June 12, 2015 |
Sixty Years ago in 1955, rain made it two Saturdays in a row at
the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Phil Mitchell was the Wednesday night
winner at the Connecticut shoreline oval. Arnie Harris was the non-Ford
winner.
Fifty five years ago in 1960 Bill
Slater returned to victory lane on the dirt at the Stafford Springs
Speedway. At the Waterford Speedbowl Don Collins ran his streak to five in a
row as he won both Modified and non-Ford events at the shoreline oval. Walt
Perkins was the Bomber winner.
Fifty years ago in 1965 Ernie Gahan
broke the strangle hold the NY drivers held at Stafford as he won the Friday
night Modified feature. Bob Steadman won his first and only feature at the
Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night. Jerry Glaude was the Bomber winner.
Bill Wimble won at the Fonda Speedway on Saturday night and at Utica-Rome on
Sunday, Eddie Flemke made it two in a row as he won a 30 lapper over Don
Moon and Billy Harman.
Forty five years ago in 1970, Bugsy
Stevens beat out Fred DeSarro on Friday night at Malta. In twin 25 action at
Stafford on Saturday night, Ed Yerrington beat out neighbor Moose Hewitt and
Eddie Flemke for the win. DeSarro scored a victory in the second 25 lapper.
Bernie Miller finished second. At Fonda, Jerry Pennock and Lou Lazzaro
shared victory lane and at Plattsburg, Gene Mangino won out over Dick Fowler
and Andy Romano. Walt Dombrowski scored his fourth win at Waterford behind
the wheel of the L&M. Bob Gada Sr was the Late Model Daredevil winner. At
Thompson on Sunday, Stevens and DeSarro shared the twin 25 lap glory and at
Utica-Rome, also on Sunday, Lou Lazzaro won out over Jerry Cook, and Dave
Lape.
Thirty five years ago in 1980, the
New England Drivers and Owners Club (NEDOC) sat down with Bill France and
Bill Gazzaway of NASCAR and Thompson Speedway promoter Don Hoenig in
Warwick,R.I. with hopes of settling a drivers strike at Thompson over pit
admissions. After a lengthy discussion, Hoenig agreed to give two pit passes
per car and charge three mechanics a maximum of $5.00 per show. In Friday
night action at Stafford, Bugsy Stevens took the win over Richie Evans, Ray
Miller and Corky Cookman. Evans picked up a win at Riverside on Saturday
night over Reggie Ruggiero and backed it up with a win at Thompson over
Ronnie Bouchard and George Kent on Sunday. Bouchard had won the previous
night at Westboro. George Kent and Maynard Troyer each shared victory lane
at Spencer on Friday. On Saturday night, Kent won at Shangri-La and Troyer
at Lancaster. Monadnock tried a Thursday night modified special which turned
into a total flop as only 20 cars and 500 spectators showed for the event.
Ronnie and Kenny Bouchard finished one-two there. Other weekend winners were
Rick Donnelly in a 100 lapper at Waterford over Bob Potter and Jerry Pearl
at Waterford, Allen Whipple at Claremont, Gary Cretty at Riverhead and Wayne
Anderson at New Egypt.
Thirty years ago in 1985, Chargin'
Charlie Jarzombek held off George Brunnhoelzl to win the Friday night
feature at Stafford. Charlie Savage won the SK feature. Saturday night at
Waterford, Mark LaJunesse won out over Bob Gada Sr. Art Moran Jr. was the
Super Stock winner. Reggie Ruggiero beat out John Rosati at Riverside Park
and at Thompson Lloyd Agor was the Sunday night winner over Wayne Dion and
George Savory. Maynard Troyer beat out Doug Hewitt at Spencer and Richie
Evans got the best of George Kent at Shangri-La.
