October 13, 2017

  Sixty five years ago, in 1952, the Race of Champions was in its second year of existence on the one-mile circular Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania. Jim Delaney scored his first of three ROC victories. Hully Bunn who had won the previous year finished a distant 39th. Also in the field and finishing 58th was Ralph Moody, then from Taunton, Mass. Ray Delisle made it two in a row in Sunday action at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl

  Sixty years ago, in 1957, Chevrolet was enjoying its first year with the 327 small block V-8. With fuel injection heads plus a four-barrel carburetor and duel exhaust, the 327 put out more horsepower per pound of engine weight than any engine that would be built for many years to come. Glenn Guthrie was the winner of the Langhorne Race of Champions. In Sportsman action at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Don Collins took the 25 lap win. Mike Banning was the non-Ford winner.

  Fifty five years ago in 1962, Frankie Schneider took the big one at Langhorne. Ted Stack won the season ending Modified 75 lapper at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Lou Caso was the Bomber feature winner. With 14 wins on the season to his credit, Dick Beauregard was declared the Modified Track Champion. He retired from racing on the spot. Ed Moody was declared the Bomber division champion.

  Forty years ago, in 1977, rain washed out all racing.

  Thirty five years ago, in 1982, triple features for the Super Stocks at Waterford were the only action in Southern New England. Bob Gada, Al Szulczyzk and Brian McCarthy were the winners. It was also a big day for New Yorker Merv Treichler as he won the DIRT Syracuse 200.

  Thirty years ago, in 1987, rain prevailed all over the East Coast.

  Twenty five years ago, in 1992, the Waterford Speedbowl took center stage with a wide open competition event that saw Ted Christopher, running nitrous oxide in the North End Auto Parts No.54, lead from pole to pole to take down the win in the 50 lap event. Mark LaJunesse finished second with Lloyd Agor, Mike Gada, Mike Christopher and Richie Gallup rounding out the top six. It was also announced that the New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N. H. would have a sanction for a Winston Cup event in 1993.

  Twenty years ago, in 1997, Waterford ran twin features for the mods on Saturday night. Tucker Reynolds JR went two for two in his attempt to close in on point leader Todd Ceravolo. In Winston Cup action at Talladega, Terry Labonte took the lead with two laps to go from Ken Schrader and went on to take the win. It wasn't a good day for Jeff Gordon as he triggered a 20-car wreck after getting a flat tire. At the Thompson World Series, Mike Ewanitsko took the lead from Rick Fuller on lap 123 of the 125 lap modified tour event. Fuller had attempted to block but instead ended up spinning out. Tony Hirschman ended up second and was followed by Tim Connolly and Jamie Tomaino. Ed Flemke JR won the companion SK type modified event. For many years, the Race of Champions was run on Columbus Day weekend. Last but not least, it was 42 years ago in 1965 that Wild Bill Slater in the Connecticut Valley Rocket-V/8, won the prestigious event.

  Fifteen years ago in 2002, the Busch North Series season ender at Lime Rock and the D. Anthony Venditti Memorial at the Seekonk Speedway were rained out.

