 Forty years ago, in 1967, Gene
Bergin made it two in a row at Stafford. Don MacTavish finished second
and was followed by Fred DeSarro, Jerry Wheeler and Rene Charland. The
USAC Sprinters were also on hand for the Joe Csiki Memorial. Former
Eastern Bandit Dennis Zimmerman, who would go on to become a Rookie of
the Year at Indianapolis, won the event. Gene Bergin finished second
with Earl Halaquist, third. Zimmerman and Bergin would also be inducted
to the New England Antique Auto Racers Hall of Fame. Norwood Arena ran
their annual Bay State 200, which was won by another Hall of Famer,
Ralph "Hop” Harrington. The Albany Saratoga Speedway wrapped up their
season with a 50 lapper, which was won by Dave Kotary. Don MacTavish
finished second and was followed by Rene Charland, Bill Wimble and Eddie
Flemke. Bill Wimble was named as the Modified Champion. George
Pendergast was the Sportsman Champion.
Thirty-five years ago in 1972, the only
modified action was in the state of New York. Islip ran a 100 lapper on
Saturday night, which was won by Charlie Jarzombek. Ted Wesnoski
finished second. Outsiders didn’t fare too well. Bugsy Stevens finished
10th and Jerry Cook finished 19th.
 Thirty years ago, in 1977, it was Thompson 300
weekend. Stafford was scheduled to run on Friday night but fell victim
to rain. Saturday night at Seekonk wasn’t much better as it was very
foggy at the cement palace. John Rosati took the win over Eddie St
Angelo. The Thompson 300 was run under threatening skies. George Summers
won the non-qualifiers 50 lapper and after starting dead last in the 50
car starting field, almost walked off with the top prize. Bugsy Stevens
was leading when the field went to caution at around the 170-lap mark.
Stevens gambled on having a re-start and felt he had the equipment to
march to the front. Summers was also running around in the rain and in
the lead when he pitted. Enter Eddie Flemke. Fresh off his 200 at
Stafford win, Flemke played a waiting game and gambled that the red flag
would indicate the end of the race. Needless to say, Flemke was right as
the race was called official at 182 laps. A dripping wet Flemke had
pulled off the two biggest wins in New England, The 200 at Stafford and
the Thompson 300. Ronnie Bouchard finished second with Maynard Troyer,
Jerry Cook and Geoff Bodine following.
 Twenty-five years ago in 1992, the Race of Champions
at Pocono was the big show for the Modifieds. Twenty three thousand fans
and over 100 Modifieds were on hand for what was then, the most
prestigious race to win. Greg Sacks and the Ernie Wilsburg No.5 had all
but dominated just about every major event run during the season. The
Race of Champions wasn’t any different. Starting fifth in the 45 car
field, Sacks took the lead from Jim Spencer on lap 13 and held the point
thru lap 100 when he pitted for fuel and tires. Restarting in the rear,
the Long Island hot shoe made a determined march to the front and
re-took the lead from Spencer on lap 160. From there on it was a Sunday
drive to the finish at 250 laps. Spencer blew his engine after being
passed by Richie Evans on lap 221. Evans was no match for the highflying
Sacks and had to settle for second. Ray Miller finished third with Greme
Bolia, fourth. George Summers rounded out the top five, one lap down.
Brian Horn won the National Parts Peddler Street Stock championship. Jan
Leaty finished second, Mike Scroger was third and Mike Lovetere was
fourth. Also in the field was Rick Fuller who got in thru the
consolation. Fuller came from 27th to the lead in six laps. Maynard
Troyer was presented the Fred DeSarro award during pre-race activities.
Shortly after accepting the award, Troyer announced that he was retiring
from driving after the conclusion of the event. Waterford had a Saturday
night event scheduled but threw in the towel because of rain. In Winston
Cup action at Dover Downs, Darrell Waltrip took the 500 mile win over
Kyle Petty. In the preliminary Busch North event, Randy Lajoie qualified
a Bob Johnson car on the outside pole and led over half the race before
blowing a tire and hitting the wall.
