September 6, 2013

   Sixty years ago in 1953, the New London - Waterford Speedbowl staged three events in six days. Red Foote was the Wednesday and Saturday night 25 lap winner in the Sportsman division and Ray Delisle won a 50 lapper for the Sportsman on Labor Day. Non-Ford winners at the Bowl were Jack Connell, Bud Matter and Tom VanEpps.

   Fifty five years ago in 1958, Johnny Sandberg was the 25 lap Modified winner at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Other winners at the shoreline oval were Charlie Webster and Jack Wilson.

   Fifty years ago in 1963, Joe McNulty won a 50 lap Langhorne Race of Champions qualifier at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. McNulty finished 18th in the Columbus Day Classic. Jerry Dostie was the Bomber division winner at the Speedbowl. Racing on the dirt at Stafford was cancelled due to rain..

   Forty five years ago in 1968, Freddie Schulz was the Saturday night winner at the Norwood Arena. At the Albany – Saratoga Speedway, Sonny Seamon made a rare appearance and walked off with the win. Pete Corey finished second with Lou Lazzaro, third. Dave Gaul and Don MacTavish rounded out the top five. No one knew it at the time but it would be the last time fans would get to see MacTavish in action at the Malta oval as he would lose his life in a violent accident in Daytona in February of 1969. Don Collins was the 30 lap Modified winner at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night. Bill Scrivener was the Modified winner on Labor Day. Bill Sweet and Jim Mazzella were the Daredevil winners. Lee Osborne was the 30 lap Modified winner at Lancaster. Thompson ran a 200-lap event on Sunday with Bugsy Stevens taking the win.

   Forty years ago in 1973, Lancaster Speedway ran their season ending 200. Maynard Troyer took the win over Bugsy Stevens. Shangri La ran the same day and held some of the NASCAR drivers including Richie Evans who took the win over Geoff Bodine and Eddie Pieniezak. Devils Bowl, in West Haven Vt. was paved at the time and hosted the NASCAR modifieds on Sunday afternoon. The Bug cleaned house, as Evans had to settle for second. Leo Cleary finished third and was followed by Jerry Cook and Ronnie Bouchard. At the Waterford Speedbowl, Dick Dunn, in the Al Gaudreau No.3 drove to a convincing win in the Wednesday night New England 100. George Allum was the Saturday night winner. Marshall White was the Grand American Late Model winner at the shoreline oval.

   Thirty five years ago in 1978, the modifieds ran at Seekonk on Saturday night after a fast run from Thompson where many were there for 300 qualifying. Ronnie Bouchard took the win over George Summers, Bob Santos and Red Barbeau. North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina ran a modified special, which was won by Ray Hendrick. Geoff Bodine continued his winning ways as he won the Thompson 300 over Santos and Bugsy Stevens.

   Thirty years ago in 1983,Waterford ran on Saturday night with Glynn Shafer taking the win with Ted Christopher, second. The annual Race of Champions at Pocono drew 98 modifieds. Jim Spencer took the win over Jamie Tomaino and Carl Pasteryak.

   Twenty five years ago in 1988, the battle for supremacy at Pocono came down to a last lap battle between Reggie Ruggerio and Satch Worley. As the pair roared off turn four, Worley made a move to the outside to go for the win but Ruggerio blocked and Worley rode the wall and had to settle for second. Finishing third again was Carl Pasteryak.

   Twenty years ago in 1993,Apple Valley (Spencer) Speedway ran a special 50 lap event for the modifieds. Jan Leaty took the win over Jim Rudolph and Lee Sherwood and a 200 lapper scheduled for Waterford rained out for the second time. At Dover Downs, the Grand National 200 got a late start because of rain but it was well worth it as Todd Bodine took the win. In Winston Cup action at Dover, Rusty Wallace made up two laps to take the win. Numerous wrecks caused by blown right front tires and broken brake rotors marred the race. The Busch North Series ran at Lee Raceway and it was veteran Stub Fadden taking the win over Curtis Markham, Dick McCabe and Tom Bolles.

