Archive for August 26th, 2010

Christopher Reigns Supreme at Thompson; O’Sullivan, Coury, Arena, Studley, & Gorgieveski Score Victories

Published at August 26, 2010 in Thompson. 0 Comments

Thompson, CT — The Thompson International Speedway played host to the Modified Racing Series for the second time in 2010. In the end it was “one of their” own standing in victory lane with Rowan Pennink of Huntington Valley, PA, scoring his third Modified Racing Series victory. In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action, Ted Christopher of Plainville, CT, earned his ninth Sunoco Modified feature event of the season. Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, bested a strong field to post the victory in the Super Late Models.

Wayne Coury, Sr. of Milford, CT, celebrated with a win in the Late Models. Joe Arena of Bristol, CT, earned a hard-fought victory in the Limited Sportsman division. John Studley of Framingham, MA, streaked to consecutive victories in the TIS Modifieds. It was a night banner night for Mike Gorgieveski of Auburn, MA, who scored his first career victory in the Mini Stocks.

Rowan Pennink of Huntington Valley, NY, who has called Thompson International Speedway home for the last few seasons competing in the NASCAR All American Series Weekly, claimed the victory in Modified Racing Series 75. Mike Stefanik showed the way in the early going before relinquishing the lead to Bobby Santos III. Stefanik would retire from the event two laps shy of halfway.

[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto


#25 -Rowan Pennink

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Excitement Building for Modified Racing Series Debut at Stafford Speedway with Shark Cycle 100

Published at August 26, 2010 in Stafford and VMRS. 0 Comments

Stafford Springs, CT — With the Modified Racing Series making its debut appearance at Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday, Sept. 10th, it is in the midst of its most competitive season with 10 different winners in 12 races and a tight points race. There was a palpable buzz in the air when the Stafford race was announced back in December and the buzz has picked up steam as the race approaches with such an exciting points race and the number of different feature winners.

“Everyone is looking forward to coming to Stafford,” said Modified Racing Series President Jack Bateman. “I think that most of our racers are unfamiliar with Stafford, which usually makes for an interesting race. Stafford is the jewel of modified racing and we’re all looking forward to being able to race there. We are expecting to have about 32-36 cars when we come to Stafford, and we are going to start 28 cars for the feature.”

Dwight Jarvis currently leads defending Modified Racing Series champion Jon McKennedy by a mere 5 points with Les Hinckley sitting in third place, 39 points behind Jarvis. The truly amazing part of the 2010 championship fight is that Jarvis is leading the points after missing the series’ opening race in Waterford at the end of April. Jarvis has been consistently good this season, winning the series’ second race of the year at Monadnock while earning 3 second place and 2 third place finishes to go along with his victory. With the exception of an 18th place finish at Oxford Plains in July, Jarvis has finished in the top-10 every time he has taken to the track this season, while McKennedy and Hinckley have both experienced several hiccups as they try to maintain pace with Jarvis in the race for the championship. The series has had 10 different winners in 12 races this season, with only Hinckley and Steven Masse able to record multiple feature victories.

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September Series Closes Out Friday Night NASCAR Racing at Stafford Motor Speedway

Published at August 26, 2010 in Stafford. 0 Comments

Stafford Springs, CT — As the summer season begins to give way to the autumn season, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season at Stafford Motor Speedway heads into its final month of Friday night NASCAR racing before the season ending CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend. The CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend is scheduled for Oct. 1st through Oct. 3rd and the “September Series”, Stafford’s three Friday night events in September, give competitors one final chance to position themselves either into championship contention, or to move up a spot or two in the points standings before the 2010 season comes to an end.

The tightest points race of the season at Stafford is in the Limited Late Model division. Last year’s top-2 finishers, Andrew Durand and Dan Flannery, are once again dueling for the track championship. Flannery has enjoyed a career season with five wins and he has led the points standings for much of the 2010 season after a poor Spring Sizzler left him playing catch up for the first few races of the year. But Durand, the defending Ltd. Late Model track champion, has been the most consistent driver in the division. Durand has yet to finish lower than ninth this season and he has also scored two wins, one of which came in last week’s double feature event and he moved ahead of Flannery in the standings for the first time since early in the season. Also in contention is Dave Yardley, III, who captured his first career victory this season and former track champion Kevin Gambacorta, who has two wins to his credit this season.

Stafford’s premier division, the SK Modifieds®, has been the Keith Rocco show this year. Rocco won the season opening Spring Sizzler and he has won 8 more times for a grand total of 9 victories this season. Rocco has been atop the SK Modified® standings all season long and he appears headed to his second career track championship at Stafford. The hottest driver in the division over the past 6 races has been Frank Ruocco. Ruocco ended Rocco’s 4-race winning streak on July 9th and he has scored 5 podium finishes out of his last six events to catapault himself from outside to the top-10 in points into fourth position behind Woody Pitkat and Ted Christopher. Speaking of Christopher, he has yet to win an SK Modified® feature this season. Should Christopher remain winless, it would be the first time since the 1985 season that Christopher hasn’t won at least one SK Modified® feature event at Stafford.

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Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Triad Commercial Property Services 150

Published at August 26, 2010 in Caraway and NASCAR WSMT. 0 Comments

Daytona Beach, FL — The sixth season of the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour continues this weekend when the tour returns to Caraway Speedway for the Triad Commercial Property Services  150.

Caraway Speedway Data
Race: #7 of 10 (8-28-10)
Track Layout: .455-mile oval
Banking: semi-banked paved oval
Race Length: 150 laps/68.25 miles

Qualifying/Race Data
2009 pole winner: George Brunnhoelzl
2009 race winner: Brian Loftin (76.000 mph, 54:00)
Track qualifying record: George Brunnhoelzl III (102.844 mph, 15.752 seconds, 4/11/09)
Track race record (150 L): Tim Brown (90.977 mph, 44:31 min., 9-9-06)

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