Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl returned to action Wednesday evening with Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday under seasonable weather after skies cleared from the early week rain. Taking victories during the program included Matt Pappa of Nassau, NY in the Legends Cars feature, Rachel Forte of Douglas, MA in the Bandolero feature, Scott Limkemann of East Lyme in the night’s X-Car race and Dan Butler of Waterford in the Super X-Car event. Christopher Lee of Uncasville won the night’s Wacky event, a Flag Pole Race for the X-Cars.
Pappa persevered in the 20-lap Legends Cars feature to come out on top for the second time in as many Wednesday events on the year. He was involved in a lap-2 incident that involved multiple cars then rallied back to the win.
The race began with rookie Joey Ternullo showing the way from his pole starting position. Ternullo led a battle for second place among several cars over the opening laps. Nicholas Lascuola got inside Daniel Stolte on lap-2 to take second, pulling just ahead as Stolte got hooked up with Nicholas Sowa exiting turn four. Dennis Pantani, Stephen Kopcik, Carl Blandina and Pappa all got a piece of the action off turn four. Several cars came to rest against the wall while Pappa spun after slight contact.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Continue reading ‘Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 5/16 Results’
Published at May 15, 2012
in Seekonk.
Seekonk, MA — For the second year, Seekonk Speedway is giving fans from all over Southeastern New England a chance to check out the action at Seekonk Speedway for free. All you need is an ID to show proof of residence from the town/city being showcased, and you are in.
The first of 9 consecutive weeks begins on May 19th. The tickets are for general admission only. Seekonk does not have assigned or reserved seating, so there is not a bad seat in the house. For the $12.00 savings, you can even bring a friend or two. And of course, as always, children 12 and under are FREE.
On May 19, the focus is the Cape and surrounding towns. All of Cape Cod, that’s from Provincetown to Bourne will be admitted at no charge. Also included for admission on this night is Plymouth, Carver, Wareham, Mattapoisett, Duxbury, Hingham, Weymouth, Hanover, Rockland and Abington. If you are from these towns, or know someone who is, and they have never been to The Action Track of the East, bring them down and introduce them to one of the most exciting sports there are, Short Track Racing.
Continue reading ‘Seekonk Speedway’s Hometown Hero’s Program Returns on May 19′
Canaan, N.H. — The Valenti Modified Racing Series returns to action this weekend visiting the Thompson International Speedway,
Thompson, CT., for the first of two events this season. The Sunday race, May 20,will feature, a 75-lap race for the open-wheel modifieds with a strong field of drivers expected.
Defending series champion, Chris Pasteryak, of Lisbon, CT., leads the list of entries including several former VMRS winners and several looking for their first series win at the historic oval.
Les Hinckley III, of Windsor Locks, CT., leads the list of past winners. Todd Owen, of Somers, CT., Louie Mechalides, of Tyngsboro, MA., Andy Seuss, of Hampstead, N.H.., and Rowan Pennink, of Huntingdon Valley, PA., all former Thompson winners, hope to find their way to victory lane.
Continue reading ‘Valenti Modified Racing Series Invades Thompson Sunday’
Published at May 14, 2012
in Legion.
WENTWORTH, NH – Legion Speedway will open its 2012 racing season with a Test and Tune session on this Sunday May 20. Gates open at 2:00 pm and on-track practice runs from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
Any safe race car is welcome to participate in addition to the classes that will be competing throughout the season at Legion Speedway: the Forward’s Garage Modifieds, the Papa Z’s Mini Sprints, the Beard Sewer and Drain Sprint Cars of New England, the Street Stocks and the Outlaw Mini Stocks.
Weekly racing programs throughout the summer at Legion Speedway will be sponsored by S.K. Bean’s Enfield Garage, Al Crossman Trucking and Eastman's Trophies; Eastman's Automotive and Vision Signworks; Ryezak Petroleum; Route 118 Automotive; Neal Davis Model Race Cars; Ed Tobin Car Crushing; Gary's Property Maintenance and Ames Auto & Outdoor Equipment.
