June 19, 2015 |
Sixty years ago in 1955, Wild Bill Slater won the 50 lap June
championship at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Ray Griffin was the
non-Ford winner. In Wednesday night action at the Speedbowl, Don Collins
scored his fifth Modified feature win and Lou Tetreault scored his seventh
non-Ford win.
Fifty five years ago in 1960 Don
Collins continued his domination at the Waterford Speedbowl as he made it
five wins in a row driving the famous V-8. Ted Stack was the non-Ford winner
and Ed Priest was the Bomber winner.
Red Bolduc, a crowd favorite at the Norwood Arena died from injuries
sustained in a violent crash.
Fifty years ago in 1965 Bill Wimble
scored his second win of the season at the Stafford Springs Speedway. Racing
at the Waterford Speedbowl fell victim to rain. Leo Cleary put the M-2 in
victory lane at the Norwood Arena on Saturday night while Irv Taylor was
winning the main event at the Fonda Speedway. Bob Zieglar broke Eddie
Flemke’s win streak at Utica-Rome. Flemke settled for second with Rene
Charland, third. Flemke was suspended following the event because of his
alleged rough riding.
Forty five years ago in 1970, the
Albany-Saratoga Speedway started the weekend off with a 100 lapper. NASCAR
modified point leader Fred DeSarro in the Sonny Koszela Woodchopper took the
win over Bugsy Stevens and Leo Cleary. In twin 25 action at Stafford on
Saturday night Billy Greco took the opener over Don Flynn and Ernie Gahan.
Tom Sutcliff took the nitecap over Freddie Schulz and Moose Hewitt. Lou
Lazzaro went two for two at Fonda on Saturday night, winning both 25 lap
features. In the first event, Maynard Forette finished second with Ron
Narducci and Dave Lape following. The second event saw Narducci come home in
second spot with Don Wayman and Irv Taylor. Charlie Webster won the 30 lap
Modified feature and retired on the spot. John DeLong was the Daredevil Late
Model feature winner. Sunday action at Thompson and Utica-Rome was rained
out. Bugsy Stevens went to Maine with the Mighty No. 3 of Len Boehler and
walked off with the first ever 100 lap Modified open competition event run
at the Oxford Plains Speedway.
Forty years ago in 1975, Gary Winters
took the Modified win at Freeport on Friday night. Charlie Jarzombek
finished second with Art Tappen, third. Saturday night at Stafford was
action packed. With the Pocono qualifier on tap, action was at a fever pitch
and tempers were short. Geoff Bodine, Dick Armstrong's hired gun had been
beating the tar out of the competition and was not the best liked driver in
the field. During the running of the feature, Bugsy Stevens was making a run
at Bodine on the outside. Bodine attempted to block and pinched Stevens into
the front chute fence. Stevens rode the top of the fence into turn one,
coming to rest at the pit entrance. On the restart, Bobby Santos in the Joe
Brady No.41 went inside Bodine and solidly parked him in the turn two fence.
The crowd went wild and as they towed the Santos vehicle by the grandstand
over 8,000 screaming fans gave him a standing ovation. Bodine was fined $100
for rough riding and Santos was fined $50 for his action. Eddie Flemke was
the apparent winner until he failed a post race weigh-in by being 60 pounds
light. Fred DeSarro was declared the winner with Brian Ross finishing
second. Bob Potter won his first of four in a row at the Waterford
Speedbowl. Roger Charbonneau was the Late Model Grand American winner. At
Islip, it was George Wagner over Fred Harbach and at Shangri-La, Richie
Evans took the win over Sonny Seamon and Jerry Cook. At Lancaster, Siege
Fidenza took the win in an event that saw Mike Loescher suffer injuries
after a crash. Maynard Troyer beat out George Kent at Fulton on Sunday and
in twin features at Thompson Fred DeSarro and Daring Dick Caso took the top
spots.
Thirty five years ago in 1980, Fred
Harbach was the winner at New Egypt on Wednesday. Bill Park finished second
with Tony Siscone third. Also in the field was Ray Everham who finished
10th. Monadnock ran on Thursday with Marty Radwick taking the win over Kenny
Bouchard. At Stafford on Friday, Ronnie Bouchard held off Corky Cookman and
Richie Evans for the win. Pete Fiandacca was the Late Model winner. At
Riverside Park Radwick made it two for two on the weekend while Ronnie
Bouchard also went two for two as he won at Westboro. Richie Evans and Jerry
Cook finished one-two at Shangri-La and duplicated their efforts at Thompson
on Sunday. Other weekend winners were Moose Hewitt at Waterford, Charlie
Jarzombek at Islip, Allen Whipple at Claremont and Tony Siscone at Wall
Stadium.
