August 26, 2016

  Sixty five years ago in 1951 Wednesday night racing at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl rained out. On Saturday night at the shoreline oval Moe Gherzi made it two in a row in Modified competition. Dick Dombrowski was the claiming car winner.

  Sixty years ago in 1956 Charlie Webster was the Wednesday night winner at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Dick Beauregard was the Saturday night winner. The non-Ford division was on strike.

  Fifty five years ago in 1961 twin 25 lap features were run on the dirt at Stafford Springs. Recording victories were Ted Stack and Ernie Gahan. Bill Slater was declared the winner at Norwood after Rene Charland was penalized for rough riding and placed last after a last lap incident. Charland with Slater on the outside, came off the fourth turn, side by side on the final lap. Charland attempted to move Slater up but the Connecticut driver held fast as the two made contact, sliding under the checkered flag. Gene Bergin ended up second with Leo Cleary, third. At the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Dick Beuragard went two for two as he won on both Wednesday and Saturday. Ed Moody went two for two as he won on both nights in the Bombers.

  Fifty years ago in 1966, Kenny Shoemaker took the Friday night win at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway. Eddie Flemke finished second with Pete Hamilton, third. Frank Mahalia and Rene Charland rounded out the top five. The Fonda Speedway was closed for the town’s annual fair. Fred "Fuzzy" Baer scored the biggest win of his career as he won a 75 lap Championship Modified event at the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night. In other action at the shoreline oval, Glynn Shafer was winner in the Bombers and Lou Caso in the Daredevils. Bill Wimble was the Sunday night winner at the Utica-Rome Speedway. Charland was second with Flemke, third. Bernie Miller and Lou Lazzaro rounded out the top five.

  Forty five years ago in 1971, Bugsy Stevens made a rare appearance at the Waterford Speedbowl ansd walked off with the top money as he won a 75 lap open competition event. Stevens in the Sonny Koszela Woodchopper started off the weekend with a win on Friday night at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, NY. Dave Lape finished second and was followed by Fred DeSarro, Denis Giroux and Bernie Miller. Howie Brown was the NESMRA Supermodified winner at Thompson. Islip ran a 200 lap Championship event on Saturday night. Thirty cars started the 200 lap grind on the 1/5 mile oval and when the checker fell it was invader Fred DeSarro taking the win over Islip kingpin Jim Hendrickson. Charlie Jarzombek finished third with Bugsy Stevens and Al DeAngelo rounding out the top five. Moose Hewitt, driving the Freddy’s TV No.23 took the win at Stafford on Saturday night over Hop Harrington, Bobby Santos and Winston Barrows. Jiggs Beetham held off Bob Potter to take the win at Waterford. Angie Cerese finished third. Dave Lape, at that time in the top five in national points, took the win at Fonda on Saturday night. Jack Johnson finished second with Lou Lazzaro, third. Trenton ran a big modified event on Sunday. Geoff Bodine with his outlaw Plymouth Valiant bodied modified took the win. Ronnie Bouchard, in the Dick Armstrong No.1 got to show his stuff as he finished a strong second. Richie Evans finished third and was followed by Mike Loescher, Jerry Cook, Jim Shampine, Chuck Boos, Cliff Tyler and Ray Miller. It rained at the Utica-Rome Speedway on Sunday night but not at Fulton where Bob Hudson took the win over Ronnie Wallace.

  Forty years ago in 1976, the Yankee All Star league finished up their season at Thompson on Wednesday night. Geoff Bodine took the win over Richie Evans, Fred DeSarro and Kenny Bouchard. John Blewett JR took the top spot at New Egypt on Thursday night. Fred Harbach finished second with Tom McCann, third. Fred DeSarro wrapped up the track championship at Stafford in convincing style as he took the Saturday night win over Ray Miller and Geoff Bodine. Reggie Ruggiero won at Riverside Park .Bob Polverari finished second and wrapped up the track championship. At Westboro, Joe Howard took the win and Bob Santos wrapped up the track championship. Joe Tiezzi won a 50 lapper at Waterford.

