May 26, 2017

  Sixty five years ago in 1952 the New London-Waterford Speedbowl began its summer schedule which saw two nights of racing, Wednesday and Saturday at the shoreline oval. Fred Luchesi was the 25 lap Sportsman winner on Wednesday night while Don Collins won the 25 lap Sportsman feature on Saturday night. Following successful racing careers both drivers were inducted into the New England Antique Racers (NEAR) Hall of Fame. John Sandberg and Charlie Webster were the Claiming Car winners.

  Sixty years ago in 1957 Don Collins made it three in a row and four for the season at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Benny Desrosier was the non-Ford winner. A special 100 lapper was run on Thursday (Memorial Day) which was won by Wild Bill Slater. Desrosier was again the non-Ford winner. Al DeAngelo made it two in a row at the 1/5 mile Islip Speedway on Long Island.

  Fifty five years ago in 1962 Hank Stevens made it two in a row at the Waterford Speedbowl. Ed Gladue was the Bomber winner. Ron Narducci was the Friday night winner on the dirt at the Stafford Springs Speedway.

  Fifty years ago in 1967 Don MacTavish took the top spot at the Albany Saratoga Speedway on Friday night. It was an all New England top five as Pete Hamilton finished second and Tommy Borget finished third. Billy Harman and Gene Bergin rounded out the top five, At the Fonda Speedway Irv Taylor beat out Lou Lazzaro and Dave Lape and at the Utica-Rome Speedway Bill Wimble outlasted Bruce Dostal for the win. Dick Clark, Dave Lape and Rene Charland rounded out the top five. Bill Scrivener was the winner of a special Memorial Day 50 lapper at the Waterford Speedbowl. Jiggs Beetham was the Daredevil winner. The Albany Saratoga Speedway ran a 100 lapper on Monday to celebrate Memorial Day. MacTavish made it two in a row at the Malta oval. Pete Hamilton again finished second with Lou Lazzaro, third. Guy Chartrand and Ernie Gahan rounded out the top five.

  Forty five years ago in 1972, Eddie Flemke, in the Vigliarolo No.34, which was the original Bob Judkins Pinto, started off the weekend on the right foot as he won the Friday night feature at Malta, N.Y. and the Saturday night feature at Stafford. Bugsy Stevens finished second on both nights. At Islip on Saturday night, Gary Winters mastered the 1/5 mile oval as he took the main event over Cliff Tyler and Jack Reinhardt. At Fonda it was Dave Lape over Lou Lazzaro. Dick Dunn won a 36 lap Modified feature at Waterford. At Utica-Rome on Sunday night, Ed Pieniezak won out over Al Clark. Stafford ran their 100 lap Memorial Day Classic on Monday. Fred DeSarro took the win over Ed Flemke, Ronnie Bouchard, Denis Giroux and George Summers.

  Forty years ago in 1977, Fred DeSarro was the Friday night winner at Stafford. Ron Bouchard finished second with Bugsy Stevens, Brian Ross and Ed Flemke rounding out the top five. Allen Whipple was the winner at Monadnock and at Riverhead it was Charlie Jarzombek over Fred Harbach. Saturday night was busy. At Waterford it was Bill Greco taking a 100 lap win over Don Bunnell, at Seekonk, Ronnie Bouchard and Freddie Schulz finished one-two and at Westboro, Mike Murphy, Mike Weeden and Gomer Taylor were the top three. Pete Fiandaca beat out Bob Stefanik and Reggie Ruggiero at Riverside and at Charlotte a Super-Speedway Modified event was run with Harry Gant taking the win over Jerry Makara, Jerry Cook and Lennie Pond. Sunday night at Thompson, Ronnie Bouchard mastered the 5/8 mile oval. Fred DeSarro finished second with Ray Miller, third
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  Thirty five years ago in 1982, Ray Miller took the Friday night win with Reggie Ruggiero, second and Ronnie Bouchard, third. Everything else in New England for the weekend was rained out. At New Egypt Richie Evans won a 100 lapper over Wayne Anderson and Tony Siscone. Evans carried over his winning ways to Shangri-La where he beat out George Kent and Jerry Cook. At Islip John Blewett Jr. took the nights feature over Don Howe and Fred Harbach.