Thirty years ago in 1985, the NASCAR
Tour Modifieds ran a 100 lapper at Waterford on Wednesday night. Rick
Donnelly led from pole to pole to win the event. Dave Reszendes finished
second with John Anderson, third. Among those who didn't qualify were Reggie
Ruggiero, Tom Baldwin and Tony Siscone. Doug Hevron won out over Jamie
Tomaino at Stafford on Friday night. John Blewett Jr won at New Egypt and
Jan Leaty at Spencer. Dale Holdridge won at Waterford on Saturday while Greg
Sacks returned to his roots at Riverhead and took the win driving the Art
Barry No.21.Ruggiero returned to his winning ways on Saturday at Riverside
and on Sunday at Thompson, Lloyd Agor took the win.
Twenty five years ago in 1990,
Speedway Scene, the northeast’s leading auto racing weekly at the time, did
not publish as the press broke. Ben Dodge resigned as race director at
Riverside Park after being accused of favoritism. He would change his mind
the following week. The Modified Tour was at Stafford for a 125 lapper. Mike
Stefanik took the win over Rick Fuller and Mike Ewanitsko. Also on Friday
night, Jerry Marquis beat out Dwight Jarvis at Monadnock. Waterford rained
out on Saturday but at Riverside twin features were run with Richie Gallup
and Tom Bolles taking the wins. Dan Jivanelli went pole to pole at Riverhead
and at Shangri-La, Lee Sherwood took the win.
Twenty years ago in 1995, the racing
world was saddened when it was learned that Fred Harbach had passed away
after suffering a heart attack. Ted Christopher got his 34th career win at
Stafford on Friday night as he beat brother Mikey to the stripe. At
Waterford, Mark LaJunesse scored a popular win over Dave Kutka and in
Modified Tour action at Riverhead, Eddie Brunnhoelzl Jr took the top spot
over Brian Ross. Brian Schofield got his first ever win at Riverside. In
Winston Cup action at Watkins Glen, Terry Labonte took the win. Randy LaJoie
was fired and replaced by Jimmy Hensley.
Fifteen years ago in 2000 Kerry
Malone was the Friday night winner at Stafford. Jerry Marquis finished
second with Lloyd Agor, third. Harry Rheaume got his first ever at Waterford
on Saturday with John Brouwer Jr. second. The Featherlite Modified Tour
returned to Seekonk after an absence of many years. Forty eight Modifieds
and 11,000 plus spectators were on hand. Jerry Marquis took the win after
taking the lead from Mike Ewanitsko on lap 126.Ewanitsko,who started in the
rear had made the charge of the night only to see his tires go away. Howie
Brode won at Riverhead. It was also on this weekend that the sale of the
Oxford Plains Speedway from Mike Liberty to Bill Ryan Jr was firmed up.
Ten years ago in 2005 Donnie Lia took
a Sunday drive on a Saturday night as he led from pole to pole in the Whelen
150 at the Waterford Speedbowl. Lia had the entire field covered as no one
could make a serious bid to take the lead away from the Long Island racer.
There were 37 cars on hand for the first of two visits that the Whelen
Modified Tour Series will make to the shoreline oval. Ted Christopher, who
started seventh, moved into second spot after a lap 48 restart but could
never touch Lia who had a full straight away lead when the final caution
flew after Lia had taken the white flag. Tony Hirschman, who had given way
to Christopher was entrenched in third spot but spun without any help after
he went into turn three a little too hot. The event was finished under
caution. Hirschman ended up eighth. Eric Beers, in the Boehler Racing Ole
Blu, finished third with Jerry Marquis, fourth. Steve Whitt, in his best
performance ever, finished fifth. Many drivers felt that because of the heat
and the rubber laid down that there was no outside groove. Matt Hirschman
and Chris Pasteryak made their maiden voyages on the Tour Series and did
themselves proud as they managed to stay out of trouble and finish on the
lead lap. Hirschman started 12th and finished 8th while Pasteryak started
11th and finished 20th. There were 21 cars on the lead lap at the finish.
