July 7, 2017

  Sixty five years ago in 1952 George Lombardo was the Wednesday night Sportsman winner at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Johnny Sandberg made it two in a row in Claiming Car action at the Connecticut shoreline oval. Cy Yates won a 50 lap special for the Sportsman division at the Speedbowl on Saturday night. Bud Matter was the Claiming Car winner.

  Sixty five years ago in 1957, Moe Gherzi made it two in a row as he won the 25 lap Sportsman feature on Wednesday night at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Ted Stack was the non-Ford winner. Red Foote was the Sportsman winner on Saturday night while Arnie Harris was the non-Ford winner. Johnny Rocco took the win at the Islip Speedway over George Tet.

  Fifty five years ago in 1962, the New London-Waterford Speedbowl ran on Wednesday and on Saturday. Dick Beauregard was up for the task as he won both Modified features as was Ed Moody who won both Bomber features. Ron Narducci displaced Bill Slater from victory lane as he won on the dirt at the Stafford Springs Speedway on Friday night.

  Fifty years ago in 1967, Stafford ran a 100 lapper on Friday night with Gene Bergin in the M-6 taking the win over Fred DeSarro, Fred Harbach, Eddie Flemke and Tommie Elliott. At the Albany Saratoga Speedway Kenny Shoemaker took the top spot over Andy Romano, Bill Wimble, Don Wayman and Dick Clark. At Norwood Arena on Saturday night, Mr. Leo Cleary took top honors as he won the modified main event for the second week in a row. Fonda’s victory lane belonged to Bill Wimble as he out ran Dave Lape and Andy Romano for the win. Fred "Fuzzy" Baer scored a popular Modified win at Waterford while Jiggs Beetham took the checkers in the Daredevils. Utica Rome ran their rained out 100 lapper from the week before and it was Eddie Flemke taking the win over Bill Wimble, Rene Charland, Don MacTavish and Ernie Gahan.

  Forty five years ago in 1972, Fred DeSarro had Len Boehler's Ole Blu in top form as he dusted the field at Malta on Friday night. Lou Lazzaro finished second. Ronnie Bouchard, Bobby Santos and Bugsy Stevens rounded out the top five. Stafford had a 150 planned for Saturday night but rain prevailed. At Islip, Charlie Jarzombek took the top spot and at Fonda it was Harry Peek over Lou Lazzaro and Don Wayman. At Utica-Rome on Sunday night, favorite son Richie Evans with his Rusty Nail Special beat out Denis Giroux, Ron Newman, Bernie Miller and Jerry Cook. Glynn Shafer was the Saturday night Modified winner at Waterford. Waterford ran a 75 lap open competition event on Wednesday. Jerry Dostie took the win. Eddie Flemke finished second with Bob Potter, Dick Watson and Ronnie Bouchard rounding out the top five.

  Forty years ago in 1977, rain washed out Friday night racing at Stafford and Monadnock. Saturday night at Seekonk saw Bugsy Stevens take a 35 lap win over George Summers, George Murray and Ronnie Bouchard. At Westboro, Jim Landry took the top spot over Ken Bouchard and Butch Walch. The annual Riverside 500 saw Geoff Bodine and Bob Stefanik team up for the win. The team of Bob Polverari and Eddie Flemke finished second. At Islip a 100 lap Race of Champions qualifier was on tap and it was invader, Richie Evans, stealing the thunder from the Long Island regulars. Gary Cretty finished second with Charlie Jarzombek, third and Jerry Cook, fourth. At Freeport, George Brunnhoelzl beat out Russ Klar and Eddie Brunnhoelzl and at Lancaster it was Maynard Troyer over Roger Treichler. In Sunday night action at Thompson, Geoff Bodine took the top spot over Ronnie Bouchard and Bugsy Stevens.

  Thirty five years ago in 1982, after seven rain-outs in a row, Waterford Speedbowl promoter Dick Williams ran a Wednesday night event. Fifty laps, no points. Taking the win was Glynn Shafer in the Ron Yuhas No.6.Don Bunnell finished second with Moose Hewitt, Don Fowler and Joe Tiezzi rounding out the top five. At Stafford on Friday night, Reggie Ruggiero blasted his way to the front and beat Greg Sacks to the finish line. Kenny Bouchard finished third with Jerry Pearl, fourth. At New Egypt, John Blewett beat out Richie Evans for the win and at Spencer it was George Kent over Jerry Cook and Maynard Troyer. Fred Harbach made it two for two as he won at Riverhead on Friday night and at Islip on Saturday night. Saturday night at Waterford, it was dry for the first time since mid May. Jerry Pearl took the win over Randy Lajoie. At Seekonk, Gomer Taylor was the victor with George Savory and Eddie St Angelo in hot pursuit. Thompson ran twin 40's on Sunday with Kenny Bouchard and Greg Sacks sharing the glory. In Winston Cup action at Nashville, Darrel Waltrip took the win.

