Champ Trail - June 7, 2016

  In NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour action at the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night Doug Coby and crew chief Phil Moran left little doubt that they are at the top of their game and are not ready to step down from their dominating position. Coby has won three of the four tour races run so far this year. Coby led 129 of the 130 laps run, pulling away on a green-white-checkered finish to claim the 26th Annual TSI Harley Davidson 125.
  A caution on lap 122 for Chase Dowling who stalled on the track set the stage for the event going in to overtime for a total of 130 laps.
  Jimmy Blewett scored his second straight runner-up finish, while Donny Lia, Eric Goodale and Justin Bonsignore rounded out the top five. In post race conversations Blewett expressed his displeasure with Rowan Pennink who ended up sixth. Blewett, who said he is no longer going to be a nice guy, felt that his aggressive driving was the result of Timmy Solomito getting stuffed into the wall on lap 117. It wasn't a threat but it led one to believe that there would be a pay-back in the future.
  Rowan Pennink, who won the tracks' NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division I feature earlier in the night, finished sixth. Ron Silk, Bobby Santos, Brendon Bock and Max Zachem completed the top 10. Championship contender Timmy Solomito was caught up in a late race incident that dropped him from second to seventh in points. Coby stretched his lead to 24 over Bonsignore and 28 over Donny Lia. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour resumes on Wednesday, June 15, at Thompson (Connecticut) Speedway Motorsports Park.
  In weekly racing at Stafford, Taking down weekly feature wins on the night were Rowan Pennink for the third time in four races in the SK Modified® feature, Tom Fearn got his second win of 2016 in the Late Model feature, Tony Membrino, Jr. picked up his third win in four races in the SK Light feature, Cliff Saunders picked up his first win of the year in the Limited Late Model feature, and Ryan Fearn scored his first win of the year in the DARE Stock feature.
  Pennink moved to the lead on lap-26 and he brought Kieth Rocco and Ted Christopher with him as Dan Avery fell back to fourth place. Pennink stretched out his lead over Rocco to nearly a second and he maintained that gap right to the checkered flag as he recorded his third win of the 2016 season. Ted Christopher finished third, with Avery and Stephen Kopcik rounding out the top-5.

  Keith Rocco missed scoring a hat trick by on spot as he was two for three on the weekend. Rocco scored wins at Thompson on Wednesday and at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night. At Thompson, Rocco defended his unbeaten streak in 2016 with a strong performance and dominant win during the 30-lap Sunoco Modified Series event. Rocco had to fight off a strong run by series regular Ryan Preece, but in the end Rocco would not be denied another victory. Steven Kopcik finished third with Ronnie Williams and Adam Norton rounding out the top five. At the Speedbowl, Rocco took the lead on a lap 10 restart. Tyler Chadwick ended up in second spot with Todd Owen, third. Dennis Perry, with a strong showing, finished fourth with Dylan Izzo, fifth. Paul Kusheba IV, Joey Gada, Ryan Morgan, Rob Janovic Jr., and Diego Monahan, finished sixth thru tenth.
  Rocco keeps rolling along at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl as he continues to build on his record setting feature win total. Rocco's win brought his Waterford track win total to 124 wins. The win also took Rocco over the top to a career overall total of 219 wins which also include victories at Thompson and Stafford Speedways.
  Other winners on Saturday night at the shoreline oval were Glen Thomas Jr. in the 50-lap North East Mini Stock Tour feature, Bruce Thomas Jr. in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Tony Membrino Jr. in the 25-lap SK Light Modified feature, Al Stone III in the 25-lap Limited Sportsman feature, Seth Carlson in the 25-lap Northeastern Midget Association feature and Robin Berghman in the 25-lap New England Pro Four Modified feature.

  Twin 25's were scheduled to run at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC. Just as the Modifieds lined up on the track rain closed in washing out the night's action.

