July 11, 2014

  Sixty five years ago in 1949 Henry Hager was the winner at the Buffalo Civic Center.

  Sixty years ago at the New London Waterford Speedbowl it rained on Wednesday night but not on Saturday night as Moe Gherzi made it two in a row in Sportsman action at the shoreline oval. Tom Van Epps was the non-Ford winner.

  Fifty five years ago in 1959, rain washed out the Friday night racing on the dirt at the Stafford Springs Speedway. Russ Foote and Bill Slater were the Sportsman winners at the New London Waterford Speedbowl. Benny Desrosier and Rene Charland won non Ford features and Ben Hewitt and Dick Dunn were Bomber winners at the shoreline oval. Up in New York State at the Buffalo Civic Stadium Bill Rafter scored his fourth win of the season. Racing action at Lancaster saw Irish Jack Murphy in victory lane.

  Fifty years ago in 1964, Dick Dixon, who was well known in New England racing circles ventured to the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, PA where he won a 100 lap Late Model event over Roy Hallquist and Bob Devine. Rain pretty much washed out most of the weekend's racing. The Stafford Springs Speedway in Connecticut and the Fonda Speedway in upstate New York were the exception where Bill Wimble took the wins. Lou Lazzaro paid a surprise visit to Stafford where he finished second by a bumper over Irv Taylor. Elton Hilldreth won at Old Bridge and Don Stives won at Wall in New Jersey while Gene Gamache won at Islip on Long Island. The New London-Waterford Speedbowl was also in a weather window as Ted Stack took the Modified win and Bill Staubley, the Bomber win.

  Forty five years ago in 1969, rain washed out racing at Malta, Norwood, Waterford, Stafford and Islip. Lou Lazzaro continued to be the top gun in New York State as he won at both Fonda and at Utica-Rome.

  Forty years ago in 1974, Riverhead ran twin events on Tuesday with Charlie Jarzombek and Artie Tappen taking wins. On Saturday night, Freeport and Islip went head to head. Jarzombek won at Freeport over Fred Harbach and Tappen. Islip ran double points and Richie Evans invaded the Island with good results as he beat out Jim Hendrickson and George Wagner for the win. Jake Marosz, who is still racing, scored his lone career Modified victory at the Waterford Speedbowl. Bill Sweet Jr was the Grand American late model winner. At Stafford, Bugsy Stevens put the Koszela No.15 on top. Ron Bouchard had to settle for second with Ed Flemke, third. Evans who had also won at Utica-Rome on Friday night, made it three for three as he won at Fulton on Sunday. Other weekend winners were Geoff Bodine at Shangri-La, Merv Treichler at Lancaster, Gene Bergin at Monadnock and Fred DeSarro at Thompson.

  Thirty five years ago in 1979, Richie Evans was the Friday night winner at Stafford. Bugsy Stevens finished in the runner-up spot with Brian Ross coming in third with a flat tire. At Spencer, Jerry Cook came home for the win over George Kent, Geoff Bodine, Maynard Troyer and Doug Hewitt. Leo Cleary extended his point lead at Seekonk as he ruled over Stevens, Ross and George Savory. Twin events were run at Riverside. Eddie Flemke scored his first win in ten years. Reggie Ruggiero was the co-winner. At Islip it was Charlie Jarzombek over Bill Park. Other weekend winners were Kent at Shangri-la, Pete Fiandaca at Westboro, Rick Donnelly at Waterford; Punky Caron at Claremont and Tony Papale scored his first win ever, at Plainville.

  Thirty years ago in 1984, Charlie Jarzombek was not to be denied as he dusted the field at Stafford. Kenny Bouchard finished second. Bob Polverari won a 100 lapper at Riverside on Saturday and at Riverhead, Jim Spencer fought off Richie Evans and Bill Park to win a 75-lap national championship event. Jan Leaty won at Spencer and Randy LaJoie was the winner of a Busch North event at Thompson. In Winston Cup action at Nashville, Geoff Bodine took the win.

  Twenty five years ago in 1989, Mike Christopher was the Friday night SK Modified winner at Stafford. Tom Tagg finished second. Saturday night at Waterford saw Ricky Young take the top spot and at Riverhead, Wayne Anderson beat out Ed Brunnhoelzl. The Modified Tour Series traveled to Jennerstown and it was Tony Hirschman taking the win over Reggie Ruggiero and Jamie Tomaino.