  Ten years ago in 2007, the Annual World Series at the Thompson Speedway closed out the 2007 season for many in New England. Forty-two NASCAR Modifieds were on hand for time trials. Part time Tour competitor Tony Ferrante provided a pleasant surprise when he set the fastest time and captured the Busch pole. Ferrante's time of 120.656 mph around the .625-mile oval beat out Tony Hirschman Jr. by .025 seconds. Don Lia, Billy Pauch Jr and Matt Hirschman rounded out the top five. Qualifying went smooth except for the fact that Jamie Tomaino slammed the first turn wall after completing his second qualifying lap. Tomaino’s time wasn’t good enough to make the starting field but he was eligible for a provisional spot, which he took.
  Lenny Boehler and Bob “Frito Bandito” Santos, both deceased and NEAR Hall of Fame inductees, had to be smiling last Sunday as Bobby Santos III drove the Boehler Racing Ole Blu to victory in the NASCAR Modified portion of the World Series. Based on the re-draw after time trials Santos started second in the 150-lap event. Santos, who was in the hunt the entire race, grabbed the lead on a restart on lap 131 and went on to victory over Reggie Ruggiero, Matt Hirschman, Ted Christopher and Ronnie Silk. Sixth through tenth were Kevin Goodale, Ryan Preece, Mike Stefanik, Tony Hirschman and Renee Dupuis. Series champion Don Lia finished 28th. After dropping out with reported ignition problems. James Civali, who completed all 150 laps was disqualified by NASCAR and placed last for rough riding. A last-lap, fourth-turn crash involving Ed Flemke Jr., Billy Pauch Jr., and Doug Coby changed the complexion of the race behind Christopher. James Civali, who had contact with Flemke, initiating the crash, was parked and put to the rear of the field. Civali was later reprimanded in the NASCAR trailer. Richard Savory, son of George Savory and the driver of the Art Barry No.21 was awarded the series Rookie of the Year award.
  The Thompson regular weekly divisions finished off the 2007 season in grand-style with Larry Barnett (Ltd. Sportsman), Mike Romano (Mini Stocks), and Leo Adams (TIS Modifieds) scoring victories. Rick Gentes of Woonsocket, RI, continued his stronghold on the Outlaw Late Model laurels during the World Series. In other Outlaw action, Tim Sullivan of S. Windsor won a barnburner in the Strictlys and visiting Randy Churchill, Jr. of Niantic bested the Outlaw Mini Stocks. The Touring Series competitors established a pattern on Saturday night as both Seth Duvall of Ashford in the All-Star Truck Series and Norm Wrenn of Nashua, NH, in the Pro-Four Modifieds rode feature wins to 2007 championships.
  The 34th Annual World Series ended a bittersweet racing season at Thompson International Speedway. In addition to Bobby Santos III those adding their names to the Thompson history books were Chris Perley of Rowley, MA, in the International Supermodified Association (ISMA); and Randy Cabral of Plymouth, MA, in the Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA). Also garnering World Series glory was Jimmy Blewett of Howelll, NJ, in the Sunoco Modifieds, Jeff Connors of Ellington in Pro Stocks, and a surprise winner in the Late Models Ron Levesque, Jr. of Tiverton, RI. Ben Seitz had a run for the ages when the young driver from Pocassett, MA, scored an unprecedented fourth Northeastern Midget Association driving championship.
