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November 25-26 - Turkey Derby Wall Stadium - Mod 12 - SK 2

By Phil Smith

The 2011 northeast racing wound up this past weekend with 37th annual Turkey Derby at the Wall Stadium in New Jersey which was run in mid 60 degree temperatures. Local favorite Jimmy Blewett found himself in the right place at the right time in front of a near capacity crowd as he won both the Tour Type Modified 150 and the SK type 100. The event drew 25 tour type Modifieds and 29 SK types.
In the Turkey Derby 150 Modified event Matt Hirschman appeared to have victory in sight until contact from Les Hinkley, with five laps to go, took him out of contention and opened the door for Blewett. Blewett was the first to admit he did not have the best car in the race. Still, he was able to lead and then stay in contention as Doug Coby, Matt Hirschman and Rowan Pennink took turns leading the field. Coby appeared to have the field covered as he opened up a sizable lead and was on cruise control when his mount overheated. Pennink was the victim of a mysterious caution that was thrown while he was leading. Pennink ended up 15th, the last car on the lead lap. Hirschman ended up 12th. Worn tires played a big part in the outcome. Anthony Sesley ended up in second spot and was followed by Steven Reed, Chuck Hossfeldt and Danny Bohn. Twenty four caution periods slowed the event.

The 100-lapper for the SK/Wall Modified cars saw Blewett’s second mount run flawlessly from pole to pole. Hirschman and Woody Pitkat were among his challengers in this one, but Blewett was never headed. Hirschman ended up second in this accident-plagued event, with Chas Okerson of Freehold, Pitkat and Howell’s Ken Woolley, Jr. rounding out the top five. Doug Coby's mount suffered transmission problems. Despite a relatively good day Pitkat's day turned sour as he broke down in Greenwich Ct on the way home. Kieth Rocco was never a factor as he finished 10th, eight laps down.

Shortly after promoters Diane and Cliff Krause announced that they have secured a deal to lease Wall Stadium for at least the next three years, Jimmy Blewett of Howell found a way to celebrate big time by winning both main events for the Modified stock cars during Turkey Derby XXXVIII. Blewett’s victories and all of the two days of racing events came in front of a near capacity crowd and under warm and sunny skies. When the 150-lap Touring Modified feature was complete, Blewett was the first to admit he did not have the best car in the race. Still, he was able to lead and then stay in contention as Doug Coby, Matt Hirschman and Rowan Pennink took turns pacing the pack. The turning point in this one came late during a string of cautions caused mainly by front-runners spinning due to worn tires. Blewett, however, had stopped earlier in the test for new tires and that may have proven to be his winning move. Anthony Sesely of Matawan, Freehold’s Steven Reed, Chuck Hossfeld and Danny Bohn of Mooresville, N.C. completed the top five.
“My crew made me win this race,” a thrilled Jimmy Blewett said after the event. “We did not have the best car today, but my crew just kept digging. The tire change was big and they just kept working on the car to get it better. Near the end things just kept opening up for me on the track, but if it wasn’t for the crew we wouldn’t have been there to take advantage of it.”; The 100-lapper for the SK/Wall Modified cars saw Blewett’s second mount run flawlessly from start to finish. Hirschman and Woody Pitkat were among his challengers in this one, but Blewett was never headed. Hirschman ended up second in this accident-plagued event, with Chas Okerson of Freehold, Pitkat and Howell’s Ken Woolley, Jr. wrapping up the top five.
“My crew also made me win this race,” Blewett said. “They took ever little thing we learned in the first race and made the changes to this car to make it better. They are never satisfied.”; Canadian racer Stewart Friesen was at the top of his game winning both dirt Modified/Sportsman 40-lap main events in a Blewett Motorsports entered car. On Friday, John McClelland, Joey Payne, Steve Folk and Dom Buffalino completed the top five. On Saturday Mike Iles, Zach Aubertine, Tom Carberry and McClelland were second through fifth. Howie Conk of Jackson won an accident marred 50-lapper for the Street Stocks on Saturday, with Shannon Mongeau of Bradley Beach, Dieek Stachecki, Joe Oliver and Mike O’Sullivan wrapping up the top five. Robin Johnson of Wayne, Pa. won the TQ Midget 25-lapper on Saturday while Jon Gamboti, Zach Martini, Ian Cumens and Randy Cabral completed the top five. Kevin Eyres of Colts Neck came from the rear of the 25-car field to win the 50-lap Sportsman race on Friday. Brothers Zack and Trevor Alspach, both of Willingboro, were second and third, with Brick’s Robert Sutphin and Holmdel’s Andrew Krause wrapping up the top five. Mike Alcaro came from the rear of a 29-car field to win the 35-lapper for the Legend Cars on Friday, Todd McCollume, Coby Frye, Billy Cole and Casey Robicheau were second through fifth.
Shannon Mongeau of Bradley Beach won Friday’s 40-lapper for the Factory Stocks leading a field of 36 starters across the finish line. Jim Downey, Howard Bott, Joey Helberg and Glen Osborne were second through fifth. Jerod Hayes was tops in the Late Modified 50-lapper on Friday, leading Wayne Helliwell, Rob Ormsbee, Greg Kleila and Scott Wylie to the finish.


November 13 - Mahoning Speedway - Poker - 9

It took nearly two months since twice being rescheduled but the curtain finally came down on the 2011 season at Lehighton’s Mahoning Valley Speedway and judging but the filled grandstands and pit area it was well worth the wait. Bobby Jones of Palmerton picked up the win in the star-studded 100-lap Modified feature along with $3000 while newly crowned track champion Tyler Haydt from Kunkletown annexed a second title by winning the Modified Poker Series. Jones, the 2011 Mountain Speedway champion, started twelfth in a field of 27 and needed until lap 79 before taking the lead from John Markovic. He then had to fend off the relentless pursuit of Don Wagner in picking up the popular verdict. “I can’t believe this. I didn’t think we were close enough to being as fast as some of these guys today,” said Jones who was making only his second Mahoning start of the year. “Not being here with this car all year I really felt I was in trouble. We qualified tenth and I thought that was great for us. We decided to make an adjustment before the feature and it was the right choice, we got lucky.”; A season high 32 Modifieds came out to do battle with Wagner setting fast time in time trials with a best lap of 9.851at 91.361 mph. A redraw of the top-12 saw prerace favorite Matt Hirschman snag the pole with Kevin Rex, Jr., alongside. At the outset Hirschman took quick control of the race while a bevy of two-wide action unfolded behind him. Tommy Flanagan held down second with Markovic third. Markovic looked very strong as he seized second by lap 13 and then zeroed in on Hirschman. He was all over the leader, finally moving to the helm at lap 29. Leading for the first time this season, the multi-time Mahoning champ was sailing ahead with the look of confidence as he kept all on comers at bay. By the halfway mark it was still in the hands of Markovic while second spot was hotly waged between the likes of Hirschman, Jones, Wagner, Haydt and Earl Paules. Over the next 25 caution free laps Markovic ran a blistering pace. Jones took sole control of the runner-up spot and stuck closely to the leader’s rear bumper. A lap 78 caution put the front pair side-by-side for the restart, however, Markovic wasn’t able to ignite the same fire as he used up his tires from the previous stretch run. Jones was still in good shape and overpowered him to become the new race leader. “He (Markovic) was tough and tried hard and I knew he wanted it bad but I also knew I was just as good as he was. I had to get a run on him on that restart or else the outcome may have been a bit different,” said Jones. Markovic held on for another ten laps but then gave way to Wagner. “There is no better person to lose to then Bobby Jones. He’s a great competitor. We had fun and it just wasn’t my night. I was too good to early. I needed just a little bit more race track,” said Markovic.
Over the final 10 circuits Wagner did all he could to pass Jones but to no avail. “Bobby Jones is a good runner here and congratulations to him and his team. It was good clean racing and that’s the way it is here. It was a good cap to a good season,” said Wagner. “I did feel someone behind me toward the end I knew I just couldn’t relax. I knew early on that he (Wagner) was quick on the outside because he had gone past me earlier and made it look easy,” added Jones.
“Winning the championship at Mountain this year and then to just come down here and enjoy ourselves and be around all these people that I missed all year and race with these guys who are all a bunch of good guys who always race hard and then to do as well as I did tonight and win it’s just awesome.”; This was the 13th career Modified win at Mahoning for Jones, his last two coming in 100-lappers. Haydt was third and put together the winning poker hand over the special five race series with three Kings. He collected the $2500 top prize over Hirschman who had three Queens and Paules who ended with pair of Aces and Kings. Mike Carroll, Jr., earned the $1000 bonus for having to worst poker hand.

