07/29/14
July 29, 2014 |
The final event of the three race Tri-Track series was a 100
lapper at the Seekonk Speedway on Wednesday, July 23. This race paid $10,000
to win and was supplemented by a $10,000 point fund. Tommy Barrett Jr saved
the best for last as he snookered Todd Annarummo on lap 86 and walked off
with the $10 grand as a capacity crowd looked on. Annarummo faded in the
final laps and wound up fourth. Jon McKennedy finished second with Matt
Hirschman, third. Richard Savory rounded out the top five.
Open Wheeled Wednesday, co promoted by the Seekonk Speedway, the Racing
Guys headed by Dick Williams and Jim Schaefer, drew a huge field of 45
Modifieds. Four heats and two consolations were required to set the field.
Sixth through tenth were Ryan Preece, Vinnie Annarummo, Rowan Pennink, Paul
Newcomb and Anthony Nocella. There were 17 cars on the lead lap at the
finish.
At the Stafford Speedway the Inaugural NAPA Auto Parts SK 5k, which paid
the winner $5,000 out of a purse of over $27,000 was the main event.
Stafford Speedway held an online vote prior to the race with fans able to
vote on the qualifying procedure, the number of laps for the feature, the
tire rule, and how the lineup would be handicapped. The qualifying, tire
rule, and handicapping procedures were decided by the fan vote prior to the
race but the lap number remained a mystery to everyone. A weighted draw was
held just prior to the start of the race with the top-3 fan choices of 76,
80, and 100 laps in a bucker. The 100-lap chip was drawn, making the race
100-laps long. After a 2014 season that has seen more downs than ups for
Huntingdon Valley, PA driver Rowan Pennink, he used a strong move in turns
3+4 to take the lead from Ryan Preece as they were heading towards the white
flag and took home the $5,000 winner’s check.
Pennink was all but on Ryan Preece’s back bumper when he made a pass for
the lead in turns 3+4. The two cars came to the white flag side by side but
as they went into turn 1, Preece spun and did a quick 360 turn and kept
going, but it was all Pennink at the front and he took the checkered flag
and the $5,000 payday that came with it. Ted Christopher finished second,
with Frank Ruocco, Keith Rocco, and Glen Reen rounding out the top-5.
In other feature action during the night, Jay Stuart recorded his second
consecutive Late Model feature victory, Dylan Menditto won the SK Light
feature, David Arute took his first Ltd. Late Model checkered flag of the
2014, Frank L’Etoile, Jr. picked up his first win of the 2014 season in the
DARE Stock feature, and Mike Christopher, Jr. picked up his first Stafford
Speedway win of the year in the Legend Cars feature.
The Sunoco Modifieds reclaim center stage at Thompson Speedway
Motorsports Park (TSMP) for their 20/20 Sprint event on Whelen Night, this
coming Wednesday, July 30th.
The unique format will feature a three segment race for the Sunoco
Modifieds, with the lowest overall point total taking the victory. The first
segment will be lined up from the results of the qualifiers, and will be 20
laps in distance. The second segment will be a complete inversion of lead
lap cars setting the field, and will also consist of 20 laps. The third and
final segment will be lined up by fastest lap times from the first segment,
but will only be a 10 lap sprint for the win. “This format was used for the
Late Models, and was a huge success,” states TSMP General Manager, Josh
Vanada.
Ryan Preece enters the event as the point leader, fresh off a pair of
victories May 29th. The Berlin, CT pilot placed third at the Icebreaker, and
has since notched two victories. Preece holds a two point lead over Keith
Rocco. Rocco has held every position on the podium in 2014 at TSMP,
including a victory at the Icebreaker in April, keeping him on Preece’s back
bumper in the standings. Woody Pitkat looks to close the gap between himself
and Preece, sitting just 8 points back entering the July 30th event. Danny
Cates and Todd Ceravolo sit fourth and fifth respectively.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Waterford Speedbowl
the annual Nostalgia Night hit the track Saturday with NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series racing joined by vintage displays and motorsports
action, plus racing by the Northeastern Midget Association. Taking NASCAR
wins was Keith Rocco, winner of both the special Charlie Mitchell Memorial
SK Modified® feature plus Valenti Auto Mall Late Model race, tying yet
another track record in the process. Rocco’s SK Modified® triumph marked his
62nd in the division at the Speedbowl, tying him atop the division’s
all-time win list with Dennis Gada, the only seven-time champion in track
history. Rocco's first victory at the shoreline oval was in 2008. Rocco
began the night a winner in the Valenti Auto Mall Late Model ranks, winning
for the second consecutive week and eighth time of the year in that
division.