   Fifteen years ago in 1998, the Race of Champions had been sold and moved to Oswego but the once prestigious event had lost a lot of its luster because of financial problems of the events previous Needless to say the event drew 49 modifieds, the majority from New York and few from the Modified Tour Series. Ted Christopher took the lead from John Blewett III on lap 24 of the 200-lap event and led to the 125-lap mark when his ignition box shorted out. From there on, Siege Fidenza led the way and went on to take the win. Tim Mangus finished second with Ryan Holland, third.

   At Waterford on Saturday night it took 67 minutes to run 35 laps. Mike Gada survived seven wrecks and went on to take the lead with 11 laps to go and went on to take the win. Ed Dachenhausen finished second with Bert Marvin, third. Phil Rondeau scored his 97th win at the shoreline oval as he won the late model event.

   Mike Stefanik finished 10th in a BGNN event at Beech Ridge and sewed up the 1999 title. Tracy Gordon won the 150-lap event over Dave Dion. In Winston Cup action at Dover, Mark Martin cleaned house as he led 380 of the scheduled 400 laps. Jeff Gordon finished second. Elton Sawyer won the Dover Grandnational event.

   Ten years ago in 2003, Matty Adante went pole to pole in Thursday night Thunder Sunoco Modified competition at Thompson. It was his first win. The action was hot and heavy behind him. Todd Ceravolo, who had been on a hot streak was eliminated while running second in the closing stages of the event when he was hit by Ron Yuhas Jr. while trying to weave his way through lapped traffic. Ceravolo’s night ended against the front stretch wall. Yuhas, who had previously tangled with Bert Marvin, went on to finish second. Eric Berndt finished third and was followed by Ted Christopher and Bob Santos III. Other Thursday night winners were Chuck Docherty in the Pro Stocks, Scott Bronczyk in the Late Models, Shawn Monahan in the Limited Sportsman and Roger Larsen in the Mini Stocks.

   The NASCAR Modified Tour Series was at Loudon on Friday for a 100-lap event that was run in conjunction with the Winston Cup weekend. Thirty-nine Modifieds took time for the event that carried a purse of$148,275, a $9450 increase over the 2002 September race. Tony Hirschman took the pole position with a speed of 127.649 mph. Second fastest was John Blewett III with a speed of 127.474 mph. Rounding out the top five were Nevin George, Chuck Hossfeld and Mike Stefanik. John Blewett III all but dominated the event as he cleaned house. After starting on the outside pole, Blewett made a determined run as he led on five different occasions. Driving for Curt Chase, Blewett took the lead for the final time on lap 69 when he passed Ted Christopher for the lead. Christopher was a factor but lacked that little extra to nail down the win. Christopher settled for second and was followed at the finish by Ken Woolley, Mike Stefanik and Chuck Hossfeld. Pole sitter Tony Hirschman led the first four laps. Mike Stefanik, who started fifth, made a determined charge as he took the lead on lap four. Stefanik led until lap eight when he gave way to Blewett. By lap ten the leaders were in lapped traffic and Stefanik was able to sneak by and retake the lead. Blewett glued himself to Stefanik’s bumper and re-took the lead on lap 16. The first of four cautions flew on lap 23 when Mike Molleur spun in turn four. On the re-start it was Blewett in command. Hirshman made a run at the high flying No. 77 and moved into the lead on lap 28 but lost it as fast as he got it as one lap later Blewett was on the point again. The second caution of the event flew on lap 41 when Dave Berube spun in turn two. The field went back to green on lap 46 for one lap as caution No. 3 flew for Nevin George who came to a stop in turn two after a spin. The field re-started on lap fifty. Hirschman made another stab at the lead and was able to head the pack on lap 53. His lead was short lived as Blewett powered by one lap later. The fourth and final caution came on lap 59 when Renee Dupuis came to a halt in turn four. The final restart came on lap 63 with Blewett leading. Ted Christopher was doing some bump drafting and got by Blewett to lead lap 68 but from then on it was Blewett on cruise control to take the win by 1.42 seconds. Blewett went non-stop and was having second thoughts about the amount of fuel he had but cautions made the difference and a pit stop was avoided.

   At Stafford on Friday night, Chris Jones took his second SK Modified feature of the year. Eric Berndt made several attempts to lead the event but in the end it was Jones taking the win. Rounding out the top five were Ronnie Silk, Emil Downie and Willie Hardie.