  Jimmy Blewett made a triumphant return to the victory lane at Thompson. Blewett was greeted by a number of his fellow competitors and a standing ovation when he exited his Eddie Partridge owned TS Haulers #12 in victory lane. Blewett took over the lead before the completion of the first lap and never looked back. In the early going, Blewett and second-running Malone drove away from the rest of the pack. Blewett withstood a pair of late race restarts and persistent challenges from Malone to score the victory. Josh Steeves came home with an impressive third place finish over Bert Marvin and a returning Ted Christopher. Sixth through tenth were Tom Cravenho, Bo Gunning, Bobby Santos III, Danny Cates and Todd Ceravolo.
Dick Houlihan made his final career start at Xtra/Mart World Series at Thompson. Houlihan, who began his racing career in 1972 at the now closed Lakeville Speedway (MA), had raced at tracks all around New England, the east coast, as far west as Indiana and even in Canada. Throughout his career he has driven for many car owners including Danny Fournier, Jim McCloud, Sam Medeiros, Frank Procopio, Bill Ambrosio, Dan Andruck, John McKenna, Lenny Ellis, Greg Paquin and Wayne Darling. Along the way Dick won over 150 Features and 9 championships including 3 NASCAR Weekly Series titles, one at Thompson in 1996 and back to back titles at Seekonk in 2002 and 2003. He was also voted the Most Popular Driver at Seekonk in 2001 and 2002.
  NASCAR released the final standings for the Weekly Racing Series for 2007. Four of the top ten in the final standings raced at the Thompson and Stafford Motor Speedways including runner-up Woody Pitkat who lost out to Steve Carlson by a mere six points. Carlson races at the LaCrosse Speedway in the Mid-West. Philip Morris who raced at the Motor Mile Speedway in Virginia, finished in third spot with Keith Rocco and Ted Christopher rounding out the top five. Kerry Malone, who raced at both Thompson and Stafford finished tenth in the final rundown.
Longtime motorsports executive Dennis Huth, through his company Racing Speed Associates, reached an agreement to fully acquire all rights to the American Speed Association
  In Busch Racing Series action at the Lowes Motor Speedway, Jeff Burton took the win in the Dollar General 300. Burton led the final 61 laps of the race. It was Burton's fourth win of the 2007 season. In Nextel Cup racing, Jeff Gordon staked his claim to the Nextel Cup title, winning his second straight race to widen his lead in the Chase for the championship standings. The four-time series champion led Kyle Busch on a restart with five laps to go at Lowe's Motor Speedway, but as he tried to hold off his teammate, Ryan Newman slid by both Hendrick Motorsports cars to grab the lead. Newman seemed to be headed to an easy win, but inexplicably spun while running by himself to bring out the caution. Gordon inherited the lead, but had a fuel issue that had him stressed about a pickup problem when the race resumed for a two-lap overtime finish. But Gordon's Chevrolet was flawless on the final start, and he pulled away from Clint Bowyer and Busch for his first win at the suburban Charlotte track since 1999.

