Roger Brown dominated the second half of the TD Banknorth 250 Sunday night, but Dale Verrill’s incredible rally on the final lap forced the New Hampshire ACT driver to sweat out the win by less than a half car length in one of the closest finishes in the 34-year history of the summer classic.
Brown is the first Granite State competitor to win the 250 since Dave Dion in 1992. His victory ended Maine’s 11-race winning streak.
Continue reading ‘Roger Brown Wins TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford’
Already the 2006 NASCAR Mexico champion, Lopez took a monumental step forward in his progress with a victory Sunday night in the Busch East Series’ Music City 150 at the historic Music City Motorplex. He became just the second Mexican-born driver to win in Busch East and the first to do so on an oval.
Oxford, ME — Almost 10 years to the day from when he qualified and competed in the famed Oxford 250 race, Kirk Alexander, W.Swanzey, NH; returned to the historic 3/8 mile speedway Saturday night July 21, and won the inaugural True Value Modified Racing Series “Maine-ly Action Sports 100” before a huge crowd on hand for the special weekend.
The win by Alexander was his third of the season and his 23rd career victory with the traveling series. The race was also a qualifying event for the upcoming Mod Mania 400 weekend at Thompson, CT; Sept 8, 9.
30 modified race teams hauled to Maine for the inaugural event with 26 cars qualifying through 12 lap heat races and a 15 lap last chance race. The prelims were garnered by Jimmy Dolan, Bethel, CT; Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, CT; and Jarvis, with David Pinkham, Buxton, ME; returning to the series winning the last chance race.
Waterford, CT — It only took 8 races for 19 year old Rookie Steven Intravia, from Saylorsburg, Pa. to win his 1stUSAC Northeast FordFocus featureat the Waterford Speedbowl in Connecticut.
Intravia was driving the S & S Speedways sponsored 2005 Beast chassis Focus Midget that the team purchased from the 2006 USAC Northeast Ford Focus Series champion Ryan Smith.
Waterford, CT — With nine circuits remaining, Shawn Monahan passed brother Diego going on to win his second 35-lap SK Modified feature of the year. “Tonight the car was extra-good, and I was extra-determined to win,” stated Monahan. “I knew on that last restart that if I didn’t get by my brother, I was going backwards, and fast. Tonight we worked as a team, and held-off two of the very best in Zach Sylvester Dennis Gada.”Defending champion Gada tried on several occasions to slip into the lead using the outside groove, but each time Monahan was able to repel him.
Continue reading ‘Shawn Monahan & Ed Reed, Jr. Shine at Speedbowl’
Seekonk, MA — Second generation standout Tom Scully, Jr. of Cranston, RI passed Scott Fournier for the lead on the 15th circuit and held off former Late Model champ Mike Brightman and four-time feature winner David Darling to post his second win of the season in the Francis Farm 50-lap Pro Stock Mid-Season Championship race at the 1/3-mile Seekonk Speedway oval on Saturday, July 21. With extra distance-extra cash events on tap for the four weekly racing divisions, fans were treated to over 240 green flag laps by 91 race cars and trucks in just three and a-half hours.
Continue reading ‘Tom Scully Jr. Claims Seekonk Pro Stock Mid-Season Championship Event’
Waterford, CT — With 9-laps remaining, Shawn Monahan passed brother Diego going on to win his second 35-lap SK Modified feature of the year. “Tonight the car was extra-good, and I was extra-determined to win,” stated Monahan. “I knew on that last restart that if I didn’t get by my brother, I was going backwards and fast. Tonight we worked as a team, and held-off two of the very best in Zach Sylvester Dennis Gada.”
Other feature winners were Ed Reed Jr. (Late Model), Dwayne Dorr (Sportsman), Danny Field (Mini Stocks), and Steven Intravaia (USAC Ford Focus Midgets).
One of those stops was in Charlestown, N.H., where the street was lined for a mile with more than 400 cheering friends, families and employees of Whelen Engineering as the company hosted the riders last Saturday.
Continue reading ‘Whelen Celebrates Stop for Petty Charity Ride’
Seekonk, MA — Swansea, MA’s Bill Chouinard, Chris Robinson of West Warwick, RI, and Derryck Anderson, Jr. of Warwick, RI returned to Victory Lane in Seekonk Speedway’s Fast Friday Series of events on July 20.