  Thirty years ago in 1987, the Modified Tour Series was at Stafford on Friday night for a 100 lapper. Reggie Ruggiero in the Mario Fiore No.44 was the class of the field as he took the victory over Jeff Fuller, Kenny Bouchard, Brian Ross and Corky Cookman. Richie Gallup was the SK-Modified winner. At Waterford on Saturday night, Bob Potter recorded his 74th career win at the shoreline oval. Dick Ceravolo finished second with Bob Gada, third. At Riverhead it was Tom McCann over Don Howe and at Seekonk and Riverside, it rained. Don Pratt won at Shangri-La on Saturday and on Sunday for the Port City Classic at Oswego, Tony Hirschman won the 100 lap event over Jan Leaty, Jamie Tomaino and Wayne Edwards. In Winston Cup action at Charlotte, Kyle Petty took the win. Harry Gant was the Busch Grandnational winner.

  Twenty five years ago in 1992, the modified Tour Series was at Stafford for a 150 lapper. Reggie Ruggiero, in the Ed Cloce No.69 took the win with Jeff Fuller, second. Jamie Tomaino, Wayne Anderson and Ed Flemke Jr. rounded out the top five. Ricky Young was the big winner at Waterford on Saturday night as he beat out Mark Lajunesse and Ted Christopher for the win. Jerry Marquis got his fifth of the year in the Judkins 2x at Riverside and it was Carl Miller over Dan Jivanelli at Riverhead. Jan Leaty won the Port City Classic at Oswego. Jim Rudolf, Reggie Ruggiero and Chris Amen followed. In Sunday night SK-Modified action at Thompson, Richie Gallup in the Ceravolo No.31 took the win over Bo Gunning and Tom Tagg.

  Twenty years ago in 1997, Mike Stefanik recorded his 38th Featherlite Modified Tour Series win as he beat out Tony Hirschman, Reggie Ruggiero and Rick Fuller in a 150 lap event at Stafford. Ken Barry was the SK winner. Tucker Reynolds took the Saturday night win at Waterford Jeff Pearl led the early going until getting bumped out of the way by Reynolds with 15 laps to go. At Waterford it was announced that long time driver and race official Ed "Spinner" Smith had passed away at the age of 82. Chris Kopec won at Riverside and Frank Vigliarolo won at Riverhead. George Kent won the Richie Evans Memorial at Shangri-La and Dave Dion won the Busch North Series event at Holland. Mike Stefanik finished second. In Winston Cup action at Charlotte, Dale Earnhardt Sr. announced the Steve Park would drive in five Winston Cup races in 1998.Jeff Gordon won the rain delayed World 600 at Charlotte.

  Fifteen years ago in 2002, heavy rain and high winds wiped out the scheduled NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Series event at Stafford. Eddie Reed Jr. beat Dennis Gada by a bumper to make it two in a row at Waterford on Saturday night. Tom Fox finished third. JR Bertuccio made it three in a row at Riverhead as he beat out Howie Brode and Wayne Anderson. At Wall Township on Saturday night, Jimmie Blewett took the win over Marc Rogers and Tim Arre. The Race of Champions Championship Trail was at Wall Township on Sunday for a 100 lapper. Doug Wolcott went pole to pole to take the event over George Kent Sr., Jamie Tomaino and John Blewett III. In Winston Cup action at Dover Downs, Jimmie Johnson took the win with Bill Elliott, second.

