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09/07/12
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September 7, 2012 |
Sixty
years ago in 1952 at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Ray
Delisle was the Wednesday night Sportsman winner and Bud Matter was the
Claiming Car winner. Twin 50's were run on Saturday night with Delisle and
Cy Yates recording Sportsman wins while Matter recorded another claiming car
victory.
Fifty five years ago in 1957
Don Collins made it two n a row in Sportsman action at the New
London-Waterford Speedbowl. Ted Stack was the non-Ford winner.
Fifty years ago in 1962, Ernie
Gahan made it two in a row on the dirt at the Stafford Springs Speedway. At
the Waterford Speedbowl Dick Beauregard was the 25 lap Modified winner. Ed
Moody was the Bomber winner.
Forty five years ago in 1967
Friday night racing at Stafford rained out. Bugsy Stevens, a regular
competitor at Stafford made the right call as he and car owner Len Boehler
traveled to the Albany Saratoga Speedway where Stevens finished fourth
behind Don MacTavish, Ed Patnoad and Guy Chartrand At Fonda, on Saturday
night, Bill Wimble took the win over Ray Sitterly and Jerry Cook. Bill
Scrivener was the Modified winner at Waterford. The Utica-Rome Speedway
closed out their season on Sunday night with local favorite Clayton “Sonney”
Seamon taking the win over Dick Fowler, Bernie Miller, Jerry Cook and Dave
Kotary.
Forty Years ago in 1972, Malta
and Stafford ran head to head on Saturday night. Lancaster had a big open
show on Sunday with qualifying on Saturday afternoon, which meant that many
teams raced back and forth on the Thruway. Bugsy Stevens was the winner at
Malta over Jerry Cook, Ed Pieniezak and Ron Newman. Because he chose to
concentrate on the NASCAR Modified point title, Stevens elected to by-pass
Lancaster in order to be in one piece for an extra point event at Utica-Rome
on Sunday night. Bobby Santos was driving for Art Barry and the two decided
to go for all three. Santos qualified at Lancaster on Saturday afternoon,
raced to Malta where he finished sixth, raced back to Lancaster where he won
the 200 lap open and then sped to Utica-Rome where he finished eighth.
Richie Evans finished second to Santos at Lancaster and did it one better as
he won at Utica-Rome. Fred DeSarro, Eddie Flemke, Ray Hendrick and Ernie
Gahan followed Santos and Evans at Lancaster. At Utica-Rome, Lou Lazzaro,
Jerry Cook, Fred DeSarro and Ollie Silva followed Evans. At Stafford, Leo
Cleary in the Mystic Missile took the win over Ronnie Bouchard, Ernie Caruso
and Ed Yerrington. Jerry Dostie made it two in a row at Waterford. It was a
rough weekend, to say the least.
Thirty five years ago in 1977,
Stafford’s Friday night racing was open competition as their NASCAR season
ended on Labor Day. With 33 cars on hand, Ronnie Bouchard took the win over
Geoff Bodine, Ed Flemke and Bob Polverari. Saturday night was extremely
busy. Seekonk ran twin features, a 50 lapper and a 35 lapper. Taking the win
in the 50 was Corky Cookman over Eddie St. Angelo and George Summers. St.
Angelo won the 50 and was followed by Ronnie Bouchard, John Rosati and
Cookman. At Westboro, Freddie Schulz, in the Tom Dunn Pinto wagon, took the
win over George Savory, Fats Caruso and Joe Howard. The NASCAR Modifieds ran
a 150 lapper at Richmond where Maynard Troyer took the top spot. Paul
Radford finished second with Ray Hendrick, Joe Thurman, Harry Gant and Jerry
Cook following. Islip presented a 100-lap double point event. Charlie
Jarzombek ruled the roost as he beat out Tom McCann, Geoff Bodine, Wayne
Anderson and Eddie Flemke. Waterford fell victim to rain and ended their
season. Moose Hewitt was declared the modified track champion. On Sunday,
Fred DeSarro took the win at Thompson over Freddie Schulz, Ray Miller and
John Rosati. Freeport ran a 200 lapper that saw Long Island favorite Jim
Hendrickson take the win over Maynard Troyer and George Brunnhoelzl Jr. At
Monadnock it was Bob Karvonen taking the win over Punky Caron and Pete
Fiandaca.
