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05/27/11
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May 27, 2011 |
Sixty
years ago in 1951 the New London-Waterford Speedbowl reopened
with a new asphalt surface with a one lane dirt buffer on the outside. Stu
Hillbrem was the 25 lap Modified winner.
Fifty years ago in 1961, Ron
Narducci was the Friday night winner on the dirt at Stafford. Ted Stack made
it four in a row when he won a 50 lap Modified feature at the New
London-Waterford Speedbowl. Stack also won the non-Ford feature, his third
in a row. Joe Maynard was the Bomber winner.
Forty five years ago in 1966,
Pete Hamilton became the first repeat winner of the season at the Albany
Saratoga Speedway. Dennis Zimmerman finished second with Eddie Flemke,
third. Hamilton and Zimmerman were a second-generation version of the fabled
Eastern Bandits led by Flemke. Jerry Cook and Don MacTavish rounded out the
top five. Pete Corey made it two in a row on the dirt at Stafford. Jerry
Cook won his first race, a 25 lapper, at the Fonda Speedway on Saturday
night. Bill Wimble finished second with Gene Bergin, third. Ed Yerrington,
who in later years become the General Manager of the Stafford Motor Speedway
won the 30 lap Modified feature at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Eddie
Bunnell made it five in a row in Bomber competition and Bill Ramsley was the
Daredevil winner. Kenny Shoemaker ruled the roost at the Utica-Rome Speedway
on Sunday night. Eddie Flemke finished second with Gaston Demarais, third.
Frank Mathalia and Jerry Cook rounded out the top five. Albany Saratoga also
ran on Monday with a 100 lapper to celebrate Memorial Day. Eddie Flemke rose
to the occasion to take the win with Wild Bill Slater in the Connecticut
Valley Rocket V-8 in second spot. Dennis Zimmerman, Jerry Cook and Don
MacTavish rounded out the top five.
Forty years ago in 1971, racing
at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, NY rained out. Bugsy Stevens went
two for two at Stafford as he won the twin 25's.In the opener, Leo Cleary
finished second and was followed by Fred DeSarro and Ray Miller. DeSarro
rallied to finish second in the nightcap. Ageless veteran Maynard Forette
took the Saturday night honors at Fonda over Dave Buanno, Dave Lape, Ron
Narducci and Lou Lazzaro. In open competition action at the Fulton Raceway
Ronnie Wallace won a 75 lapper over Bryan Osgood, Richie Evans, Don
Diffendorf and Bob Sweeny. Donnie Bunnell won the Spring Championship 36 lap
Modified feature at the Waterford Speedbowl. Nelson Rabideau was the
Sportsman Sedan winner. At Islip, Richie Gomes got a popular win and at
Thompson it was Bobby Santos and Bugsy Stevens scoring wins. Santos was the
runner-up behind Stevens and was followed by DeSarro, Leo Cleary, Rene
Charland and Hop Harrington. Harrington was second behind Santos and was
followed by Stevens, Dick Caso and Ed Yerrington. Twin features at
Utica-Rome were won by Ray Sitterly and Jerry Cook.
Thirty five years ago in 1976,
Charlie Jarzombek took the Friday night win at Riverhead. Greg Sacks
finished second with Fred Harbach, third. Harbach rebounded to take the win
at Islip on Saturday night. Riverside Park saw Bob Polverari take the win
over Pete Fiandaca. At the Waterford Speedbowl local favorite Dickie “DOO”
Ceravolo was the 35 lap Modified winner. Dick LaFlesh was the Grand American
Late Model winner. NASCAR's Superspeedway Modifieds were at the Charlotte
Motor Speedway. Darrell Waltrip, in a Camaro, won the 300-mile event with
Ray Hendrick, second. Geoff Bodine was third and was followed by Merv
Treichler, Bobby Allison, Jerry Cook, Clayton Hustead and Joe Thurman. Back
in New England, Richie Evans led all 80 laps of the postponed Spring Sizzler
at the Stafford Speedway. Track owner Jack Arute had mandated 12-inch tires
to cut costs. Evans complied and then some as he used 10-inch Sportsman
rubber. Geoff Bodine finished second and was followed by Ray Hendrick and
Fred DeSarro. Don LaJoie, driving Bob Johnson No.17 became only the second
driver to leave the speedway as he rode over Charlie Jarzombek's wheel in
turn three. At Thompson, Fred DeSarro made it two for two as he inched out a
win over Geoff Bodine, George Summers and Daring Dick Caso.