Continue reading ‘Legion Speedway Opens with Test and Tune This Sunday’
Going into the fifth of the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the last four races had produced four different winners. The pack has been getting tighter and tighter and that was never so evident as it was on the 1.6 mile road course. While the normal cast of characters, Shaun Buffington, Evan Beaulieu and Matt Bourgoine fought for the lead for much of the race, it was the young sophomore driver Reid Lanpher who was able to take the lead late, and pick up his first ever Legends Car win. The 24 car Legends field took to the track in what was going to become one of the wildest races of the season.
It all started per usual in qualifying, where Buffington was the fastest in the field. Bourgoine was able to get the second fastest lap and therefore would start on the outside of the front row on the start. On the start, Buffington was able to get the jump and the lead into turn one, with Bourgoine and Beaulieu right behind. Those three got away from the rest of the field for a bit as they ran each other hard for the race lead. Just as a battle was setting up once again for Beaulieu and Buffington for the lead, the races first yellow came out for Nick Ladyga finding the tire pile in turn three.
After this first caution, business began to pick up for the final five laps. As Buffington and Beaulieu came down through the first set of corners side by side bouncing off of one of another, Beaulieu was able to wrestle the race lead away in turn three. It wasn’t over however, as Bourgoine was right behind to take second. The next lap, contact between the two leaders sent Beaulieu into a spin, and created a melee behind them as a few cars got wrecked in the blocked racetrack.
[Photo Gallery] by Chris Roy/RPM Photography
Continue reading ‘Lanpher Made His Move Late, Grabs First Win at NHMS!’
Mike Mason of Skowhegan, ME made history Saturday May 12, 2012 by being the first driver to ever win on the road course at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in a stock car. Much earlier in the day over 30 teams from six New England states hauled their trailers from near and far to be a part of the first Texas Roadhouse North East Mini Stock Tour event of the 2012 season.
At 11:00 AM all of the drivers were gathered around the NEMST tech area and given an instructional drivers meeting by NHMS Director of Operations Tom Blanchette and NEMST Promoter Bob Guptill. The drivers were given the tips and hints of road course success as well as instruction on the different types of flags and caution areas the excitement continued to build for the practice session rapidly approaching. At noon the drivers were instructed to strap into their vehicles and prepare for a 45 minute long practice session to build experience as well as set the starting order for the feature later on in the day.
As the time on the practice session wore down multiple cars ran many laps trying to find the best route to navigate the unfamiliar course at the fastest speedway. At the end of 45 minutes it was the rookie competitor, and eventual winner, Mike Mason with the fast time set at 1:24.122 around the 1.6 mile course. Mason beat out 2009 NEMST champion Emerson Cayer buy only .140 seconds to secure the first starting position in the event. Many competitors experienced wear and tear on their machines and required extensive drivetrain repair to be ready for the feature scheduled for 6:00 PM that evening.
Continue reading ‘Mason Becomes King of The Road with NHMS Victory’
Thompson, CT — The Valenti Modified Racing series will be the featured division this Sunday afternoon, May 20th, at the Thompson International Speedway. The VMRS has become one of the most popular touring series in the northeast and always brings a great crowd and a great race to Thompson.
VMRS racers will qualify for their 75 laps of green flag racing through heats. Their finishes in the qualifying races will determine their starting spots in the main event. Heat races have been a popular feature in the VMRS program.
The defending VMRS champion, Chris Pasteryak, will head the field of open-wheel Modifieds at Thompson which is the largest and fastest track on the VMRS schedule. The pressure, however, is on two-time champion, Jon McKennedy. In the first two VMRS races, McKennedy has been victorious. He won at the Waterford Speedbowl and at Monadnock and will try to make it three in a row when the VMRS rolls into Thompson.