  The Valenti Modified Racing Series was at the Seekonk Speedway with 26 Modifieds in competition. Anthony Nocella passed early race leader Dan Meservey Jr. after a lap-38 caution flag and went on to dominate the 100-lap race on Saturday night. By virtue of winning the first heat race, Meservey started on the pole and looked impressive early on until Nocella took command. Chris Pasteryak chased the race leaders until a lap 73 flat tire knocked him from contention. Then Richard Savary, Woody Pitkat, Chase Dowling and Dave Schneider gave chase.
  In the late stages, Jon McKennedy hunted down the race leader after being involved in contact with another car on lap-61. McKennedy pitted, went to the rear of the field, and then electrified the crowd as he attempted to get back to the front. By lap-70 he was 11th, lap-80 fourth, and on lap-93 was challenging Savary leading to a side-by-side duel until McKennedy slipped by for the runner-up spot. n the late stages, Jon McKennedy hunted down the race leader after being involved in contact with another car on lap-61. McKennedy pitted, went to the rear of the field, and then electrified the crowd as he attempted to get back to the front. By lap-70 he was 11th, lap-80 fourth, and on lap-93 was challenging Savary leading to a side-by-side duel until McKennedy slipped by. Richard Savary finished third with Woody Pitkat, fourth.

  The Riverhead Raceway on Long Island ran the Tom Baldwin, Richie Evans, Charlie Jarzombek Memorial Modified 77. John Fortin took the win over Dave Brigati, Ron Silk and John Fortin.

  On the speedway stock market scene last week, two of the three speedway stocks were down. The International Speedway Corporation went up 0.05 to 33.15 while Dover Entertainment dropped 0.04 to 2.21 and Speedway Motorsports dropped 0.03 to 17.61. NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco (Energy Transfer) went up 1.35 to 37.04 and NASCAR cup sponsor Sprint went up 0.10 to 3.78 while NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear dropped 0.67 to 27.12. The car companies were also split. Toyota went up 2.91 to 103.50 while General Motors dropped 1.79 to 29.60 and Ford dropped 0.41 to 13.04. In the home improvement sector, Home Depot dropped 2.20 to 171.74 while Lowes went up 7.66 to 88.01. The big team sponsor's stocks were mostly down with the exception of Aarons Rentals which went up 0.04 to 25.06. McDonalds dropped 1.90 to 121.35 while Coca-Cola dropped 2.69 to 124.27, Target dropped 0.25 to 68.65 and Fedex dropped 0.65 to 163.82.

  On the tube this week:

  Thursday, June 9
7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Net
8:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
8:30 AM, How It's Made - Impact Wrenches, Marble Sinks, Plantain Chips, NASCAR Cars, SCI
3:30 PM, How It's Made - NASCAR Car Bodies; Hurley Sticks; Tube Power Amplifiers; Thermal Coffee Pot, SCI
5:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1

  Friday, June 10
11:00 AM, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Michigan practice, FS1
12:30 PM, NASCAR Xfinity Series Michigan practice, FS1
3:00 PM, NXS Michigan final practice, FS1
4:00 PM, NSCS Michigan qualifying, FS1
7:30 PM, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Texas qualifying, FS1
9:00 PM, NCWTS Texas race, FS1

  Saturday, June 11
7:30 AM, NSCS Michigan qualifying re-air, FS1
9:00 AM, NSCS Michigan practice, FS1
10:00 AM, NSCS Michigan qualifying re-air, FS1
11:30 AM, NASCAR Race Hub - Weekend Edition, FS1
12:00 PM, NSCS Michigan final practice, FS1
1:00 PM, NASCAR XFINITY RaceDay, FS1
1:30 PM, NXS Michigan race, FS1

  Sunday, June 12
7:30 AM, NXS Michigan race re-air, FS1
11:30 AM, NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
1:00 PM, NSCS Michigan race, FS1
4:00 PM, How It's Made - Liquor Jugs, Deli Meats, NASCAR Engines, FS1

  Monday, June 13
8:30 AM, NSCS Michigan race re-air, FS1
5:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
6:00 PM, NASCAR America, 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: June 7, 2016