Thirty years ago in 1981, the
Friday night Modified feature at Stafford went non-stop with Kenny Bouchard
in the Len Boehler No.3 taking the win. Reggie Ruggiero, in the Fiore No.44
was second and was followed by John Rosati and Bob Polverari. At the Spencer
Speedway, also on Friday, Jerry Cook took the win over Doug Hewitt. At New
Egypt, Tom Baldwin took the 100 lap win after Richie Evans tangled with
Frankie Schnieder. Tony Siscone finished second with Bob Park, third. George
Moose Hewitt was the winner at Waterford on Saturday night while at
Riverside; Reggie Ruggiero won out over Ray Miller. At Westboro, seasoned
veterans George Summers and Leo Cleary finished one-two. Other Saturday
night winners included George Kent at Shangri-La, Alan Harbach at Islip, Tom
Druar at Lancaster and Tony Siscone at Wall. Billy Greco in the Modifieds
and Jay Wilson in the Sportsman were the big winners at Danbury. The big
guns headed for Oswego on Sunday for the Port City 150.Maynard Troyer took
that win with Kent second and Baldwin, third.
Twenty five years ago in 1986,
Bugsy Stevens in the Garbarino No.4 took the Friday night win at Stafford.
Jamie Tomaino finished second with Mike Stefanik, third. Reggie Ruggiero
took the win at Riverside while at Waterford and Seekonk, it rained. Eddie
Brunnhoelzl beat out Dan Jivenelli and Don Howe at Riverhead. Oswego ran the
Richie Evans Memorial 100 on Sunday. Jamie Tomaino led pole to pole as he
beat out Jim Spencer, Brian Ross and Jan Leaty for the win. In Winston Cup
action at Charlotte, Dale Earnhardt took the win. Tim Richmond was the
Grandnational winner. It was also this week that Bob Cuneau and Bob Vee sold
Chassis Dynamics to John Anderson and Dan Civitello.
Twenty years ago in 1991,
Stafford ran the rained out Sizzler 200 on Friday night. Jeff Fuller took
the win over Wayne Anderson, George Brunnhoelzl and Steve Park. Bo Gunning
was the SK Modified winner. Saturday night at Waterford, Bob Potter in the
Ceravolo family No.31 took the lead when Jamie Marvin spun out with two to
go and went on to record his 83rd victory at the shoreline oval. Dennis Gada
finished second with Donnie Bunnell, third. Reggie Ruggiero got his fourth
win of the season at Riverside and Tim Connolly won a 100 lapper at
Shangri-La. At the annual Oswego Port City 100,Steve Park in the Curt Chase
No.77 took the win. Reggie Ruggiero finished second. Other weekend winners
were Lenny Fischer at Riverhead, Jerry Marquis at Monadnock and Richie
Gallup at Thompson.
Fifteen years ago in 1996, the
Featherlite Modified Tour was at Stafford for a 150 lap event. Like his late
father had done many times, Ed Flemke Jr took the win. Reggie Ruggiero
finished second and was followed by Tony Hirschman and Jan Leaty. Mike
Ewanitsko took the SK Modified 50 over Ted Christopher and Lloyd Agor. It
was also on this night at Stafford that Eric Berndt went on his roof. Bob
Potter annexed his 94th career win at Waterford on Saturday night after
Chris Jones and Dave Kutka tangled with 14 laps to go. Brian Schofield beat
Tom Jensen at Riverside and it was Tom McCann over Eddie Brunnhoelzl at
Riverhead. George Kent won the Richie Evans Memorial at Tioga and Dave Dion
won the Busch North Series event at Holland. In Winston Cup action at
Charlotte, Dale Jarrett dominated the last half of the big event as he
crossed the finish line 1/3 of a lap ahead of Dale Earnhardt. Mark Martin
won the Busch Grandnational Red Dog 300.