  Thirty years ago in 1987, Spencer Speedway ran a 100 lap NASCAR Modified championship event. Mike Mclaughlin took the win over Reggie Ruggiero, Kenny Bouchard, Jan Leaty and Jamie Tomaino. Double SK Modified Features were run at Stafford with Sonny O ‘Sullivan and Ted Christopher in victory lane. Christopher followed up his Stafford win with a victory at Waterford on Saturday night. At Riverside, it was Bob Polverari over Dan Avery and Mike Stefanik and at Riverhead; Dan Jivanelli took the top spot. In other Saturday night action, George Kent won out at Shangri-La over Randy Hedger. Oswego ran the Port City 150 on Sunday. Tony Hirschman rose to the occasion as he took the victory over George Brunnhoelzl and Ron Shepherd.

  Twenty five years ago in 1992, rain washed out Friday night racing at Stafford and Saturday night racing at Waterford plus the Featherlite Modifieds at Loudon. At Riverside, Reggie Ruggiero took the win over Rick Fuller and Chris Kopec and at Riverhead, Ed Brunnhoelzl beat out Bill Park for the win. Richard Petty, in his last appearance as a driver at the Daytona 400 and was a DNF.

  Twenty years ago in 1997, Jim Broderick won the 50 lap holiday program at Stafford on Friday night. At Waterford, Todd Ceravolo recorded his fifth win of the season after passing Eric Berndt with 17 laps to go. Scott Spaulding finished second with Berndt, third. Reggie Ruggiero recorded his 89th career win at Riverside on Saturday night. Ted Christopher finished second. In Winston Cup action, John Andretti led the final 23 laps to win the Pepsi 400 at Daytona and in Busch Grandnational action at Milwaukee, Randy Lajoie took the win.

  Fifteen years ago in 2002 the Fourth of July weekend started on Wednesday night with the NASCAR Featherlite Tour at Stafford for a 150-lap event. Ted Christopher went from pole to pole to win the event. Ed Flemke Jr. in the Hill Enterprises entry was the show as he came from the back twice to finish second. Rick Fuller, Jerry Marquis and Chris Kopec rounded out the top five. Bo Gunning won the companion 50 lap SK-Modified event. Jeff Malave survived a rough night at Thompson to take the win on Thursday night. Ron Yuhas Jr. finished second with Kerry Malone, third. During the running of the event Eric Berndt rode over Bert Marvin after Marvin was brake checked by Ted Christopher. Christopher was later sent to the rear after he spun Bo Gunning into the wall. Christopher came from the rear and finished fourth ahead of Tom Bolles who rounded out the top five. Ted Christopher scored his 72nd career win at Stafford on Friday night. Christopher ‘s win tied him with all-time winner Bugsy Stevens. Lee Raceway ran an open competition modified event on Friday. Ed Flemke Jr. led from pole to pole to take the win over Charlie Pasteryak, Carl Pasteryak, Kirk Alexander and Matt Hirschman. At Waterford, Jeff Pearl started up front with a car that had been wrecked two weeks previous and went on to win the Saturday night feature at the shoreline oval. Dennis Gada finished second and was followed by Rob Janovic and Ed Reed Jr. The Busch North Series was also on hand at Waterford and it was veteran Kelly Moore taking the win. At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, JR Bertuccio took the holiday 50 lapper over Wayne Anderson and Bill Park. Rounding out the weekend was the Race of Champions Tour event at the Adirondack Speedway in upstate New York. Eric Beers inherited the lead on lap 134 of the 150-lap event and went on to take the win. Ted Christopher was leading the event when he was turned into the fence while trying to block George Kent. Kent was sent to the rear. Jim Willis finished second with Rick Zacharias, third. In Winston Cup action at Daytona, the DEI cars continued to dominate as Michael Waltrip took the win. On a sad note, four spectators were injured after being struck by lightening.

