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Fifty years ago in 1960, George Janoski, a local favorite,
was the Friday night winner on the dirt at Stafford.
Dick Watson was the 25 lap Modified winner at the Waterford
Speedbowl on Saturday night. Ray Moran was the non-Ford winner and
Dick Dunn took the win in the Bombers
Forty five years ago in 1965 the Stafford Springs Speedway
was quiet. Newt Palm won the 30 lap September Championship at the
Waterford Speedbowl. Daring Dick Caso won in the Bombers and Bill
Scrivner was the Late Model Daredevil winner. The Albany-Saratoga
Speedway wound up their inaugural season with a 100 lapper which was
won by Dick Dixon. Don Collins finished second followed by Frank
Mathalia and Don Flynn. Billy Greco was crowned the track’s first
Modified Champion. Lou Lazzaro was the winner at Fonda and at
Norwood Mario “Fats” Caruso was the Modified winner while Johnny
Thompson was the Sportsman winner. At the Utica-Rome Speedway Richie
Evans scored his first career Modified win over Sonny Seamon and
Bernie Miller.
Forty years ago in 1970, Jerry Cook was desperately trying to
make up some lost ground on the national point ladder as he went to
Martinsville where he won the Fall 100 over John Bryant and Melvin
Puddin Swisher. Conspicuous by his absence was Ray Hendrick who went
north to Oswego where he took a big win. Stafford ran their final
event of the year, which saw Bugsy Stevens take the win over Ray
Miller, Fred DeSarro who also wrapped up the 1970 NASCAR Modified
Championship, Moose Hewitt and Bernie Miller. Ed Yerrington finished
eighth and wrapped up the Stafford track championship. Sunday racing
at Thompson and Waterford rained out.
Thirty-five years ago in 1975, Richie Evans went two for
three as he won at Fulton on Friday night over Sonny Seamon, Geoff
Bodine and Fred DeSarro. On Sunday, Evans traveled to Islip where he
led from pole to pole to win the All-Star 300.Charlie Jarzombek
finished second and was followed by Bugsy Stevens and Maynard
Troyer. In between all of that was the Oswego Modified 200 which saw
Maynard Troyer take the win which was worth in excess of
$15,000.Bodine finished second and was followed by Evans, Roger
Treichler and Greme Bolia. Dick Dunn put a lid on the season at
Waterford with a 100 lap win in the Al Gaudreau No. 3.
Thirty years ago in 1980, it was Race of Champions weekend at
Pocono. Close to 100 cars were on hand and when all was said and
done, Richie Evans took the win over Geoff Bodine, Ronnie Bouchard,
Greg Sacks and Bugsy Stevens. Evans passed Bouchard for the lead on
lap 286 of the 300-lap event. The night before Pocono, Evans flew to
Riverside where he won a 50 lapper over Bob Polverari. While Evans
was in the north, Bodine was in the south where he won a 300-lap
Late Model Sportsman (Busch Grandnational) event at South Boston. In
Winston Cup action at North Wilkesboro, Bobby Allison took the win.
Twenty-five years ago in 1985, Stan Greger was the Saturday
night winner at Riverside while at Waterford; Dickie Doo Ceravolo
scored a win for the hometown crowd. Ceravolo beat out Bob Potter
and Mark LaJunesse for the win. Art Moran Jr. was the Super Stock
winner. The NASCAR modifieds were busy. They ran a 150 lapper at
Shangri-La on Saturday night where George Kent took the win over Jan
Leaty and Richie Evans. After an all night ride to Maine, they did
it all over at Oxford Plains where Evans took the win over Brian
Ross and Doug Hevron. In Winston Cup action at Martinsville, Dale
Earnhardt took the win.
Twenty years ago in 1990, Bill Zacharis won a 150 lapper at
Shangri-La and sewed up the track championship. Andy Romano finished
second with Lee Sherwood, third. At Lancaster, Doug Hevron won the
season ending 200 over Mike McLaughlin and Siege Fidenza. Waterford
ran a 200 lapper on Sunday, which saw Bob Potter take the win. David
Gada finished second and sewed up the track championship.
Fifteen years ago in 1995, Jim Broderick won the Race of
Champions qualifier at Waterford as he out ran Tucker Reynolds Jr.,
Scott Spaulding and Mike Gada. The NASCAR Featherlite Modifieds were
at Loudon. Steve Park took the win as a mad scramble occurred behind
him. Satch Worley attempted to go under Mike Stefanik on the last
lap when they touched and triggered a pileup. Jan Leaty, who was
running eighth, moved into second spot at the finish. Ed Kennedy
finished third and was followed by Tom Cravenho and was followed by
Mike Ewanitsko. Joe Bessey was the Busch North Series winner over
Robbie Crouch and Jeff Barry and Steve Kinser won his 400th main
event in World of Outlaws competition. In Winston Cup action at
Martinsville, Dale Earnhardt took the win.
