Upcoming
Events:
Season Over - stay tunned for 2012 plans
Race
Reports:
PASTERYAK CROWNED VMRS 2011 CHAMPION 'Part 1'
Surrounded by the Best,
Pasteryak Accepts 2011 VMRS Trophy
by Denise
DuPont
On
Saturday, December 3rd, the eighth annual Valenti Modified Racing
Series (VMRS) was held to honor the top fifteenth drivers and
owners in the touring series. This year Chris Pasteryak had
the Championship crown retuned to him as he conquered his second
VMRS Championship since 2008. With multiple Championships, Pasteryak
now joins two other racers in the record books with multiple
Championships, Kirk Alexander and Jon McKennedy.
Chris
Pasteryak accepted the award with the big Pasteryak smile thanking
his family, his crew, his sponsors and everyone that helped
get him there. The driver worked hard all season to get where
he was at the end. But he knows he could not have gotten there
on his own. So as he anticipated the championship trophy, Pasteryak
took the time to thank and recognize everyone thank made him
and the series the success that they were in 2011. “All
too often in racing the driver gets all the credit. The truth
is that a successful season is never the result of only one
person. It takes a very dedicated group of people an extraordinary
effort to get the extraordinary results. I am very honored to
be surrounded by some of the best. I would like to thank my
fellow competitors for putting on some of the best modified
racing in New England and in the Country. And I would also like
to thank some of the track owners and promoters for allowing
us to come and play at their tracks.”
Representing
his family and race team veteran modified driver Charlie Pasteryak
accepted the VMRS Top Car Owner in Points Award. Father like
son, Charlie smiled and graciously took the award. “This
(The 2011 VMRS Championship Car Owner Award) is really a whole
lot more special that you think. The Stafford win was truly
the highlight of our year and our family. A special thanks goes
out to all of our series sponsors. This is really a good deal
(the VMRS) and this is fun.”
Les
Hinckley raced very hard all 2011 and had the championship within
his grasp all the way up to the last race. In the end though,
he had to settle for second best. Second place is really not
a bad place to be but when you can almost feel the top milestone
is yours, it is a bittersweet place to be. “It was a good
year for sure. Anytime that you walk away for the commitment
that is put in against the competition that we compete against
and you come up second and you walk into the last race of the
year with the chance of walking out first you have to be proud
of that. It is a tough pill to swallow when you get out of the
race car right after finishing second (in the VMRS Championship).”;
Thinking
back on the 2011 race season Hinckley was very up beat and sounded
encouraged to go the next step towards the series championship
in 2012. “When you reflect on it though, for what we have
– very good people helping us and very good equipment,
but our budget is not what others -have to work with. I know
people have a hard time to believe it but that is the truth.
That being said, what we have been able to accomplish and the
races that we have won, it is hard to be disappointed in what
we have accomplished. It was a long season.”;
In
2011 Rowan Pennink competed regularly in the VMRS and the NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour while running for the Championship in both
touring series. In the beginning of the season he was right
on top for both race divisions. Then a racing date conflict
hurt one attempts while “Lady Luck” intervened in
the other.
A
third place standing was not what we were hoping for when we
were leading the points for the beginning part of this season.
But we were not able to make one of the races with a conflict
for the tour but hopefully once we see next year’s schedule
for this series and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series hopefully
we will be able to make it to all of the races in both series
next year and compete for a Championship in both of them.
I
love racing as much as I can. I use to race every Thursday night
at Thompson (Speedway) also. At that point that was what I needed
to do to get laps under my belt and to become the best driver
that I can be. Now I do not race Thursdays at Thompson. But
running in the two modified touring series definitely helps
my racing.
Veteran
racer Mike Holdridge has been trying to get a win racing with
the VMRS for a few years now. But bad luck or mishap stepped
in causing the win to be just out of his reach. But that elusive
win finally came to Holdridge on August 6th at Beech Ridge Speedway.
Then much to his own amazement a second win came right on its
back at Seekonk Speedway. “This was the best year that
I could ever ask for. I never thought that we were ever going
to actually get a win so this is pretty cool. We got a second
win right after our first win. I wish that you could hold that
feeling for a long period of time but it goes away and at the
next race you start all over again.”
I
would now like to use some words from Les Hinckley to summarize
racing and why we do what we do every year when we do what we
do. Racing when it comes down to it, is both a love and a passion
for a lot of us. And even though at times it is a tough and
yes a lot of work, where would we be without it? “It was
a long season and it was a very fun season. It is a relief at
times because you are done with it and you have time to do other
things. But it is almost painful because you just want to get
back after it. You just want to have a shot at it. You just
want to keep doing it. I think that we had a legitimate shot
at a few more wins. Sometimes things did not go our way but
everyone can say that. It is just part of racing. “;
See
you at the track in 2012 as we go forward and venture into another
exciting year of racing and the memories that it brings with
it.
Notes from 2011 VMRS Banquet
What
has he thought about winning his second VMRS Championship?
Chris
Pasteryak
“To tell you the truth I have not really thought about
it (the 2011 VMRS Championship) since the season has ended.
Right after Lee we got ready for Caraway (North South Shootout
race) and went down there. We have actually been pretty busy
since then. So this is the first time that it has really hit
me here tonight.”
“It
is great it puts me in the same category as Jon (McKennedy)
and Kirk (Alexander). Well I do not know if it puts me in the
same category but at least according to statistics I am right
there anyway. I do not know if I am in the same category as
them but we will come back and try it again next year.”;
“We
(the #5CT team) just want to go and have fun. Other people would
put a lot more on the expectations because of the last name
(Pasteryak) and because my family has been involved in it (racing)
for so long. But it is more than my father, uncle or I do.”
Winner of the VMRS Bob Polverari Award
Mike
Holdridge
“This award has caught me off guard. But I am glad that
my fellow competitors voted on it, it really means a lot. I
am just a little bit speechless right now. This is an unexpected
award here so it is really special.
“I
watched Bob (Polverari) when I was a kid watching races with
my father in the 70’s so it is pretty cool. It is a special
award to get and it means a lot.”;
Winner
of the VMRS SPAFCO Most Improved Driver Award
Joe
Doucette
“Well I can honestly say that I am overwhelmed, surprised
and thrilled. Last year we were here and I believe that I finished
something like seventeenth. Even to be a podium this year and
then get an award in the top ten was a thrill. So the Most Improved
Award I am humbled by it. I want to thank Kenny (Barry) and
the officials for voting for me for this. I certainly hope that
we can follow this up next year. This year we had our first
win, we got our first top ten and I had to have my first beer.
So I do not know what else that I have left to do other than
to continue to approve and hopefully we can get into the top
five or top three next year and go from there.”;
What
are your racing plans for 2012?
Chris
Pasteryak
“The same as this year.”;
Les
Hinckley
“We have some stuff to work out. I hope to do the same
thing as 2011. That is the direction that we are heading in.
Hopefully it all works out. But we have some hurdles to cross
to get to that place financially.”
Mike
Holdridge
“We will be going after it just like we did this year.
I want to win again so that is the goal.”;
What
stands out in you mind as the most memorable event in 2011?
Chris
Pasteryak
“The Stafford MRS win was the most memorable event. To
go there a lot of times and finally get one that was great.”;
Les
Hinckley
“I have a hard time just getting past Monadnock and the
opener of the year. It was just an awesome race. There were
four cars at one time under a blanket for the last ten or fifteen
laps. I ended up getting to the outside of Louie (Mechalides)
and Jon (McKennedy) with a couple to go. And I got the lead
with just two to go. It was just the way that whole race played
out. It was a fun race.”
“Obviously
Seekonk was a fun race passing Dwight for the win late in the
race. So you know that anytime that you win a race it is hard
not to put them on the top of your list. But the Monadnock one
it is just hard to top that one just the way that we came from
the back and the way that it all played out. Closing off the
race in the last tow laps that was a good one (race).”
Rowan
Pennink
“Winning Lee’s (Lee USA Speedway) race just because
Lee is one of the tracks where we have not done our best at
over the years. We have struggled to be run fast there and have
a car at the end of the race so that we can do something with
it. Before the win we consider it one of our worst tracks that
we go to. And to end the season with a win there a t Oktoberfest
Weekend really was a good way to end the season with the #25
team.”
Joe
Doucette
“Obviously my most memorable moment of 2011 was the victory
at Oxford (Plains Speedway). I was completely dumbfounded by
the whole thing. Still to this day I find myself reading the
live reports just to read about the win and to get excited.
That would have to be the highlight. And not just for me but
also for the whole team. I certainly do not want to be selfish
on this. They (my race team) deserve it probably more so than
me. I get to have all the fun while they put all the hard work
into it. I am thrilled for them that we got the victory. It
kind of pulled us out of the slump that we were kind of in.
It also proved to us that we are capable of doing it under the
right circumstances. It has given us a boost of enthusiasm to
continue on and move on it.”;
What are your thoughts on the Wall Stadium Turkey Derby Race?
Les
Hinckley
“We ran the Turkey Derby (at Wall Stadium) last week.
We almost won and we should have, so that's difficult to deal
with. You just want to have a shot at it. You just want to keep
doing it. We had a real good race car, one of the better ones
that we have ever had. We were just able to work through traffic
and get to the front and put ourselves in a position to win
that race. It really was a gratifying race. I do not like the
outcome of it though. I do not like it for how it ended for
us and I feel worst for what happened to Matt (Hirschman) than
I do for myself.”;
“Because
ultimately my decisions are what ended Matt’s day, and
it ended it for myself too. When your decisions end your outcome
it is one thing. But when your decisions change someone else’s,
that is another thing. I do have a hard time with how it affected
Matt and I spoke to him about it. I do feel badly about it.“
“When
we are there (at Wall) people know that we are there. It is
not that my name is necessarily recognized because of my last
name. It is we are recognized because of the performances that
we have had there. It is not like the first time that I went
there that everybody knew who I was. Like a Blewett or a Hirschman
based off their history in racing.”;
“My
dad raced long ago but gave it up for the betterment of his
family. He never got the opportunity in the prime of his career
to make a statement for himself. He gave that all up for us.
So I did not going to the first Turkey Derby with people knowing
who I was. People know who we are when we are there because
of what we have been able to accomplish there.”;
“In
2006, I think that was the year, we almost won it with Jimmy.
It was quite a race and we have made a lot of nice friends down
there. This year they knew we were there at Wall. And hopefully
they will again in the future!”;
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris
Pasteryak, of Lisbon, CT., was crowned 2011 Valenti Modified
Racing Series Champion last night at the 8th annual awards banquet.
The event was held at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center,
West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Three
wins, and 9 top-five finishes paved the way to the title for
the 31 year old second-generation driver.
Pasteryak
thanked his wife, parents, family, friends, crewmembers, and
sponsors, for their support in helping him reach his goal. The
new two-time champion recognized and thanked series officials
and the media. Pasteryak was the series champion in 2008.
Presentations
were made to the top fourteen drivers for 2011. Les Hinckley,
Rowan Pennink, Mike Holdridge, Norman Wrenn, Louie Mechalides,
Rob Goodenough, Dwight Jarvis, Joe Doucette, Max Zachem, Timmy
Jordan, Jon McKennedy, Jacob Dore, Kenny Barry and Todd Annarummo,
were all recognized.
The
top 15 car owners were also recognized. CCP Inc (Charlie Pasteryak),
CMR Racing (Chuck Montville), Gary Casella, M&D Racing (Holdridge),
Advanced Gas Distributors (Wrenn), Kevin Stuart, Ron Goodenough,
Daniel Cabral, Max Zachem, Patrick Jordan, Bonnie Jarvis, Jack
Bateman, Jon McKennedy, Robert Worell, and Vinnie Annarummo.
The
annual “Achievement” awards, chosen by series officials,
were also presented.
Joe
Doucette, of Framingham, MA., was presented the “SPAFCO
Most Improved Driver” award. Jack Bateman received the
“Tough Luck” award. Max Zachem the “Sportsmanship”Award,
and “Mechanic of the Year” was presented to Butch
Shea, of the CMR (#06) team.
Timmy
Jordan received the “Mountainside Graphix Rookie of the
Year” award, Gary Casella, the “Dedication to Racing”
award, and this year’s recipient of the “Above and
Beyond” award was presented in memory of John Hoyt, to
the entire MRS Staff.
The
prestigious “7-11” award, for professionalism on
and off the track was presented to Mike Holdridge by New England
Hall of Fame driver Bob Polverari.
A
15-race schedule was announced for 2012 with the first event
scheduled for March 31, April 1, at the Waterford Speedbowl,
Waterford, CT.
November
25-26 - Turkey Derby Wall Stadium - Mod 15
Classic Quote from a mesage board about
turkey derby
uthor: tide17 Date: 12/3/2011 2:20:56 AM +5/-0
Show Orig. Msg (this window) Or In New Window
2009
Tour Type Winner, Rowan Pennink lead several laps before being
flat out screwed at the end handing the win to Jaws hero, Jimmy
"God's Gift to Wall Stadium" Blewett. Pennink, will
be returning to the Nascar Whelen Modified Tour, in 2012, and
would be pretty stupid to return to wall again, after his major
screwjob.
By
Phil Smith
The
2011 northeast racing wound up this past weekend with 37th annual
Turkey Derby at the Wall Stadium in New Jersey which was run
in mid 60 degree temperatures. Local favorite Jimmy Blewett
found himself in the right place at the right time in front
of a near capacity crowd as he won both the Tour Type Modified
150 and the SK type 100. The event drew 25 tour type Modifieds
and 29 SK types.
In the Turkey Derby 150 Modified event Matt Hirschman appeared
to have victory in sight until contact from Les Hinkley, with
five laps to go, took him out of contention and opened the door
for Blewett. Blewett was the first to admit he did not have
the best car in the race. Still, he was able to lead and then
stay in contention as Doug Coby, Matt Hirschman and Rowan Pennink
took turns leading the field. Coby appeared to have the field
covered as he opened up a sizable lead and was on cruise control
when his mount overheated. Pennink was the victim of a mysterious
caution that was thrown while he was leading. Pennink ended
up 15th, the last car on the lead lap. Hirschman ended up 12th.
Worn tires played a big part in the outcome. Anthony Sesley
ended up in second spot and was followed by Steven Reed, Chuck
Hossfeldt and Danny Bohn. Twenty four caution periods slowed
the event.
Shortly after promoters Diane and Cliff Krause announced that
they have secured a deal to lease Wall Stadium for at least
the next three years, Jimmy Blewett of Howell found a way to
celebrate big time by winning both main events for the Modified
stock cars during Turkey Derby XXXVIII. Blewett’s victories
and all of the two days of racing events came in front of a
near capacity crowd and under warm and sunny skies. When the
150-lap Touring Modified feature was complete, Blewett was the
first to admit he did not have the best car in the race. Still,
he was able to lead and then stay in contention as Doug Coby,
Matt Hirschman and Rowan Pennink took turns pacing the pack.
The turning point in this one came late during a string of cautions
caused mainly by front-runners spinning due to worn tires. Blewett,
however, had stopped earlier in the test for new tires and that
may have proven to be his winning move. Anthony Sesely of Matawan,
Freehold’s Steven Reed, Chuck Hossfeld and Danny Bohn
of Mooresville, N.C. completed the top five.
“My crew made me win this race,” a thrilled Jimmy
Blewett said after the event. “We did not have the best
car today, but my crew just kept digging. The tire change was
big and they just kept working on the car to get it better.
Near the end things just kept opening up for me on the track,
but if it wasn’t for the crew we wouldn’t have been
there to take advantage of it.”; The 100-lapper for the
SK/Wall Modified cars saw Blewett’s second mount run flawlessly
from start to finish. Hirschman and Woody Pitkat were among
his challengers in this one, but Blewett was never headed. Hirschman
ended up second in this accident-plagued event, with Chas Okerson
of Freehold, Pitkat and Howell’s Ken Woolley, Jr. wrapping
up the top five.
“My crew also made me win this race,” Blewett said.
“They took ever little thing we learned in the first race
and made the changes to this car to make it better. They are
never satisfied.”; Canadian racer Stewart Friesen was
at the top of his game winning both dirt Modified/Sportsman
40-lap main events in a Blewett Motorsports entered car. On
Friday, John McClelland, Joey Payne, Steve Folk and Dom Buffalino
completed the top five. On Saturday Mike Iles, Zach Aubertine,
Tom Carberry and McClelland were second through fifth. Howie
Conk of Jackson won an accident marred 50-lapper for the Street
Stocks on Saturday, with Shannon Mongeau of Bradley Beach, Dieek
Stachecki, Joe Oliver and Mike O’Sullivan wrapping up
the top five. Robin Johnson of Wayne, Pa. won the TQ Midget
25-lapper on Saturday while Jon Gamboti, Zach Martini, Ian Cumens
and Randy Cabral completed the top five. Kevin Eyres of Colts
Neck came from the rear of the 25-car field to win the 50-lap
Sportsman race on Friday. Brothers Zack and Trevor Alspach,
both of Willingboro, were second and third, with Brick’s
Robert Sutphin and Holmdel’s Andrew Krause wrapping up
the top five. Mike Alcaro came from the rear of a 29-car field
to win the 35-lapper for the Legend Cars on Friday, Todd McCollume,
Coby Frye, Billy Cole and Casey Robicheau were second through
fifth.
Shannon Mongeau of Bradley Beach won Friday’s 40-lapper
for the Factory Stocks leading a field of 36 starters across
the finish line. Jim Downey, Howard Bott, Joey Helberg and Glen
Osborne were second through fifth. Jerod Hayes was tops in the
Late Modified 50-lapper on Friday, leading Wayne Helliwell,
Rob Ormsbee, Greg Kleila and Scott Wylie to the finish.
Oct 23 - Lee Speedway - MRS-
WIN
ROWAN PENNINK WINS OKTOBERFEST 100 VALENTI MODIFIED RACING SERIES
2011 FINALE
Pennink Has Unbelievable Race Season End
by Denise DuPont
The
Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS) headed to Lee USA Speedway
the weekend of October 22nd to compete in the tracks traditional
Oktoberfest racing activity. Lee’s season finale included
the touring series last scheduled race with the 2011 VMRS Championship
in a close point chase. There were only twenty-eight points
separating first and second place. So point leader Chris Pasteryak
and runner-up Les Hinckley would both drove their hearts out
but in the end only one would be the Champ. While eyes were
on the front of the pack early on with title contender Les Hinckley
leading from lap one and point leader Chris Pasteryak working
his way into the top ten, quietly and methodically Rowan Pennink
was making his way forward. The Huntington, PA driver started
9th on the grid and by lap 25 was firmly in fifth. With 32 circuits
on the board, Pennink had taken over second and using patience,
made what turned out to be the winning pass on lap 62 and never
looked back cruising to the Modified Racing Series sponsored
by Bob Valenti season finale victory at Lee USA Speedway. “I
was surprised the car went that easy and still got by cars,”
said Pennink. “When you can do that, I knew we would have
a shot at it and we ended up winning by a long ways, you can’t
ask for much more than that.”; His second MRS win of the
year, Pennink made the winning pass for the lead out of turn
two and side by side with Hinckley on the backstretch, completed
the move before heading into turn three. “I was just waiting-
I kind of let Hinckley go when I got into second then ran him
back down - not pushing it too hard then I got a good run off
the corner and I felt it was the right time to go by him- made
a good pass on him and it was smooth sailing from there.”;
Stretching his lead, Pennink worked lap traffic able to pass
each one without incident. “There was some lap traffic,
luckily enough the guys we were going by, that we were lapping,
were giving plenty of room and was able to get by without any
problems.”; However the cushion Pennink built up all went
away when the third and final caution waved on lap 82 setting
up a 12 lap dash to the checkers. Bringing the field down to
green for the last restart of the season, Pennink never wavered
and cruised to victory lane. Les Hinckley led the race from
the start for the first 61 laps. He then made the one small
move that caused him to fall back one spot into second from
where he could never progress. Hinckley was racing hard with
the championship on the line. The thought of his first VMRS
championship was so strong that Hinckley could almost taste
it. But just as the race lead slipped through his fingers, the
2011 series championship also did. “It was a good race.
I just missed it a little bit and Rowan was just a tick better
than we were. It is a tough bill. It is hard to be happy. I
know that we should be because we had a really good year. We
finished second in the points and then second in the race today
but it is just one of those deals. It is hard to be happy. I
will look back on it and try to learn from it.”; Leaving
the race the #06 team of Chuck Montville will spend their time
reflecting on the race and running through their minds all the
what ifs that remain. But in the end they cannot change or redo
history. They can only go forward and improve on their lessons
learned. “I do not know what more we could have done.
We had one bad race at Stafford that really hurt us. There were
just not enough races to overcome it. We kind of got hurt without
Seekonk being in the mid season and not getting rescheduled.
Then late in the Thompson race getting rescheduled it just kind
of took races away from us. And we could not just over come
it.”; This year veteran racer Norm Wrenn has found the
right combination to run with the leaders in the VMRS. The race
at Lee proved to be no different. Wrenn started the race fourteenth
and charged to the front waiting for the right opportunity to
pass for the win. A podium finish was his in the end that also
secured a solid fifth place finish in the point standing. “A
third place finish was just awesome. I needed a third place
finish here to be able to finish fifth in points overall for
the year. Louie Mechalides was only six points behind me and
I wanted to stay with him and finish the race. So I stayed close
so that I could pull off a top five. It is hard to finish in
a top five in this series in points. This is my second year
on the tour and I thought that it would be awesome if I could
do it for the team. They work real hard. So I went forward and
finished third.”; Series regular Rob Goodenough had an
up and down 2011 race season. The team struggled some times
and other times they persevered and ran with the leaders at
the end. This year the team traded in their old car for a newer
one and regrouped to move forward. Their hard work was rewarded
with a fourth place finish at Lee. “It was a good race.
I did not realize at first that we were quite coming up that
far. In the beginning we started so far back we were just trying
to get where we could early without using up a whole lot of
car up. Next thing I know we were getting closer to a top ten
and we were just riding. I was just taking what was available
out there. And we were just a little bit too free. When that
last caution came out and we saw we were sitting in fourth I
was really shocked. The car was just really good. I was just
trying to get into a rhythm and drive. I just need the car to
be a little bit tighter. It was only the second race in this
car. I am started to really get accustom to it. I think that
we can do some tweaking and really have something good going
here.”; Matt Hirschman had to make his way into the race
through the consolation race. The additional laps on the tires
could have been a disadvantage for the average driver, but Hirschman
used his experience and saved his car. He patiently made his
way through the pack from twentieth up to fifth at the end of
the race. He drove a consistently paced race which gave him
the car that he needed to crack into the top five. “I
had a pretty good run. We had to go through the consi with a
bad draw yesterday. Those extra fifteen laps that we had to
run in the consi hurt. I really did not want to do that. I do
not think that any of the guys in front or around me had those
extra laps (on their tires).”; This year Hirschman raced
with the VMRS when he could and there were a few tracks that
he had not frequented for a while. Hirschman used his expertise
to race smart as he drove at Lee Speedway for the first time
in years. “It was the first time that I have been here
in a long time (Lee USA Speedway). It has probably been about
nine years since I have been here. So for the first time coming
back here in a while I think that we did pretty well. These
guys run here every year a couple of times. I am happy. We have
learned something so if we come back I would like to think that
we would be a little bit better.”;
Chris Pasteryak finished the race ninth. It was not a top five
finish but it was good enough to secure him the 2011 VMRS Championship.
Pasteryak was on pins and needles the entire race and when the
checkered flag flew he was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Driving for a point chase sucks sometimes. You just have
to drive it (car) straight and stay out of trouble. Sometimes
you end up in trouble trying to stay out of it. We were a little
bit off today. Our car was a little bit tight and it showed.
We finished about where we deserved today. And it was good enough!”;
With his team in Championship Lane and the congratulations and
ceremonies took place, Pasteryak looked like a kid on Christmas
morning who was overwhelmed with one too many present. He had
the familiar Pasteryak smile and the bright eyes, but yet there
was a skeptic look of misbelieve. “Winning the championship
has not really sunk in yet. I really do not know if I appreciated
how special the first one was. Now that I am a little bit older
and hopefully a little bit wiser. Maybe I can relax and enjoy
it now rather than looking for the next year.”;
So the 2011 race season ends for the VMRS drivers and teams.
They will get together one more time this year for their 2011
Awards Banquet to celebrate another year of racing.
Sadly they will be minus one core person this year, John Hoyt
Racing
Notes from Lee USA Speedwa
What was the #25 race team’s strategy for Lee USA Speedway
race?
Rowan
Pennink
“The race strategy was to just try and keep the tires
on the car,” said Pennink. “We were taking it easy
the whole time just picking off a car or two when we could get
to it. The car stayed the same the whole race, it didn’t
give up one bit. I got to thank Gary Casella and the whole 25
team, they did an awesome job getting the car ready for here.
We normally struggle here- get free, being too tight, one or
the other, we couldn’t seem to find the right balance
point but they found it today, the thing was unstoppable. Hopefully
they can get it like that for the next time we come here”
What
was your most memorable racing moment of 2011?
Chris
Pasteryak
“The Stafford MRS win was the most memorable event. To
go there a lot of times and finally get one that was great.”;
Rowan
Pennink
“This race is a big one. We won at Twin State with Gary’s
car. But we always run good there. But here, we always struggle
here ever since I first came here a couple of years ago. To
struggle that bad and then finally get it working and getting
it working right for a win is great for the team.”;
Les
Hinckley
“I would have to say that it was probably the Monadnock
win. That was a three or four car battle late in the race with
Louie, Jon and me. I got them on the outside with a couple to
go. That was a pretty exciting race. Looking back on it that
is the first thing that jumps to mind. We had an eventful season
but that was probably the highlight of it.”;
Norm
Wrenn
“Getting off the track at Seekonk, being black flagged
with only sixteen laps to go. We were running third or fourth
at that time too. We stayed up all night putting the car together
from crashing during qualifying the day before. We started twenty-seventh
and got up to fifth I think. Then it (the car) overheated.”;
“That was my most memorable moment because I wanted to
have a decent finish for the guys and all the work they did
the night before. But I was running to close to the car in front
of me and the car was running real hot. So it started squirting
out the right rear and they black flagged me.”;
Rob
Goodenough
“Oh, boy this has not been that great of a year. I really
do not have a whole lot to really look back on this year. But
I get look forward to next year. With Hamshaw Lumber standing
behind us this year and getting into something considerably
newer Going from a 1996 car to a 2006 car now we have something
that we can work with. That gives me something to look forward
to for 2012. I am just chalk off this year as a learning year.
I am looking forward to 2012 and hopefully we can make it work
to run another season but that is yet to be seen. But it is
going to be a long winter.”;
Matt
Hirschman
“I do not think that anything sticks out too much this
year. It was a good year with some wins but it was also a little
tough this year. I had a little stretch where I did not do so
well. What would say right now is that we are ending the season
pretty strong and I think that that is what is on my mind right
now. We had a lot of good runs in a row, a few wins and a third
last week at Thompson. We had a fifth here coming from last.
Right now we just want to keep that going for the rest for the
year with hopefully some wins.”;
VMRS
Rookie of the Year – Timmy Jordan
“We had the car to win at Lee and we were involved in
an incident. Hopefully we can come back again next year.”;
What
are your plans for 2012 race season?
Chris
Pasteryak
“Do the same thing as this year.”;
Rowan
Pennink
“Everything is always up in the air over the winter. But
I definitely plan to still plan run both tours if I have the
opportunity to. I would love to do that if I can.”;
“This year in both series (NWMT and VMRS) we started out
strong. Then I had some bad points throughout the season for
both teams. That will happen and I think next year we will just
try and smooth things out for those rough times. That makes
the rough times not so rough and hopefully we can come home
with at least one championship or maybe two next year.”;
Les
Hinckley
“I do not really know right now. I hope to be doing the
same thing that we are doing now. We really have to sit down
and assess our program just financially. We are a little guy
and a lot of people do not believe it because the car looks
nice and it is shiny with the chrome on it. We are operating
with no shoe strings basically. We will just try put something
together and try to do it again next year. I hate to turn back
now. As far as I am concerned we have the best equipment and
best of personnel I have ever had in my career and I would hate
to walk away from it at this point.
Norm
Wrenn
“I plan to run the Modified Racing Series again. I still
have my Super Late Model at Thompson Speedway and I plan to
run a couple of shows there. And I still have the Pro Four.
So whatever races I can make with the Pro Four I will.”;
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rowan Pennink Wins For the Home
Team in Modified Racing Series Season Finale
Pennsylvania
Driver Takes Oktoberfest Victory at Lee
By Mike Twist
Rowan
Pennink is the only regular in the New England-based Modified
Racing Series to not live in that six-state region. His hometown
of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania is nearly 400 miles from
New Hampshire's Lee USA Speedway. Nevertheless, when Pennink
won the headlining race of this past weekend's Oktoberfest event
at Lee, it was a home track victory of sorts. That because while
the track isn't anywhere close to Pennink's actual domicile,
it is one of the nearest tracks to his #25 team's homebase of
Saugus, Massachusetts. Team owner Gary Casella is very familiar
with Lee - as he raced there frequently before stepping aside
of a full-time driver and becoming the owner for a team that
has won Modified races with five different drivers behind the
wheel. Casella has experienced a mixed bag of luck at the track
too. He recalled a story this weekend when he backed his Pro
Stock (Super Late Model) into the turn three wall and then begged
the track safety crew not to use the Jaws of Life to cut him
out of the car, since it was the only racecar he owned at the
time. So when Pennink won on Sunday, it was a sweet moment for
all involved - but especially Casella. “When I took the
lead, Gary told me that was the first lap that the team ever
led in a Modified here at Lee,” said Pennink. “I
know that he's run here a lot in other things. I know it's close
to home for him. It was just awesome to get a win for him and
the whole #25 this close to their home. We normally struggle
here at Lee. It's great that we could get a win here. The car
was awesome. The thing was unstoppable the whole race. “I've
got to thank Gary Casella and everyone. They all did an awesome
job with this over the weekend and I couldn't have done it without
them. Gary is an awesome car owner.”; Going from mid-pack
to best in show at Lee was a welcome change for Casella. “I
consider this my home track and to struggle at your home track
is pretty tough,” said Casella. “This win is pretty
special because we are never that good here. We struggle every
time we come here. The last time that we were here, we were
closer but the chips didn't fall our way. Today, they did.”;
Early on in this race, the chips all fell in Les Hinckley's
favor. Hinckley rocketed into the lead on the first lap from
a starting spot of third. Pennink, meanwhile, started back in
the ninth position and had to work his way forward. At lap 61
of the 100-lap event, Pennink passed Hinckley and never looked
back. “I was just going easy and picking them off,”
said Pennink. “The thing was dominant the whole race.
At the end, I was surprised that I was still pulling away while
I was taking it easy.”;
Hinckley held onto the second position at the finish, while
his championship rival Chris Pasteryak finished ninth and took
home the 2011 MRS championship. Pennink finished third in the
standings after being in contention for the crown before a mid-season
slump. He's hoping that this victory might mean some extra momentum
to start the 2012 season. “You can't end a season any
better than that,” said Pennink. “It's too bad that
we weren't running for the championship at this point in the
year, but hopefully we can get the #25 in the position for that
next year. We didn't have a shot at it in the end, but hopefully
we'll
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lee, NH — Rowan Pennink
of Huntingdon Valley, PA., started ninth in a 24 field, took
the lead on lap 61, and went on to win the “Oktoberfest
100” Valenti Modified Racing Series event, Sunday afternoon,
at Lee USA Speedway, Lee, NH. The win was Pennink’s second
this season and his fourth career VMRS victory. Pennink also
becomes the seventh different driver in seven seasons to win
the fall finale. Les Hinckley III, of Windsor Locks, CT., started
the race from the third position, jumped into the lead, and
held it until the 61st circuit.. When Pennink took command,
Hinckley chased after the new race leader for the final 39 laps.
“The car was unstoppable all day. I have to thank my team,”
Pennink said.“ We don’t normally run good here at
Lee. I think we might have figured something out. I hope Gary
(car owner-Casella) can get it the same next year.”;
Norman Wrenn, of Nashua, NH., ran a strong race and finished
third with Rob Goodenough, of Swanzey, NH., fourth, and Matt
Hirschman, of Northampton, PA.,fifth. Jimmy Kuhn, W.Bridgewater,
MA., Dwight Jarvis, Ascutney, VT., Max Zachem, Preston, CT.,
Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon, CT., and Kenny Barry, also of Preston,
rounded out the top ten. Pasteryak, the 2008 series champion,
won his second title topping Hinckley by 14 points. Pennink
finished third in the points followed by Mike Holdridge, of
Manchester, CT., and Wrenn fifth, for his best points tally
to date. Three caution flags slowed the race, which took 39:04
to complete.
Barry, Pasteryak, and Holdridge won qualifying heats. Hirschman
won the consolation race.