  Ten years ago in 2007, the 2007 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour traveled to the Twin State Speedway in Claremont, N.H on Sunday for the second of three “Flash Format Events” scheduled in 2007. Posted Awards were $56,762 which was considerably less than regular Tour events. As of July 5, only 29 teams had filed entries. Among the missing were Ron Yuhas Jr, Woody Pitkat, Tony Hirschman and Bobby Santos III. Car owners were attempting to make a statement that the race purses for the “Flash Events” were sub-par. Twenty-six Modifieds, a light field in comparison to previous Whelen Modified Tour series events, were on hand for the Sunday evening event. The top six, Ronnie Silk, Ryan Preece, Matt Hirschman, Don Lia, Mike Stefanik and James Civali, qualified through time trials. Heat winners were Ted Christopher and Jon McKennedy. Hirschman was fresh off a Saturday night 75 lap Race of Champions Series win at the Lancaster Speedway in Western New York State.
  James Civali avoided the raindrops and held off Matt Hirschman as he won the Twin State event. Civali took the lead from Ron Silk going into turn 1 on lap 27 of the 100-lap contest. Ronnie Silk finished third and was followed by Donnie Lia, Ted Christopher and Mike Stefanik who recovered from an early spin. Civali led al but one of the final 90 laps. The race distance was extended to 117 laps because of caution laps in the first 50 laps, which were scored.
  The True Value Modified Racing Series returned to Monadnock Speedway for a 100-lap feature on Saturday evening. Kirk Alexander passed Rob Goodenough with seven laps remaining to record the win at the Winchester, NH ¼ mile high banked oval. Goodenough finished second with Dwight Jarvis, third. Ted Christopher was an early contender until he was eliminated in a wreck on lap 65.
  In regular Thursday Night Thunder action at the Thompson Speedway Keith Rocco scored a hard fought win as he scored his second win of the season at the northeast Connecticut oval. A late race confrontation with Bert Marvin added to the excitement. Harry Rheaume took the lead at the start followed by Danny Cates, Bert Marvin and Jimmy Blewett. The racing was slowed on lap three by a caution for a single car spin by Eric Goodale. On the ensuing restart Marvin moved ahead of Cates and set his sites on Rheaume. Marvin was able to drive around Rheaume for the lead on lap five. Jimmy Blewett moved into third ahead of Cates on the next circuit. John Blewett ran in fifth but was looking for more as he too battled with Cates. Keith Rocco joined the fray catching John Blewett in fifth. The second caution flew on lap 10 when Kerry Malone and Buddy Charette tangled exiting turn two.On the restart, Marvin jumped out to the lead followed by Jimmy Blewett Blewett made a run on Marvin but the action was halted for an incident that involved Shelly Perry, Eric Goodale, Brian Tagg and others. Marvin was again the man to beat on the restart getting the edge on Blewett. Rheaume held strong in third. Just as Blewett was making his run on the leader Marvin, the lead the race was slowed again when the Josh Steeves came to rest in turn three. The ensuing restart set off a chain reaction that claimed a number of cars including Steeves, Brett LeBlanc, and Ricky Shawn.The restart gave. Blewett the opening that he needed. Marvin and Blewett went side-by-side for nearly a lap before Blewett assumed his place at the head of the pack on lap 13. Another quick caution and a subsequent attempt at the restart was called back. Under the caution John Blewett headed down pit road for service. Once back under green, Jimmy Blewett took control of the race once again. Tommy Cravenho and Keith Rocco were locked in a battle for the third spot while Woody Pitkat sat in fifth.
  Marvin pressured Blewett by running the outside groove in search of the lead once again. Jimmy Blewett appeared to bobble entering turn three opening the door for Marvin and Rocco. Contact between the three leaders ended with the leader Marvin with contact with outside wall on the front stretch. Marvin felt that Rocco had done him in and his resulting actions found him getting ejected from the event. When racing finally resumed, Rocco was the new leader. Pitkat gave Rocco a run on the restart but could not make the pass. Todd Ceravolo was able to take over the second spot from Pitkat. Pitkat, however, after regaining his composure successfully went back after Ceravolo. Pitkat ran in second again on lap 24. Meanwhile Rocco began to check out on the field. Things settled down over the closing laps with Rocco handily taking his second win of the season over Pitkat and Ceravalo. Cravenho and Cates rounded out the top five.