  Thirty five years ago in 1981, Westboro ran an 81 lapper on Wednesday night with the Bouchard brothers, Ronnie and Kenny, finishing one-two. Friday night at Stafford saw the Modifieds go non-stop with Greg Sacks taking the win over Ray Miller, Kenny Bouchard and Richie Evans. Ronnie Bouchard went "up country" to Monadnock on Friday where he out dueled Punky Caron for the win. Moose Hewitt was the big winner at Waterford on Saturday night as in addition to the feature win, wrapped up the track championship. At Seekonk, Leo Cleary took the win over Ronnie Bouchard and Mike Murphy. It was not a good night for George Summers who left the track in a lot of pain after hitting the wall during the main event. Islip ran a 200 lapper with Richie Evans taking the win over John Blewett Jr and Bill Park. Bill Griffin won the Thompson 300 qualifier at Shangri-La over Jerry Cook and George Kent and at Riverside, Reggie Ruggiero beat out Stan Greger and Ray Miller. Ruggiero finished out the weekend in fine style as he took the Sunday night win at Thompson over Joe Howard and Mike Stefanik. At Danbury, Fred Drumm made it two in a row in the Sportsman division while Denis Pierce annexed the Modified win. Geoff Bodine had himself a good weekend in the southland as he won extra distance Busch Grandnational events at South Boston and Langley Field.

  Thirty years ago in 1986, Friday night at Stafford saw Mike McLaughlin take the top spot over Bugsy Stevens and Mike Stefanik. At Spencer, it was Jan Leaty taking the top spot. Bob Potter got a little closer to a championship for the Ceravolo family at Waterford as he took the top spot at Waterford on Saturday night. Rick Donnelly finished second with Bob Gada Jr, third. John Rosati was the winner of the Riverside 200 with Mike Stefanik and Bob Polverari in tow. Leo Cleary closed in on the track championship at Seekonk as he recorded his seventh win of the season at the cement palace. At Wall it was Tony Siscone over Jim Hendrickson. Thompson ran a 100 lapper on Sunday. Jim Spencer passed pole sitter Mike McLaughlin on the last lap to take the win. McLaughlin finished second and was followed by Jamie Tomaino, Mike Stefanik and Rick Fuller. In Winston Cup action at Bristol on Saturday night, Geoff Bodine was the Busch Pole sitter and Darrell Waltrip took the win.

  Twenty five years ago in 1991, Thompson announced on Friday that weekend events were cancelled because of wind damage from Hurricane Bob. Stafford escaped damage and ran on Friday night with Bo Gunning taking the win over Bob Potter and Steve Chowanski. At Waterford on Saturday night, Phil Rondeau in the Rich Sylvestri No.8 took the Modified win over Chris Jones and Bert Marvin. CJ Freye was the late model winner. Jerry Marquis in the Bobby Judkins 2x wrapped up his sixth track championship at Riverside Park with a win over Reggie Ruggiero and Dan Avery. Chris Young was the winner at Riverhead. The Featherlite Modified Tour was at Loudon. Doug Hevron, driving Ole Blu for Len Boehler, took the lead from Jeff Fuller on the last lap and went on to take the win. Fuller finished second and was followed by Jan Leaty, Tom Baldwin, Reggie Ruggiero and Tim Connolly. One of the top finishers had to get out on bail after taking a poke at a State Cop the night before!