  Ten years ago in 2007, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour traveled to the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night, for the 17th annual Connecticut Classic 150. Donnie Lia, in the Bob Garbarino Mystic Missile made it two in a row at the Arute family owned facility. There were 42 Modifieds on hand for the 150 lap contest. Lia started sixth and took the lead on lap 113 from Eric Beers. James Civali, who started on the pole finished second. Eddie Flemke Jr finished third with Zach Sylvester and Todd Szegedy rounding out the top five. Ted Christopher started third and was the top lap leader as he led 84 circuits. His night came to an end after he wrecked with Frank Ruocco in the third turn on lap 91. Christopher blamed Mike Stefanik for the incident. Reggie Ruggiero and John Blewett III were eliminated in a big wreck on lap 104. Defending champion and Busch Pole Sitter Tony Hirschman continues to have bad luck as he was eliminated on lap 114. Likewise for Chuck Hossfeld who lost a wheel on lap 31. Sixth through tenth were Matt Hirschman, Jamie Tomaino, Dick Houlihan, Richard Savory and Eric Beers. Civali led the opening laps before he was passed by Ted Christopher on lap2. Christopher appeared to have the field covered up until the time he pitted on lap 86. Jimmy Blewett led laps 87 through 90 before giving way to Eric Beers who led laps 91 to 109. Lia led lap 110 before giving it back to Beers for three laps. Lia took the lead for the final time on lap 113. Six caution periods for 36 laps kept Lia’s speed at 58.568 mph.
  Thursday Night Thunder at the Thompson Speedway began with a large field of cars, 129, including 28 Sunoco (SK type) Modifieds. Bert Marvin started on the outside pole of the Sunoco Modified feature and went on to lead every lap to record the feature win. Tom Cravenho finished a distant second with Buddy Charette, third. Kerry Malone and Woody Pitkat followed. Sixth through tenth were John Blewett, Jimmy Blewett, Keith Rocco, Todd Ceravolo and Josh Steeves. The only drama for the Modifieds came after the second qualifying heat when Jimmy Blewett was disqualified from his heat win when his car failed to make weight. Blewett started the feature in last spot.
  Other opening night winners were Tom O’Sullivan, who won his first-ever Late Model feature, Jeff Zuidema who won the Pro Stock feature. The Limited Sportsman winner was Jess Gleason, Mini Stock winner, Mike Romano and TIS Mod winner was Tim Sullivan.While the fields of Modifieds, Late Models and Limited Sportsman were extremely healthy the Pro Stocks were dying a slow death as only 16 were on hand.
  In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night Bo Gunning ended a long dry spell as he annexed the 40 lap SK Modified victory. Jim Peterson won the 30-lap Late Model feature, Chris Matthews the 20-lap SK Light feature, Michael Nadeau the Limited Late Model feature, and Steve Berardi the 15-lap DARE Stock feature. Gunning started the event from the outside pole, but he had to work hard for the victory. Curt Brainard, searching for his first win since the 2000 season, hounded Gunning lap after lap, and nearly made several moves to the inside of Gunning for the lead. A late caution slowed the field and set up a four lap dash to the finish. Ted Christopher moved past Brainard into second on the restart, but Gunning was too strong for Christopher to overtake. Brainard came home third, with Todd Owen and Eric Berndt rounding out the top-5.
  In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Waterford Speedbowl Kenny Horton scored his first career win at the shoreline oval. Dennis Gada, who is in the process of trying to annex a record setting seventh track championship finished second. Dennis Charette, who survived a trademark “Waterford Big One” finished third. A grinding crash on lap two damaged the cars of Shelly Perry, Wendell Dailey and Shawn Monahan. Monahan returned to finish sixth. Rounding out the top five following Charette were Don Fowler and Tyler Chadwick. Officials felt that Rob Janovic triggered the crash as they sent him to the rear. Janovic ended up eighth in the final tally. Tim Jordan made it three in a row in Late Model competition as he won a classic battle with Allen Coates. This division, once considered the best second division in New England is down to eleven cars and could use a shot in the arm. The ISMA Supermodifieds made a special appearance with Chris Perley taking the win over Nokie Fornoro and Rob Summers. Other Saturday night winners were Bill Gertsch in the Sportsman division and Phil Evans in the Mini-Stocks.
  Other weekend winners were Pete Brittain over Jan Leaty and Tony Hirschman at the Richie Evans Memorial at Oswego, Kirk Alexander in the True Value Modified Series at Monadnock and twin events at Wall Township went to Jimmy Blewett and Justin Gumley.
  Kasey Kahne raced to his first victory of the season, pulling away on a late restart to win the Busch Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Casey Mears shored up his job security by stretching his fuel to the finish line on Sunday night to win the Coca-Cola 600, his first Nextel Cup victory. Mears, struggling through his first season at elite Hendrick Motorsports, ran strong all night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, but only took the lead when others ducked onto pit road for a splash of gas. Mears and his team gambled and pushed their Chevrolet to the finish, running out of gas moments after he took his first checkered flag. It was Hendrick's fifth straight win and the ninth in the past 10 Nextel Cup races, but came from the unlikeliest driver. J.J. Yeley finished second for the first top-five finish of his career. Kyle Petty was third, his first top five in 10 years. Reed Sorenson was fourth, and Brian Vickers was fifth in the highest finish so far for Toyota. Tony Stewart, who seemed to have the win after Jimmie Johnson gave it away in the pits, wound up sixth after figuring he was two laps short on fuel and had to make a late stop.
  Dario Franchitti finally got the news he had been waiting for Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "The rain is eight blocks away," he heard over his radio. Franchitti had stayed on the track during a late caution, anticipating another round of thunderstorms - and the gamble paid off. The Scotsman, who is probably best known as actress Ashley Judd's husband, won the Indianapolis 500, arguably the world's biggest race, when it was halted by rain 34 laps from its scheduled end. Scott Dixon finished second at Indianapolis Motor Speedway while two-time winner Helio Castroneves battled back from an early mishap on pit lane to finish third.
  It was announced that the Motor Racing Network, a wholly owned subsidiary of the International Speedway Corp., will move to Cabarrus County, NC and will be creating 50 jobs and investing $2.15 million over the next three years. The company, which provides NASCAR radio coverage and programming, is moving from Daytona Beach, Fla. The average weekly wage of the jobs will be $1,045 plus benefits, which is higher than the Cabarrus County average weekly wage of $594, not including benefits.

