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Forty five years ago in 1965 Joe Trudeau won the 25 lap
Sunday afternoon Modified event at the Waterford Speedbowl. Bill
Scrivner was the Bomber feature winner.
Forty years ago in 1970, the Waterford Speedbowl had their
scheduled opener rained out for the second week in a row. It stayed
dry long enough for Fulton to get their opener in. Guy Chartrand in
the Ed Cloce Hemi-Cuda took the win over Lou Lazzaro. At South
Boston in Virginia, Ray Hendrick won a 400 lap modified event. Billy
Hensley finished second and was followed by Jimmy Hensley, Melvin
Chilton and Satch Worley.
Thirty five years ago in 1975, the only event scheduled was
the Fulton opener, which ended up getting snowed out for the second
week in a row. The Ontario Speedway Operating Company in California
headed by Parnelli Jones and Tony Hulman turned over the keys to the
speedway on March 31 after having two non-profit seasons. The City
of Ontario, which owns the speedway, took over the day to day
operation of the track. This was the beginning of the end for the
west coast racing facility.
Thirty years ago in 1980, Thompson ran the IceBreaker on
Easter Sunday after being rained out the week before. John Rosati
took the modified win over Bugsy Stevens, Bentley Warren and Roland
LaPierre Jr. Jeff Fuller was the Late Model winner.
Twenty five years ago in 1985, Chargin Charlie Jarzombek won
the rained out Cardinal 200 at Martinsville. Doug Hevron finished
second and was followed by Jim Spencer, Brett Bodine and Jamie
Tomaino. Brett Bodine won the Sportsman 200. At Riverside on
Saturday night; Kenny Bouchard took the win over Ray Miller and John
Rosati.
Twenty years ago in 1990, Jerry Marquis was the Saturday
night winner at Riverside Park. The Featherlite Modified Tour Series
was in Richmond, Va. Ricky Fuller, driving the Chase 77 took the win
which carried a prize of $17,800.Mike McLaughlin finished second and
was followed by Jan Leaty and Jamie Tomaino.
Fifteen years ago in 1995, three inches of snow fell on
Riverside Park causing officials to cancel the event. At New
Hampshire International the Featherlite Modifieds and the Busch
North Series were the main attractions. Mike Stefanik scored a
convincing win in the BGNN portion. Stub Fadden finished second and
was followed by Brian Ross, Kelly Moore and Jerry Marquis. In the
modified portion, Mike Ewanitsko started 8th and took the lead from
Charlie Pasteryak on lap 92 of the 125 lap event and went on to take
the win. Satch Worley in the Garbarino No.4 finished second and was
followed by Tony Hirshman, Ed Kennedy and Jan Leaty. In Winston Cup
action at North Wilkesboro, Dale Earnhardt took the win over Jeff
Gordon.
Ten years ago in 2000, Lee Petty passed away at the age of 86
and Jeff Fuller was fired from his Winston Cup ride. In
Grandnational action at Nashville, Randy LaJoie ended a long dry
spell as he took the win. In Winston Cup action at Martinsville,
Rusty Wallace dominated the event until blowing a tire in the late
stages and losing two laps which allowed Mark Martin to take the
win.
Five years ago in 2005, The Waterford Speedbowl was scheduled
to host the opening event in New England on Saturday and Sunday. The
main event of the weekend was to be the Waterford Nationals-150 lap
SK-Modified event. The Speedbowl had posted a $20,000 purse with
$5,000 going to the winner. The forecast of torrential downpours, up
to four inches of rain, forced the Speedbowl management to postpone
the weekend’s Budweiser Modified Nationals. The event, which
included the lucrative SK-150, was been re-scheduled for May 21-22.
In Whelen Modified Tour Series news, Eddie Flemke didn’t stay
without a ride for long as it was announced that he would be driving
the Teto No.10 that was formerly driven by Tony Papale. Flemke’s
former mount, the Hillbilly Racing No.79 took on a new color scheme
highlighted by florescent orange with white trim. Long Island racer
JR Bertuccio was expected to run at least the first three Whelen
Modified Tour events in the Bear Motorsports No. 14. Bertuccio
competes weekly in a family owned Modified at the Riverhead Raceway.
