October 28, 2014

  NASCAR has has released the final point standings for the Whelen Modified Tour Series for the 2014 season. Thirteen events were run. Doug Coby with 511 points took the series championship over Ryan Preece by 22 points. Justin Bonsignore finished in third spot with 484 points, five points behind Preece. Ron Silk and Ted Christopher rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Bobby Santos, Eric Goodale, Timmy Solomito, Woody Pitkat and Patrick Emerling. Fifty one different drivers were in competition. Justin Bonsignore and Bobby Santos were the big winners with three victories each to their credit. Other winners were Preece and Pitkat, two each along with Coby, Goodale and Tommy Barrett who had one each.

  Eleventh through 20th include Don Lia, Barrett, Matt Hirschman, Glen Reen, Jamie Tomaino, Rowan Pennink, Wade Cole, Gary McDonald, Ron Yuhas Jr and Dave Salzarulo. Fifteen of the top 20 competitors ran the entire series.

  While the speedways in the north are quiet there was action south of the Mason-Dixon line this past weekend where Burt Myers scored another win. After winning four of the final seven NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour races of the 2014 season, Myers earned his second KOMA Unwind Modified Madness Series feature win of the year Saturday night at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, North Carolina. The win gave Myers five wins in his last nine touring Modified series starts and cemented his place as the current top dog for Southern Modified racing.

  Fifteen-year-old Modified rookie Spencer Davis, driving the Hillbilly 79, took the lead on lap four and led through the leaders’ pit stops at lap 66. Although Bobby Sheffield beat Davis off pit road, Davis led the restart lap and continued to show the way until a right-front tire went down on lap 88. Zach Brewer finished second with Jason Myers, third.

  Coming up this weekend is the 12th Annual North-South Shootout event which will feature the Modifieds as well as the PASS South Super Late Models, Southeast Limited Late Model Series, USAC Midgets, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks and Legends Cars. Shootout weekend kicks off on Thursday, October 30 with practice for all divisions at Caraway Speedway. Racing action gets underway on Friday, October 31 with qualifying and several feature events. The John Blewett III North-South Shootout feature will take center stage on Saturday, November 1 along with PASS and more. Caraway Speedway is located in Sophia, North Carolina near Asheboro and just minutes from Interstates 85 and 74.

  Christmas may seem a long way off but it will be here before you know it. Coming out in December will be "A History of Auto Racing in New England" Volume 1, a project of the Northeast Motor Sports Museum. This new book includes well over 400 photos in more than 300 pages. Among the topics covered is Auto Racing in Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine along with the story of the evolution of Modifieds, Stafford's Dirt Years, the Supers, the Midgets and a Memorial to those who died at the track. Contributing authors include Tom Avenengo, Dick Berggren, Bones Bourcier, Lew Boyd, Andy Fusco and RA Silvia to name a few. To order your copy send your check for $34.95 + $6 for S&H to Coastal 181, 29 Water St., Newburyport, MA 01950 or order on line at www.coastal181.com or call toll free 877-907-8181.

  On the speedway stock market scene last week all three speedway stocks rebounded from the recent correction. The International Speedway Corporation went up 0.86 to 30.13. Speedway Motorsports went up 0.72 to 18.21 and Dover Entertainment went up 0.09 to 2.36. NASCAR cup sponsor Sprint went up 0.05 to 6.08 and NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco (Energy Transfer) went up 2.71 to 64.81 while NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear went up 0.60 to 20.81. The car builders were up and down. Ford dropped 0.24 to 13.78 and General Motors dropped 0.20 to 30.04 while Toyota went up 4.72 to 114.51. The home improvement sector had a healthy rebound. Home Depot went up 4.75 to 94.99 and Lowes went up 2.82 to 55.33. With the exception of Aarons Rentals which dropped 0.83 to 23.27 the big team sponsor's stocks had a good week. Dupont went up 2.02 to 69.00, Coca-Cola went up 1.10 to 82.61, Target Department Stores went up 2.50 to 61.57 and FedEx went up 7.76 to 163.88.

On the tube this week:

Tuesday, October 28
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Net
5:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
6:30 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 2
7:30 PM, The 10 - Greatest Comebacks in NASCAR History, FS2
9:00 PM, NCWTS Martinsville race re-air, FS1

Wednesday, October 29
3:00 AM, NCWTS Martinsville race re-air, FS1
7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
7:30 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
8:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
8:30 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
5:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6:30 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS2

Thursday, October 30
7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
7:30 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
8:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
8:30 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
5:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6:30 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS2
7:30 PM, The 10 - NASCAR's Wildest Throw-Downs, FS2

Friday, October 31
7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
7:30 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
8:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
8:30 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
10:00 AM, NCWTS Martinsville race re-air, FS1
12:00 PM, NNS Texas practice, FS1
1:00 PM, NSCS Texas practice, FS1
2:30 PM, NASCAr Live, FS1
3:00 PM, NCWTS Texas qualifying, FS1
4:30 PM, NNS Texas practice, ESPN2
6:30 PM, NSCS Texas qualifying, ESPN2
8:00 PM, NCWTS SetUp, FS1
8:30 PM, NCWTS Texas race, FS1

Saturday, November 1
10:00 AM, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series Thompson World Series FS1
11:00 AM, NSCS Texas practice, FS1
12:00 PM, NNS Texas qualifying, FS1
1:30 PM, NASCAR Live, FS1
2:00 PM, NSCS Texas final practice, FS1
3:30 PM, NNS Texas race, ESPN

Sunday, November 2
1:00 PM, NASCAR Race Day, FS1
2:00 PM, NASCAR Countdown, ESPN
3:00 PM, NSCS Texas race, ESPN
8:30 PM, NASCAR Victory Lane, FS1

Monday, November 3
1:30 AM, NSCS Texas race, ESPN2

   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.

Source: Phil Smith / Champ Trail
Posted: October 28, 2014