Chouinard, a second-year Pure Stock competitor, inched closer to point leader Scott Cestodio at the top of the standings after besting a 13 others to claim his second 25-lap feature of the year. Chouinard started ninth in the Highland Real Estate Group-sponsored #8 Chevrolet and immediately headed for the front, going three-wide to work his way into the top six by lap 2. John Frias led the opening circuits before Chouinard’s step-brother, John Robidoux, took over the top spot in the Sanford & Son #93.
Continue reading ‘Chouinard, Robinson, Anderson Repeat Winners’
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway returned to Friday night racing action with the SK Modified® division taking center stage for the 34th Coors Light SK Modified® 100. Woody Pitkat was the story of the night, first winning the 30-lap Late Model feature, and then taking tires with only 22 laps remaining in the 34th Annual Coors Light SK Modified® 100 to storm through the field and take a second victory of the evening. Alan Provost scored a first career victory in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Sean Foster took down the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Matt Chiarizio celebrated his birthday in grand style by scoring his first career win in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.The 34th Coors Light SK Modified® 100-lap feature saw Woody Pitkat outduel Stafford’s all-time winningest driver, Ted Christopher, to win the race. Willie Hardie took the lead from the pole, and he led the first 34 laps before contact with Keith Rocco sent him spinning from the lead. Rocco was black flagged for rough riding, which handed the lead of the race to Ted Christopher. Woody Pitkat took the lead from Christopher on the restart, and Pitkat held the lead until lap-52, when Christopher moved back out front. Pitkat slowly began to lose positions as Christopher began to build a large lead over Eric Berndt, who was now running second. A caution with 79 laps complete erased Christopher’s large lead and brought Pitkat to pit road for fresh tires. Pitkat then worked his way back through traffic and avoided several wrecks to find himself in third place behind Christopher for a lap-95 restart. Pitkat moved past Christopher on the restart and then drove away to score the win. Christopher finished second, with Frank Ruocco, Kerry Malone, and Curt Brainard rounding out the top-5. Continue reading ‘Woody Pitkat Double Dips at Stafford’
Last December, James Civali stood before the entire Whelen Modified Tour community as he accepted his Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year award. Standing there at the podium at Mohegan Sun, Civali knew his rookie campaign was a success. Many veteran drivers would be content with a seventh place finish in points, including a victory at one of the most prestigious tracks in modified history, Stafford. But when the Meriden, CT-native left the stage that night, he knew there was more to gain.
All winter Civali remained focused on the next chapter in his career, his sophomore season on the Whelen Modified Tour. For the first time the 23-year-old knew what to expect entering a Tour season. Again teaming with Don King and King Racing, Civali knew he had the equipment to take him to the next level, a Whelen Modified Tour Championship.
Lexington
“We always get a good response from the North-South Shootout event,” said General Manager Joe Pelham. “More and more of the teams are using our stuff, which is good for us. But what is even more significant is that the drivers are paying attention to safety.”
Continue reading ‘Joie of Seating Returns as NSS Sponsor in ‘07′
Stafford Motor Speedway returns to racing this Friday night, July 20th with the 34th Annual Coors Light SK Modified® 100,
Have we ever had a doubt? I can say with confidence that we have. One of the most challenging things we need to overcome in our lives is our doubt. It comes in many forms; hesitation, uncertainty, reservation, misgiving, distrust, disbelief, and suspicion. Many of these terms we are familiar with without a doubt. How do we remove the doubt from our minds? Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.One of the prerequisites to being a championship race driver is guts, being able to drive the car closer to the edge, faster, than anyone else. To do that requires that you have complete trust in the car, the team that assembled it and the team that is working on it in the pits. Without that trust you cannot go fast. It also requires that you focus on what you need to do as a driver; hit your marks, feel the car, and pay attention to the changing conditions as the race develops. What happens when the driver doubts his car can go as fast as it needs to? What happens when a driver doubts he can drive the car as fast as it needs to?
Thompson, CT — Heavy rains over the entire northeast forced the cancellation of the July 19th Thursday Night Thompson Thunder (TNTT) race program. Rains moved into the area just prior to the time racecars were scheduled to take to the track for practice sessions. A look at local weather radar showed a huge area of rain headed towards the speedway and that was enough to force the hands of track officials to cancel the evening’s races.
Fans will be glad to know that the 50-lap Pro Stock race scheduled for July 19th will be run as part of the full NASCAR Whelen All American Series race program next Thursday, July 26th.
