Champ Trail - August 22, 2016

  In NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series racing last Wednesday the competition didn’t know that Patrick Emerling was a dancer as he did the “Bristol Stomp” with a near perfect performance, capping it off with a win. The Orchard Park, New York, driver was fastest in practice, won the Coors Light Pole Award and proceeded to lead 148 of the 150 laps en route to his first career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory.
  "It's just a dream come true," said Emerling following the win at the historic track dubbed 'Thunder Valley.' "It's incredible. We only run a handful of the Whelen Tour races and to come down here and win practice, catch the pole and lead every single lap, it's an incredible feeling for us as a team."
  The win for the 24-year-old came in his 78th career start and just his third of 2017. He held off challenges from Chase Dowling and Justin Bonsignore on restarts in the first half of the race, then held off four-time tour champion Doug Coby in the dash to the finish.
  Justin Bonsignore finished third. Chase Dowling and Ryan Preece rounded out the top five at Bristol. Andy Seuss was sixth, followed by Rowan Pennink, Ronnie Williams, Bobby Santos and Matt Swanson.
  There were 26 cars on hand. The unification of the Modified tours did very little to enhance the car count. The Bush's Beans 150 will air on NBCSN this coming Saturday August 26 at 3 p.m. ET.
  The NASCAR Whelen Modified Modified Tour returns to the track at Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts, also on Saturday August 26, with the running of the Seekonk 150.
  The Stafford Motor Speedway announced that due to weather, Friday night’s racing program was canceled. It was their sixth rain out.
  Racing returns to Stafford next Friday night, August 25 with the Back 2 SK®ool program that will feature the Wild Thing Karts Jr. Outlaws along with Stafford’s five NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions. All kids 14 & under who wear a team shirt or uniform to the track will be given a free general admission ticket and there will be raffle prizes for kids as well as a bike giveaway.

  At the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, the field of cars continue to grow. On hand for last Saturday’s racing program were 18 sk's, 13 sk lights, 16 mini stocks, 11 legends, 16 limiteds and 9 late models. Kyle James continued his strong showings at the shoreline oval on Saturday night with a victory in the SK Modified 35-lap feature event. The first caution waved as a ten-car wreck occured between turns one and two. Most of the cars were done for the night, including the point leader, Keith Rocco. The restart of the event had James sitting on point and from there it was all James. With the win James now sits atop of the points battle. Rounding out the top-5 included Ted Christopher, Diego Monahan, Stephen Masse and last week’s winner Rob Janovic Jr.
  Other Speedbowl winners were Late Models (30-laps): Anthony Flannery over Keith Rocco, Legends (25-laps): Joey Ternullo over Anthony Marvin, SK Lite Modifieds (25-laps): Matt Galko over Dana DiMatteo, Bryan Narducci, Limited Sportsman (25-laps): Jordan Hadley over Adrien Paradis III and Mini Stock (25-laps): Jordan Hadley, Sean Caron and Jacob Perry.

  Out on the east end of Long Island at the Riverhead Raceway, Dillon Steuer drove to his third NASCAR Modified win of 2017. Following the 15year old at the finish was Kyle Soper. John Fortin Jr., Tom Rogers Jr. and Dave Brigati rounded out the top five.
  Down in the south land, at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem NC on Saturday night, the historic ¼ mile speedway closed out their season with the Carolina Farm Credit 150. Brandon Ward won the battle but it was Burt Myers who won the war for the Modified Track Championship. Myers finished fourth to easily out distance James Civali who finished fifth. Jonathan Brown finished second in the 150 with Bobby Measmer Jr, third. It was Myers’ eighth track title.
  Racing at Bowman Gray resumes in April of 2018. In the mean time the stadium will be transformed into a football field.

  The Modified Touring Series and the Valenti Modified Racing Series which have had a season long rivalry ran head to head on Saturday night. At the MTS Exit Realty 125 at Monadnock Speedway in New Hampshire there were 15 cars on hand. Rowan Pennink took the lead on lap 109 from Eric Goodale, In the closing laps Goodale faded to third as Woody Pitkat eased into the runner-up spot. Richard Savory finished fourth with Kirk Alexander rounding out the top five.

  Anthony Nocalla got his fourth Valenti Modified Racing Series victory of the season in the 75-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series event at the Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Maine. Troy Talman of Oxford, Mass. was second and Tony Ricci of Westbrook, Me. was third. Nocella, of Woburn, Massachusetts, outraced fog and a strong finish from a late charging Troy Talman, of Oxford, MA, to capture his fourth win of the season Saturday night. The win was also Nocella’s second consecutive at Beech Ridge and 10th career win tying him with Rowan Pennink on the series all-time win list.
  There were 18 cars on hand.

  On the speedway stock market scene last week two of the three speedway stocks were down for the week. Dover Entertainment went up 0.05 to 2.05 while Speedway Motorsports dropped 0.44 to 20.48 and the International Speedway Corporation dropped 0.85 to 34.00. NASCAR cup sponsor Monster Beverage went up 0.13 to 54.05 while NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco (Energy Transfer) dropped 1.25 to 18.26 and NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear dropped 0.52 to 29.75. The car manufacturers were down for the week. General Motors dropped 0,10 to 34.83, Ford dropped 0.21 to 10.56 and Toyota dropped 0.39 to 111.73. In the home improvement sector, Home Depot dropped 7.39 to 147.49 and Lowes dropped 3.62 to 73.64. In the area of big team sponsors stocks McDonalds went up 0.46 to 157.76, Fedex went up 1.13 to 206.00 and Target went up 0.02 to 55.67 while Coca-Cola dropped 4.14 to 204.67 and Aarons Rentals dropped 1.67 to 43.52.

  On the tube this week:

  Thursday, August 24
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Net
6:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, Fox Sports 1
6:00 PM, NASCAR The Decades - The 1980s, NBCSN

  Saturday, August 26
2:00 PM, NASCAR Xfinity Series Road America practice, NBCSN
3:00 PM, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Bristol, NBCSN
4:00 PM, NXS Road America final practice, NBCSN

  Sunday, August 27
2:30 PM, NXS Countdown to Green, NBCSN
3:00 PM, NXS Road America race, 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: August 22, 2017