  Five years ago in 2012, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour pulled into the Thompson Speedway to finish up their season and crown a Champion. The event drew 32 Modifieds. Eric Berndt earned the second Coors Light Pole Award of his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour career on Saturday in advance of the season finale Sunoco-Town Fair Tire World Series on Sunday. Berndt toured the .625-mile, high-banked oval in 18.607 seconds (120.922 mph) for his first pole since 2009. Bobby Santos III posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 18.624 (120.812). Ron Silk was third fastest with Ryan Preece, fourth and Justin Bonsignore, fifth. Rounding out the top ten was Mike Stefanik, Eric Beers, Jimmy Blewett, Doug Coby and Andy Seuss.
  The speedway beat back the threat of rain and now the 2012 season is history. The World Series of Auto Racing victory lane hosted Bobby Santos as Whelen Modified Tour winner, Woody Pitkat in the Sunoco Modifieds, Randy Cabral in the NEMA Midgets, Rob Summers in ISMA Super Modifieds, and Larry Gelinas in the Super Late Models.
  Santos held off a determined Todd Szegedy to win the Sunoco Race Fuels – Town Fair Tire 150 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race and collect his second consecutive win this season and 8th career victory. Doug Coby finished sixth and won his first Whelen Modified Tour Championship. Santos started the 150-lap race from the outside pole and took the lead from Todd Szegedy on lap 130 when he dove to the bottom groove in turn three. Santos held off Ryan Preece on a late-race restart to take the checkers.
  Preece, who finished the race in second, led the most laps at 56 and finished the series point battle in second place. Szegedy finished the race in third. Rounding out the tp five were Mike Stefanik and Eric Beers. Sixth thru tenth was Coby, Tommy Barrett, Patrick Emerling, Keith Rocco and Pitkat. Nineteen cars finished on the lead lap. Rocco wrapped up the 2012 Rookie of the Year award.
  Woody Pitkat used a lap 11 restart to take the lead from Ted Christopher and drive to a victory in the 30-lap Sunoco Modified feature. Richie Gallup led the opening lap of the Sunoco Modified feature, but caution called for a complete restart. Gallup led again when the green dropped, but Ted Christopher soon maneuvered by him and drove his No. 13 machine to the point. Michael Gervais and Ryan Preece made up the top-three when everything sorted itself out.
  Caution slowed their pace at lap nine, but it didn’t slow Christopher down, who darted back to the front on the restart. Pitkat used the inside groove to get by Gervais for second before a car hit the back straightaway wall and set the field up for another restart. Pitkat and Christopher went into turn one dead even, but Pitkat emerged the leader coming out of turn two. Preece and Ceravolo got around Christopher for second and third, but Ceravolo fell off the pace entering the first turn of lap 16. Caution flew at lap 18 with Pitkat, Preece, Christopher, and Gervais making up the first two rows for the restart.
  Pitkat took command at the drop of the green with Preece on his bumper. Pitkat had to do it all over again after a caution on lap 19, but it didn’t slow him down. Preece, however, got shuffled back to the fourth position with Christopher and Danny Cates taking over second and third. Pitkat and Christopher quickly pulled away from the rest of the field with Pitkat keeping a car length ahead. A half a second behind them, Preece and Cates battled door-to-door for the third position with Preece having the advantage by a nose. On lap 29, Preece secured the spot while Pitkat continued to lead up front. Pitkat took the checkers a car length ahead of Christopher. Ryan Preece finished third with Danny Cates and Michael Gervais rounding out the top five.
  Before the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour hopefully returns to Thompson International Speedway next spring for the Icebreaker there are other fish to fry as there are two major events on the offseason schedule. The 28th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion will be crowned as part of the NASCAR Night of Champions Awards banquet, which will include ceremonies for the seven NASCAR touring series on Saturday, Dec. 8 at the Charlotte (N.C.) Convention Center in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The inaugural UNOH Battle at the Beach will then take place Feb. 18-19 on a temporary .4-mile oval on the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway as part of 2013 Speedweeks.
  By virtue of wins through the Whelen Modified Tour’s first 13 events, Justin Bonsignore, Doug Coby, Donny Lia, Ryan Preece, Bobby Santos, Ron Silk and Mike Stefanik have locked-in starting positions for the 150-lap exhibition Whelen Modified-Whelen Southern Modified Tour combination race on Feb. 19