  Twenty years ago in 1994, Thompson ran on Wednesday. Richie Gallup in the Ceravolo No.31 won the SK feature over Steve Lombardo. Ted Christopher was the Pro Stock winner and CJ Freye won in the Late Models. Stafford rained out on Friday and at Waterford on Saturday, Jerry Pearl beat out Larry Lanpher and David Gada. Bruce Dell won at Riverside. and at Riverhead it was Tim Contarino. The Modified Tour Series joined the Busch North Series and Winston Cup division at Loudon. Jeff Fuller won the Modified 40 lapper over Rick Fuller and Charlie Pasteryak. The BGNN event saw Martin Truex pick up his first win. In Winston Cup action, Ricky Rudd picked up his first win as a car owner. Rudd passed second place finisher Dale Earnhardt with eight laps to go.

  Fifteen years ago, in 1999, Mike Christopher took the Tuesday night win at Stafford with Jim Williams, second. Waterford ran on Friday but it was a point event. Dennis Gada won out over Jeff and Jerry Pearl. A packed front grandstand of 64,000 fans was on hand Saturday afternoon at Loudon for the Modified and Busch North events. Tony Hirschman took the lead from Jan Leaty on Lap 94 and went on to record a convincing win over Leaty, Rick Fuller and Ted Christopher. Andy Santarre and Ted Christopher finished one-two in the BGNN event. In Winston Cup action, Jeff Burton took the win at Loudon after Tony Stewart and John Andretti, who were running one-two with two laps to go, ran out of gas. Jeff Gordon rammed Dale Jarrett on the last lap and took over the second spot. Gordon and Jarrett had quite a discussion in the garage area later!

  Ten years ago in 2004, it had been noted that in recent weeks there had been a rash of Road Rage and fighting among competitors at Thompson, Stafford and at Waterford. There had been a lot of equipment damaged but luckily no one had been seriously injured. Officials at all three tracks did take steps to curb these actions. Competitors were suspended, fined and put on probation and overall had gotten the message that these actions would not be tolerated. While things were relatively quiet in New England, the Road Rage and fighting moved south to the Wall Township Speedway in Belmar, New Jersey. Wall Township, part of the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series and had Modifieds as their lead division. Wall’s Modifieds are similar to the New England SK Modified. On the Fourth of July weekend Wall Township ran their fifth annual Marian D. O’Rorke 76. John Blewett III, a regular on the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Series, led from pole to pole to win the event. While Blewett was putting on a flawless performance all out war was being staged behind him. The event turned into one consisting of deliberate wrecks, fighting, verbal abuse and near riot conditions in the pit area. It all started before the green flag was waved. Local hot shots Jimmy Blewett and Harry Reed made contact while heating up their tires. Reed’s car sustained enough damage that he had to be towed from the scene, out for the night. Jimmy Blewett, who was the point leader at the time, rejoined the race after it was eleven laps old. His grandfather attempted to coach the young driver to keep his cool and to look at the overall picture. Evidently young Blewett didn’t listen as he ran his car deliberately into Reed’s son Steven’s car inflicting severe damage. Blewett was bounced for the night. Upon entering the pit area what seemed like hundreds converged on the Blewett car and a near riot ensued. Extra police were called in to subdue the mob. Once order was restored Blewett was taken to his home by police. Speedway officials later suspended Blewett for four weeks and Harry Reed for one week. As far as the 2004 Modified Track Championship at Wall Township goes, Blewett blew it! The Blewett family has a long history at Wall Township. John Blewett Jr. had a thing going with Jamie Tomaino years ago and even planted the former Modified champion in the wall at Martinsville on one occasion. He spent some of his racing career at Riverhead on Long Island after being tossed out of Wall. John Blewett III also had his moments but has mellowed, due to his Featherlite Modified car owner and sponsor. A few years ago, Blewett III felt that Carl Pasteryak had done him dirty at Stafford. During a caution period Blewett jumped on Pasteryak’s nerf bar and ripped out his ignition wires. Hopefully everyone had worked out all their frustrations and racing could return to normal, at least until the next full moon.
Jimmy Blewett didn’t waste any time as he towed up to the Chemung Speedrome in New York and won a 100-lap feature there on Friday night. Any penalties imposed by Wall Township or NASCAR did not apply as the New York speedway lost its NASCAR sanction as of July 7. Meanwhile at Wall Township, John Blewett III made it two in a row at the Jersey shore oval.

