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Thirty years ago in 1979, a late winter snowstorm cancelled a
scheduled modified event at the Franklin County Speedway in
Callaway, VA. The event was not rescheduled. Despite the success of
the 1978 season at the Waterford Speedbowl under the Dick Williams'
Coastal Racing League, Harvey Tattersall Jr did not renew their
lease and once again took over the day-to-day operations of the
Speedbowl under his United Stock Car Championship banner. Race
Director Bill Slater & Chief Starter Dick Brooks left with Williams.
Twenty five years ago, in 1984, Eddie Flemke, a modified
legend in his own time, passed away. Flemke had put in a long day
plowing snow and had come home to rest. When he failed to come into
his house his wife went to check on him, as he had not exited his
vehicle. Mrs. Flemke sadly discovered that he husband had suffered a
heart attack and had passed away at the age of 53. During his career
Flemke won over 600 features and played a vital part in the
development of the racing careers of Pete Hamilton, Richie Evans and
Ronnie Bouchard. Flemke was one of the great thinkers of the sport.
He would study his competition and then figure out what their
weaknesses were and beat them. He was also an accomplished racecar
designer and fabricator. Two days later, Riverside Park opened for
the season with Richie Evans taking the win and promptly dedicated
it to his deceased friend and mentor. Eddie Flemke was one of the
greatest drivers of all time. At Riverside, Marty Radwick finished
second and George Kent was third. In Winston Cup action at Bristol,
Ricky Rudd was the pole sitter. Darrell Waltrip took the win. Ronnie
Bouchard qualified 13th and finished third.
Twenty years ago in 1989, the Riverside Park season opener
was a test of man and machine as only six cars were left running at
the finish of the 100 lap grind. Taking the win was John Zavisa, who
started on the pole. Pre race favorite Reggie Ruggiero wrecked
during warm-ups and was unable to start the feature.
Fifteen years ago in 1994, Chris Kopec benefited from Reggie
Ruggiero's misfortune and went on to win the season opener at
Riverside Park in front of a packed house. Ruggiero had been leading
until his brakes went away in the late stages of the event. Jamie
Tomaino finished second and was followed by Tom Cravenho, Dan Avery
and Ruggiero. In Busch Grandnational action at Darlington, Mark
Martin started on the pole and won the no contest event over Larry
Pearson and Randy LaJoie. In Winston Cup action, Bill Elliott was
the pole sitter but the day belonged to Dale Earnhardt.
Ten years ago, in 1999, the Featherlite Modified Tour Series
started on a wet note as the season opener at Riverside Park rained
out. Qualifying was done on Saturday. Bob Polverari was the Busch
Pole sitter and David Berghman was second fastest. The rained out
event was rescheduled for April 18, which would put it head to head
with Waterford's opener.
Five years ago in 2004, after many months of waiting the
Northeast-racing season finally began under less than ideal weather
conditions at the Waterford Speedbowl. Thirty-one SK Modifieds were
on hand at the shoreline oval on Saturday for qualifying. Outsiders
Ronnie Silk and Doug Coby were the top time trialers. Silk toured
the 1/3-mile oval in 14.482 seconds and Coby turned a lap in 14.503
seconds. James Civale was the top regular with a time of 14.598
seconds. Defending track champion Dennis Gada was 11th fastest with
a time of 14.796 seconds. In what had to be one of the most wreck
strewn events ever seen, James Civale turned a pre race misfortune
into a victory as he won the 150 lap SK-Modified portion of the
Waterford Nationals. As the cars circled the 1/3-mile oval in a
warm-up prior to the start of the event it was discovered that his
scoring transponder wasn’t working. Civale stopped at the pit gate
where his pit crew got it operating. Speedway officials treated the
incident as if he had pitted and forced him to start at the rear of
the 31 car-starting field. Upset at the time, starting at the rear
proved to be an omen as most of the wrecks and spins involved those
who started at or near the front. Civale managed to avoid trouble
and took the lead on the 57th lap and went on to hold off Ted
Christopher for the win. Christopher, who was considered one of the
pre-race favorites, made numerous pit stops, as he was involved in
many of the 11 caution periods that consumed 66 laps. Christopher
moved into second spot with 11 laps to go but couldn’t muster the
needed steam to make the pass for the win. Pole sitter Ron Silk got
collected in the first caution on lap three and suffered sufficient
damage to keep him out of contention. The blustery cold weather was
a definite factor, as the hard compound track tires could not
generate enough heat to provide the needed traction. The wrecks and
spins got
so bad that single file restarts were mandated shortly after the
half way mark of the event. With the exception of Civale and third
place finisher Jay Miller the entire field showed scars of battle.
