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06/21/13
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June 21, 2013 |
Sixty years ago in
1953, Joe McNulty was the Wednesday night Sportsman winner at the
New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Don Collins won at the shoreline oval on
Saturday night. Tom VanEpps took top honors in the non-Ford division on both
nights.
Fifty five years ago in 1958
rain prevailed at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Wednesday night. On
Saturday night at the CT shoreline oval Dick Beauregard took the Modified
win and Hank Stevens took the top spot in the non-Fords.
Fifty years ago in 1963 Pete
Corey and Kenny Shoemaker scored wins on the dirt at Stafford. Ken Meahl won
a 60 lap NASCAR Sportsman feature at the Utica- Rome Speedway. Cam Gagliardi
finished second with Lou Lazzaro, third. Ed Ortiz and Bill Wimble rounded
out the top five. Ted Stack was the 25 lap Modified winner at the New
London-Waterford Speedbowl. Bill Scrivener was the Bomber winner. Steady
Eddie Flemke, on his way home after a southern swing with the famed Eastern
Bandits capped off his weekend with a 200 lap win at the Old Bridge Speedway
in New Jersey on Sunday. Wall Stadium, on the Jersey shore, saw Don Stives
take the win.
Forty five years ago in 1968,
rain washed out racing at Stafford and Malta on Friday night. Rain also
washed out Fonda on Saturday night. The sky cleared at Norwood where Mr. Leo
Cleary took the win. Joe Krukowski won at Islip and Don Flynn won at
Riverside Park. It was also clear at Waterford where Don Collins scored a 50
lap win. Rick Taylor was the Late Model Daredevil winner. Thompson cancelled
the races on Sunday. Utica-Rome ran a 100 lapper with Andy Romano taking the
win over Jerry. Cook, Richie Evans, Dave Kotary and Ron Narducci. Sam Reakes
won at Fulton. Don Diffendorf won at the Spencer Speedway.
Forty years ago in 1973, Fred
DeSarro started the weekend off with a win at Malta on Friday night. Bugsy
Stevens finished second with Richie Evans, third. Stevens stayed up in New
York State for a 100 lapper at Tioga on Saturday, which he won. Evans
finished second with Jerry Cook, third. At Stafford, Ronnie Bouchard beat
out Eddie Flemke for the win. Lou Austin finished third with Don Flynn,
fourth. Gary Winters was the winner at Islip. Dick Dunn, in the Al Gaudreau
No.3, won his second Modified feature of the year at Waterford. Ron Cote was
the late model Grand American winner.
Thirty five years ago in 1978,
Monadnock ran on Wednesday with a 100 lap Yankee All Star League event.
Geoff Bodine took the win over Jack Bateman, Punky Caron and Bugsy Stevens.
Bodine went on to win four out of five for the weekend as he also took
victories at Riverside, Oswego and at Utica-Rome. Maynard Troyer was the
only spoiler as he beat the Big Red machine in a 100 lapper at Stafford on
Friday night. Other weekend winners were Wayne Anderson at New Egypt, Fred
DeSarro at Seekonk, Moose Hewitt at Waterford, Greg Sacks at Islip and Tom
Baldwin at Riverhead.
Thirty five years ago in 1983,
Thompson ran a 40 lapper on Wednesday which saw George Kent take the win
over George Summers and Bugsy Stevens. Friday at Stafford saw Stan Gregger
put the Ben Dodge No.36 in victory lane as he beat Mike Stefanik and Ray
Miller. Dale Holdredge was the winner at Waterford on Saturday. Richie Evans
won 100 lappers at Spencer and Riverside. Tom Baldwin won at Riverhead and
Bill Park won at Islip.
Twenty five years ago in 1988, the Waterford Speedbowl ran a
100-lap open competition event on Wednesday, which paid $4,000 to win. John
Anderson took the win over Tom Bolles, Jamie Tomaino and Richie Gallup.
Anderson backed up his win with others at Stafford on Friday and again at
Waterford again on Saturday. Reggie Ruggerio was a double winner as he won
at Monadnock and at Riverside. Wayne Anderson won a Richie Evans memorial
event at Riverhead and Bob Potter scored at Thompson on Sunday.
Twenty years ago in 1993, Bob
Potter scored his 17th career win at Stafford on Friday over Mike
Christopher and Bo Gunning. Potter backed it up with his 90th career win at
Waterford on Saturday night. Chris Jones finished second with Jerry Pearl,
third. The NASCAR modified tour series visited Riverhead Raceway on Long
Island. Hometown favorite, Steve Park sat on the pole and went on to win the
caution filled event. There were twelve yellows for 68 laps which kept
Park’s average speed at 32.459 mph. Reggie Ruggerio finished second and was
followed by Rick Fuller and Ed Flemke jr. Ed Kennedy was the winner at
Riverside Park. In Winston Cup action at Watkins Glen, Bill Elliot took the
win over Terry Labonte.