Twenty five years ago in 1990, Jeff
Barry was the Friday night winner at Stafford. Bob Potter was second with
Tom Bolles, third. At Riverside Park on Saturday night a bad fire erupted on
lap 5 of the modified feature. Eddie D'Hondt was trapped in his car until
Wade Cole and Brad Hietella pulled him from his car and more than likely
saved his life. Flames close to 40 feet high were seen at the height of the
fire. Because of a previous weeks rainout, double features were run at
Waterford. Gary Dyer won the left over event over Dennis Gada. Ted
Christopher won the regular nights feature over Bob Potter. The Featherlite
Modified Tour was at Holland, N.Y. where Tony Hirschman beat out Reggie
Ruggiero and George Brunnhoelzl for the win. At the 76 lap open at Lancaster
on Sunday, Mike McLaughlin took the lead on lap 73 from Reggie Ruggiero when
he broke a panhard bar. Following McLaughlin at the finish were Jan Leaty,
Rick Fuller, Tony Hirschman and Doug Hevron.. Other weekend winners were
Chip Graves at Shangri-La and Wayne Anderson over Don Howe at Riverhead.
Twenty years ago in 1995, Steve
Chowanski was the Friday night SK Modified winner at Stafford. Ted
Christopher finished second with Jim Broderick, third. Broderick went to
Waterford on Saturday night where he beat Mike and David Gada for top
honors. At Riverside it was Doug Meservy and at Riverhead it was Chuck
Steuer. On Sunday it was the best of both worlds as the Busch North Series
and the Featherlite Modified Tour ran twin 125's at Thompson. Andy Santerre
won the Busch North event over Dave Dion and Tom Bolles. The Modified event
saw Ed Flemke Jr take the win over Tony Hirschman, Steve Park, Rick Fuller
and Tim Connolly. In Winston Cup action at Michigan, Bobby Labonte took the
win over Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace.
Fifteen years ago in 2000 Thursday
night racing at Thompson rained out. Lee Raceway, once part of the NASCAR
Featherlite Tour, decided to run the Modifieds in an unsanctioned event.
Thirty two cars showed for the 100 lapper which was won by Chris Kopec.
Charlie Pasteryak finished third and was followed by Mike Ewanitsko, Jim
Willis and Rob Summers. Willie Hardie Jr took the win at Stafford on Friday
night. A big controversy developed when Ted Christopher was throw out by
Race Director Frank Sgambato Jr for un sportsman like conduct and abusing
officials. Sgambato had Christopher black flagged because of a piece of
metal hanging off his car. In days following the incident, Christopher swore
up and down that he would never race at Stafford again. By the end of the
following week, Mark Arute, promoter and general manager of the nutmeg oval
had reviewed tapes of the incident and determined that Sgambato had made a
bad call. Arute apologized to Christopher and when the next Friday rolled
around, Christopher was back in the Stafford line-up. Waterford rained out
on Saturday. Tracy Gordon made it three in a row in Busch North Series
competition as he won the Jennerstown 150.Chris Young won at Riverhead and
in Busch Grandnational action at Myrtle Beach, SC, Jeff Green made it three
in a row .In Winston Cup action at Pocono, rain forced NASCAR to hold the
event on Monday. Jeremy Mayfield, running second on the final lap coming off
the fourth turn gave Dale Earnhardt some of the medicine that he had doled
out many times to others. Mayfield gave him a nudge, just enough to break
his stride and drove past to take the win. For someone who had done this
many times to others, Earnhardt didn't take it very well as he was quite
irate during a post race interview.
Ten years ago in 2005 The Thompson
Speedway got most of their Thursday night Thunder program in before the
skies opened up. Second generation Sunoco Modified driver Richard Savory
started on the pole and led 23 of the scheduled 30 laps when the rains came.
Never seriously challenged, Savory scored his first ever win. Bo Gunning
finished second with Tom Cravenho, third. Ted Christopher and Kerry Malone
rounded out the top five. Other Thursday night winners were Mike O’Sullivan
in the Pro Stocks, Keith DeSantis in the Limited Sportsman and Roger Larson
in the Thompson Mods. The Mini-Stocks amd Late Models will run their
features at a later date. Thursday night Thunder continues this week with
the Late Models going the 50 lap distance.
The Busch North Series finally got to start their season at Stafford on
Friday night. With 35 cars on hand and no rain in sight Matt Kobyluck put
his name in the record books as the winner. After starting on the pole
Kobyluck ran 150 laps non-stop without a pit stop to pick up the victory.
Ryan Moore was an early threat but fell by the wayside with mechanical
problems. Andy Santerre attempted a late race challenge but his efforts fell
short as he had to settle for second. Jerry Marquis finished third with Ted
Christopher, fourth. Mike Johnson rounded out the top five. Lloyd Agor
recorded his second SK Modified win of the year as he held off Don Lia in
the closing laps. Eric Berndt finished third with Todd Owen, fourth. Mike
Quintilliano took the 30 lap Late Model feature with Andrew Durand taking
the Limited Late Model feature. Charlie Newman was the DARE Stock winner.