  In Thursday night Thunder at the Thompson Speedway Todd Ceravolo had one of those rare nights that racers really enjoy doing what they do. During warm-ups his car was perfect and required no pre-race adjustments. In the 30 lap Sunoco Modified SK type feature his car performed flawlessly. Starting tenth, he was able to blow away the field to record his second win of the season. Ceravolo took the lead from Bo Gunning on lap 26 of the 30-lap feature. Gunning crossed the line in second spot but was disqualified when a post race inspection revealed that his intake manifold was not an approved part. Ted Christopher was elevated to the second spot with Bert Marvin, third. Kerry Malone and Jeff Malave rounded out the top five. Only 21 cars were on hand. Christopher continued to lead the point standings as he led Ceravolo by 14 points. Other Thursday night Thunder winners were GeGe Gravel in the Pro Stocks, Charles Bailey III in the Late Models, Andy Publicover in the Mini Stocks and in twin Limited Sportsman features victory lane was shared by Larry Barnett and Glenn Boss.

  Ted Christopher made it two in a row in SK-Modified competition at Stafford on Friday night. Christopher took the lead in the 40-lap feature on lap 21 from Jeff Malave. Malave later faded as Eric Berndt took over the runner-up spot in the closing laps. Malave hung on for third with Willie Hardie and Kerry Malone rounding out the top five. Ryan Posocco recorded his third Late Model feature win of the season and Kevin Gambacorta was the 15-lap Dare Stock winner.

  Frank Mucciacciaro had been a modified competitor at the Waterford Speedbowl for 10 years and for the most part has been a back marker. He got his just due at the Connecticut shoreline oval on Saturday night as he went from a third place starting spot to win his first-ever feature. Tom Fox and Dennis Gada were preoccupied with their own battle, which ended up giving the leader and eventual winner a free pass. Fox ended up second with Gada, third. Ron Yuhas and Doug Coby rounded out the top five. Ernie Bertrand was the Late Model winner, Richard Brooks the Mini Stock winner and Richard Doughty was the Legends Car winner. Among the missing at Waterford was Ted Christopher who was in competition at a special Saturday night event at the Thompson Speedway. Christopher won the wreck strewn PASS 100 Pro Stock event and finished fourth in the New York based Race of Champions Modified Tour event. The Modified event was won by Long Islander Donnie Lia who used a bump and run tactic on Tony Ferrante with six laps to go to get the lead and eventual win. Ferrante finished second and was followed by Jim Storace, Christopher and veteran George Kent.

  The Nextel Cup and the Busch Racing Series divisions of NASCAR were at the Chicagoland Speedway. Second generation driver Justin Labonte took advantage of last lap leader Mike Wallace when he ran out of gas and recorded his first ever win in NASCAR’s Triple A series. Bad Boy Tony Stewart dominated the Nextel Cup event on Sunday Many Nextel Cup fans were happy to hear that NASCAR had listened and was in the process of eliminating finishes under caution. A new ruling could be in force by July 25 at Loudon.

  Five years ago in 2009, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour headed to the Spencer Speedway on past Saturday, July 11. Following constant rain throughout Saturday morning, NASCAR and Spencer Speedway officials postponed the Spencer Speedway 155 to Sunday.
Erick Rudolph’s first career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win on Sunday in the Spencer Speedway 155 made him the youngest winner in tour history. At 17 years, 6 months, 3 days, the Ransomville, N.Y., driver eclipsed the mark set by Ryan Preece in 2008. Preece was 17 years, 10 months, 25 days when he won at the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

  After failing to finish each of the first four races of the season, Rudolph led the final 48 laps and withstood a furious charge from Todd Szegedy on the final lap to claim the victory. On the last lap, Szegedy got by Chuck Hossfeld for second and had the nose of his car nearly up to Rudolph’s front tire as they crossed the finish line. The scheduled 125-lap event was extended to 131 by a green-white-checkered finish. Hossfeld followed on Rudolph’s bumper for third. Rowan Pennink and Ryan Preece rounded out the top five. Donny Lia, who would have missed the event if it had not been rescheduled, Mike Stefanik, Eric Goodale, Ron Silk and points leader Ted Christopher completed the top 10. Lia attended the wedding of his sister on Saturday when the event was originally scheduled. Earlier in the day, Szegedy and Christopher won the two 15-lap heat races that set the feature lineup. Rudolph, who was fastest in practice, finished 12th out of 14 cars in his heat.