Ten years ago, in 1990, it was Winston Cup weekend at Loudon.
Included were the Modifieds who again put on the best show of the
weekend. Mike Ewanitsko took the 100 lap win with six laps to go
when Ted Christopher's motor went to skipping and losing power.
Reggie Ruggiero finished second and was followed by John Blewett
III, Rick Fuller and Dan Avery. Christopher sputtered home in sixth
spot. Andy Santarre won the Busch North Series event and in Winston
Cup action, Jeff Burton led all 300 laps in one of the most boring
Winston Cup events ever run as NASCAR really blew it when they
mandated restrictor plates in hopes of making the race safer in the
wake of two deaths, those of Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty. Rob Janovic
won at Waterford on Saturday night. Ron Silk finished second with
Tom Fox, third. During the evenings events it was announced that
track operator Terry Eames had purchased the property where the
Speedbowl was located for $1.85 million. It was also this week that
Wally Saleeba passed away. Wally had been a close friend and
confidant of D. Anthony Venditti for many years.
Five years ago in 2005 the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour series
took the weekend off before the beginning its final three race
stretch drive which would see the Fall Final at Stafford on October
2, the rescheduled twin bill Busch North-Whelen Modified event at
the Thompson Speedway on Saturday, October 8 and the season ending
World Series at the Thompson Speedway on October 16. Ted
Christopher, who was riding a three win in a row streak, began the
stretch drive with a 31 point lead over Tony Hirschman. Both had
done extremely well at both Thompson and Stafford. Jerry Marquis,
143 points back, and Chuck Hossfeld, 157 points back, had an outside
shot. Despite having a poor finish at the season opener at Thompson
when he wrecked and got injured, plus missing the Spring Sizzler,
Eric Beers had clawed his way into fifth spot, 225 points in
arrears. Beers’ determination plus the bullet proof reliability of
Mike Boehler’s Ole Blu has put Beers in contention.
Don Lia, Doug Coby, Rick Fuller, Zack Sylvester and Mike Christopher
rounded out the top ten. With 15 events in the record book a total
of 78 different drivers had entered into Whelen Modified Tour Series
competition.
Kerry Malone finally got the monkey off his back as he took the win
in the Sunoco Modified division at the Thompson Speedway on Thursday
night. Bert Marvin put the pressure on during the closing moments of
the 30 lap feature but Malone never wavered. Keith Rocco turned in
another strong run as he finished third ahead of Jimmy Blewett and
Jeff Malave. Marc Palmisano took the Late Model feature and Mike
O’Sullivan took top honors in the Pro Stocks. Larry Barnett won his
sixth of the year in the Limited Sportsman and Chad Gaudiosi was the
Thompson Modified winner. Randy Jurcik took the Mini Stocks.
Although the nights were getting cooler the action at the Waterford
Speedbowl continued to be hot and heavy. Ron Yuhas jr. had more than
his share of the bump and grind at the shoreline oval. In spite of
it all he remained in the point race and last week moved into the
lead by a scant four points over Rob Summers as he on the feature
for the SK Modifieds. Ron Silk finished second with Dennis Gada,
third. Rob Summers who previously led the points finished fourth
with Tommy Fox rounding out the top five. Other Saturday night
winners at Waterford were Allen Coates took his eighth win in the
Late Models, Dan Darnstaedt in the Sportsman, Ken Cassidy in the
Mini-Stocks and Curtis D’Addario in the X-Cars. Speaking of the
X-Cars, the Speedbowl ran a mechanics race on Wednesday night that
was won by former Modified Champion Dickie Doo Ceravolo.
Ryan Newman tied a NASCAR Busch Series record by winning in his
fourth consecutive start of the season, a dominant performance in a
wreck-filled race Saturday at Dover International Speedway. Newman
was far ahead of the cars involved in two multicar accidents in the
opening laps. The Dover 200 was a rout, with Newman leading all but
seven laps, setting a record on The Monster Mile. Darrell Waltrip
led 167 laps in 1985. Jimmie Johnson won Sunday's MBNA RacePoints
400 at Dover International Speedway, holding onto his lead during a
two-lap overtime period despite heavy pressure on his back bumper
from Busch, his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports.
Last year, 2009, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series
traveled to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the New Hampshire
100, which carried a purse of $166,917. Forty Modifieds were on hand
for qualifying.