Continue reading ‘Valenti Modified Racing Series This Sunday at Thompson’
Published at May 13, 2012
in Seekonk.
Seekonk, MA — Warwick RI’s Ryan Vanasse has been one of the hottest drivers at Seekonk Speedway over the past three plus seasons. In that time, he has won two Late Model Championships, as well as over 15 feature wins, including a division record of 11 in 2011. This year, Ryan made the full time move back to the Pro Stocks, and has continued his momentum.
Ryan moved into the lead early on, after a hard fought battle with Tom Scully Jr, and held on to win the Pro Stock main event. His win was not without concern, however. While leading, he made contact with the lapped car of Danny Cabral. Many thought that he may have bent something in the front suspension. No damage was done, and he was able to hold on through a couple of late race restarts. Tom Scully Jr of Cranston RI held on for second, with Rehoboth’s Dave Darling, Westport’s Fred Astle Jr and Kevin Casper of Somerset rounding out the top five.
Bobby Pelland proved that running on the outside last week was no fluke. The third generation driver once again used the outside lane to race for the lead. This time, it was sophomore Dylan Estrella of North Attleboro providing the challenge for the Cranston native.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Continue reading ‘Ryan Vanasse picks up second career Pro Stock feature; Bobby Pelland III, Mike Cavallaro and Paul Lallier also win’
Leads Every Lap For Fourth Career Whelen Modified Victory
WINCHESTER, N.H. — Ryan Preece converted his third Coors Light Pole Award into his first win of the season Saturday night with a victory in the Whitcomb 200 presented by Mobix & Town Fair Tire at Monadnock Speedway.
Preece led every lap of the season's third race and took the checkered flag 1.423 seconds in front of runner-up Doug Coby. Todd Szegedy, the 2011 race winner, finished third. Justin Bonsignore and Ron Silk finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Silk, the points leader, maintained a one-point advantage in the standings over Coby. Preece is four points behind Silk.
It is Preece's fourth career win and earned him a locked-in spot at the UNOH Battle At The Beach on the .400-mile oval at Daytona International Speedway next February.
The 21-year-old Berlin, Conn., finished second (2009) and sixth (2010) in tour points before winning the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified Division champion at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway last year. His previous tour wins came at Martinsville in 2008, and Riverhead and Stafford in 2009.
[Photo Gallery] by Crystal Snape
Continue reading ‘Preece Rolls at Monadnock’
Waterford, CT — Racing returned to Waterford Speedbowl Saturday night with a special 60th anniversary event for the Northeastern Midget Association plus NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing. The Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA) is one of the nation’s oldest racing series, with roots at Waterford going back to its beginning. Greg Stoehr of Bridgewater, MA took home the prestigious win in the night’s NEMA Midget feature while Brandon Igo of Bondsville, MA won the companion NEMA Lite race. In Saturday night NASCAR action, Ledyard native Tyler Chadwick took the checkered flag in the SK Modified® feature, his second on the year, while defending Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model champion Jeff Smith of Old Lyme returned to the winner’s circle for the first time in 2012. Chris Meyer of North Franklin became the first repeat winner of the season in the Street Stocks and Ken Cassidy Jr. of Lisbon won again in the Mini Stocks, giving him six on the year.
Joe Perry raced into the lead when the green flag was shown to the SK Modified® field for their 35-lap feature. He led over Joe Gada, Al Stone and Ed Puleo over the opening circuits. Hard racing further back among Chadwick, Jeff Rocco, Rob Janovic Jr., Kyle James and others showcased plenty of side-by-side action. Just behind them, trouble broke out on lap-4 off turn four to bring out the caution flag. Several cars made contact sending Diego Monahan’s car into the frontstretch wall. Frank Mucciacciaro and Rich Brooks also got a piece of the wall, and James and Craig Lutz went spinning into the infield. When the dust settled Mucciacciaro and Monahan’s nights were done.