Race
Summary
October 23, 2011 Lee USA (NH) Speedway Distance: 100-laps
Time of Race: 39:04:469 Best Lap Time: 15.022 Best Speed: 89.868
(Masse)
Margin of Victory: 2.688 Lead Changes: 1 (Lap 61) Lap Leaders:
Hinckley (1-61) Pennink (62-100)
Cautions: Lap 31, 31, 82
Unofficial
Finish: (1) Pennink (2) Hinckley (3) Wrenn (4) Goodenough (5)
Hirschman (6) Kuhn (7) D. Jarvis (8) Zachem (9) Pasteryak (10)
Barry (11) Holdridge (12) Seuss (13) Savary (14) Mechalides
(15) Doucette (16) J. Jarvis (17) Dore (18) Dolan (19) Lashua
(20) Fellows (21) Jordan (22) Masse (23) Emerling (73) McKennedy.
Points:(1) Pasteryak (608) (2) Hinckley (594) (3) Pennink (487)
(4) Holdridge (449) (5) Wrenn (418) (6) Mechalides (390) (7)
Goodenough (377) (8) D.Jarvis (371) (9) Doucette (350) (10)
Zachem (334)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POST THOMPSON STORY
Sprint To The End: Tough Run For Rowan Pennink Closes Once Promising
Whelen Modified Tour Season By Shawn Courchesne:
It was a run that few
fans who were at Thompson International Speedway on Sunday won't
soon forget. Pennink Golf Cart Thompson 10-16-11.jpgUnfortunately
for Rowan Pennink, it was a run that had nothing to do with
sitting behind the wheel of a racecar. On a day that saw wild
storylines all over the place when it came to the season ending
event for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Pennink's sprint
across the Thompson Speedway infield after getting wrecked will
be remembered as one of the signature moments of Sunday's 2011
finale for the division.
Pennink was running third on a lap 135 restart when he got caught
up in an accident that also collected then race leader Eric
Berndt after second place running Justin Bonsignore went up
the track in turn one. "[Bonsignore] just drove it in way
over his head," Pennink said. "He just banzaied it
in there. I think if [Berndt] and I weren't on the outside of
him he still would have hit the fence." Bonsignore got
through the crash and inherited the lead. The wreck brought
out a red flag stopping the field, with Bonsignore's car stopped
in turn three at the opposite end of the track where the crash
took place. After exiting his car in turn two, Pennink made
an angry dash through infield just behind pit wall before finally
getting to Bonsignore, who was still sitting in his car. "I
just kind of, I guess I just lost it," Pennink said. "I
kind of had had enough of the [bull] for the day. There's really
no reason to do that. He had a better car than [eventual race
winner] Glen Reen and [Berndt] any way, and I think I had a
better car than he did. I think he could have made it work through
that corner and maybe passed [Berndt], not like that. I had
enough. [NASCAR] never makes any calls and they're never going
to I guess. [Whelen Modified Tour director Chad Little] always
says 'Handle it yourself.' Well, I did. Last race of the year,
I didn't really care." Pennink, who ended up 28th in the
34-car field, met with Little and series race director Brian
Vance after the event. "They said they love the passion
that I have for racing and that I wouldn't do a stunt like that
if I didn't have the passion, but they said pretty much that
you can't be doing that kind of stuff. I was just like 'Well,
I did it, there's nothing I can do about it now.' "I'm
sure they weren't happy with me, but I just told them, people
might stop driving like this if you guys would make an overaggressive
driving call maybe twice a year. I understand they don't like
to do it, but there's some instances when you've got to do it
so people keep their heads. People go in the corner and they
don't even care, they just go in looking to wreck guys for the
win." Bonsignore, who ended up getting wrecked himself
on a lap 156 restart, took responsibility for the wreck with
Berndt and Pennink. "I just messed up," Bonsignore
told NASCAR Home Tracks after the event. "I got in way
too deep. I thought I was going to be able to clear [Berndt],
and I just slid the nose a little bit. It didn't take much as
fast as we were going into the corners." For Pennink, it
meant a tough end to a season that at one point seemed to have
the Huntingdon Valley, Pa. driver on the path of contention
for a series title. Pennink started the season with three consecutive
second place finishes and had top-six finishes in eight of the
first nine events. But a 16th place finish at New Hampshire
Motor Speedway on Aug. 13 knocked Pennink from the points lead
and seemed to knock the team of balance. Pennink followed the
event at New Hampshire with a 14th place at Bristol (Tenn.)
Motor Speedway and then an 18th place at Delaware (Ontario)
Speedway. A 22nd place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
on Sept. 24 essentially killed any hopes the team had of climbing
back in position to fight for the series title. Crew chief Doug
Chouinard quit the team following a 12th place finish in the
second to the last event of the season on Oct. 2 at Stafford
Motor Speedway. Gary Casella served as crew chief for the team
Sunday at Thompson. Pennink, who finished the 2010 season 11th
in the standings, ended 2011 fourth in the standings, 224 points
behind series champion Ron Silk. "We started off the season
just about as strong as anybody," Pennink said. "We
were running really good and I don't know, it kind of seemed
like once one thing went wrong, having Doug as the crew chief,
as soon as one thing didn't go our way and we had a bad race
it seemed like he got an attitude with whole team and that kind
of just put a down on the whole team. "We just kept running
into trouble from there. We had some stupid stuff happen and
it just kind of spiraled down. We still had a lot better season
than we had [in 2010], but I would have liked the end to go
better. The way we started off the season, we should have been
running for the championship at the end, even if we did have
a couple bad races.[Silk] had a couple bad races and [second
place in the standings Todd Szegedy] had a couple bad races
and we kind of just got ourselves in a position that gave us
three or four bad races."
October 16 - Thompson Speedway - NASCAR - 28
The Whelen Modified Tour race was truly like few seen in the
past several years at Thompson. There was a first-time winner;
a points tussle featuring a leader who was seemingly invincible
going in, looked to be all done a third of the way through,
and back on top when all was over; and almost half the race
was run under caution. One of the wilder incidents happened
on lap 136 when Justin Bonsignore pushed Eric Berndt up into
the wall. NASCAR did not penalize Bonsignore and he was allowed
to remain in front, but the incident brought out a red flag,
which left the remaining cars stopped on the backstretch.
That allowed Rowan Pennink and Berndt time to hop out of their
cars and run to Bonsignore’s. Pennink got to the No. 51
car before NASCAR officials realized the driver’s intentions
and Pennink was punching at Bonsignore through the window before
being yanked away. “As bad as those guys were, (Bonsignore)
did something to get them that mad. I’m just surprised
you can keep the lead in the race.” Matt Hirschman, who
finished third, said. “I didn’t see it, so I can’t
point any fingers, but it looked like two guys who were ready
to throw down. (Sunday) was like the inmates running the asylum,
that’s what it seemed like to me.” NASCAR hadn’t
announced any penalties as of Monday.
RACE STORIES
Ron Silk survived an eventful season finale to take home the
2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in the Sunoco
World Series of Speedway Racing at Thompson International Speedway.
Glen Reen took home the checkered flag in a wild event that
saw a season-high 16 cautions and the maximum three green-white-checker
events attempts for his first career victory, but it was Silk
that left with the biggest hardware of the weekend. A six-year
veteran of the Whelen Modified Tour, Silk survived an early-race
accident to finish 16th and clinch the first championship of
his career. Silk, a 28-year-old from Norwalk, Conn., brought
a 54-point lead on Todd Szegedy into Thompson. Szegedy ran ahead
of Silk for most of the event, but the points lead went back
and forth as Szegedy looked to work his way into the top 10.
He pitted late after avoiding one wreck and then had his chances
ended when he was involved in the 14th caution on Lap 149. Szegedy
finished 25th. Silk finished with 2,443 pints - 76 points ahead
2003 champion Szegedy. Eric Beers finished a career-best third,
while Rowan Pennink and Doug Coby rounded out the top five.
Sunday marked the first victory in 43 career starts for Reen,
the 2008 Sunoco Rookie of the Year and a part-time competitor
from Wilbraham, Mass. Bobby Santos finished second and Matt
Hirschman third. Chuck Hossfeld, Tom Rogers Jr., Keith Rocco,
Eric Beers, Patrick Emerling, Mike Stefanik and Eric Goodale
brought home the top 10 in the 16th and final race of the Whelen
Modified Tour season. Silk and the No. 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton
Tree Farm Chevrolet team will be honored as part of the NASCAR
Night of Champions Touring Awards Gala on Dec. 10 in Charlotte,
N.C.
NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour-Sunoco World Series Unofficial Results
Sunday At Thompson International Speedway, Thompson, Conn.
Lap length: 0.625 miles
(Start
position in parentheses)
1. (24) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass., Chevrolet, 168 laps, 59.155
mph.
2. (5) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 168.
3. (22) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 168.
4. (14) Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 168.
5. (11) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 168.
6. (34) Keith Rocco, Wallingford, Conn., Chevrolet, 168.
7. (10) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 168.
8. (19) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 168.
9. (17) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Chevrolet, 168.
10. (9) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 168.
11. (30) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 168.
12. (33) Jimmy Zacharias, Candor, N.Y., Chevrolet, 168.
13. (31) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Chevrolet, 168.
14. (7) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 167.
15. (2) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 167.
16. 8) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 164.
17. (25) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 163.
18. (28) Daniel Hemric, Kannapolis, N.C., Pontiac, 161, accident.
19. (21) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 158.
20. (32) Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass., Ford, 158.
21. (12) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 155,
accident.
22. (3) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 155,
accident.
23. (29) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 152.
24. (27) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 148, accident.
25. (4) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 148, accident.
26. (1) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Ford, 145, accident.
27. (20) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 135, accident.
28. (13) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 135,
accident.
29. (16) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 135, accident.
30. (26) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 126, accident.
31. (23) Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, R.I., Chevrolet, 69, accident.
32. (15) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 60, broken
axle.
33. (6) Timmy Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 53, engine.
34. (18) Tony Ferrante, Jr., New Hyde Park, N.Y., Chevrolet,
52, accident.
Race
Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 46 minutes 30 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.133 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: R. Preece (120.747 mph, 18.634 seconds)
Caution Flags: 16 for 84 laps.
Lead Changes: 6 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Preece 1-36; T. Szegedy 37-66; D. Coby 67-106;
G. Reen 107-116; E. Berndt 117-135; J. Bonsignore 136-143; G.
Reen 144-168.
Standings:
1. R. Silk, 2443; 2. T. Szegedy, 2367; 3. E. Beers, 2309; 4.
R. Pennink, 2219; 5. D. Coby, 2214; 6. M. Hirschman, 2163; 7.
J. Bonsignore, 2141; 8. B. Santos, 2133; 9. T. Christopher,
2053; 10. E. Rudolph, 2051
THOMPSON
WORLD SERIES
by Polly Reid
After a season high 16 cautions and a maximum three green, white,
checker finishes, when the dust finally settled on lap 168 it
was Glen Reen of Wilbraham, MA in the Silberman H&C/Alloy
Wheel Repair Chevrolet taking down his first career NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour win in the Sunoco World Series at Thompson International
Speedway. While Ron Silk of Norwalk, CT in the T.S. Haulers/Calverton
Tree Farm Chevrolet overcame a wreck earlier in the race rallying
to finishing 16th to claim the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
championship title. Starting 24th at the green, Reen in the
Ralph Ridgeway owned machine had worked his way into the top
ten before the half way mark after pitting on lap 41 and when
the century mark showed on the board, it was Reen in second
behind Doug Coby. Reen inherited the lead when Coby pitted on
lap 105 only to lose the spot to Eric Berndt, falling back to
third after a couple more yellows but Reen was there at the
right place at the right time avoiding the mishaps around him
to take the lead on lap 144 and holding off the likes of Justin
Bonsignore, Coby, Matt Hirschman and then Bobby Santos to score
the victory. Santos, Hirschman, Chuck Hossfeld and Tom Rogers
were the top five with Keith Rocco, Eric Beers, 2011 Rookie
of the Year Patrick Emerling eighth, Mike Stefanik and Eric
Goodale the top ten. “I have to thank the good Lord. If
you told me this morning that I was going to start 24th and
win this race I’d tell ya you were out of your mind. Give
it to my whole family, my dad, my Uncle Tom, my team; these
guys have been behind me the whole time” The multiple
restarts were a struggle for Reen. “My clutch broke on
lap 107 and every restart it was slipping worse and worse, I
said guys we’ll be alright as long as there aren’t
any more restarts, sure enough, there was only 30 of them so
we were OK,” Reen joked. Extended 18 circuits beyond the
150 scheduled laps, Reen was indeed worried about fuel. “I
didn’t know how much fuel was left, I was freaking out,
and my spotter Rob was the only one calming me down.”
“About Monday morning we decided to come here so we only
had about 4 days to prepare for this,” explained Reen
whose best Tour finish prior to this was a fifth at Riverhead
in 2009. “The motor is 2 years old with 1700 laps on it.
People rebuild them every 800 laps, its super tired. The clutch,
that was broken - I had to get pushed into victory lane because
it’s broke. I mean we’re running on a shoe string
budget. My brakes were gone, we had no pads left we had to shim
them to make pads - it literally should not have happened but
somehow it did. I cannot thank my whole team; those guys give
200 percent, my whole family standing behind me this long.”
Santos of Franklin, MA in the Mystic Missile Dodge pitted on
lap 105 and worked his way carefully to the front to be there
at the end. “I’ve got to thank the guys, they gave
me an awesome race car all day, we had good strategy, we just
had a couple of yellows that screwed us up at the end. That
last restart I felt like we had the car to win, I was in position
to win, I just drove in too deep into one, I just screwed up
on the last lap. I’m disappointed with second but I can’t
complain, we struggled a lot all year then the last of the year
we tried something and I feel like the 4 was running the way
it should today- it’s a little late but we’re back
in the right direction.” It is crew chief Bob Mueller’s
last race for car owner Bob Garbarino, the championship crew
chief is stepping down following the World Series. “I
think that was more of my disappointment is that I felt like
I should have won that race for Bob. He’s done an awesome
job all year; he did an awesome job for me last year. I’m
really proud to say that I’ve worked for him, I’m
a little disappointed he’s retiring but he has to do the
best thing for himself.” Also using a later pit strategy,
Hirschman crossed for third after having to drop to the back
prior to the green flag at the start of the World Series. “It’s
well deserved for the team; I mean they deserve the credit.
We had a flat tire in time trials, we were the first car to
go out and probably hit a piece of debris, cut the tire and
went in and spun it around, I couldn’t keep it off the
wall, wrecked that car pretty good. So they had to go back (to
the shop) load up, this is the car we ran at Stafford and it
pretty much hadn’t been touched since Stafford so they
had to go back and prepare this car to race today- really I
owe all the credit to them. My part was just surviving the wrecks.
I was able to miss all those wrecks and get a third place. I’m
happy that I could get a nice run for these guys and finish
the year on a good note with a third place finish. Today was
just wild. I think it is like that saying - it was the inmates
running the asylum.” Silk came into the Sunoco World Series
with a 54 point lead over Todd Szegedy. Both knew what they
had to do but neither could predict what they were about to
go through. Szegedy in the Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction
sponsored Ford started fourth and marched his way forward taking
the lead from pole winner Ryan Preece on lap 37 while Silk remained
in the top ten, running eighth until the call was made to pit
on during caution on lap 42.
Szegedy leading, Silk lined up deep in the pack at 23rd. Just
after the restart, an oil line blew on the Timmy Solomito ride
and Silk along with Tony Ferrante didn’t make it through,
Ferrante done for the day in the turn one outside wall, Silk
going around making contact, the Eddie Partridge owned Chevrolet
suffering left side damage. Silk, able to get down pit row with
only three tires, came to a rest at his pit just as the red
flag flew for the extensive clean up. “We pitted early
like that so we could have a good, clean pit stop,” said
Tommy Grasso, crew chief for Silk. “We would ride around
and stay out of trouble then when everyone else pitted we’d
be back up front without having to use up too much tire - I
thought that was going to be the best way to stay out of trouble
and apparently that didn’t work out. The 66 blew an oil
line and we got in his oil. It’s one of those things;
you really can’t figure those things out until they happen.”
“We had time when the red flag came out- the guys looked
it all over and we came up with a plan,” continued Grasso.
“It took quite a bit of doing to figure out what we were
going to do. The officials were right there, told us what we
needed to do to make it safe and as soon as the caution came
out the guys went at it. Luckily I have a good crew around me
and it showed today.”
“There were two things that were wrong with the car. The
front end was broken and the guys were going to go work on that.
The biggest part was the nerf bar on the rear bumper; it didn’t
look like it was going to go back together. We figured out a
way while we were under red to get it back together strong and
safe. As soon as the yellow came out the guys went at it and
got that work done drilling holes and bolting everything together
- it was quite a task- they were up to it.”
As Silk sat on pit row, Szegedy in the Mike Smeriglio owned
Ford continued to lead the field. Eight laps down, Silk returned
to action only to pit again for more repairs. Shortly after
Silk returned, Szegedy relinquished his lead to come down pit
row for his planned service on lap 66. By lap 100, Szegedy was
bogged down in the pack 16th while Silk was running 29th. However,
Szegedy continued forward up to 11th by lap 110 and still the
points leader. Dodging an incident 10 circuits later, Szegedy
had an even closer call on lap 127 forcing the Ridgefield, CT
driver to pit twice under caution, his restart location now
back to 24th. Meanwhile, Silk had benefited from the free pass
four times. Back up to 16th on the lap 148 restart, Szegedy
still had a shot at the title until the mayhem broke out in
turn three. Around and up against the wall, the right side damage
Szegedy suffered was the end of the title hopes for the MSR
team. Silk survived the three green, white, checker finishes
crossing 16th to claim the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
championship title. “It was an awful day,” said
Silk. “It started out OK then we got into somebody’s
oil and I hit the wall. I thought it was all over, I mean at
that point Todd was leading; I figured he drive off and have
a story book day. Todd ended up having problems, my guys worked
their butts off to get it back out and it worked out. The guys
did a great job getting the car back together. Luckily there
was a red flag so they had a good amount of time to check everything
out, figure out what they needed- they worked pretty efficient
to get that done.” “I couldn’t drive my car
it was all messed up, I was just riding around making laps.
We had bad luck today, obviously I hated to see that and I hated
to see Todd’s bad luck too. It would have been better
if we could have both gone out and raced and not have problems
but it didn’t work out that way. Congratulations to Glen
Reen winning the World Series.” “It feels great
but it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I just keep thinking
what a miserable day we had, the emotions from high to low,
thank God it ended on a high note but still. I’m so happy
to be the champion, I’m so happy for my car owners Connie
and Eddie Partridge to be the champions, all the guys who do
so much work, it’s been a roller coaster day and I’ve
had about enough of it.
Grasso mirrored Silk’s thoughts. “It really hasn’t
sunk in yet. After we got caught up in the wreck there we had
pretty much lost the championship. The guys did a good job working
on the car, getting it back together. The car was really wrecked
I didn’t think they could get it back together but they
did, it was a handful for Ron to drive. We needed all those
cautions to get us back in there, then Todd had his problems
so we went to essentially losing the championship to back winning
it. It went both ways, full swing.” “I knew it was
going to be tough, we had trouble yesterday with the clutch
in practice. Never had an issue with the car all year and of
course this week something goes wrong,” smiled Grasso.
“It wasn’t a big problem, it was minor, but we took
the car apart to make sure it was all right and it was, we figured
it out. So we got through that -I said it’s not going
to be easy and sure enough it wasn’t easy today. We needed
some luck. Obviously Todd’s bad luck was our good fortune.
I hated that for those guys. I know exactly how they feel- that
part of it’s not fun.” “I worked a long time
to win championship, I’m glad we finally got the ability
to do it. Eddie is a great car owner and he deserves this championship,
I’m glad to win it for Eddie.”
Starting back with S.J. Evonsion, who was his next door neighbor
were he got his start with the Tour in ‘85 minus the off
and on they took a couple of years to do some short track racing,
Monadnock and Riverside, Grasso owned a couple of cars with
his brother Danny driving at Riverside they did some SK racing
at Stafford before the money ran out. “I started working
for other car owners and that’s how I started working
on cars rather than owning cars. It’s been a long road
to hoe, but I’m glad we finally got here. I can breathe
a little sigh of relief, we won a championship.”
Eddie Partridge and his wife Connie have been Tour car owners
for ten years. “The guys worked real hard, they put the
car back together amazingly fast for the shape it was in. We
just went out there 9 laps down and then Szegedy’s day
went terribly wrong.” “Ronnie is great, he’s
very calm, he’s always right there, he’s smooth
- I don’t know what else to say about that. Tommy Grasso,
the Grasso brothers they do the impossible.” Partridge
continued, “We were contenders I would say honestly the
last two years, this and the last two to be in the points chase
and it finally worked out. It’s a great feeling to win
a race; it’s a great feeling to win a championship.”
Finishing with 2,443 points for Silk, 76 ahead of Szegedy, the
consistency of Eric Beers season earned him a third place over
all in points with Rowan Pennink fourth and Doug Coby fifth
for the year. Silk and the team will be honored at the NASCAR
Night of Champions Touring Awards Gala December 10th in Charlotte,
NC
Feel-good
story
On Monday, Glen Reen decided that he and his team would pack
up and head to Thompson to race in the World Series. There’s
not a lot of money surrounding the No. 17 car. “It’s
an independent team, run by himself and (there were) kind of
odd circumstances the way he won, but he won,” Whelen
Modified Tour points champion Ronnie Silk said. Through the
smoke and debris, Reen hung on to a car that shouldn’t
have won the 150-lap feature after his clutch broke on the 107th
lap. And that was really the end of his problems. His has about
1,700 laps on it, and Reen said it’s common for motors
to be rebuilt at 800 laps. “It’s two years older
than everyone else’s and it’s super tired,”
he said. The clutch was two years old, the brakes “had
no pads left, we had to shim them to make pads,” which
is all part of running on a “shoestring budget”
and suddenly finding yourself in front, trying to hang on.
"My car was going away, the clutch was getting worse on
every restart and I was thinking I will be happy to finish in
the top 10,” Reen said. “My car was horrible on
the top, I couldn’t get it to go up there because it was
so loose, so I had to stay at the bottom. I thought they were
going to freight train me, and I will be done. But every time
we went green, it was two laps or less and a caution came out.”
That meant no cars on the outside had a chance to get together
and get past the No. 17. What made it even better was in most
instances, the cars immediately behind him were bringing out
the caution. “My spotter was busting me (Sunday before
the race) that ‘It would be really nice to say, caution,
wrecking behind you instead of in front of you,’ so I
kept telling him, ‘At least they’re behind me, right?’”
Reen said. The nearest incident came on the final restart when
Bobby Santos III bumped Reen from behind, but Reen held onto
the car. “My dad came up to me and said, ‘Thank
God you ran some dirt cars the last two weeks.’ I literally
just threw the wheel like a Frisbee,” Reen said. “It’s
all I had to hold on to it.”
Thompson,
Conn. —
Todd
Szegedy made the loneliest walk of all.
Szegedy had all but secured the Whelen Modified Tour points
championship about a third of a way through the 150-lap race
at the World Series of Auto Racing on Sunday at Thompson Speedway.
Even though Szegedy went into the final race of the season down
by 54 points, leader Ronnie Silk had early troubles. Silk pitted
on lap 43 and then was caught up in an accident in the back
of the pack 10 laps later. Silk came out nine laps down and
“thought it was all over.” Szegedy needed to finish
12th or better to bring the title home to Ridgefield. But on
a day in which the race went overtime to 168 laps, Szegedy’s
race ended on lap 149. On the season-high 15th caution, Szegedy
lost most of the right side of his car in an accident on turn
four.
He willed the No. 2 car to the frontstretch, climbed out of
it and walked back to pit road, attacking a garbage can on his
way there. The garbage can lost, and so had Szegedy. Somehow,
Silk, who came back after severe damage to the left side of
his No. 6 car, went the rest of the way to finish 16th and took
home the points title. “It hasn’t really sunk in
yet,” Silk said. “I’m just thinking of how
miserable a day we had and the emotions from high to low. Thank
God it ended on a high note.” Glen reen was on an emotional
high after capturing his first Whelen Modified Tour checkered
flag.
His No. 17 car started 24th, but he edged up to the front through
attrition, battling his car the entire way. “My clutch
broke on like lap 107 and it was slipping worse and worse on
every restart,” Reen said. “I was thinking I would
be all right as long as there were no restarts. Sure enough,
there was something like 30 of them.” Most of them occurred
behind him, including one in which Justin Bonsignore pushed
Eric Berndt into the wall on the second turn and paid the price
as both Berndt and Rowan Pennink ran the length of the track
on the following red flag. Pennink beat the officials to Bonsignore’s
car and got in a few jabs before officials pulled him away.
In all, 84 of the 168 laps were run under caution.
“I think everybody was thinking, ‘I got all winter
to rebuild my race car.’ That’s the bottom line
of what I saw,” said Bobby Santos, who finished second.
By
Phil Smith
The
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series wrapped up their 2011 season
last Sunday at the Thompson Speedway. Ron Silk came into the
event with a 59 point lead over Todd Szegedy. Thirty four cars
made up the car count. The seat in the Flamingo Motorsports
No.16 was still warm after the exit of Mike Stefanik when Ryan
Preece strapped in. Preece wasted little time as he adjusted
to his new ride in short order as he garnered the pole position
for the season ending World Series 150. Preece toured the 5/8
mile oval on 18.634 seconds. Second fastest was Doug Coby who
had a time of 18.655 seconds. Stefanik drove the car he normally
drives in Modified Racing Series events and qualified17th at
18.901 seconds. Ted Christopher, Todd Szegedy and Bobby Santos
rounded out the top five. Point leader Ron Silk qualified 8th
fastest. The only casualty was Matt Hirschman who slammed the
wall during qualifying. Hirschman was allowed to take a provisional
spot.
The World Series drew a total of 273 cars including 34 Whelen
Tour Modifieds, 16 Sunoco (SK type) Modifieds, 28 Supers, 22
Super Late Models and 25 Midgets. The Whelen Modified Tour Series
provided some intense drama during the running of the event
which didn't see the championship finalized until the final
moments of the event. The drama began on lap 52 when Silk and
Tony Ferrante Jr spun and crashed into the first turn wall after
hitting some oil that leaked out of the car of Timmy Solomito.
While Ferrente suffered the most damage and had to be double
hooked to the infield Silk was able to drive away with quite
a bit of damage to his left front suspension. Once in his pit
box the Eddie Partridge led crew went to work to repair the
damage only to have to stop as the field went under a red flag
while the oil was cleaned up that was spilled. After a short
period the field went back under caution and work resumed on
the Silk machine. When Silk finally re-entered the competition
on lap 62 he was 10 laps down to the leader, Szegedy and it
was thought that all was lost as far as the championship was
concerned. Needless to say, Silk and the Partridge team kept
digging and because of numerous cautions were awarded free passes
under the rules which got them within three laps in arrears
of Szegedy. Szegedy still had the title in hand until lap 148
when he got collected when Ken Heagy and Woody Pitkat tangled
between turns three and four and collected Szegedy, shearing
off his right front wheel which was the deciding factor. Silk
finished 16th four laps down with 2,443 points with a 76 point
cushion over Szegedy, who finished 25th. Both competitors were
deserving of the title but it just wasn't in the cards for Szegedy,
the 2003 champion, to win it. Congratulations to Silk along
with his car owners, Eddie and Connie Partridge and their entire
race team. Silk and the No. 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm
Chevrolet team will be honored as part of the NASCAR Night of
Champions Touring Awards Gala on Dec. 10 in Charlotte, N.C.
Glen Reen scored somewhat of an upset as he took the win in
a wild event that saw a season-high 16 cautions and the maximum
three green-white-checker events attempts for his first career
victory. Reen took the lead on lap 142 from Justin Bonsignore
and watched in his mirror as his competition was eliminated.
Pole sitter Ryan Preece, who had recently taken over the seat
of the Flamingo Motorsports entry that was formerly driven by
Mike Stefanik, was on cruise control for the first 36 laps,
was eliminated in a wreck on lap 145 when he broke a tie rod.
Stefanik, who finished ninth in a new tour ride, was running
fourth on lap 155 when he went for an opening on the backstretch
and triggered a wreck that eliminated Justin Bonsignore and
Ted Christopher who were running second and third. Stefanik
said, "the 51 moved up and I filled up the hole between
him and Christopher". "Once I got in there",
he added, "they didn't give me any room". Doug Coby
and Daniel Hemric who were running second and third behind Reen
on a lap 160 restart got together shortly after taking the green.
Hemric, from Kanapolis, NC, was driving the Roger Hill No.79
and found himself in the turn one wall and Coby spun. NASCAR
Control felt that Coby was overaggressive and placed him one
lap down. On the final restart for a green-white-checker finish
Reen watched in amazement as Tom Rogers and Bobby Santos went
at it as they almost wrecked. In a gut move, going into turn
three on the final lap, Santos sunk the Mystic Missile in deep
and took over the second spot behind Reen. Rogers, who had gotten
roughed up a bit by Santos, finished fifth. Matt Hirschman brought
Ole Blu home in third while Chuck Hossfeld finished fourth.
Sixth through tenth were Keith Rocco, Reic Beers, Patrick Emerling,
Stefanik and Eric Goodale. In other World Series action at Thompson
on Sunday, Chris Perley turned in a dominating performance in
the International Super Modifed Association (ISMA) 50-lapper
to score the victory. Russ Stoehr scored top honors in the Northeastern
Midget Association (NEMA) ranks. In NASCAR Whelen All-American
Series action, Ryan Preece outlasted the field in a rough-and-tumble
Sunoco Modified feature. Derek Ramstrom scored his sixth Super
Late Model race to cap off the 2011 season at Thompson and Corey
Hutchings survived numerous restarts in the Late Model main
event to score the win. Following a full day of practice and
qualifying at Thompson on Saturday, ten (10) feature events
were run. In Thompson regular weekly divisions it was Scott
Sundeen scoring the victory in the Limited Sportsman division;
Cam McDermott in the TIS Modifieds; and Chad Baxter in the Mini
Stocks. Scoring Outlaw division victories were Rick Gentes (Late
Models), Mike O’Sullivan (Street Stocks) and Richard Fournier
(Mini Stocks). Frank Cardile capitalized in the Sunoco Lite
Main event to score the victory. Jason Lafayette opened up the
World Series feature festivities with a victory in the N.E.
Trucks Series. Andy Lindeman led green-to-checker to win the
companion Truck Series Shootout. Dan Meservey, Jr. earned the
victory in the Harry Kourafas Memorial event for the Pro-Four
Modifieds.
By
Brian Danko
THOMPSON,
CT----- On the 52nd lap of the 150 lap season ending Whelen
modified tour event at the Thompson Speedway, point’s
leader Ron Silk of Norwalk, CT. thought his dreams of capturing
his first NASCAR touring series title went away. He slid his
car backwards into the wall and then was hit by a sliding Tony
Ferrante, Jr. as both cars were caught up in someone dumping
oil on the track. But the crew worked to keep Silk on the track
and despite being 9 laps down at one time, Silk managed to survive
the carnage that was the modified tour finish and win his first
title. Silk entered the race with a 54 point advantage over
past series champion, Todd Szegedy of Ridgefield, CT. and after
Szegedy led early to give himself an extra five points towards
the title, Szegedy always seemed to be in the middle of action
on the track and when the race restarted a green-white-checkered
finish on lap 149, Szegedy got caught up in a wreck in turn
four to officially hand Silk the title as Szegedy’s car
went off the track hammock style. It was a memorable win for
Glenn Reen as the youngster secured his first ever modified
tour win beating out Bobby Santos and Matt Hirschman but the
story line was the battle for the title and despite being nine
laps down, Silk was able to make up 6 of them as he continued
to be the ‘Lucky Dog’ as the caution flag continued
to fly in a race that saw the scheduled distance of 150 brought
out to lap 168. Silk final tally would show it was a margin
of 76 points over Szegedy with Eric Beers third in the point’s
final run down.
ISSUES
FACING NASCAR AND TOUR IN 2012
While the 2011 season came to a close under perfect racing conditions
at the Thompson Speedway, it won’t be too long before
the 2012 season will be upon the race teams and NASCAR and in
the short few months before now and then, a lot needs to be
accomplished.
The economy is still going to be poor as the calendar will turn
another year and with several race teams looking to call it
a career, or at least reduce the number of races that they are
going to run, it is time that NASCAR needs to step up in the
scheduling department and while doing that reduce the number
of races that are two day and reduce them to one day. Phil Kurze
of Whelen did announce that they are looking at ways to reduce
both track cost and race teams cost and that is one way to achieve
it. He also said that the schedule would be more balanced where
there won’t be a race for almost a month and then have
six races in a row. One item that NASCAR needs to address is
the Bristol race followed by the race in Canada. You can’t
have two races at faraway venues, one in the middle of the week
and one in another country. These teams just can’t afford
it with part time crew members, many whom already exhausted
their vacation time on racing. Someone with common sense needs
to sit down with both NASCAR and the teams and toss ideas around
to save cost for everyone in racing. NASCAR also needs to get
something done for television for 2012 and beyond. After having
many races taped delayed last year and shown later was great
but then to have just two races in 2011 was and is unacceptable.