Reports state that 2003 Whelen Modified Tour Champion Todd Szegedy
had relocated to Mooresville, North Carolina and was working for
Robert Yates Racing in the Shock Absorber department. Szegedy is
hoping to secure a Busch Series or ARCA ride.
Several Modified Tour teams took advantage of Thursday’s practice
session at the Thompson Speedway. Chuck Hossfeld and Mike Stefanik
were shaking down their new rides along with Chris Kopec, Renee
Dupuis, Ted Christopher, Howie Brode, Don Lia, Charlie Pasteryak,
Kevin Goodale and Ricky Fuller. According to NASCAR Chief Steward
Richard Brooks there were a total of 87 cars on hand.
The Whelen Southern Modified Tour Series event that was scheduled
for the Ace Speedway in Elkin, NC on Saturday night was rained out.
The Southern Modifieds ran a non-sanctioned 125-lap event at the
Friendship Speedway, also in North Carolina, on Sunday. Ted
Christopher in the Hills Enterprises Hillbilly Racing No.79 took the
win. Christopher drove his Hillbilly Racing Modified to the win in
the 125 lap feature for the Modifieds. Christopher snatched the win
from L. W. Miller when Millers modified was caught up in a mid race
accident involving several cars. Miller's car was clipped by another
spinning car after the caution flew. Rear end damage ended Miller's
day after leading the first 87 laps. Miller had pretty much had his
way until that point with some pressure from Donnie Lia, another
invader from the Northeast. Caution periods kept the race close and
after each restart, Miller has to fend off the challenges of first
Lia then Christopher. After Miller's early exit, Christopher led a
pack that included Jay Foley, Earl Baker, Burt and Jason Myers and
FMS “rookie” challenger, Zach Brewer. Foley had a couple of chances
at the number 9 of Christopher but after a few laps “Teddy” would
manage to pull away. Foley had his hands full near the end of the
race with Burt Myers until lap 113 when Myers got a run on the
inside of Foley but contact between the two cars sent Myers into the
inside wall and out of the race. Foley hung on to finish second with
Jason Myers third, Brewer fourth and Baker fifth. A scoring recheck
after the event moved Bob Park to 5 th followed by Bobby Hinkle,
Baker, D. J. Krentz, Kevin Powell and Lia who was penalized for
passing on the wrong side on a restart. Caution flew eleven times
for 57 laps. The 125 lapper took 1 hour, nine minutes and 31 seconds
to complete. L. W. Miller led laps 1 through 87 and the winner led
88 through 128. Foley was the winner of the “Bud Pole Award” for the
Modifieds. Seven cars finished on the lead lap. Twenty-six Modifieds
took the green flag. Kevin Harvick scored double victories at
Bristol as he won the Busch Series and Nextel Cup events.
Last year, 2009. The Waterford Speedbowl opened for the
season with the SK Modified Nationals. The track opened for practice
on Friday with quite a few race teams on hand to shake down their
cars in preparation for the coming season. A beautiful Spring day
greeted competitors on Saturday for qualifying at the shoreline
oval. A somewhat meager field of SK Modifieds was on hand, 21, for
time trials for the 150 lap-$5,000 to win feature. Conspicuous by
there absences were the “Outsiders”, non-Waterford regulars. The
only outsiders on hand were Jimmy Blewett from New Jersey and Eric
Goodale from Long Island. Defending Connecticut State Champion Keith
Rocco was the top time trailer as he toured the 1/3 mile oval in
14.138 seconds. Frank Ruocco was second fastest with Diego Monahan,
third. Jeff Paul and Ron Yuhas Jr rounded out the top five.
Defending track champion Dennis Gada was tenth fastest. The top ten
redrew for starting positions. Ruocco drew the pole and Paul, the
outside pole. Yuhas drew third with Monahan and Gada filling out the
top five. Rocco drew the seventh starting spot. In Late Model
qualifying Bruce Thomas Jr put a new track record in place for the
division as he toured the shoreline oval in 15.240 seconds. Tim
Jordon was second with Jeff Smith, third. There was no redraw as the
Late Models would start straight up from time. There were only 15
Late Models on hand.