Fifteen years ago in 1998, Rob
Summers scored his first ever-modified victory as he won a 75 lapper at
Riverside Park on Tuesday. Dave Berube led the event until the two to go
mark was reached when Chris Kopec who was down one lap intentionally blocked
him. It was a payback for an incident on the 59th lap when Berube and Kopec
tangled with the end result being Kopec spinning out and losing a lap.
Berube recovered and finished second. Dan Avery, Bob Polverari and Rick
Miller rounded out the top five. Lloyd Agor was the Friday night SK-Modified
winner at Stafford as he won out over Curt Brainard, Ted Christopher and
Jamie Asklar. Tension was high and tempers were short at Stafford. Jim
Broderick along with car owners Angie and Tony Cerese were suspended for one
week for fighting and Bo Gunning was put on probation for shoving an
official. Dennis Gada beat out Eric Berndt and Don Fowler at Waterford and
Al Ermarino went pole to pole at Riverhead. Saturday night at Riverside saw
Ted Riggot in victory lane and at Thompson on Sunday Mike Christopher was
victorious over Bert Marvin and Richie Gallup. The Featherlite Modifieds
were at Loudon as a second division to the IRL. A sparse crowd of 20,000 was
on hand as Tony Stewart won the IRL event. Mike Stefanik took the lead from
Jan Leaty on lap 81 of the 125 lap modified event. In taking the win,
Stefanik went over the one million-dollar in earnings mark. Reggie Ruggiero
finished second and was followed by Leaty, Tony Hirschman, John Blewett III
and Tom Connolly. In Winston Cup action at Sears Point, Jeff Gordon took the
win and in Busch Grandnational action at Watkins Glen, road racer Ron
Fellows took the win.
Ten years ago in 2003, Brad
Leighton took the lead on lap 43 in the BGNN 150 at Stafford when Dave Dion
spun in oil and went on to take the win, his fourth of the year. Jeff Taylor
finished second with Dion, third. Stafford's SK Modified event rained out.
Waterford ran a 100 lapper on Saturday night with Eric Berndt taking the win
over Jeff Pearl and Tucker Reynolds. Riverhead went to Frank Vigliaro Jr. In
100degree heat, Bert Marvin went pole to pole at Thompson. Todd Ceravolo
finished second with Tom Fox, third. At Riverside, Rob Summers won a 125
lapper over Ted Riggott and Bob Polverari. In Busch Grandnational action at
Milwaukee, Casey Atwood hit Jeff Green on the final lap and went on to take
the win over Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Glenn Allen. In Winston Cup action under
the lights at Daytona, Dale Jarrett took the lead on lap 146 of the 160 lap
distance and took the win over Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Burton.
Five years ago in 2008, the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series visited the Thompson Speedway on Thursday
night with a new format that consisted of a 75 green flag lap event. Ronnie
Silk ended a long dry spell for himself and car owner Roger Hill as he beat
out Ted Christopher for the win. Silk, who previously won at Thompson on
September 23, 2007, took the lead from Ted Christopher on lap 53 and never
looked back while en route to his first win of the season. Bobby Grigas III
and Kevin Goodale ran wheel to wheel for the first 21 laps when they tangled
in turn four. Goodale spun to the infield and was able to restart at the
rear. Grigas ran with Ed Flemke Jr on his bumper until lap 27 when Flemke
tapped and spun him in turn four. NASCAR felt the hit was intentional and
put Flemke to the rear. Flemke agreed and went willingly. Ted Christopher
inherited the lead with Silk in second spot when the field restarted.
Christopher survived numerous restarts as the night wore on and the night
got cooler. Christopher’s luck ran out following the 12th caution. The
yellow flag period dragged for too long resulting in Christopher’s tires
cooling off and losing traction. The resulting restart saw Silk rocket from
his outside row starting spot and taking the lead upon entering turn one.
Christopher managed to hang onto second spot and was followed at the finish
by Mike Stefanik, Chuck Hossfeld and Tony Ferrante Jr. Sixth through tenth
were Todd Szegedy, Matt Hirschman, Bobby Santos, Kevin Goodale and Ryan
Preece.
Earlier in the evening Grigas nabbed his first career Coors Light
Pole Award. The second-year driver turned in a time of 18.751 seconds
(119.994). He ended up 21st, one lap down. There were 38 Modifieds on hand.
A year ago the Modifieds were 10 stronger. The competition was top shelf but
competitors were not happy with the format. Despite the fact that the purse
for the event was reduced admission prices remained unchanged. Pit area
population was down as was the grandstand.