Perry picked up where he left off when racing went back to green, leading Gada. Stone secured third and Nichole Morgillo was up to fourth, just ahead of Chadwick. Ed Puleo and Jeff Pearl slid back in the outside lane to the back of the top ten as Janovic, Justin Gaydosh and Tom Abele Jr. raced forward.
Continue reading ‘Waterford Speedbowl 5/12 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Results’
Waterford, CT — Brandon Igo led every lap but winning the 30-lap Lites feature at the Northeastern Midget Association Diamond Anniversary Race Saturday night at Waterford Speedbowl was hardly easy. Igo, in fact, had to rely on his dirt track experience to capture his first NEMA win.
With eight laps remaining, Igo (Igo 45) and Carl Medeiros Jr. (Medeiros 50) came together in turn two. With the car sideways, Igo “stood on the gas and turned right. That’s where the dirt track experience came in,” said the one-time Whip City champion.
It ended a great effort for Medeiros who admitted to “running out of patience” looking to get inside Igo. Medeiros did spin, setting up a restart . On the green, Igo got the jump on Joey Mucciacciaro (Scally 4) and went on to finish 1.92 seconds ahead of Ian Cumens (Seymour 9) with Mucciacciaro third. Ryan Bigelow (Bigelow 13) was fourth and Randy Cabral (Cabral 35) came from 19th to claim fifth.
Continue reading ‘Brandon Igo NEMA Lites Winner’
Waterford, CT – Absolutely dominating the second half of the race, Russ Stoehr captured the 30-lap Marvin Rifchin Trophy race Saturday night at the Northeastern Midget Association’s Diamond Anniversary Race at Waterford Speedbowl.
Grabbing the lead on a lap 13 restart, Stoehr, in the family 26b, went on to a 1.450 seconds win over Randy Cabral (Bertrand 47). John Zych (Zych 9), Russ Stoehr (Dumo’s Desire 45) and Todd Bertrand (Bertrand 39) completed the top five.
Stoehr assumed control when early leader Anthony Marvuglio (Bordeau 38) suffered a flat left front tire on caution. After a brief side-by-side battle with Cabral, he quickly assumed a commanding advantage in a car built over the winter to replace a car that was destroyed last summer at Waterford.
Continue reading ‘Greg Stoehr Grabs Rifchin Trophy’
Another Whelen Modified Pole With Record Lap At Monadnock
WINCHESTER, N.H. — Ryan Preece earned his third straight Coors Light Pole Award Saturday with a record lap in qualifying for the Whitcomb 200 presented by Mobix & Town Fair Tire at Monandock Speedway.
It is the ninth career pole award for the 21-year-old Berlin, Conn., driver.
Preece's lap of 12.315 seconds (73.082 mph) eclipsed the mark set by Mike Stefanik (12.390 seconds/72.693 mph) in 1988 around the quarter-mile oval.
[Photo Gallery] by Crystal Snape
Green flag for the Whitcomb 200 is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Continue reading ‘QUALIFYING: Preece Makes It 3-for-3′
Tops Speed Chart For Whelen Modified Stop At Monadnock
WINCHESTER, N.H. – Defending tour champion and current points leader Ron Silk set the fast pace Saturday in practice for the Whitcome 200 presented by Mobix/Town Fair Tire.
Silk had a lap of 12.396 seconds (72.604 mph) around the quarter-mile, banked oval. Ryan Preece was second at 72.330 (12.443), followed by defending race winner Todd Szegedy at 72.266 (12.454).
Qualifying is set for 4 p.m. with the green flag for the Monadnock 200 at 8:30 p.m.
Eric Goodale and Ron Yuhas rounded out the top five in practices.