  Twenty years ago in 1996, Steve Park had one of the most important days of his racing life as he won pole positions at Watkins Glen for both the Featherlite Modified Tour and the Craftsman Truck Series. It was a few days later that Park got the infamous call from the man, himself; Dale Earnhardt Sr. Eric Berndt was the Waterford winner on Saturday night as he beat out Jeff Pearl, David Gada and Jerry Pearl. The Busch North Series visited Riverside Park. Bob Dragon took the win over Dave Dion and Mike Stefanik. Dave Berube was the Modified winner. Riverhead ran a 90 lap memorial event in honor of past champion Fred Harbach. Tim Contarino took the win over Chuck Steuer. Butch Miceka, a long time supporter of Modified racing on Long Island and Contarino's uncle, passed away at the track after suffering a heart attack. In Featherlite Modified Tour action at Watkins Glen, Ted Christopher was well on his way to a win when a wheel broke causing him to spin and crash. The event was telecast live and fans got to see Christopher take a tumble off the fence after he had lost his balance. Mike Stefanik took the lead when Christopher dropped out on lap 35 of the 42 lap event. Jerry Marquis finished second and was followed by Tony Hirschman and Reggie Ruggerio. In Winston Cup action at Bristol, Rusty Wallace took the win. Jeff Fuller won his first Busch Grandnational event, beating out Glenn Jarrett.

  Fifteen years ago in 2001, Ted Christopher just beat the rain as he won his 10th feature of the year at Thompson on Thursday night. Kerry Malone finished second with Bert Marvin, Josh Steeves and Bill Anderson rounding out the top five. The NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour was at Stafford on Friday night. Mike Stefanik drew the pole and led the first 65 laps before pitting. Stefanik was hooked up and sliced his way to the front to re-take the lead from Tom Baldwin on lap 96. From there on, he never looked back as he clicked off the laps to take the win over Mike Ewanitsko, Jerry Marquis, Charlie Pasteryak, David Berghman and Baldwin. Jeff Malave was the SK-Modified winner. At Waterford, Eric Berndt recorded his fifth win at the shoreline oval. Jay Miller finished second with Ed Dachenhausen, John Brouwer and Harry Rheaume rounding out the top five. Riverhead Raceway, on Long Island, celebrated its 50th anniversary and 25th year under the Cromarty Family. Bill France and Jerry Cook represented NASCAR. John Fortin started 17th and fought his way to the front to take the win. J.R. Bertuccio finished second with Lenny Fischer, third. Matt Kobyluck qualified fourth in a Busch North Series event at Nazareth, went the distance without pitting and recorded his first win. In Winston Cup action at Bristol, Tony Stewart took the win over Kevin Harvick. In the preliminary Busch Grandnational event, Harvick came from two laps down to take the win. Harvick moved his team mate Jeff Green out of the lead with eleven laps to go.