HOENIG
BOWS OUT
Don
Hoenig, who for more than 35 plus years has been the name and
face of the Thompson International Speedway bowed out at the
drivers meeting for the modified tour competitors. Hoenig, whose
son and grandson will be taking over the leadership of the flagship
track for the modified tour and into the future. Don’s
father built the track after the Hurricane of 1938 and turned
it along with Don into one of the premier racing facilities
in the country. Hoenig said that he has enjoyed the friendship
and support given by all of the modified teams over the many
years and that he looks forward to just being in the background
going forward. I had the chance to talk with Don before the
drivers meeting and complimented him on the North South Thompson
Shootout and he said most of the talk after the race was good
but that there was some complaints but he also acknowledged
that is also part of putting on a first annual event and that
it will grow bigger and better into the future. Don has been
an intrigue part of auto racing in the northeast and he will
be inducted into the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame this
coming winter. Don said that next August that they are looking
at returning one of the modified tour races dates but making
it a one day show.
PHIL
KURZE TALKS ABOUT 2012
Phil
Kurze, the director of Whelen motorsports and one of the biggest
supporters of the modified tour said he saw a glimpse of the
2012 modified tour schedule and while he couldn’t tip
his hand about it, he said he is hopeful for a good season next
year. Kurze did say that there were some sanction issues to
work out and that he is still working on television for next
year and beyond.
Kurze also mentioned that the banquet in Charlotte is attended
by more people from the modified tour than any other sanctioned
series under the NASCAR banner. (Now maybe they could return
it to Mohegan Sun.
Oct 9 - Seekonk Speedway - MRS - 13
Seekonk, MA-- Mike Holdridge of Madison, CT., started 22nd in
a 29 car field, took the lead on lap 65, and went on to win
the Valenti Modified Racing Series, 100-lap, “DAV Fall
Classic” race Sunday afternoon at Seekonk Speedway, Seekonk,
MA. The win was the second of the season for the second-generation
driver. Holdridge also becomes the eighth different driver to
win the eighth annual event. Pole-sitter Russ Hersey, of Swanzey,
NH., led the field to green and the first six-laps until passed
by Preston, CT., veteran Kenny Barry. Barry quickly became the
class of the field leading laps 7 through 64 holding off the
challenges of Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, CT., Rowan Pennink,
Huntingdon Valley, PA., and Holdridge. When Holdridge took the
top spot, Barry chased the winner to the finish, Jon McKennedy,
of E.Chelmsford, MA., last years DAV race winner, finished third,
Jimmy Kuhn, of W. Bridgewater, MA., fourth, and Dwight Jarvis,
of Ascutney,VT., fifth. Sixth through tenth were: Max Zachem,
of Preston, CT., Hinckley,Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon, CT., Timmy
Jordan, Plainfield, CT., and Joe Doucette, Framingham, MA. Holdridge
in post race interviews said he did not think he had a car capable
of winning.
“Very surprising, didn’t expect this to happen,
definitely not here,” Holdridge said.” I was going
to be happy with a top ten finish. That big wreck on lap 18
(7-car pileup) had a lot to do with where I finished. A lot
of the fast cars got knocked to the back. It could have been
a completely different outcome.” “This is not my
good motor. It is out for repair. This is my backup motor.”
Holdridge added. “I went to my son’s football game
this morning. I did not plan to practice the car. I figured
to drive around, get some points, and try to stay in the top
five. (Point standings)
Qualifying races were won by Timmy Jordan, Louie Mechalides,
and Jimmy Dolan. 30 race teams entered the event with 29 cars
taking the green flag. Six caution flags slowed the race. It
took 54 minutes 34 seconds to
complete.
Race
Summary:October 9,2011
Seekonk Speedway Seekonk, MADistance: 100 laps Time of Race:
54:34.475
Best Lap Time: 12:225 Best Speed: 98.061 Margin of Victory:
1.079
Lead Changes: 2Lap Leaders: Hersey (1-6) Barry (7-64) Holdridge
(65-100)
Caution: Laps 12,18,30,42,56,95
Unofficial
Order of Finish:
(1) Holdridge (2) Barry (3) McKennedy (4) Kuhn (5) D.Jarvis
(6) Zachem (7) Hinckley (8) Pasteryak (9) Jordan (10) Doucette
(11) Marquis (12) Patnode (13) Pennink (14) Emerling (15) Mechalides
(16) S.Perry (17) Fredrickson (18) Wrenn (19) J.Jarvis (20)
Dolan (21) Schneider (22) Goodenough (23) Masse (24) Bateman
(25) Charette (26) Alexander (27) Hersey (28) Annarummo (29)
F. Perry
Oct 2 - Stafford Speedway - NASCAR- 12
In thrilling fashion, Ted Christopher won the CARQUEST Fall
Final on Sunday at Stafford Motor Speedway.
On a green-white-checkered finish, Christopher, out of Plainville,
Conn., got his No. 36 Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet underneath
Erick Rudolph to take the lead just after the field took the
white flag to collect his 12th career victory at the Connecticut
half-mile track. For Christopher, it was his Tour-best fourth
win of the season and the 42nd of his storied career. On the
final lap Christopher got inside of Rudolph entering Turn 1,
Rudolph went to block, Christopher held his ground and the two
banged nerf bars rolling through the turn. Christopher came
out of Turn 1 with the lead and rode to victory. Ryan Preece
capitalized on Rudolph’s misfortune to earn the runner-up
position followed by Donny Lia in third. Eric Beers finished
fourth and Rudolph ended up in the fifth position. Kevin Goodale,
points leader Ron Silk, Matt Hirschman, Doug Coby and Justin
Bonsignore rounded out the top 10.
Bonsignore, who picked up his third career Coors Light Pole
Award on Saturday, had an answer for all comers over the first
79 laps when he made a trip to pit road for fuel and tires.
In the early going, overtures were made by Christopher, Lia
and Preece. However, after everyone cycled through pit stops,
Bonsignore was not able to work his way back through traffic.
Todd Szegedy, who entered the day just eight points behind Silk,
suffered an early-race spin and made multiple pit stops before
climbing back as high as second in the race. Another late-race
spin resulted in a 22nd-place finish. Silk’s top 10 effort
combined with Szegedy’s misfortune means that Silk will
take a 57-point lead to the season finale.
1
3 36 Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet 154 185
5 Running
2 8 40 Ryan Preece American Lamp Recycling/Mizzy Cst. Chevrolet
154 170 Running
3 2 11 Donny Lia Spectro Performance Oils Ford 154 165 Running
4 4 45 Eric Beers Horwith Frghtlnr/John Blewett Inc. Chevrolet
154 160 Running
5 13 98 Erick Rudolph Mohawk N.E./Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet
154 160 5 Running
6 5 50 Kevin Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 154
150 Running
7 7 6 Ron Silk T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 154
146 Running
8 16 3 Matt Hirschman Cape Cod Copper/LI Mod Maniac Chevrolet
154 142 Running
9 12 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrecking Chevrolet 154 138 Running
10 1 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 154 144 10
Running
11 21 10 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard's Auto Stores Chevrolet
154 130 Running
12 18 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet
154 127 Running
13 17 39 Richie Pallai, Jr. Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet 154
124 Running
14 24 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/MacLad Drywall Chevrolet
154 121 Running
15 19 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 154 118
Running
16 22 8 Glenn Tyler Jayfor/Gallagher Enterprises Chevrolet 154
115 Running
17 14 9 Tom Rogers, Jr. * MissMarianaLee.com Chevrolet 154 112
Running
18 29 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Chevrolet
154 109 Running
19 26 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet
154 106 Running
20 25 17 Glen Reen Silberman Heating & Cooling Chevrolet
153 103 Running
21 27 38 Glenn Griswold * Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil
Chevrolet 151 100 Running
22 15 2 Todd Szegedy Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Const. Ford
151 97 Running
23 23 07 Patrick Emerling * Emerling Chevrolet Ford 148 94 Accident
24 9 58 Eric Goodale Perimeters for the Home Chevrolet 147 91
Running
25 20 88 Bryon Chew * Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka Chevrolet
128 88 Engine
26 11 46 Eric Berndt North End Auto Parts/Cape Cod Agts Chevrolet
105 85 Accident
27 6 4 Bobby Santos "Mystic Missile" Dodge 102 82
Rear End
28 30 22 Chuck Hossfeld Jerry Gradl Motors Chevrolet 95 79 Engine
29 28 79 Chris Kopec Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 93
76 Brakes
30 10 16 Mike Stefanik Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford
66 73 Engine
RACE
STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Justin Bonsignore, Time: 18.427 Seconds,
Speed: 97.683 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 25 mins, 57 secs Average Speed: 53.752
mph Margin of Victory: 0.179 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 8-11 (Car #39 spin Turn 2); 18-23 (Car #38
spin Turn 2); 32-36 (Car #2 spin backstretch); 38-43 (Car #99
accident Turn 4); 46-50 (Multi-car accident Turn 4); 56-61 (Car
#9 spin Turn 2 <38>); 77-81 (Car #39 spin Turn 2 <38>);
86-89 (Car #50 spin <99>); 97-104 (Multi-car accident
Turn 4 <99>); 111-114 (Cars #3, 93 spin Turn 4 <51>);
120-123 (Car #93 spin Turn 2 <9>); 43-145 (Car #58 spin
Turn 4 <38>); 148-152 (Multi-car accident Turn 4 [Red
Flag 4 mins.]). 13 for 65 laps.
Lap Leaders: Justin Bonsignore 1-79, Erick Rudolph 80-153, Ted
Christopher 154.
Total Laps Led: Justin Bonsignore 79, Erick Rudolph 74, Ted
Christopher 1. 2 changes involving 3 drivers.
CONTINGENCY
AWARDS
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Gary McDonald, 26 Lakeland
Landscape/TRC Electric Chevrolet
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Justin Bonsignore, 51 M3 Technology
Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Richie Pallai, Jr.,
39 Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Tom Rogers, Jr. *, 9 MissMarianaLee.com
Chevrolet
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD: Ted Christopher, 36 Al-Lee
Installations Chevrolet
Race Story By Polly Reid
In
October, Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees is the worst
thing to see coming out of the bullpen at a Major League Baseball
game. The veteran pitcher has 42 saves in the post season as
a member of the Bronx Bombers. He's one of the best at finishing
a game. 130 miles to the northeast of Yankee Stadium sits another
venue that has a phenomenal closer. Stafford Motor Speedway,
in Connecticut, is Yankee Stadium to Ted Christopher. The 53-year-old
is a multi-time track champion and had 11 tour wins on the half-mile
before Sunday's Fall Final for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
Christopher is one of the best when it comes to finishing a
race at Stafford
So when it came down to the ninth inning, the closing laps,
at Stafford, the 36 machine with TC aboard was trying to close
another dramatic chapter in the history of the Fall Final. Insert
a 19-year-old Erick Rudolph from Ransomville, New York and you
have your setting for a Fall Classic. Rudolph played the pit
strategy just right to lead to the white flag, but Christopher,
who took tires late, had run him down and had his right-front
tire almost to the door of Rudolph’s No. 98 Mohawk Northeast/Original
Pizza Logs machine. The two drag-raced to turn one and made
contact, nearly causing both to spin. Christopher gathered it
up and took the lead as Rudolph washed up the track and saw
Christopher sail away like an unhittable fastball. Christopher
finished the lap and took the victory in the Fall final for
his 42nd career Modified Tour win, the same number of saves
as Rivera and the jersey number he wears too. "He knew
I had a faster car and he had to protect the track as much as
he could," said Christopher in victory lane. "I had
my right-front to his left-rear, we were actually touching coming
off the turn (four). He was trying to protect and I was trying
to win. I think the faster car won." It's the fourth time
in his career that won a race at Stafford by taking the lead
the lead in the final 10 laps. It was the first time in TC's
career where he led only the final lap of a Tour race to win
it.Rudolph was able to hang on to a top five finish after the
contact in one, but was very upset with the final lap of the
race. He managed to explain his side of the story and was not
pleased with the outcome. "I was going into (turn) one
just like I did every other time," said an emotional Rudolph
after the race. "Ted just stuffed it in there and almost
took us both out. I don't know. It's typical of him. He's a
flat out idiot." It ruined what could have been his second-career
Tour win and the best run of the season for the 98 team. Still,
Rudolph was able to make a positive out of what turned into
a fifth-place finish."I can't complain of how the car was
handling," said Rudolph. "I am proud of the team and
how we got it together and how we ran. We can take something
away from this as we had a good car if we come back and run
here." Then third-place runner and second-place finisher
Ryan Preece had the bird's eye view for the final lap. The 2011
Stafford SK Modified Champion saw no reason to blame ether party."I
almost thought I was going to win one like I lost one a couple
of years back," said Preece. "Teddy got a run on Erick
and I don't know if it was enough to say he was there or not,
but Erick and Teddy got together and we all got sideways trying
to avoid it." Donny Lia finished behind Preece on the podium
with Eric Beers and Rudolph in fifth.The win was extra special
for Christopher who won the previous race at Stafford only to
split with his current team for a few weeks. All the pieces
were put back in place with the same personal and the results
were the same. "It's good to win," said Christopher.
"I like coming back and knowing that we can run strong
here. It was disappointing that we were third in points when
we took some time off, but that's behind us.
Qualifying
for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was pushed back a few hours
because of the morning rain delay and while the clouds and mist
threatened to shelve the thirty car field from time trials,
the weather held as Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville, NY in the
M3 Technology Chevrolet took down his first Coors Light pole
award of the 2011 season . With a lap of 18.427 seconds, 97.683
mph, Bonsignore edged out Donny Lia, Ted Christopher, Eric Beers
and Eric Goodale the top five for the front starting spot in
the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour CARQUEST Fall Final at Stafford
Motor Speedway. “This morning I woke up, I was content
to start sixth, lining up by points,” said Bonsignore
referring to the weather. “I was shocked we actually got
a chance to get in there- two weeks in a row we’ve had
a pretty good window between the rain and to get everything
in two weeks in a row, that’s pretty cool. Practice was
less than ideal, we had some good runs then we went to do a
mock run with new tires and the rain started to pick up just
enough where we couldn’t get a good run. We just parked
it, figured we had a good enough car, I didn’t think we’d
get the pole, actually I shocked myself with this one. I thought
we’d be a top five, I didn’t think we’d get
the pole, it’s pretty cool, we haven’t gotten a
pole all year.” “This car is pretty much going to
be our ‘every week’ Tour car- it won’t be
for just Bristol or Loudon anymore. The car was brand new at
the beginning of this year, we ran it three times at Loudon
and Bristol. Besides the one wreck at Loudon, this car hasn’t
finished worse than fourth, it’s got a pretty good track
record so far.” His third career pole, Bonsignore won
the Fall Final pole award one year ago. “It’s really
satisfying,” said Bonsignore about repeating the award.
“Last year we got caught up in a wreck, none of our doing
mainly because of the re-draw. They’ve done away with
that so hopefully we can what I feel, unsettled from last year.
I felt we had a car good enough to win, it was unfortunate we
got taken out, not of anyone’s doing, it was a racing
deal. We really wanted to win this one last year so hopefully
we can do it this year.” “We’ve been running
great lately, we’ve been putting a lot more focus on the
Tour now that Riverhead is over. Hopefully this is a sign of
things to come for next year.” Two podium finishes in
the last two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events, a third at
Loudon and a third at Lime Rock Park, the 2010 Sunoco Rookie
of the Year would be a good bet to take the CARQUEST Fall Final
win for 2011.
POS
CAR DRIVER TEAM TIME SPEED
1 51 Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y. M3 Technology Chevrolet
18.427 97.683
2 11 Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y. Spectro Performance Oils Ford
18.478 97.413
3 36 Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn. Al-Lee Installations
Chevrolet 18.555 97.009
4 45 Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa. Horwith Frghtlnr/John Blewett
Inc. Chevrolet 18.573 96.915
5 50 Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y. Riverhead Building Supply
Chevrolet 18.574 96.91
6 4 Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass. "Mystic Missile"
Dodge 18.604 96.753
7 6 Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn. T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm
Chevrolet 18.622 96.66
8 40 Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn. American Lamp Recycling/Mizzy
Cst. Chevrolet 18.634 96.598
9 58 Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y. Perimeters for the Home Chevrolet
18.649 96.52
10 16 Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I. Diversified Metals/R.B.
Enterprises Ford 18.711 96.2
11 46 Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn. North End Auto Parts/Cape
Cod Agts Chevrolet 18.723 96.138
12 52 Doug Coby, Milford, Conn. Reynolds Auto Wrecking Chevrolet
18.726 96.123
13 98 Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y. Mohawk N.E./Original
Pizza Logs Chevrolet 18.728 96.113
14 9 Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y. * MissMarianaLee.com Chevrolet
18.736 96.072
15 2 Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn. Wisk Detergent/A&J
Romano Const. Ford 18.75 96
16 3 Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa. Cape Cod Copper/LI Mod
Maniac Chevrolet 18.766 95.918
17 39 Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Bosch Spark
Plugs Chevrolet 18.773 95.882
18 93 Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Monk Mechanics Hand
Cleaner Chevrolet 18.776 95.867
19 99 Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J. Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet
18.823 95.628
20 88 Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y. * Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka
Chevrolet 18.898 95.248
21 10 Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn. Ron Bouchard's Auto
Stores Chevrolet 18.904 95.218
22 8 Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y. Jayfor/Gallagher Enterprises
Chevrolet 18.907 95.203
23 07 Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y. * Emerling Chevrolet
Ford 18.942 95.027
24 18 Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y. Buoy One Seafood/MacLad Drywall
Chevrolet 19.086 94.31
25 17 Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass. Silberman Heating & Cooling
Chevrolet 19.092 94.28
26 33 Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn. Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's
Oil Chevrolet 19.166 93.916
27 38 Glenn Griswold, Vernon, Conn. * Perf. Engines/Kendall
Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 19.217 93.667
28 79 Chris Kopec, Palmer, Mass. Hill Enterprises/Coors Light
Pontiac 19.334 93.1
29 26 Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y. Lakeland Landscape/TRC
Electric Chevrolet 19.844 90.708
30 22 Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, N.Y. Jerry Gradl Motors Chevrolet
No Time
Sept
24 - New Hampshire - NASCAR - 22
NHMS Modified Tour Notes: Good Day Gone Bad For Rowan Pennink;
Ryan Newman Has Short Day
By Shawn Courchesne
The toughest competition on the day for New Hampshire 100 race
winner Ron Silk proved to be Rowan Pennink of Huntingdon Valley,
Pa., but it all went bad for Pennink on the final restart of
the event with two laps remaining.
Rowan Pennink Stafford WMT 5-27-11.jpgRunning second, Pennink
slowed and fell back and ended up 22nd in the 29 car field.
"I'm not really sure what happened," Pennink said.
"I got a good restart there, and it just lost power midway
down the straightaway. I thought I didn't get it in gear all
the way, and I tried that, and that's not what happened. I don't
know if I broke the carburetor or something, pushing the gas
pedal too hard. I'd say something with the carburetor or fuel,
but who knows? With 10 laps remaining, Pennink was stuck to
Silk's back bumper and it seemed as if he was waiting to make
a last second move. That all changed when Ryan Preece spun on
lap 95 to bring out a caution and set up the green-white-checkered
restart. "I just wanted to push [Silk] until the last lap
and then battle it out for ourselves," Pennink said. "There's
no doubt in my mind I could drive it so much further down into
[turn 3], there's no way he could hold me off. We would have
been on our way to the win there." It proved an interesting
race long battle near the front for Silk and Pennink. The pair
left New Hampshire Motor Speedway after the Aug. 13 Granite
State Classic at the track angry with each other after battling
for position for much of that race. "[Rowan Pennink] was
really good all day," Silk said. "I think me and him
probably had the two best cars. I'm not sure what happened there
on the restart, but luckily we were able to edge him out. In
the beginning of the race when he would get a run and then pull
out and pass I would kind of just let him go. I think Rowan
is a good racecar driver. Sometimes me and him don't see eye-to-eye,
but, I wasn't worried about getting into a wreck with him or
anything. We both drive the cars hard, but I knew I could race
with him."
By Jason Remillard, The Republican
LOUDON, N.H. - For those who have complained that the NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway ceased
being exciting, here's a big plate of crow. Archrivals Ron Silk
and Rowan Pennink - with some help from a supporting cast of
competitors - put the crowd on the edge of their seats Saturday.
There were 17 lead changes, with polesitter Silk earning the
most important one on lap 85 to win the New Hampshire 100.
"The car was great right from the beginning," Silk
said. "We got out and led some laps. We didn't make any
changes at the pit stop. I was happy with the car." It's
safe to say the magic is back in the "Magic Mile,"
especially after a string of recent domination by NASCAR Sprint
Cup star Ryan Newman, who blew an engine on lap 41.
"Ryan Newman was going to have his hands full if he didn't
lose the engine," said runner-up Todd Szegedy. "It
wasn't going to be a runaway for anybody." Szegedy made
a charge late in the race to finish second, but Silk regained
the points lead (2182 to 2174) with two races remaining - next
Sunday at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway and Oct. 16 at Thompson
(Conn.) International Speedway. Silk, of Norwalk, Conn., scored
his seventh career victory, second at New Hampshire and third
of the season. Justin Bonsignore finished third, his career
best at NHMS. A mechanical issue on the final restart relegated
Pennink, who led the points for most of the season's first half,
to 22nd. "The 93 (Pennink) was really good. I think me
and him probably had the two best cars," Silk said. "I'm
not sure what happened on the restart, but luckily we were able
to edge him out."
Ted Christopher had to start in the rear of the 29-car field
after missing Thursday's qualifying session to tend to his wife,
who was injured at work. In typical "TC" style, he
roared his way through the field and got as high as second before
settling for fourth. The race was delayed 24 minutes at lap
38 when a light mist fell on the track. A good pit stop gave
Silk the lead off pit road, but he had to start behind a few
cars that opted not to stop. Defending Tour champion Bobby Santos
III, who also missed qualifying Thursday, led briefly before
Silk surged ahead again.
Drivers made good use of their bumpers - AKA "The Chrome
Horn" - to push their competitors around the Magic Mile.
At times, that allowed cars to slingshot past the ones in front
of them, though it just as often simply pushed the front cars
further ahead. If Saturday's excitement carries over to Stafford
and Thompson, the 2011 season will have a wild conclusion. "It's
a lot of fun, especially doing it with a guy like Todd Szegedy,"
Silk said. "It's going to go right down to the wire."
Fin
Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 1 6 Ron Silk T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 100
190 10 Running
2 8 2 Todd Szegedy Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Const. Ford
100 170 Running
3 3 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 100 165 Running
4 29 36 Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet 100 160
Running
5 2 45 Eric Beers Horwith Frghtlnr/John Blewett Inc. Chevrolet
100 160 5 Running
6 5 98 Erick Rudolph Tempo Graphics/Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet
100 150 Running
7 20 25 Zane Zeiner ATC Dodge 100 146 Running
8 12 16 Mike Stefanik Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford
100 142 Running
9 7 3 Matt Hirschman Cape Cod Copper/Nash Road Mtrs Chevrolet
100 138 Running
10 17 58 Eric Goodale Perimeters for the Home Chevrolet 100
134 Running
11 23 14 Ken Woolley, Jr. Ling Trucking/Atlantic Sprinkler Chevrolet
100 130 Running
12 14 10 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard's Autos/Roush Yates Chevrolet
100 127 Running
13 15 71 Rob Fuller Draco Spring Ford 100 124 Running
14 16 40 Ryan Preece Mizzy Const./Logan Steel Chevrolet 100
121 Running
15 19 8 Glenn Tyler Jayfor Chevrolet 100 118 Running
16 11 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrkng/NEAJS.com Chevrolet 100
115 Running
17 10 7 Patrick Emerling * Emerling Chevrolet Ford 100 112 Running
18 28 4 Bobby Santos "Mystic Missile" Dodge 100 114
5 Running
19 25 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/MacLad Drywall Chevrolet
100 106 Running
20 21 88 Bryon Chew * Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka Chevrolet
100 103 Running
21 24 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 100 100
Running
22 6 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet
99 102 5 Running
23 18 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Agts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet
96 94 Running
24 26 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet
81 91 Axle
25 22 39 Richie Pallai, Jr. Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet 65 88
Accident
26 13 79 James Civali Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 65
85 Accident
27 9 28 Woody Pitkat Ramar-Hall Chevrolet 57 87 5 Engine
28 4 77 Ryan Newman Aggressive Hydraulics/Menards Chevrolet
40 79 Engine
29 27 38 Jake Marosz Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet
18 76 Handling
RACE
STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Ron Silk, Time: 29.764 Seconds, Speed: 127.967
mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 13 mins, 0 secs Average Speed: 86.959
mph Margin of Victory: 0.374 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 37-46 (Rain [Red Flag 24 mins.] <16>);
62-65 (Car #28 stalled pit road entrance <16>); 66-71
(Multi-car accident frontstretch <88>); 94-98 (Car #40
spin backstretch <52>). 4 for 25 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ron Silk 1-6, Eric Beers 7, Ron Silk 8-9, Rowan
Pennink 10, Ron Silk 11-13, Rowan Pennink 14-15, Ron Silk 16-18,
Rowan Pennink 19-20, Ron Silk 21-22, Rowan Pennink 23-30, Ron
Silk 31-33, Rowan Pennink 34-43, Woody Pitkat 44-47, Bobby Santos
48, Woody Pitkat 49-51, Ron Silk 52-82, Rowan Pennink 83-84,
Ron Silk 85-100.
Total Laps Led: Ron Silk 66, Rowan Pennink 25, Woody Pitkat
7, Eric Beers 1, Bobby Santos 1. 17 changes involving 5 drivers.
CONTINGENCY
AWARDS
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Ted Christopher, 36 Al-Lee
Installations Chevrolet
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Ron Silk, 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree
Farm Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Ron Silk, 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton
Tree Farm Chevrolet
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Patrick Emerling *, 07 Emerling
Chevrolet Ford
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD: Ron Silk, 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton
Tree Farm Chevrolet
Sept
22 - New
Hampshire Speedway
- NASCAR - Time 6
Ron
Silk, looking to get his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points
lead back, will start on the point for Saturday's New Hampshire
100 after winning the Coors Light Pole Award Thursday at New
Hampshire Motor Speedway. Silk had a top lap of 29.764 seconds
(127.967 mph) around the 1.058-mile oval. It was the fifth career
pole for the Norwalk, Conn., driver, who won at the ‘Magic Mile’
in 2009. The New Hampshire 100 will be carried by SPEED Saturday
at 1 p.m., prior to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
Silk finished 15th at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., last
week to drop 12 points behind Todd Szegedy in the championship
standings. Szegedy, who won at Lime Rock and earlier this season
at New Hampshire, qualified eighth Thursday. Eric Beers, who
was fastest in Thursday’s practice, qualified second with a
lap of 29.793 (127.842), followed by Justin Bonsignore at 29.799
(127.816). NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman, the
defending race winner, and Erick Rudolph rounded out the top
five. Rowan Pennink, Matt Hirschman, Szegedy, Woody Pitkat and
rookie Patrick Emerling completed the top 10. The New Hampshire
100 is set to go green Saturday at 12:45 p.m.
Qualifying
Results
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour - New Hampshire 100 Lineup
Race Saturday; Qualifying Thursday
at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H.
Lap Length: 1.058 miles
1. (6) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 127.967
2. (45) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 127.842
3. (51) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 127.816
4. (77) Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind., Chevrolet, 127.419
5. (98) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 126.977
6. (93) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 126.952
7. (3) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 126.842
8. (2) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 126.812
9. (28) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 126.795
10. (07) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 126.728
11. (52) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 126.686
12. (16) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Ford, 126.643
13. (79) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 126.576
14. (10) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 126.559
15. (71) Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass., Ford, 126.412
16. (40) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 126.061
17. (58) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.969
18. (46) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.815
19. (8) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.645
20. (25) Zane Zeiner, Bath, Pa., Dodge, 125.628
21. (88) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.006
22. (39) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet,
124.940
23. (14) Ken Woolley, Jr., Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 124.609
24. (99) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 123.115
25. (18) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 122.497
26. (33) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 122.462
27. (38) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 117.963
28. (4) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, No speed
29. (36) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, No speed
Sept 17 - Lime Rock - NASCAR - 6
NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR
'66/99' PRESENTED BY TOWN FAIR TIRE
by
Polly Reid
The expectation was there, the guarantee was not. After earning
the Coors Light Pole Award, then dominating two thirds of the
race, Todd Szegedy found himself fourth on a restart after pitting.
On the final restart with seven to go, Szegedy now in third,
headed to turn one, first getting by Justin Bonsignore then
side my side Mike Stefanik past the start finish line heading
into Big Bend emerging the leader for the final time and never
looked back to score the win in the NASCAR Whelen Modified 66/99
presented by Town Fair Tire at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville,
CT. Stefanik crossed for a solid second on the 1.5 mile, eight
turn road course with Bonsignore third, Richie Pallai fourth
and Ted Christopher fifth. Ron Silk the point leader going into
Lime Rock was caught up in a caution on a restart and suffering
right front damage, was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop.
The TS Haulers crew was able to get Silk back out but the Norwalk,
CT driver who threatened for the lead in the early going finished
his day 15th. Szegedy’s win combined with Silk’s
finish launched the Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction
Ford into the points lead by 12 over Silk. “I never once
thought we had this in the bag,” stated Szegedy. “I
know we had a superior car but I had to start fourth then start
third, I knew we had to get a good restart and get past these
guys because I didn’t know how good the guys were behind
me. You never know what you’re going to do in that kind
of a situation because you’re not used to sailing into
a corner and have to downshift twice and be in control while
you’re braking because that just doesn’t happen
in ovals. Mike gave me plenty of room, I had my downshifting
down and then just drove away. The car was awesome. We made
it, it was pretty amazing.”; Szegedy was challenged early
on by Silk and Erick Rudolph - the trio pulling away from the
pack but as the laps ticked on, Szegedy built a comfortable
lead until the competition yellow waved on lap 20. A tangle
mid-pack on the restart reined in the field as the three cars
involved were able to drive away. By the half, lap 33, Szegedy
in command led Rudolph, Silk, Stefanik, Bonsignore and Pallai
in sixth. Ted Christopher who was running fourth, had spun coming
down hill just before the half, but recovered to get back into
the top ten shortly after the half way point.
The game changer came when the a full course caution flew on
lap 41. With 25 to go, it was wholesale pit stops. Ed Flemke
and Doug Coby stayed out and led the field while Stefanik coming
in third gained valuable positions coming out of the pits first
after a four tire change, Szegedy and Bonsignore followed. On
the restart, what started in Big Bend concluded in the Left
Hander, as at least eight cars were involved in the yellow that
flew including Silk who pulled away with right front damage.
The restart repeated, Coby took over the front spot on lap 52,
but two circuits later, the day would end for Coby after getting
into the dirt heading to the Downhill. As Stefanik got by, Bonsignore
had the front row seat to the conclusion of Coby’s day.
“He crossed in front of me, it didn’t look like
he hit all that hard but coming back around, he hit a lot. I
guess he tried to bring it back out of the dirt too quick he
probably should have rode it down the hill as much as he could
- sometimes in road racing, I know I haven’t done it much,
but you have to ride the dirt out until you can get the car
back straight. He just didn’t have the right angle like
Mike said and he didn’t have a prayer of saving it, I
don’t think the best could have.”;
The red flag was brought out for the clean up and when the green
waved it was a seven lap dash that did not disappoint the fans.
Stefanik led to the green with Bonsignore, Szegedy, Pallai and
Flemke the top five. Christopher recovered from his earlier
off track excursion and restarted 12th. Szegedy made his move
to become the new leader on lap 61 getting by first Bonsignore
then Stefanik, the Ridgefield, CT driver finishing what he started
a year ago- a trip to victory lane at Lime Rock Park. “I
almost blew it today,” admitted Szegedy. “The combination
of the car wouldn’t turn, driving it in hard, just as
hard with the other set of tires and it just didn’t stick,
it did it twice - it got dicey and at that point I said I really
have to use my head here, I got a good car, I got to take it
easy and just pass them when I can and that’s what I did.
Trust me, even when I was leading for once I never thought I
had this one in the bag- I know how it works.”; Referring
to the results one year ago when Szegedy literally dominated
the entire event only to be bested by Dale Quarterly with new
tires in the closing circuits, Szegedy never counted out his
competitors. “I knew Silk was going to be tough- he came
out of road racing go karts like I did so I knew that he was
going to be good and those guys know how to set up a race car.
