Champ Trail -
February 7, 2016 |
The countdown to Speedweeks in Florida continues. As of this coming Friday,
February 3, two weeks remain before the green flag drops for the World
Series at New Smyrna, the 50 lap tour type Modified event on Saturday, Feb
18 at the Bronson (Fla) Speedway and action at the Daytona International
Speedway. It will be here before you know it.
Fans and competitors on the way to speedweeks in Florida may want to
leave a little earlier to take in the action at the Myrtle Beach Speedway
this coming weekend on Friday, Feb 10 and Saturday, Feb 11. NASCAR Whelen
Late Models and NASCAR tour type modifieds will be on the racing card.
You got to give credit when credit is due. During the 2016 the Stafford
Speedway was bulging with cars for all divisions. Big fields of cars draw
big crowds of fans. Hard work by the Stafford management made it work, Here
is how it happened:
When the final checkered flag of the 2016 season was unfurled at the NAPA
Fall Final, it brought an end to a season that awarded Stafford drivers over
$55,000 through the track’s Contingency Program Partners.
Stafford’s premier SK Modified® division led the way in payments to
drivers with over $23,000 in contingency payouts. The July 8 NAPA SK 5k was
the biggest race of the season with over $8,000 in contingency thanks to
special contributions from Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair and Wheelers
Auto along with the regular weekly SK Modified® contingency sponsors.
Providing weekly contingency bonuses were Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer
Repair, Maybury Material Handling, Call Before You Dig, Casagrande Builders,
and New England Racing Fuel, Sunoco Brand. Special contingencies were
provided by NAPA Auto Parts, Magnus Transmissions, Stafford Speedway in
Memory of Mario Fiore, T/A Engines, Xtra Mart Convenience Stores, and
Speedway Services.
Stafford’s Late Model drivers took home over $6,000 from contingency
payouts. Mr. Rooter Plumbing, 32 Signs, and New England Racing Fuel, Sunoco
Brand were the contingency sponsors of Stafford’s top full fendered division
with special contingencies provided by NAPA Auto Parts, Magnus
Transmissions, Xtra Mart Convenience Stores, and Speedway Services.
The SK Light division took home over $10,000 in contingency awards during
the 2016 season. Weekly contingency was provided by Dunleavy’s Truck and
Trailer Repair, Maybury Material Handling, On-Time Accounting, Olson
Apartments, and New England Racing Fuel, Sunoco Brand. Special contingencies
for the season included contributions from Xtra Mart Convenience Stores,
R.A.D. Automachine, and Magnus Transmissions.
Stafford’s Limited Late Model division took home over $5,000 in contingency
bonuses from Mr. Rooter Plumbing, 32 Signs, and New England Racing Fuel,
Sunoco Brand. Special contingencies were provided by Xtra Mart Convenience
Stores, R.A.D. Automachine, and Magnus Transmissions.
The DARE Stock division scored over $4,700 in contingency provided by
Paradiso Insurance, Jeff Ramsey Carpentry, and New England Racing Fuel,
Sunoco Brand. Special contingencies were provided by Xtra Mart Convenience
Stores, R.A.D. Automachine, and Magnus Transmissions.
The Rookie of the Year program at Stafford contributed $5,600 with NAPA Auto
Parts contributing $1,000 each to the SK Modified® and Late Model rookies of
the year. R.A.D. Automachine provided $500 each to the SK Light, Ltd. Late
Model, and DARE Stock rookie winners with T/A Engines giving a $500 bonus to
the SK Modified® rookie. Magnus Racing Products contributed a total of
$1,600 to Stafford rookie runner-ups with $400 to the SK Modified® and Late
Model division, $300 to the SK Light and Ltd. Late Model division, and $200
to the DARE Stock division.
In addition to their weekly contingency bonus for the SK Modified® division,
Call Before You Dig also provided a total bonus of $4,055 that was paid out
through the CBYD 811 Challenge that paid 5 drivers an $811 bonus through a
unique points system based on drivers finishes in feature events. The five
drivers who came closest to scoring 811 points without going over through
the August 5th feature event each won $811.
Another special program was the Xtra Mart Xtra D program that gave extra
money to the top-5 finishers in an extra distance feature for each of
Stafford’s five NWAAS divisions. Xtra Mart contributed a total of $3,750
spread among the SK Modified®, Late Model, SK Light, Ltd. Late Model, and
DARE Stock divisions during the season through its Xtra D program.
In a somewhat related matter, Lincoln Technical Institute of East Windsor
has signed on to present the Modified Touring Series 125 on July 21. The
2017 season will be the eighth consecutive year that Lincoln Tech has
sponsored an event at the Stafford half-mile. Lincoln Tech joined the
Stafford family of sponsors in 2010 as the title sponsor of the Late Model
100. The partnership continues in 2017 with the Inaugural Lincoln Tech 125
featuring the newly formed Modified Touring Series on Friday, July 21.
The Venditti family that operates the Seekonk Speedway has announced the
appointment of Ron Manfredo to the position of Race Director for the NASCAR
Whelen All American Series racing on Saturday nights at Seekonk. Tim Bolduc
will take over Friday Night Racing and be charged with all racing decisions
and rule enforcements for Fast Friday Seekonk Speedway Divisions. The tandem
will replace Cory Boudreau who is stepping down from the Seekonk Race
Director position for personal reasons.
Ron Manfredo has been involved in auto racing for over five decades in
almost every level at Seekonk Speedway. Over time Manfredo has held
positions as Pit Steward, Chief Starter and Race Director. In 2014 Ron was
inducted into the Seekonk Speedway Wall of Fame for his contributions to the
sport of Stock Car racing. Ron has long been a part of installing a culture
at Seekonk of integrity, respect and passion for racing.
Tim Bolduc has been a part of the Seekonk landscape since the early 90’s.
Tim started attending races and working on Pro Stock pit crews in the 90’s
until 2006 when he began his career as a starter. Tim was quickly promoted
to Chief Starter and has been instrumental to racing at Seekonk since. Tim
has been managing F1 karting in Boston as well as occasionally flagging at
tracks such as Watkins Glen, New Hampshire and Summit Point for the SCCA.
Tim will continue in his role as Chief Starter on Saturdays in addition to
his role as Race Director on Fast Fridays.
On the speedway stock market scene this week two of the three speedway
stocks were down for the week, Dover Entertainment went up 0.05 to 2.30
while the International Speedway Corporation dropped 0.25 to 36.75 and
Speedway Motorsports dropped 0.29 to 21.27. NASCAR cup sponsor Monster
Beverage went up 0.34 to 42.64 while NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco (Energy
Transfer) went up 0.56 to 39.40 and NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear went up
0.74 to 32.05. Two of the three car builders were down for the week. Ford
went up 0.07 to 12.56 while General Motors dropped 0.67 to 36.33 and Toyota
dropped 1.59 to 115.12. In the home improvement sector, Home Depot dropped
0.35 to 137.98 while Lowes went up 0.05 to 73.29. In the world of big team
sponsor’s stocks McDonalds went up 1.68 to 124.24, Coca-Cola went up 5.25 to
171.16 and Target Department Stores went up 0.05 to 63.75 while Aarons
Rentals dropped 0.61 to 29.93 and Fedex dropped 7.69 to 188.21.
On the tube this week:
Wednesday, February 8
6:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, Fox Sports 1
Thursday, February 9
6:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, 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.
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Source: Phil
Smith / Champ Trail
Posted: February
07,
2017 |
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