  Ten years ago in 2006, The Whelen Modified Tour Series had the week off as they prepared for their trip to Martinsville.
  Current point leader Mike Stefanik led the point standings. In ten starts, Stefanik had recorded nine top tens including one win. Sitting in second spot was series money leader Ted Christopher. With three wins in ten starts Christopher trailed Stefanik by 71 points. Defending series champion Tony Hirschman was 113 points behind the leader. In ten starts Hirschman had seven top tens including one win. Rounding out the top five were Ed Flemke JR and James Civali.
  Woody Pitkat scored his third win of the year at the Thompson Speedway on Thursday night as he took the top spot in the Sunoco Modified feature. Pitkat held off Todd Ceravolo, Tom Cravenho and Jeff Malave. Numerous wrecks and spins slowed the progress of the event. In the end only 10 of the original 27 starters were still running. Pitkat's win put him in a tie for the track championship and NASCAR Regional standings with Malave. Paul Charette rounded out the top five. Keith Rocco was clearly the fastest in the early going. Although he ended up ninth the second-generation driver pretty much had his night turn sour after he lost it on a restart and was ping-ponged by much of the field. Jimmy Blewett, the previous weeks winner, was also collected in the Rocco crash.
  Norm Wrenn who has had more than his share of bad luck won the Pro Stock feature. Corey Hutchings rebounded from a bad week to score the Late Model triumph. Danny Cates scored his third win of the season in the Limited Sportsman division, Tim Sullivan of scored his second in the TIS Modifieds, and Ron Rixham claimed win number one on the season in the Mini Stocks.
  The Stafford Springs Motor Speedway came very close to declaring another rainout on Friday as close to two inches of rain dumped on central Connecticut around noon. The Arute family remained patient and the skies cleared for another night of racing. Willie Hardie took his first SK Modified feature win of the 2006 season, Ryan Posocco took his second feature win of the season in the Late Model feature, and Andrew Durand was a winner for the third time this season in the Limited Late Model feature. There were two first time winners as Matt Gallo took the SK Light feature and Barry Fluckiger was the DARE Stock feature winner.
  In the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Willie Hardie picked up his first feature win of the 2006 season with a strong drive. Hardie took the lead from polesitter Lloyd Agor on a lap-3 restart, and he then had to hold off multiple strong challenges from Frank Ruocco on several restarts to take the win. Ruocco finished second, with Agor, Todd Owen, and Chris Jones rounding out the top-5. In the chase for the SK Modified championship, Ruocco took over the points lead from Jeff Malave, who blew a transmission on the opening lap. Malave finished dead last in the 24 car starting field.
  Chris Pasteryak redeemed himself of a previous miscue at the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night as he won the 35 lap SK Modified feature. Pasteryak, a second-generation driver, was in contention to win at the shoreline oval the previous week when he missed a shift on a restart. He more than made up for it on Saturday night. Pasteryak held off Rob Summers over the final 16 laps to take the victory. In doing so, he moved himself into second in the point race. Summers worked him over but to no avail as he tried high and low before settling for second. Point leader Dennis Gada finished second with Jeffrey Paul and Rob Janovic rounding out the top five.
  Mark Bakaj set a track record with his sixth straight Legends victory. Bakaj rode the Legends feature win into the record book, equaling the six straight Saturday night victories of Ed Bunnell, the latter doing it in 1966 in the Bomber division. Other winners were Tim Jordan in the regularly scheduled Late Model 30 lapper; Glenn Colvin in the continuation of the Aug. 19th Late Model feature; Joe Bertholet in the Sportsman 20 lapper and Dave Sylvia in the Mini Stock 20 lapper.