I was also worried about Teddy of course, Stefanik and Justin-
Justin came out of go karts too so I knew those were the guys
I had to beat. But today, I didn’t points race, I came
here to win- I came here to get the pole and win. I was going
to do everything I could to get this win.”; Stefanik in
the Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises machine simply could
not hold off Szegedy as the Coventry, RI driver put it, we’re
all in ‘Todd’s sandbox’. “He was just
too strong on the front stretch for us - we were decent through
out. Our car took a while to get going, it seemed like 8 or
10 laps the we would run our best lap - I think lap 14 was our
best lap of the race today, I don’t know why and talking
to Justin he said his car was sliding around, it just wouldn’t
hook up, it’s not that it was ill handling it just slid
a lot. I had a lot of fun today - I almost messed up down there
and down shifted too early in second and almost spun the thing
out that was the only real bad, bad error -I probably made another
2000 errors I could hide….somewhat. It’s just a
game of mistakes here.”; Stefanik continued, “The
guys did a great job on the pit stop, I have to thank our team
again for the outstanding pit work that they do - it’s
a little tougher on the guys here because of the wheel spaces
we have to run to get our cars prepared for the road course
so it makes it a little more tricky but they did an outstanding
job.”; In the hunt all weekend from opening practice to
the checkers, Bonsignore from Holtsville, NY in the M3 Technology
modified summed up his day. “After pitting, we kind of
got jammed up in the short chute after Big Ben and I already
have a broken thumb and I jammed it again, I got into Mike a
little bit and re-injured that - once the adrenaline kicked
back in it didn’t hurt and we got the restart, got a couple
of free spots, Teddy drove off, Doug wrecked- Todd, I don’t
know where Todd was going into one he messed up off of the last
corner, we went down the front stretch and he drove it probably
three markers deeper than I would of and I said I’m not
going to make I don’t know how he’s going to make
the corner, then we got to second and I’m feeling good
ready to go thought we had a good chance at Mike and the red
flag killed it. Just like Mike’s car we just took too
long to get going, we needed 10 to 12 laps -right there at the
end we were clicking off some low 54’s - I thought we
had a chance. All in all, it was just a great day.”; “When
I was younger, this was all I raced was road courses,”
said Bonsignore about his kart days. “Never in anything
I had to shift or anything with this much horse power but driving
these kind of tracks, staying smooth you have to have a lot
of finesse - the more you can minimize the mistakes - that’s
all it is, just stay on the track. I mean Teddy probably had
one of the better cars but if you don’t stay on the track
it’s tough. That’s the name of the game like Mike
said you can hide a lot of your mistakes but sometimes you mess
up bad. It’s all abut minimizing your mistakes as much
as you can and just staying on the course.”; Three wins
for Szegedy this season, car owner Mike Smeriglio has witnessed
his team grow and gel as the season continues. “I’m
happy for the guys, Szegedy earned this one the hard way. He
kept his cool, he had a better car, the team did an awesome
pit stop - you know we have a bunch of guys that are newbie’s
going over the wall - I couldn‘t be more proud of them.”;
The new points leader, Smeriglio did not hesitate to explain
their strategy, “It’s pretty simple, just keep digging,
run well, go for wins and the points will come around. We’re
disappointed the 6 car couldn’t race us in the end today
but there’s three races to go, I know they’re going
to be right there with us all the way to the end.”; A
road course it particularly stressful on a team, squeezing in
the extra preparation needed in the midst of a diverse schedule
that is also the busiest part of the season- Lime Rock marking
the fourth of six consecutive events. Crew chief Phil Moran
reunited with Szegedy this year knew what was at stake. “Todd’s
so good here as a road racer and after last year, loosing the
race, he got beat by strategy and tires, we weren’t going
to let that happen to us this year. I wanted to give him a good
car. I know he had one last year so we worked out butt off to
get it that way this time.”; From his perspective, Moran
continued. “When we did the fuel stop, I talked to Todd
about how the car felt and he said the car was awesome. That
was about 15 to 20 laps away from our pitting for tires. It
did enter my mind about not pitting but it would have ticked
him off so much if I didn’t pit because that’s all
we talked about in the shop all week, we had to do it, we had
no choice. I knew everybody else was on the same page, in the
same strategy zone that we were in because they saw what it
did for Quarterly last year, we had to do it.”; But it
didn’t make for an easy watch in the final going. “The
biggest thing that I did with the car this week” explained
Moran, “was to make sure nothing broke on it because road
courses are 80 percent driver and the rest is car preparation
as far as anything breaking, nothing falling off the car so
that’s what we had to do. Todd’s so good here- he
knows where to pass and how to pass, that’s what did it
for us.”; “The team that we have is incredible,
the guys come to the shop all the time, I’ve got a great
group of guys and I couldn’t ask for a better car owner.
Mike gives me everything that I need and then some- including
moral support which is a big thing at this level of racing-
you don’t see that much anymore.”;
Informed he was the new points leader in the post race interview,
Szegedy was surprised. “That’s a big deal but they’re
hot on our heals- we have three to go and I said two races to
ago, we’re right there, but we have four left, I can get
into the points lead in one race but I can loose it back in
one race too. We can’t change anything we’re doing,
I just have to continue to keep going. The way I look at it
is if we win the championship that’s a pretty awesome
thing especially coming from the back the way we did, starting
off real bad getting wrecked in the first two races like we
did. If we finish second it’s still a great year because
we put a new team together, reunited with my crew chief, we
did a lot, built two race cars, we have a third one we’re
building, we have a group of dedicated guys - almost all new
guys on the team so it’s pretty amazing for us to be running
the way we are.”;
Szegedy at 2,004 points, Silk with 1,992 and Rowan Pennink still
in it with 1,911- the season maybe winding down but it is far
from over. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads to New Hampshire
Motor Speedway for the third and final visit of the year for
the New Hampshire 100 on Saturday September 24th.
LAKEVILLE, Conn. - Todd Szegedy battled back after losing the
lead during on a pit stop and then making an off-track excursion
to win the NASCAR Whelen Modified 66/99 presented by Town Fair
Tire at Lime Rock Park on Saturday. It was a sweet win for the
Ridgefield, Conn., driver - who led all but the last four laps
before being relegated to second in last year's inaugural tour
visit to the 1.5-mile, eight-turn road course. With his victory
on Saturday, he took over the lead in the championship standings.
Szegedy, who had experience at LRP in other racing series prior
to his NASCAR career, dominated the early action on Saturday.
He started from the pole in his No. 2 Wisk Detergent/A&J
Romano Construction Ford and opened up a lead of more than two
seconds early. However, he fell to fourth following a pit stop
during a caution on Lap 44. He later went off course, but quickly
recovered and set out after the leaders. After moving up to
second on Lap 60, Szegedy took the lead from Mike Stefanik a
lap later and then pulled away from the field to win by a margin
of 1.796 seconds. Stefanik finished second followed by Justin
Bonsignore, Richie Pallai, and Ted Christopher. Rowan Pennink,
Erick Rudolph, Eric Beers, Kevin Goodale and Patrick Emerling
rounded out the top 10. Previous race winner Doug Coby looked
poised to go back-to-back but wrecked while in the lead on Lap
55 and finished 18th. The race featured seven lead changes among
five drivers. Szegedy led a race-high 49 circuits. The win was
Szegedy's 17th career victory and the third this season for
the 2003 tour champion. Three wins and podium finishes in six
of the last eight events have propelled him to the top of the
standings, with 2,004 points over 1,992 for Ron Silk, who finished
15th on Saturday. The Lime Rock race marked the fourth of six-consecutive
weeks of racing for the Whelen Modified Tour. The busiest portion
of the 2011 schedule started at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway
on Aug. 24 and will get a break following Stafford (Conn,) Motor
Speedway on Oct. 2, a stretch of six races in 40 days.
The next event on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is the New
Hampshire 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept.
24.
1 1 2 Todd Szegedy Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Const. Ford
66 190 10 Running
2 5 16 Mike Stefanik Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford
66 175 5 Running
3 4 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 66 165 Running
4 7 39 Richie Pallai, Jr. Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet 66 160
Running
5 9 36 Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations/M&T Enterprises
Chevrolet 66 155 Running
6 8 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 66
150 Running
7 3 98 Erick Rudolph Mohawk N.E./Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet
66 146 Running
8 17 45 Eric Beers Horwith Frghtlnr/John Blewett Inc. Chevrolet
66 142 Running
9 12 50 Kevin Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 66
138 Running
10 11 07 Patrick Emerling * Emerling Chevrolet Ford 66 134 Running
11 16 10 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard's Auto Stores Chevrolet
66 135 5 Running
12 15 3 Matt Hirschman Cape Cod Copper/Riverview Chevrolet 66
127 Running
13 18 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Agts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet
66 124 Running
14 19 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 66 126
5 Running
15 2 6 Ron Silk T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 65
118 Running
16 20 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet
63 115 Running
17 6 4 Bobby Santos "Mystic Missile" Dodge 61 112
Running
18 14 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrkg/Johnson Ldscp Chevrolet
54 114 5 Accident
19 13 58 Eric Goodale Perimeters for the Home Chevrolet 50 106
Running
20 10 79 James Civali Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 46
103 Accident
21 21 88 Bryon Chew * Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka Chevrolet
3 100 Transmission
RACE
STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Todd Szegedy, Time: 53.902 Seconds, Speed:
100.182 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 27 mins, 22 secs Average Speed: 67.989
mph Margin of Victory: 1.796 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 20-21 (Competition caution); 23-26 (Car
#58 off course Turn 3); 42-45 (Car #58 off course Turn 8); 47-51
(Mult-car accident Turn 3); 55-58 (Car #52 accident Turn 7 [Red
Flag 7 mins.]). 5 for 19 laps.
Lap Leaders: Todd Szegedy 1-43, Jamie Tomaino 44, Ed Flemke,
Jr. 45-46, Doug Coby 47, Ed Flemke, Jr. 48-51, Doug Coby 52-54,
Mike Stefanik 55-60, Todd Szegedy 61-66.
Total Laps Led: Todd Szegedy 49, Mike Stefanik 6, Ed Flemke,
Jr. 6, Doug Coby 4, Jamie Tomaino 1. 7 changes involving 5 drivers.
CONTINGENCY
AWARDS
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Eric Beers, 45 Horwith Frghtlnr/John
Blewett Inc. Chevrolet
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Todd Szegedy, 2 Wisk Detergent/A&J
Romano Const. Ford
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Erick Rudolph, 98 Mohawk
N.E./Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Patrick Emerling *, 07 Emerling
Chevrolet Ford
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD: Todd Szegedy, 2 Wisk Detergent/A&J
Romano Const.
ALISBURY
- NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Ted Christopher turned
road course racing into dirt track racing Saturday at Lime Rock
Park in Salisbury. Christopher put together a most dramatic
highlight reel of off course adventures on the way to a fifth
place finish in Saturday's Whelen Modified 66/99 at Lime Rock.
On lap 30, running in the top-five, Christopher did an off course
360 degree spin coming onto the front straightaway, seemingly
never slowing as he rumbled back onto the track at speed in
12th place. Not long after he got fully sideways going into
the chicane before powering out of the slide.But the most dramatic
move of the day for Christopher came on lap 54 when he was running
third behind leader Doug Coby and second place Todd Szegedy.
Going into the Big Bend first turn, Szegedy went low to go under
Coby, but before entering the corner, Christopher went under
Szegedy to send the trio three-wide into the corner. Christopher's
move ended with him rolling hard off course once again. Christopher
said Szegedy hit him off course. "I can't control when
somebody punts me," Christopher said. "But there's
still a bunch of races left." Szegedy, the eventual race
winner, laughed at the notion that he punted Christopher."I
don't know how I could have done that being on the outside,"
Szegedy said. "We banged wheels, but he went straight.
He probably shouldn't have done that. If he was that much better
than me he could have waited until the next lap. But it worked
out for the best." Eventual second place finisher Mike
Stefanik said he was laughing in his car watching from behind
as Christopher tried to complete the pass. "I actually
started laughing when I saw how hard Teddy went into the corner
with no angle," Stefanik said. "I was like 'This ought
to be good.' You really sit back and kind of chuckle to yourself
like you're at the movies. Obviously Teddy couldn't turn and
kind of locked up the front tires and went off into the dirt.
You're not surprised, you just kind of chuckle a little bit.
This really is a game of mistakes and Teddy drives so freaking
hard all the time that, it's impossible for even road course
veterans to not make a mistake here, and when you're charging
like that - he went off a few times right around me - and every
time you could see him leaving the track. I don't wish that
on anybody, but sometimes you see the situation and you just
say, 'Ok, this ought to be good.'"
Good Day Gone Bad
Doug Coby saw an almost guaranteed quality finish end up crunched
against a Lime Rock Park barrier off of West Bend after he got
off course while leading with 11 laps remaining. "I got
the left sides off in the dirt over there and I tried to straighten
it out and I thought I did and then the thing just hooked to
the right and I just hit the fence head-on up there," Coby
said. "It was just one of those things where we were all
kind of getting crazy. I was just trying to settle in and I
just missed the corner over there and just barely dipped the
left sides off by maybe six inches. "It was so stupid.
All I had to do was ride around and get top-five out of the
deal. We actually had a really fast car. I had a car that could
run with [the leaders]. It sucks. Just my own stupidity and
inexperience." Coby, who won the in the most previous Whelen
Modified Tour event last Sunday at Thompson International Speedway,
ended up 18th in the 21-car field. Stefanik and third place
finisher Justin Bonsignore both had front row views of Coby's
hard wreck. Stefanik said Coby likely reacted to quickly to
try to get back on track instead of trying to ride out the miscue
on the grass. "He was leading right in front of me and
he kind of took a wide entry into West Bend and I said to myself
'Oh, I can't go in that wide.'" Stefanik said. "Your
natural instinct is to get back on the track and get going but
you've got to look like 'Ok, I screwed up. Ok, that's me.' You've
got to mow some lawn before you get back on the track."
Said Bonsignore: "I guess he tried bringing it out of the
dirt too quick. He probably should have just rode it down the
hill as much as he could. Sometimes in road racing you've got
to ride the dirt out until you get the car back straight. He
just didn't have the right angle. He really didn't have a prayer
of saving that."-
NASCAR
WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR
'66/99' PRESENTED BY TOWN FAIR TIRE QUALIFYING
by Polly Reid
After topping the charts in both NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
“66/99” presented by Town Fair Tire practice sessions
here at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT, Todd Szegedy in the
Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction Ford followed up
his time around the 1.5 mile road course with a 53.902 second
lap, 100.182 mph to score the Coors Light Pole Award, his second
pole award of the season. “It’s always nice to be
the quickest car,” smiled Szegedy. “That’s
half the battle that’s over with. Start up front and hopefully
we’ll stay out of trouble.”
Following Szegedy in the line up will be points leader Ron Silk
in second, Erick Rudolph third, Justin Bonsignore and Mike Stefanik
the top five. Szegedy of Ridgefield, CT was aware he would be
closely watched. “I know a lot of people expect me to
get the pole but that puts a lot of pressure on you because
now you really want to do well. The track is a lot different
than last year, there was a lot of nose grip and this year it’s
very tight, you know we’re a second off from last year.”
“Mike Smeriglio gives me phenomenal equipment- Phil Moran,
the countless hours he spends on these cars is just absolutely
phenomenal. He spent all last Monday night, he was in the shop
all night long, he slept there to make sure this car was perfect
for me. He felt a lot of pressure too to make sure it was right.”
“I still haven’t figured out the tricks,”
said Szegedy about adjusting to a road course, even with his
past experience. “I know I can pick up another second
or more, as crazy as it sounds, but I really believe I can just
by driving the corners better. I feel I’m messing up in
some corners that I could carry more speed, I’m not going
to say which corners, but I feel I can carry a lot more speed
and that’s going to pick up a lot more time. I need to
figure out my entry, back to the throttle - not running a road
course on a regular basis, you have to figure it all out again.”
Szegedy who led the inaugural event one year ago, dominated
until the closing circuits when Dale Quarterly on fresh Hoosiers
made the pass for the win. “We do know that tires make
a big difference and there will be a tire change tomorrow- it’s
just a matter of when, we’re not sure.” “To
me, it’s a challenge,” added Szegedy about the road
course on the NWMT schedule.” “I wish I could come
here every weekend and run. If I was a multi-millionaire there
is no doubt I would be here.”
Sept
11 - Thompson Speedway - NASCAR
- RACE 8 - SHOWDOWN 31
UNOH SHOWDOWN -
THOMPSON INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
by Polly Reid
It
was all about the cash at the end of the line. No points, 50
green flag laps of racing with the pot at the end of the run
a cool $15,000 to the winner. A combined race of the top finishers
in both the Northern Thompson 125 and the Southern Thompson
125, the UNOH Showdown lined up with the best of both, a 36-car
field ready to duel it out for the impressive payday. It started
with an old fashioned coin toss, the Southern Modified Tour
winning the flip, electing to start on the outside row. With
the Northern field lined up on the inside led by Doug Coby and
the Southern field on the outside with Southern Thompson 125
winner George Brunnhoelzl, III setting the pace. But at the
checkers it was Coby backing up his dominating Northern Thompson
125 victory with an equally impressive performance in the highly
anticipated UNOH Showdown taking the UNOH Showdown title and
including the sponsored laps led, raising Coby’s total
winnings to an unofficial $20,000 plus payday for the once struggling
to get a full time Tour ride driver. Ted Christopher followed
across for second, James Civali third, Brunnhoelzl III fourth
and Eric Goodale fifth. “Anyone who doubted that 125 was
boring and I had it easy, I think we proved we had the car to
beat tonight with all those cautions. I hope we put on a good
show for all the fans. I want to thank UNOH and Whelen for putting
on this show and of course Thompson Speedway, this is a great
way to start September. The car was unbelievable, I’ve
never had a car like this at any race track.” Coby stepped
out to lead from the green but was soon challenged by Ted Christopher
who moved into second before the fifth circuit had clicked off.
Carrying the momentum, Christopher wasted no time going low
in turns three and four getting under Coby for the lead on the
7th lap taking Preece and Civali with him. Coby was shuffled
back to fourth when the second caution waved on lap nine. The
restarts at this point played into Coby’s favor and one
circuit into the restart was side by side with Christopher and
eventually completed the pass taking the lead over for good
on lap 13. Coby survived six more restarts, warded off the challenges
of Ryan Preece, Civali then Christopher to take the checker
flag for his second win of the day. “I’ve never
had a car like that before, ever, it was awesome. Sure there
were some bobbles here and there but I could go anywhere I wanted
to- our team deserves it. This is just unbelievable.”
“The guys gave me a good car there,” said Christopher.
“Just not quite good enough. Congratulations to Doug,
they had a great car here all day. Once you get it right here
it seems like your day keeps going, he probably wishes he had
a few more races today.” Civali backed up his podium finish
earlier in the day with a solid third, the Meriden, CT driver
pleased with his day at Thompson. “We had a couple of
good races today- the car was good we just snugged up just a
little bit for this race and try to drive it harder. The first
race we were saving a lot so we wanted to go hard and have something
at the end but it got too tight, it never freed up for us at
the end there we couldn’t hold off Teddy it was so tight,
it was that close.” Sixth went to Bobby Santos who took
the green 27th, seventh to front running contender Preece who
was shuffled back and ran out of time. “That was a heartbreaker,”
said Preece. ‘You know, if we went green all the way I
think I would have had something for him. Our car was definitely
starting to come in more and more, we were really fast but then
the cautions came out and it seemed like we’d be on the
bottom for the restarts, we’d get into fourth, we’d
pick up a position to get back to Doug, the caution would come
back out and we’d be right back at the bottom.”
Eighth was Mike Stefanik who picked his way forward from a 32nd
starting spot, ninth to Justin Bonsignore and Ed Flemke a solid
tenth after taking the green 21st.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour - NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified
Tour -
UNOH Showdown Unofficial Results (Exhibition)
Sunday At Thompson International Speedway
1.
Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 50 laps,
2. Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 50.
3. James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 50.
4. George Brunnhoelzl, III, W. Babylon, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
5. Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
6. Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 50.
7. Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 50.
8. Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Ford, 50.
9. Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
10. Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 50.
11. Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Ford, 50.
12. Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 50.
13. Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
14. L.W. Miller, Dushore, Pa., Chevrolet, 50.
15. Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
16. Frank Fleming, Mt. Airy, N.C., Ford, 50.
17. Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass., Ford, 50.
18. Tim Brown, Cana, Va., Chevrolet, 50.
19. Gary Putnam, Concord, N.C., Chevrolet, 50.
20. Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Ford, 50.
21. Thomas Stinson, Chester, Va., Chevrolet, 50.
22. Austin Pack, Winston-Salem, N.C., Chevrolet, 50.
23. Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Ford, 50.
24. Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 50.
25. Steve Park, East Northport, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
26. John Smith, Mount Airy, N.C., Chevrolet, 50.
27. Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 50.
28. Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 43, accident.
29. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 37, suspension.
30. Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 35.
31. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 34.
32. Jeff Malave, South Windsor, Conn., Chevrolet, 28.
33. Greg Butcher, Mocksville, N.C., Chevrolet, 15, shifter.
34. Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 12, engine.
35. Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 6, mechanical.
36. Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 3, axle.
Time
of Race: 0 hours 45 minutes 16 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.994 seconds
Laps Led: Doug Coby 46, Ted Christopher 4
Caution Flags: 8
Lead Changes: 2 among 2 drivers
-
- - - - - - - -
NASCAR
WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR UNOH NORTHERN THOMPSON 125
by Polly Reid
Doug
Coby can check one more thing off his list of things to accomplish
in his racing career. The Milford, CT driver cruised to his
second career victory in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Northern
Thompson 125, his first win at Thompson International Speedway.
James Civali crossed for second, pole winner Ryan Preece third,
Ted Christopher and Todd Szegedy the top five. “This thing
is stout at this race track,” said Coby. “You know
we lost one here at the World Series, if any one was here you
know we definitely had that one wrapped up. It’s been
a dream of mine to make that right hand turn into victory lane.
This is my first victory at Thompson in any division here. These
guys with the 52 team, what an awesome car for this track. I
want to thank Johnson’s Landscaping and Harvey from Reynolds
Auto Wrecking, he makes this all happen for me. He believed
in me last year and said he wanted to get me in a full time
Tour ride and get you out there running every week. Without
him, I wouldn’t be here, so Harvey and Kim, this one’s
for you.” Pole winner Ryan Preece led the 25 car field
to green with Coby tucking in for second, the pair pulling away
from the pack. “I think Ryan and I were sizing each other
up early on and for a while we broke away,” said Coby.
By lap 25, it was Preece, Coby, Christopher, Eric Goodale and
Erik Rudolph the top five. Four circuits later Coby made what
turned out to be the winning pass- Coby moving low under Preece
to take the lead on lap 29. Once out front, Coby put some distance
from the field until the first caution on lap 59 waved- Eric
Berndt into the turn one and two outside wall. On the restart,
it was Coby lining up next to Preece, Christopher, Civali, Eric
Goodale, Tom Rogers, Szegedy, Matt Hirschman, Ed Flemke and
Bobby Santos the top ten. Going green, the field was quickly
reined in to do it all again with a three car tangle in turn
two- while all drove away, it was the end of the day for Buzz
Chew. Just past half way on what became the final restart of
the event, it was here that Civali was able to make his move
into second place, a sudden threat for Coby. “The restart
was big,” said Civali. “We got from second to fourth,
the car was really good on the restart. Doug was a little bit
off from what I was on the restart, I had a little shot at him
there but then my car backed off a little bit and Doug’s
got better, we really couldn’t do anything with him.”
The field quickly became single file and while there was certainly
passing going on, it was not for the lead. Coby was able to
stretch away from Civali and while heavy lap traffic slowed
the leader in the closing circuits, Coby’s lead appeared
to not diminish as the Reynolds Auto Wrecking Chevrolet crossed
the stripe for the victory. “You got to have something
get away before you get something, at least in my racing career.
Some guys like Ted seem to knock them off left and right but
he’s also 18, 20 years older than me so I’m sure
the next 18 years or so I’ll have a shot at winning more
races.” Coby paused before continuing, “The stars
were aligned today. We just had a really good car.”; “The
whole weekend was good,” said John McKenna, crew chief
for winning car owner Wayne Darling. “We’re ecstatic,
especially at this place. We have a lot of young guys on the
team that are enthusiastic. We’re going to try harder,
keep it going. This is a tough series to win in, this is great.”
“This is huge,” said Civali about finishing a strong
second, another sign that the season for the Hill Enterprises/Coors
Light Pontiac is taking an turn in the right direction. “Our
only podium finish this year. We ran well in Canada and Bristol,
we’ve made some changes in the car and it seems to be
paying off. We just cracked the top ten in points after Canada
and this is another good points run for us here - we’d
like to get into the top five in points before the end of the
season, we know it’ll be tough.” “I had a
good car but it was Doug’s race to win,” explained
Preece, “I was saving myself as much as I could, he just
had a little more than I did. My car started to get a little
free in the center but it was still pretty good where I could
still roll and pick up the throttle and have good bite off.
I was happy to finish third.” “Thompson is everybody’s
favorite track,” continued Coby. “I mean it’s
not Loudon but it’s everybody’s favorite track -
it’s the track I have the most career starts on besides
Stafford and to have come close so many times and finally get
it, it does mean a lot. It means a lot for it to happen on 9-11.
I didn’t say that in victory lane but that is of course
something everyone is thinking about, everything our country
has been through. 10 years later we’re still living the
American Dream but we’re all thinking about the men and
women that serve our country, that protect us.”; Points
leader Ron Silk closed out the Northern Thompson 125 with a
solid top ten finish crossing the line 9th. Todd Szegedy continues
to make strides forward, his fifth place finish adding valuable
points, the gap now at sixty points with Silk at 1874, Szegedy
1814. Rowan Pennink who finished 8th stands third in points
at 1761.
--
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Doug
Coby put together an unforgettable Sunday drive at Thompson
International Speedway.
The Milford, Conn., driver collected his second career NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour win in the Northern Thompson 150 and then
backed it up by winning the non-points UNOH Showdown in a matchup
of the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified tours.
Ted Christopher and James Civali finished second and third,
respectively, in the UNOH Showdown. The 50-lap "dash for
cash" matched the top finishers from the two 125-lap events
earlier in the day. George Brunnhoelzl III, who won the Southern
Thompson 125, earlier in the day, finished fourth in the showdown.
By virtue of their wins, Brunnhoelzl and Coby started on the
front row for the showdown. Coby took the lead on Lap 1 and
never looked back. Eric Goodale was fifth, followed by Bobby
Santos, Ryan Preece, Mike Stefanik, Justin Bosignore and Eddie
Flemke. Coby also dominated the Northern Modified 125. He was
followed across the line by James Civali, Ryan Preece, Ted Christopher
and Todd Szegedy. Coby's other career win was at Stafford (Conn.)
Motor Speedway on April 30, 2006. Tom Rogers Jr. was sixth,
followed by Eric Goodale, Rowan Pennink, points leader Ron Silk
and Justin Bonsignore. Brunnhoelzl took advantage of a late
penalty to Steve Masse to grab the win in the Southern Thompson
125. Masse, making his NASCAR touring series debut, took the
lead on Lap 47 of the Southern Thompson 125 from two-time NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour champion Donny Lia. However, on a Lap 119
restart, Masse was posted for jumping the restart. That handed
the lead to Brunnhoelzl, who cruised to his third win of the
season. Burt Myers was second and Tim Brown third. Andy Seuss,
Steve Park, Frank Fleming, Timmy Solomito, Lia, Thomas Stinson
and Austin Pack rounded out the top 10. Masse, who did not heed
the black flag, was scored with a 14th-place finish.
Brunnhoelzl leads Seuss by 134 points and John Smith by 162
with four races remaining. Both tours are back on track Saturday,
Sept. 17 as the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has the Town Fair
Tire 100 at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., and the NASCAR
Whelen Southern Modified Tour is at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro,
N.C.
NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour-Northern Thompson 125
Unofficial Results
Sunday At Thompson International Speedway
1.
(2) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 125 laps, 99.769 mph.
2. (8) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 125.
3. (1) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
4. (6) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
5. (9) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 125.
6. (10) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.
7. (4) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.
8. (16) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 125.
9. (5) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
10. (23) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.
11. (19) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
12. (17) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 125.
13. (13) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 125.
14. (20) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
15. (14) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 125.
16. (25) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 125.
17. (12) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 124.
18. (7) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 124.
19. (11) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Ford, 124.
20. (15) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 122.
21. (24) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 122.
22. (22) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 76, engine.
23. (21) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 65, mechanical.
24. (18) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 58, accident.
Time
of Race: 0 hours 46 minutes 59 seconds
Margin of Victory: 2.087 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: R.Preece (119.879 mph, 18.769 seconds)
Caution Flags: 2 for 10 laps.
Lead Changes: 3 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Preece 1-19; D. Coby 20; R. Preece 21-28; D.
Coby 29-125.
Standings:
1. R. Silk, 1874; 2. T. Szegedy, 1814; 3. R. Pennink, 1761;
4. D. Coby, 1719; 5. E. Beers, 1701; 6. B. Santos, 1655; 7.
M. Hirschman, 1591; 8. J. Civali, 1571; 9. J. Bonsignore, 1562;
10. E. Goodale, 1490.
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THOMPSON
—
Doug Coby remembers sitting atop the hill near the Little T
Quarter Midget track aside Thompson Speedway, watching the big
races down below. “We used to sit on the clubhouse hill,
watching the weekly shows and Tour shows, whatever, and my dad
used to make me sit up there with a stopwatch, making me realize
that the guy in 13th may be going as fast as the leader, but
when (the leader’s) running smooth, he’s not going
to get caught,” Coby said. That was 24 years ago, but
it’s a lesson he didn’t forget. Coby ran smooth
Sunday and nobody caught him in either the Whelen Northern Modified
125-lap Tour race or the big-money, 50-lap Whelen Northern and
Southern Division event that concluded the first UNOH Showdown
at Thompson Speedway. The win got rid of some ghosts for the
Milford driver. It was his second win on the Whelen Modified
Tour, the first since 2006, and was his first at the track that
he used to marvel at as a child. It also made up for a pair
of near misses in the 2005 Thompson 300 and last year’s
World Series. "I deserve it, I don’t want to sound
cocky with that, but I’ve been through a lot with this
Tour,” Coby said. “(I have) a lot of people believing
in me to get the job done, and it means a lot to pay them back
with good runs.”; He made those runs on the right day.
Coby brought almost $30,000 in prize money back to his trailer
for the day. “Purses in Modified racing are hurting these
days, and this track put up the big money and we took it all,”
Coby said. Coby took home $15,000 for winning the 50-lap race,
$5,650 for leading all but four laps and another $5,000 for
winning the Tour event. Ted Christopher, who finished second,
was the only other driver to lead laps. “We were just
too tight in the center, we fought it all day,” Christopher
said.
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THOMPSON,
Conn. - Doug Coby waited his whole career to win one race at
Thompson International Speedway.
In a single memorable Sunday, Coby earned not just one checkered
flag, but two - and a boatload of money to boot. Coby, of Milford,
Conn., made up for a boring victory in his 125-lap NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour points-race victory earlier in the day by pulling
in the win in the 50-lap UNOH Showdown, which also consisted
of the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour's best. "I've
never had a car like that ever," Coby said. "Sure,
there were a few bobbles, but it was awesome." George Brunnhoelzl
III, of West Babylon, N.Y., started the inaugural showcase of
NASCAR's Modified stars by winning a 125-lap points race for
the Southern Tour. After scoring his first points-paying Tour
win since April 30, 2006, at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway,
Coby prevailed in the $15,000 dash for cash. Including bonuses
for leading laps, as well as the money earned in the 125-lap
race, he pocketed more than $25,000 in one afternoon. For Coby,
who won a $10,000-to-win Modified open race in the same car
at Seekonk Speedway earlier this year, it was a bit of redemption
after a pair of near-misses at Thompson, including in last October's
season finale. "I have a lot of favorite racetracks, and
Thompson is one of them," Coby said. "It means a lot
to me to be here, not only because of the '05 (Thompson) 300
and last year's World Series."
While the first race was a snoozefest, the prospect of winning
at least $15,000 drove the 36 competitors in the Showdown. The
WMT drivers, who race at Thompson several times a year, held
the advantage at the 5/8-mile track and dominated the finishing
order. Coby, Ted Christopher, James Civali and Ryan Preece shuffled
positions numerous times over the 50 green-flag laps. However,
it was Coby occupying only spot that mattered for most of it.
"In this type of stuff, everybody's good," Christopher
said. "But those guys (Coby's team) were exceptional."
In the opening race, Coby drove ahead of Ryan Preece on the
ninth of 125 laps and never surrendered that lead, holding off
a late charge by Civali for his second career checkered flag.
The main reason for the flag-to-flag domination is that the
fields get strung out easily due to the lack of a mandatory
pit stop, especially when there are few caution flags to bunch
the cars back together. Extending the race even another 25 laps
would put a pit stop in play, where teams could opt to change
tires. This event used to be a full 300-lap race, but it's no
longer your father's Thompson 300 - like it or not. "I
think it can be tweaked," Christopher said of the format.