There were a few feathers ruffled along the way. Kenny Barry was critical of
Jim Civali’s driving after the two got entangled and Barry found himself out
for the night in last spot. Jim Storace took a hard lick on the front chute,
which inflicted severe damage to his mount. Storace didn’t mention who got
into him. The green waved on lap 36. Two laps later Dave Etheridge found
himself in the front chute fence. He said that Rick Fuller hit him.
Etheridge ended his night in 28th spot. The fourth caution of the night came
on lap 68 when Rick Fuller and Nevin George along with Jamie Tomaino tangled
in turn one. Tomaino and George were done for the night. The condition of
Tomaino’s car was described over the PA system as being a little bit
cross-eyed. Once the event was completed runner-up Ted Christopher
insinuated that Lia was using a traction control device. Lea denied the
charge and insisted it was just sour grapes on Christopher’s part.
In regular Saturday night action at the shoreline oval Don Fowler went
pole to pole for the SK Modified win. Ted Christopher came from the back of
the field to finish second. Richard Brooks served up a very exciting win in
the Mini Stocks as he made a three wide pass for second spot with three laps
to go before he took the lead and the win on the final lap. Allen Coates was
the Late Model winner and Norm Root took the Sportsman win.
Bert Marvin became the second repeat winner in Sunoco SK type Modified
competition at the Thompson Speedway on Thursday night. James Civali won the
opening two events at the track during Ice Breaker weekend. Marvin’s win
didn’t come easy as he took a lot of heat from Bo Gunning. Gunning faded to
tenth in the final lap as he brushed the wall and had a tire going flat.
Todd Ceravolo, who started on the pole, ended up in second spot. Jeff
Malave, Adam Norton and Kerry Malone rounded out the top five. Jeff Zuidema
won the special 50 lap Late Model feature. Other winners were Joe Lemay in
the Pro Stocks, Glenn Boss in the Limiteds, Roger Larsen in the TIS
Modifieds and twin features for the Mini-Stocks were taken by Shelly Perry
and Terry Boudreau.
Woody Pitkat picked up his first ever Modified feature at Stafford on
Friday night after he passed Chuck Docherty at the half way mark. What made
the victory even sweeter was the fact that Pitkat had been fired out of the
car that he passed to take the win. Willie Hardie Jr finished third. Mike
Quintiliano made it two in a row in the Late Models and Andrew Durand made
it two in a row in the Limited Late Models. Among the missing at Stafford on
Friday night was Ted Christopher who was serving a one week suspension
imposed by Racing Director Frank Sqambato. Christopher’s suspension came as
a result of his unsportsmanlike conduct when he engaged in a fight in the
pits on June 17. Christopher denied hitting anybody; he did admit to ripping
Stanley Butova's shirt. Butova was Frank Ruocco’s crew chief. Christopher
felt that he had been singled out as he was initially confronted by Butova.
Wayne Anderson made it two in a row at Riverhead.
Despite a black flag halfway through the race, Johnny Sauter had little
trouble dominating the rain-shortened SBC 250 at the Milwaukee Mile on
Saturday night. The race was shortened from 250 to 200 miles after a storm
dumped heavy rain on the track. Martin Truex Jr. was second, and Paul Menard
finished third. J.J. Yeley was fourth and David Stremme fifth as 10 cars
were on the lead lap when the race was stopped. Tony Stewart ended a long
dry spell as he won the Nextel Cup event at Sonoma.
Five years ago in 2010, the Thompson
International Speedway Thursday night Thunder Series was postponed due to
rain showers and high humidity that made it just about impossible to dry the
track. During the drivers meeting Ben Dodge alluded to the fact that may be
changes in the wind at Thompson if the car counts don't improve. There were
nine Thompson Modifieds, sixteen Sunoco (SKtype) Modifieds, ten Late Models,
seventeen tour type Modifieds, nineteen Limited Sportsman and twenty four
Mini-Modifieds. Dodge stated that the speedway is open for suggestions. If
one were to read between the lines he may have been hinting that Thompson
may go with an abbreviated schedule. Despite low car counts the racing at
Thompson in all divisions had been very good. All things considered the
crowds haven't been that bad. Once school gets out they would get better!