Jason Palmer was the last Legends Car competitor in Speedbowl
Victory Lane in the 2008 season, and picked up where he left off on
Saturday capturing the 20-lap Legends Car race during the Budweiser
Modified Nationals opening weekend. Saturday marked the 59th
consecutive season of operation for the ‘Bowl. Palmer, the 2007 and
2008 Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday Legends points champion, topped a full
field of talented Legends competitors. He out dueled Shaun
Buffington and Flyin Ryan Morgan in an entertaining 20-lap event. An
extended red flag situation was necessitated after a scary incident
in turn 4 involving Tom Gray. Gray’s car became airborne and slammed
the wall. He was transported to L & M Hospital for observation, but
did get out of the car under his own power and acknowledged the
crowd.
Other winners from Saturday’s action include Allen Coates (Speedbowl
Truck Series), Paul Tuthill (Allison Legacy North Racing Series),
Curt D’addario Sr. (X Car) and Jon Porter (Super X Car).
Coates picked up his 65th career Speedbowl victory leading the
25-lap Truck Series event from start to finish. A late race caution
regrouped the field and Coates was able to hold back the challenges
of Keith Chapman. The four-time Speedbowl track champion (Late
Models, Street Stocks) has won two consecutive starts in a Truck,
also winning last July’s 100-lap ARTS event at the shoreline oval.
Opening day at the Waterford Speedbowl was not meant to be as heavy
rain pounded the Connecticut shoreline during the early morning
hours on Sunday. Shortly before 8:00am the Speedbowl Management
announced the postponement of the 13th Annual Budweiser Modified
Nationals due to the weather. Information regarding the make-up date
is expected to be finalized in about a week The 30-lap features for
the Street Stocks and Mini Stocks, 50-lap Late Model event, and
150-lap SK Modified® main event will all be made up at a later date
to be announced.
In NASCAR Sprint Cup action, Jimmie Johnson nudged Denny Hamlin
aside in the third and fourth turns with 15 laps to go at
Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and gave team owner Rick Hendrick a
perfect place to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his first victory
in NASCAR's premier series. Johnson won for the fifth time in the
last six races in Martinsville, and for the sixth time overall,
second among active drivers to Jeff Gordon's seven. And he did it by
biding his time, falling back in the pack early in the race to get
his car right, and then using the improved car and some slick work
in the pits to make it pay.
The victory was the 18th for Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville,
where a victory by Geoff Bodine in 1979 gave the fledgling company a
needed boost, and the 10th in the last 13 races. Johnson has won six
of those, and Gordon has won the other four. Johnson's 41st career
victory came after Gordon, who led 147 laps, and then Hamlin, who
led 296, dominated for most of the race. Hamlin was second, followed
by Tony Stewart, Gordon and Clint Bowyer. Ryan Newman was sixth.
Still looking for success, Joey Logano was 32nd.
The Philadelphia Business Journal reported that Sun Oil Chairman and
CEO Lynn Elsenhans said that the federal government should increase
the gasoline tax to provide money for infrastructure repairs.
Elsenhans suggested the idea in a speech to the annual meeting of
the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association in San Antonio,
Texas. “We should support a sizable increase in the federal gasoline
tax for the expressed purpose of funding much-needed infrastructure
investment,” she was slated to say in the speech, according to
Thomas Golembeski, a Sunoco spokesman.
With all the problems with the economy going on, this woman needed
to have her head examined! Granted, fuel prices have come down and
stabilized. The big oil companies need to dig into their own pockets
to repair their own equipment. The consumer should not be
responsible for this.
The Associated Press reported that Brazilian race car driver and
"Dancing With The Stars" winner Helio Castroneves owes more than
$2.3 million in U.S. taxes because of unreported income and improper
deductions over a five-year period, an Internal Revenue Service
agent testified Friday at his tax evasion trial in Miami. The
testimony, by the final prosecution witness, capped the fourth week
of the trial. Castroneves, 33, his 35-year-old sister and business
manager Katiucia, and Michigan lawyer Alan Miller, 71, each face
more than six years in prison if convicted of conspiracy and tax
evasion involving about $5.5 million in income.
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This week are several vintage racing
photos from the Danny Pardi Collection, courtesy
of SpeedwayLineReport.com & VintageModifieds.com.
Click on Photo for Full Size |
That’s it for this week from 11 Gardner
Drive, Westerly RI 02891. Ring my chimes
at 401-596-5467. E-Mail is:
smithpe_97_97@yahoo.com |