  Szegedy led a race-high 60 laps before being forced to pit for a flat tire on lap 80. He was able to cut Christopher’s point lead to 17. There were 26 Modifieds on hand. Caution Flags, the yellow was displayed on 12 occasions for 55 laps. And there were ten lead changes among four drivers.

  In Thursday Night Thunder action at the Thompson Speedway on a night when the Speedway was to have been silent, there was plenty of activity on the 5/8th mile oval. Keith Rocco and Les Rose were among those taking down victories. After experiencing three rainouts thus far this season, Thompson Speedway management added a full slate of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competition that included a 50 lapper for the Sunoco Modifieds. Keith Rocco came home the victor in the 50-lapper for the Sunoco Modifieds. Les Rose took home the Super Late Model victory. Tommy O’Sullivan broke into victory lane with his first feature win of the 2009 season in the Late Models.

  Hometown racer Paul Coutu, Jr. scored an exciting win in the Limited Sportsman division while Glenn Boss turned his luck around with a victory in the TIS Modifieds. Brad Caddick was declared the winner of the Mini Stock main event after post race technical inspection. Tim Taylor took the Mini Stock checker but was found to be under weight at a post race tech session. In victory lane Taylor voiced his displeasure with the way the Thompson officials had allegedly treated him and was quite vocal over the fact that he was moving his racing efforts to the Waterford Speedbowl.

  Ryan Truex of Mayetta, NJ, used tire conservation to win the annual visit of the Camping World East Series event on Saturday night at the Thompson International Speedway. Thompson regular Derek Ramstrom of W. Boylston, MA, led wire-to-wire to score a popular victory in the Pro All-Star Series (PASS) feature event. Jeff Zuidema was back in top form in the Late Models as part of the Pepsi Full-Fendered Frenzy. “Leadfoot” Larry Barnett extended his point lead in the Limited Sportsman division. Second-generation driver Brian Tagg scored his first career win in the TIS Modifieds. Tim Taylor scored his fourth Mini Stock win of the season.

  The Stafford Motor Speedway came alive on Tuesday night, July 7th, with the 6th annual CARQUEST Extreme Tuesday program. Chris Perley won the 50-lap ISMA Supermodified feature for the second consecutive year, Nokie Fornoro won the 30-lap NEMA Midget feature event, and Norm Wrenn made it two in a row at Stafford by taking the 25-lap Pro-4 Modified feature event.

  The Stafford Speedway returned to action on Friday night with a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program of five divisions. Ted Christopher took down his second consecutive victory in the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Ryan Posocco took his third feature victory of the 2009 season in the 30-lap Late Model feature, John Montesanto came out the big winner in a thrilling duel with Jay Goff to score his first career victory in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Carla Botticello outdueled her father to take her first win of 2009 in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Barry Fluckiger took down his first feature victory of the 2009 season in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.

  The racing action at Waterford Speedbowl was fast and furious for July 11’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing event. Keith Rocco and Danny Field picked up their fourth wins of the season, extending their points lead in the SK Modifieds and Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock divisions respectively. Bruce Thomas Jr. and Tim Jordan put on a classic duel in the Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature with Thomas prevailing at the last moment. Brandon Plemons picked up his first Street Stock win of the year and Jason Palmer returned to Legends Car victory lane.

