I-88 Speedway Short Track SuperNationals 7 Shaping Up As Clash Of Weekly Racing’s Best; Invaders From NY, NJ, DE, PA, MA & Quebec Make Plans To Vie For Record $33,202 Payout; I-88 Speedway Regulars Hope To Protect Home Turf Oct. 10-11!
AFTON, NY – The stars are beginning to line up for the Alpine Building Supply Short Track SuperNationals 7 presented by Olum’s to be held at I-88 Speedway in Afton, N.Y., Friday-Saturday October 10-11.
Entries are pouring in for the ‘Working Man’s Race’ special, which will cap off the six-race Short Track Super Series Fueled By VP for big-block/small-block Modifieds. A record payout – the most lucrative in event history – has been posted with $33,202 set for the base purse plus lap money, bonuses and contingency awards for just 50 laps of racing at the Afton Fairgrounds oval.
Modifieds race for $5,000-plus to win, $1,000 for 10th and $600 to take the green flag in their main event. A fully paid B-Main for non-qualifiers is also on the docket with $777 reserved for the winner of the 17-lap event and $100 to take the green flag. No Modified driver will leave empty handed!
Past event winners Craig Hanson (2013), Danny Tyler (2012) and Mike Ricci (2006) have already filed their entries. Hanson, of Johnstown, N.Y., was a victor at Glen Ridge (N.Y.) and Fonda (N.Y.) speedways this season with his familiar No. 20c. Tyler, of Cottekill, N.Y., was a Modified winner at N.Y.’s Accord Speedway this season driving for Jim Winchell and Tillson, N.Y.’s Ricci heads to I-88 off the strength of a recent $5,000 Accord ‘King of the Catskills’ score.
Andy Bachetti and Danny Johnson are locked into a tie for the Short Track Super Series Fueled By VP championship, each with 350 points, entering the finale. Sheffield, Mass., talent Bachetti, was a winner on the Short Track Super Series at Orange County in April, while Johnson, of Rochester, N.Y., annexed the most recent event at Penn Can (Pa.) Speedway in September. Johnson was the Ransomville (N.Y.) Speedway small-block Mod champ in 2014.
On the heels of his 16th track championship at N.Y.’s Woodhull Raceway, Billy Van Pelt of Westfield, Pa., heads to I-88 with Grant Hilfiger’s No. 78.
Like Van Pelt, Rich Ricci Jr. has dominated his home track, the Accord Speedway, and recently registered his 11thModified title at the Ulster County facility. The New Paltz, N.Y., talent brings the family No. 406R to I-88 for the SuperNationals.
Out of the First State, Matt Jester of Milford, Del., continues his 2014 travels at the SuperNationals driving his Clearview Farms No. 62. Jester, a two-time Delaware International Speedway champion, won the B-Main held as part of the I-88 ‘Crazy 8s Special’ in July.
Quebec driver Yan Bussiere looks to become the first driver from his Canadian province to attempt the Short Track SuperNationals.
Mike Mahaney of King Ferry, N.Y., pocketed $4,000 for his efforts at the Sept. 27 ‘Fall 250’ at I-88 and is a winner at I-88, Thunder Mountain (N.Y.) and Utica-Rome (N.Y.) this season. Mahaney will be looking for a SuperNationals triumph, as well.
In July at I-88 Speedway, Danny Creeden of Wurtsboro, N.Y., earned more than $9,000 for his efforts in the 48-lap ‘Crazy 8s Special’ – the largest payday of his career. Creeden returns to I-88 in search of a SuperNationals score.
Glen Ridge Motorsports Park champion Bobby Varin of Sharon Springs, N.Y., has been tabbed to drive Tom Umbenhauer’s Keystone State-based No. 19 at the SuperNationals. Varin finished second in the race’s ’12 edition with that car.
From the Pennsylvania-New Jersey circuit, Grandview (Pa.) Speedway five-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series 358-Modified winner Doug Manmiller of Shoemakersville, Pa., has filed an entry with Josh Biever’s No. 46. New Egypt (N.J.) Speedway regular David Van Horn Jr. of Harmony, N.J., plans his third SuperNationals start in the Harmony Sand & Gravel No. 71.
Ryan Watt of Boyertown, Pa., a Bridgeport (N.J.) Speedway, champion, has filed his entry with the Ron Roberts-owned No. 14W.
With the SuperNationals serving as the final points-paying event of the season, Jeff Heotzler of Wallkill, N.Y., looks to maintain his third-place standing with Mel Schrufer’s No. 2A. Tommy Meier of Waldwick, N.J., holds down a fourth-place position driving for Jeff Behrent in the No. 3.
Veteran Rich Eurich of Warwick, N.Y., 66 years old, will maintain his streak of perfect attendance on the Short Track Super Series with an I-88 appearance.
Teenager Tyler Dippel won a BD Motorsports Media LLC event at Del.’s Georgetown Speedway this past August in impressive fashion. The Wallkill, N.Y., driver has set plans to participate in the Short Track SuperNationals after a top-five finish in the ‘Crazy 8s Special’ this summer.
