Thirty years ago, in 1977, Geoff Bodine capped a successful season
with double wins for the weekend. Chemung ran a 100-lap Open Competition
event on Saturday. Following Bodine at the finish were
Merv Treichler,
George Kent, Maynard Troyer, and Eddie Flemke Sr. Westboro closed out
their season with a 50 lapper on Sunday. After an all night ride, Bodine
took that one too. Ronnie Bouchard finished second and was followed by
George Murray, Bugsy Stevens, Joe Howard and John Rosati.
Twenty-five years ago, in 1982, the only
action was at Atlanta where Bobby Allison took the 500-mile win over
Harry Gant.
Twenty years ago, in 1987, the rained out Fall
Final at Stafford was run with Reggie Ruggiero taking the win over Jeff
Fuller, Brian Ross, Bugsy Stevens, George Brunnhoelzl and Tony
Hirschman. For Bugsy Stevens, the day marked the end of his modified
career as he stepped out of the Garbarino Mystic Missile for the final
time. A NASCAR Modified driver since 1966, Stevens garnered three NASCAR
National Modified Championships plus numerous track titles. The SK’s
also closed out their season with Bob Potter taking the win over Kerry
Malone and Ted Christopher. Phil Rondeau was the Late Model winner.
Fifteen years ago, in 1992, the Race of
Champions was at the Flemington, New Jersey Fairgrounds. Because of the
fact that it was a non-NASCAR sanctioned event the absence of the top
NASCAR Modified pilots was evident, with the exception of a few. It was
very cold and the crowd was way off but the annual running of the event
still drew 54 modifieds. New Jersey runner Lenny Boyd took the win over
Mike Ewanitsko, Tony Siscone, Ricky Fuller and Ken Woolley. Long
Islander Mark Tooker won the Street Stock event. Tony Sylvester finished
second with Jerry Young, third. The Triple A-SK Modifieds were also on
the race card. Brian Sisco took the win over Roger Heffler and Ted
Christopher
Ten years ago, in 1997, Joe Nemachek scored an
emotional victory as he won the BGN 300 at Homestead, Fla., a track,
which claimed the life of his brother. Randy LaJoie finished second and
sewed up his second divisional title. Ted Christopher ran strong in the
early going but broke an axle and ended up 34th.
Five years ago in 2002, the Busch North Series
capped off their 2002 season on Saturday night with their annual awards
banquet. Guest of honor was the 2002 series champion Andy Santerre who
took the title by a mere nine points over Matt Kobyluck. Over $360,000
in point funds and special awards were handed out. Judging from what
news filtered out it looked like the Busch North Series could very well
be running a combined event with NASCAR’s Winston West division at the
end of 2003. The event, which would be run in the south in conjunction
with a Winston Cup event could be costly but will give competitors in
both divisions needed exposure.
Driver Bo Gunning and car owner Eddie Partridge were officially crowned
the 2002 SK-Modified Champions at Stafford’s annual banquet. Jim
Peterson took top honors in the Late Model division. Gunning and
Peterson received gold diamond rings and champions jackets as well as a
trophy.
Last year, 2006, The Waterford Speedbowl
closed out their 2006 racing season with an event they called Double
Down. Dennis Gada, who earlier in the season won his sixth championship,
added to his resume on Saturday by winning both ends of the Modified
segment of the season-ending Double Down Shoot Out. The two 25-lap
victories brought Gada’s SK Modified career win total to 50. Dwayne
Dorr, the 2006 Sportsman champ, set a record with his 11th victory in
the first 15 lap Sportsman feature. Dorr, who finished fourth behind
second feature winner Richard Staskowski in the second feature was also
the overall winner. Corey Hutchings, Jeff Miller, Joe Godbout, Ken
Cassidy Jr. were also winners as the concept proved a success. The
second feature lined up with lead lap finishers from the first in
reverse order. Jason Palmer passed Chris Bakaj with eight laps left to
win the Legends race and Joey Payne Jr. dominated the 25-lap
Northeastern Midget Association race.
In other Speedbowl news, according to a report on Gary
Danko's Speedway Line Report Radio Show Monday night, the Speedbowl will
be in operation for the 2007 season. Reportedly it should be announced
within a week that the Speedbowl is being leased. It's reported that
General Manager Bill Roth will remain at the Speedbowl in his current
position. It is probably a majority of opinions the Speedbowl would not
have survived 2006 without the efforts of Bill Roth and now retired PR
Director Pete Zanardi. It remained to be seen, if true, how this would
effect foreclosure proceedings on the property which have been put on
hold by the court until June 2007. It was also rumored that current
Speedbowl owner Terry Eames would not have any further connection with
the operation of the track.