  Five years ago in 2012, The Whelen Modified Tour Series headed to the Stafford Motor Speedway for the 22nd ANNUAL TSI HARLEY-DAVIDSON 125. Doug Coby followed his Spring Sizzler win with another win at the nutmeg oval. Coby slipped past Bobby Santos eight laps from the finish to win the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 and became the first driver with more than one win this season.
  Coby, who was making his 118th Mod Tour start, started fifth but had to pit on Lap 27 under caution for a flat right front tire. He charged back and chased down Santos, who had won the pole and led the race from the drop of the green. Coby closed in on the leader with 10 laps to go and on his second attempt slipped by for the lead. After taking on fresh rubber Coby flew through the field and was in the top five with 50 to go. Santos tried to go the entire 125-lap distance without changing tires, and paid the price with seven laps to go. At the finish Santos had faded to second and was followed by Ron Silk, Todd Szegedy and Rowan Pennink. Sixth through tenth were Keith Rocco, Ted Christopher, Woody Pitkat, Jimmy Blewett and Justin Bonsignore.
  There were 5 cautions for 21 laps. The first yellow flew on lap 24 flew for Ed Flemke who spun after exiting turn four. The second caution was for Gary McDonald who spun in turn two on lap 32. Richie Pallai was responsible for cautions on lap 58 and 78. The final caution was for Jamie Tomaino who spun and intentionally brought out the caution. Twenty one of the twenty six starters were on the lead lap at the finishers. Among those who failed to finish was Mike Stefanik who retired with engine trouble
  Following the Stafford event the Whelen Modified Tour Series went on Spring Break for four weeks before heading to the Waterford Speedbowl on June 23.
  Regular Friday night racing at Stafford saw Michael Gervias, Jr. taking the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event. Also securing wins Tom Fearn in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Dylan Kopec in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, D.J. Burnham in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Kyle Casagrande in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
  For Gervais, it was his first career win in any division at Stafford, Fearn won for the first time since the 2009 season, Kopec was a winner for the third time in 4 SK Light races this season, Burnham ended Josh Wood’s winning streak at three races, and Casagrande became the all-time winningest DARE Stock driver in Stafford history with his 13th career victory.
  In the SK Modified feature there was extremely good racing for 14 laps until a fluid dump sent Keith Rocco into the wall and Ryan Preece spinning.
  At the Waterford Speedbowl torrential rain washed out the entire racing program.
  In Modified action at Bowman-Gray in North Carolina, Tim Brown got his third victory in the month of May with a win in the first of two 25-lap races for the featured Modified Division. And Michael Clifton won the second race.
  At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, With the time restraint curfew in affect, the race was called on lap fifteen giving the 89x of Chris McGuire his first victory in the modified division.
  Brad Keselowski collected his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the season at the Charlotte Motor Speedway as Sprint Cup Series regulars dominated the History 300.
  Pit strategy made the difference with 57 laps remaining when Keselowski’s crew chief Jeremy Billins called for the Penske Racing Dodge driver to remain on the race track. Keselowski made his fuel last and held off Denny Hamlin by .838 seconds to earn his 18th Nationwide Series victory and his second triumph at the 1.5-mile superspeedway.
  Kasey Kahne put his rough start to the 2012 season behind him by winning his third Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. With less than 30 laps to go it looked as if Denny Hamlin was chasing Kahne down, closing to within a few car lengths. Kahne, driving the No. 5 Quaker State Chevrolet, seemingly turned on the afterburners at that point. He pulled away from Hamlin and cruised to victory, winning by more than four seconds.