Representing I-88, first-time track champion Brett Tonkin of Carbondale, Pa., runner-up Mitch Gibbs of North Norwich, N.Y., and third-place Shaun Walker of Masonville, N.Y., look to defend their home turf.
A guaranteed starter via Thunder Mountain Speedway, Brian Malcolm of Lake Ariel, Pa., brings the Tom Coar-Chris Clark No. 119 to I-88. Malcolm won features at both Penn Can and Thunder Mountain this season.
Two full days of racing are planned for the Short Track SuperNationals.
On Saturday (Oct. 11), the Modified division serves as the headliner with the A-& B-Mains. Also competing on Saturday: the Crate 602 Sportsman in a 25-lap main paying $1,000 to the winner and $100 to start; the event will offer points toward the 2014 Dig Safely New York GRIT Series championship. IMCA-Modifieds and Empire Lightning Sprints complete the Saturday card.
On Friday night (Oct. 10), the Open vs. Crate 602 Sportsman division are featured in a 35-lap special paying $1,500 to the winner and $125 to start. Hefty Crate 602 Sportsman bonuses will be paid as follows to the top-six across the line: $300, $200, $100, $75, $50 and a free pit pass for Saturday. Also on the Friday card are Street Stocks (home track rules), Four Cylinders (generally accepted Southern Tier rules) and Empire Sport Trucks (home track rules).
Modifieds and other Saturday divisions will be permitted to practice throughout the night on Friday in preparation for the next day.
For Modified racers, a 10-lap Dash will be held on Friday night involving the top-five fastest cars in practice, as timed by the speedway’s transponder system. The winner of the Dash earns a redraw position for Saturday, while all other participants take home $50 courtesy of Manmiller Electric.
Post-race parties are planned to cap Friday and Saturday evening’s activities.
All Short Track SuperNationals information – pay structures, entry forms, prices, rules and times – have been posted on the BD Motorsports Media website: www.bdmotorsportsmedia.com under Events and SuperNationals.
To learn more about the Short Track Super Series Fueled By VP, visit www.bdmotorsportsmedia.com, e-mail Brett Deyo at bdmotorsportsmedia@gmail.com or call 845.728.2781. BD Motorsports Media is on Facebook and on Twitter: @BrettDeyo.
I-88 Speedway is located conveniently off I-88 Exit 7 (Afton), approximately 25 miles north and east of Binghamton, at 46 East Main Street Afton, N.Y. 13730. There is plentiful space for parking and camping. To learn more about I-88 Speedway, visit www.i-88speedway.com.
The Short Track SuperNationals is presented by Alpine Building Supply, Olum’s, Pioneer Pole Buildings Inc., Algonkin Motel, AIM Fitness, Trackside Products, Crunchco Snacks, MidNite Auto, Keith Sweigart Electric, Dale and Sue Smith and many other fine marketing partners
The Short Track Super Series is presented by VP Racing Fuels, Pioneer Pole Buildings Inc., East Coast Speed/ECS Auto, Rochinski Contracting Services, Allstar Performance, American Racer/Lias Tire, Art’s Radiator, ATL Fuel Cells, Behrent’s Performance Warehouse, BFP Specialty, Bicknell Racing Products, Bob Hilbert Sportswear, COMP Performance Group, Dirt Track Digest, DMI/Bulldog Rear Ends, DRACO Springs, Driven Racing Oil, ERK Steering, Finish Line Web Design, FOX Shox, H.B. Steele & Son, Henry’s Stainless Steel Exhaust, Hig Fab Chassis, Hoosier Racing Tire, Jack’s Used Race Car Parts & More, Kirkey Racing Products, PM3 Digital Imaging, Quarter Master, Race Pro Weekly, Schaeffer Racing Oil, Shiley Fabrication, Sleepy Hollow Golf, Teo-Pro Car, Troyer Race Cars & Vahlco Wheels.
Short Track SuperNationals Six-Year Event History
October 11, 2014 (I-88): ? October 12, 2013 (Five Mile Point): CRAIG HANSON – Anthony Perrego – Jackie Brown Jr. – Pat Ward – Chad Phelps
October 6, 2012 (Five Mile Point): DANNY TYLER – Bobby Varin – Brian Weaver – Billy Pauch Sr. – Mitch Gibbs
October 7, 2011 (Five Mile Point): DUANE HOWARD – Danny Tyler – Billy Pauch Sr. – Jeff Strunk – Jeff Heotzler
October 9, 2010 (Five Mile Point): JUSTIN HOLLAND – Billy Pauch Jr. – Kevin Bates – Brian Weaver – Danny Tyler
October 10, 2009 (Five Mile Point): KEVIN HIRTHLER – Mike Ricci – Mike Gular – Sean Merkel – Joey Grammes
October 7, 2006 (Afton, Now I-88): MIKE RICCI – J.R. Hurlburt – Brian Weaver – Joey Grammes – Davie Franek
Sources: BD Motorsports Media