TVMRS Opener Set for April 20 at Lee USA
Canaan NH — The 2008 season for New England’s True Value Modified Racing Series gets the green flag this Sunday April 20, when the touring division invades the 3/8 mile Lee USA Speedway, Lee, NH., for 100 laps of green flag racing. The inaugural event, the first of 19 races scheduled for the new season, will be part of the annual “Governors Cup 200,” a special opening day race at the N.H.seacoast speedway. The TVMRS, now in its fifth year, will share top billing with the popular American-Canadian Tour for late model stock cars. The ACT will also compete in a 100 lap race.
Sunday’s event is also the first of eight guaranteed-starter races for the “Sunoco Race Fuels Mod-Mania 400” Sept. 6, 7 at Connecticut’s Thompson International Speedway.
A cast of former winners at the Lee oval are expected to enter the season opener. Three-time and defending champion Kirk Alexander will be back to defend his title and would like nothing more than to open the season with a victory as he did in 2004 & 2006.
Les Hinckley, another former winner that always runs strong at Lee, is also expected. Hinkley was an opening day winner in 2005.
Tony Ricci, Louie Mechalides, Jimmy Dolan, and Andy Seuss, all visitors to Lee’s victory lane are expected entries. Seuss will be flying in Sunday morning from Caraway Speedway, Asheboro, NC. where he will compete in NASCAR Southern Modified Tour action Saturday. Seuss finished a strong second at Caraway this past weekend.
Mike Douglas Jr will compete in his completely revamped racer for the new campaign. Douglas enjoyed his best career finish at Lee, his home track, in last season’s finale. Young gun Chris Pasteryak is ready and plans to run the full season as does veteran David Pinkham who will pilot Tom Greeley’s entry out of Maine.
Sean Bodreau enters Lee with his familiar family owned Bodreau Motorsports # 1 modified. Veteran Jack Bateman will come with a new SPAFCO chassied racer for the Lee opener. He’ll be joined by another veteran driver who knows his way around Lee from his pro-stock days, Vinnie Annarummo.
Quite a buzz was generated this week when it was announced Late Model ace Jean Paul Cyr will wheel the Gary Casella # 25 at Lee. Pinkham and Tommy Cravenho have held the checkers after piloting Casella’s car to victory.
This weekend’s race is the second time the TVMRS/ACT has been on the same race card. The first, the result of a Sunday afternoon downpour postponing the conclusion of the program, was shifted to Tuesday night, July 18, 2006, resulting in Ben Rowe and Kirk Alexander sharing Lee’s victory lane. The two sanctioning bodies will do it again Memorial Day weekend at Thunder Road International Speedbowl May 24-25.
Practice Sunday will begin at 12 noon with qualifying heat races to follow at 1:00 pm.
Sources: John Spence, Sr./TVMRS PR