In other racing action, the Concord Motorsports Park in Concord, NC was
the site of the North-South Shootout featuring the Hoosier 100 for the
Modifieds along with a 50-lap main event for the SK-Type Modifieds.
Practice and qualifying were the orders of the day on Friday.
There were 36 Modifieds and 31 SK Modifieds on the track for practice.
By the time qualifying began the cars counts changed to 46 Modifieds and
34 SK’s. Time trials showed that Matt Hirschman was the fastest with
southerner Burt Meyers, second fastest. Bob Grigas was third with Brian
Pack, fourth. Rounding out the top five was Bobby Santos III in the
Whelen No. 36 that was formerly driven by Ted Christopher. Christopher
was 12th fastest in the Joe Brady No. 00. Long Islander Tom Rogers was
the fastest of the SK’s. Wall Township Speedway regular Tom Farrell was
second fastest. Ronnie Silk was the only New Englander to break the top
five. For most of those on hand it was like being at home in New England
as temperatures dropped to the high 20’s once the sun went down.
The cold weather carried over to Saturday but the racers used
their heads for the most part and dealt with it. Tom Rogers won the SK
Modified 50 lapper. Bobby Santos III came from 14th spot to finish
second. Woody Pitkat, who started 15th, finished third. Earl Paules and
Tom Cravenho rounded out the top five. Matt Hirschman won the 100 lap
Modified Shootout. Ted Christopher finished second. Eric Beers came from
31st position to finished third with Earl Paules, fourth. Defending race
winner John Blewett III rounded out the top five. It was a shame that
Bobby Santos III never got to show his stuff in the Whelen 36 as he was
collected in a grinding crash on lap 17.
Hirschman brought the field to green to start the 100 laps of
green flag racing in the Hoosier Modified 100 with Burt Myers and Bobby
Grigas taking chase. Defending race champion John Blewett was already on
the move going three wide on lap three to grab two spots. The potential
of a good night ended for Grigas when he received the black flag for a
fluid leak. Still under race conditions, Chuck Hossfeld was hounding
Myers for the second spot with Blewett in hot pursuit. Blewett marched
into third over Hossfeld on lap 13 and immediately set his sites on
Myers. A single lap later Blewett was second. Christopher was working
his way into contention. The first caution of the event flew on lap 17
for contact between Santos, Andy Seuss, and Ronnie Silk. Several
competitors took advantage of the yellow to make their mandatory pit
stop. On the restart Hirschman led Jo. Blewett, Myers, Ted Christopher
and Hossfeld inside the top five. Hirschman and Blewett began to pull
away from third-running Myers. George Brunnhoelzl, Jr., making his first
Modified start of the season, brought out the yellow on lap two for an
incident that also involved Daren Scherer. During the caution period,
the leader headed down pit road, taking southern competitors Brian
Loftin and Jason Myers along for the ride. John Blewett was the new
leader when the green flag few again. B. Myers, Hossfeld, Christopher
and now Todd Szegedy occupied the top five positions. B. Myers tried
mounting a challenge on Blewett but had to settle back in line. This
provided the opportunity for Hossfeld to make it a three-car battle for
the top spot. On lap 26, Hossfeld grabbed the second position from B.
Myers. Szegedy and NSS newcomer Les Hinckley teamed up to work their way
to the front. On lap 31 they each gained a position by passing
Christopher. Three laps later they made their way past B. Myers.
Recently crowned Northern Modified Tour Rookie-of-the-Year James Civalli
spun in turn four to bring out the events third caution on lap 36. A
host of front-running cars ducked down pit road including John Blewett,
B. Myers, Christopher, Beers and Brian Pack. Hossfeld inherited the lead
on the restart but looked strong at the head of the pack. Hossfeld held
the top spot over Hinckley, Hirschman, Paules, and Loftin. A heated
battle between Paules and Loftin was slowed by a caution for a spinning
Anthony Sesely on lap 36. Back under green, the Paules-Loftin battle
continued with Loftin coming out on top. Loftin, now fourth, immediately
began to pressure Hirschman for third. Hossfeld began to pull away from
Hinckley. The Southern ace was able to get third from Hirschman; but not
for long. On lap 44, Hirschman rocketed back by through the dogleg.