Modified Feature Finish, 100 Laps: 1. Bobby Jones , 2. Don Wagner, 3. Tyler Haydt, 4. John Markovic, 5. Chip Santee, 6. Eric Beers, 7. Lonnie Behler, 8. Brian Romig, 9. Matt Hirschman, 10. Billy Weichert, 11. Earl Paules, 12. Kevin Rex, Jr., 13. Mike Carroll, 14. Andy Szapacs, 15. Matt Higgins, 16. Tom Flanagan, 17. Chip Wanamaker, 18. Todd Baer, 19. John Bennett, 20. Terry Markovic, 21. Matt Wentz, 22. Roger Hefflefinger, Jr., 23. Joe Mooney, 24. Frankie Althouse, 25. Brian DeFebo, 26. Rick Reichenbach, 27. Brandon Ultra Did not qualify: Keith Mullineaux, Shawn Sitarchyk, Nick Shaw, Rick Kirkendall, John Udes

November 4-5 - Caraway Speedway North South Shootout

Duke's Take: 9th Annual North South Shootout
Our Matt Kentfield Offers His Thoughts After the Shootout's First Run at Caraway
By Matt Kentfield - Twitter: @mattkentfield

NOTE: The opinions and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Speed51.com, its staff, sponsors or supporters.
The first eight years of the North-South Shootout were what an independent show should be. It was a can’t-miss show for many people, especially fans of the groundpounding Modifieds from the Northeast. It was a Modified show, first and foremost. Over the years, many different support divisions jumped on board to make it a show for every kind of race fan. Most importantly, it was Charles Kepley’s show.
Kepley poured his heart and soul into the North-South Shootout. When he thought the idea up, he remembered the long-gone days of North-versus-South Modified battles at Martinsville. Nobody else had the balls to do anything like Charles did. Modified fans, always the first to complain about just about everything, praised his efforts and turned out in droves for the first North-South Shootouts at Concord. Even when one of the biggest stars of prior North-South Shootout and its inaugural winner John Blewett III passed away, the Modified race lived on in his memory.
The event was a success. It was pretty much all because of him.When things got too pricy to get into Concord, Kepley announced that this year’s North-South Shootout was moving to Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina – making it the first time in the nine-year history that the race would not be at Concord. Some liked the idea because Concord was a notorious car-eater. Some hated it. That always happens with change.
Then everything came to a halt with the Kepley’s sudden passing this Summer. It was a devastating blow to not just the Modified community, but to the short track scene as a whole. Kepley was one of the few men who wasn’t in charge of a series or a racetrack that still put his own money up to promote an open show. Not many can pull it off. Not many thought the race could be pulled off without him. Some wondered if the show even should go on.
Charles’ son Chad then worked with Renee and Darren Hackett at Caraway Speedway to ensure that the North-South Shootout would, in fact, happen this year at the North Carolina 4/10-mile track. The Hacketts took control of the reins of the event. Some of the longtime North-South officials were not a part of it this year, which was a disappointment. But still, the race went on.
I’m still not sure if the North-South Shootout was a success, now four days after it. I do know that I grew up in the Northeast and enjoy seeing many of my Modified buddies come down to my new neck of the woods in North Carolina for a race.Most importantly, I know that even on two months-worth of preparation, the North-South Shootout lived on. I’ve only had the pleasure of talking to Charles Kepley a dozen or so times, but based on our three-hour talk of the “good old days” in my office a few years ago, I like to think that the race lived on because he would’ve wanted it to.
Many people complained about low car counts. Some pointed out the cold temperatures keeping some fans home. Yes, the prices were too high – even I’ll agree with that complaint. But the race went on. In a day when historic races, tracks and series are succumbing to the economy, the North-South Shootout was there. That’s what really matters. I’m glad I got that off my chest. Now, onto more of my take on the North-South Shootout. Some may be suggestions for future Shootouts. Others may just be things I jotted down that bugged or excited me during the day at Caraway.- I commend the Hacketts for doing what they did in just two months of planning a six-division event at the end of the season. Are there things that could be better? Absolutely. Could things have been worse? No doubt. There was an announcement pre-race for the North-South Shootout returning again to Caraway in 2012. Therefore, I think it’s only fair to them that we see what next year’s race is like before we claim the Shootout as an endangered species.- That said, I hate when tracks or series don’t have a National Anthem singer for big events. I know every Saturday night it’s hard to do a live version (especially finding someone who knows the words and can sing them relatively in tune), but for big events, get a live singer. It was a shame having to hear it on a tape Saturday.
- Friday’s rain washed out qualifying events, so everything had to be done in one day Saturday. It was a compact schedule that didn’t take long to get behind. When you have six divisions, it’s not out of the question to fall behind, but it got a little too far behind.- I, like just about everyone else in the CRA pit area, was disappointed with the 14-car Super Late Model roster this weekend. It was a top-heavy field between Kenseth, Blaney, Fultz, Elliott and Pollard, but dropped off a bit from there.
- The closest finish in North-South Shootout came in the Pedal Car race. Mia Hirschman edged out another little girl for the win by about a foot. Matt’s niece’s victory was a good omen for the Modified race later in the night.- When most drivers complained of the “weepers” from Friday night’s rain all day on Saturday, Ryan Preece did his best to just drive around it. It was fun watching him work the third groove in turn two to get around the wet spot. The damp area eliminated any second groove, so Preece tried his own. It just stunk that the car turned ugly on him to keep him from dicing it up late in the race.
- I’ve never seen a more congested pit road than in the Modified race Saturday night. There’s just not enough room for live pit stops at Caraway. Cars were two and three wide on pit road. Andy Seuss entered the pits as the leader, but lost many spots because he was blocked in by two cars. He could’ve gotten out of the pits sooner, but it would’ve meant probably running over another crew member to do it. I love live pit stops, but not if they mean putting crews and cars in danger.
- Super Late Model fans don’t usually see Chase Elliott or Bubba Pollard crash – let alone crash together. The early tangle between the two, which Elliott took the blame for, was the start of a wreckfest that caused the race to be shortened from 100 to 50 laps.
- Many people on Speed51.com’s Trackside Now and on Facebook have suggested new formats to the race, especially with different divisions in future races. I like the guys at CRA and their racers, but they don’t belong at the Shootout. This was the third CRA race as part of the Shootout. The first was okay, but the last two have been filled with crashes. The fans who have only seen CRA at the Shootout have a bad taste in their mouth, but that's not how most CRA races are. After these two races, I don’t know if any Super Late Model teams would even want to be there, but judging by the reaction I've heard and seen, the Super Late Model experiment at the Shootout hasn’t worked out as well as anyone hoped.
- So, what to do with the Shootout’s divisions? Race announcer Derek Pernesiglio made a good suggestion to me the other day for a USAC Silver Crown National Point event. I like it. The Legends Cars, as much as I don’t like those things, weren’t bad and had a good field with plenty of pit pass sales. They can stay, as can the Tour and SK Modifieds, of course. I hoped there’d be more than 10 USA Modifieds there, but I’m not sure how to get any more. I thought with this being the last-ever USA Modified event (the series will have new ownership in 2012), there'd be a good field for a "last hurrah" of sorts. I was wrong. The Sportsman race was basically a weekly Bowman Gray Sportsman race on a bigger track. Heck, track officials only had names for half of the Sportsman field for the announcers and media. We'll classify that under the "growing pains" section for this race.
- Chase Elliott admitted, via a press release, that he was at fault for the incident that took both he and Pollard out of the CRA race. The kid's 15 and he has won more races than he's made mistakes. That's saying something. But, when reporters try to find out what happened 20 minutes after the crash, he's going to have to be able to speak with them without parents shooing the reporters away as he moves up the racing ladder.
- You have to feel bad for Robert “Bud” Ellis, Jr. He sheared the right-front suspension and tire off his #10 SK Modified in time trials. The entire team hustled to get things rebuilt for the race. Then, he went too high in turn two in the feature and sheared the right-front off again.

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Matt Hirschman came to Caraway Speedway a little in the dark as the ninth annual John Blewett III North/South Shootout in memory of Charles Kepley shifted to the Sophia short track after being held at Concord Speedway since its inception in 2003.