"There's no racing." A bit of drama took place late
in the Southern Tour feature, as it appeared as though Steve
Masse would cruise to the win in his first NASCAR touring series
start. He had taken the lead from Donny Lia on lap 47 and was
well in command until being penalized for taking off too soon
on a late-race restart. Masse, of Bellingham, Mass., received
the black flag from NASCAR officials for hitting the gas about
25 feet before the designated restart line, but he refused to
serve the penalty. When Brunnhoelzl, who was running second
at the time, was given the win, both he and Masse drove to Victory
Lane. As Brunnhoelzl exited his car, the pro-Masse crowd greeted
him with a chorus of boos. Defending WSMT champion Burt Myers
finished second, while Masse was relegated to 14th place.
"Rules are rules," Brunnhoelzl said. "I've been
on the other end of that."
Sept
9 - Stafford Speedway - MRS- 2
Stafford Springs, CT)---The Modified Racing Series made its
second visit of the 2011 season to Stafford Motor Speedway for
the 2nd Annual Shark Cycle 80. Chris Pasteryak was the big winner
of the night, taking the lead on lap-2 and leading the rest
of the way to pick up his first victory at Stafford Motor Speedway
and his family's first modified victory at Stafford. The Shark
Cycle 80 took the green flag with Ken Barry taking the point,
but he was only able to lead the first lap as Chris Pasteryak
moved to the lead on lap-2. Barry held second behind Pasteryak
until lap-15 when Doug Coby took the position. Keith Rocco was
now up to fourth after starting seventh, and Max Zachem was
in fifth. Steve Reed was in sixth, Matt Hirschman was seventh,
Todd Owen was eighth, Tom Bolles was ninth, and Rowan Pennink
was tenth after starting from the 24th position. Pasteryak and
Coby were separated by only a car length or two and they were
beginning to pull away from Barry in third place. Barry remained
in third until lap-31 when Rocco went by to take the spot. Pasteryak
had stretched his lead out from several car lengths to nearly
a half straightaway over Coby on lap-35 and Rocco wasn't making
up any ground on the two lead cars, but that lead was all erased
with 42 laps complete as Bolles spun in turn 2 to bring the
race's first caution flag out. Pasteryak took the lead back
under green with Coby in second. Rocco was third, with Hirschman
fourth, and Ted Christopher was now up to fifth. Pennink was
in sixth behind Christopher, with Barry, Rob Goodenough, Reed,
and Les Hinckley rounding out the top-10. While Pasteryak and
Coby continued to occupy the top two spots, Hirschman was all
over the back of Rocco looking to take away the third position.
But that fight for third was halted by the caution flag with
59 laps complete as Tommy Barrett, Jr. spun in turn 4. On the
restart, Hinckley and Jack Bateman made contact with both cars
spinning backwards into the turn 1 wall and Hinckley's car ended
up on top of Bateman's car, which brought the red flag out.
As the race went back to green, Tom Bolles spun in turn 2 to
bring the caution back out before a lap could be completed.
Pasteryak took the lead back under green with Coby and Pennink
behind him. Hirschman settled into line in fourth, just ahead
of Rocco and Christopher. Pennink went to the outside groove
on lap-65 to move around Coby and take over second place. Pennink
closed the gap to Pasteryak and he was right on Pasteryak's
bumper with 10 laps to go. The action was slowed with 77 laps
complete for a spin by Tom Bolles in turn 4, setting up a three
lap dash to the finish. Pasteryak took the lead on the restart
and he led Pennink around for the final 3 laps to take the victory.
Rounding out the top-5 behind Pasteryak and Pennink was Coby,
Hirschman, and Rocco.
Race Summary Sept 9, 2011 Stafford Springs (CT) Motor Speedway
Distance: 80 laps Time of Race: 55:02 Best Lap Time: 18.618
(Coby) Best Speed: 96.681
Margin of Victory: 0.183 Lead Changes: 1 (Lap 2) Lap Leaders:
Barry (Lap 1) Pasteryak (Lap 2) Cautions: Laps 42 (Bolles) 59
(Barrett) 59 (Red for Bateman/Hinckley) 59 (Bolles) 76 (Bolles)
MODIFIED RACING SERIES SHARK CYCLE 80 (80)
1) Chris Pasteryak
2) Rowan Pennink
3) Doug Coby
4) Matt Hirschman
5) Keith Rocco
6) Ted Christopher
7) Dave Etheridge
8) Rob Goodenough
9) Dennis Charette
10) Lou Mechalides
11) Mike Holdridge
12) Tim Jordan
13) Norm Wrenn
14) Steve Reed
15) Bobby Drown
16) Tom Bolles
17) Max Zachem
18) Tommy Barrett, Jr.
19) Joe Doucette
20) Ken Barry
21) Shelly Perry
22) Les Hinckley
23) Jack Bateman
24) Todd Owen
25) Rob Summers
For 35 years, the Pasteryak family has been trying to get to
victory lane at the famed Stafford Springs (CT) Motor Speedway.
Friday night, September 9, it finally happened. With his Father
Charlie, and Uncle Carl, watching from pit road, Chris Pasteryak,
of Lisbon, CT., started third in a 25-car field, took the lead
on lap two, and went on to win the Valenti Modified Racing Series
“Shark Cycle 80” for his third victory of the 2011
season. “My family has been coming here since 1976. This
is the first time we ever had a modified in victory lane here.
A cool night, a great night,” said Pasteryak. The Stafford
victory was Pasteryak’s sixth series win. Kenny Barry,
of Preston, CT., chased Pasteryak for 12 laps before Doug Coby,
of Milford, CT., moved into second on lap 14. Coby pursued the
race leader until lap 63 when Rowan Pennink, of Huntingdon Valley,
PA., who started 24th, took over second. Pennink closed fast
on Pasteryak, often right on his bumper after late race restarts.
“The restarts were killing me,” said Pasteryak.
“It took five or six laps to get going again and then
hold on.” Pennink overcame a leak in an earlier qualifying
race. He passed the most cars in the feature race to win the
Sunoco Hard Charger award. Coby, Matt Hirschman, Northampton,
PA., and Keith Rocco, Meriden, CT., rounded out the top five.
Ted Christopher, Plainfield, CT., Dave Etheridge, Portland,
CT., Rob Goodenough, Swanzey, NH., Dennis Charette, Southington,
CT., and Louie Mechalides, Tyngsboro, MA., finished sixth through
tenth. Five caution flags and a red flag slowed the race that
took 55 minutes to complete. 20 of the 25 cars that started
the event finished on the lead lap.
Sept
4 - Delaware Speedway - 18
Ron Silk appeared to have a game plan that even
a 48-minute rain delay could not derail. He patiently waited
for the right moment on Sunday at Delaware Speedway and won
the Delaware 150 in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour action. In the
tour’s inaugural race beyond the borders of the United
States, Silk, out of Norwalk, Conn., started from the outside
pole position and held on to that track position until it was
time make his move. That time came with a Lap 107 pass of Erick
Rudolph, who led the race’s first 106 circuits after earning
his second career pole position on Saturday afternoon. From
there, it looked as if it was going to be smooth sailing for
Silk behind the wheel No. 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm
Chevrolet. By Lap 132, he built a 1.222-second lead on Rudolph,
but a spin in Turn 4 by Rowan Pennink brought out the caution
flag and allowed weather into the equation.
Pennink’s broken oil line forced NASCAR officials to display
the red flag to allow the clean-up crew easier access to the
spill which trailed from Turn 1 all the way into Turn 3 on the
half-mile track. In the meantime, rain began to fall on the
track. The weather coupled with the clean up sent the cars to
pit road on Lap 143. After the weather delay, Silk survived
two green-white-checkered finish attempts before beating Doug
Coby to the finish line.
For Silk, it was his second win of 2011, having emerged victorious
on May 27 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, and the sixth
of his tour career. Todd Szegedy picked up third followed by
James Civali and Eric Beers in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Eric Berndt, Justin Bonsignore, D.J. Kennington, Jaime Tomaino
and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top 10. Kennington, the
reigning NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion hailing from nearby
St. Thomas, Ont., was making his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
debut at his home track. Pennink’s DNF caused him to drop
from second to third in the season standings with 11 of 16 races
complete. Silk now leads Szegedy by 77 points and Pennink by
117. The race was slowed due to caution a season-high 13 times.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads to familiar territory
for its next outing to take on its counterparts from the NASCAR
Whelen Southern Modified Tour on Sunday, Sept. 11 at Thompson
(Conn.) International Speedway in the UNOH Showdown. Each tour
will have a 125-lap feature event followed by a 50-lap exhibition
event with competitors from each tour pitted against one another.NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour-Delaware 150 Unofficial Results
Sunday At Delaware Speedway, Delaware, Ont.
Lap length: 0.5 miles
Start
position in parentheses)
1. (2) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 159 laps, 58.828
mph.
2. (5) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 159.
3. (8) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 159.
4. (7) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 159.
5. (4) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 159.
6. (10) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 159.
7. (18) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 159.
8. (6) D.J. Kennington, St. Thomas, Ont., Dodge, 159.
9. (16) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 159.
10. (13) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 159.
11. (3) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 159.
12. (9) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 159.
13. (12) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 159.
14. (1) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 159.
15. (17) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 159.
16. (15) Cole Powell, Mt. Brydges, Ont., Chevrolet, 156.
17. (11) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Pontiac, 153, accident.
18. (14) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 133,
accident.
Race
Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 21 minutes 5 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.362 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: E.Rudolph (102.360 mph, 17.585 seconds)
Caution Flags: 13 for 67 laps.
Lead Changes: 1 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: E. Rudolph 1-105; R. Silk 106-159.
Standings:
1. R. Silk, 1736; 2. T. Szegedy, 1659; 3. R. Pennink, 1619;
4. E. Beers, 1589; 5. B. Santos, 1531; 6. D. Coby, 1529; 7.
M. Hirschman, 1473; 8. J. Bonsignore, 1428; 9. J. Civali, 1401;
10. E. Rudolph, 1386
Aug
25 - Thompson Speedway - MRS - RAIN
Aug
24 - Bristol Speedway - NASCAR - 21
Rowan was running top ten and then trouble
found him for a disappointing finish
NWMT
UNOH Perfect Storm 150
Qualifying
8/24/11
By Polly Reid
Bobby
Santos has even more to smile about as the Franklin, Mass. driver
followed up his stout practice sessions in the Mystic Missile
Dodge with a 15.035 second lap at 127.622 mph to claim the Coors
Light pole award for the NWMT UNOH Perfect Storm 150. “I’ve
got a great car under me and the guys have done a great job
all day” said Santos. “I think we’ve been pretty close to the
top of the board all day and from what I learned here last year
it’s really going to help me in tonight’s race. I’m really excited.”
“Car was a little bit on the free side which probably wasn’t
a bad thing because when you’re here a lot of people are tight.
It was kind of tough it out and drive the best lap I could,”
Santos smiled. “I mean it’s scary running two laps as fast as
you can on the bottom but it’s a lot of fun.”
It is Santos third Coors Light pole award of the season. “The
pole means a lot here,” continued Santos. “Last year we were
close and to get it this year, that’s pretty neat. The track
is a lot of fun and there is a lot of prestige coming here in
a modified- it’s pretty cool.”
A combined event with both NWMT and NWSMT, a separate Coors
Light pole award went to the top NWSMT qualifier, Tim Brown
of Cana, VA.
“We were good in the first practice with our Wall to Wall Chevrolet
but we struggled in the second. We changed a lot of stuff on
the car for qualifying and that’s what we’ll race. We seemed
to be OK for qualifying but I’m still not happy with the car
but it was good enough to get the pole for the southern side.”
Brown hesitated before continuing, “But we still don’t stack
up well to the rest of the field. We’re looking forward to getting
this race on, try and make some adjustments on the car and contend
for the win- especially for the southern side for the points.”
Mike Stefanik had mentioned motor issues during practice, their
time posting deep in the field at 26th in the final session.
The Flamingo Motorsports team, with a little help, finally discovered
the culprit “The alternator wire was broken,” said crew chief
Stan Szaban. “We changed the wire, put in new plugs and charged
the battery- it seemed to be better for time trials.” Indeed
a huge improvement, Stefanik will take the green flag sixth.
The hint of motor problems earlier in practice turned out to
be a reality for Todd Szegedy. After qualifying the UNOH/Wisk
Laundry Ford seventh, the decision was made to change motors.
“We went through the car checking the motor,” said car owner
Mike Smeriglio. “We can’t send him out with something that’s
not safe.” The MSR team headed up by crew chief Phil Moran was
last seen working feverishly pulling the motor. For the main
event, Szegedy will drop to the back of the pack just prior
to the green flag. Equipped with an in-car camera, the 2 car
should make for interesting viewing during the UNOH Perfect
Storm 150 for the fans.
NWMT
UNOH Perfect Storm 150
By Polly Reid
Same car, same driver, different motor- same results. Ryan Newman
of South Bend, IN made good use of timing to make a final pass
for the lead with 22 to go repeating what he did a year ago-
score the win in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour UNOH Perfect
Storm 150 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Following Newman across the line for the combined annual NWMT
and NWSMT event was Justin Bonsignore for second, Todd Szegedy
third, James Civali and Patrick Emerling the top five.
“I felt we had a better car in practice this year than we did
last year” said Newman. “You never know how it’s going to play
out- I don’t think anyone anticipated the multiple yellows.
Once we got racing which seemed to be around lap 75 then we
got another caution and we came in, pitted for tires. Gary Putnam
did a great job with both the car and the calls during the race.
With Kevin ‘Bono’ Manion not being here after the Loudon deal
this is a little bit of redemption for us just to come out here
and redeem ourselves a little bit with respect to people’s opinions
after the last Loudon.”
His fourth career NWMT win, second in a row at Bristol Motor
Speedway for Newman, the key to the event appeared to be when
the leaders pitted just past the half way mark on lap 86. Szegedy
who had pitted earlier inherited the lead followed by L.W. Miller,
Tim Brown, Civali, Andy Seuss with the fresh Hoosier group lining
up after that including Bonsignore, Newman, Mike Stefanik, Eric
Beers Eric Berndt the top ten. Civali made his pass to become
the newest leader on lap 94- Civali, Szegedy and Newman making
it a three car break away from the pack. The ninth and final
caution on lap 104 changed the complexion of the top ten when
contact between Ron Silk and Eric Goodale set off a chain reaction
collecting up the hard charging Brown and Stefanik. Brown and
Stefanik joined the growing list of teams that would collect
DNF’s for the event. The double file restart with 38 to go lined
up with Civali leading, Szegedy, Newman, Seuss and Bonsignore
the top five. With 22 to go, Civali and Szegedy still out front,
Newman timed his move to become the new and final leader on
lap 128. “Civali got tight- he was good on the restarts, really
fast, then he would get tight just past the center of the corners.
Szegedy was on older tires so I wouldn’t say he was a sitting
duck but we had an advantage over him in respect to just the
tires themselves,” explained Newman. “Todd did a good job sneaking
around the 79 while I was trying to work the bottom - I got
around the 79 at the same time - Todd got a little tight off
of turn four and I just timed it right going underneath him
- it got me a head of him at the start finish line and so I
just went a little extra harder going into turn one and got
the lead.” From there on in it was a race for second. On the
move, Bonsignore had worked his way into the top three, his
sights on Szegedy making the pass low on the front stretch for
second with 14 to go. As the green continued, the top four spaced
out their run with Newman keeping a solid distance from Bonsignore
to score the win, Szegedy worked to keep up with Bonsignore
as his handling faded for third while Civali hung on to a somewhat
distant fourth. Meanwhile Emerling recovered to score his best
rookie finish of the season at fifth. “It was just really a
fun race,” said Newman. “The yellow flags at the start of the
race kind of slowed everybody’s thoughts but getting back to
green flag racing I thought we saw some really good racing.
We had some really good restarts, at least from my standpoint.
I think I came from 8th to 3rd in a lap and a half. It was all
fun- I have to thank Aggressive Hydraulics, Menards and Chevrolet
for all of there help - this race car, it’s a lot of fun to
come out here. Like I said on one hand we redeem ourselves after
Loudon on the other hand starting all over to prove we can do
it.” “We had a pretty good day- we had an early draw for time
trials which killed us, we qualified 19th,” said Bonsignore.
“The first half of the race we avoided some wrecks we should
have been in, got lucky getting through those- a couple of guys
pitted and on the restarts, we were on the outside, our car
was really good on the top. We got up to fifth or sixth there
and decided to pit when the leaders did - the guys had a great
pit stop, we were the first ones off of pit row which I’ve got
to thank my guys for that, that was the first time we’ve done
that as a team. We were buying our time after that, picked them
off one by one.” On the final restart, Bonsignore did have to
start on the bottom. “That allowed Newman to get further away
from us than I would have liked. He just got too far out in
front of us then. I got past Todd with 20-something to go -
the car was good but I had knocked the toe in around lap 100,
110, the car got too tight in the center. I don’t know if Newman
was playing with us, he just took off the last 15 laps and we
just kind of salvaged what we could. I’ve got to thank my guys,
M3 Technology- since our first win we’ve been able to turn our
season around, show we can run up in the top five every week.”
The day started memorable for Todd Szegedy, the Mike Smeriglio
owned Ford topping the speed chart in the first practice. The
rest of the day however was a head scratching struggle for crew
chief Phil Moran and the rest of the MSR team but when the checker
dropped, crossing the line third had to feel like a near victory.
“The day started off real smooth,” said Szegedy. “The car was
real fast, we were fastest in the first practice but we were
only quick for a couple of laps then the car would go right
to tight, it was odd, different than what I’ve ever felt. It
would be so tight I could come out of the corner and crank the
wheel to the left and still be going straight. Exiting the corner
I had the wheel turned to the left and still be going straight
it wouldn’t be turning towards the infield like you’d think
it would, that’s how tight it was- that was baffling. The second
practice we came out pretty decent but at the end of practice
I noticed a skip, something weird in the engine but I didn’t
know if it was any cars around me because I was still going
fast, I didn’t really feel the engine loose it’s power. As a
per-caution, we checked the ignition, changed the spark plugs
on it, thought it was running a little lean and put a little
jet in it, then we went to do our qualifying run and it was
absolutely terrible. We had to swap the engine.” Changing motors
after qualifying put Szegedy to the back of the pack for the
initial green flag. An in-car camera on the UNOH/Wisk Detergent
Ford, the Speed viewers had plenty to see. “I was just biding
my time, passing on the outside but we got involved in a bunch
of wrecks- just in the middle of them I don’t know what people
were doing, they were wrecking on the straight away, in the
middle of the corners, they were everywhere. Then a spark plug
wire fell off, I couldn’t believe it- we pitted for that, went
a lap down, meanwhile I was just taking it easy back there then
drove hard. We waited for a caution to come out, it did, we
got our lap back, made another run, decided to pit early, take
tires then rode the wrecks and made our way to the front. We
ended up too tight, that killed us. If we didn’t tighten up
the car so much we would have had something for Newman.” Szegedy
continued, “Man, we have such a phenomenal team, words don’t
explain it, the guys work together so well, we’ve got the best
team on the Tour, there’s no question about it. The wins will
come, the championships will come if we keep this up.” “You
get such a good head of steam going here, we got within five
or six car lengths but the car was just getting tighter and
tighter as the track rubbered up,” Bonsignore added. “I might
have been a little too aggressive wanting to tighten the car
up on our pit stop- they left that up to me - I feel I might
have over compensated then I got the toe knocked in so it made
it even worse. We had the second best car on new tires. I knew
we could get Todd and James (Civali), they raced me really clean,
I knew they would. It was a really good day, we’ve really turned
our season around it seems since our first win. We’re contending
every week now which is were we feel we should be. It’s just
a shame we got so far behind in the beginning of the season.
We’re building towards next year because we think we can contend
for championships like Ronnie and Todd and all those guys.”
Crew member of Newman’s 77, Gary Putnam talked about their day
from his perspective. “We were a little too tight in practice.
We got it where he was pretty happy with it and we were trying
a couple of different things just to build up our notebook a
little bit better. We thought we would have a decent shot at
the pole, then we missed the autograph session, that was my
fault. It was on the entry blank, mandatory, Ryan missed it
so we only got one lap for qualifying, that’s probably what
hurt us. We still got a good starting spot, kind of paced ourselves
for the first half of the race. We went into the deal with thinking
anything past half way we’ll come in and change tires.” Putnam
continued. “There’s always a concern when you pit, some guys
stay out and you’re back in the pack. It took both Civali and
Todd a long time to get back up through the field and ultimately
it took the rest of the field to pit for them to get up there.
For whatever reason this year it was hard to pass cars, for
everybody, I mean even if you were a fair amount quicker than
the guy in front of you, it was tough. Then we got an awesome
restart right after the pit. He cleared all the mess, that helped
a tremendous amount.” Like the elephant in the room, Putnam
offered a few words about the disqualification at Loudon. “The
whole deal was just unfortunate, it was an oversight on someone’s
part. We all paid the penalty, it wasn’t good for us, it’s not
good for the division, its not good for anybody, we felt really,
really bad about it. We worked on getting ready for here, read
the rule book for the 3rd time, make sure everything else was
right.” Putnam, whose wife Marcy is listed as the car owner
of the 77 added, “We want to show people we can win races. It
was the first race on that motor, it was brand new built. I’ve
been telling people for the last three years, it’s the guy in
the seat. There’s a reason why he is 8th in the Cup points.”
The 77 will be at Loudon in September. “That was the plan all
along. He loves driving there, he loves driving here and he
really wants to try Thompson.” Coors Light pole winner Bobby
Santos became one of several engine failures of the day as well
as outside pole starter Erik Rudolph. His first trip to Bristol
Motor Speedway, Doug Coby adjusted well to the high banks of
BMS, starting his day ninth, the Milford, CT driver was running
as high as fourth at the half before motor issues sidelined
the Reynolds Auto Wrecking machine with 95 laps complete.
With Ryan Newman representing the north and taking the lead
spot, the first car for the southern tour received credit for
a NWSMT win. The surprised victor was series regular, Frank
Fleming, who managed to avoid mishaps and used a late race pit
strategy to give him the win. Fleming has had a lot of race
wins but this was his first ever modified tour win. Having his
first tour win occur at Bristol was a major accomplishment for
the small family race team. For the past two years at the Bristol
combo race the Fleming race team battled an ill handling race
car. This year the team finally found the right combination
that helped them be where they needed to be during the final
laps of the race.“In practice I have come up here for two years
and I drove the race as loose as I could be,” Fleming said from
his hauler. “I turned some good times in practice and even had
a top ten car in practice. But in the race I would be so loose
that I could not drive it. I told Chris today we have to keep
it from bottoming out and get this car where I could drive it
in the corners and not be loose. So we worked on it during practice
all day. Everybody thinks that my car got faster, but it didn’t.
I did not put my new tires on until fifty to go and that helped
me."
"My car was good all day long. I could drive it in the
corners hard without it being loose. I just think that we made
the right calls for the chassis. I do not know what we could
have done to qualify better but these other boys just seem to
know how to do it. Guess I will just keep hunting.” All smiles
as he continued to work with officials to get the car through
post race inspection Fleming had the reality of the day’s accomplishment
finally sink in. He not only had a top ten finish but a win
on the southern modified tour. And just when he did not think
it got any better, he realized that the team’s performance was
nationally televised. “We got the southern win. This is a combination
race with both the north and the southern cars. I really love
to run the northern cars but they always have an edge on us
for some reason or other and I do not know why. I like a lot
of competition and man it was here today. I was sitting here
looking at that field of cars over there and those are the best
field of cars in the country. And I finished eighth out of the
thirty-four or thirty-five cars that started this race I think
that is terrific. We were the first southern car in the race
and that will put my name in the NASCAR books. I have won a
lot of races here in the south. I probably won sixty or seventy
races all together but I have never had a NASCAR tour win. Now
we have one to our credit and we had live TV on Speed.” Southern
modified driver Andy Seuss made his way up through the field
and after a great pit stop found himself among the top five.
Cars with fresher tires though soon pushed Seuss back further
in the top ten. In the end Seuss managed to pull off a ninth
place finish and was only one spot shy of a southern modified
win. “I really wanted to run in the top five in the whole race
but I am happy to come out with a top ten for the whole race.
We had a really good car and after that whole pit stop situation
shook out we got back up to third. Then we got real, real tight.
We will put that in our notebook and figure it out. Nothing
changed on the stagger or anything the tire just got tight.
We are thinking that maybe the stagger closed up or something
but we are real happy with a second. It was a good point’s day
and we managed to stay pretty clean throughout the race. Somebody
got my rear though when the field checked up to avoid accidents.
But overall we real happy and the car is in one piece.” Seuss
has had an up and down time since loosing his car owner late
last year. But it now looks like things have stabilized and
are finally going in the right direction. Seuss has joined George
Brunnhoelzl on the Harvey team and things are working out good
for the new team. “This year has been unreal. The second that
I walked in the shop, the only thing I could think of was if
you want to be real serious with a modified this is the place
where you have to do it. In the shop you could eat off the floor.
You could even eat off the cars. I did not know how a teammate
situation would go. I have never been in one. And they are more
helpful than I ever would have thought. I am having a blast.
If it were not for a late race wreck at Bowman Grey, I would
have three top fives in out first three races. So I am real
happy about that and just want to build on it.”
NASCAR
PR STORY & FINISH
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman drove away with
the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday.
Newman successfully defending his 2010 Bristol win and registered
his fourth career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory overall.
Wednesday’s triumph came in Newman’s first start on the tour
after he was disqualified from a win in July at New Hampshire
Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. “This is a little bit of a redemption
for us, to come out here and redeem ourselves a little bit in
respect to people’s opinions after Loudon,” Newman said.
Newman led twice for a race-high 109 laps. After one top-10
effort in his first four Modified races, Newman has won each
of his last four official starts. “It was just a really fun
race,” Newman said. “The yellow flags at the start kind of slowed
everybody’s thoughts, but getting back to green flag racing,
I thought we saw some really good racing. It was a lot of fun.”
Justin Bonsignore finished second in the annual combination
race between the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Whelen
Southern Modified Tour. The pole winner in 2010 at Bristol,
Bonsignore has earned top-five finishes in three of his last
four outings this year and is up to a season-best 10th in the
standings. “I’m just a go-kart racer - where you flat-foot it
- and this is similar,” Bonsignore said of his fondness for
racing at Bristol. “It just fits my driving style. I like it,
and it’s a lot of fun. I’ve been looking forward to coming back
since last year and I can’t wait to go back next year. Maybe
we should get two races here.” Todd Szegedy rallied from an
eventful day for third place. An engine change relegated him
to the rear to start, and he was caught in multiple on-track
incidents that preceded a spark plug wire falling off. He then
came back from a lap down for his fifth podium finish in the
last seven races.
James Civali and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top five.
It marked the first top-five finish of Emerling’s rookie season
and the best finish of the year for Civali. Eric Beers was sixth,
followed by Ron Silk, Frank Fleming, Andy Seuss and Eric Goodale.
Fleming was the top finishing NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified
Tour driver and will be credited with a win on the tour. It
is his first career victory. The race, which aired live on SPEED,
saw four lead changes among three drivers and was slowed by
caution nine times for 51 laps. It was the third edition of
the combo race at the ‘World’s Fastest Half Mile.’ Silk stretched
his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points lead to 41 over Rowan
Pennink, who finished 21st overall. Szegedy is third, 16 points
behind Pennink. George Brunnhoelzl III, the NASCAR Whelen Southern
Modified Tour points leader, finished 29th overall and his lead
is 110 over John Smith and 123 over L.W. Miller. The NASCAR
Whelen Southern Modified Tour will return to the track in just
two days at Caraway Speedway on Friday, Aug. 26. The NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour gets back on track with the inaugural event
at Delaware (Ont.) Speedway on Sept. 4.
UNOH Perfect Storm 150 Unofficial Results
Wednesday At Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn.
Lap length: 0.533 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (4) Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind., Chevrolet, 150 laps, 58.369
mph.
2. (19) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
3. (7) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 150.
4. (3) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 150.
5. (27) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 150.
6. (11) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
7. (5) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
8. (21) Frank Fleming, Mt. Airy, N.C., Chevrolet, 150.
9. (22) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 149.
10. (10) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 149.
11. (24) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 149.
12. (16) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 149.
13. (8) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 149.
14. (28) Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., 148.
15. (34) Austin Pack, Winston-Salem, N.C., Chevrolet, 148.
16. (20) John Smith, Mount Airy, N.C., Chevrolet, 147.
17. (32) Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Ford, 144.
18. (31) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 136,
vibration.
19. (25) L.W. Miller, Dushore, Pa., Chevrolet, 131.
20. (26) Jamie Tomaino, Jr., Lexington, N.C., Chevrolet, 131.
21. (13) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 131.
22. (33) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 127.
23. (14) Tim Brown, Cana, Va., Chevrolet, 105.
24. (6) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 104, accident.
25. (9) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 95, engine.
26. (1) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 76, engine.
27. (30) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Pontiac, 53, drive
shaft.
28. (17) Corey LaJoie, Concord, N.C., Chevrolet, 42, accident.
29. (15) George Brunnhoelzl, III, W. Babylon, N.Y., Chevrolet,
42, accident.
30. (23) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 42, accident.
31. (2) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 14, engine.
32. (29) Daniel Hemric, Kannapolis, N.C., Pontiac, 9, rear end.
33. (12) Andy Petree, Hickory, N.C., Chevrolet, 8, accident.
34. (18) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 8, accident.
Race
Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 22 minutes 11 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.826 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: B.Santos (127.622 mph, 15.035 seconds)
Caution Flags: 9 for 51 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Newman 1-86; T. Szegedy 87-93; J. Civali 94-125;
T. Szegedy 126-127; R. Newman 128-150..
CONTINGENCY
AWARDS
NWMT COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Patrick Emerling *, 07
Emerling Chevrolet Ford
NWMT COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Bobby Santos, 4 "Mystic Missile"
Dodge
NWMT FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Eric Berndt, 46
Cape Cod Agts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet
NWMT SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Patrick Emerling *, 07
Emerling Chevrolet Ford
NWSMT COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE: Austin Pack *, 31 B&J
Bldrs./Shady Grady/Comtech Chevrolet
NWSMT COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Tim Brown, 02 Hayes Jewelers/Wall
to Wall Chevrolet
NWSMT FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Frank Fleming,
40 Autos by Nelson/Lewisville Motors Chevrolet
NWSMT SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Austin Pack *, 31 B&J
Bldrs./Shady Grady/Comtech Chevrolet
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD: Ryan Newman, 77 Aggressive
Hydraulics/Menards Chevrolet
NWMT
Standings: 1. R. Silk, 1551; 2. R. Pennink, 1510; 3. T. Szegedy,
1494; 4. E. Beers, 1434; 5. B. Santos, 1401; 6. D. Coby, 1359;
7. M. Hirschman, 1346; 8. M. Stefanik, 1323; 9. T. Christopher,
1296; 10. J. Bonsignore, 1282.
Aug
20 - Seekonk Speedway - MRS - 10
The Modified Racing Series
(MRS) went to Seekonk Speedway Saturday, August 19th for the
first time this year. Seekonk Speedway is a semi-banked 1/3
mile paved oval. As time moves on, the track still currently
holds the distinction of being the longest continually operated
race track in the United States opening in 1946. When the fans
start filling in the grandstand and the engines start to roar,
you know why the local track has been around so long. When the
Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS) come on the track, their
engine noise echoes off of the cement grandstands and meaning
of why the modifieds are called ground pounders is well understood.
With the track being both small and fast, if you blink you certainly
can miss a lead change or two.The VMRS drivers stepped up to
the tracks challenge and they drove two wide when they could
to get to the front. Les Hinckley is one of the veteran drivers
that made the right moves to pass where he could and survive
to take the win. Hinckley started the race fifteen out of a
field of nineteen cars and did not stay there long. “The
race was good from my seat,” said Hinckley reflecting
on the race. “I imagine that the fans enjoyed it. We started
pretty deep in the field. We then took our time getting to the
front.” Hinckley passed Dwight Jarvis for the lead on
lap 79 and then he held off Jarvis to capture the win. “We
had a pretty good time racing Dwight there at the end. It was
pretty exciting. It is fun passing a lot of race cars when the
end result is always good.”Hinckley made getting to the
front look easy as he mastered the groove while managing to
avoid accidents that happened all around him. “It is tough
on the way to the front. You try to keep a balance on what is
going on in front of you and what is going on further in front
of you. In other words, what you are immediately racing and
what is going on in front of you. I tried to keep one eye up
ahead of me and one eye on what was going on around me and I
tried to stay out of trouble.” Dwight Jarvis was ninth
in points coming into the Seekonk race and still looking for
a 2011 VMRS win. Jarvis drove in the top five from the beginning
of the race waiting for the right time to go for the lead. He
was patient and after a tap from Todd Annarummo he managed to
pass Ananrummo for the lead. “The car was real good out
there and I knew that it was going to be a battle going around
the #12 car (Todd Annarummo). I got to a point where I said
I have to go for it and he got me sideways. I managed to get
it straightened back out.” When he passed for the lead
on lap 72, it looked like his first 2011 win was within his
reach. Then before he knew what happened, Les Hinckley managed
to pass him with little warning that he was coming. “I
did not know Les was that close. I do not have a lot of chatter
on my radio. I stayed in first gear running around the track
for a while. They told me I had to start going forward and I
knew that I had the car to do it. He just got by me.”