Ten years ago in 2001 Mike
Ewanitsko took advantage of Jerry Marquis who was blocked by the lapped car
of Dan Avery and went on to win the Featherlite Modified Touring Series
event at Stafford on Friday night. Marquis ended up in second spot with Mike
Stefanik, third. Forty-one Modifieds were on hand. Willie Hardie scored his
third of the season in SK Modified competition. Waterford rained out on
Saturday night as JR Bertuccio took the checker at Riverhead. Sunday night
at Thompson, Ted Christopher took the top spot over Zach Sylvester and Scott
Quinn. Kelly Moore was the Busch North Series winner at Seekonk and in
Winston Cup action at Charlotte; Ryan Newman took the pole for the World 600
and Jeff Burton, the win. Jeff Green won the Grandnational 300.Helio
Castroneves won the Indy 500.
Five years ago in 2006 in what
turned out to be a big surprise, NASCAR’s Director of Regional Racing
Development Don Hawk resigned his position with the sanctioning body. During
Hawk’s tenure the Modified division had prospered to the point where they
were and still are NASCAR’s top regional touring division. Despite sitting
in the front office in Daytona Hawk was always available to give guidance
and answer questions. He was held back only by those above him. A
spokesperson for NASCAR stated that he wanted to pursue personal options.
Larry Mattingly of the Jennerstown Speedway in Pa stated that anyone who
works within inner sanctum does not have an easy time of it as he has to try
to keep the competitors happy as well as his employer, NASCAR. Mattingly was
told that “major” things were in the works but did not elaborate.
The Stafford Motor Speedway was scheduled to host their second of
four Whelen Modified Tour Series events. For the third week in a row the
weatherman won as heavy rain dumped on the Stafford area. The Connecticut
Classic was rescheduled to Tuesday, July 4.
At the Waterford Speedbowl the Supermodifieds of ISMA were the
guest attraction. Justin Belfiore won the 50-lap contest. Belfiore took the
lead after the top three including Waterford regular Rob Summers were
eliminated on a lap 17 crash. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr. went pole to pole to
win the 35 lap SK Modified feature. Chris Pasteryak closed to within a car
length at the finish with Tommy Fox third. Other winners were Jay Stuart in
the 30-lap Late Model event, Billy Gertsch Jr. in the 20-lap Sportsman haul
and Danny Field in the 20-lap Mini Stock race. Dwayne Dorr’s bid for a
record-tying sixth straight Sportsman victory was lost in a lap seven crash.
In other weekend action Mike Leaty won the Richie Evans 100 at
Oswego. Matt Hirschman finished second with Eric Beers, third. John Blewett
III won at Wall Township and JR. Bertuccio won at Riverhead. Kasey Kahne won
the Coke 300 at Charlotte. Defending series champion Tony Stewart broke his
shoulder after hitting the wall. Sam Hornish Jr. won the Indy 500.
Last year, 2010, The NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour Series continued on "Spring Break". Selected drivers
from the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour participated in a test held by Hoosier
Tire at Lime Rock Park. In preparation for the Whelen Modified Tour’s
inaugural visit to Lime Rock Park on July 3, drivers Ted Christopher, Rowan
Pennink, Bobby Santos and Todd Szegedy took part in four 20-minute sessions
throughout the afternoon at the Connecticut road course.
Selected drivers from the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Southern
Modified Tours participated in a test held by Hoosier Tire on Thursday at
Bristol Motor Speedway. In preparation for the second running of the UNOH
Perfect Storm 150 combination race for both Whelen Modified Tours, Whelen
Modified Tour veteran Mike Stefanik, along with Southern Tour regulars James
Civali and Burt Myers took part in the all-day session.
The Stafford Motor Speedway returned to racing action with a NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series program on Friday, May 14th. Woody Pitkat picked
up his first win of the 2010 season in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature that
ended up being a war of words between Pitkat and runner-up Ted Christopher.
Dillon Moltz got win number two of 2010 in the 30-lap Late Model feature,
Joey Cipriano, 15, scored his first career victory in the 20-lap SK Light
Modified feature, Andrew Durand won the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature,
and Cory Casagrande was the second first time career winner of the night by
taking the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
Racing at the Waterford Speedbowl is a five letter word, ROCCO.