But the only three-time Shootout winner found something in practice and, after getting a huge break during the mandatory pit stops to keep his track position near the front of the field, Hirschman held off three-time Caraway winner Andy Seuss to add to his record - a fourth Shootout crown.

UNOFFICIAL TOUR-TYPE MODIFIED FINISH
1 Matt Hirschman
2 Andy Seuss
3 George Brunnhoelzl III
4 Burt Myers
5 Zane Zeiner
6 Jimmy Blewett
7 Chris Pasteryak
8 Kyle Ebersole
9 Jason Myers
10 Patrick Emerling
11 Max Zachem
12 Chuck Hossfeld
13 Danny Bohn
14 Ryan Preece
15 Johnny Sutton
16 Shaun Carrig
17 Charlie Pasteryak
18 Tommy Cloce
19 Steve Reed
20 Greg Butcher
21 Nick Pecko
22 Gene Pack
23 Daniel Hemric
24 Austin Pack
25 Earl Paules
26 Brian Loftin

A Diverse Entry List Could Mean New Face in NSS Victory Lane

by Renee Hackett
ASHEBORO, N.C. -- The entry list to-date for the North-South Shootout includes the likes of Matt Hirschman of Northampton, PA, the only three-time winner of the event, and two-time winner Burt Myers of Walnut Cove, NC. It also includes a diverse collection of drivers, who compete up-and-down the east coast. For the first time in many years, New England’s Modified Racing Series will have strong representation. Series top-guns Les Hinckley of Windsor Locks, CT, and Kirk Alexander of W. Swanzey, NH, who have made multiple North-South Shootout starts with modest results, will look for career bests at Caraway. Fellow MRS competitor Max Zachem of Preston, CT, will also be making the trek to Caraway. Jimmy Blewett, of Howell, NJ, a sentimental favorite, will pilot the family-owned car looking to follow in the footsteps of his brother, who was a two-time winner. Blewett, too, has had modest results with one (1) top-ten finish and four (4) top-15 finishes in six starts. The 2011 Sunoco Race of Champions event winner Zane Zeiner of Bath, PA, hopes to add to his dream season with a North-South Shootout victory. The Gary Cretty led team will be among the most competitive teams in attendance at Caraway. Tommy Cloce of Canton, NY, had a solid season on the Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Tour during the 2011 season. He will join Zeiner in competition on November 3-5, 2011. Ryan Preece of Berlin, CT, was in the thick of the battle in 2010 before being eliminated in an incident. He is certainly considered a favorite to score a victory. L.W. Miller, Mooresville, NC, is making his first appearance in the North-South Shootout since 2004. After a strong 2011 season on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour including two (2) victories, three (3) top-five and nine (9) top-ten finishes in 14 starts, Miller, too, will likely be in the hunt for victory. Pennsylvania weekly racing hot shoe Earl Paules, Jr., Palmerton, PA, has been a Shootout regular in both the Tour-Type and SK-Type Modified ranks. Aboard his Tour Mod, Paules has struggled in recent years with finishes of 25th or worse. He has not been without successes; however, back in 2006, Paules posted a fourth-place finish. The veteran competitor knows what to expect from the competition at the North-South Shootout and should be considered a dark horse for the victory. Wall Stadium regular Shawn Carrig, Little Falls, NJ, was a surprise in 2010; running strong in the late stages of the event. Fellow NJ racer, Steven Reed of Freehold, NJ, will look to bounce back in North-South Shootout competition at Caraway in 2011. Last year, Reed took one of the wildest rides even seen at the Shootout in his SK-Type Modified. Wheeling a Tour-Type Modified in 2011 at Caraway, Reed looks to have another spectacular showing, this time by virtue of his finish. There will be a host of newcomers to this year’s shootout including Robert Ellis, Jr., and Daniel Hemric in the Hillbilly Racing #79. With the assortment of talented drivers on hand, the 2011 North-South Shootout is anyone’s race to win. The likes of former champs, Hirschman and Myers, would like nothing better than to have another familiar face in victory lane. It all shakes out on Friday and Saturday, November 4&5, 2011 with the running of the ninth annual John Blewett III Memorial North-South Shootout held in loving memory of Charles Kepley. The Tour-Type Modifieds will run the headliner with 125-laps of green flag racing. A star-studded field of Late Model competitors is expected for the 100-lap CRA Super Late Model main event. SK-Type Modifieds, USA Modifieds, Sportsman, and Legends will also be part of the excitement. For a complete schedule for the North-South Shootout can be found on northsouthshootout.com and carawayspeedway.com. Visit heartofnorthcarolina.com for area information. To learn more about the CRA Late Models visit craracing.net.

Oct 23 - Lee Speedway - MRS- 5

ROWAN PENNINK WINS OKTOBERFEST 100 VALENTI MODIFIED RACING SERIES 2011 FINALE
Pennink Has Unbelievable Race Season End
by Denise DuPont

The Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS) headed to Lee USA Speedway the weekend of October 22nd to compete in the tracks traditional Oktoberfest racing activity. Lee’s season finale included the touring series last scheduled race with the 2011 VMRS Championship in a close point chase. There were only twenty-eight points separating first and second place. So point leader Chris Pasteryak and runner-up Les Hinckley would both drove their hearts out but in the end only one would be the Champ. While eyes were on the front of the pack early on with title contender Les Hinckley leading from lap one and point leader Chris Pasteryak working his way into the top ten, quietly and methodically Rowan Pennink was making his way forward. The Huntington, PA driver started 9th on the grid and by lap 25 was firmly in fifth. With 32 circuits on the board, Pennink had taken over second and using patience, made what turned out to be the winning pass on lap 62 and never looked back cruising to the Modified Racing Series sponsored by Bob Valenti season finale victory at Lee USA Speedway. “I was surprised the car went that easy and still got by cars,” said Pennink. “When you can do that, I knew we would have a shot at it and we ended up winning by a long ways, you can’t ask for much more than that.”; His second MRS win of the year, Pennink made the winning pass for the lead out of turn two and side by side with Hinckley on the backstretch, completed the move before heading into turn three. “I was just waiting- I kind of let Hinckley go when I got into second then ran him back down - not pushing it too hard then I got a good run off the corner and I felt it was the right time to go by him- made a good pass on him and it was smooth sailing from there.”; Stretching his lead, Pennink worked lap traffic able to pass each one without incident. “There was some lap traffic, luckily enough the guys we were going by, that we were lapping, were giving plenty of room and was able to get by without any problems.”; However the cushion Pennink built up all went away when the third and final caution waved on lap 82 setting up a 12 lap dash to the checkers. Bringing the field down to green for the last restart of the season, Pennink never wavered and cruised to victory lane. Les Hinckley led the race from the start for the first 61 laps. He then made the one small move that caused him to fall back one spot into second from where he could never progress. Hinckley was racing hard with the championship on the line. The thought of his first VMRS championship was so strong that Hinckley could almost taste it. But just as the race lead slipped through his fingers, the 2011 series championship also did. “It was a good race. I just missed it a little bit and Rowan was just a tick better than we were. It is a tough bill. It is hard to be happy. I know that we should be because we had a really good year. We finished second in the points and then second in the race today but it is just one of those deals. It is hard to be happy. I will look back on it and try to learn from it.”; Leaving the race the #06 team of Chuck Montville will spend their time reflecting on the race and running through their minds all the what ifs that remain. But in the end they cannot change or redo history. They can only go forward and improve on their lessons learned. “I do not know what more we could have done. We had one bad race at Stafford that really hurt us. There were just not enough races to overcome it. We kind of got hurt without Seekonk being in the mid season and not getting rescheduled. Then late in the Thompson race getting rescheduled it just kind of took races away from us. And we could not just over come it.”; This year veteran racer Norm Wrenn has found the right combination to run with the leaders in the VMRS. The race at Lee proved to be no different. Wrenn started the race fourteenth and charged to the front waiting for the right opportunity to pass for the win. A podium finish was his in the end that also secured a solid fifth place finish in the point standing. “A third place finish was just awesome. I needed a third place finish here to be able to finish fifth in points overall for the year. Louie Mechalides was only six points behind me and I wanted to stay with him and finish the race. So I stayed close so that I could pull off a top five. It is hard to finish in a top five in this series in points. This is my second year on the tour and I thought that it would be awesome if I could do it for the team. They work real hard. So I went forward and finished third.”; Series regular Rob Goodenough had an up and down 2011 race season. The team struggled some times and other times they persevered and ran with the leaders at the end. This year the team traded in their old car for a newer one and regrouped to move forward. Their hard work was rewarded with a fourth place finish at Lee. “It was a good race. I did not realize at first that we were quite coming up that far. In the beginning we started so far back we were just trying to get where we could early without using up a whole lot of car up. Next thing I know we were getting closer to a top ten and we were just riding. I was just taking what was available out there. And we were just a little bit too free. When that last caution came out and we saw we were sitting in fourth I was really shocked. The car was just really good. I was just trying to get into a rhythm and drive. I just need the car to be a little bit tighter. It was only the second race in this car. I am started to really get accustom to it. I think that we can do some tweaking and really have something good going here.”; Matt Hirschman had to make his way into the race through the consolation race. The additional laps on the tires could have been a disadvantage for the average driver, but Hirschman used his experience and saved his car. He patiently made his way through the pack from twentieth up to fifth at the end of the race. He drove a consistently paced race which gave him the car that he needed to crack into the top five. “I had a pretty good run. We had to go through the consi with a bad draw yesterday. Those extra fifteen laps that we had to run in the consi hurt. I really did not want to do that. I do not think that any of the guys in front or around me had those extra laps (on their tires).”; This year Hirschman raced with the VMRS when he could and there were a few tracks that he had not frequented for a while. Hirschman used his expertise to race smart as he drove at Lee Speedway for the first time in years. “It was the first time that I have been here in a long time (Lee USA Speedway). It has probably been about nine years since I have been here. So for the first time coming back here in a while I think that we did pretty well. These guys run here every year a couple of times. I am happy. We have learned something so if we come back I would like to think that we would be a little bit better.”;
Chris Pasteryak finished the race ninth. It was not a top five finish but it was good enough to secure him the 2011 VMRS Championship. Pasteryak was on pins and needles the entire race and when the checkered flag flew he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. “Driving for a point chase sucks sometimes. You just have to drive it (car) straight and stay out of trouble. Sometimes you end up in trouble trying to stay out of it. We were a little bit off today. Our car was a little bit tight and it showed. We finished about where we deserved today. And it was good enough!”;
With his team in Championship Lane and the congratulations and ceremonies took place, Pasteryak looked like a kid on Christmas morning who was overwhelmed with one too many present. He had the familiar Pasteryak smile and the bright eyes, but yet there was a skeptic look of misbelieve. “Winning the championship has not really sunk in yet. I really do not know if I appreciated how special the first one was. Now that I am a little bit older and hopefully a little bit wiser. Maybe I can relax and enjoy it now rather than looking for the next year.”;
So the 2011 race season ends for the VMRS drivers and teams. They will get together one more time this year for their 2011 Awards Banquet to celebrate another year of racing.
Sadly they will be minus one core person this year, John Hoyt