  Other Thursday night Thunder winners at Thompson were Ben Seitz of Pocasset, MA, who carried the checkers in the traditional holiday visit of the Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA) to Thompson. In regular weekly series action, Kurt Vigeant earned a hard-fought victory in the annual extra-distance race for the TIS Modifieds. Also earning his second feature win of the season was Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, in the Pro Stocks.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Stafford Motor Speedway the Late Models took center stage for the 13th Annual DiGiorgi Roofing & Siding Late Model 100. Mike O'Sullivan scored the win, with Ted Christopher winning the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Brit Andersen taking the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Bill Davis taking the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Bill Dunn winning the 15-lap DARE Stock feature. The 13th Annual DiGiorgi Late Model 100-lap feature saw Mike O'Sullivan outlast Jim Peterson to take the victory.
  Ted Christopher, Stafford’s winningest driver, ended a long dry spell as he won the 40-lap SK Modified feature, his first feature victory since the 2006 Spring Sizzler. Kerry Malone held the early lead, but retired on lap-7 after contact with Bo Gunning. Malone's misfortune put Keith Rocco out front and Rocco held the lead until lap-31 when Christopher dove under Rocco in turn 3 to take over the lead. One lap later, Rocco and Brad Hietala made contact and spun in turn 3 to bring out the caution. On the restart, Christopher powered to the lead and ran unchallenged to the checkered flag to take the victory. Woody Pitkat, who spun twice during the race, came back up through the field to finish second with Bo Gunning, Zach Sylvester, and Todd Owen rounding out the top-5.
  The fastest open wheel cars in the Northeast returned to Stafford Motor Speedway on Tuesday, July 10th as the IMSA Supermodifieds made their fourth annual appearance at the Connecticut half-mile. Joining the ISMA Supers were the NEMA Midgets and the Pro-4 Modifieds, making for an exciting evening of open wheel competition. Rob Summers scored his first career ISMA Supermodified feature victory by winning the 50-lap feature, Erica Santos was the winner of the 25-lap NEMA Midget feature, and Jeff Zuidema was the winner of the 20-lap Pro-4 Modified feature event.
  In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Waterford Speedbowl Jeff Pearl eased by Diego Monahan for the lead in turn three on lap 29 of the 100 lap SK Modified feature. He survived three restarts, the last with 19 laps remaining and finished a car length in front of Dennis Gada. Gada, involved in a first-lap crash that required considerable pit work, took second from Rob Janovic Jr. on the final restart.
  In other action at the shoreline oval Dennis Botticello assumed command on lap 24 and went on to win the 100-lap Late Model feature. Botticello handled a number of restarts including three over the final 10 laps. In his first-ever Speedbowl ride, Tom O'Sullivan set a track record in qualifying (a 17.370 second lap) and then romped to victory in the 50-lap Sportsman feature. Point leader Ken Cassidy Jr. won the 50-lap Mini Stock feature after battling Danny Field side-by-side over the final six laps in the closest race of the night. O’Sullivan, winner of the 50-lap Sportsman event was disqualified. According to the release from the track the Camaro run by O'Sullivan and owned by Scott Fearn was found to be: “in violation of left-side weight requirements in post-race inspection.” Bill Gertsch Jr., who finished second, was declared the winner
  Jamie McMurray ended a massive losing streak in dramatic fashion, beating Kyle Busch by a bumper in the Pepsi 400 on Saturday night in Daytona Beach, Fla. McMurray snapped a 166-race winless streak by drag racing with Busch for much of the final two laps at Daytona International Speedway. The cars appeared to touch several times on their final trip around the famed track, and McMurray nosed across the finish line a mere 0.005 of a second ahead of Busch. It denied Busch a shot at a rare double victory - he won the rain-rescheduled Busch Series race 12 hours earlier.
  In some sad news a twin-engine NASCAR plane crashed and destroyed two homes, killing five people. The tragedy began in Daytona Beach where Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of International Speedway Corp. executive Lesa France Kennedy, and Michael Klemm, a pilot who had worked for NASCAR aviation for 21 years, took off for Lakeland at 8:21 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Shortly after, the pair reported smoke in the cockpit to air traffic controllers and said they would try to land at Orlando Sanford International Airport. They never made it.