[Photo Gallery] by Crystal Snape
Continue reading ‘PRACTICE: Silk Running Out Front’
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Speedway was back on track with the Xtra Mart Late Model Xtra D program on Friday night, May 11th. J.J. Hill was the winner of the extra distance 40-lap Late Model feature, Eric Berndt got around Ted Christopher on a green white checkered restart to pick up his first win of the 2012 in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Dylan Kopec was the winner of the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature for the second consecutive week, Josh Wood also won for the second consecutive week in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Albert Saunders drove to victory in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature with a late race pass on Austin Bessette.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Frank Ruocco took the lead at the drop of the green to take the early race lead. Woody Pitkat was glued to Ruocco’s back bumper while Eric Berndt was running a close third. Behind Berndt was Ryan Preece, Keith Rocco, and Ted Christopher. The top-6 cars were lined up nose to tail as they clicked off lap 15 on the scoreboard.
Rocco was able to work his way around Preece, but that was the only position change in the top-5 as Ruocco continued to lead the race with Pitkat and Berndt lined up right behind him. At lap-20, the top-6 cars were still lined up in a nose to tail train, but that all changed on lap-21 as Pitkat was able to make a pass for the lead in turns 3+4. Berndt got out of shape and nearly spun, but he was able to recover and keep going, although he fell back to seventh place.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Continue reading ‘Hill Wins Xtra Mart Late Model Xtra D Feature at Stafford; Berndt, Kopec, Wood & Saunders Also Score Feature Wins’
Stafford Springs, CT — After an abbreviated 2011 debut season in Stafford’s DARE Stock division, Johnny Walker is looking to take a step forward this year and put his #01 into CARQUEST Victory lane. Walker managed two ninth place finishes and a fifth place finish in his first five races last year, but a crash on June 10th sidelined him until the CARQUEST Fall Final weekend, where he finished 21st. But after an offseason of new parts and pieces for the car, Walker is ready to take the next step and be a contender for race wins.
“We’ve gone through the car from bumper to bumper,” said Walker. “We have a new body, new hood, added jacking bolts to the rear, took the whole car down to the frame and recolored it. We also have a fresh R.A.D. Automachine engine and Barry Fluckiger from Fluckiger Race Chassis is going to be helping us out with the car setup, so there’s no excuses why the car can’t win this year. If we’re not winning this year, then the driver is doing something wrong.”
Walker came to the DARE Stock division after running 4-cylinder enduros at Monadnock, so the transition from the enduro car to the DARE Stock car was a bit of a mountain for Walker to climb.
Continue reading ‘Johnny Walker Looking to Reach Victory Lane in Stafford’s Dare Stock Division in 2012′
Stafford Springs, CT — This Friday night at Stafford, 2007 Stafford Late Model champion Corey Hutchings is ready to chase after bonus money from Xtra Mart in the Xtra Mart Late Model Xtra D 40-lap feature event. Xtra Mart is putting up a $1,000 bonus, with $200 being paid to each of the top-5 finishers in this Friday night’s 40-lap Late Model feature event.
“It’s awesome to have sponsors like Xtra Mart stepping up and offering this kind of bonus money for us,” said Hutchings. “These cars aren’t cheap to run every week and every extra bit of money really helps out. It’s great that they’re putting the money up and we hope we can take home a share of that this Friday night.”
By looking back at the season opening CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler Late Model race, Hutchings will be one of the favorites to place in the top-5 this Friday night. Hutchings started sixth and finished third behind Keith Rocco and Woody Pitkat while turning the fastest lap of the race, giving him confidence in his #36 Fluckiger Race Chassis team that they can take home some bonus money this Friday night.
Continue reading ‘Corey Hutchings Ready to Chase Xtra Mart Bonus Money in this Friday Night’s Xtra Mart Late Model Xtra D at Stafford’
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway has again lined up an impressive field of current and former open wheel champions for its CARQUEST Champions For Charities Event as part of CARQUEST Super Saturday on June 30th. During the coming weeks, SMS will offer a profile on each of its championship winning drivers and the charity they will be racing for. This week's CARQUEST Champions For Charities spotlight falls on Bob Potter, the 5-time Stafford SK Modified® Champion, and he will be racing to raise funds for Compassion for Cats of New London County.
