Champ Trail - March 7, 2016

  The 2017 IceBreaker is officially three weeks away from this coming Friday, March 10. The 43rd annual Icebreaker begins on Saturday April 1st. This is the first event of the short track season in New England. Twelve divisions will be featured in the 43rd running of this great season-opening tradition. It will be headlined by Thompson’s 135th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race, more than any other host track. The Fan Appreciation Party, which has become a highly anticipated event, will be back for its fourth consecutive season. Timmy Brown will be back again to perform during the party.
  Both ticket and camping pass sales are open NOW! Camping is $50 (if you reserve online before 3/26 or $75 on-site), while tickets range in price from $46 to $55. Children 12 and under are FREE!

  The 2017 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series gets the green a week from this coming Saturday at the Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina. The race event, which will also feature NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action, will be the Performance Plus 300 presented by Safety-Kleen. The Performance Plus 150 will be the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour portion of the race event, and will be the first opportunity for fans to see the Northeast’s top modified teams compete against the South’s best under the unified tour banner. Four-time Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby of Connecticut will lead a stout field that is expected to also include North Carolina’s Burt Myers, who swept the Modified division title at Bowman Gray Stadium and the final NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour championships last year.
  A recent Modified event at Myrtle Beach produced less than competitive racing as competitors were forced to ‘‘Pace Themselves” because of the extreme abrasives of the track.

  The management at the Stafford Motor Speedway are making final preparations for the 46th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler on April 28-30. Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $40.00 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating is priced at $42.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available. All tickets are good for both Saturday and Sunday admission. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.

  Dick Berggren’s brainchild, The Northeast Motorsports Museum, will come to life in the Spring when it is open to the public. Located at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH, is the first of two planned structures. It will contain race cars, motorcycles, a library and research center. It will be well worth the trip to Loudon to check it out.

  On the speedway stock market scene this week all thre speedway stocks ended the week on the negative side. Speedway Motorsports dropped 1.82 to 19.99 while the International Speedway Corporation dropped 1.10 to 36.70 and Dover Entertainment dropped 0.15 to 2.20. NASCAR cup sponsor Monster Beverage went up 4.49 to 48.04 while NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco (Energy Transfer) went up 0.61 to 38.28 and NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear went up 0.25 to 35.61. With the exception of Toyota which dropped 0.43 to 113.34, the car manufacturers had a good week as General Motors went up 1.33 to 38.23 and Ford went up 0.18 to 12.65. In the home improvement sector, Lowes went up 5.58 to 81.68 and Home Depot went up 1.86 to 147.81. In the big team sponsors stocks McDonalds dropped 0.75 to 127.90, Coca-Cola dropped 3.03 to 174.29 and Target dropped 9.16 to 57.35 while Aarons Rentals went up 0.78 to 27.96 and Fedex went up 1.24 to 194.35.

  On the tube this week:

  Wednesday, March 8
7:30 AM, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Atlanta race re-air, FS1
5:30 PM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Net
6:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1

  Thursday, March 9
5:30 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
6:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

  Friday, March 10
2:30 PM, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Las Vegas practice, FS1
3:30 PM, NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS1
4:00 PM, NASCAR Xfinity Series Las Vegas practice, FS1
5:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS1
5:00 PM, Beyond the Wheel 2017, FOX Sports 2
6:00 PM, NXS Las Vegas final practice, FS2
7:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS2
7:30 PM, MENCS Las Vegas qualifying, FS2

  Saturday, March 11
11:30 AM, Classic NASCAR - 1997 Daytona 500, FS1
12:00 PM, MENCS Las Vegas practice, FS1
1:00 PM, NXS Las Vegas qualifying, FS1
2:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub - Weekend Edition, FS1
2:30 PM, MENCS Las Vegas final practice, FS1
3:30 PM, NASCAR RaceDay - XFINITY, FS1
4:00 PM, NXS Las Vegas race, FS1

  Sunday, March 12
4:00 AM, NXS Las Vegas race re-air, FS1
12:00 PM, Empty Cup - Quest for the 1992 Championship, FS1
12:30 PM, MENCS Las Vegas final practice re-air, FS1
1:30 PM, NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
3:00 PM, MENCS Pre-Race, FOX
3:30 PM, MENCS Las Vegas race, FOX
9:30 PM, NASCAR Victory Lane, FS1
10:00 PM, MENCS Las Vegas race re-air, FS1m

  Monday, March 13
3:00 AM, NASCAR Victory Lane, FS1
6:00 AM, NASCAR Victory Lane, FS1
6:30 AM, MENCS Las Vegas race re-air, FS1
9:30 AM, MENCS Las Vegas race re-air, FS2

   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: March 7, 2017