Twenty years ago in 1987, the Race of Champions was still going strong
at Pocono. Now a NASCAR sanctioned event, one hundred eight Modifieds
were on hand. George Brunnhoelzl took the win over Doug Hevron, George
Kent, Wayne Edwards and Roger Treichler. Brunnhoelzl took the lead from
John Blewett JR. on lap 185 of the 250 lap event. Carl Erickson won the
40 lap National Parts Peddler Street Stock Championship. In Winston Cup
action at Dover Downs Ricky Rudd took the win over Davey Allison.
Ten Years ago, in 1997, the re-born Race of Champions was run at Oswego.
With the exception of Tony Hirschman, Jan Leaty, Tim Arre and Ted
Christopher, the event drew mostly local drivers from Lancaster and
Tioga. Hirschman, driving a Leaty team car, won the 200 lap event. Leaty
finished second and was followed by Arre. At one time, the ROC was 'THE"
modified event but since falling on hard times a few years previous when
promoters checks bounced, many competitors chose to ignore the event.
Saturday night action at Waterford rained out. At Dover Downs, Buckshot
Jones spun while leading with 14 laps to go and handed the Grand
National victory to Joe Bessey. Randy LaJoie finished second. In Winston
Cup action at Dover, Kyle Petty had the field covered until he was
forced to pit for fuel with 20 laps to go. Mark Martin took the win with
Dale Earnhardt coming home in second spot.
Five years ago in 2002 The NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Series was
at Loudon for what had to be one of the best events ever. Chuck
Hossfeld, driving the Mystic Missile of Bob Garbarino, went non-stop and
used a brilliant three wide pass to take the lead and the eventual win.
For Hossfeld and Garbarino, 2002 almost didn’t happen. Garbarino was
contemplating retiring from racing and Hossfeld was looking for a
competitive ride on the western New York circuit. Less than a week
before the season began the pair hooked up. Hossfeld ended up racing at
tracks he never saw before but adapted with the precision of the
professional that he is. Although not considered a rookie, Hossfeld had
less time on Tour Series tracks than Todd Szegedy has. NASCAR determined
because of the fact that Hossfeld was a competitor in the Craftsman
Truck Series. Hossfeld's win was no cakewalk. Ted Christopher and Ed
Flemke JR were the class of the field but late race problems for both
kept them out of victory lane. Flemke was the top lap leader but a
slowly deflating tire was his undoing with less than ten laps to go.
Christopher tried one of his famous bottom shots but got bit, as his
worn tires weren’t up to the task. Mike Stefanik, who came all the way
from a 27th starting spot, finished second. In comparison to Christopher
and Flemke, Stefanik’s run was a cautious one and in the end, it paid
off. John Blewett III finished a strong third and Christopher recovered
from his daring move to finish fourth. Rounding out the top five was
Tony Hirschman. Despite his nearly flat tire, Flemke toughed it out to
finish fifteenth. Geoff Bodine, who qualified on the outside pole, never
mustered the necessary steam to run up front and finished 24th, the last
car on the lead lap. The series point standings showed Eddie Flemke
still leading by a slim margin of five points over Jerry Marquis. Mike
Stefanik, who had all but conceded a repeat title until his Thompson 300
win, sat third, seventeen points behind Flemke. By virtue of his Loudon
win, Chuck Hossfeld had moved to within 48 points of the leader. Fifth
thru tenth were Rick Fuller, Ted Christopher, Todd Szegedy, Nevin
George, John Blewett III and Jamie Tomaino. David Berghman had hoped to
break into the top ten after qualifying sixth fastest but a broken
transmission sidelined him after 86 laps which placed him 30th at the
finish.
