The Chrome Horn - Champ Trail with Phil Smith

Champ Trail - September 27, 2016


  The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series ran the F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 24. For those who were there for the weekend there was a special treat as there was an Open House for folks to view the all new, New England Auto Racing Museum building.
  The Modifieds were greeted with rain showers on Friday morning which cancelled the first practice session for the 26 cars on hand. They were given a 25 minute window starting at 1:00pm. After 20 minutes of practice rain fell again on the track forcing a cancellation of practice. The starting positions would be determined by the rule book which states the starting order will be determined by the last ten minutes of the first practice results. Woody Pitkat was the fastest when the rains came. His speed was 129.459mph. Second fastest was Bobby Santos at 129.459mph. Rounding out the top five was Rowan Pennink, Doug Coby and Ryan Newman.
  Among the slowest was Melissa Fifield at 118.850, 10.609mph slower than Pitkat. Behind her was Gary Byington at 113.947 and Gary McDonald at 103.593. These three have no business being in the field !
  Bonsignore dominated the FW Webb 100, lead 77 laps and holding off the field in a green-white-checkered finish to score his first win at the "Magic Mile." Ron Silk finished second, followed by Doug Coby, Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Matt Swanson and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman.
  Patrick Emerling, Jimmy Blewett, Max Zachem, Timmy Solomito and Donny Lia, Jericho rounded out the top ten.
  Nineteen of the original 26 starters were on the lead lap. Among those who had problems and failed to finish was Rowan Pennink who led five laps and was in contention for the win when engine issues in Ole Blu on Lap 98 ended his day. It also brought out the race's final caution and pushed the event to 106 laps.
  Bobby Santos was the first out after hitting the wall a ton after making contact with another competitor. Melissa Fifield continued her string of non competitive driving and called it a day after completing 19 laps. Pole sitter Woody Pitkat dropped out with suspension problems after making contact with another competitor. Dave Sapienza was eliminated after he rode up Jeff Goodale on a restart following a lap 53 caution for debris on the track. Craig Lutz was eliminated after hitting the backstretch wall on lap 69.
  The F.W. Webb 100 will be shown taped-delayed by the NBC Sports Net this coming Thursday, Sept 29 at 7:00pm. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will race in the NAPA Fall Final 150 at Connecticut's Stafford Motor Speedway this coming Sunday, Oct. 2, before concluding the season in Thompson's Sunoco World Series 150 on Sunday, Oct. 16.

  Despite coming up short to Matt Bowling in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Championship series, it was another banner year for Keith Rocco. The 31-year-old from Wallingford, Connecticut, won 14 races and collected 30 top fives and 39 top 10s in 45 starts in the Modified divisions at Connecticut’s three tracks: Thompson Motorsports Park, Stafford Motor Speedway, and the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.
  Rocco, the 2010 national champion, finished in the top five in the national standings for the ninth straight season. He also won his ninth straight Connecticut championship. Rocco has races remaining at Thompson and New London-Waterford. While they won’t count toward national or state standings, those events do go to the track’s respective championships. If Rocco were to win both, he holds the points lead at each track, it would give him 13 career NASCAR Division I track titles and move him into a tie for third all-time.

  On the speedway stock market scene last week all three speedway stocks had modest gains. Dover Entertainment went up 0.03 to 2.50, Speedway Motorsports went up 0.51 to 17.86 and the International Speedway Corporation went up 0.11 to 33.49. NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco (Energy Transfer) went up 1.43 to 37.80 while NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear dropped 0.12 to 32.30 and NASCAR cup sponsor Sprint dropped 0.01 to 6.64. The car manufacturers were all on the positive side. Toyota led the way going up 3.03 to 117.66. General Motors went up 1.15 to 32.12 and Ford went up 0.06 to 12.17. In the home improvement sector, Home Depot went up 1.68 to 127.79 and Lowes went up 1.40 to 72.35. NASCAR team sponsors stocks went somewhat wild. Fedex went up 15.50 to 174.39 and McDonalds went up 6.89 to 112.17 while Coca-Cola went up 4.67 to 148.52 and Aarons Rentals went up 0.74 to 25.66 while Target dropped 0.46 to 68.77.

  On the tube this week:

  Thursday, September 29

6:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
6:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Net
7:00 PM, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Loudon NH

  Friday, September 30
10:00 AM, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dover practice, NBCSN
11:30 AM, NASCAR Xfinity Series Dover practice, NBCSN
1:30 PM, NXS Dover final practice, NBCSN
3:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
3:30 PM, NSCS Dover qualifying, NBCSN
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
11:00 PM, NSCS Dover qualifying re-air, NBCSN

  Saturday, October 1
12:30 AM, NASCAR The List - Memorable Moments, NBCSN
10:30 AM, NSCS Dover practice, CNBC
1:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
1:30 PM, NSCS Dover final practice, NBCSN
2:30 PM, NXS Countdown, NBCSN
3:00 PM, NXS Dover race, NBCSN
5:00 PM, NXS Post Race Show, NBCSN
6:00 PM, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Las Vegas qualifying, FOX Sports 2
8:00 PM, NCWTS SetUp, FS1
8:30 PM, NCWTS Las Vegas race, FS1

  Sunday, October 2
11:30 AM, NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
1:30 PM, NSCS Countdown, NBCSN
2:00 PM, NSCS Dover race, NBCSN
5:30 PM, NSCS Post Race Show, NBCSN
6:00 PM, NASCAR Victory Lap, NBCSN

   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: September 27, 2016

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