Thirty years ago in 1982, the
Thompson 300 took center stage. A huge field of 106 modifieds was on hand.
Greg Sacks, who had won just about every major race in what is now
considered his best season didn’t let this big one get away. After leading
from lap 14 thru 134 when he pitted for fuel and tires, Sacks re-took the
lead on lap 151 and led the remaining 149 laps to take the $10,000 win.
Kenny Bouchard finished second with Gomer Taylor and Ray Miller on the lead
lap at the finish. Doug Hewitt finished fifth, one lap down. Tony Hirschman,
SJ Evonsion, George Brunnhoelzl, Dick Trayner and Dave Thomas rounded out
the top ten. Dick Caso won the companion non-qualifiers event. In other
weekend action, Jerry Cook won an 82 lapper at Shangri-La over Jim Spencer
and Doug Hewitt and at New Egypt, John Blewett Jr won a 200 lapper over
Richie Evans, Bob Polverari and Jerry Cook.
Twenty five years ago in 1987,
the Thompson Speedway lost their entire 300 program to rain. Riverside Park
was able to get their program in with Kenny Bouchard taking the win over
Reggie Ruggiero, Bob Polverari and John Rosati. In Winston Cup action at
Richmond, Dale Earnhardt, who started eighth, took the win.
Twenty years ago in 1992,
Monadnock closed out their season on Friday night. Jerry Marquis, in the Bob
Judkins 2x, won his seventh feature and sewed up the Modified Championship
at the fast ¼ mile oval. At Waterford, on Saturday night, Don Fowler went
pole to pole to win the modified feature over Ricky Young, Bert Marvin, Jim
Broderick and Jerry Pearl. In late model action, Tom Gaudreau went pole to
pole to win his first late model feature. With their regular season over,
Riverside Park ran open competition modifieds and added SK-Modifieds to
their line-up. With only seven showing up, the SK’s were grouped together
with the modifieds. Dan Avery took the modified feature over Jerry Marquis
and Bobby Gee. Chris Jones was the first SK to finish as he came across the
finish line in 11th spot. The Thompson 300 was the big show of the weekend.
Rick Fuller, in the Mario Fiore 44 took the win over Doug Hevron, Tom
Baldwin, Chris Aman and Jamie Tomaino, all
on the lead lap. Pole sitter Steve Park, finished sixth.
Fifteen years ago in 1997,
Dennis Gada went pole to pole to beat out Rick Donnely and Todd Ceravolo at
Waterford. Punky Caron got his 72nd career win at Monadnock and Dave Berube
beat out Reggie Ruggerio at Riverside. The Thompson 300,now a Busch Grand
National event saw the total domination of Mike Stefanik for the win.
Stefanik, who started on the outside pole, led 290 of the 300 laps and
closed to within nine points of current leader Dave Dion. Ricky Fuller
finished second with Andy Santarre, third. At Richmond, Steve Park took the
lead with 42 laps to go and took his third win of the year. His boss, Dale
Earnhardt, who suffered a blackout the previous week at Darlington, was
cleared to drive. Dale Jarrett was the eventual Winston Cup winner at
Richmond and finally, Jan Opperman, who had been confined to a wheelchair
since 1991, passed away.