   At Waterford on Saturday night John Brouwer Jr. and Pete Pavone each won twin 25 lap events. It was the first win for Pavone who has been racing since 1985. Dennis Gada was hoping to solidify his lead in the NASCAR Regional point chase but wrecks in both features all but put him out of contention. Diego Monihan made it two in a row in Late Model action.

   Saturday night racing at Wall Township and at Riverhead was rained out. Brad Leighton was the Busch North Series winner at Loudon and in Winston Cup action at the New Hampshire mile Jimmie Johnson took the win. The big news of the weekend came from NASCAR when it was announced that Brian France had replaced his father, Bill Jr. as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of NASCAR.

   Five years ago in 2008. the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returned to the Thompson Speedway to partake in what was called Modified Mania. Thirty-two Modifieds were on hand for qualifying which ended up getting rained out. Based on point standings the field was set.
Preseason favorite Todd Szegedy broke through for his first win of the 2008 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season in the Sunoco Modified Mania 150. Szegedy, who started sixth, ran inside the top five for most of the afternoon, took his first lead of the race on Lap 132 and held off numerous charges by Ronnie Silk in the last 22 laps for his 13th career victory, and third at Thompson. Szegedy and Silk went non-stop without a tire change. Ted Christopher led the first 125 laps before pitting for tires under caution. Silk, who entered the event on a two-race winning streak at Thompson, led seven laps in the race but could not get past Szegedy despite three restarts in the closing circuits. Doug Coby, who is one of the drivers that replaced James Civali, came home third in the race, his second such finish in as many starts this year. Long-time series veterans Reggie Ruggiero and Rick Fuller rounded out the top five, for their best finishes of the year.

   Fuller was honored prior to the race as part of NASCAR’s Celebration of 60 Years of Modified Champions. Sunday’s finish was the 145th top five of his career.

   Bobby Santos, Billy Pauch Jr., Matt Hirschman, Rowan Pennink and Eric Beers rounded out the top 10 finishers in the race. Despite a 14th place finish, Christopher retained a 63-point lead over Chuck Hossfeld with 11 races in the books.

   There were 8 caution periods for 34 laps. Among those sidelined due to accidents or mechanical failures were Mike Stefanik, lap142, accident, Gary McDonald, Renee Dupuis, Glen Reen, lap134, accident, Jimmy Blewett, lap 131, Ryan Preece, Glenn Tyler, lap 109, accident, Richard Savary, Ed Flemke, Jr., Eric Berndt, lap 23, accident and Jamie Tomaino, lap 23 suspension failure.

   In other Modified Mania action at Thompson, Matt Hirschman won the 75-lap main event for the Race of Champions. Todd Owen was declared the winner in a wild 75-lapper for the True Value Modified Racing Series (TVMRS). In weekly series action, Jimmy Blewett was the winner in the Sunoco Modifieds and R.J. Marcotte in the TIS Modifieds. Norm Wrenn was the winner in the visiting Pro-Four Modifieds.
Jimmy Blewett made it two in a row in the Sunoco Modified division. A single-file restart set up a five-lap dash to the checkers. With things unchanged in the running order for the top five, a battle for the sixth spot was brewing between Sylvester and Rocco. Sylvester came out on the top-side of the competition before the yellow flew again. With three laps to go, the third position was being hotly contested between Cravenho and Pitkat. After aggressive driving by both, Cravenho ended up in the outside wall. On the green-white-checker restart Blewett cruised to the victory over Marvin and Pitkat. Malone raced across the line in fourth followed by Josh Sylvester. After the event, Pitkat was penalized for his involvement in the incident with Cravenho. Malone was officially scored in third followed by Sylvester. Rocco rebounded from early race problems to complete the top five. Pitkat was placed last on the lead lap, which placed him in 15th spot in the final rundown.
Kerry Malone emerged as the new point leader in the Sunoco Modifieds. Malone led Todd Ceravolo, 478 to 466. Danny Cates slipped to third with 458. Jimmy Blewett was fourth wit 448 and Tom Cravenho was fifth with 422. Matt Hirschman proved to be the class of a star-studded Race of Champions Modified Tour. Hirschman went unchallenged to the checkers to score his fourth RoC win of the season. Blewett came home second ahead of Ryan Preece. Ted Christopher and Bill Pauch, Jr., rounded out the top-five.