The Penthouse, the Firehouse and the Jailhouse all had their
separate stories at Loudon. In the Penthouse was Ryan Preece who
earned the 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Light with a
lap of 127.692mph. Also in the penthouse was car owner Eddie
Partridge who watched with pleasure as his two drivers, Ronnie Silk
and Keith Rocco qualified their cars in second and third place. It
was Rocco’s first time at the New Hampshire mile. Rounding out the
top five was Eric Beers and Doug Coby. Sixth through tenth were Todd
Szegedy, Glen Reen, Erick Rudolph, Bobby Grigas III and Mike
Stefanik. Current points leader Ted Christopher qualified 14th.
In the Firehouse was Donny Lia, the June New Hampshire winner. Lia’s
car, the Mystic Missile, caught fire during practice and suffered
severe damage that prompted to an emergency run back to the Mystic
River Marina where an all night session was put in to make the
necessary repairs. According to car owner Bob Garbarino a loose fuel
line was the culprit. Unable to qualify, Lia was forced to take a
provisional, which would place him in 34th starting spot in the 40
car-starting grid.
In the Jailhouse was part time Whelen Modified Tour Series driver
Frank M. Ruocco, The Hartford Courant reported that Ruocco, who is
also a weekly competitor at the Stafford Motor Speedway, was charged
in a federal indictment on Wednesday, September 16, with obstruction
of justice for trying to hide records of a scheme to illegally
double the cost of removing contaminated soil from a New York
construction site. Ruocco, Jr; his company, Earth Technology; and
employee Boris A. Tomicic, 37, of West Hartford, also were charged
with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering for
billing the unidentified New York developer at inflated rates.
Tomicic was not accused of obstruction.
Ruocco, who is 96 points behind Ted Christopher in the SK Modified
point standings, was out on bail and finished sixth at Stafford on
Friday night.
Ron Silk passed Reggie Ruggiero on the backstretch of the last lap
and held on through Turns 3 and 4 to earn the victory in the New
Hampshire 100. Silk, swapped the lead with Ruggiero three times and
ran bumper-to-bumper in the last 10 laps, with Silk surviving the
battle. Ruggiero settled for a fourth-place finish after getting
shuffled three spots on the last lap. Donny Lia crossed the line
second followed by pole winner Ryan Preece and Mike Stefanik
finished fifth. Lia entered the race third in points but his car
caught fire during practice on Thursday and he was not able to
qualify. After starting at the rear on Saturday with a provisional,
Lia was involved in an early accident and went down three laps. He
was the “Lucky Dog” beneficiary during three subsequent cautions,
and rocketed toward the front for a runner-up finish. Keith Rocco,
who was making his first start at New Hampshire finished 33rd after
dropping out with mechanical problems.
The race featured 17 lead changes among eight drivers, and was
slowed by 11 cautions. It was Silk’s fourth career NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour win and his first at New Hampshire. According to
NASCAR, The New Hampshire Modified race on SPEED did a 0.5 TV
rating. The show aired Saturday, September 19th, 1:00-2:31pm, total
households- 349,000; total viewers- 442,000.
In Thursday night Thunder action at Thompson, Ted Christopher made a
mad dash from Loudon, NH, after qualifying for the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour event to win his sixth Sunoco Modified feature event
of the season at Thompson and his second in a row. Christopher edged
out fellow Modified Tour competitors Rowan Pennink, Keith Rocco, and
Woody Pitkat to take down the victory. Mike O’Sullivan scored his
third Super Late Model victory of the season to bring the chase to
the championship to single digits. Cam McDermott had a good point
night as he scored his second win of the season in TIS Modified
competition. Rick Gentes returned to his winning ways in the Late
Models while Sean Monahan scored the victory in the Limited
Sportsman division. Steve Michalski earned his second Mini Stock
victory of the season.
Christopher drove by pole sitter Dave LaCroix in the first turn of
the first lap and never looked back. At the finish, Christopher took
down the win over Pennink. Rocco had to settle for third over Pitkat
and Bert Marvin. With the finish, Rocco gained two points over his
nearest competition, Pitkat. Rocco has a four-point advantage over
Pitkat going into the final point race.
The sparks flew between Keith Rocco and Ted Christopher at Stafford
on Friday night. Keith Rocco took his fifth victory of the season in
the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Dillon Moltz took his fifth win of
the season in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Tommy Membrino, Jr.
took down his second win of the season in the 20-lap SK Light
Modified feature, Norm Sears took down win number two of 2009 in the
20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, and Stephanie Berardi
scored her first career win in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
The 40-lap SK Modified feature took the green with two caution
periods in the first two laps of the event. On the lap-3 restart,
Keith Rocco moved by Matt Gallo to take the race lead. Richie Pallai,
Jr. was third, Ted Christopher was fourth, and Todd Owen was in
fifth. Christopher quickly moved into second behind Rocco, with
Gallo, Pallai, and Woody Pitkat making up the top-5. Rocco held the
lead until lap-10 when Christopher moved by. The next lap saw the
caution come out for a spin by Sean Foster that collected several
cars including Gallo, Joe Allegro, Jr., Kirk Zervas, and Wade
Mattesen.