  Five years ago in 2011, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour took a week off before heading south to the Bristol Motor Speedway. Kevin Rice reported in trade publication Area Auto Racing News that 2008 series champion Ted Christopher and car owner Ed Whelan had split following a dismal finish at Loudon. Evidently there had been a lot of friction between Christopher and crew chief Brad Lafountaine. It all boiled over after Christopher dropped at the recent Loudon event with rear end problems in the car. The bickering and hard feelings got so bad that Whelan just pulled the plug and parked the car. He split with his Sunoco Modified car owner at the Thompson Speedway earlier this year citing car and motor preparation were not up to his standards. Woody Pitkat took over the ride and became an instant winner. Christopher did not secure another ride at Thompson
  Based on what crew chief Brad Lafountain stated at Thompson it was just "Teddy being Teddy" "The broken u-joint was a result of Christopher running over something on the track" stated the noted crew chief. "There is a crease in the bell housing and in the transmission case as a result of something he ran over on the track" he added.
  In Thursday Night Thunder action at the Thompson Speedway Mike Stefanik triumphed over the competition and Thompson International Speedway beat the weather for an action-packed night of racing action. With weather and Ryan Preece bearing down, Stefanik of Coventry, RI, was flawless to score the victory in the Tour-Type Modified Special. Stefanik had to hold off another Thompson winner to visit victory lane. Preece jumped out of his winning Sunoco Modified to run second to Stefanik in the event. The Sunoco Modified victory earlier in the evening was Preece’s third at Thompson in 2011.
  In other racing action, Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, handily took the win in the Super Late Models. Chris Douton of Waterford, CT, extended his point lead with a Limited Sportsman victory. Glenn Boss of Danielson, CT, continued his hot-streak in the TIS Modifieds with a division-leading five victories. Another point leader, Danny Field, also tacked on points with his victory in the Mini Stocks.
  The ten cars on hand for the Sunoco Modified feature provided quite a bit of excitement. Joe Allegro started on the pole and jumped out to lead at the drop of the green. Shortly after Allegro completed the first lap Danny Cates shot by in turn two. Allegro faded as Woody Pitkat moved in on Cates' bumper on lap two. Keith Rocco, who was waiting in the wings, took the lead on lap 5 with Cates and Pitkat in tow. By lap 20 Ryan Preece moved into contention as he raced side by side with Rocco. On lap 22 Preece dive bombed into turn one, brushed Rocco who spun. Said Preece, "I didn't mean to hit him, the car lost foreward bite and got away from me". Evidently Rocco was also having mechanical problems as he pitted and then retired after taking a couple of laps. Preece went on to take the win over Cates, Pitkat and Allegro.
  The open competition Tour Type event drew 20 cars. Mike Stefanik took the lead after a spirited battle with Ryan Preece. Stefanik took the lead on a restart on lap 20 of the 40 lap contest. Preece ended up second with Kenny Barry, third. Tom Bolles and Steven Reed rounded out the top five.
  The Stafford Motor Speedway headlined its second division and Woody Pitkat was the big winner of the night, capturing the Late Model 100 checkered flag for his third win of the 2011 season. In other NASCAR Whelen All-American Series feature racing action, Keith Rocco scored his 8th win of the 2011 season in the SK Modified® feature, Kyle Spencer picked up his first career win in a spectacular finish in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, George Nocera, Jr. picked up his fourth win of the 2011 season in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Don Wood scored his fourth win of the 2011 season in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