  Five years ago in 2012, In Valenti Modified Racing Series action at the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH Todd Szegedy passed race leader Chris Pasteryak on lap 92, and went to win the 8th annual ‘Firecracker 100’. Szegedy became the series fifth different winner of 2012. Szegedy hooked up in a side-by-side, crowd-pleasing battle, with Les Hinckley for several laps, before grabbing the runner-up spot. Pasteryak led the race from lap 49 when he slipped up allowing Szegedy to take the lead. Hometown favorite Dwight Jarvis made a late race charge to finish second. Todd Patnode finished third. Hinckley and Pasteryak rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth were: Rowan Pennink, Jon McKennedy, Norm Wrenn, Mike Holdridge, and Joey Jarvis.
  The race, slowed by five caution flags, was completed in 44 minutes. Fourteen of the 24 cars that started the event finished on the lead lap. Thirty cars were on hand.
  Thursday night Thunder at Thompson saw another night of controversy. The Speedway featured Twin 30 lap features for the Sunoco Modifieds. Woody Pitkat made it two in a row in Sunoco Modified action in the night’s Modified the opener. In the second of the twins, Ryan Preece was declared the winner of a controversial feature event that saw Pitkat cross the checkers first. In a more conventional finish, it was Tommy O’Sullivan scoring the victory in the Late Models. Troy Talman wired the field to secure the victory in Sunoco Lite Modified. Scott Sundeen continued his domination of the Limited Sportsman division with a win. John Lowinski-Loh, Jr. made it five consecutive wins in the TIS Modified division. Dave Trudeau earned top honors in the Mini Stocks. Bill Cummins earned top honors in the Vintage Outlaw Modifieds.
  On lap 29 of the first Sunoco Modified feature Keith Rocco made his move on Pitkat to take over the lead. Pitkat dove low exiting the fourth turn. Pitkat and Rocco made contact. Pitkat was able to gain the advantage and edged out Rocco for the victory. Ted Christopher came home third. Ryan Preece and Kerry Malone rounded out the top five. The second Sunoco Modified feature was somewhat ho-hum until the final moments. With two laps to go Rocco made a move outside of Christopher. He could not make the pass for the lead. Pitkat got along side Rocco momentarily but Rocco fought back. A spin by Kerry Malone brought out the caution flag setting the stage for an exciting restart. Christopher picked the outside groove on the restart. Rocco got the jump on the restart only to have his car falter in turn one. Christopher was able to take the lead. With the white flag flying, Pitkat muscled by Christopher in turn two to steal the lead away. Preece got by Christopher to take over the second position. Pitkat streaked under the checkers first followed by Preece and Christopher. A dissatisfied Christopher made contact with Pitkat on the cool down lap and was disqualified. When all was said and done Preece found himself in the winner's circle. Pitkat was placed in second. Dennis Perry, Richie Gallup, and Kerry Malone completed the top five.
  It's a fore gone conclusion that at some point the Thompson management will say they have had enough and will pull the plug on the Sunoco Modifieds. The animals have taken over the running of the zoo and the only way to retake control is to shoot them!
  Keith Rocco made it two in a row in SK Modified competition at the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night. Stafford's SK Light Modifieds took center stage with their Xtra Mart Xtra D 25-lap feature event. Zach Aszklar was the big winner of the night, picking up his first career victory, Mike Quintiliano picked up his first Late Model feature victory since the 2005 season, Josh Wood picked up his sixth feature win of the season in the 20-lap Ltd. Late Model feature, and James Carroll picked up his first career feature victory in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
  Competitors at the Waterford Speedbowl were given a night off.
  In NASCAR Southern Modified action at the Caraway Speedway in North Carolina George Brunnhoelzl III won the Firecracker 150 on Friday night. Brunnhoelzl dominated the day by being the fastest in practice and winning his third pole position of the season before leading the race wire-to-wire. With the victory, Brunnhoelzl, out of West Babylon, N.Y., takes over sole possession of the Southern Modified Tour’s all-time wins list at 14 after coming into the event in a tie with L.W. Miller. Brandon Ward finished as the runner-up and crossed the line .343 seconds behind the winner. Danny Bohn, who started the race from the ninth position, charged to the front and finished third. Brian Loftin, who won at Caraway earlier in the season, finished fourth and Jason Myers finished fifth.
  Rookie Jon McKennedy, John Smith, Michael Speeney, Tim Brown and Joe Scarborough rounded out the top 10. The race was slowed due to caution six times for 27 laps
In NASCAR Modified action at the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island Justin Bonsignore started on pole and never looked back as he won the Cromarty Cup 50 for the Modifieds. Shawn Solomito finished second with Ryan Preece, third. Rounding out the top five were Timmy Solomito and Ron Silk. Ted Christopher finished seventh.
  In NASCAR Sprint Cup racing at Daytona, Tony Stewart emerged the winner, charging past Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth on the last lap and holding on as the challengers stacked up behind him Saturday night in one of Daytona's trademark wrecks.
  Suspended NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger said that he tested positive for a stimulant and was collecting his medicines and supplements in an attempt to figure out what got him in trouble. A statement issued by Allmendinger's business manager did not identify the stimulant and said the driver does not know what caused him to fail the random test conducted June 29. He was suspended just hours before the Daytona event and NASCAR has not revealed the substance, either.
  Kurt Busch took the lead on the final lap and held on to win the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona International Speedway for his second Nationwide win of the year.