The Waterford Speedbowl finally got to run their rained out Nationals
program, at least most of it. Tom Fox won the 150 lap SK Modified portion.
Chris Pasteryak put the pressure on over the last third of the event and in
the end fell short by less than a car length. Dennis Cherette finished
third, a half a lap back. Ron Yuhas Jr and Ronnie Silk rounded out the top
five. The Mini Stock feature took on a finish that resembled an Abbot and
Costello comedy routine. “Who’s on First, What’s on Second and I don’t know
is on third”. Ken Cassidy Jr was the apparent winner and was about to be
interviewed in victory lane when it was discovered that there was a mis-communication
between the starter and assistant starter as to weather the race was
complete or not. Needless to say the event was two laps short and had to be
completed. The outcome was the same as Cassidy took the win, again. Len
Beebe was the Legends winner. The 50-lap Late Model feature and the
Sportsman 30 lap feature were rained out and will be rescheduled for a later
date.
Eugene Arganese, who was proposing a multimillion dollar domed auto
racetrack at the Plainfield Greyhound Park in Connecticut, had applied for
the necessary state gaming license to continue gambling activity on the
site.
Carl Edwards shot past Martin Truex JR with two laps to go to win the
Busch Series event at the Kentucky Speedway. Greg Biffle scored his fifth
Nextel Cup win at the Michigan Speedway. In Formula 1 racing at the
Indianapolis Speedway fourteen of the 26 cars entered ended up getting
parked prior to the start over concerns of unsafe Michelin Tires.
Five years ago in 2010, The NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour Series ended its "Spring Break" last Friday when they
returned to action at the Stafford Motor Speedway for the TSI
Harley-Davidson 125. The event carried a purse of $76,476. There were 33
Modifieds on hand for the 31 starting spots.
Bobby Santos edged Jimmy Blewett in a dramatic two-lap dash to the finish
to win the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race. Santos
and Blewett battled back-and-forth throughout the late stages of the event,
which was extended with two attempts at a green-white-checkered finish due
to late-race cautions.
After Santos jumped the final restart on lap 135, he was ordered to let
Blewett pull even at the line. Blewett nipped Santos as they took the white
flag, but Santos was able to battle back to capture his second win of the
season and the third of his career. Todd Szegedy, Ryan Preece and Rob
Summers rounded out the top five. Completing the top 10 were Eric Berndt,
Mike Stefanik, Erick Rudolph, George Brunnhoelzl III and Andy Seuss. Santos
won his third pole in three attempts during qualifying earlier in the day
and following the redraw started the race on the outside of the front row.
Eric Berndt was successful in battling Santos for the early lead and paced
the field for the majority of the race. Berndt had extended his lead to 2.5
seconds by lap 90, but he lost the top spot when he faltered on a lap 108
restart, giving the lead to Chuck Hossfeld. When Hossfeld was spun by
Blewett a few laps later, however, Santos took advantage to gain the lead.
Santos then had to contend with Blewett through the final stages of the
race.
There were seven cautions for 35 laps. Seventeen of the 31 starters
finished on the lead lap. For his efforts Santos received $6600. Blewett
earned $2900 while Szegedy received $2500.
The Modified Racing Series ran a double header last week as they held
events at the Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY and Thunder Road
Speedbowl in Barre, VT.
In a wild last lap finish, Les Hinckley unofficially won the 100 lap
Modified Racing Series feature at the Airborne Speedway on Saturday night.
Hinckley, from his pole starting position led the first 74 laps, setting a
torrid pace holding off the constant threats of Todd Annarummo, and
defending series champion, Jon McKennedy. Unofficially the win by Hinckley
is his 12th MRS victory. Rowan Pennink, who started 15th in the 25-car
field, passed Hinckley on lap 75 and held the top spot, resulting in
Hinckley chasing the new leader. Hinckley and Dwight Jarvis pursued Pennink
until lap 99, when Hinckley and Pennink made contact racing to the checkered
flag resulting in a violent crash at the start-finish line. Both cars came
to a halt against the first turn safety barrier, neither driver was injured.