Before the rains came qualifying heat races were held for all NASCAR All
American Series divisions along with the Tour-Type Modifieds. Richard Savary
and Mike Stefanik earned an extra $100 for their victories in the 10-lap
heat races for the Tour-Type Modifieds. The lack of support by Modified Tour
car owners was quite evident as many were committed to leaving for
Martinsville on Friday morning.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series traveled to Martinsville, VA for
the Made In America Whelen 200. There were 37 Modifieds on hand. The
decision was made to allow all to start the race. The Virginia weather was
stifling hot as temps hovered around the 90 degree mark and humidity so
thick you could cut it with a knife. Mike Stefanik was the top qualifier.
Stefanik toured the half mile oval in 19.053 seconds. Second fastest was
Todd Szegedy with a 19.128. Third through fifth were Ron Silk, George
Brunnhoelzl III and Bobby Santos. The re-draw for starting positions saw
Stefanik draw ninth. Frank Flemming, the highest qualifying southern
Modified drew the pole starting position. Flemming was seventh fastest. Ted
Christopher, who was tenth fastest, drew the outside pole.
Bobby Santos' dream season continued Sunday at Martinsville Speedway as
he captured the checkered flag in the Made In America Whelen 200. Santos,
driving the Mystic River Marina Mystic Missile, pulled away from the field
on a green-white-checkered finish to claim his third win in four NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour races to start the 2010 season. It was ungodly hot
which had an adverse effect on the crowd which numbered less than 1000
spectators. Ticket price was not a factor as they were a modest $25 for
adults. Rookie Justin Bonsignore had a career-best second-place finish,
followed by Todd Szegedy. Mike Stefanik, the defending race winner, settled
for fourth. Stefanik, lined up on the outside of the front row on the final
restart but was shuffled back on the final two laps. MadHouse Modified man
Burt Myers finished fifth. James Civali, Eric Beers, Woody Pitkat, Richie
Pallai Jr. and Wade Cole rounded out the top 10. Thirteen cars finished on
the lead lap. There were 18 cautions for 119 laps.
Ron Silk appeared to have a car to challenge Santos. However, he pulled out
of the lead under caution on Lap 174 and ran out of gas on pit lane. He
finished 15th, six laps down. Ryan Preece finished 16th after a MSD Box went
bad. Ted Christopher led twice in the early going only to lose many laps as
his crew was forced to fix an oil leak. He finished a distant 18th. Chris
Pasteryak, Eddie Flemke Jr and Eric Goodale were eliminated in an accident.
Chuck Hossfeld lost a transmission and finished 25th. Jimmy Blewett finished
30th after an accident and Rowan Pennink (I spelled it right) lost an engine
and finished 32nd.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series division racing at the Stafford
Motor Speedway it was a history making night. Three weeks after Joey
Cipriano became the youngest driver to ever win a feature race at Stafford,
Tommy Barrett, Jr. lowered that record by winning the 20-lap SK Light
Modified feature for his first career win. There were two other first time
winners at Stafford as Matt Gallo scored his first career SK Modified®
victory in the 40-lap feature, and Josh Wood was a first time career winner
in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature. Woody Pitkat continued his white hot start
to the 2010 season with his second consecutive and third overall win of the
year in the 30-lap Late Model feature, and Kevin Gambacorta nailed down his
second win of the year in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature.
The Waterford Speedbowl saw Mark Bakaj earn his first career SK Modified®
win, looking impressive in route to victory. Ed Puleo returned to Street
Stock victory lane for his second win of the season. Ian Brew won his first
Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock race of the year in dominating fashion, while
Allen Coates won another A.B. CDL Driver Training Center Truck race. Anthony
Flannery continued his early season mastery of the Legends Cars division,
picking up another win.
The Bowman-Gray Stadium, in Winston-Salem, NC had another slam-bang night
of racing with a northern flavor. Defending track Modified champion Tim
Brown won the first of two 25-lap Modified races as he led all the way to
his second victory of the season and his 52nd career win at the North
Carolina oval. His night went south in the second 25 lapper as a
confrontation with James Civali negated him to a 20th place finish. Brown,
running sixth in the second race, was clipped and spun by Civali. He dropped
to the rear of the field, in 20th place, and then rode Civali into the fence
a few laps later. Civali said he gained 18,000 fans for spinning out Brown
at the Madhouse. Brian Loftin was the eventual winner. Chris Fleming
finished second with John Smith, third.
MadHouse star Burt Myers who had qualified earlier in the day at
Martinsville was able to maintain his points lead as he finished 10th in the
first race and fourth in the second race. It was also a tough night for Zach
Brewer, who was sidelined in the second race after an opening-lap crash with
Ryan Preece, and Jonathan Brown. Junior Miller was never a factor as he
finished 12th and 6th.