Racing Notes from Lee USA Speedway
What was the #25 race team’s strategy for Lee USA Speedway race?

Rowan Pennink
“The race strategy was to just try and keep the tires on the car,” said Pennink. “We were taking it easy the whole time just picking off a car or two when we could get to it. The car stayed the same the whole race, it didn’t give up one bit. I got to thank Gary Casella and the whole 25 team, they did an awesome job getting the car ready for here. We normally struggle here- get free, being too tight, one or the other, we couldn’t seem to find the right balance point but they found it today, the thing was unstoppable. Hopefully they can get it like that for the next time we come here”

What was your most memorable racing moment of 2011?

Chris Pasteryak
“The Stafford MRS win was the most memorable event. To go there a lot of times and finally get one that was great.”;

Rowan Pennink
“This race is a big one. We won at Twin State with Gary’s car. But we always run good there. But here, we always struggle here ever since I first came here a couple of years ago. To struggle that bad and then finally get it working and getting it working right for a win is great for the team.”;

Les Hinckley
“I would have to say that it was probably the Monadnock win. That was a three or four car battle late in the race with Louie, Jon and me. I got them on the outside with a couple to go. That was a pretty exciting race. Looking back on it that is the first thing that jumps to mind. We had an eventful season but that was probably the highlight of it.”;

Norm Wrenn
“Getting off the track at Seekonk, being black flagged with only sixteen laps to go. We were running third or fourth at that time too. We stayed up all night putting the car together from crashing during qualifying the day before. We started twenty-seventh and got up to fifth I think. Then it (the car) overheated.”;
“That was my most memorable moment because I wanted to have a decent finish for the guys and all the work they did the night before. But I was running to close to the car in front of me and the car was running real hot. So it started squirting out the right rear and they black flagged me.”;

Rob Goodenough
“Oh, boy this has not been that great of a year. I really do not have a whole lot to really look back on this year. But I get look forward to next year. With Hamshaw Lumber standing behind us this year and getting into something considerably newer Going from a 1996 car to a 2006 car now we have something that we can work with. That gives me something to look forward to for 2012. I am just chalk off this year as a learning year. I am looking forward to 2012 and hopefully we can make it work to run another season but that is yet to be seen. But it is going to be a long winter.”;

Matt Hirschman
“I do not think that anything sticks out too much this year. It was a good year with some wins but it was also a little tough this year. I had a little stretch where I did not do so well. What would say right now is that we are ending the season pretty strong and I think that that is what is on my mind right now. We had a lot of good runs in a row, a few wins and a third last week at Thompson. We had a fifth here coming from last. Right now we just want to keep that going for the rest for the year with hopefully some wins.”;

VMRS Rookie of the Year – Timmy Jordan
“We had the car to win at Lee and we were involved in an incident. Hopefully we can come back again next year.”;

What are your plans for 2012 race season?

Chris Pasteryak
“Do the same thing as this year.”;

Rowan Pennink
“Everything is always up in the air over the winter. But I definitely plan to still plan run both tours if I have the opportunity to. I would love to do that if I can.”;
“This year in both series (NWMT and VMRS) we started out strong. Then I had some bad points throughout the season for both teams. That will happen and I think next year we will just try and smooth things out for those rough times. That makes the rough times not so rough and hopefully we can come home with at least one championship or maybe two next year.”;

Les Hinckley
“I do not really know right now. I hope to be doing the same thing that we are doing now. We really have to sit down and assess our program just financially. We are a little guy and a lot of people do not believe it because the car looks nice and it is shiny with the chrome on it. We are operating with no shoe strings basically. We will just try put something together and try to do it again next year. I hate to turn back now. As far as I am concerned we have the best equipment and best of personnel I have ever had in my career and I would hate to walk away from it at this point.

Norm Wrenn
“I plan to run the Modified Racing Series again. I still have my Super Late Model at Thompson Speedway and I plan to run a couple of shows there. And I still have the Pro Four. So whatever races I can make with the Pro Four I will.”;

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Lee, NH — Rowan Pennink of Huntingdon Valley, PA., started ninth in a 24 field, took the lead on lap 61, and went on to win the “Oktoberfest 100” Valenti Modified Racing Series event, Sunday afternoon, at Lee USA Speedway, Lee, NH. The win was Pennink’s second this season and his fourth career VMRS victory. Pennink also becomes the seventh different driver in seven seasons to win the fall finale. Les Hinckley III, of Windsor Locks, CT., started the race from the third position, jumped into the lead, and held it until the 61st circuit.. When Pennink took command, Hinckley chased after the new race leader for the final 39 laps. “The car was unstoppable all day. I have to thank my team,” Pennink said.“ We don’t normally run good here at Lee. I think we might have figured something out. I hope Gary (car owner-Casella) can get it the same next year.”;
Norman Wrenn, of Nashua, NH., ran a strong race and finished third with Rob Goodenough, of Swanzey, NH., fourth, and Matt Hirschman, of Northampton, PA.,fifth. Jimmy Kuhn, W.Bridgewater, MA., Dwight Jarvis, Ascutney, VT., Max Zachem, Preston, CT., Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon, CT., and Kenny Barry, also of Preston, rounded out the top ten. Pasteryak, the 2008 series champion, won his second title topping Hinckley by 14 points. Pennink finished third in the points followed by Mike Holdridge, of Manchester, CT., and Wrenn fifth, for his best points tally to date. Three caution flags slowed the race, which took 39:04 to complete.
Barry, Pasteryak, and Holdridge won qualifying heats. Hirschman won the consolation race.