"I like cats and this is a great organization," said Potter. "They take stray and abandoned cats and give them shots, they spay and neuter the cats, and they provide a home for the cats until they can find an owner to adopt the cats out to. Last year, they adopted out about 75 cats, and everyone there is a volunteer. It’s really awesome what they do for the cats and they can certainly use the money that we’re raising for them.”
While Potter is one of the most experienced drivers in the CARQUEST Champions For Charities field with 5 Stafford track titles and 24 career feature wins, he was a rookie last year in the Senior Outlaw karts on Stafford’s mini-mile.
Continue reading ‘CARQUEST Champions for Charities Driver Spotlight: Bob Potter’
Stafford Springs, CT — Race fans can now enjoy the experience of a lifetime at Stafford Motor Speedway. Stafford now has a 2-seat modified which will allow race fans the opportunity to ride around the famed Stafford Motor Speedway half-mile track with 5-time SK Modified® champion Bob Potter. Stafford Speedway has several ride along options available to race fans.
The first available option is a practice ride along session. For $50, fans can take a ride with Potter for 4 laps as the only car on the track during the 4:00-5:45 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series practice session.
The second available option is an intermediate ride along session. For $75, fans can take a ride with Bob Potter for 4 laps as the only car on the track in between feature events during a Friday night race program.
And the final and best option available is an SK Modified® feature ride along. For $100, fans can join Potter in the 2-seater and be part of the SK Modified® feature during the pace laps. Potter will ride at the end of the field during the SK Modified® feature pace laps before pulling off track when the field gets the one to go signal from the flag stand.
Continue reading ‘Stafford Speedway Offering the Ride of a Lifetime to Race Fans with Two-Seater Modified Driven by Bob Potter’
One of the most prominent oval racers on the iRacing service is set to make his real racing, stock car debut at the Stafford Motor Speedway this Friday night. Josh Parker (Exeter, RI) will be driving a DARE Stock race car out of the Rent a Racecar New England stable on Friday, May 11th at the Stafford Motor Speedway (CT) as a part of their Weekly Racing Series program. DARE Stock race cars are powered by V8 motors built on American fabricated chassis that resemble their street counterparts.
Parker, who drives online in the NASCAR iRacing Series World Championship (NiSWC), practiced a DARE Stock car during the Spring Sizzler weekend and was set to make his maiden race laps in the car one week ago but rain halted the plans of the 21 year old. “I am excited to get behind the wheel of the car again,” said Parker of his upcoming debut. “The car drove close to what I expected it would and I adapted pretty quickly over the practice laps I had. With those practice laps and the team backing me, I am more than ready to get on the track this Friday night!”
Parker began his racing career by running on simulators on his home computer. Currently, Parker runs on the iRacing Motorsports Simulation, which is recognized as the most accurate and popular oval track simulation in the world. He races in the NiSWC division, the highest competition in all of the iRacing service every second Tuesday night. He has recorded one win in his career at that level, combined with 187 other wins he has amassed in other competitions on the service in the last four years. Parker credits his knowledge and awareness skills within a car to iRacing. “You can make a lot of comparisons between the two,” Parker explains. “The awareness of being in traffic, racing against others along with what lines to take around a race track make the learning curve a bit smaller when you get to the real track. From practicing Stafford within the sim, I had an idea of what I needed to do when I got into the DARE Stock last month and picked the car up quickly in practice. If it wasn’t for iRacing, I would have been behind on that and I may not have felt ready to make my debut this soon.”
Continue reading ‘Josh Parker to Make DARE Stock Debut Friday at Stafford’
Connecticut driver will race opening Late Model championship event Sunday
WEST HAVEN, VT – Former NASCAR National Champion Keith Rocco will trek north to Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Sunday, May 13 for the Mother’s Day Special event. The Wallingford, CT superstar will compete in the championship-opening race for the J&S Steel Late Model division.
