Champ Trail - December 1, 2015

  The 2015 Northeast racing came to a conclusion this past weekend, November 27, 28 and 29 with the running of the annual Turkey Derby at the Wall Stadium in New Jersey. The weekend was highlighted by the running of the Modified tour type Turkey Derby 150 on Saturday.
  In what ended up being a long day Ryan Preece and Matt Hirschman survived numerous bumps and bruises plus a three hour rain delay to finish one-two in the 150 lap 42nd Annual post Thanksgiving classic. Dave Sapienza had an extremely good run going for several laps, but Preece finally made a low pass with 24 laps remaining and took off. Sapienza later ended up going around after contact from Jimmy Blewett. Blewett was put to the rear for his aggressive driving. Preece started 13th on the field while Hirschman started on the pole. Doug Coby, fresh off his Thompson World Series win finished third with Anthony Sesely fourth. Ron Silk rounded out the top five.
  With numerous cautions plus a three hour rain delay it took almost six hours to finish the event. New England was well represented but because of the heavy contact on the tight track didn't have good finishes to show for their efforts. Woody Pitkat ended up 11th, Max Zachem, 13th and Keith Rocco, 17th. All were highly competitive but just didn't have the luck to avoid trouble.

  The Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park announced that they will host four NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series events in 2016. The speedway management team announced that they will be announcing the full 2016 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series oval schedule on Tuesday, December 8th.
  The Stafford Motor Speedway stated that their 2016 Schedule of Events will be released in the near future. Among the confirmed dates are the 45th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler on April 22-24,2016, Friday Night Racing begins May 6, 2016 and concludes on September 16, 2016 and the 44th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final Weekend on October 1-2, 2016.
  All tolled Stafford will host four NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Events; three Valenti Modified Racing Series Events; the NAPA SK 5k; plus Xtra Distance Events for all NASCAR divisions.
  Both Stafford and Thompson have pre-season discounted Season pass packages in place. It is advised that both tracks have good deals in place and one should not hesitate in getting a pass package.

  Now that winter is close at hand, Dec. 21, its time to start thinking about the annual trip to Florida for Speedweek in February of 2016. In addition to the Daytona 500 which will be held on Sunday, Feb 21 many from the northeast make the annual trek to Florida for the annual World Series of Short Track Racing at the high banked - 1/2 mile New Smyrna Speedway. Now in it's 50th year, the New Smyrna series features NASCAR tour type Modifieds, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, Super Late Models, Pro Late Models, IMCA Modifieds and Sportsman. Action begins on Friday night, Feb 12. The tour type Modifieds will race on Monday, Feb 15 for 50 laps, Tues, Feb 16 for 25 laps, Wed, Feb 17 for the 76 lap John Blewett III Memorial, Thurs for 25 laps and the Richie Evans Memorial 100 on Fri night night, Feb 19.

  On the speedway stock market scene last week, all three speedway stocks ended the four day trading session on the positive side. The stock market was closed on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Speedway Motorsports went up 1.10 to 19.46 while the International Speedway Corporation went up 0.33 to 35.22 and Dover Entertainment went up 0.03 to 2.28. NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear went up 0.56 to 34.81 while NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco (Energy Transfer) dropped 0.35 to 38.31 and NASCAR cup sponsor Sprint dropped 0.10 to 3.73. Two of the three major car manufacturers had positive weeks. Toyota went up 0.70 to 124.37 and General Motors went up 0.03 to 36.37 while Ford dropped 0.07 to 14.55. In the home improvement sector, Home Depot went up 4.53 to 134.74 and Lowes went up 1.57 to 77.34. In the area of big teams sponsors stocks most showed modest gains for the week. Among those that didn't was Fedex which dropped 0.05 to 164.09. McDonalds went up 0.32 to 114.23, Coca-Cola went up 10.06 to 198.69, Target went up 2.61 to 73.44 and Aarons Rentals went up 0.98 to 24.68.

  On the tube this coming week:

  Thursday, December 3
6:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Net
7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
6:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub - Best of the Year, FOX Sports 1

  Friday, December 4
6:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
6:00 PM, NASCAR Scan All 43, NBCSN
6:30 PM, NASCAR Scan All 43, NBCSN
7:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
8:00 PM, NASCAR Red Carpet Special, NBCSN
9:00 PM, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards, NBCSN

  Saturday, December 5
12:00 AM, NSCS Awards 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.
 

Source: Phil Smith / Champ Trail
Posted: December 1, 2015