Among those spotted at Thompson were driving legends Carl Bugsy
Stevens, Leo Cleary, George Savory and Billy Harman. Despite being crippled
up by racing related back injuries the Bugman still has his sense of humor
and quick wit. Cleary, the eldest of the group is in the best of health and
shape as is Harman who is now an accomplished golfer. Savory is the youngest
of the bunch and enjoying his retirement by bankrolling his son’s racing
efforts.
Like their big brothers at Thompson the True Value Modified Series
at Waterford turned into a wreck fest. The 100-lap event took a little more
than 2 hours to complete. A long delay resulted when extensive repairs had
to be made to the tracks Armco barrier. Twelve of the 25 cars that started
the event were running at the finish. Les Hinkley was the winner. Former
Speedbowl regulars Chris Pasteryak and Mike Holdridge, Kirk Alexander, and
Vin Annarummo rounded out the top-5. Holdridge was the early leader before
being passed by Les Hinckley, Ted Christopher, and Pasteryak. Christopher
was later issued the black flag for a smoking motor and retired from the
event. Coming out on-top in several restarts, Hinckley repeatedly resisted
the charges of Dwight Jarvis, the latter retiring after contacting the wall
on lap-70, the victim of a flat right-front. With Pasteryak and Holdridge
in-tow, Hinckley lengthened his lead in the final stages of the event,
winning by a comfortable margin.
The Thompson Speedway’s Thursday Night Thunder program ran under
the features only format. Todd Ceravolo took top honors in a tremendous
Sunoco Modified war. Sixteen-year-old Derek Ramstrom scored his second
straight win in the Pro Stock division. Tim Sullivan followed suit with
consecutive wins in the TIS Modifieds. Jeff Zuidema continued his domination
of the Late Model division with his third win of the short season. Mike
Romano, in Mini Stocks and Scott Sundeen in the Limited Sportsman division
also scored victories during Charter Communications’ presentation of the
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
The Stafford Motor Speedway ushered in the summer season with
fireworks in the air and on the track with the 8th annual Summer Blast-Off
Presented by Town Fair Tire NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program. The
big winners of the evening were Keith Rocco in the 40-lap SK Modified
feature, Dillon Moltz in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Chris Matthews in
the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Bill Davis in the Limited Late Model
feature, and Scott Roy in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
The 40-lap SK Modified feature saw Keith Rocco out duel Ted
Christopher to pick up his first feature win of the 2008 season. Doug Coby
took the lead at the green and held the lead until he spun on lap-7, which
gave the lead to Woody Pitkat. Pitkat held the race lead until lap-19 when
Rocco outpowered Pitkat on a restart. Rocco stayed out front until lap-25
when Ted Christopher moved to the front. Christopher held the lead until
contact from Jeff Malave sent him spinning on lap-28. Malave was black
flagged, which put Rocco back out front. Christopher charged his way back
through the pack, but couldn't find a way around Rocco. Rounding out the
top-5 behind Rocco and Christopher was Jimmy Blewett, Tom Bolles, and Curt
Brainard.
Todd Ceravolo captured his second feature of the weekend when he
won the 35 lap SK Modified feature at the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday
night. An early wreck collected Rob Janovic Jr., Ron Yuhas Jr., and Jeff
Pearl. Only Janovic was unable to continue. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr. assumed
the lead briefly before yielding to Ceravolo. Within 5-laps, the yellow flew
again for an incident involving Ted Christopher, Don Fowler, and Glenn
Pressel III. On the restart Ceravolo resumed the point, pressed by Keith
Rocco and Doug Coby. With 23-laps remaining, Coby and Rocco tangled, the
latter sent to the rear for rough-riding. Rebounding after an early spin,
Dennis Gada eventually passed Shawn Monahan for second. Jeff Paul and Rocco
completed the top-5. Other feature winners were Bruce Thomas Jr. (Late
Model), Al Stone III (Sportsman), and Phil Evans (Mini Stock). The Speedbowl
enjoyed one of the biggest crowds they have had in quite a while.
Carl Edwards was desperate to get back into victory lane in the NASCAR
Nationwide Series, and he wasn't about to let Clint Bowyer stand in his way
at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis. Edwards shoved his fellow Sprint
Cup series standout sideways with 25 laps to go, then held off Middletown
native Joey Logano for his first Nationwide victory of the season after
dominating the series last year. But Edwards decided not to do his trademark
backflip in victory lane, choosing a subdued celebration because of the
death earlier in the day of drag racer Scott Kalitta and the fact that he
didn't win the way he intended to. Logano finished second.
Kyle Busch snapped the slump that plagued him as he won the
Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., for
his first Sprint Cup victory on a road course. Busch, who had a poor
qualifying run and started 30th, steadily moved through the field and
grabbed the lead from defending race winner Juan Pablo Montoya on an early
restart. It was Busch's series-best fifth win of the season, and 11th
overall spanning all three of NASCAR's top series. It also was his second
road course victory of the season, following a Nationwide win in Mexico City
in April. David Gilliland finished a career-best second, followed by Jeff
Gordon.
