova prepared and maintained Frank Ruocco's SK Modified® machine
that visited CARQUEST Victory Lane 4 times this season, including the
prestigious CARQUEST SK 150. The Craftsman Mechanic of the Year Award is
voted on by Stafford crew members who possess a valid 2010 NASCAR License..
That’s about it for this week from 11 Gardner Drive, Westerly, and
R.I.02891. Ring my chimes at 401-596-5467.
E-mail:
smithpe_97_97@yahoo.com.
Phil Smith has been a
columnist for Speedway Scene and various
other publications for over 3 decades.
This week are several vintage racing photos
Courtesy of
SpeedwayLineReport.com & Dave Dyke's
RacingThroughTime.com
Click on Photo for Full Sized
Don Flynn
Bill Harman
Bobby Vee
Lou Austin
Bob Potter
Leo Cleary
Looking Back Archive
.
|
|
Source: Phil
Smith / Looking Back A Bit
Posted: December
2, 2011 |
|
|