  The True Value Modified Racing Series headed to Lee USA Speedway on Friday, July 11th for The Laticrete 100. Jimmy Kuhn, Jr. won his first ever TVMRS race. Kuhn was the sixth winner this year in the series showing that the competition has been tough and the race for the win tight. In the past Kuhn himself has come close to winning a race but in the end lady luck jumped in and robbed him of a victory. As usual the #72 team showed up at the track with their car pristinely prepared and ready to race. And yes, race they did as they won the first heat race and started the series race on the pole This has only been the second series race for the Kuhn team, but both races have found the team with the right combination for their pursuit of a win. Rob Goodenough settled for a second place finish after a late race pass. On lap 97, Goodenough lost his hopes for the win as Kuhn made his pass for the lead. Goodenough had inherited the lead on lap 63 after a race incident took out the race leaders. Goodenough held off several challenges for the number one spot during the race but in the end his efforts were not enough.

  Motorsports publisher Coastal 181 announced the upcoming release of I’LL NEVER BE LAST AGAIN, the autobiography of Bill Wimble. The long-awaited memoir of the legendary racer from Lisbon, New York, was written in concert with award-winning journalist, Lew Boyd.
Joey Logano won the Nationwide race at Chicagoland Speedway for his third win of the season. Logano passed Kyle Busch with 25 laps left then held him off on old tires over the final 10 laps. The 19-year-old Logano, the youngest winner in Sprint Cup history, did not make a late pit stop to get fresh tires. The gamble paid off for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. There were only two cautions for 11 laps over the entire 300-mile race, including one with 14 laps remaining that sent Busch and most of the rest of the field into the pits. Busch took two tires.

  Mark Martin was still nifty at 50 and had made Cup racing his personal senior circuit. He won at Chicagoland Speedway, getting the strong jump off the double-file restart with two laps left to win his series-high fourth race of the season. Martin dominated the race early and led 195 laps, easily the most of the 400-mile race

  Last year, 2013, the Thompson Speedway Thursday Night Thunder Series resumed under threatening skies. John Lowinski-Loh, Steve Kenneway and Chad Baxter all captured their first season wins on Whelen Engineering night in Thursday Night Thunder at Thompson (TNTT). Other NASCAR Whelen All-American Series winners included Keith Rocco in the Sunoco Modified division with his fourth victory of the season and John Studley in the Lite Modifieds.

  Rocco used a late-race restart to take down his fourth victory of the 2013 season as he held off Ryan Preece and Todd Ceravolo for the win. A caution flew at lap 28 for a car in the turn three wall setting up a two-lap dash to the checkers. Rocco drove to the front again with Ceravolo and Preece battling for the second spot right behind him. Preece took the second spot with Woody Pitkat taking over third before the checkers fell. Ceravolo ended up fourth with Kerry Malone, fifth.

  At the Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night held a special Girls Night Out program featuring each division racing an extra two laps as part of the 5-Star Series Mid-Season Stretch. Keith Rocco scored his first victory of the 2013 season in the 42-lap SK Modified® feature, Tom Fearn picked up his third win of the 2013 season in the 32-lap Late Model feature, Chase Dowling scored his second consecutive victory and fourth overall win of the 2013 season in the 22-lap SK Light Modified feature, Josh Wood picked up his third win of the 2013 season in the 22-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Jeremy Lavoie took down his third win of the season in the 17-lap DARE Stock feature.

  In the SK Modified race, Rocco led Todd Owen back to the checkered flag to pick up his first victory of the 2013 season. Eric Berndt finished third, with Rowan Pennink and Woody Pitkat rounding out the top-5. In postrace inspection, Pennink’s car was found to have illegal brake components and he was dropped to the 20th (last) place position in the running order.

  The Waterford Speedbowl did not race on Saturday night as they gave way to New London's Sailfest and Fireworks. On Friday evening the shoreline oval hosted the inaugural Belltown Tire Service Center Little Guys 200, putting four of the track’s support divisions into the spotlight. Open competition Mini Stock and Street Stock events paid each winner $1,000.00. Corey Hutchings was the Street Stock event winner and Glen Thomas Jr. took the checkered flag in the night’s Mini Stock race. Giovanni Giarratana won his third INEX Legend Cars event in the last four at the track and Brad Voglesong won the X-Car race. Belltown Tire Service Center put on a Pit Crew Challenge on the track’s front chute between races, won by the team of Glen Thomas Jr.

