Goodale Bound for New Smyrna
Eric Goodale of Riverhead, NY will enter at least three nights of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna (FL) Speedway. His brother Kevin may enter three races, while the car will be there for the duration.
“We’re going down there with the intention of trying out a bunch of new things, hopefully being able to gain some speed this year,” Goodale said. “The last couple of years we’ve been there, it’s been very beneficial to us during the season. We’ve been able to try some things that we wouldn’t have the time to normally in the course of a day at the racetrack with the tour schedule, so it’s nice to go down there pick everybody’s brain about what they want to do and find some things that work, and some things that don’t work, and then you don’t have to waste your time with them during the season.”
Goodale will be focusing on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour with his father Edgar’s No. 58 Troyer. The Goodie Motorsports crew will return along with the support of the family business, Riverhead Building Supply.
“Anything else that comes about is going to kind of be a spur of the moment decision, but we’re really focusing on the Whelen tour to get some wins and be in the points battle all year. … We might do a couple of Riverhead (NY Raceway) shows here and there.”
“I’m still looking still on the market right now for a sponsor right now for the rest of the year. I’ve got a couple of things in the works, so we’ll see after New Smyrna how that goes.”
The recently announced television package for the NASCAR regional series may help Goodale reach his sponsorship goal. 10 of the 15 races, including the non-points Whelen All-Star Shootout at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network. Goodale offered his thoughts on the expanded television package.
“It’s something that I know has been in the works for a long time. It’s cool to see. I love being able to watch the races on TV, the ones that have gotten on TV in the past. I like to watch ’em. You pick up different tendencies of drivers and things that you do yourself that you maybe wouldn’t pick up on throughout the race even being in it. So it’s cool to watch it as a spectator after the fact and it’s also nice for the fans who can’t make … all the races to be able to watch them.”
Goodale wants to build on last season, where he won his first Whelen Modified Tour race.
“We’re geared up to have a very successful 2015 season, so anything else than a top three in points and a couple of wins I’m going to be pretty upset with the way it turns out.”
Goodale matched his career best points finish with seventh last season. He had one win, four top fives, and seven top tens in 13 starts.
“Last year I think we’ve made the biggest strides. We’ve gained a ton of speed. We were up there in practice speeds. We were up there in qualifying and we had a lot of solid runs last year. We just, whether mechanical or accidents, we just weren’t able to finish. A bunch of them off but we definitely had the equipment and we were in the position to finish really well but not everything went our way last year and I think this year I’ll be on the lookout to make a few of my own breaks here. So I definitely learned a lot from last year from being able to run up front and battle it out with the guys who we’ll be battling it out with this year. So a lot of experience gained last year. It was good for everybody. It increased morale on the entire crew and when that happens it makes everything go a lot easier.”
Goodale scored his breakthrough victory on June 28 at Riverhead. He led the final 25 laps of the Hoosier Tire 200. The Goodale family has supported the Whelen Modified Tour including Eric’s older brother Kevin since 2003.
“We have a lot of family and friends who follow what we do or interested in racing, and just growing up and being around Riverhead my whole life. And to get our first win there with my family and my wife’s family there, it was pretty cool. It couldn’t have been written any better. It was good to get the monkey off your back and get the first win and I’m glad that my family and friends were able to be involved in that, so that was an added bonus to it. The first one they say is the hardest to get, so I’m hoping that a lot more follow.”
“We were doing the math at the end of the season about how disappointing of a season it was. … How much opportunity we left on the table.” The team ran well at Stafford (CT) Motor Speedway especially, but did not have the finishes to reflect it. While Goodale’s best finish was fifth, he had two solid efforts get away. In the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler, Goodale said “We ran in the top five for 130 laps,” until he spun from third late in the race and the car got stuck in the turn four guardrail. Goodale finished 14th. The team’s decision to pit late in the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 yielded a top five effort for 11th. Goodale’s car broke a rear five laps into the race at Waterford (CT) Speedbowl while running third. It was one of three DNFs.
The team ran better after those early struggles until Loudon. Goodale crashed in practice and was running well in the July race.
“We were running up in the top ten all day and didn’t have the finish. That we probably left 50 points on the table that just one way or another didn’t work out for us and it’s a shame. But like I said, we learned our lessons from all those races and I feel like I’ve set ourselves up to have a real good and prosperous 2015 season. So hopefully all that bad luck is behind us, we keep our breakdowns to a minimum, and keep all four tires on it at the end. We should be up front every week.”
Most of the Riverhead Building Supply Corp. locations are on Long Island: East Hampton, Greenport, Hampton Bays, Hauppauge, Mineola, Montauk, Northport, Riverhead, and Southampton. The company has expanded to Middletown and North Kingstown in Rhode Island.
“We’ve been trying to get out of state for some years now, and the opportunity presented itself, and we took it. And you just can never settle. You’ve always got to look for the next best thing and we’re up in Rhode Island getting into the New England market a little bit up there.”
Two drivers we have profiled recently will be joining the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour this season, Goodale’s cousin Jeff Goodale and teammate Kyle Ellwood.
“They’re young gangbusters coming up here who like to have a lot of fun and hopefully will add to the car count at a couple of races here. … I didn’t get to see him (Jeff) race Go Karts too much, but ever since he started racing Legends and his Modified at Riverhead, I’ve been able to see him turn a lot of laps and been able to see him develop as a driver and the good parts and the bad parts. He’s improved tremendously over the last couple of years and really been able to settle down behind the wheel. When he puts his mind to it, he can wheel a racecar and the same can be said for Kyle.
“He puts the helmet on and by looking at Kyle outside the racecar you wouldn’t know what kind of racecar driver he is, But it’s unbelievable to watch him get into anything with four wheels on it and he’ll certainly get it done, so they’ll be bringing some competition. They’ll have a learning curve just like everybody else does getting on the tour. It’s not something that’s easy to jump right into and have success at. … By the end of it (2015), they should be right there and being able to contend up there in the top ten.”
Crew members have been a part of Goodale’s racing career since his Go Karting days at age 13. Goodale wants to thank his team and family for their support.
“The amount of work my Crew Chief Jason Shephard has put in the offseason has been tremendous to get us ready to go down to Florida and try out a bunch of ideas that we wanted to do. My parents have obviously they’re the largest supporters of my racing campaign and obviously I couldn’t do it without my wife. She makes things a hell of a lot easier on the home front and she’s gotten involved in it over the years and it’s cool to have her support you. That’s something that you absolutely need.
“Tom Kowalsick is one of my dad’s best friends, and he does so much work, and I don’t think he gets the praise he deserves. But he’s in the shop weekly and he comes to every race. And my spotter Tim Riggleman he does a hell of a job on the radio. He keeps me calm even when I probably shouldn’t be, but that goes a long way. You don’t realize how much value a spotter brings to a team until you have somebody on the radio telling you things that you haven’t heard before. So I think that was a tremendous help to us last year.
Eric and his wife Amanda welcomed the birth of their first child, Mason, on January 13. Goodale said he is getting sleep most nights and his son has “been pretty good so far, so I can’t complain.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com