Ten years ago in 2002 The
NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Series was at the Thompson Speedway last
weekend for the annual 300, the series’ longest event. Temperatures in the
90’s made the 300 a test of man and machine Forty-four Modifieds were on
hand to qualify for the forty starting spots. Tony Hirschman, on the mend
since a crash at Seekonk, was the Busch Pole sitter. Mike Stefanik took
advantage of Charlie Pasteryak’s miss-fortune and took the win, which was
worth $16,400. It has been an up and down year for the defending series
champion and he had also all but written himself off as far as being able to
repeat. Because of the fact that the 300 is an endurance run, things can
change in an instant. Stefanik started 10th and led three times at various
stages had all but accepted to finishing second to Charlie Pasteryak when
fate reared its ugly hand in Pasteryak's direction as he ran out of gas with
six laps to go. It was a tough pill for Pasteryak to swallow as he and his
team gambled and lost. Pasteryak had pitted on lap 211 and decided on not
taking on gas. It was a decision that left him about a gallon short. That
gallon of gas cost Pasteryak $14,500, the difference between first and
fourteenth. The 300 paid $16,400 to win. Pasteryak, who lost two laps in the
process, earned $1,900. There were only six cars on the lead lap at the
finish including 65-year-old Bob Polverari, who finished sixth.
Congratulations to Tony Ferrante, Jr. on his career best, since 1997 at
Jennerstown, second place finish. Ferrante collected $6,405 for his efforts.
L.W.Miller ended up third after a questionable confrontation with Chuck
Hossfeld. Hossfeld had been running in the lead pack and possibly could have
had a top five finish until he lost two laps due to the confrontation. John
Blewett III finished a solid fourth with former series champion, Jamie
Tomaino rounding out the top five. Sixth and the final car on the lead lap
was 65 year old Bob Polverari. There were 18 caution periods for 99 laps,
one lap short of a third of the posted distance.
Among the casualties were Rick Fuller who took a hard shot, rear
first, into the concrete on lap 48 and Jim Willis who flipped and slid down
the front chute on his roof on lap 187. It appeared that Tom Cloce brushed
the front chute wall and when he bounced off, Willis was there. Willis got
in the air and hit the starters stand as he was going over. It could have
been disastrous and chances are, Bob Slade was counting his blessings after
that. Ted Christopher was among the front runners until getting bit by
ignition problems. Among the others who had mechanical problems were David
Berghman, Jerry Marquis and Ed Flemke Jr. Pole sitter Tony Hirschman had a
legitimate shot to win the event as he was one of the faster cars.
Hirschman’s car was black-flagged after numerous NASCAR officials confirmed
that he was leaking fluid. Hirschman ignored the black flag to pit and
NASCAR pulled his scorecard. When he finally pitted, the leaking had
stopped. With gage
temperatures normal, chances are it was fuel but none the less, he was
leaking. It doesn’t look like John Sneade will be participating in any
NASCAR events in the near future after the show he put on under the starters
stand. He went somewhat postal and had to be escorted off the track and his
car was removed to the pit area.
The series point standings showed Ed Flemke Jr. was still in the
lead by 37 points over Jerry Marquis. Mike Stefanik’s win moved him from
seventh spot to third, only 59 points behind Flemke. Ricky Fuller and Todd
Szegedy rounded out the top five. Sixth thru tenth were Chuck Hossfeld, Ted
Christopher, Nevin George, David Berghman and Jamie Tomaino.
The regular weekly racing in Southern New England saw Ted
Christopher taking his 74th career win at Stafford on Friday night. Tommy
Fox got his fourth at the Waterford Speedbowl despite the fact that the two
slugs that started on the front row almost destroyed the entire field. Jay
Miller finished second and was followed by Don Fowler and Ron Yuhas Jr.
Yuhas was the only Waterford competitor to race at Thompson on Saturday
afternoon and made it in time for the Waterford event.
The first of two weekend 20 lap features for the SK-Modifieds was
run late Saturday afternoon with Bo Gunning taking the win over Ted
Christopher and Jeff Malave. Numerous wrecks sidelined half the field. Among
the bent cars was that of Ron Yuhas Jr. Yuhas headed for Waterford while his
dad and crew took the mangled remains to their race shop in Groton where a
new front and rear clip was installed after an all niter. Ted Christopher
won the second 20 lapper, run on Sunday, over Gunning, Malave, Bert Marvin
and Eric Berndt. Yuhas finished 22nd.
Belated condolences went out to the family of Bunk Sampson who lost his long
battle with cancer and passed away. Bunk, a dedicated former director of the
NASCAR Busch North Series was laid to rest a week previous. He was perhaps
one of the most sincere and fairest NASCAR Officials ever employed by the
sanctioning body and while the BNS director, he put his heart and soul into
what he did.