   Todd Owen scored his first True Value Modified Racing Series win in a controversial run to the checkers. Owen crossed the line in second but was awarded the victory on an official call. Coming down to take the checkered flag, contact between Christopher and Pinkham found Christopher spinning. Pinkham crossed the line first but he was called for over aggressive driving. The win was awarded to Owen. Holdridge and Malave joined Owen on the podium. Rowan Pennick and Jimmy Kuhn rounded out the top five.

   The Stafford Motor Speedway kicked off its final month of NASCAR Racing for the 2008 season with a Whelen All-American Series feature event that saw Keith Rocco win the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Ryan Posocco win the 30-lap Late Model feature, Chris Matthews win the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Joey Ferrigno win the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Duane Provost win the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.

   In the 40-lap SK Modified feature event, Rocco survived a several late caution periods to post his second feature win of the 2008 season and retake the SK Modified points lead from Ted Christopher with 2 races remaining. The lead changed hands several times in the early laps as Wade Mattesen led lap one and Corey Hutchings led the next two laps before Woody Pitkat moved to the lead on lap-4. Pitkat slowly began to pull away from the field, building nearly a full straightaway lead before a caution with 18 laps complete erased that margin. Pitkat held the lead until a restart on lap-32 when Frank Ruocco moved to the front. Rocco moved past Frank Ruocco on lap-33 to take the race lead. Several more caution periods followed, but Rocco was able to hold off Donny Travaglin and Doug Coby to take the win. Todd Owen finished fourth and Wade Mattesen rounded out the top-5.

   At the Waterford Speedbowl, it looked like property owner Terry Eames and track operator Jerry Robinson had kissed and made-up, legally, that is. The Hartford Courant reported on Tuesday, Sept 2 that Robinson made the bulk of the payments that he owed to the track ownership group, and also settled an outstanding property tax bill for the facility, during a court appearance New London. The ownership group filed suit against Robinson on Aug. 15 because of failure to pay about $45,000 in property taxes and also failure to meet scheduled rent payments.

   Competition at the shoreline oval began with their Wacky Wednesday program. Ryan Morgan won the 30-lap Legends feature, while it was Billy Gerstch Jr. claiming the X-Modified 50-lap Summer Sizzler as presented by Prestige Properties. The program marked the final installment of the season for the popular mid-week series. Other feature winners were Greg Moran Sr. (Super-X Car), Curt D`Addario Sr. (X-Car), and Scott Foster (Outlaw Stocks).

   Teenage Legends sensation Ryan Morgan passed early leader Glen Billings for the lead on lap-twenty, going on to snare his second in a row and his fourth feature victory of the season. Behind him a battle waged between 2008 Wednesday Legends champion Jason Palmer and Shaun Buffington. At the finish, Palmer narrowly edged-out Buffington to finish ahead of Max Zachem and Glen Billings.
Saturday night’s racing at Waterford fell victim to tropical storm Hannah.

   Jimmie Johnson won the NASCAR Sprint Cup event on Sunday at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Kurt Busch finished 15th, was wrecked twice and David Ragan had numerous on-track miscues to eliminate himself from Chase contention in a race delayed a day because of Tropical Storm Hanna.

   In the Nationwide Series race that followed, Carl Edwards passed Clint Bowyer with 28 laps to go then pulled away through three restarts to win for the fourth time this season. Scott Wimmer finished second in the Emerson 250, Bowyer third. Edwards climbed into second in the points race.

   Last year, 2012, The Whelen Modified Tour headed to the Thompson Speedway for the UNOH Showdown which brought together NASCAR's Whelen Northern and Southern Modified Tours which each had 75 lap features plus were combined for a 50 lap All green flag showdown.

   The Fuller legacy continued at Thompson International Speedway when Rob Fuller captured his first career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour pole Saturday afternoon with a lap of 18.947 seconds. Ryan Preece set fast time in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and earned his 11th career pole and fourth at Thompson Speedway. Both divisions will compete in 75-lap races before the top-10 finishers in each event advance to a 50-lap exhibition race on Sunday afternoon. In other NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action, Cam McDermott earned his 13th season victory in the Lite Modified division and Chad LaBastie checkered the Thompson Modifieds.

