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11/23/12
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November 23, 2012 |
Thirty
years ago, in 1982, in Winston Cup action at Riverside
California, Darrell Waltrip took the pole and finished third behind winner
Tim Richmond. Third was good enough as Waltrip wrapped up the 1982 Winston
Cup division championship, his second in a row. Ronnie Bouchard finished
sixth.
Twenty five years ago, in 1987,
the Oswego Speedway, the undisputed Super Modified Capitol of the World
announced that they had signed a sanction with NASCAR for four Winston
Modified Tour events in 1988. A year later, those in power at Oswego would
express their feelings that they were not happy with the way NASCAR ran
their programs and would not invite them back again.
Twenty years ago, in 1992,
NASCAR’s Winston Cup division saw the end of one era and the beginning of
another. Richard Petty drove his last race at Atlanta and officially retired
from driving. Rick Wilson was named as his replacement. It was also at
Atlanta that Jeff Gordon made his Winston Cup debut.
Fifteen years ago, in 1997, Joe
Nemechek scored an emotional victory as he won the BGN 300 at Homestead,
Fla., a track that claimed the life of his brother. Randy LaJoie finished
second and sewed up his second divisional title. Ted Christopher ran strong
in the early going but broke an axle and ended up 34th.
Ten years ago in 2002 The Busch
North Series competitors were somewhat in a dither after NASCAR announced
that in 2003, their rules would be combined with those of NASCAR’s Winston
West division. Busch North series competitors will have to replace their
existing 9:1compression motors with 12:1 compression motors. The Winston
West competitors will have to replace their existing Winston Cup type
chassis with the design presently used by the Busch North Series. Each
division will have its own separate race circuit with a grand finale
combination event at season’s end. Called NASCAR’s Elite Division, it has
been said that The Speed Channel is under contract for four years to present
a total of up to 20 events a year of the new combined division. It’s going
to involve a lot more travel and increased expense and hopefully NASCAR will
increase the minimum purse requirements.
Five years ago in 2007, it
appeared that NASCAR was leaning toward using” Spec type” motors in the
Whelen Modifieds. Spec motors are designed, built and sealed by a NASCAR
approved engine builder. Their purpose was to lower the cost and increase
the longevity of engines currently in use. A top running, professionally
built Tour type engine ranges from $40-55,000. A top running team needs at
least three of them. It was NASCAR’s intent to phase the new engines into
the Modified series at some point and hopefully the sanctioning body would
allow competitors time to use up or sell existing equipment. Gary Danko's
Speedway Line Report reported that the No. 2 team of Todd Szegedy had a spec
motor installed in one of their cars. Szegedy ran tests at the Concord
Motorsports Park with the Spec motor car and a Ford powered car. Weather
permitting, additional testing would take place at the Stafford Motor
Speedway on Friday Nov 30 and Saturday, Dec 1. Mike Stefanik was slated to
drive one of the cars at the Stafford test session.
The Wall Township Speedway located on the New Jersey shore
officially closed out the 2007 racing season with Turkey Derby XXXIV. Since
1974, the Thanksgiving classic had played out in just about every kind of
weather including near blizzard conditions. This year those who jam packed
the grandstands got to enjoy near 40 degree temperatures. Twenty six
Modifieds were on hand. Southern invader Burt Myers was the top qualifier. A
re-draw of the top qualifiers saw Reggie Ruggiero picking the pole starting
position and Jimmy Blewett picking the outside pole. James Civali pulled
third with Pete Brittain picking fourth. In what should have been an epic
battle between the seasoned veteran and the young challenger never developed
as Ruggerio and Blewett tangled before one lap was completed which handed
the race to Civali. Ruggiero parked it for the day. Blewett was able to
rejoin the fray and actually made it up to second spot when the checkered
flag flew.
Attrition was high as only ten cars were running at the finish. Tony
Ferrante finished third with Rowan Pennick and Earl Paules rounding out the
top five. Sixth through tenth were Tim Arre, Brian Cramner, Danny Sammons,
Billy Pauch JR and Matt Hirschman. Ruggiero was credited with the 27th
finishing position. Justin Gumley was the winner of the SKtype 100 lapper.
In other weekend racing action Bobby Santos, III, won the USAC
Sprint Car Grand Prix at the Irwindale Speedway in Calif.! Santos defeated a
strong group of west coast and Canadian midget drivers in this annual
classic. A Toyota engine similar to the one in NASCAR’s Busch and Craftsman
Truck Series powered Bobby’s car. Other reports reveal that Santos' driver
development deal with Bill Davis Racing had come to an end. However, the
word is that another deep pocket team would sign the local driver to an even
better contract in the near future.
