April 22, 2014

  The big news last week in New England is the fact that the Waterford Speedbowl has officially gone on the market for sale. Asking price is $3,300,000. The listing states that the property is currently being operated as a NASCAR sanctioned racetrack. Listed on Zillow the real estate ad states that “Redevelopment opportunities abound including affordable housing, retail, industrial, distribution center and light manufacturing". Owner Terry Eames said he listed the property with agents Joe Luca, of RE/MAX, and Kenneth Dill, of Cresa Corporate Real Estate, within the past two weeks, as part of foreclosure proceedings on the property. A Connecticut Judge, Emmet Cosgrove handed down a judgment of foreclosure in January, with an auction date of Oct. 18. The order states that Eames owes his creditors $1.2 million in debt and attorney fees. Rocco Arbitell, one of the mortgage holders on the property, motioned for foreclosure last year. Arbitell's business associate Peter Borrelli is the other mortgage holder.

  On April 3, the plaintiffs filed a motion for advice, requiring that Eames advertise the property. McCoy said the motion is routine and that its purpose is to ensure the property receives exposure both to wider audiences through advertising in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, and to the racing community, through publications such as trade magazines. Eames said the language does not reflect any desire on his part to sell the property.

  Despite all the doom and gloom being generated by the possible demise of the shoreline oval it hasn't affected the enthusiasm of the competitors as Keith Rocco won his third straight Late Model feature to begin the year and Josh Galvin took his second straight Street Stock race in a row during racing Saturday night at the Waterford Speedbowl. Tyler Chadwick won the SK Modified division feature, Ken Cassidy Jr. engineered a come-from-behind win in the Mini Stocks and Corey Barry scored a victory in the SK Light Modified race.

  Chadwick worked hard during his run to victory in the 35-lap SK Modified race. After he took the lead on lap 12 from Jeff Gallup, he held back a charge from Rocco over the final 17 laps in what was a high-speed duel. Rocco tried several different maneuvers to try to rattle Chadwick, but Chadwick, the 2012 division champion, proved unflappable. Rocco was second, followed by former division champions Rob Janovic Jr. and Ted Christopher third and fourth, respectively.

  In the 30-lap Late Model feature, Rocco passed Bruce Thomas Jr. on a lap-6 restart to take command and never relinquished his lead. Thomas finished four car-lengths back and Jason Palmer was third.

  Apparent Street Stock winner Josh Galvin was later disqualified as tech inspectors discovered illegal shock absorbers on his car. Al Stone III was awarded the win. In the Mini Stock division Cassidy and three others in the top five were disqualified for illegally modified spindles. Chris Ivory, who originall finished third was declared the winner.

  In other Speedbowl action, Fifteen year old Mike Christopher Jr. survived a ton of late restarts to win the 25-lap Legends feature. It was the first win for the second generation driver.

  The Speedbowl returns to action next week with a five-division program, highlighted by a 50-lap Street Stock Showdown event plus the return of the New England Truck Series.

  The Valenti Modified Racing Series traveled "up country" to the Monadnock Speedway on Saturday night with 26 cars strong. Rowan Pennink won what was considered one of the best VMRS races ever run as he took an impressive win in the VMRS 100 lap Spring Dash 100. Pennink picked the pole starting position after winning his heat. It was not a cakewalk as Justin Bonsignore provided the excitement as he and Pennink swapped the lead numerous times through out the 100 lapper. Steve Masse finished third and was followed by Chris Pasteryak and Todd Szegedy. sixth through tenth were Dwight Jarvis, Matthew Mead, Dylan Kopec, Max Zachem and Mike Willis, Jr. The next event for the Valenti Modified Racing Series will be the Spring Kickoff Classic on Sunday, May 4 at the Seekonk Speedway.

  A persistent overnight rain and forecast showers in the area has forced the postponement of Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour Bunny Hop 150 at Caraway Speedway in North Carolina. A makeup date for the event will be announced later.

  The Whelen Southern Modified Tour heads into its annual "Spring Break" and will be back on the track next on July 4 at Caraway Speedway. Andy Seuss takes a five-point lead into the break over four-time tour champion George Brunnhoelzl III.

  Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem NC opens this Saturday night with a 200 lapper for the NASCAR Modifieds.

  The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series heads to the Stafford Motor Speedway this weekend for the annual Spring Sizzler. Originally an open competition event and the brainchild of Dick Berggren, Bruce Cohen and Lew Boyd, the Sizzler has become one of the premier events for the NASCAR Modifieds.