At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island Donny Lia not only made his
return to Riverhead Raceway, but found the way to victory lane in the No. 15
of Wayne Anderson. Anderson is on the mend after suffering a heart attack.
Denny Hamlin was the Sprint Cup winner at the Pocono International
Raceway. Brad Keselowski raced to his third NASCAR Nationwide Series victory
of the year and ninth overall, easily holding off rival Carl Edwards on
Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway.
Last year, 2014, the Stafford
Motor Speedway suffered its fourth rainout in the last five weeks. The Arute
family that owns and operates the speedway has added Friday, September 19 to
its 2014 event schedule.
The VMRS cars return to Stafford on July 18 for the 4th Annual Lincoln
Tech 80 and again on August 29 for the 5th Annual VMRS 80. The Valenti
Modified Racing Series was still reeling from the departure of Scott Tapley.
Tapley brought stability and respectability to the series. Being a race
director is a tough job. Evidently a difference of opinion between himself
and series founder Jack Bateman was the basis of his departure. Anybody who
has ever been a race director or chief steward knows it's a no win situation
when ever a race call is made. Somebody is made happy and somebody gets mad,
that's the way it is! As the Valenti Modified Racing Series searched for a
new race director for the 2014 racing season, series president Jack Bateman
told website Speed51.com that he would serve as interim race director until
the position is filled.
In NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series news it was announced that change
is in the air for Tour regular Rob Fuller Motorsports, who recently named
2003 Champion Todd Szegedy as the driver of the No. 15 Chevrolet for the New
Hampshire 100 race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 12. Team owner
and driver Rob Fuller made the decision shortly after testing the new LFR
Chassis at Thompson Speedway last week. Fuller is the owner of LFR Chassis,
a new company that manufactures modified and late model chassis, and this
was the first test session where Fuller drove a race-ready modified chassis
created by his company. In addition to competing in the New Hampshire 100,
Szegedy will run the No. 15 Rob Fuller Motorsports entry in the NASCAR
Modified All-Star Shootout the day prior. Although Fuller is the head of LFR
Chassis, the day to day management and oversight is handled by veteran
NASCAR crew chief Tony Eury Jr. Eury Jr. has over 20 years of experience
working at the top levels of NASCAR as a crew chief, car chief, mechanic and
tire changer.
The Big event in New England over the weekend was the fourth annual SBM
125 at the Star Speedway in Epping. NH. Two time winner Matt Hirschman was
the odds-on favorite to take the event which paid close to $10,000 to win.
The SBM 125 IV had nearly $45,000.00 payout up for grabs. The base purse was
$31,400.00. Thirty three cars ran four heats to set the field.
Hirschman started on the outside pole after a re-draw of the heat
winners. Hirschman was well on his way to victory until a spin on lap 93
spoiled his night. Les Hinckley and Rowan Pennink fought to lead but in the
end it was Jon McKennedy who prevailed to take the win. Hinckley hung on for
second while Pennink faded to sixth. Richard Savory ended up third with
Steve Masse, fourth. Anthony Nocella rounded out the top five.. Sixth thru
tenth were Pennink, Woody Pitkat, Max Zachem, Chris Pasteryak and Derek
Ramstrom. Hirschman came back after a pit stop to finish 13th.
SBM 125 IV PAYOFF June 14, 2014 $46,301 (record purse- included all bonuses)
1. Jon McKennedy $6,175, 2. Les Hinckley $3,725, 3. Richard Savary $2,375
, 4. Steve Masse $2,650 and 5. Anthony Nocella $1,575.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Waterford Speedbowl
Keith Rocco scored a two-fer as he ran to victory in both the SK Modified
and Late Model events on Saturday night at the Connecticut shoreline oval.
Rocco, who celebrated his first Father's Day was happy as a clam. Josh
Galvin won another Street Stock race and Randy Churchill was back in Victory
Lane following the SK Light Modified feature. Jeff Lee was the only new
winner, a career first victor in the Mini Stocks. Allen Coates added another
Speedbowl win to his career in the visiting New England Truck Series race.
An extra-distance 40-lap SK Modified® highlighted Saturday’s racing card,
checkered by Rocco. He made the move of the race early and once in the lead,
closed the race with a long green flag run to the checkered flag. The
opening green flag saw the third place car Paul Kusheba come up to speed
slowly, giving the outside lane behind the front row an advantage. Rocco was
mid-pack and able to slide by multiple cars on the opening lap, led by Tim
Jordan. Ted Christopher moved to second on lap-3 and tailed Jordan until the
first caution of the race came out before the field could complete lap-5.