   In UNOH Showdown qualifying at Ryan Preece captured the pole for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and Rob Fuller won the pole for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. Preece of Berlin, Conn., lapped the .625-mile oval in 18.828 seconds at an average speed of 119.503 mph, to earn his fourth pole at Thompson, his fifth pole of the year and the 11th of his career. With just one previous start in the Whelen Southern Modified Tour and 11 starts in the Whelen Modified Tour, Fuller of Boylston, Mass., had a lap of 18.947 seconds (118.752 mph) in taking his first career pole. Justin Bonsignore had the second quickest lap among NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers and was followed by Bobby Santos, Doug Coby and Rowan Pennink. Rounding out the top 10 were Todd Szegedy, Ted Christopher, Mike Stefanik, Ron Silk and Eric Beers. In NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour qualifying, meanwhile, Tim Brown was second quickest at 19.090 seconds (117.863 mph). Andy Seuss was third fastest, with Steve Masse fourth and Burt Myers fifth. They were followed by Danny Bohn, George Brunnhoelzl III, Matt Hirschman, John Smith and Jason Myers. There were 25 Whelen Modifieds and 21 Whelen Southern Modifieds on hand. Of the 21 southern cars only 14 actually race in the south, the rest were from the north.

   The heavy overnight rains cleared which allowed both fans and competitors at Thompson to enjoy a full day of racing. Ted Christopher, pinch hitting for injured Keith Rocco, put the Boehler No.3 in for one of the biggest paydays that they have seen in quite some time as he took the top spot in the 2nd Annual UNOH Showdown 50 lap shootout. Christopher took the lead on lap six when he dove under Bobby Santos Santos to take over the lead coming out of turn two. Ryan Preece, Santos, Justin Bonsignore, and Mike Stefanik rounded out the top-five at lap seven. Donny Lia joined the front-runners in sixth as all of the top cars pulled away from the rest of the field. The race went under a red flag on lap 24 when Stefanik lost his power steering and dropped some oil on the track. Christopher drove to the front on the restart with Preece attached to his rear bumper. Preece tried to get by on the high line, but Christopher shut the door. Preece continued to pressure Christopher while Jimmy Blewett became a part of the mix in third. Blewett got by Preece for second on lap 37 while Christopher put a car length of breathing room over Blewett.

   The top-five cars fanned out over the next several laps with Christopher keeping his distance from Blewett through lapped traffic. Christopher cruised to the checkers to score his first victory of the day and score a $15,000 paycheck. Preece finished third followed by Lia and Doug Coby. Sixth through ninth were Ron Silk, Matt Hirschman, Santos and Andy Seuss. Burt Myers rounded out the top ten.

   Justin Bonsignore won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Town Fair Tire Northern 75 under a yellow checkered after Ron Silk crashed in the turn two wall on the white flag lap. Bonsignore took the lead away from Ryan Preece at lap 68 and survived a late-race restart after caution set up a green-white-checkered finish at lap 81. Preece took the early lead and dominated most of the race before Bonsignore used the outside groove to take the lead in turn three seven laps before the scheduled conclusion of the race. A caution flew at lap 72 for a wreck in turn three that involved Rowan Pennink and Patrick Emerling and set the stage for Bonsignore to take the win. It was the Holtsville, NY-native’s second career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory and his first at Thompson Speedway.

   Bobby Santos ended up second and was followed by Ryan Preece, Todd Szegedy and Ted Christopher. Sixth through tenth were Mike Stefanik, Donny Lia, Eric Beers, Eric Berndt and Richie Pallai.

   Andy Seuss earned his 12th career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour victory after taking the lead on lap 24 of the 75-lap Green Pointe Energy Southern 75 portion of the UNOH Showdown weekend schedule. Seuss used the high groove to hold off a hard-charging Matt Hirschman through lapped traffic to take the checkered flag. The race was only slowed by one caution period. Seuss, who started from the third position, took the lead from Burt Myers coming out of turn four on lap 24. Hirschman took over the second position on lap 43 and pressured Seuss until the end. Pole sitter Rob Fuller, who was forced to start in the rear when his crew chief missed the drivers meeting, finished third. Burt Myers and Tim Brown rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Steve Masse, Danny Bohn, George Brunnhoelzl, III, John Smith and Cole Powell.