  The 2014 NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler gets underway Friday, April 25 with a practice session for Stafford's weekly divisions. The practice session will be open to the public at no charge. Action continues on Saturday, April 26 with Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour cars, along with heat and consolation races for Stafford's weekly divisions and the NorthEast Mini Stock Tour. Saturday will wrap up with feature events for the SK Light, Limited Late Model, DARE Stock, and NEMST divisions. The Sizzler continues on Sunday, April 27 with the NAPA Auto Parts Pit Party followed by Stafford's SK Modifieds® and Late Models joining the Whelen Modified Tour in feature action.

  New England modified racing legend Billy Greco will serve as the Grand Marshal of the 43rd Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler. Greco began his career in the early 1950's driving the #44 for Sharkey Gaudiosi and he made a name for himself by teaming up with his brother George and racing the #43. Greco recorded over 300 feature wins in his career with wins at West Haven, Riverside, Plainville Stadium, Rhinebeck, Lonsdale, Menands, Stafford, Waterford, Freeport, Eastern States, Islip, and the Pine Bowl. Greco claimed track championships at West Haven, Riverside, and Albany Saratoga.

  Tickets for the "Greatest Race in the History of Spring" are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $38.50 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating will be priced at $42.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.

A new event that promises to bring New Hampshire's Center of Speed, the Lee USA Speedway, its highest car count and biggest payday of the season, currently estimated at $44,000 is only three plus weeks away. A field of close to 40 Tour-Type Modified teams will tow in from roughly ten different states for the 1st annual 100-lap, "Bullring Bash Powered by Sunoco" on Sunday, May 11.

  NASCAR announced the broadcast schedule for the remainder of the 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tours Championship events on FOX Sports 1. The popular annual Whelen Modified/Southern Modified Tour date in August at Bristol Motor Speedway is on the slate. Additionally, both the July and September Whelen Modified Tour dates at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon are scheduled to air, as is an October trip to Thompson (Conn.) Speedway Motorsports Park for the tour’s final race of the season.
While the Modifieds only get four dates the schedule includes 28 events for NASCAR’s touring series including previously aired races from Bristol Motor Speedway, Greenville Pickens Speedway, and Irwindale Speedway.

  On the speedway stock market scene last week two of the three speedway stocks were up for the week. The International Speedway Corporation went up 0.40 to 32.40 and Speedway Motorsports went up 0.29 to 18.26 while Dover Entertainment dropped 0.04 to 2.25. NASCAR Cup sponsor Sprint went up 0.27 to 8.52, NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco (Energy Transfer) went up 1.06 to 56.06 and NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear went up 1.79 to 27.00. The car builders had a good week as they finished up on the positive side. Ford went up 0.37 to 16.00 while General Motors jumped 2.05 to 33.98 and Toyota jumped 3.13 to 108.02. In the home improvement sector Home Depot went up 1.39 to 77.09 and Lowes went up 0.49 to 46.80. The team sponsors were all over the lot. Dupont went up 0.89 to 66.98, Target went up 1.10 to 60.00 and Fedex went up 4.32 to 135.55 while Coca-Cola dropped 0.35 to 80.71 and Aarons Rentals dropped 0.72 to 29.41.

On the tube this week:

Wednesday, April 23
2:30 AM, NASCAR Now, ESPN2
12:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network

Thursday, April 24
2:30 AM, NASCAR Now, ESPN2
12:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7:00 PM, How It's Made - NASCAR Engines, SCIENCE Channel

Friday, April 25
2:00 AM, How It's Made - NASCAR Engines, SCI
2:30 AM, NASCAR Now, ESPN2
2:30 AM, NASCAR's The List - Fights & Feuds, NBCSN
10:00 AM, NASCAR SPRINT CUP Series Richmond practice, FS1
1:00PM, NSCS Richmond practice, FS1
2:00 PM, NASCAR Live, FS1
3:00 PM, NASCAR Nationwide Series Richmond qualifying, ESPN2
4:30 PM, NASCAR Live, FS1
5:00 PM, NSCS Richmond qualifying, FS1
6:30 PM, NASCAR Countdown, ESPN2
7:00 PM, NNS Richmond race, ESPN2

Saturday, April 26
3:00 AM, NSCS Richmond practice re-air, FS1
4:00 AM, NSCS Richmond qualifying, re-air, FS1
6:30 PM, NSCS Richmond race, FOX
11:30 PM, NASCAR Victory Lane, FS1

   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.

Source: Phil Smith / Champ Trail
Posted: April 22, 2014