Five years ago in 2007, the
2007 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was at the Thompson Speedway for Modified
Mania. Donnie Lia and car owner Bob Garbarino who were currently enjoying a
dream season out time trailed thirty-five other Whelen Modifieds to score
their third Busch Pole of the season. Lia and his Mystic Missile toured the
5/8-mile oval in 18.885 seconds. Ronnie Silk was second fastest with Matt
Hirschman, third. Lia picked the pole starting position for the 150 lap main
event. Ron Yuhas Jr picked the outside pole while Hirschman picked third.
Heavy rain at 4:00pm on Sunday forced officials to postpone the
event to first to Saturday September 22nd and then on Monday to Sunday,
September 23rd
In True Value Modified Series action at the Thompson it was great
to see Mark Mockovak in his new spot with what has become a very popular
series in New England. Thirty-two True Value Modifieds were on hand for
qualifying for their segment of Modified Mania at the Thompson Speedway.
Chris Pastryak, Andy Seuss and Jimmy Kuhn won three Heat Races. The 75-lap
True Value Modified Racing Series portion of Modified Mania at Thompson
International Speedway was postponed after completing only 2 laps because of
inclement weather. Andy Seuss was leading the event when the torrential rain
began.
In regular NASCAR Whelen Weekly Racing action at the Thompson
Speedway Sunoco Modified heat winners were Jimmy Blewett, Tommy Cravenho and
Danny Cates. Glenn Boss scored the victory in the lone TIS Modified heat.
Norm Wrenn and Jeff Zuidema of scored heat race wins for the Pro-Fours.
Matt Hirschman went pole to pole as he led every lap of the Race of
Champions main event before the rains came in forcing the postponement of
the Whelen Modified Tour 150 and the True Value Modified Racing Series. The
True Value Modified Racing Series completed only two laps with Andy Seuss of
Hampstead, NH, holding the point before torrential rains hit the speedway.
Three of the other scheduled events of Modified Mania II were
completed before the rains came with Todd Ceravolo taking down the Sunoco
Modified main event and Leo Oliveira scored the TIS Modifieds victory.
Thompson regular Norm Wrenn scored the Pro-Four Victory. Hirschman, the
current Central Region point leader, led every lap en route to the victory.
The second-generation driver jumped from his third-place starting spot to
lead the opening lap and would not be headed. Rick Kluth ran strong in the
second spot for much of the race. In the late stages, with Hirschman out
front, Kluth turned back advances of a charging Woody Pitkat. The current
Northern Region leader, Pete Brittian, who had run a conservative race up to
this point, turned it on with only a hand full of laps remaining. With five
laps to go, Hirschman continued to stretch his lead while Pete Brittian
caught Kluth. That battle for second heated up over the final laps when
Brittian got a run on Kluth in turn one. A single lap later, Brittian was
able to make the pass on Kluth to move into the second spot. Time ran out as
Brittian could do nothing but chase the potent Hirschman. At the checkers,
it was all Hirschman. Brittian finished second over Rick Kluth and Woody
Pitkat. Lenny Fisher rounded out to the top five By virtue of technical
inspection, Leo Oliveira was declared the winner in the TIS Modified main
event.
The Stafford Motor Speedway began their fall series of Friday night
racing. Keith Rocco took the SK Modified feature win, Dillon Moltz won the
Late Model feature, Chris Matthews won the SK Light feature, Andrew Durand
won the Limited Late Model feature, and Dan Flannery won the DARE Stock
feature.
The 40-lap SK Modified feature took the green with Wade Mattesen
charging past Richie Pallai, Jr. to take the early lead. Pallai would battle
back by Mattesen on lap-5 to reclaim the lead. Rocco followed Pallai past
Mattesen, and Pallai and Rocco ran nose to tail for the lead over the next
several laps. Rocco moved by Pallai on a lap-11 restart, and from that point
on, he would not be headed at the front of the field as he scored his third
SK Modified feature win of the 2007 season. Kerry Malone finished a distant
second to Rocco, with Ted Christopher, Curt Brainard, and Todd Owen rounding
out the top-5. NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Championship
hopeful Woody Pitkat suffered through several spins but came back to finish
9th.