Race Summary
October 23, 2011 Lee USA (NH) Speedway Distance: 100-laps
Time of Race: 39:04:469 Best Lap Time: 15.022 Best Speed: 89.868 (Masse)
Margin of Victory: 2.688 Lead Changes: 1 (Lap 61)
Lap Leaders: Hinckley (1-61) Pennink (62-100)
Cautions: Lap 31, 31, 82

Unofficial Finish: (1) Pennink (2) Hinckley (3) Wrenn (4) Goodenough (5) Hirschman (6) Kuhn (7) D. Jarvis (8) Zachem (9) Pasteryak (10) Barry (11) Holdridge (12) Seuss (13) Savary (14) Mechalides (15) Doucette (16) J. Jarvis (17) Dore (18) Dolan (19) Lashua (20) Fellows (21) Jordan (22) Masse (23) Emerling (73) McKennedy.
Points:(1) Pasteryak (608) (2) Hinckley (594) (3) Pennink (487) (4) Holdridge (449) (5) Wrenn (418) (6) Mechalides (390) (7) Goodenough (377) (8) D.Jarvis (371) (9) Doucette (350) (10) Zachem (334

October 16 - Thompson Speedway - NASCAR - 3rd

Ron Silk survived an eventful season finale to take home the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing at Thompson International Speedway. Glen Reen took home the checkered flag in a wild event that saw a season-high 16 cautions and the maximum three green-white-checker events attempts for his first career victory, but it was Silk that left with the biggest hardware of the weekend. A six-year veteran of the Whelen Modified Tour, Silk survived an early-race accident to finish 16th and clinch the first championship of his career. Silk, a 28-year-old from Norwalk, Conn., brought a 54-point lead on Todd Szegedy into Thompson. Szegedy ran ahead of Silk for most of the event, but the points lead went back and forth as Szegedy looked to work his way into the top 10. He pitted late after avoiding one wreck and then had his chances ended when he was involved in the 14th caution on Lap 149. Szegedy finished 25th. Silk finished with 2,443 pints - 76 points ahead 2003 champion Szegedy. Eric Beers finished a career-best third, while Rowan Pennink and Doug Coby rounded out the top five. Sunday marked the first victory in 43 career starts for Reen, the 2008 Sunoco Rookie of the Year and a part-time competitor from Wilbraham, Mass. Bobby Santos finished second and Matt Hirschman third. Chuck Hossfeld, Tom Rogers Jr., Keith Rocco, Eric Beers, Patrick Emerling, Mike Stefanik and Eric Goodale brought home the top 10 in the 16th and final race of the Whelen Modified Tour season. Silk and the No. 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet team will be honored as part of the NASCAR Night of Champions Touring Awards Gala on Dec. 10 in Charlotte, N.C.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Sunoco World Series Unofficial Results
Sunday At Thompson International Speedway, Thompson, Conn.
Lap length: 0.625 miles

(Start position in parentheses)
1. (24) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass., Chevrolet, 168 laps, 59.155 mph.
2. (5) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 168.
3. (22) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 168.
4. (14) Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 168.
5. (11) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 168.
6. (34) Keith Rocco, Wallingford, Conn., Chevrolet, 168.
7. (10) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 168.
8. (19) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 168.
9. (17) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Chevrolet, 168.
10. (9) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 168.
11. (30) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 168.
12. (33) Jimmy Zacharias, Candor, N.Y., Chevrolet, 168.
13. (31) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Chevrolet, 168.
14. (7) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 167.
15. (2) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 167.
16. 8) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 164.
17. (25) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 163.
18. (28) Daniel Hemric, Kannapolis, N.C., Pontiac, 161, accident.
19. (21) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 158.
20. (32) Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass., Ford, 158.
21. (12) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 155, accident.
22. (3) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 155, accident.
23. (29) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 152.
24. (27) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 148, accident.
25. (4) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 148, accident.
26. (1) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Ford, 145, accident.
27. (20) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 135, accident.
28. (13) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 135, accident.
29. (16) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 135, accident.
30. (26) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 126, accident.
31. (23) Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, R.I., Chevrolet, 69, accident.
32. (15) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 60, broken axle.
33. (6) Timmy Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 53, engine.
34. (18) Tony Ferrante, Jr., New Hyde Park, N.Y., Chevrolet, 52, accident.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 46 minutes 30 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.133 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: R. Preece (120.747 mph, 18.634 seconds)
Caution Flags: 16 for 84 laps.
Lead Changes: 6 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Preece 1-36; T. Szegedy 37-66; D. Coby 67-106; G. Reen 107-116; E. Berndt 117-135; J. Bonsignore 136-143; G. Reen 144-168.

Standings: 1. R. Silk, 2443; 2. T. Szegedy, 2367; 3. E. Beers, 2309; 4. R. Pennink, 2219; 5. D. Coby, 2214; 6. M. Hirschman, 2163; 7. J. Bonsignore, 2141; 8. B. Santos, 2133; 9. T. Christopher, 2053; 10. E. Rudolph, 2051