Contact between the cars of Kusheba and Ed Puleo saw Puleo spin off the
track down the back chute, collecting Frank Mucciacciaro.
The restart saw Jordan lead Christopher but it was Rocco’s dazzling move
in traffic that captured everyone’s attention. He went from fourth to second
position between laps 5 and 6. The lead cars of Jordan and Christopher went
wide through turn four causing a tense moment for the field behind. Jordan
recovered to hold his lead, but Christopher lost momentum to keep his car
off the wall. Craig Lutz darted inside Christopher while Rocco shot through
the middle of both down the front chute, coming away with second position.
He took a shot from Christopher in turn one before pulling outside of Jordan
for the lead. Rocco stayed there for four laps before seizing control,
clearing Jordan exiting turn two on lap-10.
Tom Pinson spun in turn four on lap-12 to create the final restart. Rocco
quickly got away from Jordan, who received a challenge for second position
from Lutz. Behind them, Christopher was in a battle with Rob Janovic for
fourth. Those side-by-side battles ended with Lutz clearing Jordan on
lap-15, bringing Janovic underneath Jordan. Those three cars continued a
battle for second behind Rocco for the final 20 laps of the race.
The final 28 laps were run without incident and Rocco went unchallenged.
The action for second intensified over the final six laps, including a nifty
save by Janovic off turn four on lap-34. The cars of Lutz, Janovic and
Christopher raced nose to tail on the final lap and Janovic got crossed up
again, this time in turn two. He chased his car nearly saving it again,
unfortunately getting into the infield off the back stretch and giving up a
podium finish. Lutz continued his string of podium finishes and ended up
second while Christopher finished third. Jordan was fourth and Kyle James
fought to earn a spot among the top-five at the finish.
The search for a buyer of the Speedbowl property continued. The property
was valued at an estimated $3.075 million. If a buyer was not found the
Speedbowl property would be sold at auction on Oct. 18. Current owner Terry
Eames owed primary creditors Rocco Arbitell and Peter Borelli $1.09 million.
He also owed other creditors $750,000 and the Town of Waterford $60,000 in
back taxes. Eames continues to shake the bushes for someone to refinance the
debt or buy it outright. One of those who has expressed interest in buying
the property was former track champion Dick Ceravolo. Ceravolo stated, I'mm
interested but I won't pay $3 million when all I have to do is wait until
October and buy it for $1.09 million".
At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, Tom Rogers Jr was the NASCAR
Modified feature winner.
In Modified racing in the Southland, Jason Myers turned in another strong
performance, snatching victory away from a frustrated Tim Brown and
celebrated again at Bowman Gray Stadium after winning Saturday night’s
100-lap Modified race. Myers never trailed from there and registered his
17th feature-division victory at Bowman Gray. Brown unhappily settled for
second; Danny Bohn wound up third; and Burt Myers, fresh off a win Friday at
Ace Speedway, lost little of his season points lead with a fourth-place
finish.
Winston-Salem (NC) State University is a step closer to buying city-owned
Bowman Gray Stadium. City Manager Lee Garrity said this week that the city
has received a $7.3 million offer from the state to buy the stadium, which
has long been the home-base of WSSU football. The offer is contingent upon
Winston-Salem State successfully completing a Brownfield agreement to test
the land on which the property sits for contamination. Provisions have been
added to the bill of sale to ensure that NASCAR racing remains at the
stadium.
Nancy Young, director of public relations at Winston-Salem State alluded
to the fact that racing would continue at the historic oval. “We have been
working with the racing folks on Saturday night,” Young said. “They have a
long term contract and we are depending on that revenue to help us pay for
the stadium.
Joey Logano's flat tire with about five laps to go allowed Paul Menard to
win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday at Michigan International
Speedway. It was Menard's second victory on that circuit and first since
2006.
Jimmie Johnson’s series of heartbreaking defeats at Michigan Int’l
Speedway came to an end when he won the Quicken Loans 400, his first-ever
victory at MIS and the fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win for
Hendrick Motorsports.
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. |
|
Looking Back Archive
|
Source: Phil
Smith / Looking Back A Bit
Posted: June
19, 2015 |
|
|