The regular weekly racing in Southern New England saw Twin
events run at Thompson last Thursday. The first event, left over from
August 22, was looking to be Matty Adante’s first win until the last lap
when he made contact with Stu McCarthy. McCarthy took the checker but
was put to the tail of the lead lap as officials felt that he
deliberately put Adante around. Eric Berndt, who has had a somewhat hard
luck season, was awarded the win. Ron Yuhas JR was moved up to second
spot followed by Kerry Malone and Ted Christopher, who recovered from an
early spin with Bo Gunning. Bert Marvin scored his sixth win of the
season as he captured the nightcap. Ted Christopher now has enough
points to secure the 2002 Sunoco-SK Modified track championship. This
Thursday night will be the final Thursday Night Thunder Series at
Thompson. Following this Thursday’s racing program the speedway
management will be making preparations for the October 6 PASS 200
Championship which is expected to draw Pro Stock competitors from all
over the east coast. Stafford wrapped up its Friday night racing as Doug
Coby took his third SK-Modified feature of the year at the Nutmeg oval.
Bo Gunning finished second and wrapped up the 2002 SK-Modified Track
Championship At Waterford, on Saturday night, Rob Janovic got his third
win of the year in the Modifieds but the big story was the fact that
Allen Coates, by virtue of his late model win, clinched the NASCAR
Weekly Racing Series by Dodge Short Track Regional title as well as the
track late model championship. The modified championship at the
shoreline oval was still up in the air as Dennis Gada, who finished
fifth held a slim 34 point lead over Ed Reed JR, who finished second,
behind Janovic.
Last year, 2006 The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was part of what was
called Modified Mania at the Thompson Speedway. Modified Mania replaced
what was the Thompson 300. The 150 lap Whelen Modified event carried a
posted purse of $86,753. A somewhat slim field of 39 cars was on hand to
qualify for the 36 starting spots up for grabs. Donny Lia, who has
somewhat of a bland season, took the Busch Pole as he toured the
5/8-mile oval in 18.793 seconds. Tony Hirschman Jr. was second fastest
with a run of 18.798 seconds. The re-draw for starting positions saw Ron
Silk draw the pole with Matt Hirschman drawing the outside pole. Tony
Ferrante Jr., Tony Hirschman and Eric Beers drew positions three through
five. Rounding out the top ten starting spots were Ron Yuhas Jr., Mike
Stefanik, Reggie Ruggiero, Lia and Jerry Marquis.
Eric Beers finally got the monkey off his back as he put the mighty No.3
of Michael and Janice Boehler in victory lane. Beers pitted just before
the 1/3 mark of the 150-lap event for fresh tires and did a masterful
job of working his way to the front and took the lead from Ed Flemke Jr.
on lap 102. Flemke faded in the later stages as he ended up fourth in
the final rundown. Reggie Ruggiero ended up second with John Blewett III
in third spot. Rounding out the top five were Flemke and Tony Ferrante
Jr. Sixth thru tenth were Jerry Marquis, Doug Coby, Matt Hirschman, Mike
Stefanik and Rick Fuller. Of the 36 starters, 26 of them were running on
the lead lap at the end. For the most part it was a clean race with only
8 cautions for 38 laps slowing the field. There were four lead changes
among four drivers. Matt Hirschman led from his outside pole starting
spot to lap 52. Mike Stefanik, who still leads the point standings, led
from lap 53 to lap 73. Stefanik currently holds a 94 point edge over Ted
Christopher who finished 28th, three laps down at the finish. Matt
Hirschman led again from lap 74 to lap 87 and Flemke led from lap 88 to
lap 101 before giving way to Beers who led the rest of the way.
In addition to the Whelen Modifieds the True Value Modifieds, Race of
Champions Modifieds, Sunoco SK type Modifieds and Pro Four Modifieds
also raced at the Thompson Speedway last weekend. The support events
provided numerous wrecks. Woody Pitkat won the Sunoco SK type Modified
event over Jeff Malave, Tom Cravenho and Todd Ceravolo.