  The Valenti Modified Racing Series shared the Thompson Speedway with their big brothers and had their own feature on Saturday night. The New England based series was 36 cars strong. Rowan Pennink picked up his third victory of the season in the Valenti Modified Racing Series after taking the lead at lap 40. Justin Bonsignore led from the pole before caution slowed the race for the first time at lap two. On the restart, Bonsignore drove back out front with Todd Owen right on his bumper. On lap four, Owen shot around to the lead with Bonsignore and Christopher in tow. Owen drove straight to the front when racing resumed after a caution on lap 11 with Chris Pasteryak getting underneath Bonsignore for second. Pasteryak attached himself to Owen’s bumper, and heading into turn one on lap 17, shot to the bottom and drove to the lead. Pasteryak put some distance over the rest of the field once out front while Christopher took over second. Louie Mechalides took that spot from Christopher when the Plainville, Conn. native pulled his ailing machine onto pit road at lap 34. Mechalides set his sights on Pasteryak, who was maneuvering through lapped traffic nearly a second in front of him. Caution flew at lap 40 with many cars electing to go down pit road, but Pasteryak was not one of them. Rowan Pennink joined Pasteryak on the front row for the restart, and took over the lead when the green flag dropped. On the next circuit, Brad VonHouten and Leo Oliviera made contact. Oliviera’s car climbed the outside retaining wall and traveled over 100 feet on that wall before coming to a stop in the middle of turns one and two. The race went under red flag conditions as safety and track personnel attended to Oliviera, who escaped unharmed, and his car. On the restart, Pennink jumped to the lead with Pasteryak and Richard Savary in tow. Lap 50 brought out the caution once again, and on the restart, Pennink drove straight to the front as Pasteryak held off a challenge for second. Jon McKennedy and Steve Masse rounded out the top-four. McKennedy used the bottom to get by Pasteryak on lap 54 while Masse followed his line on the following circuit. Pennink held off McKennedy through two more restarts, but it was getting harder for him to shake McKennedy, who was glued to his rear bumper as they hit five laps to go. Caution flew with two laps to go setting up a green-white-checkered finish, but even that was not enough to shake Pennink, who drove to the victory.
  Jon McKennedy finished second followed by Steve Masse and Richard Savory. Louie Mechalides rounded out the top five. Sixth thru 10th were Chris Pasteryak, Max Zachem, Todd Owen, Charlie Pasteryak and Norm Wrenn.
  Pennink’s victory in the Valenti Modified Racing Series 75-lapper highlighted an action packed night at Thompson that offered 11 features of racing. John Studley, John Lowinski-Loh, Tommy O’Sullivan, Jesse Gleason, Eric Bourgeois, Glen Thomas, Jr., Chris Correll, and Dave Richardi all visited victory lane on World Series weekend. There was a total of 337 cars signed into the pits for the three day event. The car count increased by 61 over last years total which was 276.
  Down in the Southland George Brunnhoelzl III clinched his third NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour championship just by taking the green flag Thursday night in the UNOH Southern Slam 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. And then he closed out the season in style as he went out and led every lap en route to his sixth win of the season. It marked the 17th career win for the West Babylon, N.Y., driver and his first on the quarter-mile oval on the frontstretch at Charlotte. Brunnhoelzl also became the first driver to win three NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified titles, breaking a tie he held with Junior Miller (2005-06).
  The event, which drew 20 cars, had some northern flavor as Ryan Preece finished in the runner-up spot and Ted Christopher in the Hillbilly 79 finished seventh. Burt Myers finished third with Danny Bohn and Andy Seuss rounding out the top five.
  In NASCAR Sprint Cup racing at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Clint Bowyer picked up his first win in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship winning a fuel-mileage race that ended in disaster for points leader Brad Keselowski. Keselowski dominated the Bank of America 500 but ran out of fuel with 58 laps remaining to blow his chance at the victory. Denny Hamlin finished second and is third in the Chase, 15 points back, and Johnson finished third. The race was the first since 1979 without an Earnhardt, as Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat out with a concussion. His replacement driver, Regan Smith, had engine failure early in the race.
  In Nationwide Series racing at Charlotte, Joey Logano raced to his eighth victory of the year passing Brad Keselowski with eight laps to go after taking on two tires and a splash of gas. Logano led 62 laps en route to his 17th career victory and first at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick was second, followed by Nationwide points leader Elliott Sadler. Kyle Busch finished fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth.
  Area Auto Racing News reported that the Speed Channel could be no more in 2013. FOX Sports will be re-naming the channel and will use it to showcase more ball and stick sports with just a minimal amount of racing related programming.