Keith Rocco continued his dominance by winning for the fifth time in six
event in the 35-lap SK Modified feature at the Waterford Speedbowl Saturday
night. Rocco out handled and out drove Ron Yuhas JR on lap 25 and survived
three restarts as he continued his domination of the SK Modified division at
the shoreline oval. Yuhas held on for a runner-up finish. Tyler Chadwick,
Rob Janovic Jr and Jeff Pearl rounded out the top five.
Other feature winners were 18-year-old Chris Meyer in the Street
Stock event, Ken Cassidy Jr. in the Mini-Stock event, Allen Coates in the
truck and Anthony Flannery in the Legends Cars race.
The Bowman-Gray Stadium, known as the MADHOUSE, in Winston-Salem NC
had scheduled twin 25 lap features for their Modified division. Local runner
Lee Jeffreys was the fastest in qualifying with a lap of 13.433 seconds
(67.0 mph) on the quarter-mile track, and he started from the pole position
in the first Modified race as a result. Jeffreys went pole to pole for his
15th career victory. Burt Myers finished second, Jonathan Brown third, Randy
Butner fourth and Tim Brown fifth. The night cap event was rained out.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame opened in Charlotte, NC. In celebration of
this event the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island ran a 100 lap NASCAR
Modified event. Whelen Modified Tour Series driver Ron Silk took top honors
in the event after waging a heated battle with Tom Rogers. Silk and car
owner Eddie Partridge walked off with $3,025. Wayne Anderson, 63, 1994
NASCAR national modified champion suffered a heart attack while competing in
the 100 lap race Saturday night at Riverhead, NY Raceway. Anderson was
revived by the track crew. He was removed to St. Vincent's hospital where he
is said to be in "stable" condition. From Medford, N.Y. Wayne, who had been
racing since 1965, is the son of the late legend, Axel Anderson.
In Sprint Cup action at Dover Kyle Busch swapped the lead with
Jimmy Johnson throughout most of the 400-mile race run in front of thousands
of empty seats. Busch missed the tripleheader sweep on the one-mile concrete
track by just a couple gallons of gas. He was in position to win the Trucks
Series race on Friday but ran out of gas at the end. He easily took the
checkered flag in Saturday's Nationwide series race as he raced about 800
miles in three days. Jeff Burton was second and Matt Kenseth third. Denny
Hamlin and David Reutimann rounded out the top five.
It looked like O. Bruton Smith, owner of the New Hampshire Motor
Speedway in Loudon, NH was ready to go to battle stations with the New
Hampshire Governor along with State and local police. The town of Loudon was
looking to be paid $174,500 for police and fire coverage, the same cost as
the September 2009 race weekend. Bruton Smith believed adequate coverage
could be provided for $75,000. Jerry Gappens, the speedway's executive vice
president stated that none of Smith's seven other speedways has to pay for
local emergency services. Smith says he will pay for police and fire for
June's race at $75,000.
Even after the governor assembled a committee to deal with New
Hampshire Motor Speedway's concerns about the cost of police and fire
coverage at the track, the speedway and Loudon police Chief Bob Fiske were
about $100,000 apart on the cost of covering next month's NASCAR race
weekend.
The Loudon NASCAR weekend runs from June 23 to June 27. With a
little over a month to go there was still plenty of time to resolve the
disagreement. When it comes to dealing with state and local authorities
Smith is as tough as nails and in most cases gets his way. Smith has the
power and the money to plow the Loudon Racetrack under and move it to
another state if he has to. The state of New Hampshire and the towns around
the speedway needed to realize how much money is generated into the state
and local economies before making a final decision. Police officers from
Loudon and towns across the state make $43 per hour to work the race
weekend.
Phil Smith has been a
columnist for Speedway Scene and various
other publications for over 3 decades.
This week are several vintage racing photos
Courtesy of
SpeedwayLineReport.com & Dave Dyke's
RacingThroughTime.com
Click on Photo for Full Sized
Rene Charland
Rebel Harris
Moe Gherzi
Don MacTavish
Dick Dunn
Dick Caso
All photos courtesy of Tom Ormsby and
VintageModifieds.com
Looking Back Archive
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Source: Phil
Smith / Looking Back A Bit
Posted: May
27, 2011 |
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