THOMPSON WORLD SERIES
by Polly Reid
After a season high 16 cautions and a maximum three green, white, checker finishes, when the dust finally settled on lap 168 it was Glen Reen of Wilbraham, MA in the Silberman H&C/Alloy Wheel Repair Chevrolet taking down his first career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win in the Sunoco World Series at Thompson International Speedway. While Ron Silk of Norwalk, CT in the T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet overcame a wreck earlier in the race rallying to finishing 16th to claim the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship title. Starting 24th at the green, Reen in the Ralph Ridgeway owned machine had worked his way into the top ten before the half way mark after pitting on lap 41 and when the century mark showed on the board, it was Reen in second behind Doug Coby. Reen inherited the lead when Coby pitted on lap 105 only to lose the spot to Eric Berndt, falling back to third after a couple more yellows but Reen was there at the right place at the right time avoiding the mishaps around him to take the lead on lap 144 and holding off the likes of Justin Bonsignore, Coby, Matt Hirschman and then Bobby Santos to score the victory. Santos, Hirschman, Chuck Hossfeld and Tom Rogers were the top five with Keith Rocco, Eric Beers, 2011 Rookie of the Year Patrick Emerling eighth, Mike Stefanik and Eric Goodale the top ten. “I have to thank the good Lord. If you told me this morning that I was going to start 24th and win this race I’d tell ya you were out of your mind. Give it to my whole family, my dad, my Uncle Tom, my team; these guys have been behind me the whole time” The multiple restarts were a struggle for Reen. “My clutch broke on lap 107 and every restart it was slipping worse and worse, I said guys we’ll be alright as long as there aren’t any more restarts, sure enough, there was only 30 of them so we were OK,” Reen joked. Extended 18 circuits beyond the 150 scheduled laps, Reen was indeed worried about fuel. “I didn’t know how much fuel was left, I was freaking out, and my spotter Rob was the only one calming me down.”
“About Monday morning we decided to come here so we only had about 4 days to prepare for this,” explained Reen whose best Tour finish prior to this was a fifth at Riverhead in 2009. “The motor is 2 years old with 1700 laps on it. People rebuild them every 800 laps, its super tired. The clutch, that was broken - I had to get pushed into victory lane because it’s broke. I mean we’re running on a shoe string budget. My brakes were gone, we had no pads left we had to shim them to make pads - it literally should not have happened but somehow it did. I cannot thank my whole team; those guys give 200 percent, my whole family standing behind me this long.” Santos of Franklin, MA in the Mystic Missile Dodge pitted on lap 105 and worked his way carefully to the front to be there at the end. “I’ve got to thank the guys, they gave me an awesome race car all day, we had good strategy, we just had a couple of yellows that screwed us up at the end. That last restart I felt like we had the car to win, I was in position to win, I just drove in too deep into one, I just screwed up on the last lap. I’m disappointed with second but I can’t complain, we struggled a lot all year then the last of the year we tried something and I feel like the 4 was running the way it should today- it’s a little late but we’re back in the right direction.” It is crew chief Bob Mueller’s last race for car owner Bob Garbarino, the championship crew chief is stepping down following the World Series. “I think that was more of my disappointment is that I felt like I should have won that race for Bob. He’s done an awesome job all year; he did an awesome job for me last year. I’m really proud to say that I’ve worked for him, I’m a little disappointed he’s retiring but he has to do the best thing for himself.” Also using a later pit strategy, Hirschman crossed for third after having to drop to the back prior to the green flag at the start of the World Series. “It’s well deserved for the team; I mean they deserve the credit. We had a flat tire in time trials, we were the first car to go out and probably hit a piece of debris, cut the tire and went in and spun it around, I couldn’t keep it off the wall, wrecked that car pretty good. So they had to go back (to the shop) load up, this is the car we ran at Stafford and it pretty much hadn’t been touched since Stafford so they had to go back and prepare this car to race today- really I owe all the credit to them. My part was just surviving the wrecks. I was able to miss all those wrecks and get a third place. I’m happy that I could get a nice run for these guys and finish the year on a good note with a third place finish. Today was just wild. I think it is like that saying - it was the inmates running the asylum.” Silk came into the Sunoco World Series with a 54 point lead over Todd Szegedy. Both knew what they had to do but neither could predict what they were about to go through. Szegedy in the Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction sponsored Ford started fourth and marched his way forward taking the lead from pole winner Ryan Preece on lap 37 while Silk remained in the top ten, running eighth until the call was made to pit on during caution on lap 42.
Szegedy leading, Silk lined up deep in the pack at 23rd. Just after the restart, an oil line blew on the Timmy Solomito ride and Silk along with Tony Ferrante didn’t make it through, Ferrante done for the day in the turn one outside wall, Silk going around making contact, the Eddie Partridge owned Chevrolet suffering left side damage. Silk, able to get down pit row with only three tires, came to a rest at his pit just as the red flag flew for the extensive clean up. “We pitted early like that so we could have a good, clean pit stop,” said Tommy Grasso, crew chief for Silk. “We would ride around and stay out of trouble then when everyone else pitted we’d be back up front without having to use up too much tire - I thought that was going to be the best way to stay out of trouble and apparently that didn’t work out. The 66 blew an oil line and we got in his oil. It’s one of those things; you really can’t figure those things out until they happen.” “We had time when the red flag came out- the guys looked it all over and we came up with a plan,” continued Grasso. “It took quite a bit of doing to figure out what we were going to do. The officials were right there, told us what we needed to do to make it safe and as soon as the caution came out the guys went at it. Luckily I have a good crew around me and it showed today.”
“There were two things that were wrong with the car. The front end was broken and the guys were going to go work on that. The biggest part was the nerf bar on the rear bumper; it didn’t look like it was going to go back together. We figured out a way while we were under red to get it back together strong and safe. As soon as the yellow came out the guys went at it and got that work done drilling holes and bolting everything together - it was quite a task- they were up to it.”
As Silk sat on pit row, Szegedy in the Mike Smeriglio owned Ford continued to lead the field. Eight laps down, Silk returned to action only to pit again for more repairs. Shortly after Silk returned, Szegedy relinquished his lead to come down pit row for his planned service on lap 66. By lap 100, Szegedy was bogged down in the pack 16th while Silk was running 29th. However, Szegedy continued forward up to 11th by lap 110 and still the points leader. Dodging an incident 10 circuits later, Szegedy had an even closer call on lap 127 forcing the Ridgefield, CT driver to pit twice under caution, his restart location now back to 24th. Meanwhile, Silk had benefited from the free pass four times. Back up to 16th on the lap 148 restart, Szegedy still had a shot at the title until the mayhem broke out in turn three. Around and up against the wall, the right side damage Szegedy suffered was the end of the title hopes for the MSR team. Silk survived the three green, white, checker finishes crossing 16th to claim the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship title. “It was an awful day,” said Silk. “It started out OK then we got into somebody’s oil and I hit the wall. I thought it was all over, I mean at that point Todd was leading; I figured he drive off and have a story book day. Todd ended up having problems, my guys worked their butts off to get it back out and it worked out. The guys did a great job getting the car back together. Luckily there was a red flag so they had a good amount of time to check everything out, figure out what they needed- they worked pretty efficient to get that done.” “I couldn’t drive my car it was all messed up, I was just riding around making laps. We had bad luck today, obviously I hated to see that and I hated to see Todd’s bad luck too. It would have been better if we could have both gone out and raced and not have problems but it didn’t work out that way. Congratulations to Glen Reen winning the World Series.” “It feels great but it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I just keep thinking what a miserable day we had, the emotions from high to low, thank God it ended on a high note but still. I’m so happy to be the champion, I’m so happy for my car owners Connie and Eddie Partridge to be the champions, all the guys who do so much work, it’s been a roller coaster day and I’ve had about enough of it.
Grasso mirrored Silk’s thoughts. “It really hasn’t sunk in yet. After we got caught up in the wreck there we had pretty much lost the championship. The guys did a good job working on the car, getting it back together. The car was really wrecked I didn’t think they could get it back together but they did, it was a handful for Ron to drive. We needed all those cautions to get us back in there, then Todd had his problems so we went to essentially losing the championship to back winning it. It went both ways, full swing.” “I knew it was going to be tough, we had trouble yesterday with the clutch in practice. Never had an issue with the car all year and of course this week something goes wrong,” smiled Grasso. “It wasn’t a big problem, it was minor, but we took the car apart to make sure it was all right and it was, we figured it out. So we got through that -I said it’s not going to be easy and sure enough it wasn’t easy today. We needed some luck. Obviously Todd’s bad luck was our good fortune. I hated that for those guys. I know exactly how they feel- that part of it’s not fun.” “I worked a long time to win championship, I’m glad we finally got the ability to do it. Eddie is a great car owner and he deserves this championship, I’m glad to win it for Eddie.”
Starting back with S.J. Evonsion, who was his next door neighbor were he got his start with the Tour in ‘85 minus the off and on they took a couple of years to do some short track racing, Monadnock and Riverside, Grasso owned a couple of cars with his brother Danny driving at Riverside they did some SK racing at Stafford before the money ran out. “I started working for other car owners and that’s how I started working on cars rather than owning cars. It’s been a long road to hoe, but I’m glad we finally got here. I can breathe a little sigh of relief, we won a championship.”
Eddie Partridge and his wife Connie have been Tour car owners for ten years. “The guys worked real hard, they put the car back together amazingly fast for the shape it was in. We just went out there 9 laps down and then Szegedy’s day went terribly wrong.” “Ronnie is great, he’s very calm, he’s always right there, he’s smooth - I don’t know what else to say about that. Tommy Grasso, the Grasso brothers they do the impossible.” Partridge continued, “We were contenders I would say honestly the last two years, this and the last two to be in the points chase and it finally worked out. It’s a great feeling to win a race; it’s a great feeling to win a championship.” Finishing with 2,443 points for Silk, 76 ahead of Szegedy, the consistency of Eric Beers season earned him a third place over all in points with Rowan Pennink fourth and Doug Coby fifth for the year. Silk and the team will be honored at the NASCAR Night of Champions Touring Awards Gala December 10th in Charlotte, NC

Feel-good story
On Monday, Glen Reen decided that he and his team would pack up and head to Thompson to race in the World Series. There’s not a lot of money surrounding the No. 17 car. “It’s an independent team, run by himself and (there were) kind of odd circumstances the way he won, but he won,” Whelen Modified Tour points champion Ronnie Silk said. Through the smoke and debris, Reen hung on to a car that shouldn’t have won the 150-lap feature after his clutch broke on the 107th lap. And that was really the end of his problems. His has about 1,700 laps on it, and Reen said it’s common for motors to be rebuilt at 800 laps. “It’s two years older than everyone else’s and it’s super tired,” he said. The clutch was two years old, the brakes “had no pads left, we had to shim them to make pads,” which is all part of running on a “shoestring budget” and suddenly finding yourself in front, trying to hang on.
"My car was going away, the clutch was getting worse on every restart and I was thinking I will be happy to finish in the top 10,” Reen said. “My car was horrible on the top, I couldn’t get it to go up there because it was so loose, so I had to stay at the bottom. I thought they were going to freight train me, and I will be done. But every time we went green, it was two laps or less and a caution came out.” That meant no cars on the outside had a chance to get together and get past the No. 17. What made it even better was in most instances, the cars immediately behind him were bringing out the caution. “My spotter was busting me (Sunday before the race) that ‘It would be really nice to say, caution, wrecking behind you instead of in front of you,’ so I kept telling him, ‘At least they’re behind me, right?’” Reen said. The nearest incident came on the final restart when Bobby Santos III bumped Reen from behind, but Reen held onto the car. “My dad came up to me and said, ‘Thank God you ran some dirt cars the last two weeks.’ I literally just threw the wheel like a Frisbee,” Reen said. “It’s all I had to hold on to it.”