  Last year, 2016, The Stafford Motor Speedway finally got to swing open their gates for their season ending Fall Final which featured the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series. A somewhat lean field of 24 cars were on hand for the event. No surprise to anyone Doug Coby set fast time with an 18.607 second lap around the half mile oval earning his ninth Coors Light Pole of 2016. Justin Bonsignore qualified second with a time of 18.651. Bonsignore entered the NWMT 44th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final just 13 points behind Coby. Third fastest was Ron Silk with Donny Lia fourth and Jimmy Blewett rounding out top five fastest qualifiers.
  After many years of trying, Melissa Fifield finally broke into the top 25 in qualifying. The way things are going with the division she will be in the top 20 by next year. By 4:00pm on Saturday it was all over as rain began to fall.
  Stafford kicked off its final race event of the 2015 season with feature events for its SK Light, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions, as well as feature events for the TQ Midgets and Mr. Rooter Truck Series as part of the Saturday NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final Weekend festivities. Taking feature wins were Tony Membrino, Jr. in the SK Light feature, Paul Arute in the Ltd. Late Model feature, Johnny Walker in the DARE Stock feature, Joey Bailey in the TQ Midget feature, and Bert Ouellette in the Mr. Rooter Truck Series feature. Membrino and Walker’s feature wins both saw them clinch the track championships and Duane Provost was also crowned a track champion in the Limited Late Model division with a third place finish.
The Fall Final weekend had to be one of the longest on record as NASCAR, track management, competitors and fans endured adverse weather and got the event in the books. Despite a delay of a week, and nearly seven more hours during a rain-drenched Sunday, Doug Coby reigned supreme with a victory in the NAPA Fall Final 150. Coby rolled to his 10th career victory at the historic half-mile track now trailing only Ted Christopher’s 12 victories and extended his lead in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship standings to 20 points with one race to go. It was Coby’s fourth win in the last five tour races at Stafford. It also marked his fifth overall in 2016, and 22nd of his career.
  Justin Bonsignore entered the race trailing Coby by 13 tallies. The pair started the rain-delayed race 1-2 and traded the lead early, but Bonsignore experienced a broken ignition wire and lost a lap on pit road. He was able to earn the subsequent free pass, and made it back to fourth to salvage a good finish considering the circumstances, but lost seven points on Coby in the process.
  Following Coby across the finish line was Timmy Solomito and Jimmy Blewett. Bonsingore, Chase Dowling, Rowan Pennink, Max Zachem, Matt Swanson, Woody Pitkat and Shawn Solomito rounded out the top 10.
  The event took the green at 9:53pm. There were nine caution periods for 28 laps. The first caution flew on lap 23 for Wade Cole who spun on the front stretch. The second caution flew on lap 29 for Melissa Fifield who was totally out of her element, spinning in turn three. The third caution flew on lap 36 for Donnie Lia and Gary MacDonald who spun in turn 1. At the same time, Fifield spun in turn 3. Justin Bonsignore who was hoping to make up some ground on Coby stalled in turn four with no power, for the . As a gesture of good sportsmanship and good will Jeff Goodale pushed Bonsignore around the track to the entrance of the pit area. Bonsignore lost a lap while his crew made repairs. Bobby Santos brought out the fifth caution when he spunin turn two. Under the rules, Bonsignore was given his lap back in a free pass. Matt Swanson and Ken Heagy spun in turn one on lap55 to bring out the sixth caution. Heagy and Donnie Lia spun on lap 62 for the seventh caution on lap 62. This caution led to a red on lap 63 for the half way break. The eighth caution was displayed when Jimmy Blewett spun in turn three. The ninth and final yellow was displayed when Ron Silk spun in turn three after being tapped by Bonsignore.
  Sixteen of the original 25 starters finished on the lead lap. Bobby Santos completed only 121 laps and finished 18th when he parked it after a severe handling problem. Eric Goodale finished 19th, parking it after 100 laps with a failed fuel pump. After many years of trying Melissa Fifield finally finished in the top 20. Fifield, who was 20 laps down, parked it on lap 100 with an engine problem. Kyle Ellwood lost an engine on lap 79 and ended up 21st. Ken Heagy retired with chassis damage resulting from an accident as did Donny Lia who suffered severe damage to his front suspension. Lia ended up 23rd. Twenty fourth was Gary McDonald who wrecked and last in 25th was Dave Salzarulo. With temps in the high 40's, the checkered flag was waved at 11:15PM.
  The NAPA Fall Final 150 will be telecast on NBCSN, this coming Sunday night, on Oct. 16 at 9:30 p.m. The Whelen Modified Tour will conclude its season and crown a champion in the Sunoco World Series 150 on Oct. 16 at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