The Stafford Motor Speedway announced their 2008 schedule. The
Nutmeg oval, under the management of the Arute family would again showcase
the track's SK Modified and Late Model divisions in two extra distance
events as well as four Whelen Modified Tour events. Stafford would host a
total of 23 racing events, with the 2008 NASCAR season kicking off with the
37th Annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler presented by CARQUEST April 25-27, and
concluding with the 36th annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend on September
26-28.
Last year, 2011, Tony Stewart
used a powerful and relentless drive, some might suggest the best in NASCAR
history, on Sunday in the season finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway to
seize his third NASCAR championship. He overcame a hole in the grill of his
Chevrolet, a rain delay, used debatable fuel strategy and made 118 passes on
the track to win. Edwards, who started the race with a three-point lead in
the standings, did everything he could from the minute he arrived in
Florida. His Roush-Fenway Racing team put his Ford on the pole, he led a
race-high 119 of the 267 laps and still finished a helpless second.
The two actually ended up tied in the final standings, a NASCAR
first, but Stewart won the title based on his five victories, all in the
10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup championship to Edwards’ one.
Stewart became the first owner/driver to win the championship since
the late Alan Kulwicki in 1992, and the driver to end Jimmie Johnson’s
record five-year title run. His last title was in 2005, the year before
Johnson’s began his reign.
Ricky Stenhouse won the Nationwide Series title long before the
checkered flag dropped at the season finale Saturday. He clinched his first
championship about 30 laps into the 200-lap race, securing the title when
six cars officially dropped out of the 300-mile event at Homestead-Miami
Speedway. Stenhouse was running fourth when NASCAR officials announced he
had wrapped up the title. He finished second behind Brad Keselowski. Carl
Edwards was third, followed by Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and Elliott
Sadler.
With the 2011 Stafford Motor Speedway NASCAR Racing season in the
history books the Arute family and their staff hosted the 42nd Annual
Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony at the La Renaissance
Banquet Facility in East Windsor this past Friday. In addition to crowning
their division champions the speedway released their schedule for 2012.
Guests of honor were Ryan Preece, Ryan Posocco, Matt Galko, Kevin
Gambacorta, and Don Wood as the 2011 Stafford Motor Speedway NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series track champions. Also honored were 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.
Receiving awards for Most Improved Driver were Michael Gervais, Jr.
in the SK Modified® division, Patrick Townsend in the Late Model division,
Steve Greer in the SK Light division, and Duane Provost in the Limited Late
Model division. The Reliable Welding & Speed Rookie of the Year awards were
presented by Brad and Linda Hietala of Reliable Welding and Speed to Heather
DesRochers from the SK Modified® division, Peter Thickett from the Late
Model division, Cody Gneiting from the SK Light division, and D.J. Burnham
from the Limited Late Model division. The awards will be worth a $700.00
bonus to DesRochers, and $500.00 bonuses to Thickett, Gneiting, and Burnham
from Reliable Welding and Speed.
The winners of the Most Popular Driver Awards were Woody Pitkat in
the SK Modified® and Late Model divisions, Joey Cipriano from the SK Light
division, Cory Casagrande from the Limited Late Model division, and David
Arute from the DARE Stock division. The Craftsman Mechanic of the Year Award
was awarded to Rick Casagrande. Casagrande prepared and maintained cars for
his two sons, Cory and Kyle Casagrande. Cory won three races and narrowly
missed out on winning Rookie of the Year honors in the Limited Late Model
division, while Kyle tied for the DARE Stock division lead with 5 feature
wins.
Congratulations were in order for Modified racing pioneers Moe
Gherzi, Jerry Humiston and Roland Lapierre, Sr. who were selected by the
Veterans Committee of the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame. The trio
would be inducted along with drivers Reggie Ruggiero and Joey Kourafas,
owner/mechanics Mario Fiore and Jim Jorgensen and track operators/promoters
Irene Venditti and Donald Hoenig at the 15th annual Hall of Fame Banquet on
Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 at the LaRenaissance Banquet Hall in East Windsor, CT.
Racing scribe Lou Modestino reported that New England racing
history would be featured in the new state-of-the-art Northeast Motorsports
Museum at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Racing History Preservation
Group and “The Magic Mile” announced the beginning of fund raising efforts
to create a 20,000-square-foot motorsports museum on Rt. 106 in Loudon, N.H.
The announcement was made by Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and
general manager of the speedway, RHPG president Dick Berggren and New
England fan favorite and former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ricky
Craven.
The Board was filled with New England racing greats including Ricky
Craven, Ron Bouchard, Lew Boyd, Russ Conway, Andy Cusack, Ken Smith, Ed Shea,
Joe Lombardo, Ric Mariscal, Skip Matczak, R.A. Silvia, George Summers and
Pete von Sneidern.
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
George Summers
Ron Bouchard
Jerry Humiston
Moe Gherzi
Roland LaPierre Sr
Reggie Ruggiero
Looking Back Archive
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Source: Phil
Smith / Looking Back A Bit
Posted: November
23, 2012 |
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