Not-so-feel-good story
The Whelen Modified Tour race was truly like few seen in the past several years at Thompson. There was a first-time winner; a points tussle featuring a leader who was seemingly invincible going in, looked to be all done a third of the way through, and back on top when all was over; and almost half the race was run under caution. One of the wilder incidents happened on lap 136 when Justin Bonsignore pushed Eric Berndt up into the wall. NASCAR did not penalize Bonsignore and he was allowed to remain in front, but the incident brought out a red flag, which left the remaining cars stopped on the backstretch.
That allowed Rowan Pennink and Berndt time to hop out of their cars and run to Bonsignore’s. Pennink got to the No. 51 car before NASCAR officials realized the driver’s intentions and Pennink was punching at Bonsignore through the window before being yanked away. “As bad as those guys were, (Bonsignore) did something to get them that mad. I’m just surprised you can keep the lead in the race.” Matt Hirschman, who finished third, said. “I didn’t see it, so I can’t point any fingers, but it looked like two guys who were ready to throw down. (Sunday) was like the inmates running the asylum, that’s what it seemed like to me.” NASCAR hadn’t announced any penalties as of Monday.

Thompson, Conn. —

Todd Szegedy made the loneliest walk of all.
Szegedy had all but secured the Whelen Modified Tour points championship about a third of a way through the 150-lap race at the World Series of Auto Racing on Sunday at Thompson Speedway.
Even though Szegedy went into the final race of the season down by 54 points, leader Ronnie Silk had early troubles. Silk pitted on lap 43 and then was caught up in an accident in the back of the pack 10 laps later. Silk came out nine laps down and “thought it was all over.” Szegedy needed to finish 12th or better to bring the title home to Ridgefield. But on a day in which the race went overtime to 168 laps, Szegedy’s race ended on lap 149. On the season-high 15th caution, Szegedy lost most of the right side of his car in an accident on turn four.
He willed the No. 2 car to the frontstretch, climbed out of it and walked back to pit road, attacking a garbage can on his way there. The garbage can lost, and so had Szegedy. Somehow, Silk, who came back after severe damage to the left side of his No. 6 car, went the rest of the way to finish 16th and took home the points title. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Silk said. “I’m just thinking of how miserable a day we had and the emotions from high to low. Thank God it ended on a high note.” Glen reen was on an emotional high after capturing his first Whelen Modified Tour checkered flag.
His No. 17 car started 24th, but he edged up to the front through attrition, battling his car the entire way. “My clutch broke on like lap 107 and it was slipping worse and worse on every restart,” Reen said. “I was thinking I would be all right as long as there were no restarts. Sure enough, there was something like 30 of them.” Most of them occurred behind him, including one in which Justin Bonsignore pushed Eric Berndt into the wall on the second turn and paid the price as both Berndt and Rowan Pennink ran the length of the track on the following red flag. Pennink beat the officials to Bonsignore’s car and got in a few jabs before officials pulled him away. In all, 84 of the 168 laps were run under caution.
“I think everybody was thinking, ‘I got all winter to rebuild my race car.’ That’s the bottom line of what I saw,” said Bobby Santos, who finished second.

By Phil Smith

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series wrapped up their 2011 season last Sunday at the Thompson Speedway. Ron Silk came into the event with a 59 point lead over Todd Szegedy. Thirty four cars made up the car count. The seat in the Flamingo Motorsports No.16 was still warm after the exit of Mike Stefanik when Ryan Preece strapped in. Preece wasted little time as he adjusted to his new ride in short order as he garnered the pole position for the season ending World Series 150. Preece toured the 5/8 mile oval on 18.634 seconds. Second fastest was Doug Coby who had a time of 18.655 seconds. Stefanik drove the car he normally drives in Modified Racing Series events and qualified17th at 18.901 seconds. Ted Christopher, Todd Szegedy and Bobby Santos rounded out the top five. Point leader Ron Silk qualified 8th fastest. The only casualty was Matt Hirschman who slammed the wall during qualifying. Hirschman was allowed to take a provisional spot.
The World Series drew a total of 273 cars including 34 Whelen Tour Modifieds, 16 Sunoco (SK type) Modifieds, 28 Supers, 22 Super Late Models and 25 Midgets. The Whelen Modified Tour Series provided some intense drama during the running of the event which didn't see the championship finalized until the final moments of the event. The drama began on lap 52 when Silk and Tony Ferrante Jr spun and crashed into the first turn wall after hitting some oil that leaked out of the car of Timmy Solomito. While Ferrente suffered the most damage and had to be double hooked to the infield Silk was able to drive away with quite a bit of damage to his left front suspension. Once in his pit box the Eddie Partridge led crew went to work to repair the damage only to have to stop as the field went under a red flag while the oil was cleaned up that was spilled. After a short period the field went back under caution and work resumed on the Silk machine. When Silk finally re-entered the competition on lap 62 he was 10 laps down to the leader, Szegedy and it was thought that all was lost as far as the championship was concerned. Needless to say, Silk and the Partridge team kept digging and because of numerous cautions were awarded free passes under the rules which got them within three laps in arrears of Szegedy. Szegedy still had the title in hand until lap 148 when he got collected when Ken Heagy and Woody Pitkat tangled between turns three and four and collected Szegedy, shearing off his right front wheel which was the deciding factor. Silk finished 16th four laps down with 2,443 points with a 76 point cushion over Szegedy, who finished 25th. Both competitors were deserving of the title but it just wasn't in the cards for Szegedy, the 2003 champion, to win it. Congratulations to Silk along with his car owners, Eddie and Connie Partridge and their entire race team. Silk and the No. 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet team will be honored as part of the NASCAR Night of Champions Touring Awards Gala on Dec. 10 in Charlotte, N.C.

Glen Reen scored somewhat of an upset as he took the win in a wild event that saw a season-high 16 cautions and the maximum three green-white-checker events attempts for his first career victory. Reen took the lead on lap 142 from Justin Bonsignore and watched in his mirror as his competition was eliminated. Pole sitter Ryan Preece, who had recently taken over the seat of the Flamingo Motorsports entry that was formerly driven by Mike Stefanik, was on cruise control for the first 36 laps, was eliminated in a wreck on lap 145 when he broke a tie rod. Stefanik, who finished ninth in a new tour ride, was running fourth on lap 155 when he went for an opening on the backstretch and triggered a wreck that eliminated Justin Bonsignore and Ted Christopher who were running second and third. Stefanik said, "the 51 moved up and I filled up the hole between him and Christopher". "Once I got in there", he added, "they didn't give me any room". Doug Coby and Daniel Hemric who were running second and third behind Reen on a lap 160 restart got together shortly after taking the green. Hemric, from Kanapolis, NC, was driving the Roger Hill No.79 and found himself in the turn one wall and Coby spun. NASCAR Control felt that Coby was overaggressive and placed him one lap down. On the final restart for a green-white-checker finish Reen watched in amazement as Tom Rogers and Bobby Santos went at it as they almost wrecked. In a gut move, going into turn three on the final lap, Santos sunk the Mystic Missile in deep and took over the second spot behind Reen. Rogers, who had gotten roughed up a bit by Santos, finished fifth. Matt Hirschman brought Ole Blu home in third while Chuck Hossfeld finished fourth. Sixth through tenth were Keith Rocco, Reic Beers, Patrick Emerling, Stefanik and Eric Goodale. In other World Series action at Thompson on Sunday, Chris Perley turned in a dominating performance in the International Super Modifed Association (ISMA) 50-lapper to score the victory. Russ Stoehr scored top honors in the Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA) ranks. In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action, Ryan Preece outlasted the field in a rough-and-tumble Sunoco Modified feature. Derek Ramstrom scored his sixth Super Late Model race to cap off the 2011 season at Thompson and Corey Hutchings survived numerous restarts in the Late Model main event to score the win. Following a full day of practice and qualifying at Thompson on Saturday, ten (10) feature events were run. In Thompson regular weekly divisions it was Scott Sundeen scoring the victory in the Limited Sportsman division; Cam McDermott in the TIS Modifieds; and Chad Baxter in the Mini Stocks. Scoring Outlaw division victories were Rick Gentes (Late Models), Mike O’Sullivan (Street Stocks) and Richard Fournier (Mini Stocks). Frank Cardile capitalized in the Sunoco Lite Main event to score the victory. Jason Lafayette opened up the World Series feature festivities with a victory in the N.E. Trucks Series. Andy Lindeman led green-to-checker to win the companion Truck Series Shootout. Dan Meservey, Jr. earned the victory in the Harry Kourafas Memorial event for the Pro-Four Modifieds.