In other Speedbowl action, Al Stone III came away with a hard- nosed win
in the Street Stocks, while Wayne Burroughs Jr. was victorious for the first
time this season in the Mini Stocks. In NEMA action, the Shane Hammond
Memorial race was won by Seth Carlson and the NEMA Lites feature went to To
win the SK Modified event, Rocco used a stellar move on another of the
division’s all-time best, Ted Christopher. Christopher inherited the lead
after leaders Ed Puleo and Tyler Chadwick tangled battling for the lead on
lap-14. Christopher and Rocco, who were third and fourth on the track,
narrowly avoided the melee and made up the front row for the ensuing
restart.
In Modified racing in the Southland, NASCAR Officials penalized Burt
Myers and Tim Brown by docking them 100 points in the championship point
standings. “We believe that these penalties will send a message that this is
something we can not tolerate,” said NASCAR Chief Steward John Horton, about
the crashing that occurred while the caution was displayed during the
Modified feature at the Bowman Gray Stadium run on July 19.
The deduction dropped Brown from the points lead down to fourth, and
Myers fell from second down to fifth in the points standings. With nine
races left in the season, including a double-points race during the season
finale, Brown and Myers had both indicated that they would sit out the rest
of the season at the Winston-Salem, NC track. Myers relented and was in the
field this past week. Word has it that Tommy Barrett Jr and Ryan Preece will
take on the Good Ole Boys at the stadium this week.
Jason Myers and Dean Ward, were the winners of twin 50-lap races for the
featured Modified Division. Jason Myers led all the way in a caution-free
first race on a relatively calm night. Ward fended off a few challenges in
the second race on his way to a second victory in two weeks. Tempers were
cool for the most part after a heated car-bashing clash last weekend that
resulted in penalties for multi-time champions Tim Brown and Burt Myers.
Tom Rogers Jr was the Richie Evans, Charlie Jarzombek, Tom Baldwin
Memorial Modified winner at the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island. Ron Silk
finished second with Ryan Preece, third.
On the speedway stock market scene last week two of the three speedway
stocks were down for the week. Dover Entertainment was up 0.12 to 2.92 while
Speedway Motorsports dropped 0.28 to 17.43 and the International Speedway
Corporation dropped 1.12 to 31.36. NASCAR cup sponsor Sprint dropped 0.18 to
7.72 while NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco (Energy Transfer) went up 2.25 to
59.04 and NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear went up 0.33 to 28.22. Two of the
three auto makers were down for the week. Toyota went up 0.73 to 119.63
while Ford dropped 0.15 to 17.62 and General Motors dropped 2.34 to 35.07.
In the home improvement sector, Home Depot went up 0.95 to 81.03 while Lowes
dropped 0.11 to 47.70. In the area of big team sponsorship Target Department
Stores went up 0.38 to 60.39 while Dupont dropped 0.62 to 64.93, Coca-Cola
dropped 1.66 to 70.88, Aarona Rentals dropped 0.92 to 28.66 and FedEx
dropped 2.11 to 150.86.
On the tube this week:
Wednesday, July 30
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
5:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
6:30 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 2
Thursday, July 31
8:30 AM, Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... NASCAR Fans for Hating Jeff
Gordon, ESPN Classic
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
5:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6:30 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS2
Friday, August 1
11:00 AM, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pocono practice, FS1
1:30 PM, Empty Cup - Quest for the 1992 NASCAR Championship, FS2
3:30 PM, NSCS Pocono qualifying, FS1
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
6:30 PM, NSCS Pocono practice re-air, FS1
7:30 PM, NASCAR Race Hub Special, FS1
8:30 PM, NSCS Pocono qualifying re-air, FS1
Saturday, August 2
2:30 AM, NASCAR's The List - Greatest Finishes, NBCSN
3:00 AM, NSCS Pocono practice re-air, FS1
4:30 AM, NSCS Pocono qualifying re-air, FS1
9:00 AM, NSCS Pocono practice, ESPN 2
10:00 AM, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Pocono qualifying, FS1
11:30 AM, NSCS Pocono final practice, ESPN2
1:00 PM, NCWTS Pocono race, FS1
2:30 PM, NASCAR Live, FS1
4:30 PM, NASCAR Nationwide Series Iowa qualifying, ESPN
7:30 PM, NASCAR Countdown, ESPN
8:00 PM, NNS Iowa race, ESPN
Sunday, August 3
4:30 AM, NCWTS Pocono race re-air, FS1
10:00 AM, NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
12:00 PM, NASCAR Countdown, ESPN
1:00 PM, NSCS Pocono race, ESPN
7:00 PM, NASCAR Victory Lane, FS1
Monday, August 4
3:30 AM, NSCS Pocono race re-air, ESPN2
10:00 PM, NCWTS Pocono race re-air, FS1
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.
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Source: Phil
Smith / Champ Trail
Posted: July
29, 2014 |
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