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09/18/2014 |
DR. DICK
BERGGREN TO SERVE AS STAFFORD SPEEDWAY'S NAPA AUTO PARTS
FALL FINAL WEEKEND GRAND MARSHAL |
Stafford
Motor Speedway is proud to announce that Dr. Dick
Berggren, acclaimed racing personality, will serve
as the Grand Marshal for the NAPA Auto Parts Fall
Final NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 150, Sunday
September 28.
Dr. Dick Berggren is known for his pit road
reporting and announcing duties covering the upper
levels of NASCAR including the Sprint Cup,
Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series. Berggren
began his TV career in 1981 and he has covered every
type of racing imaginable for world class networks
such as CBS, ESPN, Fox, SpeedChannel, TBS, and TNN.
2012 was Berggren's final year covering the NASCAR
circuit but he continues to work with and follow his
passion of local short track racing through his
magazine “Speedway Illustrated” which often features
some of Stafford’s own. Berggren began his passion
for auto racing not as an announcer but as a driver,
driving Supermodifieds, Modifieds, Late Models, and
Sprint Cars. Berggren also has a deep connection
with Stafford Speedway. The Connecticut half-mile
track was where Berggren first caught the racing bug
as a young boy. Berggren is best known at Stafford
as being one of the creators of the “greatest race
in the history of spring”, The NAPA Auto Parts
Spring Sizzler. Lew Boyd, Bruce Cohen, and Berggren
created the Spring Sizzler in 1972 as a way to hold
a premier auto racing event in the spring when at
the time all the major events were held in the
summer and fall months. Berggren even won a race at
Stafford during his driving career, taking the
checkered flag in a Late Model Tiger feature event
that was held on May 17, 1968. These roots as well
as his relationship with the late Jack Arute, Sr.
makes being the Grand Marshal of the NAPA Fall Final
an honor for Mr. Berggren.
“I saw my very first race at Stafford Speedway when
I was 8 years old and Stafford is what has taken me
through my whole life,” said Berggren. “Stafford has
been one of my favorite tracks since the days of the
quarter-mile paved track on the infield and the
half-mile dirt track outside that. My parents found
that they could get whatever they needed from me by
promising trips to Stafford. I had to pay my own way
so I had a paper route and I did all sorts of things
to earn money because I needed a quarter to buy a
copy of Illustrated Speedway news and I needed to
have an extra dollar in order to buy one of Shaney
Lorenzen’s 8x10 pictures of the drivers. The Fall
Final is on the other end of the Spring Sizzler, but
it’s still a long running major event. I was
thrilled when Mark Arute asked me to be the Grand
Marshal. Stafford has meant so much to me for so
many years and to be the Grand Marshal at one of
Stafford’s major events is a big deal. Stafford is
special because of my relationship with Jack, Sr.
and Bill Slater to start with. When we first ran the
Sizzler, they were so kind to us and they were very
supportive. I see what Mark and Lisa have done with
the track now and Stafford is better than it’s ever
been from a perspective from being a clean, solid
place that has good racing that people can bring
their families, enjoy a night of short track racing,
and go home with a smile on their faces and tell
their friends and neighbors this is a wonderful
place to go. It’s the Jack Arute way, do everything
first class.”
Since Berggren retired from his television duties,
he has been busy with a host of projects. His main
focus has been on getting the North East Motor
Sports Museum up and running and he is also working
on a book project that is titled “History of Auto
Racing in New England.”
“It’s very important to not only me but for a lot of
folks that there’s a building that can house the
artifacts, photography, books, and all that sort of
thing from auto racing past,” said Berggren. “I’m
also working on a book that will have a chapter
dedicated to Stafford’s dirt and NASCAR days which
ranged from 1959 to 1966. Andy Fusco has dug deep
into that period’s history and I was actually there
in the grandstands for most of those races. The book
has 13 other chapters and the boys and I are putting
this together for Christmas.”
The North East Motor Sports Museum is a proposed
20,000 square foot facility that will be located
either on the grounds of New Hampshire Motor
Speedway, or New England Dragway. When the museum
has been completed, it will be home to an extensive
collection of race cars, trophies, helmets, engines,
motorcycles, books, photographs, newspapers, videos,
magazines and memorabilia that represents a
cross-section of the rich North East racing history.
For more information about the museum, please visit
www.nemsmuseum.com.
The Whelen Modified Tour cars will qualify for the
NAPA Fall Final 150 on Saturday, Sept. 27 before
hitting the track for 150 laps on Sunday, Sept. 28.
The famous NAPA Pit Party, a meet and greet with
drivers and teams, will take place from 11:00am to
noon on Sunday, Sept. 28. Saturday will also see
qualifying heats for Stafford’s NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series divisions plus the Legend Cars
as well as feature events for the SK Lights, Ltd.
Late Models, DARE Stocks, Legend Cars, and Rusty
Wallace Racing Experience. The Whelen Modified Tour
will be joined on Sunday by the SK Modified® and
Late Model feature events.
Tickets for the 42nd Annual NAPA Auto Parts Fall
Final Weekend are priced at $38.50 for adult general
admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and
children ages 5 and under are admitted free of
charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved
seating is priced at $42.00 for all ages. All NAPA
Fall Final tickets are good for admission on both
Saturday and Sunday and ticket prices include 10% CT
Admission Tax. Visit your local participating NAPA
Auto Parts Store for discount ticket offers.
For more information on the 42nd Annual NAPA Auto
Parts Fall Final Weekend, or to order tickets,
contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at
860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com. |
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Source: Scott Running / Stafford Motor Speedway
Posted:
September 18, 2014 |
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