Jarvis settled for third followed by Carl Pasteryak and Kenny Barry. The
race in front of a near capacity crowd saw the top 11 drivers finish on the
lead lap.
The second Modified Series event of the weekend saw 20 year old Stephen
Masse captured his second consecutive Memorial Day Classic 100 at the famed
Thunder Road International Speedbowl Sunday, May 30th Starting fifth in a
24-car field, Masse moved to second by lap nine and then took over the lead
from early race leader Todd Annarummo, on lap 19. Despite 11-caution periods
that slowed the race, Masse opened up sizable leads, several times by large
margins, but was never headed. Rob Goodenough, who started the race in
seventh position, finished in the runner up spot followed by Ken Barry, Kirk
Alexander, and 17 year old Norwich (CT) Free Academy student, Max Zachem. At
one point in the race Zachem was joined in the top five by fellow high
schooler Joey Jarvis. Both drivers will graduate from high school in June.
Sixth through tenth was Les Hinckley, Joey Jarvis, Charlie Pasteryak, Dwight
Jarvis and Eddie Spiers. Hinckley was also the recipient of a $400 bonus
posted by motorsports columnist, Kevin Rice of Area Auto Racing News for the
best average between finish the two races.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series division racing at the Stafford
Motor Speedway Keith Rocco continued his winning ways by taking his second
consecutive and third overall victory of the 2010 season in the 40-lap SK
Modified feature, Woody Pitkat picked up his second win of 2010 in the
30-lap Late Model feature, Ted Cain picked up his second win of 2010 in the
20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Michael Wray was a first time career
winner in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Kyle Casagrande became
the first DARE Stock feature repeat winner of the 2010 season in the 15-lap
DARE Stock feature with a last lap pass for the win.
The Waterford Speedbowl took on a new face last week as several truck
loads of ground up asphalt was dumped and leveled on the parking area and
access road to the shoreline oval. Once the summer heat beats on it a bit
the stuff will harden up and will keep some of the dust down.
Keith Rocco, who won at Thompson and at Stafford was looking to score a
grand-slam last weekend, ended up settling for a sixth as Justin Gaydosh
pick up his first victory of the year in the 35-lap SK Modified event. Vin
Esposito won the 30-lap Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature, securing
his first win of the year. Al Stone III took his second win of the season in
the 25-lap Street Stock feature, while Sean Caron also became a two-time
winner after taking the 25-lap Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock checkered flag.
Mike Lichty held off Chris Perley to win the wreck-marred 50-lap ISMA
SuperModified feature.
The Thompson International Speedway Thursday night Thunder Series saw
Keith Rocco return to victory lane in the Sunoco Modifieds. Rocco, who has
his sights set on the NASCAR National Title, ran a determined race after a
last lap defeat on opening night at the hands of Ted Christopher. Shawn
Monahan took a convincing win in the annual 50-lap extra distance event for
the Limited Sportsman division. Jim Banfield broke Derik Randstroms
stranglehold on victory lane as he wired the field to score a hard-fought
victory in the Super Late Models. Rick Gentes took top honors in a wild Late
Model event while Cam “Keith” McDermott was victorious in the TIS Modifieds.
Randy Churchill, Jr was awarded the victory in the Mini Stocks following
post-race technical inspection.
The Bowman-Gray Stadium, in Winston-Salem, NC ran a 100 lapper in front
of an absolutely huge crowd. NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series driver James
Civali was a surprise entry in the Roger Hill No. 79. Civali got to see
first hand why they call the North Carolina oval "The MadHouse". Civali
survived to finish fourth while Burt Myers took his 43rd career win. Myers,
who drew the pole position, endured nine restarts before taking the win.
Defending Champion Tim Brown was the fastest in qualifying for the third
time this season. He recorded a lap of 13.432 seconds (67 mph) on the flat
quarter-mile track. But he drew the 14th starting spot. Brown finished 13th.
Lee Jeffreys finished second and Jonathan Brown was third. Civali's
intention was to get a "Heads-Up" on racing at the track as the Whelen
Southern Modified Tour Series will be racing there on Aug. 7.
At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island Tom Rogers Jr. won his second
consecutive NASCAR Modified feature event in a 35-lap event Saturday night
after coming from a 14th starting position to do so. Rogers earned $1,450
for his 11th career NASCAR Whelen All-American Series triumph.