Woody Pitkat of Stafford, CT scored his fourth Sunoco Modified victory
of the season to extend his lead another two points over race runner-up
Jeff Malave. The Sunoco Modifieds went 35-strong for the 50-lap special
for Sunoco Modified Mania. Steve Masse led the opening lap but a caution
flew immediately when the accordion effect at the head of the field put
Joe Lemay in the outside wall. On the ensuing restart, Bert Marvin was
able to jump out to the lead. Masse was slow exiting turn two bunching
up the pack once again to send cars at the rear of the field scattering
and spinning. Marvin had to contend with Salzarulo, Malave and Cravenho
on the restart. Marvin was up to the task resuming his lead with Malave
in second and Keith Rocco charging into third. Malave immediately got
alongside Marvin and was able to take over the top spot on lap three.
Malave led Marvin, Rocco, Ceravolo and a battle for fourth between Jimmy
Blewett and Ted Christopher. Blewett got by Christopher leaving him to
fight off Pitkat. On lap 8, Pitkat moved into sixth while Christopher
continued to backslide losing a position to Tommy Cravenho as well. The
leader began to stretch his lead over Marvin. The best battle was for
the third position with Rocco, Ceravolo, Blewett and Pitkat. Ceravolo
got a run inside Rocco and the two made contact. Rocco held on while
Blewett was able to get by both. Blewett started to chase down Marvin.
Malave watched his lead evaporate when the caution flew for an incident
involving Ryan Stone and David LaCroix. Under the caution, Rocco headed
down pit road for a chassis adjustment. The restart order found Malave,
Marvin, Blewett, Pitkat and Ceravolo inside the top five. Malave was out
front with Blewett and Marvin running nerf-bar to nerf bar for second.
Blewett was able to grab the runner-up position. Cravenho was also able
to advance moving into the fifth position over Ceravolo. Pitkat began
his run to the front taking over the third position from Marvin, taking
Cravenho along for the ride. Blewett completed his charge over the
second position from Malave on lap 22. The halfway marker was marred by
a scary wreck that resulted in John Catania sliding down the backstretch
on his roof. Catania was uninjured. Both Marvin and Christopher pitted
under the caution. With Blewett back out front, Malave bobbled on the
restart giving up the second spot to Pitkat. Pitkat got alongside
Blewett for the lead on lap 26. The two ran side-by-side for several
laps before a slide by Pitkat gave Blewett the lead. Malave made a run
on Pitkat in second to no avail. The action was slowed on lap 32 when
Dan LaJeunesse spun on the front stretch. Other cars were ultimately
involved in the incident. Blewett handily ran out to the lead again as
Pitkat and Malave resumed their battle for the second spot. Action was
halted immediately for Dave Nordman and Russ Blanco. Matt Hirschman,
making a rare appearance in the Sunoco Modifieds, failed to come up to
speed on the ensuing restart sending cars scrambling. Rocco caught a
wheel and launched into the outside wall. The car burst into flames.
Rocco was able to walk away from the incident. There was a shocking
development when leader Jimmy Blewett headed down pit road with
mechanical woes as the rear end in his car broke. Pitkat inherited the
lead with Malave in second, Cravenho in third. Ceravolo ran fourth and
Earl Paules in fifth. With ten laps remaining the top five got strung
out with Pitkat stretching his lead ever-so-slightly over Malave.
The northern New England based True Value Modified Series finished under
a yellow-checker after a massive wreck on a restart with two laps to go.
Kirk Alexander took the eventual win over Les Hinkley, Jon McKennedy and
Dwight Jarvis. Earl Paules won the Race of Champions Modified Tour event
over Matt Hirschman and Eric Beers.
The Stafford Springs Motor Speedway hosted round two of its September
Series on Friday night. Two more Friday night events remain before the
season CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend, scheduled for September 30th and
October 1st. Willie Hardie drove to his second SK Modified feature win
in the last three weeks, Tom Fearn won his first Late Model feature win
of the 2006 season, Chris Matthews won his fourth SK Light Modified
feature of the 2006 season, Paul Conte scored his firsts career Ltd.
Late Model feature win, and Norm Sears picked up his first DARE Stock
feature win of the 2006 season.