  Rocco and Ryan Preece played a game of cat and mouse until the final lap of the 40 lapper. Coming off the fourth corner on the final lap Rocco got the edge as he beat Preece to the finish line for his23rd win in 46 starts at Connecticut tracks in 2011. Preece finished second, with Eric Berndt right behind him in third. Dave Gervais finished fourth with Todd Owen rounding out the top-5.
  At the Waterford Speedbowl, Glenn Pressel III scored his second career victory in the SK Modifieds®, Rich Staskowski picked up his second win of the year in the Bob Valenti
  Auto Mall Late Models and Josh Galvin won for the third time in the Street Stocks. A popular win went to rookie Garrett Denton as the teenager won his first career feature event in the Mini Stocks. Rounding out the winners were Paul French who won his third SK Light Modified race of the year and Paul Kusheba who took the victory in the night’s Legends Cars feature.
  Pressel started on the outside pole and led the entire 35 lap distance. Rob Janovic and Jeff Pearl finished second and third, while Keith Rocco rallied back to fourth position after an early race spin. Doug Coby beat out Tyler Chadwick in the final laps for fifth.
  The Valenti Modified Racing Series was at the Seekonk Speedway for a 100 lapper on Saturday night. The event, which drew 19 cars was won by Les Hinckley who took the lead from Dwight Jarvis on lap 79. Jarvis finished second and was followed by Chris Pasteryak, Joey Jarvis and Norm Wrenn. Sixth through tenth were Mike Holdridge, Jimmy Kuhn, Jr., Joe Doucette, Jack Bateman and Rowan Pennink.
  At the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, John Fortin returned to victory lane for the second time this year, with a Modified win and closed the gap on points leader Justin Bonsignore.
  The Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC wrapped up it's season with the Carolina Farm Credit 150. Jonathan Brown won the battle as Burt Myers played it smart and won the Modified Track Championship, his second straight and fifth overall, after finishing 12th.
  Kyle Busch won his 23rd race on NASCAR's Sprint Cup circuit, pulling even with brother Kurt in career victories. Marcos Ambrose a victory and finally paid up. Marcos Ambrose took the lead on a restart with nine laps to go and held off crowd favorite Alex Tagliani to take the checkered flag in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 in Canada.
  Special Happy Birthday wishes went out to Mrs. Irene Venditti who had turned 92. Considered by many as the First Lady of Auto Racing, Mrs Venditti and her late husband, D. Anthony Venditti had operated the Seekonk Speedway since 1946.
  NEAR Hall of Fame inductee Billy Harman stated that former driver Dick Caso was still in very serious condition as a result of being run over while riding a moped. Harman stated that he was in an induced coma as a result to relieve brain swelling from a scull fracture. In addition to head injuries the former driver suffered a broken foot and broken ribs.
  On a sad note, Jim Costello, former race starter and partner of Walt Faulkner passed away at the age of 91. He was co-founder, secretary and treasurer of the New England Sports Association as well as Atlantic Auto Racing. Costello and Faulkner along with Bill Welch and John Falconi Sr promoted the Thompson Speedway in the early 1960's as well as the Westboro Speedway. Costello was also a Rhode Island State Senator. While in the State Senate Jim also served on the Finance Committee, the Corporations Committee and the Committee on Health, Education and Welfare. While finding time for all those public activities, he was also owner and president of Warwick Ford on Post Road in Warwick, RI where he was president for 20 years from 1958 to 1978.