“I thought that I might have a shot passing Les at the
end.” Said Jarvis as officials inspected his car. “I
had no idea that he was so close and I was out there riding
around where the tires were good and would last. When he got
underneath me I knew then that I should have protected the bottom
more. But that is racing. He went by me and never hit me. It
was a clean racing. That is what I like. It was fun and I finished
second. But I would like to win one though.” Chris Pasteryak
passed for the lead on lap 25 and thought that he was on his
way for the win But Pasteryak used up his car when he and Todd
Annrummo were dueling for second spot at the beginning of the
race. “We were just a little too tight and it (the car)
really went away again. The outside does not seem to be as good
as it use to be. I do not know if it is just the night or if
it is the way that the track has been all year. It could be
completely different when we come back in October.” Pasteryak
settled for a podium finish in the end and was all smiles and
happy with where he finished. “My finish was not bad.
I was kind of throwing the anchor at the end. But that is all
right. I got really tight at the end. Les had a really good
car tonight. That was the most fun that I have had it a long
time. That was a fun race and it was fun putting on a good show
for the fans.”Young Joey Jarvis quietly moved up through
the field and was there at the end to capture a fourth place
finish. He was in the wings waiting if the right opportunity
came but if it did not happen he knew he would be satisfied
with what he had. “I am happy with a fourth place finish.
I am happy for our team. Everything went pretty smoothly. We
are bringing the car home in one piece. We are always looking
to finish better, but we will take it (fourth place finish).
“ Coming into the race the #04 team set their sties and
put together a plan that they hoped would get them into the
top five. Are goal was to stay out of it (banging and spinning)
and save the tires. That was about it. I think that we had a
second or third place car tonight. But with the point racing
going on, I did not want to make a hole where there wasn’t
one.” So the quiet driver made his way up through the
field and found himself where he wanted to be at the end of
the race. Norm Wrenn rounded up the top five finishers at Seekonk.
He started the race about mid pack and like Joey Jarvis quietly
made his way up through the field and was in the top five at
the end. “It was a good finish,” said Wrenn in the
pits after the race. “We just hung around all night. They
were racing hard in front of us and I was just taking spots
when I could take them. We lost the power steering during the
last caution so at the end of the race I did not think that
we were going to finish. But we held on. I will take a fifth
place finish in this series any day.”
The VMRS will return to Thompson Speedway next Thursday night
(8/24) for 75 laps of big track racing. Going from one of the
smallest tracks on their series to the largest will certainly
be a challenge for teams as they prepare to go racing.
What
are your thoughts on the Seekonk Speedway race track itself?
Les Hinckley
“I love coming to Seekonk. It is a nice fun short track.
A good handling race car always runs good here. It is an interesting
place because of the seats all around. The fans surround the
race track. You feel like they (fans) are right on top of you.
I love coming here. The track people are very gracious to us
and I enjoy coming here.”
Dwight Jarvis
“I love this place. It is fast little place. You are always
Turing here. You have to be on the wheel. This car is awesome.
I love coming down here and putting a good show on here. The
people at the track are wicked nice here. Everything about this
place other than being so far away from home is excellent. It
is an excellent little track to run.”
Norm Wrenn
“I love the race track here. With a Pro Four Modified
I won a lot of races here. It is a perfect track for the Pro
Four Modified. It was a lot tighter with these cars. But I like
racing these cars. I am getting better at racing these cars
and I like the track so I like racing these cars at this track.
It is a competitive track, so anybody can win here. It is a
fast track and you stop fast here too!”
Joey Jarvis
“The track is alright. It (track) is too small for me
really. But it is a fun little track and it is pretty quick.
“
So
what was Hinckley’s strategy to make it through the pack,
keep the car clean and win if he can?
Les Hinckley
“There is only so much of that you can control when the
guys start beating and banging like that and checking up. You
just have to keep your car square to the one in front of you
so that you can keep the wheels on it. That is just some basic
habits that you get into to try to protect the race car through
out the race. Sometimes luck is on your side and sometimes it
isn’t. When Louie spun in front of us that was kind of
nerve wracking. Coming up through the field you have to be on
your toes. Thankfully we came out of everything clean tonight.”
As the VMRS drivers made there way to the front of the field
or tried to maintain their spots, there appeared to be rougher
riding then normal. Was it really rough riding or just hard
racing?
Chris Pasteryak
“Rough Racing, I do not know if it was that bad. I thought
that the race was a lot of fun. It was kind of like the Wednesday
night show here when we hade a lot of Whelen Tour drivers in
the race. The outside here is not as good as it use to be. I
think that the track overall does not have as much overall grip
as it use to. I did not think that anyone was being rough on
purpose. I just think that the on the moves that you use to
be able to make here for whatever reason the track just lost
a little bit of that grip there and now you cannot make those
same moves any more. If you just miss it a little bit you just
end up sliding up on the guy on the outside of you. Where you
get loose on the outside of somebody and pinch the guy down
it does not take much. You are not going fast here so you just
bounce off of somebody and just keep going. It was a lot of
fun!”
Dwight Jarvis
“I do not like to race like that. And I do not like to
get raced like that. I know that it is his home track (Todd
Annarummo) and he was trying to put a show on for the people
that know him down here. But I knew that I had a faster car
than he did and I just said to myself to keep on going no matter
what the consequences were. Eventually I just took it out there
(on the outside groove) and went. Racing should not bee like
that. When somebody gets aside of you, you should have the courtesy
to give them the room that they need.”
“The car was awesome and I love this track. If I lived
here I would race here ever week.”
Norm Wrenn
“It was a survival race. These guys were racing seriously,
not giving any spots at all. They were racing tight. I made
my mind when I went out there just to survive the race and to
save the tires until the end. And it worked out for me.”
Todd Annarummo
“It was just racing. I did not go out there to intentionally
hit him. I tried to get him low. He came down and we got together.
That was just racing! I did not spin him out or try to spin
him out. I let him make the move. That is just racing in my
mind. If I had just kept my foot in it and put him in the infield
then I am a dirty driver. But it was an accident and that is
just racing in my mind. Then they pull my card for rough riding.
“But this all started when we got here tonight with the
starter at the tire corral. He said that he was going to black
flag us and of course he did. We got into a little argument.
I guess that he shut his radio off so he did not have race communications.
So that gave him the authority to do that because nobody could
tell him otherwise. He is gone now so I guess we are going to
have a better series going forward!”
Driving
is any race series takes a lot of your time and some drivers
are away from their families more often then they want to be.
Seekonk winner, Les Hinckley, has two small boys and they follow
him on the web when they cannot be at the race.
Les Hinckley
“My boys get pretty excited. They were both at Stafford
last week and they do not take their eyes off of this yellow
race car. They love it. They wanted to know where we were going
today and how long of a drive that it was. So they are into
it and like it. I wish that they could come more often but it
is tough with them being young.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Les
Hinckley, of Windsor Locks, CT., passed race leader Dwight Jarvis,
of Ascutney, VT., on lap 78, to go on and win the Valenti Modified
Racing Series “Seekonk 100” Saturday night at Seekonk
Speedway, Seekonk, MA.
Hinckley started 14th in a 19 car field and methodically worked
his way to second to battle with Jarvis. The second generation
driver raced with the Vermont hot shoe for six laps before passing
him for the lead.
“We started deep in the field and it’s always gratifying
passing a lot of race cars. We had a little trouble in the heat
race that put us to the back for the feature but I knew we had
a good piece.”; Early on in the race, very spirited battles
took place between several drivers. Hinckley feels you need
to be aware of what is happening toward the front of the field.
“You have to keep a balance between what’s going
on in front of you and beyond,” he said, “I saw
some cars banging and you have to be careful. Coming up through
you have to be on your toes.”;
Jarvis, who has run selected events this season, finished second.
“The boys (crew) did a helluva job getting the car set-up
for me,” he said. “Les did a good job, I didn’t
realize he was that close. I don’t have a lot of radio
chatter on my radio, I like to drive the car myself. He got
by me, I thought at the end I would get back by him, but he
was good,” he said. “ He is a good clean driver
that you can run on the outside. It was fun.”; Chris Pasteryak,
of Lisbon,CT., finished a solid third after starting outside
front row and running in the top four throughout the 100- lap
race. “We ended up a little tight and it really went away
at the end but it was a fun race,” he said, “Congratulations
to Les and Dwight, they both had good cars tonight.”;
The victory, Hinckley’s second this season, was his third
win at the famed 1/3 mile speedway and his 15th career VMRS
win.
Hinckley joins Pasteryak as the only two-time winners this season.
Joey Jarvis, Ascutney, drove to a solid fourth place finish,
with Norman Wrenn, of Nashua, NH., rounding out the top five.
Sixth through tenth were; Mike Holdridge, Jimmy Kuhn, Joe Doucette,
Jack Bateman, and Rowan Pennink. The Pennink team changed an
engine prior to qualifying and started last in the 19 -car field.
Hinckley entered the race only 6 points ahead of Chris Pasteryak,
of Lisbon, CT., as the two Connecticut drivers have emerged
as the two contenders that will battle it out for the series
title. Hinckley is vying for his first series championship.
Pasteryak claimed that honor in 2008.
20 cars entered the program with 19 starting the feature race.14
drivers finished the race on the lead lap.
5 caution flags slowed the race that took 38 minutes 53 seconds
to complete.
Race
Summary
August 20, 2011, Seekonk Speedway Seekonk, MA
Distance: 100 laps Time of Race: 38:53:737 Best Lap Time: 12:24
(Dwight Jarvis)
Best Speed: 97.941 Margin of Victory: 5.508Lead Changes: 6
Lap Leaders: Mechalides (1-24) Pasteryak (25-34)Annarummo (35-50)
Pasteryak (51-52) Annarummo
(53-72) D. Jarvis (73-78) Hinckley (79-100)Cautions: Laps; 21,22,36,49,87
Unofficial
Order of Finish;
(1) Hinckley (2) D. Jarvis (3) Pasteryak (4) J. Jarvis(5) Wrenn
(6) Holdridge (7) Kuhn (8) Doucette (9) Bateman
(10) Pennink (11) Preece (12) Jordan (13) Mechalides(14) Goodenough
(15) T. Annarummo (16) V Annarummo
(17) Berghman (18) Malave (19) Zachem.
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Les
Hinckley started sixteenth on a nineteen-car field and slowly
picked his way through the field for more than half the race
before igniting the afterburners and storming to the front for
a battle royal with Dwight Jarvis. Hinckley held on to take
the trophy back to Windsor locks, while Jarvis, who set top
speed on the event (97.925 mph) heads home to Asc utney, VT
with second place winnings. Chris Pasteryak started the outside
pole and battled around and at the front the entire 100 circuits.
He hauled down third place honors. Joey Jarvis, Norm Wrenn,
Mike Holdridge and Jimmy Kuhn followed. Joe Doucette, Jack Bateman
and Rowan Pennink rounded out the top 10. While Hinckley took
pains working to the front, the same can not be said about the
leaders. Louie Mechalides came out for the pole position; last
time he had started the pole this year, he’d come away
with the 12 thousand dollar check from the Canaan Fair Speedway.
It seemed the same from the dropping of the green. He rocketed
away with Pasteryak on his tail and Todd Annarummo, Jake Bateman
and Joe Doucette in close pursuit. Pasteryak went to the outside
for a pass and Annarummo pulled up to Louie’s rear bumper
locking him out there. They were nerf bar-to-nerf bar through
lap 11 when Pasteryak settled in. Annarummo took over second
on lap 15 and he troubled Mechalides every way possible. Vinny
Annarummo brought out the first caution on lap 21 with a spin
out of turn 4, up near the wall. Louie outran Todd from the
stripe and Pasteryak worked back into second underneath. On
lap 25, Pasteryak was under Mechalides for the lead with Annarummo
back into second. Jarvis had been easing his way forward from
his ninth place start, and claimed third from Mechalides coming
into lap 30. Hinckley was still back in tenth. Todd continued
at the front except laps 51, 52 and 53, when Pasteryak stuck
a nose by, until lap 72. Jarvis had passed Pasteryak on lap
59 and troubled the younger Annarummo, then began working the
outside. Hinckley had arrived on Jarvis’ rear bumper on
lap 65, and Jarvis wanted to distance himself. He went wheel
to wheel with Annarummo, the found a sudden squirt of power
into turns three and then four to fly past. Coming out of turn
for, he took a tap on his rear wheel from Annarummo, wiggled
a bit but continued to the front. Annarummo was slowed enough
that Hinckley went by into second. Annarummo took the black
flag for the hit on Jarvis. Lap 78 saw Hinckley get underneath
Jarvis for the lead with Pasteryak taking third. He was followed
by Rowan Pennink, Joey Jarvis, Annarummo (who was still unretired)
and Jimmy Kuhn. Pennink, who had started eighteenth after blowing
an engine in practice and missing his heat, took a serious hit
from Kuhn, spun and retired to the pits for repairs. Several
competitors joined him. Hinckley escaped from Dwight Jarvis
on the restart; Pasteryak tried underneath, but Jarvis pulled
ahead. Hinckley moved out to a four car lead as Norm Wrenn stormed
up to Joey Jarvis’ bumper, who was bothering Pasteryak.
With three to go, Dwight was back up and looking under Hinckley,
but Hinckley hammered down and pulled away again. They danced
again with two to go, but Hinckley held on through the final
two circuits as they flashed through under the checkers.
Aug
13 - Waterford Speedbowl - Did not race
- - - but Car was in Victory Lane
Retired race driver Jerry Marquis of Broad Brook, Connecticut.,
dusted off his racing helmet Saturday night and won the 100-lap
Valenti Modified Racing Series feature at Waterford, (CT) Speedbowl.
The win came on a night when the track presented the fourth
annual “Wings & Wheels” program in front of
a large crowd of open-wheel race fans. Marquis becomes the fourth
consecutive first time winner and the 10th different winner
this season.
“Only here to help these guys out,” said Marquis
who ended a successful 34 year career in 2007. “Brian
(Crowley) called and asked if I would consider it and here I
am.”; Marquis was tabbed to drive for regular driver Rowan
Pennink and car owner Gary Casella as Pennink was committed
to race in New Hampshire. Marquis agreed to practice the car
at Stafford, (CT) on Friday and be ready on Saturday at Waterford
if needed. With qualifying completed and Pennink enroute from
Loudon, NH., Marquis was slated to start on the pole for the
VMRS race.
When the field of 21 cars rolled from the paddock area, Marquis
took his position in the front row to a rousing ovation. At
the drop of the green flag, Marquis was the driver to beat and
no one could top the Roscoe Racing #25. The 56-year Marquis
wired the field but received pressure throughout the race. Local
favorite Rob Janovic Jr, of Waterford, from the drop of the
green flag, chased Marquis until Les Hinckley III, of Windsor
Locks, CT., slipped by on lap 40. For the next 60 laps Hinckley
chased Marquis and ran him hard on restarts but this was not
the night for the current point-leader. Marquis prevailed for
the full 100-laps. Keith Rocco, of Wallingford, CT., started
21st and finished a solid third, following his win the night
before at Stafford Springs, CT. Pasteryak finished fourth with
Max Zachem of Preston, CT., rounding out the top five. Mike
Holdridge, Louie Mechalides, Dave Etheridge, Tim Jordan, and
Josh Sylvester finished sixth through tenth. 17 of the 21 cars
that started the race finished the event, 16 on the lead lap.
Four caution flags slowed the race. It took 40 minutes 15 seconds
to complete the 100-laps
Interestingly, the winning car was damaged in a crash Friday
night at Stafford. The crew worked all night stopping three
hours for sleep before heading to Waterford from Saugus, MA.
“The best part of this is a good guy won, we (the crew)
pulled it off, and I’d like to think it was good for the
series,” said car owner Gary Casella. That’s what
really makes me happy.”;
Race
Summary
Waterford
Speedbowl (CT) Distance: 100 laps Time of Race: 40:15:294 Best
Lap Time: 14.061 (Pasteryak)
Best Speed: 96.010 Pasteryak Margin of Victory: 1.432 Lead Changes:
0 Lap Leaders: Marquis (1-100)
Cautions: Laps; 6, 8, 8, 54, 62
Unofficial
Finish - (1) Marquis (2) Hinckley (3) Rocco (4) Pasteryak (5)
Zachem (6) Hold ridge (7) Mechalides
(8) Etheridge (9) Jordan (10) Sylvester (11) Janovic (12) Malave
(13) Solomito (14) Wrenn (15) Owen
(16) Doucette (17) McClay (18) Charette (19) Barrett(20) Bateman
(21) Goodenough
Former NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour champion Jerry Marquis came out of retirement Saturday
in dramatic fashion. Valenti Modified Racing Series.jpgAfter
being out of racing for four years, Marquis returned to the
game by leading every lap on the way to winning the 100-lap
Valenti Modified Racing Series event Saturday at the Waterford
Speedbowl. Marquis, of East Windsor, had been planning to practice
and qualify the No. 25 Gary Cassella owned entry for usual driver
Rowan Pennink, who was competing Saturday afternoon in the Whelen
Modified Tour Granite State Classic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
When Pennink couldn't make it back to Waterford after a long
running event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, it was Marquis
who took the wheel for the feature and made the most of the
opportunity. "I'm not surprised he won," Pennink said.
"He's a good driver. Gary's car is a good car and he was
starting up front. The thing always runs good at Waterford.
I was happy for them, we've had some rough luck lately, they
needed boost." Les Hinckley III of Windsor Locks was second
and Keith Rocco of Wallingford was third. It marked two podium
finishes in the series in two days for Rocco, who won his first
career Valenti Modified Racing Series event on Friday at Stafford
Motor Speedway.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rough Action, Nasty Words Punctuating Whelen Modified Tour Title
Chase For Ron Silk And Rowan Pennink
By
Shawn Courchesne
LOUDON,
N.H. - With seven races remaining in the 2011 season, the championship
battle on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is getting angry,
both on and off the track. . Whelen Modified Tour.jpgSaturday,
for the second consecutive event, the two drivers at the top
of the series standings - Ron Silk and Rowan Pennink - found
themselves fighting each other for positions on track And when
the action was over following the Granite State Classic at New
Hampshire Motor Speedway, the heated words were flying between
the two. Silk, of Norwalk, ended a tough day on the track at
New Hampshire with an 11th place finish to extend his lead at
the top of the standings over Pennink to 16 points. Pennink,
of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., ended up 16th at New Hampshire. Silk
came into the event with a one point lead over Pennink. Both
are looking for their first Whelen Modified Tour title. Todd
Szegedy of Ridgefield, the 2003 series champion, sits third
in the standings, 81 points behind Silk. Pennink has been at
or near the top of the standings all season long, though Silk
doesn't see him in the title hunt when the season comes to an
end on Oct. 16 at Thompson International Speedway. "I could
care less about Rowan," Silk said. "When we're out
there racing all he worries about is beating me by one position.
I think by the end of the year he won't be the guy I have to
beat to win a championship." Saturday at New Hampshire
Pennink's day went bad when he drove into the side of a spinning
Silk on lap 75. "It was a frustrating race for us,"
Pennink said. "[Silk] just ruined our day, not just once
but two or three times. He just pulled the pin there [Saturday].
He was just making dive bomb moves all day on people. Everyone
checks up because they don't want to get wrecked by him and
then he loses it front of the field and spins out by himself
and wrecks a bunch of cars. He just spins out all by himself
because he's so out of control out there. "The stuff he
pulled at Loudon was just like, how many cars is he going to
tear up out there? I mean there was wrecks all over the place,
but at least two of the big wrecks were directly because of
him being out of control." Silk said his spin on lap 75
that collected Pennink was caused by James Civali getting revenge
on him for an incident earlier in the event. "It was a
pretty frustrating day," Silk said. "We started off
and we were too loose. Early in the race I passed Civali and
I got by him and hit him. I didn't mean to get him, it just
happened. So we worked on the car and pitted a bunch of times.
I drove up pretty close to the top-five. I got by Civali again,
cleanly, and when I passed him he just turned me on purpose."
In the Town Fair Tire 150 at Stafford Motor Speedway on Aug.
5, Pennink and Silk engaged in a heated battle for sixth place
over the late stages of the race. Pennink ended up sixth in
the race and Silk seventh. "At Stafford he slowed his car
down for 20 laps just make sure I didn't pass him," Silk
said. "Later in the race [at New Hampshire] there was cars
significanty slower than him, but rather than trying to pass
them he follows them around just trying to keep me behind him
and then he gets mad because I try to pass him. That's not racing.
"There's seven races to go and he races for every point.
As long as he's one spot ahead of me he's perfectly happy. That's
no way to race. If I've got a car that's fast I keep trying
to do the best I can and race for the win. He wants me to just
follow him around and get five points more than me every race.
I just don't care about the points at all right now and he's
just racing for points. I'm racing to win. It's nice to be up
there [in the standings] but there's too many races to go to
be out there racing for points."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aug 13 - New Hampshire Speedway - 16
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY GRANITE STATE CLASSIC
by Polly Reid
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Granite State Classic at New
Hampshire Motor Speedway went into double overtime needing two
attempts at a green white checker finish to get it done extending
the event an extra ten circuits beyond it’s 95 advertised
distance. Holding off challenges from Eric Beers, Todd Szegedy
and then Woody Pitkat, it was a determined seven-time NWMT Champion
Mike Stefanik from Coventry, RI in the Eric Sanderson owned,
Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises sponsored modified who crossed
the line for the win, his first of 2011. Pitkat claimed second
at the line, Szegedy third with Justin Bonsignore and Beers
the top five. “It’s been a long time coming,”
admitted Stefanik about his 71st career victory, his 7th at
New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “The team gave me a great
car. I’m so happy for the team, more so than for myself.
Nobody wants to win more than I do. Sly and the team gave us
that opportunity today.” A day that was dominated early
on by Coors Light pole winner Bobby Santos III, Stefanik took
the green 12th, cracking the top ten before a half a dozen circuits
had been displayed on the new NHMS scoring tower. When the fourth
caution flew on lap 32 for Teddy Christopher who was suddenly
off the pace and unable to get to pit row under his own power,
the call was made to bring Stefanik, now running third, down
pit row for tires. Santos leading with Erik Rudolph second stayed
out as over half the field came in including Beers and Szegedy.
“Sly called me in around lap 35,” said Stefanik.
“The tires are going to stay under the car, they don’t
really wear out here if you have a good car, you’re going
to stay good. He made a great call to bring it in when we did,
he gave me a great car. I could go where I wanted to go, it
felt good.”
“We planned on pitting about half way and when the caution
came close to that we decided to come in,” explained Stefanik’s
crew chief Stan ‘Sly’ Szaban. “It would also
give us enough time to get back to the front. We didn’t
make any changes, the first set of tires Mike was happy with
the car so we wanted to match the second set with the first.”
First off pit row, Stefanik lined up 12th for the restart while
Santos continued to lead the way into what would be the longest
green flag run of the day, the Franklin, MA driver swapping
the front spot back and forth with Bonsignore. Santos back on
top when the next caution waved on lap 58 herald most of the
remaining field to the pits including Santos and Bonsignore.
Pitkt in the Ramar-Hall Chevrolet who had not pitted at all,
inherited the lead with Stefanik lining up second on the lap
65 restart, James Civali third, Beers and Szegedy the top five.
Pitkat and Stefanik picked up where Santos, Bonsignore and Erik
Rudolph left off, swapping the lead several times around the
Magic Mile. Stefanik leading, Szegedy had taken possession of
second from Ptikat and just as the Ridgefield, CT driver made
his move on Stefanik, it was another caution in the books, now
only 13 to go. Stefanik, Szegedy, Beers, James Civali, Pitkat
and Ryan Preece your top three rows in the double file restart
didn’t get far when a melee on the front stretch pulled
the field back in, the multi-car tangle bringing out the red
flag for an extensive clean up on lap 86. Stefanik and Szegedy
heated up the restart with a side by side battle when all was
cut short with two to go as the ninth caution was recorded for
a three car tangle in turns three and four setting up the first
green, white checker attempt. Stefanik leading the way with
Szegedy, Beers, Pitkat and Bonsignore the top five would do
it all over again as the tenth and final caution waved on lap
100. Another shot at a green white checker, Stefanik kept the
Sanderson machine out front while Pitkat battled side by side
with Szegedy edging past the Wisk/A & J Romano Construction
Ford to claim a career high second for the Stafford, CT driver.
The double green white checker finish extended the Granite State
Classic from the expected end of 95 laps to 105. “I tried
to come up with a plan, I knew if I could be leading down the
backstretch, I could do it,” said Stefanik whose last
career win was September 2009 at Martinsville. “I told
the guys on the radio when it got to be green, white, checker,
I said this might get a little ugly. I wouldn’t do anything
stupid, put anyone in jeopardy, but I was going to do what I
could to make my car difficult to pass. When it comes to one
to go, you just can’t let anyone drive by you.”
“We knew Mike was going to have to do what he had to do
because there were some pretty strong cars behind us,”
added Szaban. “Because of the draft here, we weren’t
sure we could hold them off or not- Mike did a great job. The
team gave him a good car to try and win this race, but in the
end, it was Mike’s driving ability that got the win.”
Deep in the pack, on the starting grid in 22nd, Woody Pitkat
played out a strategy in the Don King owned machine that paid
off big in the end. “We had a plan before the beginning
of the race, if were going good, because I’m not a great
qualifier, we’d probably try and stay out and grab some
positions that way. We didn’t pit, our car pretty much
stayed the same throughout the whole race. I’ve never
raced up there with those guys before, it was a lot of fun.
I tried to hang in there, be there at the end and finish. I
just can’t thank the guys enough, Don King for giving
me the opportunity, Bob Fill helping me and my spotter Michael
O’Sullivan, just an awesome, awesome day.” On the
final restart, Szegedy was poised to claim a second win this
year at the Magic Mile for car owner Mike Smeriglio when things
changed in a hurry. “When I went to make a move on Mike
on the backstretch- right when I went to make my move, I got
bump drafted and nailed him in the left rear and just about
turned him into the fence. It messed me up and it allowed everyone
to get closer to us. Woody was able to get on the inside, I
might have been able to roll around him on the outside but he
was getting a good solid push from someone behind him. I hung
tough on the outside there.” Starting the Granite State
Classic a solid third, Szegedy appeared to struggle in the beginning,
slipping as far back as 8th before making their first pit stop
of two on lap 22. “For some reason our car was real free-
it wasn’t like that in practice. I knew other people were
too but when it was getting close to time to pit, I didn’t
want to beat the car up more- try and stay ahead of guys when
I couldn’t so when a guy made a run on me, I let them
go. We put a wedge in it, dropped stagger, spring rubbers, we
did what we had to do and it came to me, I was pretty amazed.
Phil Moran (crew chief) he’s absolutely phenomenal, what
can I say, I wouldn’t be in this position if they didn’t
give me the car that they do every week. They brought me back
up front again, they’re the best.” Stefanik’s
Granite State Classic win will remain memorable for car owner
Eric Sanderson. “Wow, ever since I’ve been coming
here as a car owner I’ve wanted to go to this victory
lane. 16 years. I’m kind of speechless to say the least.
Winning any of the New Hampshire races is like winning Daytona,
the World Series, the Superbowl, whatever you want to call it,
it’s just incredible.”
“The crew works hard, they practice and they’re
serious about it,” said Szaban. “We have a bunch
of young guys that are into it and they do a great job. The
effort that goes into this, every race- the win, I don’t
even know how to put this into words, it’s huge.”
“It’s a nutty game we play,” smiled Stefanik.
“There is nothing that can bring you as high up as you
are right now then in a week drop you like a rock. But you can
be a rock as long as you know you have another peak coming.
This is a huge peak for us and we’re going to try and
enjoy it. Last week was great (2nd at Stafford) we would have
loved to have hung on but we couldn’t, Teddy got by us.
But we had a great pit stop, put us in position and this team,
they’re digging and digging. They’re a great bunch
of guys and I’m very happy for them.” Santos crossed
the line sixth, Ryan Preece seventh, Glen Tyler, Erick Rudolph
and Doug Coby completed the top ten. Point leader Ron Silk rallied
to take 11th, his finish strong enough to remain the leader
over Rowan Pennink who crossed 16th. The NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour heads to Tennessee, the August 24th event at Bristol Motor
Speedway will be telecast on SPEED at 6pm ET.
LOUDON,
N.H. – Mike Stefanik survived several restarts in the
closing laps and picked up a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win
in the Granite State Classic on Saturday at New Hampshire Motor
Speedway. Under perfect weather conditions, Stefanik, out of
Coventry, R.I., in the No. 16 Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises
Pontiac, earned his first win of the season and the 71st of
his Tour career by edging Woody Pitkat at the line. It was Stefanik’s
seventh win at the track and first since Aug. 2, 1998. Additionally,
it was his first overall victory since winning at Martinsville
(Va.) Speedway on Sept. 27, 2009. The runner-up marked the best
career finish for Pitkat, from Stafford, Conn. Todd Szegedy
crossed the line in the third position followed by Justin Bonsignore
and Eric Beers in fourth and fifth, respectively. Bobby Santos,
Ryan Preece, Glenn Tyler, Erick Rudolph and Doug Coby rounded
out the top 10. Pit stops in the middle portion of the race
shuffled the field which left Stefanik and Pitkat at the front
to battle it out through two red flags brought out by separate
multi-car accidents. Perennial championship contender and five-time
New Hampshire winner Ted Christopher experienced mechanical
problems on Lap 33 and had to go behind the wall for repairs
relegating him to a 28th-place finish. In Friday’s qualifying
session, defending Tour champion Bobby Santos claimed his second
Coors Light Pole Award of the 2011 season and the sixth of his
career. It was, however, his first at the New Hampshire track.
1
12 16 Mike Stefanik Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Pontiac
105 185 5 Running
2 22 28 Woody Pitkat Ramar-Hall Chevrolet 105 175 5 Running
3 3 2 Todd Szegedy Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Const. Ford
105 165 Running
4 4 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 105 165 5 Running
5 2 45 Eric Beers Horwith Frghtlnr/John Blewett Inc. Chevrolet
105 155 Running
6 1 4 Bobby Santos "Mystic Missile" Dodge 105 160
10 Running
7 16 40 Ryan Preece Mizzy Const./Reynolds Auto Wrkg. Chevrolet
105 146 Running
8 21 8 Glenn Tyler Jayfor Chevrolet 105 142 Running
9 8 98 Erick Rudolph Accell Const./Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet
105 143 5 Running
10 14 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrkg/Johnson Ldscp Chevrolet
105 134 Running
11 13 6 Ron Silk T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet
105 130 Running
12 25 88 Bryon Chew * Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka Chevrolet
105 127 Running
13 19 7 Patrick Emerling * Emerling Chevrolet Ford 105 124 Running
14 23 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 105 121
Running
15 29 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Pontiac
105 118 Running
16 5 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet
105 115 Running
17 31 10 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard's Autos/Kleer Lumber Chevrolet
99 112 Running
18 26 39 Richie Pallai, Jr. Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet 97 109
Running
19 7 79 James Civali Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 92
106 Accident
20 18 70 Andy Seuss Rockingham Boat/GEX Publishing Chevrolet
92 103 Accident
21 6 64 Ron Yuhas, Jr. The A-Team/Beaver Bats Chevrolet 92 100
Accident
22 10 3 Matt Hirschman Cape Cod Copper/Riverview Chevrolet 86
97 Accident
23 15 50 Kevin Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 86
94 Accident
24 24 58 Eric Goodale Perimeters for the Home Chevrolet 86 91
Accident
25 20 11 Donny Lia Night Train Motorsports Ford 86 88 Accident
26 30 38 Jake Marosz Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet
62 85 Handling
27 11 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Agts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet
58 82 Accident
28 17 36 Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet 50 79
Rear End
29 9 14 Jimmy Blewett Ling Trucking/Atlantic Sprinkler Chevrolet
47 76 Engine
30 28 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet
41 73 Engine
31 27 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/MacLad Drywall Ford 24 70
Ignition
Aug 12 - Stafford Speedway - MRS - 18
"KID ROC" BECOMES THE
LITTLE KING CAPTURING STAFFORD VRMS WIN
Keith Rocco Won his First Ever Touring Series Win
by
Denise DuPont
The Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS) returned to Stafford
Speedway on Friday August 12th to complete a race that was originally
started on June 24t h. The race resumed on Lap 32 with Stafford
track regular Keith Rocco in the lead. The weather was picture
perfect with race teams and fans alike were ready for racing.
Keith Rocco brought the field of cars around and maintained
his lead at the restart of the race. From then on it was Rocco’s
race as he fought off attempts to take the lead spot away. At
one point Hirschman passed Rocco to take the lead on lap 54
but then series founder Jack Bateman spun bringing out a caution.
So as fast as Hirschman took the lead spot, the caution returned
it right back to Rocco. Using the same tires that he started
the race with a month and a half ago, Rocco saved what he could
for when he needed it to get his first ever Touring Series win.