Rocco was the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Champion in 2010 and has ranked fourth or better for each of the last five years. The Devil’s Bowl feature event will be the fourth race of his busy weekend; Rocco will run an open-wheel SK Modified and a full-fender Late Model on Friday night at Stafford Motor Speedway in his native Connecticut, heads to Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH on Saturday for a 200-lap NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event, and rides north for his first-ever race in Vermont on Sunday.
“We’re coming to race, to have fun, and hopefully to win,” Rocco declared. “If you’re not trying to win, you shouldn’t be out there, right?”
Continue reading ‘NASCAR National Champion Keith Rocco Coming to Devil’s Bowl Speedway’
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl has cancelled tonight’s scheduled Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday racing program due to wet weather. The mid-week entertainment program will return next Wednesday evening with races for the Legends Cars, Bandoleros, Super X-Cars, X-Cars and Wacky Race.
The Speedbowl is in action two more times this week, first with Friday’s Show and Go at the ‘Bowl, featuring free car cruise night and spectator drags. The event offers free grandstands admission to watch the elimination drags for most any type of motor vehicle, beginning at 6:00pm.
On Saturday, a special celebration for the Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA) joins the Speedbowl’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing program. Six divisions will see action including a total of 60 laps of feature racing to honor NEMA’s 60 anniversary � 30 laps each for the NEMA Midgets and the NEMA Lites. Qualifying begins at 5:30pm and main events start at 7:00pm Saturday.
Continue reading ‘Speedbowl Cancels 5/9 Wild ‘n Wacky race program’
"WEATHER UPDATE **Tonight's, May 9, $8 Wild 'n Wacky Wednesday program has been cancelled due to heavy rain in the area.**
BIG night for NEMA Midgets this Saturday!!! Join us as NEMA royalty will be in the house celebrating their 60th anniversary at a track key to their history…lots of winners, champions and NEMA VIP's Saturday."
60th anniversary event at ‘perfect’ Midget track will include division royalty
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl will host a special event this Saturday, May 12 as the Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA) comes to town with a big celebration planned. The popular division will be in the spotlight as it commemorates its Diamond Anniversary – 60 years in racing – with plenty of personnel that contributed to its history on hand.
Sixty laps of feature racing, thirty each for the NEMA Midgets and the companion NEMA Lites, highlights the racing on what is widely regarded as a ‘perfect’ Midget racetrack. The Speedbowl’s combination of smooth race surface, degree of banking and length of straightaway make for some of the finest Midget races in the east. The NEMA feature will be the Marvin Rifchin Trophy Race, memorializing one of NEMA’s greatest contributors and a New England racing legend. The tire maker (M&H Tire) was a frequent attendee at NEMA events for most of its 60-year history.
NEMA President Mike Scrivani Jr. could not think of a more suitable venue. “The Speedbowl is the ideal spot for this race. It has always been a special place for Midgets in general and NEMA in particular”. Indeed, the three-eighths mile shoreline oval has been a major part of NEMA from the beginning. The second-ever NEMA race was held at the Speedbowl in May 1953 and Midget racing has been a mainstay at the Speedbowl nearly every year since.
Continue reading ‘Northeastern Midget Association set for big celebration at Speedbowl on Saturday’
Published at May 8, 2012
in Seekonk.
[Saturday Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
[Sunday Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to Monadnock Speedway for the Monadnock 200 on Saturday, May 12.
For updates throughout raceday, please click here: LAP-BY-LAP
EVENT SCHEDULE | ENTRY LIST | PRACTICE | QUALIFYING| RESULTS
Continue reading ‘Live: Whelen Modifieds Return to Monadnock’
Matt Pappa has won races all over the East Coast in Legends Cars, and made his debut in the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour a memorable one at Seekonk Speedway. This past Sunday was the season opener for all Seekonk Speedway divisions, including the newly formed Nick’s Pitstop Friday Night Legends Series. Not only was it their first race but it was also the fourth Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour race, with a tight point’s battle. 26 Legends Cars were on tap for what was set to be yet another exciting Nelcar race.
