In a joint announcement, track owner Dennis Fleury and series president Jack Bateman, the principals responsible for the inaugural event, advise the 1st annual “Ricky Miller Memorial 100,” presented by New England Outdoor Furnaces,” will be held on Sunday afternoon Sept.28th as part of the Twin State Speedway Fall Challenge, a two day event.
Miller, a Twin State (Claremont Speedway) standout for many years before moving on to the Whelen Modified Tour and the NASCAR Busch Series died at the age of 34. The popular competitor, a one time Florida racer and crew chief for noted car owner/builder Mario Fiore, would also win the last Whelen Modified Tour race at the famed Riverside Park Speedway, Agawam, MA., and claim that tracks final championship for the modified division prior to it’s 1999 closing.
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Rene Charland, affectionately known to many racing fans simply as “The Champ” could use some well-wishes from his fans. The 79-year-old Agawam, MA native began his career at the old…
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Agawam, MA — Gary J. Michnovetz, 65, died suddenly on Tuesday. He was born in West Spring-field, son of the late John and Mafalda Mich-novetz and graduated from West Springfield High School Class of 1962. He resided in West Springfield and Agawam all his life. Gary worked for many years at Germano Auto Sales before owning Gary‘s Service Center in Agawam, which he sold two years ago. He was currently employed at Boardwalk Auto Sales in South Windsor, CT.
He was an avid race car fan, a member of NASCAR. He started his interest in racing with Leo Matte at Riverside Park with the likes of George Lombardo, Ed Patnode and Labbee Brothers Racing. Later years were with Tom Rosati, Rene Charland, Bob Polverari, Reggie Ruggerio and Jerry Marquis. He was part of a championship crew with Barry Kuhnel, Bill Pelley and Bob Polverari in the 80’s and 90’s. He later was a crew member with Bill Pelley and Reggie Ruggerio before moving on to 44 racing with Jerry Marquis and Mari Fiore and was part of their National Modified Championship of 2000.
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Agawam, MA — This event marks the tenth annual appearance of the NASCAR Busch North Series at Riverside Park Speedway.
Bobby Dragon of Milton, Vt. won the first NASCAR Busch North Series event at Riverside Park Speedway on August 29, 1988. Second place finisher Chuck Bown of Portland, Ore. now drives on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series while third place finisher Dale Shaw of Center Conway, N.H. recently moved to the NASCAR Busch Series.
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Agawam, MA — Racing on a tight track for 150 laps with 25 veteran competitors can sometimes be an unmistakable comparison to a championship boxing match, toe-to-toe for 15 rounds. This scenario was played out Saturday evening at Riverside Park Speedway, where Kelly Moore put on a superb display of racing enroute to a 2nd place finish. The first top-5 finish for the Tic-Tac Pontiac Grand Prix team pushed Moore, the 1995 Busch Grand National North Series champion, up 14 spots to 13th in the championship point battle, a mere 88 points out of the top spot.For the 2nd consecutive week Moore was unable to crack the top-10 in qualifying, this evening he was 16th fastest among the 30-car field. Moore, the Busch North Series all-time Pole winner, has yet to display his qualifying expertise thus far in 1998. “Our qualifying has been just terrible,” Moore admitted. “I think I just ran the car too hard and I’m very fortunate that I didn’t end up in the qualifying race.” Moore and his team checked everything on the car after qualifying to ensure that nothing was wrong with the chassis setup. The team’s decision to forgo any changes paid great dividends as the Pontiac Grand Prix ran fast and consistent on long runs throughout the evening.
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