In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at the Waterford
Speedbowl Dennis Gada got a little closer to an unprecedented seventh
Modified Track title as he scored his fifth win. Two race meets remain of
the 2007 season. Gada currently trails Rob Janovic by 16 points. For the
last two races Gada needs to run hard and run to win. Keith Rocco finished
second and Janovic was third. Gada moved from fourth to second after a crash
with 24 laps to go. Seven laps later, Gada moved underneath Rocco and
cruised to his 55th career SK win. Tyler Chadwick and Jeff Paul rounded out
the top five.Bruce Thomas Jr. unofficially clinched the Late Model
championship, winning his 11th feature of the season by overtaking Ron Yuhas
Jr. with eight laps to go in the 30-lap feature. Thomas won the Mini Stock
title in 2001. Kyle James won his first career race in the Mini Stock
feature. In the Sportsman feature, Walt Hovey Jr, won again.
In NASCAR Nextel Cup action at Richmond Jimmie Johnson hit his
stride at exactly the right time, winning two straight races to roll into
the Chase for the championship. Dale Earnhardt Jr. never had a chance, the
victim of five faulty motors when his season was on the line. Johnson easily
raced to his series-best sixth victory of the season. But Earnhardt,
suffered his third blown motor in the past seven races to finish 30th. Kyle
Busch was the Busch Series winner.
Last year, 2011, the NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour traveled to Canada for the first Tour event to be run
out of the country, the Delaware 150 at the Delaware (Ont.) Speedway. Erick
Rudolph earned his second NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 21 Means 21 Pole Award
Presented by Coors Light Saturday in qualifying for the inaugural Delaware
150. Rudolph, from Ransomville, N.Y., posted a fast lap of 17.585 seconds
(102.360 mph). A slim field of 18 cars was on hand. Many competitors who are
tour regulars including Mike Stefanik, Woody Pitkat, and Ron Yuhas jr felt
that it was not cost effective to make the long haul to Canada. Also missing
was Ted Christopher.
Ron Silk appeared to have a game plan that even a 48-minute rain
delay could not derail. He patiently waited for the right moment and won the
Delaware 150. In the tour’s inaugural race beyond the borders of the United
States, Silk started from the outside pole position and held on to that
track position until it was time make his move. That time came with a Lap
107 pass of Erick Rudolph, who led the race’s first 106 circuits after
earning his second career pole position. From there, it looked as if it was
going to be smooth sailing for Silk behind the wheel of the Eddie Partridge
No. 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet. By Lap 132, he built a
1.222-second lead on Rudolph, but a spin in Turn 4 by Rowan Pennink brought
out the caution flag and allowed weather into the equation.
Pennink’s broken oil line forced NASCAR officials to display the
red flag to allow the clean-up crew easier access to the spill which trailed
from Turn 1 all the way into Turn 3 on the half-mile track. In the meantime,
rain began to fall on the track. The weather coupled with the clean up sent
the cars to pit road on Lap 143. After the weather delay, Silk survived two
green-white-checkered finish attempts before beating Doug Coby to the finish
line. Todd Szegedy picked up third followed by James Civali and Eric Beers
in fourth and fifth, respectively. Eric Berndt, Justin Bonsignore, D.J.
Kennington, Jaime Tomaino and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top 10.
The race was slowed due to caution a season-high 13 times. The
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads to familiar territory for its next outing
to take on its counterparts from the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour on
Sunday, Sept. 11 at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway in the UNOH
Showdown. Each tour will have a 125-lap feature event followed by a 50-lap
exhibition event with competitors from each tour pitted against one another.