   In Sunoco (SK type) Modified competition Ryan Preece took the checkers for the 10th time this season. Preece had built up a large enough lead to hold on for the win after something broke in his power steering with ten laps to go in the event. Woody Pitkat finished second over Keith Rocco. Kerry Malone, Jimmy Zacharies and Dennis Perry followed.

   Other Sunday winners at Thompson included Damon Tinio in the Late Models, Scott Sundeen in the Limited Sportsman and Eric Bourgeois in the Mini Stocks.

   At the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series feature action, taking wins were Michael Gervais, Jr. in the SK Modified® feature, Jim Peterson in the Late Model feature, Dylan Kopec in the SK Light feature, Cory Casagrande and D.J. Burnham in the twin Ltd. Late Model features, and Jeremy Lavoie was a first time winner in the DARE Stock feature.

   Ryan Preece had closed the gap to Gervais as the leaders took the white flag. Preece got a good run to the inside of Gervais in turn 1, but he got sideways in turn 2 and Gervais pulled away slightly. Preece got a good run back through turns 3+4, but he came up just short at the checkered flag as Gervais picked up his second feature victory of the 2012 season. Woody Pitkat came home third, with Todd Owen and Ted Christopher rounding out the top-5.

   In Saturday night action at the Waterford Speedbowl the Rocco Brothers scored a one-two punch as they beat the rain, finishing one-two in the SK Modified feature. Kyle James finished third with Jeff Pearl, fourth. Rob Janovic rounded out the top five. The Rocco brothers had words in the pit area later on as Jeff felt his brother deliberately blocked him as he attempted to pass for the lead. For some strange reason a bad storm front moving from west to east along the shore of Long Island Sound opened up as it reached the I-95-395 split in East Lyme and left the speedbowl in a weather window which allowed the shoreline oval to complete most of its racing program. Dillon Moltz drove to his sixth victory of the year in the Late Models race, while Bill Leonard took his second win in the Mini Stock division and Tommy Barrett Jr. won the 100-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series feature. The scheduled Street Stock feature was rained out.

   Keith Rocco was suspended for the remainder of the 2012 racing season. Rocco was cited by track steward Scott Tapley for: “Participating in or inciting a fight - In this case, as a competitor that entered into another competitors pit area and physically abused a competing team member/patron; Unsportsmanlike conduct, endangering the safety of others in the pit area; Threatening or physical confrontations.”

   Rocco said he confronted Mike Pane after the event concerning disparaging remarks Mike Pane allegedly made about the way Rocco drove against his brother in a battle for the lead during Saturday’s race.

   Barrett, who is being coached by Hall of Fame car owner Mario Fiore, started the race last out of the 22 drivers after running into problems during his qualifying race. Barrett started to challenge race leader Chris Pasteryak at the midway point. Once in the lead, Barrett held on through multiple restarts to win. Pasteryak ended up second while series points leaders Rowan Pennink was third. Jon McKennedy and Rob Goodenough rounded out the top five.

   Tom Rogers took the NASCAR 50 lap Modified win at the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island. Howie Brode finished second. Among the missing were regulars Ted Christopher and Ryan Preece who were in competition at Thompson. Shawn Solomito, with his third place finish, wrapped up the Modified Track Championship.

   Kevin Harvick was in the right place at the right time, picking up his first NASCAR Nationwide Series triumph of the season at Richmond Int’l Raceway during the Virginia 529 College Savings 250. Harvick was running second behind Spring Richmond winner Kurt Busch when Busch made contact with the No. 39 Ford of Dexter Stacey on lap 227, sending Stacey spinning and allowing Harvick to drive by on the outside to take the lead away.

   Clint Bowyer saved just enough fuel to grab his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series triumph of the season early Sunday morning at Richmond Int’l Raceway, but maybe more importantly Jeff Gordon finished second to claim the final spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Bowyer, who cut a tire and spun out on lap 236 after contact with Juan Pablo Montoya, somehow managed to save enough gas during the final run pick up the victory. He jokingly thanked Montoya in victory lane for the contact that eventually allowed him to win at Richmond.

   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

                   
Jerry Humiston                                          Cannonball Baker                                        Larry LaFayette

                   
   Moe Gherzi                                                 Pete Fiandaca                                           Smokey Boutwell

Looking Back Archive

Source: Phil Smith / Looking Back A Bit
Posted: September 6, 2013