“The race was great. We did not know what we had when
we came back because the tires sat for so long,” said
Rocco after the race. “The car was real good. I wanted
to save the car as much as I could for the end of the race and
that was what we did. At the end of the race we had great motor
bite so the thing had plenty left. We saved as much as we could
in the middle of the race because we did not know how much tire
we had left. Then we gave it everything we had the last ten
laps. I am sure that Todd (Owen) was just trying to get by me
and then ride but we just did what we had to do. ”;
Todd Owen has tried his hand at racing with the VMRS. But he
has gotten bitten by the bug again and is ready to try his hand
at more races. Friday he suited up and jumped into the #29 car
own by Luther Hosmer. Owen used his home track experience to
wheel his way up to second on lap 62. His car was strong and
if there were a few more laps he may have taken over the lead.
“What a blast! I started in the back and it (the race)
took almost two months to finish it but in the end it was fun.
When I got to second I thought for sure that that race was mine
to win. I did not know if Keith running up front used a lot
up to get there. He had a little bit at the end. We were good
at the end but we were not going to pass him. It was just a
great run for the Cooker Construction car.”;
Doug Coby started the race in fifth and hung out racing the
car conservatively until it was time to make his move forward.
He was rewarded for his efforts at the end of the race with
a podium finish “We were good in practice. We tried to
setup the car the same way as last time we were here which was
about a month and half ago. We were a little tight and there
in not much you can do about it but beat the heck out of the
car and have the tires go away. I was decent at the end but
I just did not have enough for those two (Keith Rocco and Todd
Owen). They were both pretty fast so I just stayed out of trouble.”;
Coby not only stayed out of trouble but managed to be at the
right place at the right time to take advantage of others race
misfortunes. “When the #13 car (Steve Masse) bonzai’d
the #34 (Dave Etheridge) and then lost it, so I gained two spots.
Then Todd (Owen) and the #59 (Matt Hirschman) got together and
I got to pass them It was a good car. I was kind of hoping that
Todd would drive into Keith’s nerf bar a little bit and
it would open the door. But he (Todd Owen) drove his best. It
(#20) just was not a winning car tonight.”;
ROC champion, Matt Hirschman, had the lead once only to have
the caution flag fly taking his lead away. He drove a good clean
race but “Lady Luck” just did not give him the break
he needed for a win. He made the best of the situation and completed
the race with a strong fourth place finish. ”We had a
car that could win tonight. There was just a bad timing with
the cautions. I was racing Keith clean and I had him twice.
Then the caution came out. During the last restart I was not
able to get back down. The #20 (Doug Coby) filled the second
place spot underneath me. He then squeezed me up off of turn
two. And I dropped back to fourth. From that point on it seemed
like everybody equaled out. But definitely earlier it seemed
that we had a real good chance of winning. It was just bad timing.”;
Notes
from Stafford Speedway VMRS Race 8/12/2011:
After capturing your first win at your home track in the VMRS,
what are you thoughts as a racer on the series?
Keith
Rocco
I think that this is a great series. It is cost effective with
the tire rule. The payoff is real good. I think that it is a
real thing of the future.
What are your plans for the future for competing with the VMRS?
Todd
Owen
“I will be at Waterford tomorrow (8/13). We said if I
made it out of here in one piece we would go to Waterford. We
will see if we can do a few more this year. I am buying the
car from Luther Hosmer. Right now I am trying to get the money
to put the deal together. So we may come back here or go to
Thompson, but we will see where we go from there.”;
Doug
Coby drove back from Loudon, NH NWMT qualifying to finish Stafford’s
VMRS race. Coby was grateful to the #20 crew for their efforts
in getting his car ready for him.
“The car was tight for the first half of that race but
it actually came around at the end. I want to thank my guys
for hanging around here all day waiting for me to come back
from Loudon. The #20 car is a great car in the series. I am
fortunate to be able to drive it. I just want o give a shout
out to modified legend Bob Polverari. He is in the house and
he is helping out our team.”;
Did Keith and Todd Owen have a extra advantage over other VMRS
competitors running the race at their home Track?
Matt
Hirschman
“Keith runs here so obviously he knows the track well.
He is winning here all the time. I knew that he wasn’t
going to give it up or make a mistake. But we did at one time
clearly have him and then he ran me clean. It was just bad timing.
It is just luck I guess. I do not know what else you could say.
But it is part of it. You cannot take anything from Keith because
he ran a good race and he still held off everybody at the end.
So I cannot change the timing of the cautions. That is all part
of racing. The shoe could have been on the other foot. I could
have gotten saved by it too. But it always stinks when it happens
to you.”;
-
- - - - - - - -
Keith
Rocco continued his winning ways at Stafford Speedway as he
picked up his first career Modified Racing Series victory in
the Lincoln Tech 80. The race was started on June 24th, but
rain halted the race with 32 laps complete. Rocco was the race
leader when the rain came and he had to fight off strong challenges
from Matt Hirschman and then Todd Owen to take the victory as
he led the final 47 laps of the race.
With the race taking the green flag on June 24th, Keith Rocco
led the field to the green and he led the first lap of the race
before Chris Pasteryak went to the front on lap-2. Dave Etheridge
followed Pasteryak by Rocco as Rocco fell from the lead back
to third place. Matt Hirschman was in fourth and Doug Coby rounded
out the top-5 in the early laps. The top-5 ran in line until
lap-11 when Rocco moved past Etheridge for second. Rocco continued
his charge back to the front on lap-13 when he made a power
move to the inside of Pasteryak in turn 3 to retake the lead.
The top-4 cars were beginning to pull away from Coby in fifth,
while Josh Sylvester, Steve Masse, and Todd Owen were lined
up behind Coby. The first caution came out with 25 laps complete
as Mike Holdridge spun, which erased the margin that the top-4
cars had built up. Rocco took the lead back under green with
Etheridge moving into second. Hirschman took third, with Pasteryak
falling back to fourth and Coby continued to run in fifth. The
second half of the top-10 was Masse, Sylvester, Owen, Joe Ducette,
and Les Hinckley.
The caution came back out and the race was halted with 32 laps
complete for rain with Rocco in the lead.
As the race resumed, Rocco powered into the lead with Hirschman
taking second. Etheridge was third, with Pasteryak and Masse
making up the top-5. Owen was sixth, Coby was seventh, Sylvester
was eighth, Steve Reed was ninth, and Hinckley was tenth. Hirschman
was hounding Rocco for the lead and several times Hirschman
was able to get alongside Rocco, but he was not able to complete
a pass. Etheridge and Pasteryak were continuing to run third
and fourth while Todd Owen was now in fifth with 30-laps to
go. After several laps of trying to make a pass for the lead,
Hirshcman was finally able to make a pass stick on lap-54 as
he went by Rocco in turn 2, but Jack Bateman spun to bring the
caution out and put Rocco back to the front of the field for
the restart. Rocco took the lead with Etheridge moving into
second ahead of Hirschman. But Hirschman fought back on the
outside groove and went back by Etheridge as the caution came
back out for a spin by Sylvester with 55 laps complete. Rocco
took the lead while Hirschman took second and Owen made a hard
charge on the outside groove to pull alongside Etheridge for
third place. Owen would take the spot from Etheridge on lap-57
while Rocco continued to lead ahead of Hirschman. Hirschman
again was making a bid for the lead, but was not able to make
a pass. Mike Holdridge, Sylvester, and Bateman all spun in turn
1 to bring the caution back out with 59 laps complete. Hirschman
and Rocco were side by side before Rocco got clear into the
lead. The caution came back out with 60 laps complete as Steve
Masse got loose in turn 2 and Rowan Pennink drove up and over
his right side tires and found the wall. Also involved were
the cars of Pasteryak, Tim Jordan, and Etheridge.
Rocco and Hirschman were again fighting side by side for the
lead while Owen was right behind Rocco. Rocco got clear of Hirschman
on lap-62 and Owen moved into a side by side duel with Hirschman
for second. Hirschman fell back to fourth as Coby moved up to
third while Owen was all over the back of Rocco for the race
lead with 15 laps to go. With 10 laps to go, it was a four-car
train for the top spot with Rocco leading Owen, Coby, and Hirschman.
With 5 laps to go the running order remained the same, but Rocco
was able to pull away from Owen by several car lengths. Rocco
led the field around to take the checkered flag. Owen finished
second, with Coby, Hirschman, and Hinckley rounding out the
top-5.
MODIFIED
RACING SERIES LINCOLN TECH 80 (80)
1) Keith Rocco
2) Todd Owen
3) Doug Coby
4) Matt Hirschman
5) Mike Stefanik
6) Les Hinckley
7) Max Zachem
8) Chris Pasteryak
9) Tommy Barrett, Jr.
10) Dave Etheridge
11) Steve Reed
12) Norm Wrenn
13) Tim Jordan
14) Jack Bateman
15) Joe Doucette
16) Lou Mechalides
17) Steve Masse
18) Rowan Pennink
19) Josh Sylvester
20) Mike Holdridge
21) Rob Goodenough
22) Shelly Perry
23) Jon McKennedy
24) Jeff Malave
25) Todd Annarummo
26) Richard Savary
27) Justin Bonsignore
28) Adam Norton
Aug 6 - Beech Ridge Speedway - 14
The Valenti Modified Racing Series
(VMRS continued their summer racing competition traveling to
the Maine seacoast and Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. The track
is a small one-third oval that is very racy. There were several
spins and at least ten cautions during the race which is not
the normal VMRS race venue showing how challenging the track
was. Mike Holdridge started fifth and had a stellar night as
he maintained a top five spot all night. The race veteran has
had a VMRS win eluded him in the past for several race seasons.
But on Saturday night Holdridge was at the right place at the
right time and the race was his. “A long time coming is
an understatement. I did not think that it was ever going to
come (a win). So I am really excited. Joe (Doucette) gave me
some hope last week that the old timers might be able to get
one done.” Holdridge drove a smart race saving his car
and tires for when he needed it most at the end of the race.
“They had a good car for me. I cannot thank my father
enough for all that he has done and my family and my crew. It
is a real small crew and tonight I am missing a guy, Matt. I
wish that he was here so he could see it. So I will have to
do it again. We will have to do it again I guess at my next
best track, Waterford.” There have been several races
in the past where there were only two laps to go and Holdridge
met with bad luck. So as he drove his heart out he kept waiting
for “Lady Luck” to pull the win right out from his
grasp. “My luck is never usually that good. I was just
waiting for somebody to come alive. If you save the car here
it usually pays off in the end. I was sure that someone was
coming, Les, Dwight or one of them. I am just happy that I had
a little bit extra at the end. That is all. I was going to make
it hard for whoever was going to try to pass me; I was not going
to give it away.” Les Hinckley had a good car and kept
making it from the back of the pack to the front after pitting
for car adjustments. But even with all the changes, Hinckley
came in one spot shy of a victory taking home. “I was
one spot shy,” said Hinckley about his run. “I had
some extra motivation this week to try to get that spot (a win).
But Mike was solid. He was really good. I could not be happier
for him and Dale and the whole team. They are really good people.
It was a tough one. We just could not hit on it like we have
been fortunate at some other places where we have been really
able to nail it down. But we were just on every side of neutral
tonight.” Hinckley tried the both the top and bottom grooves
in the track and he just could not find the right line to allow
him to lead at race end. But a second place finish after a hard
race is not a bad spot. “I thought that the outside was
going to work a little better on that last restart but I do
not know what happened. It did not seem like anything worked.
When we were tight on the bottom with a car on the outside of
us it was bad. And then when I would get to the outside it felt
OK when you had a guy pinned down on the bottom but then when
you were by your self it made no difference where you were.
Traffic had more to do with it tonight more than anything else.”
Dwight Jarvis celebrated his birthday at Beech Ridge with a
podium finish. He had thoughts about not coming to race Beech
Ridge but in the end he was glad that the team came to race.
“Earlier in the day the car was a piece of junk and the
boys went to work on it after our qualifier and they changed
a lot of stuff.” Dwight said reflecting on the race. “They
had the car pretty good. It was a good race, but it was hard
out there tonight. The car loosened up on us at the end. We
did not want to give up our track position so I hung up in there.
But we used our tires up right it the beginning and I just lost
the right rear tire (the tire went away).” With several
caution laps and re-starts, Jarvis’s car had time to cool
the tires. Did the cautions then help Dwight Jarvis in the end?
“I think that they did because they let the right rear
tire cool off and come back to me a little bit. Also on that
last re-start I found a different groove to run. I moved it
up some and the car stayed a little tighter for me. I was gaining
on Les in the end there but I do not know if I could have done
anything with him. But I am happy with it.” Tony Ricci
knows Beech Ridge track as well as the back of his hand. He
has raced there weekly and done quite well. But racing with
the VMRS modifieds on his home track he felt himself challenged.
He once made contact with a fellow competitor sending him spinning
and then later on in the race spun himself. “I think that
my experience on the track hurt me. Because I drive this track
pretty much the way that everybody does that races here on a
weekly basis. We roll the bottom and I think that was what got
me in my messes tonight.”
“These guys drive in and diamond up and shoot up the track
and pivot it out and press on the gas going from the top to
the bottom. That is just not the way around this place. That
is not the fast way.” But the VMRS drivers may have not
gone the fast way around but at least three of them were faster
than Ricci because he had to settle for a fourth place finish.
Young driver Joey Jarvis finished fifth in only his third time
out with the #04 car. He drove a clean conservative race and
his efforts paid off. “At the beginning of the day I did
not know what was going to happen. We were as slow as could
be. We threw everything but the kitchen sink at it and it (car)
came into it somehow.” But unlike other racers, the cautions
did not help Jarvis as he raced to the front.. “The cautions
did not help us at all. Our car seemed to come into it the longer
that we ran. Other than that I do not know what to say. This
is only the third race with the car.” The VMRS will return
to Stafford Speedway next Friday night (8/12) to finish a race
that they started there on June 24th. Rain has now delayed the
race finish twice.
Beech
Ridge Speedway Race Notes:
Having
a great 2011 season, has Mike Holdridge done anything special
to the car this year?
Mike Holdridge
“I have been running with more patience and trying not
to burn the tire off. That is all that I have been doing. I
have been being patient and saving the tires for the end. Not
spinning the right rear and no wrecks.”
Did
the many cautions help your race?
Les Hinckley
“Definitely doubling up and having the double file restarts
helped us. It was tough when we were tight on the bottom but
other guys were struggling too. It definitely helped us by backing
the field up. It helped our track position and helped us get
back up (to the front).”
A caution on Lap 84 involved several drivers competing for the
same third spot. Hinckley did not spin and managed to make a
nice recovery as he passed for second on the race re-start.
“Thankfully I did not get taken out The #13 (Steve Masse)
got dead sideways in the center of the race track after some
contact with the #25 (Rowan Pennink). I was right in the center
of the bee’s nest but I made it out of it clean so I am
thankful for that. I am definitely thankful that we are making
it out of here with a second and all four wheels on it even
thought we were not as good as we should be.”
Tony Ricci
“I do not know if the cautions helped me or not. With
everything that happened. The thing that killed me was getting
sent to the back there after the incident with the #25. That
is what hurt my chances of winning that race. As long as they
do the same thing for everybody I am OK with it. Hopefully I
come to a few more races and it is the same for everybody. Right
now it is a little sour but oh well.”
Veteran Racer David Pinkham led the race for twenty-six laps
and then suddenly his car lost its momentum and he was out of
contention for a win. What happened?
David Pinkham
“I am sure that something broke and something got really
loose. We do not know what it is yet. It was more that just
a flat tire. Something happened and it took the handling away
really bad. “
“When I was leading I thought that I had a really good
car. It happens. It just went away and I do not know why. It
just got really loose.”
Your thoughts on the Race at your home track, Beech Ridge.
Tony Ricci
“I guess if they have a rule where the guys make contact
and they are going to send people to the back as long as they
do it for everybody I am OK with it. But that deal with the
#25 car there I do not know how much cleaner you can setup to
pass somebody. To be running up front there and a car that was
very capable. I really think that it was very feasible that
I could have won that race. I had not really pushed it that
hard up to that point. It is just a tough deal. “
“I have never had as many wrecks or have as many drive
over my right front when you are up all the way under. They
have spot mirrors now. When I stopped racing the tour in 2009
you could not run a spot mirror on the left. They now have them
back. I want to go out and knock some of them off those guys’
cars now. You see them looking and blocking you. It is too bad
because there were a lot of cautions and this was a slow long
race. It does not need to be.”
Race Summary:
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway
Scarborough, Maine
Aug 6, 2011
Distance: 100 laps Time of Race: 1:04:20:956 Margin of Victory:
2.287 Best Lap Time: 14.958 Masse
Best Speed: 80.144 Masse Lead Changes: Hinckley (1-9,12-15)
Pinkham (10-11, 16- 41)
Pennink (42-56) Holdridge (57-100)
Order
of Finish; (1) Holdridge (2) Hinckley (3) D.Jarvis (4) Ricci
(5) J.Jarvis (6) Zachem (7) Mechalides (8) Doucette (9) Dore
(10) Pasteryak (11) Norton (12) Jordan (13) Bodreau (14) Pennink
(15) Masse (16) Goodenough (17) Pinkham (18) Annarummo (19)
Wrenn (20) Oliver
Aug 5 - Stafford Speedway - 6
STAFFORD
MOTOR SPEEDWAY:TOWN FAIR TIRE 150
by Polly Reid
With
15 to go, Ted Christopher made his made his move, committing
low going into turn three, the Plainville, CT driver cleared
Mike Stefanik for the lead and held off Stefanik to the wire
scoring the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Town Fair Tire 150 win
at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Stefanik crossed for second, Bobby Santos third, Eric Beers
and Eric Goodale the top five.
“We were really tight in the beginning there but it probably
played in our favor because I think everyone was getting loose,”
said Christopher, “but in the end you just have to go
with this thing. It’s weird because it started to get
tight again so I had to run a little different line to hold
Michael off - it was a lot of fun.” The Town Fair 150
ran the first 116 laps under the green flag and while Coors
Light pole winner Doug Coby led the 28 car field to green, it
was outside starter Tom Rogers who powered on the outside to
become the first leader of the night, the Patchogue, NY driver
holding the position until Coby made his calculated move on
lap 16 becoming the second leader.
With Coby out front, the field stretched out and while Christopher
worked his way to second under green, the laps continued to
tick off and at the half way mark it was Coby, Christopher,
Todd Szegedy, Rogers, Beers, Santos, Justin Bonsignore, Ron
Silk, Stefanik and Erik Rudolph the top ten. Christopher finally
closed the gap enough to take the lead from Coby on the 88th
circuit and did what Coby had done earlier, checked out from
the field. Christopher’s lead all went away with a muddled
incident on lap 116 in turn four. Coby and Szegedy running second
and third took the brunt of it and while both drove away, their
stellar night in an instant, evaporated. Pit row came alive,
the action heated up as Christopher led the way for fresh Hoosiers.
But three tires later, it was Stefanik’s Flamingo Motorsports
team that came off pit row first, the Coventry, RI driver moving
from seventh to become the new leader of the night followed
by Santos, Eric Goodale, Christopher and Rowan Pennink the top
five. A caution on the restart for a spin in turn two closed
the field up again, Stefanik at the point with 20 to go was
strong, but Christopher in the Eddie Whelan owned, Al-Lee Installations
sponsored Chevrolet, was not going to let this one get away
and made his move heading into turn three edging a nose, then
completed the pass before coming out of four to become final
leader of the night. While Stefanik stayed on Christopher’s
bumper, it was Christopher at the line collecting his 41st career
NWMT victory, his 11th at Stafford, his third of 2011. “It
was a lot of fun,” said Christopher’s crew chief
Brad Lafontaine. “This is our third time here, the other
two times, Teddy likes a loose race car, but every time we have
a loose race we don’t win. This time here, I kept it tight,
so it fell right into our plans because the race went so long
without a yellow they just backed right up to us and then we
were able to pull away from the rest of the field. I was hoping
it would go green the rest of the way because there was no one
coming and we were still pulling away.”
“When the caution came out, that was the last thing I
wanted to see,” admitted Lafontaine. “We took three
tires, made a wedge adjustment and came out fourth, the guys
did an excellent job and Teddy took over from there. I said
to Teddy, ‘I’m hoping you’re as hungry as
me’ and he said, ‘I’m always hungry’.”
The newest car in the Whelan stable now has two wins in the
four times it’s been on the track. The pit stop became
truly pivotal, crucial to the eventual outcome of the Town Fair
Tire 150. “This one’s for our team,” said
Stefanik. The Eric Sanderson owned, Diversified Metals/R.B.
Enterprises machine collecting a strong podium finish. “They
put me out front - that was a fantastic pit stop - we were just
a little too snug to hold it but it was great to have a car
up front like that - it’s just hats off to the team -
I can’t say enough for the hard work they put in and that
pit stop showed it.” Santos slipped out of the top five
only once in the 150 lap event, but a strong pit stop put Bob
Garbarino’s Mystic Missile Dodge, immediately back in
the hunt lining up second on the final restart. “We had
a good run,“ said Santos. “I just have to thank
the guys who kept fighting and getting me an awesome pit stop
that got us a good finish, I just got to thank the team for
doing such a good job.” Ron Silk’s seventh place
finish was enough to keep the Norwalk, CT driver in the points
lead by one over Rowan Pennink, the Huntingdon Valley, PA driver
crossing sixth. Rudolph, Coby and Jimmy Blewett completed the
top ten. Christopher’s win moved him up to third in the
standings over Szegedy while Santos claims the fifth spot in
points as the NWMT heads to Loudon, NH for the Granite State
Classic Saturday August 13th.
NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour-Town Fair Tire 150 Unofficial Results
Friday At Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford, Conn.
Lap length: 0.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (3) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 150 laps,
82.142 mph.
2. (8) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 150.
3. (5) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 150.
4. (4) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
5. (12) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
6. (17) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
7. (10) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
8. (11) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
9. (1) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
10. (6) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 150.
11. (7) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
12. (16) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
13. (22) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
14. (9) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 149.
15. (15) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 149.
16. (13) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 149.
17. (18) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 149.
18. (19) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 149.
19. (2) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 149.
20. (28) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass., Chevrolet, 148.
21. (23) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet,
148.
22. (21) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 148.
23. (14) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 147.
24. (25) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Pontiac, 146.
25. (26) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 145.
26. (20) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 127.
27. (27) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 121, handling.
28. (24) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Ford, 17, engine.
Race
Statistics
Time of Race: 0 hours 54 minutes 47 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.247 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: D.Coby (98.776 mph, 18.223 seconds)
Caution Flags: 2 for 14 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Rogers,Jr. 1-15; D. Coby 16-87; T. Christopher
88-120; M. Stefanik 121-134; T. Christopher 135-150.
Standings:
1. R. Silk, 1275; 2. R. Pennink, 1274; 3. T. Christopher, 1217;
4. T. Szegedy, 1159; 5. B. Santos, 1132; 6. E. Beers, 1129;
7. M. Hirschman, 1119; 8. D. Coby, 1113; 9. M. Stefanik, 1023;
10. E. Rudolph, 1012.
July
30 - Riverhead Raceway - NASCAR
Justin Bonsignore
converted his home-track advantage into his first NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour victory. The 23-year-old from Holtsville, N.Y.,
drove away with the Lighthouse Mission 200 Saturday at Riverhead
Raceway.
Bonsignore, the 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco Rookie
of the Year, also runs regularly in Riverhead's weekly NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series Modified Division. He is second in
the track's point standings. Todd Szegedy was second, followed
by Ron Silk, Ryan Preece and Doug Coby. Rowan Pennink rebounded
from an early wreck to finish sixth. The finish allowed Silk
to take the points lead by five over Pennink.
Jamie Tomaino, Patrick Emerling, Bobby Santos and Richie Pallai
rounded out the top 10, Earlier in the day, Riverside veteran
Howie Brode earned his first career Coors Light Pole Award on
the tour. His night ended early, though, when he was caught
up in a multi-car accident in the first half of the race. Brode
led the first 17 laps before Bonsignore made the decisive move
to the front on Lap 18. With his sixth-straight top-five finish,
Silk passed Pennink for the season points lead. Silk now leads
by five tallies with nine races remaining.
NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour-Lighthouse Mission 200
Unofficial Results
Saturday At Riverhead Raceway, Riverhead, N.Y.
Lap length: 0.25 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 175 laps,
34.464 mph.
2. (3) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 175.
3. (16) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
4. (7) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
5. (9) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
6. (6) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 175.
7. (10) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 175.
8. (28) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 175.
9. (19) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 175.
10. (27) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet,
175.
11. (23) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 175.
12. (18) Dave Brigati, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 175.
13. (24) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 175.
14. (22) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
15. (20) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 172.
16. (25) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 160.
17. (4) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 158,
accident.
18. (21) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 158.
19. (8) Shawn Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 146, accident.
20. (26) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 124.
21. (12) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 119.
22. (13) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 85, radio.
23. (1) Howie Brode, East Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 69, accident.
24. (5) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 69, accident.
25. (15) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 60, suspension.
26. (17) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Chevrolet, 58, accident.
27. (11) George Brunnhoelzl, III, W. Babylon, N.Y., Chevrolet,
22, accident.
28. (14) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 1, accident.
Race
Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 16 minutes 10 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.352 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: H.Brode (75.898 mph, 11.858 seconds)
Caution Flags: 11 for 100 laps.
Lead Changes: 1 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: H. Brode 1-17; J. Bonsignore 18-175.
Standings:
1. R. Silk, 1129; 2. R. Pennink, 1124; 3. T. Szegedy, 1038;
4. T. Christopher, 1032; 5. M. Hirschman, 995; 6. D. Coby, 970;
7. E. Beers, 969; 8. B. Santos, 967; 9. R. Yuhas,Jr., 890; 10.
E. Rudolph, 870.
July 23 Oxford Speedway - MRS- 4
JOE DOUCETTE WINS HIS FIRST EVER VMRS
RACE
Oxford Plains Speedway Ain’t Just Flat Anymore
by Denise DuPont
The
Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS) completed their annual
trek up to Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway. The series
joined other racing activity to make it a super Oxford 250 weekend
for all. On Saturday there appeared to be standing room only
at the 14,000 seat facility as fans waited in long lines to
get in. During the Brackett Mechanical RB Performance 100 lap
VMRS race fans sitting on the edge of their seats as the Valenti
Modifieds raced to the checker. The move of the night award
though went to Joe Doucette when he went under the leader, Chris
Pasteryak, to pass for the lead on lap 97. A win has been a
long time coming for Joe Doucette and the #55 team. He has been
participating in the field of the VMRS for about six years and
more often than not he has always been the driver that would
be considered for the hard luck award. But this week the driver
shed the cloak of bad luck and ran with the “Big Dogs”
proving that he could not only do it but also win while doing
it.
“It was unbelievable!,” said Joe Doucette smiling
about the win. “That is the one word to explain it –
It is just unbelievable. We went from the slowest car in practice
at the bottom of the time charts. We made wholesale changes.
The crew just did an unbelievable job. They made major changes
for the night. We said do not get excited the track will come
to us. We had a great starting spot (sixth) and just rode for
a while. About 50 laps in I looked up and I said “Holy
cow I am on the scoreboard! You know I have a pretty good car
here. A podium finish will just make my day.” Dwight and
Les were running real hard in front of me. So I just sat back
and watched the show and let them wear their stuff out. Then
I finally got by them and then I saw Chris kind of bring up
the pace a little bit. They must have told him on the radio
that I was coming and my car looked pretty fresh. So he picked
the pace up. I noticed as he was driving hard he started to
push up into the center of the corner. My strong suit was that
my car was running in the center real well. So I just kind of
waited and waited until it was ten to go and kept sticking it
under there. I knew I had to make the move coming out of turn
two because that was where he was the weakest and where I was
the strongest. When I got up beside him there was no holding
us back. I respect that he raced me real clean. We rubbed just
a little bit and once I got by it was just holding my breath
for the last few laps. It was just unbelievable!”; Oxford
Plains is a three-eight mile flat oval track and is a hand full
to master. But once a driver meets the track’s challenge,
you see a smile come to their faces and know they have conquered
the asphalt and are ready to come back for more. And Doucette
is one of those driver’s that is pumped up and ready for
more. “I never thought that it (a win) would come on a
flat track. Now I love it (the Oxford Plains track). We have
struggled here and at Beech Ridge and sometimes Seekonk. We
spent a lot of time and money over the winter on the car. The
changes seem positive so far this year. We have not had a lot
of opportunity to show it. At Lee we should it a little bit.
We have had a little bit of bad luck but we are here now and
it will be nice to get our name in the paper.”; Point
leader Chris Pasteryak started the race on the pole and led
the race for 96 laps until Doucette passed him to take ownership
of the most important lap, the last one. Pasteryak was happy
with a second place finish, but he even appeared happier to
see a fellow competitor finally get his first win. “At
first I was hoping that he used up everything that he had to
get up to me. Then after about five or six laps I realized that
he was not going to go away. He was going really good tonight.
I tried not to go overly wide. I tried to give him a lane to
race. But I also tried to take away his momentum whenever I
could. And he raced me clean. He raced me as clean as you could
ever possibly ask any body else to race you here. I did everything
I could to hold him off. He is a true gentleman and he raced
me clean, He earned it tonight. He has been getting better ever
week and it showed it tonight. He won with the best car.”;
As the laps clicked off and Pasteryak continued to lead the
race what went through his mind? “I kept saying to myself
- “Do not burn it up. Try to go slow Try to go slower
and do not burn it up.” And I burnt it up anyways. Oh
well, what you are going to do. It was fun. We had another good
night. I had the fastest car on the race track except at the
end. We were going really, really good but we were just too
tight. That is the best that I have ever run here. It was a
good night, good race and a good deal. “;
In his sophomore year of racing the VMRS young Max Zachem had
his best series finish He finished the race in third coming
forward from his sixteenth starting spot. “The car was
awesome. I have to thank my family, crew and sponsor for sticking
with me this year with the tough year that we have had. I have
always had a part of Oxford in my heart. I ran Legend Cars here
for several years and the Oxford TD 250 you cannot get a lot
better weekend to have a top seat run. Hopefully we can go this
strong the rest of the season.”; Zachem has had a tough
year and running twentieth in driver points reflects the challenges
he has persevered this year. It looks like the team finally
may have turned around their season though at Oxford. “It
is amazing. I have to thank my crew. They are the ones that
did all the work here. I just get behind the wheel and drive
it. Basically I do the work at the shop but at the race they
take over for me. The way this season has been, I can see how
you would think that we were a lapped car. But you know what
I think that we are proving ourselves worthy that we can run
with the big dogs.”;
Rowan Pennink started from the rear of the field after a spin
during his heat race. When he spun in the same spot a during
the race, we started to wonder whether it was it the track or
the car. “It was an interesting race,” Pennink said
after it was all done. “We had a good car from the start
up until we spun. It got a little tight on the high groove and
I was real loose on the bottom of the track. So it was kind
of like two different cars that I was driving whether I was
on the top or the bottom. This was difficult because if someone
was running in the high groove that was where my car was best.
And I was real loose on the bottom, but if they were running
on the top I had no choice but to try to run on the bottom to
pass. That is how I ended up spinning out.”; So mastering
a track where you feel like you were switching cars was not
in the plan for the #25 team as they race for the chase Pennink
pitted during the only caution. The crew adjusted the car to
make it drive like only one car and Pennink went out to make
the forward charge. “The car was too loose on the bottom
so we made a couple adjustments during a pit stop. It (the car)
was pretty good for about 20 laps after we pitted and we ended
up just getting a little too tight after the 20 laps and seized
up that right front a little. It then kind of leveled off. We
ended up fourth so it was not too bad.”;
Norm Wrenn has become a consistent runner in the VMRS field.
This was the second week in a row he has captured a top five
finish. The team worked hard over the winter and totally revamped
their racing program and they are being rewarded for their hard
work. .”Since last year we changed everything. We changed
the motor we changed the whole setup. I thought that we were
pretty good in practice. Then we changed a few more things before
we went out. We start thirteenth and the finished fifth. I could
not be happier. I told my crew chief, Dave Berghman, “Dave,
I like the place!” So we are coming back next year. I
know I was not too happy about coming this time, but next year
I will be looking forward to it. We have a good plan to go by
and I think that we are going to improve.”; So with another
race in the books the VMRS packed up their haulers and headed
home. The teams will now regroup and get ready to return to
a bigger track as they return to Stafford Speedway to finish
the rain delayed Shark Cycle 80 next Friday, July 29th.
Racing
Notes from Oxford Plains Speedway
Thoughts
on the Oxford Plains Speedway Racing Groove
Chris Pasteryak
“Up until tonight I kind of hated it (the track). I liked
it a little bit to race on but it is really boring to go around.
I am going to have to change my opinion now. We are starting
to run better here. It is Oxford. It is historical. If they
tried to copy it I do not think that you could. It is its own
little unique place. I do not think that you could copy it if
you tried. It makes for some really good racing.”;
Norm
Wrenn
“I love this track. Last year when we came we were completely
out to lunch. I was actually regretting coming back. Last year
we pushed like a truck.”;
“I actually raced pro-stocks here. So I was use to the
pro stocks with the track dipping. So I was prepared for that.