  Last year, 2015, The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series was in Bristol, TN for the Bush Beans 150. The event, a combination North-South divisions race drew 41 cars. On a night that saw rain pause, and ultimately shorten the Bush’s Beans 150, Ryan Preece grabbed the lead on Lap 75 just before the midway break and held the position during a subsequent caution on Lap 96. As rain and severe thunderstorms loomed during track clean-up, NASCAR officials threw the yellow-checkered flag on Lap 103, sending Preece’s No. 6 TS Haulers/East West Marine Chevrolet to Victory Lane.
  The Bush’s Beans 150 originally went green as scheduled just after 6 p.m., but a Lap 2 accident that took out three potential checkered flag contenders in Justin Bonsignore, Doug Coby and Todd Szegedy proved to be the first hurdle of the evening. While under caution for clean-up, rain arrived, which forced the resumption of the Bush’s Beans 150 to after the conclusion of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event. The Whelen Modifieds re-started five hours later just after 11 p.m.
  The lap 2 crash was a devastating one for Coby and Szegedy who were in the thick of the point battle. In a recorded interview, Coby stated that his car got away from him, causing the accident. Coby's crew and Szegedy's crew were unable to make repairs as the ended up finishing 34th and 35th respectively. Justin Bonsignore's mount was also damaged extensively as he ended up dead last in 36th spot.
  Coors Light Pole Award winner Woody Pitkat finished second after leading the majority of the first half of the race and Donny Lia joined him on the podium in third. Ryan Newman and Bobby Santos brought home the top five. Andy Seuss, Jeff Goodale, Chase Dowling, Timmy Solomito and Patrick Emerling completed the top 10. Seuss was the highest-finishing Whelen Southern Modified Tour entry, and received credit for a victory for that tour.
  There were seven cautions for 45 laps. As previously mentioned the first yellow flew on lap two when Coby lost it and collected Szegedy, Bonsignore, Gary Putnam and Jason Myers. A long red flag period ensued to past 11pm because of an interruption of a scheduled truck race and more rain. The second caution waved on lap 29 for Bob Measmer who bounced off the wall. The third caution flew on lap 36 when Gary Putnam and JR Bertuccio tangled in turn one. Kyle Ebersol brought out the fourth caution on lap46 when he spun between turns three and four. The fifth caution flew on lap 69 when Shawn Solomito and David Calabrese spun between turns one and two. The half way competition caution flew on lap 78. The seventh and final caution flew on lap 96 when Kyle Ebersol blew his engine. While the field was under caution the decision was made to stop the event because of impending rain.
  At the Stafford Motor Speedway last Friday night rain prevailed. The fireworks that were supposed to accompany the on track action will be postponed to Sept. 18th, the Final Friday Night Shoot-Out.
  In NASCAR Modified action at the Long Island east end oval John Fortin scored his third win of the season over Tom Rogers Jr and Ryan Preece.
  Down in the southland at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem NC word comes that northern fans can enjoy the antics at the Mad House on a weekly basis next year as Racefan.TV has indicated that races will be televised live on the web site.
  Jason Myers won his seventh Modified race of the year as racing concluded for another year as the stadium will now be converted to hosting football games. Tim Brown, who will be out of a job when Michael Waltrip Racing shuts down at the conclusion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, captured his 10th Bowman Gray Racing Modified Division points title in an illustrious career. He did so by holding off rivals and brothers Jason and Burt Myers. Brown finished with 808 points, 24 ahead of Jason Myers. Burt Myers started the night second, 19 points behind Brown. But Burt Myers had to leave the race with seven laps left and finished 14th. That gave Burt Myers third, 55 points behind Brown after double points in the 150-lap finale.
  Jason Myers, who has never won a points championship, also had a tremendous year. In addition to his seven wins, had 10 poles, 13 top-five finishes and 21 top-10 finishes. Brown had four wins, 17 top-5s and 23 top-10 finishes.
  Burt Myers, who has won six points titles, spoke with a sour grapes attitude after how the year finished. His car sputtered with seven laps, and he said it was a fuel pickup problem. He came back at lap 149, but it was too late. Myers blamed the handicapped system in the draws, the inverts and it being more about entertainment than racing and said he cherish championships at other places more than he did at Bowman Gray.
  The Valenti Modified Racing Series was at the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH. Les Hinckley took the 100 lap win over Todd Patnode, Russ Hersey, Woody Pitkat and Todd Szegedy. Sixth through tenth were Chris Pasteryak, Dave Schneider, Matt Mead, Rowan Pennink and Carl Medieros.
  Hinckley, who last won a series race in July of 2012, started on the pole and led the first 9-laps before Stafford Springs, CT, driver Woody Pitkat slipped by to take over top spot. Pitkat would hold the lead until lap 51 when Hinckley took it back and was never headed.
There were 26 race teams on hand for the 11th race of the season. All 26 drivers started the race. The event ran non-stop with the exception of a minor spin on lap 46.
  In regular weekly action at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Ted Christopher continued his hot streak as he took the 35 lap SK Modified win over Keith Rocco and Joe Gada. Rocco, who recently fell behind in his quest for the NASCAR Weekly National driver championship, has been slightly off his game in recent weeks. Rocco won th 30 lap Late Model event. Rocco's win in the Late Model division at the shoreline oval brought his track win total to 117 wins. The win also took Rocco over the top to a career overall total of 205 wins which also include victories at Thompson and Stafford Speedways.
  Al Stone was the Limited Sportsman winner, Josh Galvin was the SK Light winner and Wayne Burroughs was the Mini Stock winner.
Congratulations and Happy Birthday to George Summers who completed 80 laps. Summers is one of the all-time greats in New England Auto Racing.
  The New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame’s class of 2015 has been announced. Sam Posey, one of America’s top road racers, and Greg Sacks, the winner of the 1985 Daytona Firecracker 400, are part of the class that will be honored at the NEAR Hall of Fame 18th induction banquet Sunday, Nov. 8 at Maneeley’s in South Windsor, CT. The class also includes owner/driver Joey Laquerre, car owner the late Paul Dunigan and drivers the late Jim McCallum and Stan Greger, a quartet that collectively has 27 track championships. The multi-faceted Lew Boyd, presently a book seller and publisher, and Lee USA Speedway promoter Red MacDonald will also be inducted.
  Kyle Busch scored his eighth career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory at Bristol Motor Speedway Friday night and he did it in dramatic fashion. Busch took the lead during a green-white-checkered restart when race leader Chris Buescher ran out of gas and drove to victory in the Food City 300. It was Busch’s 150th career victory in NASCAR’s three national divisions.
  Joey Logano worked lapped traffic to perfection and held off Harvick to score his third win of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season. The Team Penske driver also led 176 laps en route to his second consecutive night-race win at Bristol.

  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: August 26, 2016