  Last year, 2016, The Thompson Motorsports Park Speedway began their summer series of Wednesday night NASCAR racing this past Wednesday night in somewhat chilly conditions. Once the sun went down the temps dipped into the low 50's but the action on the track was blazing hot.
  The Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman Series took center stage for their 40 lap, double distance event, the Limited Sportsman Long Distance, presented by Circuit One Events. The Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman Series took center stage at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, May 18th for their marathon event, the Limited Sportsman Long Distance, presented by Circuit One Events. Josh Wood took the checkered flag on his 22nd birthday. Wood took the lead fifteen laps into the forty-lap feature and never looked back but had to survive a series of cautions late in the race and a hard charging crew of experienced series veterans to claim his second straight win of the 2016 season. Ryan Waterman held on to finish second after making an overly aggressive move when he won his heat race. Corey Hitchings finished third and Scott Sundeen, fourth. Ed Pulio rounded out the top five.
  In the Sunoco Modifieds (SK type), Keith Rocco literally cleaned house as he made it two in a row at Thompson as he also won the Sunoco Modified event at the IceBreaker. Rocco took the lead in turn two if lap 10 after running wheel to wheel with Rowan Pennink who led the early going. Ryan Preece rallied from an early race problem to finish second but his efforts fell short as his power plant was no match for Rocco's which was Petit powered. Woody Pitkat finished third with Pennink, fourth. Ronnie Williams continues to impress as he rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth were Adam Norton, Jason Sundeen, Stephen Kopcik, John Studley and Joey Parker.
Rocco career total at this point was 217 career wins which also include victories at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl and at Stafford.
  Good weather greeted fans and competitors at the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night. Stafford had been rained out two weeks prior. Stafford's regular weekly divisions were joined by the Valenti Modified Racing Series.
  Rowan Pennink scored a one-two punch as he won both the Stafford SK 40 lap Modified race and the 80 lap Valenti Modified event.
  According to web site Chrome Horn, the VMRS race began with pole sitter Rowan Pennink leading the field for the first 4 laps. On lap 5, Woody Pitkat charged under Pennink for the top position and charged forward to lead the field. Pitkat dominated the race at his home track race until lap 60 when Pennink tried the outside and then shot under Pitkat for the lead. Pennink went forward to take home his first 2016 VMRS race. The VMRS race began with pole sitter Rowan Pennink leading the field for the first 4 laps. On lap 5, Woody Pitkat charged under Pennink for the top position and charged forward to lead the field.
  Pitkat dominated the race at his home track race until lap 60 when Pennink tried the outside and then shot under Pitkat for the lead. Pennink went forward to take home his first 2016 VMRS race. Pitkat held on to finish second with Anthony Nocella, third. Donnie Lashua and Keith Rocco rounded out the top five.
  In the SK 40 lapper, Eric Berndt led the first half of the event. Shortly after half way, Rowan Pennink went under Berndt for the lead. With ten laps to go Ryan Preece was under Pennink challenging for the lead. Two laps later Preece had the lead with Pennink right on his rear bumper. Preece's lead lasted only two laps though before Pennink came back to take the top position and win. Preece had to settle for second followed by Eric Berndt, Ted Christopher and Ronnie Williams for the top five.
  Despite the fact that two big rain storms were headed to southeastern Connecticut the New London-Waterford Speedbowl persevered and got in a full program of auto racing on Saturday night that saw three first-time winners in victory lane.
  Joey Polewarczyk Jr. was dominant in driving to victory in the 100-lap American Canadian Tour feature while Diego Monahan won the first 35-SK Modified feature of the evening, which was the conclusion of an event that was suspended after 17 laps because of rain on May 14.
  In regular weekly action at the shoreline oval Dylan Izzo picked up his first career win in the second 35-lap SK Modified feature. Cory DiMatteo was a first-time winner in the 25-lap SK Light Modified field. Monte Gibbs joined the first timers with victories in the 25-lap Limited Sportsman feature and Sean Caron got the win in the 25-lap Mini Stock feature.