It looked like Ted Christopher and crew chief Brad LaFountaine had
kissed and made up as the Hartford Courant reported that the Ed Whelen No.36
will make its return to the Whelen Modified Tour Series at the Thompson
Speedway in the UNOH Showdown. Both Christopher and LaFountaine were at the
top of their game and when this condition exists there are differences of
opinion. Car owner Ed Whelen shut the team down when the in-fighting got out
of hand.
In Thursday Night Thunder action at the Thompson Speedway track
owner Don Hoenig was forced to cancel the event due to the adverse
conditions created by Hurricane Irene. The track property incurred little
damage but the big problem was no electricity. There is a generator on site
but it is unable to handle the entire electrical load that is required.
The Stafford Motor Speedway began the month of September with a new
face in victory lane at the conclusion of the SK Modified feature. Woody
Pitkat nailed down his first win of the 2011 season in the 40-lap SK
Modified® feature event, Corey Hutchings picked up his first win of 2011 in
the 30-lap Late Model feature, Joey Cipriano scored his fifth win of 2011 in
the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, D.J. Burnham picked up his first
career victory in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Kyle Casagrande
picked up his division leading 5th win of the 2011 season in the 15-lap DARE
Stock feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Curt Brainard took the
lead at the drop of the green with Brian Sullivan and Sean Foster locked in
a side by side duel for second. Side by side behind Brian Sullivan and
Foster was Nichole Morgillo and Dan Avery. Sullivan got cleared of Foster
for second with Avery taking third. Glen Reen was now into fourth and Woody
Pitkat was up to fifth with 8 laps compete.
Brainard held the lead until lap-9 when Sullivan went to the front,
but his lead was short lived as Avery moved to the front on lap-10. Pitkat
moved into second behind Avery with Eric Berndt moving by Sullivan to take
over third place. Pitkat quickly moved by Avery to take the lead on lap-12.
Berndt got by Avery for second place on lap-17 while Pitkat continued to
lead the race.
After a trip through the grass that lost his several positions a
few laps earlier, Ryan Preece was charging his way back towards the front of
the pack as he moved into sixth on lap-18. Berndt pulled to the outside of
Pitkat and the two cars began to run side by side for the race lead with
Pitkat able to keep Berndt behind him at the start/finish line.
Berndt made the pass for the lead on lap-22 as Preece went by Todd
Owen to take over fifth place. The order was now Berndt ahead of Pitakt,
Avery, Glen Reen, and Preece. The top-5 remained unchanged until lap-33 when
Preece moved by Reen for fourth place, but Reen came right back and took the
spot back. Preece made another pass on Reen for fourth place on lap-37 in
turns 1+2 and this time he made the pass stick. As the cars came back around
and down the frontstretch, Reen made a run back to the inside of Preece and
the cars touched wheels with Reen climbing Preece's tires, which launched
his car into the air for a split second and the caution came out as Reen's
car was showering sparks as it made its way back to pit road.
Back under green, Pitkat charged into the lead with Berndt settling
into second. Todd Owen made a great move to get up to third with Preece
behind him in fourth. Pitkat lead Berndt to the checkered flag by less than
a car length to score his first victory of the 2011 season. Rounding out the
top-5 behind Pitkat and Berndt was Owen, Preece, and Brainard.
Among the missing were Keith Rocco and Ted Christopher, the
division's biggest stars. Rocco was suspended from competition for one event
following his crash with Eric Berndt on August 26. Christopher was at the
Oswego Speedway competing in a SuperModified event. Rocco's car was in
competition with Berndt doing the driving. Christopher finished seventh at
Oswego.
At the Waterford Speedbowl Woody Pitkat carried his winning ways
over to the shoreline oval as he won the Thunder on the Sound SK Modified
event. Pitkat brought his Thompson car, the No. 00 of Jimmy Paige. Starting
mid field, Pitkat drove a smart race and was in the right place at the right
time. When Todd Ceravolo encountered fuel delivery problems while leading
with 17 laps to go in the 150 lap event Pitkat was in the cat bird seat,
ready to pounce. Once in the lead Pitkat was never headed. Ceravolo, driving
a car owned by Harry Rhaume, rebounded to finish fifth. Pitkat, who got the
jump on the final restart ahead of Diego Monahan, ran unchallenged the rest
of the way. Ted Christopher raced by Monahan but had nothing left to throw
Pitkat’s way. Monahan held back Rob Janovic for third, while Janovic
rebounded from a late pit stop to take fourth
The event was one of eight features as part of the track’s Thunder
on the Sound program, presented by the Connecticut National Guard. The win,
carrying a $5,000 payday, was Pitkat’s first at the Speedbowl and came in
just his second career start in the SK Modified® division at the track.