Defending division champion Dennis Gada and previous years runner-up
Ed Reed Jr. were taken out of contention because of wrecks as were
Rick Young, Tom Fox and Jeff Pearl. Rob Janovic finished fourth with
Chris Pasteryak, fifth. Dennis Gada finished sixth, one lap down.
Corey Hutchins won the Late Model 50 lapper in an all but no contest
event. Mark StHillaire finished second with Jay Stuart, third.
Second generation driver Keith Rocco was the Limited Sportsman
winner and Tim Jordan won in the MiniStocks.
NASCAR announced that they had a new weapon to use to detect
cheaters, especially those who use tire softeners. The Irwindale
Speedway in California engaged the use of a retired bomb-sniffing
dog to detect tires that have been altered with chemicals. It seems
that when the animal is walked up and down pit road it will stop and
sit next to tires that have been treated. Tire soaking has taken
place at all levels of racing, in fact it got so bad in the NASCAR
Featherlite Modified Tour Series a year ago that NASCAR mandated
that all competitors buy their tires on the day of the race. It had
also been announced that the NASCAR TV ratings took a dive after
recent boring events at Las Vegas and Atlanta. FOX’s season ratings
after three Nextel Cup events have fallen 9%.
In Nextel Cup action at Bristol, Tennessee, Ryan Newman captured his
third Busch Pole of the year on Friday. The Busch Racing Series ran
on Saturday with New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr. getting his
first ever Busch Series win. Truex is a former competitor in the
Busch North Series and a former weekly competitor at the Wall
Township Speedway in New Jersey. Kurt Busch gambled when he chose
not to pit for fresh tires late in the Bristol 500 and beat a
frustrated Rusty Wallace to the finish line. It was Busch’s third
victory in a row at the ultra fast high-banked half-mile oval.
It appeared that the anti-trust suit filed by Speedway Motorsports
stockholders Francis Ferko and Rusty Vaughn against NASCAR may be
headed for an out of court settlement. It had been strongly rumored
that the International Speedway Corporation, which is owned by the
France family that also owns NASCAR, would sell speedways in
Darlington, South Carolina and Rockingham, North Carolina to
Speedway Motorsports who in turn could move two of the three Nextel
Cup dates that go with those speedways to Texas and Las Vegas. The
remaining date would alternate between Darlington and Rockingham. In
a non-related matter, the International Speedway Corporation and its
subsidiary, Southeastern Hay and Nursery bought 168 acres of land
for $5.5 million.
On a sad note, Nolan Swift, eight time Oswego Speedway track
champion, died at the age of 81. Swift was considered the father of
the Supermodifieds.
Last year, 2008, the Thompson Speedway held their second of
two practice sessions on Saturday in somewhat blustery conditions.
According to Howie Hodge the following Whelen Modified Tour Series
drivers were on hand to shakedown their cars: 0 - Danny Sammons, 3 -
Ryan Preece, 10 - Ed Flemke, 11 - Anthony Sesely, 17 - Glen Reen, 21
- Richard Savory, 28 - James Civali, 32 - Tom Abele. Jr., 46 - Eric
Beers, 58 - Kevin Goodale, 90 - Renee Dupuis, 93 - Rowan Pennink and
99 - Jamie Tomaino.
Kenny Barry, pinch hitting for Todd Ceravolo, in got in some decent
runs in the Dick Ceravolo owned Sunoco Modified. The Ceravolos
suffered engine problems the week previous and had installed a new
power plant.
Denny Hamlin overtook Jeff Burton on the 427th lap and went on to
win the Goody's 500 Nextel Cup event at the Martinsville Speedway in
Virginia. For 389 laps, the race looked like it would be another
victory for Hendrick Motorsports at the track it has dominated,
winning eight of the previous 10 races. Hendrick drivers led 371
laps, but Hamlin and fellow Virginia native Jeff Burton made
decisions under the next-to-last caution that allowed them to move
up front. And Hamlin ruined Burton's decision to stay out while the
rest of the leaders pitted. Jeff Gordon rallied to finish second,
followed by Burton, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart. Johnson had won
three straight at Martinsville heading into the race.
Dennis Setzer assumed the lead when Kyle Busch had to brake to avoid
a crash in front of him Saturday, then held on through numerous
restarts to win the Kroger 250 Craftsman Truck Series race at
Martinsville Speedway. The victory was the first for Dodge since the
late Bobby Hamilton won at Mansfield in 2005, and the truck Setzer
won in is co-owned by Hamilton's widow, Lori. Don Lia scored his
first top ten as he finished ninth.
|
Bob Otto |
Dick Caso |
Jim Shampine |
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 |