It was all in the family at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch won
the NASCAR Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 while brother Kyle won the Nationwide
Series event and the Camping World Truck event.
Dario Franchitti drove 199 nearly flawless laps, then survived the last
one with a huge break from a spectacular crash to climb back on top of the
open-wheel world Sunday with his second win at the Indianapolis 500.
Two years after a failed try in NASCAR, Franchitti held on with a scant
1.6 gallons of fuel left in the tank, a victory made possible by a crash
that sent Mike Conway airborne and into the wall, and left the final lap to
be run under a caution flag.
The victory made Franchitti's boss, Chip Ganassi, the first owner to win
Indy and NASCAR's Daytona 500 in the same year. It also validated the
Scottish driver's return to the IndyCar circuit two years after celebrating
his 2007 Indy victory by making an unsuccessful move with Ganassi to NASCAR.
England's Dan Wheldon, the 2005 winner who closed furiously as Franchitti
slowed to save fuel in the final laps, was second, and fellow Brit Alex
Lloyd was third, followed by Scott Dixon in fourth.
Last year, 2014, The Stafford Motor
Speedway finally emerged from the bad weather cycle it had been stuck in for
four weeks. In NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour action Doug Coby took the victory
in the TSI Harley Davidson 125 Friday night. The race was postponed twice by
rain and then Coby had to outlast Justin Bonsignore and Bobby Santos in a
green-white-checkered finish that pushed the race to 130 laps.
Pole sitter Bobby Santos led the opening laps until giving way to Doug
Coby during lap six. Coby led from lap seven until a restart on lap 127 when
Santos just nipped Coby for the lead. Not to be denied Coby rallied to
retake the lead one lap later and proceeded to romp to the win. Justin
Bonsignore got by Santos on the final lap to finish second as Santos settled
for third. Rowan Pennink and Woody Pitkat rounded out the top five. Ron Silk
finished sixth, followed by Patrick Emerling, Ted Christopher, Ryan Preece
and Glen Reen.
There were 13 cars on the lead lap at the finish. Among those who failed
to finish were Tommy Barrett, Jr. and Jamie Tomaino who wrecked on lap 112,
Ken Heagy who lost his steering on lap 101 and Keith Rocco who retired with
a blown engine on lap 81.
The Stafford event went 104 laps before the first caution was displayed
when Don Lia and Ken Heagy made contact and spun just past turn one. Heagy
ultimately retired. Lia's crew made repairs and he ended up finishing 15th,
one lap down at the finish. The second caution occurred on lap 112 Barrett
spun in turn three and Tomaino hit him. Tomaino pulls away but Barrett was
dumping water big time across the track. On lap 114 the race went to red for
the clean-up. The caution flew again on lap 121 for Matt Hirschman who spun
in turn four. Hirschman restarted and finished 14th, one lap down.
With the win, Coby took over the points lead from Bonsignore, 132-128.
Pitkat is third in points at 123. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be
back in action Saturday, June 21 with the Mr. Rooter 161 at Connecticut's
Waterford Speedbowl.
Taking down NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly feature wins on the
night were Ryan Preece for the third consecutive race in the SK Modified®
feature, Tom Fearn in the Late Model feature, Joey Ferrigno in the SK Light
Modified feature, Justin Bren picked up his first career victory in the
Limited Late Model feature, Johnny Walker in the DARE Stock feature, and
Dana DiMatteo was a first time winner in the Legend Cars feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event that was resumed from lap-9 from
May 23rd, Joey Cipriano resumed the race lead with Eric Berndt all over his
back bumper. Behind Berndt, Todd Owen was fending off challenges from both
Ryan Preece and Woody Pitkat. Preece went around Owen on lap-11 to move into
third and he then took to the outside groove on lap-14 to make a pass on
Cipriano to move into second. Owen fell back to fourth, just in front of
Tony Membrino, Jr., and Keith Rocco. Berndt moved to the lead on lap-15 and
then Preece went y Berndt on lap-16. Berndt came back to t e inside of
Preece on lap-18, but Preece was able to keep Berndt behind him for the time
being. The caution came out with 18 laps complete for Doug Coby, who came to
a rest in a shower of sparks in turn 3.