In the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Willie Hardie, of Stafford Springs,
battled with Lloyd Agor for several laps before taking the lead on
lap-25. Once Hardie was in the lead, he was never headed as he picked up
his second win in the last three weeks to put himself in the thick of
the SK Modified championship race. Curt Brainard led the first 11 laps
before giving up the lead to Agor on lap-12. Agor then led until lap-25,
when Hardie took over. Rounding out the top-5 behind Hardie was Agor,
Jeff Baral, Chris Jones, and Eric Berndt. It was a bad night to be a
points leader, as Woody Pitkat, Todd Owen, and Frank Ruocco all
experienced difficulties during the race, relegating them to poor
finishes and tightening the championship battle. Pitkat only completed 8
laps before retiring, Ruocco lost a radiator in an accident and lost 5
laps before getting back on track to finish 17th, and Owen finished 18th
after his crew had to repair a broken driveshaft. In the chase for the
SK Modified championship, Frank Ruocco holds a 14-point lead over Eric
Berndt, 536-522. Willie Hardie is third, 16 points behind, Todd Owen is
fourth, 22 points behind, and Jeff Malave is fifth, 28 points behind.
The Waterford Speedbowl fell victim to a mid-evening shower and was able
to complete only part of their program before track management was
forced to call a halt to the racing and pull the plug around 9pm after
thundershowers moved in. The Sportsman completed their first scheduled
event with Billy Gertsch winning followed by Dwayne Dorr and Ed Puleo.
The Legends completed their feature with Michael Gervais winning. The
Modified feature had 12 laps completed when the rains came. Tom Fox was
leading over Shawn Monahan, Dennis Gada, and Jeff Pearl.
It looked like there would be racing at the Waterford Speedbowl at least
until June of 2007 as Terry Eames was given an extension to the
foreclosure proceedings that were impending on the property in which the
Speedbowl is located. Eames claimed that Harvey Industries, a supplier
of windows and doors, was looking to purchase eight of the Speedbowl’s
38.75 acres. Eames at the time had $1.6 million in debt hanging over his
head. In a somewhat related matter, driver Ken Voite’s Defective
Premises suit against Eames was scheduled for pre-trial conference on
January 18th of 2007. There was a movement underway to buy Eames out
which was stalled at the time.
Eames should be proud of himself as he had guided the Speedbowl to
almost certain extinction. If not for the efforts of Bill Roth and Pete
Zanardi the shoreline oval would not have made it through 2006. It’s
amazing the shoreline oval still drew a decent crowd without spending a
nickel on advertising. All competitors and fans could hope for at that
time was that someone would be able to buy Eames out and keep the
facility in its present state.
In a prepared statement Eames stated that Harvey Industries would submit
their plan for town approval very soon. They had already had numerous
favorable meetings with town staff, as Eames claims he had. He also
alluded to the fact that the use they intend is legal in the zone the
property is in which he indicated the process should be very fairly
simple from then on in. Eames also stated that Harvey Industries had
already spent considerable amounts to do testing and design work and he
had a sales agreement with them secured with a large deposit. Eames
feels that the town of Waterford was very thorough in their land use
decisions and the time the judge allowed before foreclosure would be
long enough to get everything in place for the transaction to take
place. In addition he stated that he had already started to line up new
financing to replace Washington Mutual who, at the time, owned the
mortgage on the property and had had dozens of offers to help out with
financial assistance since the foreclosure became public.
NASCAR suspended Kevin Grubb indefinitely because he refused to submit
to a random drug test following the Busch Series race at Richmond
International Speedway. Kevin Harvick was the Nextel Cup winner at
Richmond.
That’s about it for this week from 40 Clark St, Westerly, and R.I.02891.
Ring my chimes at 401-596-5467 E-mail:
smithpe_97_97@yahoo.com
The Chrome Horn
'Looking Back with Phil Smith' Archive
THE END
Source:
Phil Smith/Courtesy of Tom Ormsby and
thespeedwaylinereport.com
Posted:
September 14, 2007 |