Earlier front-runner, B. Myers spun in turn four to bring out the
caution on lap 46. The caution was trouble for Szegedy, who headed down
pit road for an unscheduled pit stop. The lap counter hit halfway with
Chuck Hossfeld leading. The Hillbilly Racing team pocketed $500 for
leading lap 50 courtesy of DMC Auto Exchange. Hirschman was back into
the second position and looking for more. Paules sat in the third spot
with a new face of Rick Kluth in fourth. A single lap later, incidental
contact between John Blewett and Lia ended with Lia in the outside wall.
Sesely, Seuss, and Hinckley spun during the incident as well. B. Myers
received heavy damage to his car when Lia tried to drive away from the
scene, collecting Myers. Hossfeld, the only car yet to make the
mandatory stop, headed to pit road for service. Hirschman was the new
leader when racing resumed. Paules, Kluth, Blewett and Christopher
rounded out the top-five. With Hirschman and Paules pulling away
slightly, the best battle on the track was for fifth position between
Blewett and Beers. Christopher began to show his muscle as well. On lap
53, Christopher took third from Kluth and began to reel in the leaders.
Kluth fell into the clutches of Beers. There was a scary moment for
Hirschman on lap 70 when Gene Pack and Ryan Preece spun in the leaders
path to bring out the caution. Unfazed, Hirschman jumped out to a
comfortable lead on the restart. Paules continued to run in second over
Christopher, Blewett and Beers. The action at the back of the pack was
heated with several rows of side-by-side racing. A spin by Billy Pauch,
Jr. brought out the seventh yellow on lap 76. Christopher took advantage
of the restart to make a bid on Paules while Beers made a run on
Blewett. Neither was able to make the pass stick. On lap 80, Paules had
reached the back bumper of Hirschman. He, too, had to settle back into
line. The final caution of the event flew on lap 85 for a spin by
Hinckley. With a collective groan from the grandstand area, the South’s
favorite son, Junior Miller was forced down pit road under the caution
with an oil leak. The final 15-laps found Hirschman getting some
breathing room as Paules, Christopher and Beers went nose to tail. On
lap 94, Christopher was able to muscle his way by Paules for second.
Beers, who lost a cylinder during the event, was still able to follow
through to move his ailing #9 into the third position.
Hirschman cruised to the victory in the prestigious North-South
Shootout. Hirschman was greeted in victory lane by his legendary father
Tony and his teary eyed mother, Brenda. It was a big win for the young
and rising star. In addition to his $9,000 plus bounty, Hirschman was
also presented with a custom-painted helmet to commemorate his victory
and a shotgun-a fitting trophy for Hirschman who symbolically gunned
down the competition.
One of the Whelen Modified Tour Series top crew chiefs and
fabricators packed his bags and headed south. Phil Moran had taken a
position with Bill Davis Racing in North Carolina which fields NASCAR
Nextel Cup and Busch Series cars. Moran has been behind the efforts of
Todd Szegedy and at one time was a fabricator at Spearpoint Auto. Moran
also spent considerable time at the Carl and Charlie Pasteryak racing
garage. Tom Baldwin, Jr. apparently has hired Phil to be in charge of
the chassis shop. Baldwin has also hired Steve Aspinwall from the Mystic
Missile team for a position at Bill Davis racing.
At the Texas Motor Speedway Tony Stewart, a two-time Nextel
Cup champion made it two in a row as he earned his 29th career win. He
also won in September at Kansas by gambling on gas and coasted under the
checkered flag. But Stewart was dominating a week previous at Atlanta,
leading 146 of 325 laps, and even stronger this week. Jimmie Johnson
finished second. An unidentified crewman for Scott Riggs' team knocked
driver Kevin Harvick, his wife and a NASCAR official to the ground on
pit road Sunday, minutes after the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
It was apparently in retaliation for an incident late in the race.
Harvick was close behind Riggs when the latter crashed while running
third on lap 332 of the 339-race event. It appeared Harvick's car took
the air off the rear deck of Riggs' car and Riggs was unable to maintain
control. Harvick won the preliminary Busch 300 that was run on Saturday.
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:
November 9, 2007 |