Preece took the lead on the restart while Cipriano briefly challenged
Berndt for second before settling back into third. Rocco was fourth with
Pitkat running in fifth. With 10 laps to go, Preece and Berndt were pulling
away from the duo of Cipriano and Rocco, who in turn both had a comfortable
margin back to the two cars of Pitkat and Sean Foster.
Preece led Berndt to the checkered flag to pick up his third consecutive
victory to begin the 2014 season. Cipriano finished third, with Rocco and
Pitkat rounding out the top-5.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Waterford Speedbowl,
Keith Rocco added his point lead and his win total with another SK Modified®
victory while Jason Palmer won his second straight Valenti Auto Mall Late
Model race. Ryan Waterman was top banana following an action packed Street
Stock race and Dave Trudeau picked up his first Speedbowl Mini Stock
checkered flag in several seasons. Plainfield’s Corey Barry won his second
consecutive SK Light Modified race after the division was idle for two weeks
and in INEX racing, Mike Christopher Jr. won for the third time in the
Legend Cars division’s Saturday series. Before the night’s races, a track
walk benefiting Lupus Foundation of America’s Connecticut Chapter netted
nearly $6,000 for the charity
The SK Modified feature was led to the green flag by Diego Monahan, who
led the opening laps while being challenged by Kyle James. James quickly
moved into second position and used a valiant effort to Monahan’s outside to
finally overtake him on lap-8. Rocco came through the top ten cars in early
race traffic before going up top to attack the top four cars racing single
file ahead. On lap-10, he was outside Craig Lutz for third and a lap later,
used the same move on Monahan to power into second. James was out front by
several car lengths and Rocco began to run him down when caution waved on
lap-13 for a spinning Ted Christopher in turn two.
James hung tough following the restart, looking good as he held back
Rocco’s outside charge through a lap-18 caution flag for a spin by Rob
Janovic Jr. Rocco timed the ensuing restart perfectly to gain the edge over
James, pulling ahead for good on lap-19. Rocco was perfect on two additional
restarts to get away from James the rest of the way to close out the win.
James ran strong to finish second and Lutz followed up his victory a week
previous with another podium run, finishing third. Tyler Chadwick was up
front all race and finished fourth and Shawn Thibeault was fifth.
For the record, Rocco is the overall feature winner in the Northeast with
12 victories to his credit including four in the SK Modifieds and five in
the Late Models at Waterford.
The Valenti Modified Racing Series visited the Seekonk Speedway on
Saturday night with 30 cars strong. Steve Masse won his first Series race of
the season. Masse took the lead from Anthony Nocella on lap 9 and was never
headed. Justin Bonsignore finished second for the third time in the last
four races, while Norm Wrenn finished third for for his best finish since
April 2012 at Monadnock (second). Max Zachem remained consistent with his
fourth top 10. David Schneider was fifth for his best career finish. Sixth
through tenth were Todd Szegedy, Chris Pasteryak, Geoff Gernhard, Mike
Willis Jr and Jonny Kay.
At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, Timmy Solomito swept the Richie
Evans Hall of Fame Twin 50's.
In Modified racing in the Southland, twin Modified features were run at
the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC. Jason Myers won the first of
two 25-lap Modified races at the place they call "The Madhouse" on Saturday
night, and Junior Miller, still licking his wounds after being spun out of
the lead a week previous, scored a win in the second race. Myers led pole to
pole in the first race for the featured Modified Division and registered his
second victory of the season. Tim Brown finished second and Lee Jeffreys was
third. A draw for starting positions in the second 25 lapper put Miller on
the pole for the start of the second race. He held off Robert Jeffreys to
rack up another victory. Tony Black finished third. Burt Myers kept his lead
in the season standings, finishing fourth and eighth in the Modified races.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ Pocono 400 at Pocono
Raceway. Only Brad Keselowski stood between Earnhardt and the checkered flag
as the laps wound down. He drove inside both Keselowski and a lapped Danica
Patrick, seized the lead with five laps to go and never looked back en route
to his second victory of the season and the 21st of his Sprint Cup career.
That’s about it for this week from 11 Gardner Drive, Westerly, 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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Looking Back Archive
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Source: Phil
Smith / Looking Back A Bit
Posted: June
12, 2015 |
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