It makes it kind of interesting. It does make for a different
race track and it makes a different race. We need different
racing. That is why we are a touring series.”;
Max Zachem
“I love Oxford and I love Beech Ridge. I ran Legend cars
at both places for several years and I won a lot of races around
here. It is my type of race track momentum where you do not
have to worry about having the big horse power and everything
to have the car move down the straight away. This is my kind
of fast race track and it proved it tonight.”;
This
was a very, very popular win among the VMRS family. Drivers,
owners and crew members came to offer heartfelt congratulations
to Doucette on his first win.
Finish Driver Car #
1 Joe Doucette 55
2 Chris Pasteryak 5CT
3 Max Zachem 79
4 Rowan Pennink 25
5 Norm Wrenn 53
6 Jeff Malave 3
7 Mike Holdridge 0
8 Les Hinckley 06
9 Dwight Jarvis 28
10 Jack Bateman 17
11 Jacob Dore 05
12 Louie Mechalides 85
13 Todd Annarummo 12
14 Leo Oliviera 56
15 Rob Goodenough 1nh
16 Tony Ricci 4
17 Jon McKennedy 73
July
16 Canaan Fair Speedway - MRS - 27
LOUIE MECHALIDES TAKES RICKY’S PURPLE TO THE WINNER CIRCLE
Mechalides Gets First 2011 Win and Big Purse
by Denise DuPont
On Saturday, July 16th the Valenti Modfied Racing Series (VMRS)
went to Canaan Fair Speedway for the fourth annual “Ricky’s
Race For Kids”. In addition to the normal series drivers,
there were several NWMT drivers in attendance to vie for the
projected $36,000 purse money that was posted. The winners portion
being - $12,000.
Louie Mechalides drew for the pole, led every lap and won the
112 lap race. The #85 team was the only car in the field to
sport the Ricky Miller purple so it was appropriate that the
purple team take the checkers and the win. ”I really did
not want to draw the pole but when it was a good place to start.
The car was really good so I was lucky be able to have run all
those laps that hard and still have a car at the end of race.”
The race was caution laden with ten cautions marring the momentum
of the race. Leading the race Mechalides was ahead of the accidents
and managed to avoid any damage. “I cannot believe how
many cautions there were in the race,” said Mechalides
while reflecting on the race. “We usually have two caution
and we had about five cautions before lap 10. We could have
done without all the cautions. I could have gotten stuck in
the back. But it was a good race.”
The cautions benefited Mechalides because he was surrounded
by the strongest of survivors “After the cautions I knew
that I had all good cars starting on the outside of me. I was
trying to race with them and not loose any spots. Mike Stefanik
and Kirk (Alexander) were all fast. So I knew I had my hands
full. They all run pretty good.”
Modified champion Mike Stefanik jumped into the #66 car of Ed
Marceau to make a run for the money. The team had a great night
but it was one spot short. Stefanik finished second after also
surviving the many accidents. “A second place finish is
good for just dropping in at the last minute we got a little
tight at the end.”
Stefanik came to Canaan immediately following the NWMT race
at Loudon. The team did not have enough time to complete their
normal race preparation which including tires. “I think
that we missed our tire sizing just a little bit. It was a problem
that we got here a little late and did not get a good tire selection,
which is not really any body’s fault. It is just the way
the weekend went. Being over at the big track and not being
able to have all your guns loaded when you pull into the pits
it hurts a little bit. But I am not going to complain about
a second place finish. It was a good run. The car does not have
any scratches on it. So we should be ready to go to Seekonk
on Wednesday and try it all over again. “ VMRS regular
Norm Wrenn had his best finish of the season. Wrenn started
mid-way in the field and executed his plan to finish the race
as best he could. Not only did he follow his pre-race strategy
but he also probably surpassed the team’s expectations.
“The race was awesome. I started I think fourteenth and
we had a plan going into this I was going to find a few open
spots and coast because it was a long race and we needed to
stay out of trouble. There were a lot of cautions and I stayed
out of trouble. There was a bad crash on the front stretch and
I was coasting at the time luckily. We had a little front end
damage when a car came over the front end but luckily I was
not pacing aggressively at the time. It probably saved me from
being out of the race at that point. “ Wrenn’s car
appeared to get better as the race went on. Coasting and finding
the open spots saved enough of his car to ensure a strong podium
finish. “Towards the end we were actually reeling in the
leaders on every lap. I was able to get by the #43 as he spun
his tires to get into third spot. . At the very end I was talking
to myself, “Let’s not crash here. Let’s just
get to finish and be happy with a third place. I did not want
to be aggressive at the end and take a chance and place my nose
where it did not belong.” VMRS past champion, Kirk Alexander,
came to Canaan to win. He did not win but he had racing fun
and was paid to do it. Alexander completed the race in fourth.
“It was a awesome day and a great payday. We went forward
and improved our position so that is really cool.” The
VMRS drivers are use to competing on the track with a lot of
green lap racing. When they have an off night an circumstances
cause several cautions, drivers and teams find themselves in
unfamiliar territory. “The car was awesome. I just did
not need those cautions. The car stagger would open up under
the cautions and it would take about six or eight laps to get
it back to where it was good enough to run with them. Those
cars up around me were really fast. I was lucky that I had an
awesome race car. We had a good car tonight and started thirteenth
and we finished fourth. I buzzed the tires on the restart when
I thought that I had a shot to get back into second. I was racing
with Mike Stefanik and Louie and I wish I could have done it
without all the cautions. “ The existing point leader
for the series, Chris Pasteryak, also enjoyed racing on the
track even though he was involved in an incident. “It
was an exciting race. It was a lot of fun. I kind of got spun
early when I chopped a guy which was a racing deal.” On
a close tight fast track, cautions do occur and Pasteryak was
caught up in a few himself. “Then I got caught up in another
racing deal. We probably could have earned a second place finish
but I was more worried about the #0 (Mike Holdridge) trying
to get by me on the outside and I got into Les (Hinckley). I
turned him sideways in turn one and I finished fifth. I guess
I got one coming from him but I will go to apologize to him
in a few minutes. Other than that we have four wheels on it
at then end of the night.”
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Louie
Mechalides of Tyngsboro, MA., made his first win in four years
a big one Saturday night when he drove to victory in the 4th
annual “Ricky’s Race for Kids” 112-lap modified
race, at Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, NH., before a large crowd.
The victory, Mechalides’ fifth career series win, earned
the veteran driver a $12,000 payday. The race benefited David’s
House, of Lebanon, NH. Mechalides, driving for Lowell, MA.,
car owner Kevin Stuart, started on the pole and led the entire
112 laps He received early pressure from series champion, Jon
McKennedy, Chelmsford, MA., rookie Tommy Barrett, JR, of Millis,
MA., then Preston, CT., veteran Kenny Barry who tried for 25
laps but could not overtake the race leader. Kirk Alexander,
Swanzey, NH., gave it his best, laps 45 through 64, and Mike
Stefanik, of Coventry, RI., worked over the leader from lap
65 to the finish. But it was Mechalides’ night. It was
his first win since September 23, 2007. Stefanik turned in a
strong effort driving the Ed Marceau #66 to a solid runner-up
finish. Stefanik earlier in the day raced at the New Hampshire
Motor Speedway. Nashua, NH., veteran Norman Wrenn finished third,
a career best with the VMRS, Alexander was fourth, with Chris
Pasteryak, of Lisbon, CT., rounding out the top five. Sixth
through tenth were; Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, CT., Mike Holdridge,
Madison, CT., Donnie Lashua, Canaan, Jacob Dore, Sanford, ME.,
and Joey Jarvis, Ascutney, VT.
Mechalides becomes the seventh different winner in eight races
this season and is now tied with Andy Seuss and Dwight Jarvis
for fourth on the all-time winners list with five wins apiece.
The race, slowed by ten caution flags, took one hour and nine
minutes to complete. 31 race teams entered the event. 18 of
the original 28 starters finished the race with 16 cars on the
lead lap.
Race Summary
July 16, 2011
Canaan Fair Speedway Canaan, NH.
Distance: 112 laps
Time of Race: 1:09:01
Best Lap Time: 13,723 (Alexander)
Best Speed: 87.357 (Alexander)
Lead Changes: 0
Lap Leaders: Mechalides (1-112)
Cautions: Laps; 1, 8, 10, 15, 41, 42, 43, 63, 87, 103
1 Louie Mechalides 85
2 Mike Stefanik 66
3 Norm Wrenn 53
4 Kirk Alexander 43
5 Chris Pasteryak 5CT
6 Les Hinckley 06
7 Mike Holdridge 0
8 Donnie Lashua 10x
9 Jacob Dore 05
10 Joey Jarvis 04
11 Mark McClay 61
12 Joe Doucette 55
13 Todd Patnode 24
14 Richard Savary 99
15 Ted Christopher 00
16 Max Zachem 79
17 Tom Barrett 9
18 Jon McKennedy 73
19 Aaron Fellows 7
20 Eric Goodale 58
21 Jim Boniface 88
22 Ken Barry 2
23 Dwight Jarvis 28
24 Doug Coby 20
25 Rob Goodenough 1NH
26 Tim Jordan 47
27 Rowan Pennink 25
28 Jack Bateman 17
July
16 New Hampshire Speedway - NASCAR - 6th
NEW
HAMPSHIRE F.W. WEBB 100
by Polly Reid
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With only two short cautions inside the first ten circuits,
it was green flag racing to the checkers and an impressive finish
by Sprint Cup driver Ryan Newman of South Bend, IN who bested
the field to take the victory in the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour, F. W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. A last
lap pass by Todd Szegedy brought the Ridgefield, CT across for
second with Ron Silk of Norwalk, CT third, Matt Hirschman and
Doug Coby the top five. His third consecutive win at the Magic
Mile in the Kevin Manion owned modified, Newman admitted a caution
could have changed things. “I didn’t know what was
going to happen if a yellow came out whatever lap it was going
to be- it was sure going to changed the complexity of the race.
We were loose, but we were the tightest loose of the top three
up front there. Fortunately it all worked out for us.”
Setting fast time on Thursday, Newman chose the outside lane
for the green with Silk, Szegedy, Bobby Santos and Doug Coby
the top five. Andy Petree, expected to make his first NWMT start,
suffered damage in the final practice and did not start.
A caution on the first circuit slowed the pace when three cars
tangled in turns one and two ending the day for Justin Bonsignore-
the field lined up for another try. Newman again taking the
outside, lined up with Silk, Santos, Szegedy and Rowan Pennink-
only to be reined in again when Andy Seuss spun in turn four.
Once again under way, it was quick to see who were the cars
to beat as Newman, Szegedy and Silk set the pace, pulling away
from the pack and as the long green run continued, the top trio
continued to separate themselves from the rest of the field
the circuits clicking off the board - eventually working lap
traffic and before the half, they had put a good ten seconds
between themselves and Ted Christopher in fourth. Ryan Preece
made his return to the NWMT and had worked his Bustout/Reynolds
Auto Wrecking modified up to fourth just past the half mark
when suddenly he was down pit row- out with engine issues with
40 to go. Earlier, engine issues plagued several teams including
Patrick Emerling who was out 16 laps in, then Jimmy Blewett
with only 26 circuits in the books followed by Dale Quarterly
with 29 laps completed and Mike Stefanik with 30- all pushed
behind the wall. 25 to go, Silk leading, the green flag still
out- only 14 cars remained on the lead lap- with Szegedy and
Newman keeping the T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet
in their sights. But as the laps ticked down and the green continued,
Newman turned up the wick and moved low in turn three to nab
second from Szegedy on lap 80 and after a brief side by side
battle with Silk, made his pass in turns one and two, 16 to
go on the scoreboard to secure the lead for the final time-
taking the Aggressive Hydraulics/Menards Chevrolet across the
line for the win. “This is really special,” said
Manion whose regular job is crew chief for Sprint Cup driver
Jamie McMurray. “This whole program we started with Gary,
myself and Russell, we won here as a team in the early 90’s
when we first started coming up here with Jeff Fuller then Steve
Park. As a kid, to come up here and race with the Cup guys,
it was really special. We made sure our car looked good because
we had a lot of guys watching, it was one of the best races
up here so 20 years later to come back here and be part of a
team, learning the aspect of owning a car, the expense of getting
up here and all the expense that goes on, just trying to get
a pit crew together, it’s important to us and it’s
special to win and pretty exciting.” Manion noted they
brought two modifieds and they will be swapping them out then
head to Seekonk on Wednesday, Thompson on Thursday and Riverhead
on Saturday with Gary Putnam behind the wheel. Pulling down
his fourth top ten finish with six events to date in 2011, Szegedy
was able to capitalize when Silk went high on the last lap,
making a smooth pass for a second. “Second to me was kind
of a win to me. I mean we beat all the regulars and we’ve
had some bad luck here in the last four or five races here,
so this was definitely a good run- we had a great car. Towards
the end I kind of went in a fuel conservation mode because we
didn’t bank on knowing how many green laps we were going
so I started backing out of it a little bit.” Referencing
Newman’s recent dominance Szegedy offered this, “I
think we have some work to do. We have to drive the track a
little bit different, set the car up different- you know, he
is not unbeatable. He definitely can be beat so we just have
to work harder. They got a good car underneath him, he understands
the cars now but anyone one is beatable, I don’t care
if they’re superman.” Szegedy in the hunt all day
in the Wisk Detergent/A.J. Romano Construction, Mike Smeriglio,
III owned Ford led a handful of laps in the first third of the
event.
Silk continues to be one to watch this season in the NWMT as
the Norwalk, CT driver once again earned a top three, his fourth
podium finish in six races. “I was surprised how long
it went green, I’m sure everyone was. We had a pretty
good car, all my guys did a great job all weekend, we really
made about a thousand adjustments since we got here. We got
a little bit close to Newman on the last lap there -Eric Beers
gave me like a tow to get me within range of him and I really
tried to sail down there into turn one on the last lap and I
just got up there in the loose stuff and once you get up there
you can’t get out. That was how Todd was able to get me
on the last lap.” Silk smiling added, “It was a
good day, we’ll work a little harder for the next race-
maybe that 7 won’t be here for the Indy weekend, maybe
we’ll get a break.” NWMT points leader Rowan Pennink
crossed for sixth, Eric Goodale seventh, Ron Yuhas,Jr who started
24th crossed for 8th with Ed Flemke, Jr. and Woody Pitkat the
top ten. Ted Christopher faded to 11th the last car on the lead
lap. New Hampshire Motor Speedway got it right when they named
Rachel Gilbert the Grand Marshal for the F.W. Webb 100. In April,
the 100 year young- yes, 100, celebrated the milestone by driving
the track’s pace car around the one mile oval. As the
Grand Marshal today, the Laconia, NH resident who came to the
Bryar Motorsports Park in the early 60’s, continues to
make headlines as she gave the command ‘drivers start
your engines.’ From the Magic Mile to the Long Island
quarter mile, the NWMT heads to Riverhead Raceway July 30th.
1. (1) Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind., Chevrolet, 100 laps, 112.987
mph.
2. (3) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 100.
3. (2) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
4. (9) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 100.
5. (6) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
6. (7) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 100.
7. (12) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 100.
8. (24) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
9. (14) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
10. (21) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
11. (10) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
12. (11) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 99.
13. (4) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 99.
14. (18) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 99.
15. (16) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 99.
16. (19) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 99.
17. (13) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 99.
18. (28) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 98.
19. (26) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 98.
20. (20) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 98.
21. (22) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Ford, 98.
22. (23) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet,
98.
23. (27) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 98.
24. (31) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass., Chevrolet, 98.
25. (32) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 97.
26. (33) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Chevrolet, 89.
27. (8) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 60, engine.
28. (17) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 30, engine.
29. (30) Dale Quarterley, Westfield, Mass., Chevrolet, 29, engine.
30. (15) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 26, engine.
31. (25) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 16, engine.
32. (34) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 1,
accident.
33. (5) Andy Petree, Hickory, N.C., Chevrolet, 0, dns.
34. (29) Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass., Ford, 0, dns.
Race
Statistics
Time of Race: 0 hours 56 minutes 11 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.901 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: R.Newman (184.857 mph, 20.604 seconds)
Caution Flags: 2 for 6 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Newman 1-33; T. Szegedy 34-36; R. Newman 37-47;
R. Silk 48-83; R. Newman 84-100.
Standings:
1. R. Pennink, 969; 2. R. Silk, 959; 3. T. Christopher, 916;
4. M. Hirschman, 866; 5. T. Szegedy, 858; 6. E. Beers, 836;
7. B. Santos, 826; 8. D. Coby, 810; 9. R. Yuhas,Jr., 777; 10.
E. Rudolph, 776.
By Brian Danko
LOUDON, N.H.---Whenever the NASCAR modified tour returns to
the New Hampshire Motor speedway, from the fans up to the competitors,
they know that it is going to be one of the must see races of
the year but this year, fans who were used to seeing the high
powered rockets won’t be able to watch either live or
on tape delayed because the spring race won’t be broadcast.
After watching the race, it’s a good thing as the race
wasn’t one of the best.
Last year, fans of the open wheel series and fans of racing
in general knew watching the mods at the one mile speedway was
something special but this year fans will only be able to watch
the modifieds twice on the tube this year beginning with the
mid August race at Bristol and the fall race here at New Hampshire.
Both of those races will be shown live on Speed.. Part of the
problem was when the parent company of Versus was sold and they
changed their upper management and dropped the coverage of the
modified tour that they had in 2010, which consisted of at least
8 races, taped for a later broadcast and shown in a one hour
version. The fans, crews, drivers and car owners loved it. The
modifieds, after years of neglect were finally getting the long
overdue television exposure that NASCAR had promised for at
least 10 years. And not only did they get a couple of live events
but the taped shows were just as good as they replayed a couple
times giving sponsors a reason to hop on board the modified
tour. When the 2011 television schedule was released, needless
to say, competitors of the modified tour were downright ticked
off at going from 8 races to just two, albeit it live events.
I caught up with a trio of drivers to get their views during
Saturday morning and none were two happy with it. “It’s
not disappointing.” Doug Coby said, “Its downright
ridicules. We’ll do everything we need to do to get television
and then we have it and lose it.”; Doug was aware of the
deal with Versus but he can’t understand how the K and
N Series East and West has 24 of their 25 events on TV and the
modifieds get two. “There is TV here for the Cup practice,
Nationswide practice and race and they tape the K and N race
(on Friday) and we can’t get something, especially here.”;
“You can’t build up a following if you only have
one or two races a year on TV. Right now, we need to start now
for next year. We’ll all bitch and complain about it and
nothing will get down. It almost seems the K and N got more
races at the expense of the modified tour.”; Doug’s
biggest complaint was ‘don’t tell us your working
on something when you’re not.’; Teddy Christopher
is another driver used to being at the front of the pack and
he and his sponsors would love the exposure but he too was disappointed.
“It’s very disappointing. I understand that they
lost a deal with Versus but they don’t say anything. We
are expecting it and we don’t have it.”;
Mike Stefanik, a seven time modified tour champion too was disappointed
in the lack of coverage this year after the large exposure last
year. “Everyone wants TV. I know that but it’s very
disappointing to go from the number we had to two. It was great
morale booster for our team, our crew and our car owner. It
gave our car owners business great exposure which otherwise
we wouldn’t have had.”; NASCAR said that they never
promised the modified tour competitors anything in 2011 and
that, like all their sanctioned races, they would like TV for
them but this year the deal with Versus fell through and it
was too late to secure anything other than the two live events
at Bristol and New Hampshire later this year. Many of the drivers
did say that they lost potential sponsorship when the lack of
television dates dried up and in today’s economy that
hurts every team that banked on coverage in 2011.
PETTREE
INVOLVED IN PRACTICE WRECK
Many eyes were looking at what Andy Pettree, III, the long time
Sprint Cup car owner turned announcer would do in his modified.
He turned many heads when he qualified fifth for the F.W. Webb
100 but his day turned sour on Saturday morning when he was
clipped by another car and turned into the wall on the front
stretch during the modifieds only practice of the day. His team
was seen working feverishly to get the car repaired for what
would be his first ever event at New Hampshire but he was forced
to withdraw from the race.
NEWMAN
DOES IT AGAIN
If Ryan Newman ever loses his full time ride on the Sprint Cup
circuit, he might be willing to come and play in the NASCAR
Whelen modified tour series as he captured his third straight
modified pole for the Saturday companion event. Newman, running
a Kevin Manion/Gary Putnam owned modified not only won the pole
position, his third straight at Loudon but he captured the 100
lap race in dominating fashion. There is some question on the
win as reports on the way home were that Newman’s car
was found to have issues but that no decision would be made
until during the upcoming week. Newman who loves racing on the
modified tour when asked if would like to see the modifieds
at more races with the Cup series said it would be great for
the series.
“These cars would be awesome at the one mile tracks. They
would be great at Phoenix, Richmond and Martinsville.”;
That’s when crew chief, Kevin Manion spoke up and said
he remembers going Richmond and Watkins Glen with the tour back
in the 90’s and how awesome the modifieds were at Richmond
in particular. The modified tour returns here next month as
part of the Indy Car weekend while the Sprint cup series are
in Watkins Glen, N.Y. A quick trip today by air but would they
come? According to Kevin Manion, they have discussed it but
they haven’t made any decisions. You can tell that Newman
loves running the modifieds and the tour regulars, while they
don’t like getting beat by him, like him running because
of the respect factor. It goes both ways.
34
CARS FOR 38 SPOTS
A sure sign of the struggling economy is that only 34 modifieds
showed up in New Hampshire for the 38 starting spots available.
It surprised many that teams with multiple cars didn’t
do a start and park, a ritual performed weekly on the Cup and
Nationwide series weekly. The track was paying $1800. To take
the green yet nobody budged. Chad Little the modified tour director
even called on one competitor who usually runs the two Loudon
races to inquire if he would consider running Loudon. The reported
response out of the drivers mouth was, “are you going
to buy me a set of tires?”; Rob Fuller, nephew of tour
champions Rick and Jeff Fuller qualified for the race but he
lost the motor early Saturday morning and they loaded up for
the weekend.
TOUGH DAY FOR MANY TOUR REGULARS
It wasn’t the kindest day for defending series champion,
Bobby Santos. Although the talented driver finished 13th, it
was a distant 13th as he and former champion, Teddy Christopher,
who finished 11th just couldn’t get a handle on the car.
You usually expect both these drivers to be battling for the
win at NHMS. Mike Stefanik’s streak of lousy luck continued
as he finished in 28th after having issues during the early
part of the race.
GOOD
DAY FOR COBY AND HIRSCHMAN
While some drivers had their problems, Doug Coby and Matt Hirschman
has great days finishing fifth and fourth respectively. Eddie
Flemke, Jr. had underneath his hood a Rousch motor and while
Eddie said the team did have problems, a ninth place finish
is what the doctor ordered after his rough stretch.
July
8 Lee Speedway - MRS - 6
Chris
Pasteryak, of Lisbon, CT, passed race leader Joe Doucette on
lap 52 to go on and win the Valenti Modified Racing Series,
Laticrete “Port City 100” Friday night, July 8,
at Lee USA Speedway, Lee, NH. The win was Pasteryak’s
first at Lee, his second of the season, and his fifth career
victory with the VMRS, Pasteryak becomes a guaranteed starter
for next weekend’s big race at Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan,
NH., the 4th annual “Ricky’s Race for Kids,”
July 16. Pole-sitter Louie Mechalides, Tyngsboro, MA., was the
early leader until Doucette, of Framingham, MA., took the top
spot on lap three. Doucette took command for the next 49 laps
as he fought off Mechalides and then several side-by-side attempts
by Pasteryak for five circuits before the 2008 series champion
was able to move by. Veteran Dwight Jarvis, of Ascutney, VT.,
finished in the runner-up position after starting eighth in
the 19-car field. Defending series champion Jon McKennedy, E.
Chelmsford, MA., made a late race charge to finish third, Windsor
Locks, CT., veteran Les Hinckley III, was fourth, and Ken Barry,
of Preston, CT., debuting a brand new car, finished fifth. Sixth
through tenth were, Rowan Pennink, Jimmy Kuhn, Norman Wrenn,
Doucette, and Rob Goodenough. With threatening skies and nearby
rainstorms, the race program was hurried along by speedway management.
The 100-lap race was completed in 29 minutes with only one caution
flag slowing the event.
Heat race winners were Jarvis and Doucette.
19 race teams entered the race with all cars finishing. 11 cars
were on the lead lap.
Pasteryak’s victory moved him into a tie for the point
lead with Pennink. Hinckley is four points back from the leaders.
Standings:
Pasteryak, Pennink (256), Hinckley (252), Goodenough (210),
McKennedy (200).
Race Summary:
Race # 7 Lee USA Speedway
Order of Finish:
(1) Pasteryak
(2) Jarvis
(3) McKennedy
(4) Hinckley
(5) Barry
(6) Pennink
(7) Kuhn
(8) Wrenn
(9) Doucette
(10) Goodenough
(11) Dore
(12) Jordan
(13) Holdridge
(14) Seuss
(15) Bateman
(16) Mechalides
(17) Savary
(18) Annarummo
(19) Frappier
Distance: 100 laps, Time of Race: 29:16.229. Margin of Victory:
3:590, Best Lap Time: 14.733
Best Speed: 91:631,
Lead Changes: 3 , Lap Leaders: Mechalides; (1-2) Doucette (3-52)
Pasteryak 53-100)
Cautions: Lap 25
July
2 Monadnock Speedway - MRS - 4
MCKENNEDY
WINS
FIRECRACKER 100 AT MONADNOCK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Defending Valenti Modified Racing Series Champion Jon McKennedy
of E. Chelmsford, MA., took the lead on lap 64 and went on to
win the 8th annual “Firecracker 100” Saturday night,
July 2, at Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, NH. The win was McKennedy’s
first of the season, his first at Monadnock, and his 12thcareer
victory with the series. McKennedy also becomes a guaranteed
starter for the prestigious “Ricky’s Race For Kids,”
July 16, at Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, NH. That race carries
a $36,500 purse. Pole-sitter Lou Mechalides, of Tyngsboro, MA.,took
the early lead yielding the top spot to three-time series champion
Kirk Alexander, Swanzey, NH., on lap eight. Alexander, a six-time
winner of the race, set a torrid pace and appeared to be enroute
to his fifth consecutive win. Starting seventh in a 23-car field,
defending series champion McKennedy methodically worked his
way to the front moving to fifth by lap five, third on lap 40,
second on lap 52, and the lead on lap 64.
“I owe a lot to the guys that work on this car. Three
laps into our first practice we blew the rear end, we had to
replace the whole drive line, the guys did an awesome job. I
knew in the early stages of the race we had a good car,”
told the large holiday crowd. McKennedy’s strategy of
slowly progressing to the front worked according to plan. “At
lap 40 he (Alexander) was a few cars ahead of me and I thought
he was just riding around,” he said. “I did not
use a lot of car to get to second. He looked like he was tight
in the corners, the restart helped me, my car seemed to get
better, its feels good to beat Kirk, he’s the King of
this place.” Alexander settled for second, Les Hinckley
III, Windsor Locks, CT., made a late race charge to finish third,
with Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, PA., and Rob Goodenough,
Swanzey, rounding out the top five. Sixth through tenth were,
Dwight Jarvis, Ascutney, VT., Mike Holdridge, Madison, CT.,
Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon, CT., Jim Boniface, Winchester, and
Max Zachem, Preston, CT. The race, slowed by three caution flags,
was completed in 40 minutes. 23 race teams entered the event,
17 cars were running at the conclusion, 14 on the lead lap.
Russ Hersey, Swanzey, McKennedy, and Pasteryak won qualifying
races.
Race
Summary:
Race # Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, NH
Distance: 100 laps Time of Race: 40:19:792 Margin of Victory:
1.995 Best Lap Time: 12.669 (Jim Boniface))
Best Speed: 71.040 (Boniface) Lead Changes: 3 Lap Leaders: Mechalides;
(1-7) Alexander (8 –63) McKennedy (64-100) Cautions: Lap
17, 39,61
Order
of Finish: (1) McKennedy (2) Alexander, (3) Hinckley (4) Pennink
(5) Goodenough (6) Jarvis (7) Holdridge (8) Pasteryak, (9) Boniface
(10) Zachem (11) Patnode (12) Mechalides (13) Wrenn (14) Perry
(15) Dore (16) McClay (17) Hersey (18) Doucette (19) Masse (20)
Jordan (21) Norton (22) Annarummo (23) Bateman.
JON MCKENNEDY BREAKS BAD LUCK STREAK WITH MONADNOCK WIN
McKennedy Qualifies for “Ricky’s Race For Kids,”
Doubling his luck
by Denise DuPont
On Saturday July 2nd the Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS)
returned to Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH. In less than
forty-five minutes the modifieds provided more ground pounding
excitement than the fireworks show that was to wrap up the evening
events. Defending series champion, Jon McKennedy has had a bumpy
year with a lot of ups and downs during the 2011 race season.
During practice the #73 car of McKennedy continued his roller
coaster year with his car having issues with the rear end. McKennedy’s
crew hustled before heat racing began to ensure that the car
was ready for a night of action. In the end, the car certainly
was ready to take McKennedy where he wanted to be, up front
as the checkered flags flew giving him his first 2011 series
win.
McKennedy started the race in seventh and managed to find his
groove. It was not a long way to go but he deftly maneuvered
his way through the field of cars. He saved the #73 car enough
to take over the lead on lap 65. Then there was no stopping
him “We had a really good race car first off. The guys
worked real hard. We blew a rear end today in practice on the
third lap. So I only got about two laps of practice today and
I think during those two laps I was playing with my brake bias
the whole time. So I literally had no practice today. I had
to go off into my heat for my practice and I made some adjustments
for the race. It all worked out. We had a really good car. I
am glad to win here. Going into this season I had a goal to
try to get a win at every track that we run in this series.
So after tonight we have one less track. We will see what happens
at the next race.” With the Monadnock win, McKennedy also
became a guaranteed starter for the prestigious “Ricky’s
Race For Kids,” scheduled for July 16, at Canaan Fair
Speedway, Canaan, NH. That race carries a $36,500 purse with
the winner bringing home $12,000.
The winner of the main event will also receive a 7’ Grandfather
Clock presented to them by Dick Cyr, the founder of David’s
House. Monadnock is Kirk Alexander’s home track where
he is dominates the asphalt. But on Friday the team’s
tire strategy for the VMRS race may have cost them the win.
“I wished that I did not swap the right side tires. It
was off a quarter inch of stagger that was what happened.”
Alexander stated as he sat in second place at the end of the
race. “I lost stagger in the car and it tightened up in
the center and I just lost a lot of speed. Jon’s car was
right on the money when he wanted to be. Yes, He (Jon) had a
great car and he beat us tonight. And we ended up second.”
So in the end Alexander had to settle for a second place finish.
Les Hinckley made a hard charge to the front but got caught
up in traffic. He had a good run on the outside but was forced
down on the bottom and he used his car up more then he really
wanted to. Hinckley completed the race with a podium finish,
two spots shy of where he had set his mark. It was a good finish
but once again not where the team wanted to be. “We had
a good beast (car),” said Hinckley during inspection.
“It was a tough road getting up through traffic and we
just used the right rear up a little bit in that process. Jon
on that one restart was just able to get through it a lot better
than I did. I thought I was going to be able to follow him through
and then I got hung out on the outside and then trapped down
on the bottom. When you are out on the outside beating the right
rear and then on the bottom pitching the car trying to stay
ahead of the guy on the outside of you and race him clean it
uses the car up. It was good. I would have liked to have another
restart to see what I could have done. But it was a good clean
race.” As the leaders raced around the track, Hinckley
took advantage of the situation to try to learn from Alexander
some of his racing tricks. But Alexander had an off night and
Hinckley could not take advantage of any of the lessons. “My
line tends to be a little bit different than Kirk’s. I
decided at one point that I was going to try to track him down
in his tracks and see if he was doing anything different than
I was and getting any better than I was. And I was not getting
anywhere so I went back to doing what I was doing. I talked
to him later and he said he was a little off tonight so that
was probably why. So I went back to my typical line and started
not to come down when I finally decided to put the hammer down
when I thought that we were going to get a late caution. But
it is six of one and half a dozen of the other.” Series
point leader, Rowan Pennink, made a run for the lead and got
all the way up to second. Doing so he ran the car too hard which
caused him to loose his momentum soon after the race passed
half-way. “I was trying to save the car as much as I could
at the beginning of the race. The 1NH (Rob Goodenough) was running
me a little hard wanting to pick up the pace a little bit. He
should have just ridden by me and it might have worked out a
little bit different. But he just wanted to race hard. We were
off a little bit. We needed to start the race a little tighter
with the car and I think we would have been right there.”
Pennink maintained his point lead at the end of the race with
a fourth place finish but the gap between first and second place
has shrunk to just an eight point difference. With Hickley finishing
in front of Pennink he moved closer to the point lead. “It
wa