  Going into Thompson for the championship Coby leads Bonsignore by 20 points. Forty three points out of the lead is Timmy Solomito. Max Zachem who has done nothing short of being fabulous is 100 points out of the lead and 52 points out of the third finishing position. Rounding out the top five is Ron Silk, six points behind Zachem and 105 points out of the lead.
  Also taking down feature wins late Sunday were Todd Owen in the SK Modified® feature, Michael Wray in the Late Model feature, and Noah Korner in the Legend cars feature.
  Owen led Christopher, Jr. to the flag for his second win of the 2016 season. Rocco finished third with Reen and Ted Christopher rounding out the top-5.
  In NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified tour action, Ryan Preece made an impressive pass by George Brunnhoelzl III and went on to win the Bad Boy Off Road Southern Slam 150 last Thursday night on the quarter-mile track at Charlotte Motor Speedway for his third win on the southern tour.
Brunnhoelzl held on to finish second in the race and also pass Seuss for second in the final standings. James Civali finished third in the race with Danny Bohn and Bobby Measmer Jr. completing the top five. Burt Myers was sixth followed by Andy Seuss, Kyle Bonsignore, Jason Myers, and Trey Hutchens III
  While Preece celebrated the win, Burt Myers enjoyed winning his second NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour championship. Myers, also scored his first tour title in 2010 at CMS, won three times on the 2016 schedule and held the lead throughout the season. The Walnut Cove, N.C. driver entered the season finale just needing to take the green flag to celebrate and deny Andy Seuss a third straight crown.
  Bonsignore also secured the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award competing in every race on the schedule.
  In Super Dirt action at the Oswego Speedway in upstate New York for the third straight year, Stewart Friesen won the big-block modified race on the 5/8 mile asphalt covered with dirt speedway at Super DIRT Week. Friesen hung on for the victory over Brett Hearn. It was the fifth time in the last seven years Friesen has won the big-block feature race. Friesen used a slide job between Turns 1 and 2 with seven laps to go get by Tim McCreadie. A caution flag came out a lap later after McCreadie spun out.
  When the green flag came back out on lap 195, Hearn went three-wide to get into second place but couldn't quite catch Friesen.
  There were 18 caution flags and several accidents on the temporary clay track at Oswego Speedway. The event moved from its longtime home at the state fairgrounds to Oswego.
  Matt Sheppard led the first 153 laps before McCreadie took the lead on lap 154 when Sheppard was slowed behind lapped traffic. McCreadie held the lead until lap 193.
  This race was originally scheduled for 300 laps but was shortened to 200 after Saturday's rainout.
  In NASCAR Sprint Cup racing at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Bank of America 500 was originally scheduled for Saturday night, but rain and winds from Hurricane Matthew forced NASCAR to postpone the race until Sunday.
Jimmie Johnson made a statement on Sunday afternoon, dominating the previously delayed Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to propel himself into the third round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Matt Kenseth finished second despite starting the race from the rear of the field because of unapproved adjustments prior to the start of the race. He also overcame a penalty on pit road during the competition caution on lap 25 that forced him to restart the race at the tail of the field.
  In what ended up being a double header on Sunday, Joey Logano stormed by Kyle Larson during a restart with 12 laps left and pulled away to his second NASCAR XFINITY Series victory of the season on Sunday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
  Fort Mill, SC., October 4, 2016 — The international technology company that makes Continental Tires announced the acquisition of Lakeville, IN-based Hoosier Racing Tire Corp., a manufacturer of specialty tires for racing applications.
  Hoosier was founded in 1957 by Bob Newton and has a legacy of technical product knowledge, quality manufacturing, outstanding service and consistent performance. Hoosier supplies tires for most racing applications throughout the world, with an emphasis on high performance and quality. The company currently employs nearly 500 people.
  Joyce Newton, Hoosier’s president and CEO said, “Continental and Hoosier share a similar vision for continued growth and sales excellence. Hoosier has fantastic brand recognition, a high-performing team, established customer relationships and a great lineup of products. This acquisition will provide a stronger and more sustainable organization for Hoosier moving ahead.”
  Daytona International Speedway experienced moderate damage from Hurricane Matthew with impacts to lights, speakers, signage, fences, gates, awnings and palm trees. Pictures of a past weather event at Daytona International Speedway had been circulating on social media during the storm. Those pictures were from a weather event in 2009. There was no flood damage to the facility from Hurricane Matthew.
  Daytona International Speedway is once again serving as a staging site for Florida Power & Light crews.

  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: October 13, 2017