Champ Trail - February 7, 2016

  The countdown to Speedweeks in Florida continues. As of this coming Friday, February 3, two weeks remain before the green flag drops for the World Series at New Smyrna, the 50 lap tour type Modified event on Saturday, Feb 18 at the Bronson (Fla) Speedway and action at the Daytona International Speedway. It will be here before you know it.
  Fans and competitors on the way to speedweeks in Florida may want to leave a little earlier to take in the action at the Myrtle Beach Speedway this coming weekend on Friday, Feb 10 and Saturday, Feb 11. NASCAR Whelen Late Models and NASCAR tour type modifieds will be on the racing card.

  You got to give credit when credit is due. During the 2016 the Stafford Speedway was bulging with cars for all divisions. Big fields of cars draw big crowds of fans. Hard work by the Stafford management made it work, Here is how it happened:
  When the final checkered flag of the 2016 season was unfurled at the NAPA Fall Final, it brought an end to a season that awarded Stafford drivers over $55,000 through the track’s Contingency Program Partners.
  Stafford’s premier SK Modified® division led the way in payments to drivers with over $23,000 in contingency payouts. The July 8 NAPA SK 5k was the biggest race of the season with over $8,000 in contingency thanks to special contributions from Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair and Wheelers Auto along with the regular weekly SK Modified® contingency sponsors. Providing weekly contingency bonuses were Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair, Maybury Material Handling, Call Before You Dig, Casagrande Builders, and New England Racing Fuel, Sunoco Brand. Special contingencies were provided by NAPA Auto Parts, Magnus Transmissions, Stafford Speedway in Memory of Mario Fiore, T/A Engines, Xtra Mart Convenience Stores, and Speedway Services.
  Stafford’s Late Model drivers took home over $6,000 from contingency payouts. Mr. Rooter Plumbing, 32 Signs, and New England Racing Fuel, Sunoco Brand were the contingency sponsors of Stafford’s top full fendered division with special contingencies provided by NAPA Auto Parts, Magnus Transmissions, Xtra Mart Convenience Stores, and Speedway Services.
  The SK Light division took home over $10,000 in contingency awards during the 2016 season. Weekly contingency was provided by Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair, Maybury Material Handling, On-Time Accounting, Olson Apartments, and New England Racing Fuel, Sunoco Brand. Special contingencies for the season included contributions from Xtra Mart Convenience Stores, R.A.D. Automachine, and Magnus Transmissions.
Stafford’s Limited Late Model division took home over $5,000 in contingency bonuses from Mr. Rooter Plumbing, 32 Signs, and New England Racing Fuel, Sunoco Brand. Special contingencies were provided by Xtra Mart Convenience Stores, R.A.D. Automachine, and Magnus Transmissions.
  The DARE Stock division scored over $4,700 in contingency provided by Paradiso Insurance, Jeff Ramsey Carpentry, and New England Racing Fuel, Sunoco Brand. Special contingencies were provided by Xtra Mart Convenience Stores, R.A.D. Automachine, and Magnus Transmissions.
The Rookie of the Year program at Stafford contributed $5,600 with NAPA Auto Parts contributing $1,000 each to the SK Modified® and Late Model rookies of the year. R.A.D. Automachine provided $500 each to the SK Light, Ltd. Late Model, and DARE Stock rookie winners with T/A Engines giving a $500 bonus to the SK Modified® rookie. Magnus Racing Products contributed a total of $1,600 to Stafford rookie runner-ups with $400 to the SK Modified® and Late Model division, $300 to the SK Light and Ltd. Late Model division, and $200 to the DARE Stock division.
In addition to their weekly contingency bonus for the SK Modified® division, Call Before You Dig also provided a total bonus of $4,055 that was paid out through the CBYD 811 Challenge that paid 5 drivers an $811 bonus through a unique points system based on drivers finishes in feature events. The five drivers who came closest to scoring 811 points without going over through the August 5th feature event each won $811.
  Another special program was the Xtra Mart Xtra D program that gave extra money to the top-5 finishers in an extra distance feature for each of Stafford’s five NWAAS divisions. Xtra Mart contributed a total of $3,750 spread among the SK Modified®, Late Model, SK Light, Ltd. Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions during the season through its Xtra D program.
  In a somewhat related matter, Lincoln Technical Institute of East Windsor has signed on to present the Modified Touring Series 125 on July 21. The 2017 season will be the eighth consecutive year that Lincoln Tech has sponsored an event at the Stafford half-mile. Lincoln Tech joined the Stafford family of sponsors in 2010 as the title sponsor of the Late Model 100. The partnership continues in 2017 with the Inaugural Lincoln Tech 125 featuring the newly formed Modified Touring Series on Friday, July 21.

  The Venditti family that operates the Seekonk Speedway has announced the appointment of Ron Manfredo to the position of Race Director for the NASCAR Whelen All American Series racing on Saturday nights at Seekonk. Tim Bolduc will take over Friday Night Racing and be charged with all racing decisions and rule enforcements for Fast Friday Seekonk Speedway Divisions. The tandem will replace Cory Boudreau who is stepping down from the Seekonk Race Director position for personal reasons.
  Ron Manfredo has been involved in auto racing for over five decades in almost every level at Seekonk Speedway. Over time Manfredo has held positions as Pit Steward, Chief Starter and Race Director. In 2014 Ron was inducted into the Seekonk Speedway Wall of Fame for his contributions to the sport of Stock Car racing. Ron has long been a part of installing a culture at Seekonk of integrity, respect and passion for racing.
  Tim Bolduc has been a part of the Seekonk landscape since the early 90’s. Tim started attending races and working on Pro Stock pit crews in the 90’s until 2006 when he began his career as a starter. Tim was quickly promoted to Chief Starter and has been instrumental to racing at Seekonk since. Tim has been managing F1 karting in Boston as well as occasionally flagging at tracks such as Watkins Glen, New Hampshire and Summit Point for the SCCA. Tim will continue in his role as Chief Starter on Saturdays in addition to his role as Race Director on Fast Fridays.

  On the speedway stock market scene this week two of the three speedway stocks were down for the week, Dover Entertainment went up 0.05 to 2.30 while the International Speedway Corporation dropped 0.25 to 36.75 and Speedway Motorsports dropped 0.29 to 21.27. NASCAR cup sponsor Monster Beverage went up 0.34 to 42.64 while NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco (Energy Transfer) went up 0.56 to 39.40 and NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear went up 0.74 to 32.05. Two of the three car builders were down for the week. Ford went up 0.07 to 12.56 while General Motors dropped 0.67 to 36.33 and Toyota dropped 1.59 to 115.12. In the home improvement sector, Home Depot dropped 0.35 to 137.98 while Lowes went up 0.05 to 73.29. In the world of big team sponsor’s stocks McDonalds went up 1.68 to 124.24, Coca-Cola went up 5.25 to 171.16 and Target Department Stores went up 0.05 to 63.75 while Aarons Rentals dropped 0.61 to 29.93 and Fedex dropped 7.69 to 188.21.

  On the tube this week:

  Wednesday, February 8
6:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, Fox Sports 1

  Thursday, February 9
6:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

   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: February 07, 2017