Champ Trail -
November 17, 2015 |
The dark cloud that hung over the finish of the recent North-South Shootout
continues to hover. Justin Bonsignore, who crossed the finish line in second
spot behind Matt Hirschman when the checkered flag was displayed was
declared the event. Hirschman was placed to the end of those on the lead lap
at the finish because his crew worked on his car during a red flag period in
the closing moments. Just about everybody who has been in and around racing
knows that working on cars is just not allowed. Hirschman's crew alleges
that they were given permission to plug a leaking tire. Race director Tom
Fox has denied this. Prior to the restart Fox was forced to leave the
speedway in order to make a flight connection that couldn't be avoided. It
was suggested to event promoter Darren Hackett that the race be
red-checkered and not restarted. Hackett decided to run the event to its
completion. Aware that a violation of race procedure had occurred, Hackett
failed to place Hirschman at the tail of the lead lap.
The 2015 Northeast racing comes to a conclusion next weekend, November
27, 28 and 29 with the running of the annual Turkey Derby at the Wall
Stadium in New Jersey. The weekend will be highlighted by the running of the
Modified tour type Turkey Derby 150 on Saturday.
In the process of launching an ad for season tickets the Stafford Motor
Speedway has revealed at least two of the Whelen Modified Tour events for
2016. The Annual Spring Sizzler will be run on Sunday, April 24 and the Fall
Final will be held on Sunday, October 2. That being said, its a good bet
that the Thompson Speedway Ice Breaker will run on Sunday, April 10 and the
season ending World Series will run on Sunday, October 16. The Thompson
dates are purely speculative at this time.
The wheels of progress continue to turn at the New London-Waterford
Speedbowl. General Manager Shawn Monahan says one of the many improvements
to be made will be the replacement of the Armco Barrier that has outlived
its usefulness. Monahan also stated that he will seek out local business' to
bolster existing purses. As far as special events go, Monahan said that the
Whelen Modified Tour Series will return to the shoreline oval most likely in
May. The Tri-Track Series will also be back as well as the Valenti Modified
Series. Monahan also hinted that a few Thursday night events are planned
which will feature Saturday night divisions who would in turn get the
following Saturday night as a break. For the most part Monahan, track owner
Bruce Bemer and their staff have done an outstanding job of keeping the
Speedbowl alive and prospering.
It looks like the Tri-Track Open Modified Series is alive and well and is
good to go in 2016. As part of Open Wheel Wednesday on June 29 the Seekonk
Speedway will host the series for the third straight year. The event will
pay $10,000 to win.
In NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex
Jr. advanced to the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship finale after
surviving a long Sunday that ended with a rain-shortened race at Phoenix
International Raceway. The race was delayed nearly seven hours by a series
of storms, forcing the penultimate race in the Chase to start under the
lights at the mile oval. More rain forced NASCAR to called it after 219
laps, with Harvick second behind winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Busch fourth and
Truex 14th.
On the speedway stock market scene last week, all three speedway stocks
finished the week on the negative side. Taking the biggest slide was the
International Speedway Corporation which went down 0.78 to 34.12. Speedway
Motorsports dropped 0.32 to 18.35 and Dover Entertainment dropped 0.08 to
2.24. NASCAR cup sponsor Sprint dropped 0.15 to 4.18 while NASCAR fuel
supplier Sunoco (Energy Transfer) dropped 2.39 to 39.62 and NASCAR tire
supplier Goodyear dropped 1.09 to 31.89. The car manufacturers didn't fare
any better. Ford dropped 0.60 to 13.92, General Motors dropped 1.44 to 34.31
and Toyota dropped 1.65 to 121.27. In the home improvement sector, Home
Depot dropped 5.98 to 120.00 and Lowes dropped 3.05 to 70.09. Big team
sponsor's stocks were, for the most part, negative. McDonalds dropped 3.34
to 109.97, Coca-Cola dropped 2.17 to 176.78, Target Department Stores
dropped 5.23 to 71.89, Aarons Rentals dropped 1.17 to 23.97 and Fedex
dropped 4.27 to 158.11.
On the tube this coming week:
Thursday, November 19
6:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Net
7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
9:30 AM, How It's Made-Impact Wrenches, Marble Sinks, Plantain Chips, NASCAR
Cars, SCI
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
6:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
Friday, November 20
6:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
9:00 AM, NCWTS Homestead practice, FS1
12:00 PM, NSCS Homestead practice, NBCSN
1:30 PM, NXS Homestead final practice, NBCSN
4:00 PM, NCWTS Homestead qualifying, FS1
5:30 PM, NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
6:00 PM, NSCS Homestead qualifying, NBCSN
8:00 PM, NCWTS Homestead race, FS1
9:00 PM, Undercover Boss - NASCAR, Oprah Winfrey Network
Saturday, November 21
12:00 AM, Undercover Boss - NASCAR, OWN
3:30 AM, NCWTS Homestead race re-air, FS1
10:00 AM, NSCS Homestead practice, CNBC
11:00 AM, NXS Homestead qualifying, CNBC
12:30 PM, NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
1:00 PM, NSCS Homestead final practice, NBCSN
2:00 PM, NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
2:30 PM, NXS Homestead race, NBC
6:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
Sunday, November 22
11:30 AM, NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
1:30 PM, NASCAR America Sunday, NBC
2:00 PM, NSCS Countdown to Green, NBC
3:00 PM, NSCS Homestead race, NBC
7:00 PM, NSCS Post Race Show, NBCSN
8:00 PM, NASCAR Victory Lap, NBCSN
10:00 PM, NASCAR Victory Lane, FS1
11:30 PM, NASCAR Victory Lap re-air, NBCSN
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: November
17, 2015 |
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