At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, John Fortin continued his
hot streak by winning again, which further reduced points leader Justin
Bonsignore's point lead. Bonsignore had a lot on his plate as he headed to
Canada for the Whelen Modified Tour Series event held there following the
Riverhead event.
In NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour action, New Englander Andy
Suess held off the field in a 14-lap dash to the checkered flag to win the
Newport News Shipbuilding 150 in NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour action
on Saturday at Langley Speedway in Virginia.
Seuss started from the outside pole position and fell back early,
but he battled back to take the lead on Lap 129 and led the rest of the way.
A debris caution on Lap 132 set up a sprint to the finish that he was able
to manage in his No. 11 Phoenix Pre-Owned/Triad Auto Sales Chevrolet. John
Smith crossed the line in second followed by Thomas Stinson, who led a
race-high 88 laps, in third. Polesitter and defending tour champion Burt
Myers finished fourth while Jason Myers finished in the fifth position. A
light field of 13 cars was on hand.
In the annual Labor Day Modified Classic at the Oswego Speedway in
New York, Chuck Hossfeld ran a smooth, heady race, avoiding all the tangles
that shortened the field to just 10 finishers. The Ransomville, NY driver
was rewarded with a $6,500 winner’s check in a hectic green-white-checkers
finish.
Both Tony Hirschman and Jimmy Zacharias lost top-three finishes
when they tangled on lap 198. Daren Scherer pushed Hossfeld to the finish,
but had to settle for second. Lee Sherwood, Kyle Ebersole and Earl Paules
completed the top five.
Otto Sitterly could not have waited any longer. The New York driver
passed teammate Mike Lichty on the last turn of the final lap to win the
Budweiser International SuperModified Classic at the Oswego Speedway. It was
the only time Sitterly led in the 200-lap race, which is the top event of
the year in supermodified racing.
Carl Edwards recovered after a pit-stop penalty early in the race
and held off Kyle Busch to win the Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor
Speedway on Saturday night. With the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee bearing
down on Georgia, NASCAR postponed its Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor
Speedway until 11 a.m. Tuesday. Jeff Gordon won the rain-delayed NASCAR race
at Atlanta Motor Speedway for his third victory of the season and 85th of
his career.
In some sad news, Dick Beauregard passed-away in Hesperia, CA. One
of the biggest names to have emerged from Connecticut’s “New
London-Waterford” Speedbowl during its early history, in a relatively-short
Speedbowl career of only a decade he notched pair of Modified titles along
with 45 feature victories. In the Non-Ford division he annexed the checkers
on 20 occasions. Both controversial and immensely-popular at the same-time,
he retired in 1962 as a Modified champion. Also passing was Raymond "Hully"
Bunn, 91, of Bristol. His passion for racing spanned over 60 years. He won
the first 100 Mile Langhorne National Open for Modified Sportsman Stock
Cars, which is now known as the Race of Champions. He also won the first
race ever held at Lebanon Valley Speedway in New York. His winning spirit on
the racetrack carried through to him professionally as owner of B&M Machine
Shop and B&M Gem Shop, as well as a proud member of the 7th armored division
commanded by Gen. Patton during World War II.
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.
This week are several vintage racing photos
Courtesy of
SpeedwayLineReport.com & Dave Dyke's
RacingThroughTime.com
Click on Photo for Full Sized
Fred Shultz
Don MacTavish
Bill Scrivener
Jerry Dostie
Corky Cookman
Steve "S.J.' Evonsion
Looking Back Archive
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Source: Phil
Smith / Looking Back A Bit
Posted: September
7, 2012 |
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