Christopher continued to lead back under green with Rocco, Curt
Brainard, Pallai, and Chris Matthews making up the top-5. The top-5
ran in line for three laps before Pallai moved into third and Pitkat
moved into fifth on lap-15. Christopher would continue to hold the
lead until lap-20 when Rocco went back by to retake the lead.
Rocco's lead was short lived as Christopher was able to move back by
Rocco on lap-23 to take the lead back. The caution came out with 24
laps complete for a spin by Christopher Jones and slowed the action
at the front of the pack. Christopher took the lead on the restart,
but Rocco would move back out front several laps later on lap-30.
Rocco's move for the lead opened the door for Pitkat to also get by
Christopher, dropping him back to third place. But Christopher took
the spot back from Pitkat on the next lap and set his sights on
getting the lead back from Rocco. Christopher got the lead on lap-35
and looked like he had a car to hold off Rocco for the win. On the
final lap, contact between Rocco and Christopher, a bump and run,
moved Christopher up the hill in turn 3, which gave Rocco enough
room to take the lead and the race victory coming off turn 4. After
the checkered flag, Christopher slammed Rocco in turn 1, sending
Rocco around and himself into the turn 1 wall. Pitkat finished third
behind Rocco and Christopher, with Pallai and Owen rounding out the
top-5. Christopher, who was the point leader and Rocco were
suspended for one race because of their actions.
The weather was cool but the action was hot at the Waterford
Speedbowl as the track hosted Cystic Fibrosis Night and completed
its NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race program with a first time
winner and great battles in all the divisions taking center stage.
Dennis Gada returned to victory lane in the SK Modifieds and Dennis
Botticello ended a lengthy hiatus to Speedbowl Victory Lane in the
Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models. Walt Hovey Jr. won his fourth
Street Stock event of the year, Allen Coates checkered his seventh
NEATV Truck Series race, and Ian Brew won his first ever Norwich
Bulletin Mini Stock race.
After the pre-race Cystic Fibrosis festivities, seven-time Speedbowl
champion Dennis Gada of Salem used his pole starting spot to move to
the SK Modified race lead when the green flag came out. Jeff Pearl
moved to second with Rob Janovic Jr. in third. Tyler Chadwick moved
inside Jeffrey Paul for fourth on lap six. Contact in turn one of
lap 15 left Glenn Pressell III slowing to bring out the first
caution flag.
On the restart Gada jumped out over Pearl. Janovic moved in to
challenge Pearl for second on the inside. Out of turn two on lap 16,
Pearl and Janovic got crossed up triggering a chain reaction behind.
Pearl and Janovic were able to continue through, however several
cars made contact behind drawing the second caution when they
stacked up into turn three. Gada again got out front over Pearl on
the restart. Pearl began to look for a way around Gada. Janovic
raced third and Chadwick in fourth. Keith Rocco was a man on the
move, pressuring Tom Abele Jr. for fifth after starting from last
after a qualifying race wreck. Ron Yuhas Jr., contending for the
championship with Rocco, sat in seventh. Rocco made the move inside
Abele on lap 23, advancing his way to the top five.
Up front Gada opened up a one car length lead over Pearl when Joey
Gada spun in turn two with seven laps remaining. The restart was
more of the same. Gada, Pearl and Janovic occupied the top three
spots. Rocco moved up past Chadwick and immediately set his sights
on Janovic, racing outside for third when caution came out with
three laps remaining for Jeff Gallup and Rich Hammann who came
together. Gada survived the final restart to go on to his second win
of the year. The win is his 64th career at the shoreline oval. Pearl
took second and Janovic held off the challenges of Rocco for third.
Chadwick completed the top five. Rocco was able to sustain his
points lead over Yuhas with his finish.
Dick Ceravolo continued to show a slight improvement in his
condition. A slight infection continued to put reconstructive
surgery on hold. He continued to be in an induced coma, now in its
fifth week.
The Charlotte Business Journal reported that Bruton Smith’s Speedway
Motorsports Inc. filed suit against the city of Concord and Cabarrus
County in North Carolina claiming they have failed to follow through
on incentive agreements related to improvements at Lowe’s Motor
Speedway and a nearby drag strip.
In Sprint Cup racing at New Hampshire International Mark Martin took
the win over Juan Pablo Montoya
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This week are several vintage racing
photos Courtesy of SpeedwayLineReport.com & Dave Dyke's Racing
ThroughTime.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 |