  The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series headed to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Town Fair Tire 100. The event drew 32 cars for 36 open starting positions. Jimmy Blewett secured his first pole at the “Magic Mile” on his first lap of qualifying at 29.691 seconds (128.281 mph), but his No. 76 John Blewett Incorporated Chevrolet wrecked hard into the wall in the second circuit. Blewett hit a batch of dirt on the track that had not been cleaned up by the track crew. Blewett stated as he was coming around turn two he cut a right front tire in the dirt from the Global Rally Cars that had raced on Thursday night.

  Ted Christopher qualified second-fastest at 29.783 (127.885). Bryon Chew joined him on the qualifying podium with a fast lap of 29.806 (127.786) around the 1.058-mile oval. Rounding out the top five were Bobby Santos and Eric Goodale.

  Defending series champion Doug Coby nipped Ted Christopher by .153-seconds to score the win in Saturday’s Town Fair Tire 100 at the New Hampshire one-mile oval. It was the eighth career win for Coby but the first since last September, also at New Hampshire. It was a redemption of sort as Coby was a victim of a stuck throttle at Riverhead Raceway on Long Island which resulted in his car being trashed in a violent wreck. Coby started 15th and worked his way to the front. He drove the No. 52 Furnace & Duct Supply/Seekonk Grand Prix Chevrolet of Wayne Darling past Ryan Preece with four laps to go to take the lead and eventual win. Preece faded to third as Ted Christopher put Ole Blu in the runner-up spot on the closing moments. During the first half of the event Christopher and Rowan Pennink put on a brilliant and very competitive show of their driving skills as they swapped the lead at high speed numerous times. Pennink was robbed of a good finish as his car developed front end problems and after being put to the rear, finished 15th, two laps down. Andy Seuss and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five at the finish. Sixth thru tenth were Woody Pitkat, Eric Berndt, Chuck Hossfeld, Richie Pallai,, Jr and Jamie Tomaino.

  The Valenti Modified Racing Series was at the Canaan Fair Speedway in New Hampshire. With the field at 27 cars strong Tom Barrett scored his second win of the season. Barrett started on the pole but did not have an easy time of it as he swapped the lead on numerous occasions with the likes of Richard Savory and Chris Pasteryak. Pasteryak ended up second with Anthony Nocella, third. Rob Goodenough and Charlie Pasteryak rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Savory, Louis Mechalides, Rowan Pennink, Todd Patnoad and Todd Owen. Two days later Pennink saw his finish turn from an eighth to a 13th when his team was assessed a one-lap postrace penalty for an unapproved tire change during the event.

  The intense heat on Long Island brought out some short tempers at the Riverhead Raceway. To start, there were 2 cautions before a lap could be completed, eliminating three of the original 15 starters. On the restart after the 3rd caution, officials determined that the #0 of Tommy Rogers jumped the start and he was sent to the rear. Rogers took a hissy fit as he did not agree and showed his displeasure by spinning the car around in front of the officials to discuss it with them.

  After the next caution flew, it got nasty. Tommy Rogers lost his temper and decided that he was going to end Kevin Orlando's evening. Unfortunately, Tommy didn't think he did a good enough job and returned to the track after pitting, coming out with the only intention to wreck Kevin Orlando's car. To do what was done put many people in danger, both on the track and in the pits, and is unacceptable. It will be interesting to see what action will be taken by track and NASCAR officials.

  After the dust settled, the #96 of Howie Brode set the pace and was never headed.

  Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC Jason Myers went pole to pole to win the scheduled 100 lapper that 121 laps because of cautions. Intermittent rain made a long night longer. Myers hung tough through it all and won for the 13th time in his career, holding off Danny Bohn, Jonathan Brown and Junior Miller.

  Jason’s brother Burt, the Modified points’ leader, finished fifth. He did some excellent driving, moving up after drawing the 17th starting position, and still leads the standings by 30 points, ahead of his younger brother. Tim Brown, the defending division champion and a nine-time season champ, had his mechanical problems on lap 99 and wound up 16th.

  In Nationwide Series racing at Loudon, Kyle Busch needed to drive 213 laps of a scheduled 200-lap race to win his seventh race of the season. He snapped a four-race winless streak and won his 58th career Nationwide race. Brian Vickers ran out just as he crossed the finish line in second spot. Vickers scored an upset victory in Sunday's Sprint Cup event at Loudon.

  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.

Looking Back Archive

Source: Phil Smith / Looking Back A Bit
Posted: July11, 2014