The Chrome Horn - Champ Trail with Phil Smith

Champ Trail - March 22, 2016


  Now that Florida Speedweeks are over the clock is ticking in the northeast as there are only two weeks before the Men that live by the Grace of God and 600 horsepower get it on for the 42nd Annual Icebreaker at the Thompson Motorsports Park. The will take place on April 8-10, featuring the first championship race of the season for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT). The Icebreaker this year has been expanded to twelve divisions of racing, and will once again include the popular Fan Appreciation party on the track on Sunday morning before the second day of races begins.

  Former Thompson Speedway Sunoco Modified champion Todd Ceravolo had his motor home stocked and loaded in anticipation of taking in the southern Modified tour series event at Concord, NC last weekend. A bad forecast changed his mind and he stayed home. Good choice! Due to the forecast for rain throughout the day on Saturday, Concord Speedway has postponed the Southern Sizzler 150 originally scheduled to begin at approximately 6 p.m. The race for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour is now slated for Saturday, April 2.
  Eighteen Modifieds were entered including the Brady Bunch entry with Ted Christopher and Rowan Pennink in the Ole Blu entry of the Boehler family.

  Ryan Preece continues on his learning curve in NASCAR’s top tier of racing. Preece finished 25th in Saturday’s TreatMyClot.com 300 Xfinity Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California after coming back from a lap-10 incident in which his left rear tire blew, sending him into a spin and causing the race’s first caution flag. The next Xfinity race is April 8 at Texas Motor Speedway. NASCAR’s top divisions take this weekend off to observe Easter.

  A tip of the hat to Jeff Rocco who is making a strong political statement with the endorsement of Donald Trump for president shown on his Late Model that he will run at Thompson this year.

  On the speedway stock market scene last week two of the three-speedway stocks were down for the week. Dover Entertainment dropped 0.16 to 2.24 while Speedway Motorsports went up 0.21 to 18.59 and the International Speedway Corporation went up 0.14 to 36.91. NASCAR cup sponsor Sprint dropped 0.45 to 3.26 and NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear dropped 0.62 to 32.41. General Motors led the car companies as they went up 0.70 to 31.96, Ford went up 0.35 to 13.64 while Toyota dropped 2.66 to 106.60. In the home improvement sector, Lowes went up 2.81 to 74.93 while Home Depot went up 2.89 to 131.35. Big team sponsor’s stocks were all over the lot. McDonalds went up 2.53 to 124.08Target went up 0.84 to 82.71 and Fedex went up 19.29 to 163.71 while Coca-Cola dropped 4.70 to 171.15 and Aaron’s Rentals dropped 0.12 to 24.32.

  On the tube this week:

  Thursday, March 24

7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Net
5:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Net

  Friday, March 25
7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
12:00 PM, Undercover Boss - NASCAR, CNBC
4:30 PM, NASCAR Scan All 43, NBCSN
5:00 PM, Undercover Boss - NASCAR, CNBC

   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: March 22, 2016

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