Last year, 2012 The NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour Series headed to the Waterford Speedbowl. The event,
the first since 2006, drew 24 cars and a packed house of fans. Doug Coby,
the Racing Realtor, remained hot as a pistol as he took the win. Coby led
119 laps in the No. 52 Reynolds Auto Wrecking/Furnace & Duct Supply
Chevrolet to his third victory in five races to start the 2012 season. It is
his fifth career victory overall, and first in Whelen Modified Tour events
at Waterford.
Justin Bonsignore crossed the line second with Ryan Preece in
third. Ron Yuhas Jr. and Donny Lia rounded out the top five. Sixth through
tenth were Rowan Pennink, Eric Beers, Keith Rocco, polesitter Ted
Christopher and Jon McKennedy.
There were three lead changes among three drivers. Christopher led
from the opening green to lap 43. Coby took over on lap 44 and led the rest
of the way except for lap 146 when Preece led momentarily.
Thursday night Thunder at Thompson saw racing in heat that was
close to the 100 degree mark. Ted Christopher is also close to the 100
feature win mark at the Big T as he scored his 95th career win. Christopher,
who won his first victory at the Stafford Motor Speedway in 1986, has 96 SK
Modified wins at the Arute family owned oval as well as 33 Modified wins at
Waterford. Christopher's win was his second of the year at the northeastern
Connecticut oval.
Other feature winners included Tommy O’Sullivan in the Late Models,
Cam McDermott in the Lite Modifieds and John Lewinski-Loh in the Thompson
Modifieds. Jim Banfield in the Super Late Models and Jesse Gleason in the
Limited Sportsman scored their first season wins and Chad Baxter was
victorious in the Mini Stocks.
In the Sunoco (SK) Modified feature as the green dropped John
Catania and Kerry Malone went into turn one double-file with Malone getting
the lead coming out of turn two. Ted Christopher and Ryan Preece moved into
second and third with Preece all over Christopher’s bumper for the second
position. Woody Pitkat and Keith Rocco made it a five-car bumper-to-bumper
train up front.
On lap nine, Christopher shot to the bottom and took over the lead
with Preece in tow. Malone squeezed into third, but was quickly passed by
Woody Pitkat and Keith Rocco. The frontrunners approached lapped traffic at
lap 13, but continued in a tight formation without a hiccup. On lap 22,
Pitkat broke free of the trio to make a bid on Preece, but lost momentum and
turned his focus to Rocco, who threatened his third place position. Pitkat
regained himself as Christopher continued to lead Preece less than a car
length in front of him. Christopher never faltered and drove straight to the
checkered flag. Preece settled for second with Pitkat, third. Rocco and
Malone rounded out the top five.
The Stafford Speedway fell victim to rain and high wind that hammered
central Connecticut on Friday afternoon. The Valenti Modified Series race
that was also scheduled will be rescheduled to Friday, September 14th.
In regular weekly racing at the Waterford Speedbowl Rob Janovic Jr.
scored his first win of the season in the track's SK Modified feature, while
Greg Moran Jr. picked up a first career victory in the Street Stock division
and Sean Caron was back in the winner's circle in the Mini Stock division
for the first time since 2010. Bruce Thomas Jr. took the Late Model division
race, the only repeat winner.
Janovic was the third leader in the 35-lap Modified feature, taking
over from Kyle James following a lap-16 caution flag. Janovic raced the
outside lane like a veteran, taking command down the backstretch to lead lap
17 just before the race's halfway point. Over the second half of the race
Janovic had to hold off Jeff Pearl on two additional restarts, the final
coming on lap 33 to set up a final sprint to the finish. Janovic held and
went on to the checkered flag, his first of the year. Pearl, James, Tom
Abele Jr. and Diego Monahan rounded out the top-five finishers.
In Modified action at Bowman-Gray in North Carolina twin 25 lap
Modified features were the order of the night. Tim Brown went pole to pole
to win the opening event while John Smith was victorious in the second
event.
Tom Rogers Jr. became the first NASCAR Modified repeat winner of
the 2012 Whelen All-American Series at Riverhead Raceway as he won the Rapid
Recovery night 35-lap feature.
In Sprint Cup action, Clint Bowyer raced to his first victory on a
road course, and first with Michael Waltrip Racing, by holding off Kurt
Busch at Sonoma in California. Bowyer dominated Sunday's race by leading 70
of the 112 laps.
The NASCAR Nationwide Series ran at Road America in Elkhart Lake,
Wis. Nelson Piquet Jr took the win.
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
Rod Andrews
Geoff Bodine
Dick Watson
Ken Meahl
Kenny Shoemaker
Todd Van Epps
Looking Back Archive
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Source: Phil
Smith / Looking Back A Bit
Posted: June
21, 2013 |
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