  Last year, 2016, The Modified Tri-Track Series visited the Seekonk Speedway on Wednesday night. With 39 cars on hand it made for an exciting set of qualifying heats. Doug Coby scored a double shot as he won the Boston Louie NEMA Midget event and the Tri Track Modified 100. It was the third time that Coby won the Tri Track event.
  In the 100 lap event that paid $10,000, Coby started fourth and took the lead following a lap 40 restart. Coby fought off challenges from Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore to the end which came at 11:30pm. Silk prevailed in second spot while Bonsignore was penalized for an improper restarting spot and placed in sixth spot at the finish. Rowan Pennink finished third with Les Hinkley and Matt Hirschman rounding out the top five.
  Twenty three of the original 27 starters finished on the lead lap. Among those who didn't finish was Tommy Barrett who was making his first start of the season. Barrett was up to sixth with 15 laps to go when his car quit. He ended up dead last. Among those who didn't qualify was Ted Christopher who was eliminated after a crash in the fifth heat. Christopher was third fastest in practice.
  Due to the severe weather forecast for Friday night that included thunderstorms and hail, Stafford Speedway cancelled their Fourth of July Celebration program.
  The competition at Stafford this year has been nothing short of being fabulous with close wheel to wheel action in all divisions.
  Ted Christopher had a tough couple of weeks in SK Modified competition at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. On Saturday night at the shoreline oval his previous bad luck awarded him a pole shot in the feature which he took full advantage as he led every lap to record his first victory at the track in 2016. Diego Monahan was second and Keith Rocco, third. Todd Owen and Justin Gaydosh rounded out the top five.
  In other events Keith Rocco won the first Late Model feature, Anthony Flannery was victorious in the second Late Model feature, Andrew Molleur won the SK Light Modified feature, Monte Gibbs topped the field in the Limited Sportsman feature, Wayne Burroughs Jr. won the Mini Stock feature and Ryan Locke won the NEMA Lites feature.
  Keith Rocco continues to build on his record setting feature win total. Rocco's recorded a win in the Late Model division at the shoreline oval brought his track win total to 126 wins. The win also took Rocco over the top to a career overall total of 222 wins which also include victories at Thompson and Stafford Speedways.
  The Valenti Modified Racing Series was at the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH on Saturday night for a 100 lapper. Jon McKennedy made four attempts in the final nine laps only to make the last one count for the win. McKennedy drove it in hard in turn three and snuck under leader Russ Hersey to steal a victory. Todd Patnode finished third and was followed by Steve Masse and Chris Pasteryak.
  At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, sophomore NASCAR Modified talent Kyle Soper rewarded his hard working team with a win on Saturday night winning the 66th Year Celebration 66-lap feature for his second straight Whelen All American Series triumph. Shawn Solomito was runner-up noting afterwards, "this is our tour car, we were just a tick off but hats off to Kyle he earned it". Dave Brigati was third with John Fortin Jr. and Howie Brode rounding out the top five.
  In NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, Brad Keselowski was the class of the field during Saturday’s Coke Zero 400, leading a race-high 115 laps en route to a dominating victory at Daytona Int’l Speedway. The victory was Keselowski’s fifth restrictor plate victory, but his first at Daytona in his 15th attempt at the 2.5-mile oval. The victory was also the 100th in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition for team owner Roger Penske. While he was the dominant driver all night, Keselowski had to survive three caution flags in the final 31 laps before he rolled his Team Penske Ford into victory lane.
  In the Daytona Xfinity event, NASCAR declared Aric Almirola the winner of Friday’s Subway Firecracker 250 after a caution flag waved during the final lap after an overtime restart. Almirola and Justin Allgaier were side-by-side racing for the lead coming out of turn four heading to the checkered flag when NASCAR called the caution flag because of a crash on the backstretch. It took several minutes for NASCAR to review video before officials eventually declared Almirola the race winner.

  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: July 7, 2017