The heat races were determined by time trials earlier in the day, and for the first heat race it was Pappa on the pole with the 3 of Nick Ladyga on the outside. Those two were able to take off from the start with Pappa opening up with the early lead. That would be how the finish ended up, with Pappa running away with the heat win. Ladyga was second with the 56 of Evan Beaulieu rounding out the top three.
In heat race number two it was the 18 of Tom Gray on the pole with his team mate Shaun Buffington to his outside. Those two ran side by side until the first yellow of the day came out for a spin by the 60 of Joey Parker. Parker was able to continue on. On the next run, it was still the Gray and Buffington show at the front while the 38 of Matt Bourgoine and the 89 of Nick Lascoula followed. At the finish, Buffington was able to beat Gray by .007 of a second and picked up the heat win.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Continue reading ‘Matt Pappa Wins in First Nelcar Start’
Brockton, MA – Randy Cabral has had enough of it. The Northeastern Midget Association three time and defending champion believes it is time for him to return to Waterford Speedbowl’s victory lane, a spot he has frequented more than anybody else in the club’s long history.
What better time than Saturday night when NEMA celebrates its 60th birthday with 60 laps of feature racing – 30 each for NEMA and the NEMA Lites – at the historic Connecticut shoreline oval. Cabral (Bertrand 47) is part of an expected strong NEMA field in pursuit of the coveted Marvin Rifchin Trophy.
President Mike Scrivani has compiled an impressive “guest list” for the party including former champions Dave Humphrey, Butch Walsh, Bob Pascale and Lou Fray. “This will be a celebration of midget history past and present,” reports Scrivani. “Winning this one is definitely going to be big.”
Continue reading ‘Cabral, Stoehr Lead NEMA to Speedbowl’
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will head to Monadnock Speedway for the third race of the 2012 season on Saturday, May 12 in Winchester, N.H. Below is a statistical look at the performance of selected drivers on the Tour:
Selected Driver Highlights:
Eric Beers (No. 45 Horwith Freightliner/John Blewett Inc. Ford)
• Has two wins, nine poles and 72 top 10s in 172 career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts.
• Has finishes of 10th and 12th in two starts at Monadnock Speedway.
Jimmy Blewett (No. 76 John Blewett Inc./Ling Trucking Chevrolet)
• Has five wins, a pole and 28 top 10s in 87 career NWMT starts.
• Has finished in the top five in both of the season’s first two races.
• This will be his first career NWMT race at Monadnock.
Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet)
• Has a win, three poles and 17 top 10s in 34 career NWMT starts.
• Has finishes of ninth and second in two previous races at Monadnock.
• Has four top fives in six quarter-mile track starts between Monadnock and Riverhead Raceway.
Continue reading ‘Statistical Advance: Analyzing Monadnock 200 at Monadnock Speedway’
Preece Off To Fast Start With New Team
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2011 season proved to be a challenging one for Ryan Preece. The driver who established himself as winner on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at just 17 years of age faced his first major roadblocks in racing as he spent the majority of his fifth season looking for racing opportunities from week to week.
All told, Preece was able to compete in just 10 of 16 events a year ago, and those 10 starts came between four different teams. The trials of 2011 are a thing of the past, however, as Preece is now established as a full-time driver once again, this time in the Flamingo Motorsports No. 16 Ford.
Preece, from Berlin, Conn., actually debuted for Flamingo and car owner Eric Sanderson in the 2011 finale at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway and earned the pole before getting caught up in a crash after leading 36 laps. His top qualifying efforts in the No. 16 have continued to start the 2012 season as he’s posted Coors Light Pole Awards in each of the first two events this year, including at track record last time out at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.
Continue reading ‘News & Notes: Modifieds Head to Monadnock’