  In the left over SK Modified feature from May, 18, Diego Monahan restarted from the top spot with Ted Christopher on his outside. Monahan was able to hold off the advances of Christopher on three restarts over the first four laps. On lap 13 Christopher spun coming off of turn four. The race restarted with Dennis Perry riding to the outside of Monahan, but there was no lane for him to find a way past the leader. Perry, rather than take a chance of getting walled, held on for second place. Paul Kusheba IV of finished third. Todd Owen and Rob Janovic Jr rounded out the top five
In the second SK Modified feature, Izzo started second and took the lead from Ryan Morgan on the first lap. From there he had little trouble creeping away from the field after numerous restarts. But with five laps remaining the caution flew which put Christopher restarting beside him. Izzo got the jump on Christopher on the restart and was able to hold him off for the win. Christopher held on for second and Bo Gunning was third. Ryan Morgan and Keith Rocco rounded out the top five.
  A surprise mid week shake-up took place at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl as race director Eric Webster resigned after only two events.
  Riverhead Raceway on Long Island cancelled their Saturday night racing program shortly after noon on Friday because of an impending rainy forecast for Saturday night.
  The Bowman- Gray stadium in Winston-Salem, NC fell victim to rain.
  One of the biggest events of the season came to the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH this past Saturday night May 21st. It was be the Winchester 200 featuring the Modified Touring Series, not affiliated with NASCAR. The race was 200 green flag laps and the winner, Ryan Preece went home with $15,000 and the trophy that was a 3855 Winchester rifle. Preece started on the pole of the 22 car field and led the first 26 laps of the event before being passed by Les Hinckley for the lead. Preece took it back on lap 40. Matt Hirschman, who started fifth, came alive on lap 48 as he slipped under Preece for the lead.
  At the 50 lap mark Hirschman continued to lead over Preece, Eric Goodale, Chris Pasteryak and Rowan Pennink. By lap 69 Jon McKennedy was making his presence known as he slipped by Pennink and Pasteryak for the fourth spot. Preece pitted under caution on lap 72. On the restart McKennedy moved into second spot. Following a caution on lap 76 Preece had worked his way into the top ten. By lap 95 Preece had closed in Hirschman's bumper. On lap 99 he regained the lead. At the half way mark it was Preece over Hirschman, Pennink, Todd Patnode, Scott McMichael and Pasteryak.
  Pennink pitted on lap 122 for service. by lap 125 he was in the top six. Preece pitted again on lap 158, giving the lead to McKennedy. Pennink's and Hinckley's night came to an end on lap 158 when Hinkley spun and collected Pennink. Pennink suffered severe right front suspension damage. When the field went back to green McKennedy led over Pasteryak, Hirschman, Holdridge, Goodale and Preece.
  On a mission, Preece turned up the wick as he charged to the front. By lap 162 Preece moved into fourth and Goodale fell to fifth. On lap 167 Preece moved into second and lap 170 took the lead.
  At the finish it was Preece over Goodale, Hirschman, McKennedy and Pasteryak. Sixth thru 10th were Mike Holdridge, Andy Jankowiak, Todd Patnode, Scott MacMichael and Eric LeClair.
  What James Hinchcliffe did by winning the pole for the 100th Indianapolis 500 was fairly remarkable considering that he nearly died at Indianapolis Motor Speedway just one year and four days previous. But after winning the pole during Sunday’s Pole Day for the 100th Indianapolis 500 with a dramatic four-lap run of 230.760 mph as the last driver to have a chance in the Fast Nine group of drivers that was determined during Saturday’s first-round, it’s a storyline that Hinchcliffe cannot escape.
  At the end of a confusing NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Joey Logano chased down Kyle Larson in the final laps to take home a $1 million payday.
  Logano took the race lead from Larson with two laps left before cruising to victory in the All-Star Race for the first time.

  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.

Looking Back Archive
 

Source: Phil Smith / Looking Back A Bit
Posted: May 26, 2017