By Brian Danko

THOMPSON, CT----- On the 52nd lap of the 150 lap season ending Whelen modified tour event at the Thompson Speedway, point’s leader Ron Silk of Norwalk, CT. thought his dreams of capturing his first NASCAR touring series title went away. He slid his car backwards into the wall and then was hit by a sliding Tony Ferrante, Jr. as both cars were caught up in someone dumping oil on the track. But the crew worked to keep Silk on the track and despite being 9 laps down at one time, Silk managed to survive the carnage that was the modified tour finish and win his first title. Silk entered the race with a 54 point advantage over past series champion, Todd Szegedy of Ridgefield, CT. and after Szegedy led early to give himself an extra five points towards the title, Szegedy always seemed to be in the middle of action on the track and when the race restarted a green-white-checkered finish on lap 149, Szegedy got caught up in a wreck in turn four to officially hand Silk the title as Szegedy’s car went off the track hammock style. It was a memorable win for Glenn Reen as the youngster secured his first ever modified tour win beating out Bobby Santos and Matt Hirschman but the story line was the battle for the title and despite being nine laps down, Silk was able to make up 6 of them as he continued to be the ‘Lucky Dog’ as the caution flag continued to fly in a race that saw the scheduled distance of 150 brought out to lap 168. Silk final tally would show it was a margin of 76 points over Szegedy with Eric Beers third in the point’s final run down.

ISSUES FACING NASCAR AND TOUR IN 2012
While the 2011 season came to a close under perfect racing conditions at the Thompson Speedway, it won’t be too long before the 2012 season will be upon the race teams and NASCAR and in the short few months before now and then, a lot needs to be accomplished.
The economy is still going to be poor as the calendar will turn another year and with several race teams looking to call it a career, or at least reduce the number of races that they are going to run, it is time that NASCAR needs to step up in the scheduling department and while doing that reduce the number of races that are two day and reduce them to one day. Phil Kurze of Whelen did announce that they are looking at ways to reduce both track cost and race teams cost and that is one way to achieve it. He also said that the schedule would be more balanced where there won’t be a race for almost a month and then have six races in a row. One item that NASCAR needs to address is the Bristol race followed by the race in Canada. You can’t have two races at faraway venues, one in the middle of the week and one in another country. These teams just can’t afford it with part time crew members, many whom already exhausted their vacation time on racing. Someone with common sense needs to sit down with both NASCAR and the teams and toss ideas around to save cost for everyone in racing. NASCAR also needs to get something done for television for 2012 and beyond. After having many races taped delayed last year and shown later was great but then to have just two races in 2011 was and is unacceptable.

HOENIG BOWS OUT

Don Hoenig, who for more than 35 plus years has been the name and face of the Thompson International Speedway bowed out at the drivers meeting for the modified tour competitors. Hoenig, whose son and grandson will be taking over the leadership of the flagship track for the modified tour and into the future. Don’s father built the track after the Hurricane of 1938 and turned it along with Don into one of the premier racing facilities in the country. Hoenig said that he has enjoyed the friendship and support given by all of the modified teams over the many years and that he looks forward to just being in the background going forward. I had the chance to talk with Don before the drivers meeting and complimented him on the North South Thompson Shootout and he said most of the talk after the race was good but that there was some complaints but he also acknowledged that is also part of putting on a first annual event and that it will grow bigger and better into the future. Don has been an intrigue part of auto racing in the northeast and he will be inducted into the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame this coming winter. Don said that next August that they are looking at returning one of the modified tour races dates but making it a one day show.

PHIL KURZE TALKS ABOUT 2012

Phil Kurze, the director of Whelen motorsports and one of the biggest supporters of the modified tour said he saw a glimpse of the 2012 modified tour schedule and while he couldn’t tip his hand about it, he said he is hopeful for a good season next year. Kurze did say that there were some sanction issues to work out and that he is still working on television for next year and beyond.
Kurze also mentioned that the banquet in Charlotte is attended by more people from the modified tour than any other sanctioned series under the NASCAR banner. (Now maybe they could return it to Mohegan Sun

October 9 - King of the Mountain- Win

Story in Stand Speaker
Matt Hirschman proved once again that when it comes to the big money races at either Mountain or Mahoning Valley Speedway, he's the driver to beat. The 28-year standout pavement racer from Northampton made good on that when he captured last Sunday's 12th annual 'King of the Mountain' (KOTM) 150 lap Modified race at Mountain and the $5000 first place prize. Earlier this season he won a 100 lap run at Mahoning which netted him $3000, marking his sixth time he did so there over the past two seasons. Sunday's win was his second KOTM triumph, his first taking place ten years ago. At that time the race was contested over a 100 lap distance. "It's been 10 years since I won my first KOTM and through that time you learn a lot of things. Back then I was in John Markovic's back-up car and that win propelled me and my career to where it is today. It got me hooked up with Scott Edelman and he got me to the next level," said Hirschman, now a regular on the NASCAR Whelan Modified Tour. "Ten years later and this kind of puts it all into perspective. You appreciate what John Markovic did to take a kid and put him in a back-up car and win this race back then so it's nice to be here a decade later and be standing in Victory Lane." The race went beyond its expectations as 34 cars attempted to qualify, by far the largest field of the year. That, as well as a packed grandstand, made for a one of the most successful days in track Hirschman had set fast time during time trials and then redrew eighth for the feature. New Yorker Chuck Hossfeld, driving Tom Wanick's No. 1w car, led a stellar field of 29 to the green. He led the opening lap with Todd Baer, who had won Saturday's 100-lap Sport Mod main, taking control on lap two. Earl Paules then advanced into the lead on lap 23 and was looking very strong at that point. Hirschman had moved to fourth by lap 25 and was riding the tail of Hossfeld. Five laps later they both got by Baer and continued their dual while tracking down Paules. Just prior to lap 50 Hirschman's run almost came to an abrupt end when he came upon the lapped car of Tom Wanick III, teammate to Hossfeld. Wanick did a break check coming down the front straight directly in front of Hirschman who then tagged him and caused several others to take evasive action including former track champ Brian DeFebo and this year's Race of Champions winner Zane Zeiner as well as John Fortin. While the latter three were done for the day due to contact Hirschman was able to continue but was mirrored back in mid-pack.
"I got brake checked on the front stretch and it took guys out like Zane (Zeiner) and John (Fortin) and it just wasn't necessary. We lost track position because at that point we weren't up front like we should have been," said Hirschman. "That was something I didn't expect and it wasn't very sportsman-like competition but you have to try and overcome those things. We had the same thing happen to us here last year but this seemed more deliberate and it's ashamed that some guys got taken out." After picking off several cars and working back into the top five, Hirschman again tangled with Wanick, this time on lap 67 when and again had to restart at the tail end of the lead lap cars. While he had his work cut out for him Paules continued leading while holding back Hossfeld and a hard charging Nick Pecko. Hossfeld continued to make tries at passing Paules, finally doing so after a lap 72 restart. Hossfeld would show the way until a lap 91 caution. It was at that time that the majority of lead lap cars, including Hirschman, all headed to the pits for fresh tires. Upon returning to the track Paules was the first one out and lined up third behind new leader Barry Callavini and Bobby Jones. Hossfeld had come out fourth but his left rear wheel came off and he was done for the night. On the restart Hirschman was shown sixth. Within four laps of going back green Paules was leading again and by the lap 100 mark it became a fierce three car battle as Pecko and Hirschman stepped up to challenge. At lap 112 Hirschman finally got by Pecko and now set his sights on the leader. "Pecko was real strong and I actually thought he would help me if he could push Earl (Paules) because it took me a little bit longer to get going. We were better after a longer run while Pecko was good on the shorter runs and I felt if he could push Earl and make him run hard and hopefully that would work out for me later and it did," said Hirschman. It would be a nip and tuck battle over the next 16 laps as Hirschman tried both high and low to slip by yet each time Paules closed him off. With his tires beginning to wear due to the intense racing, Paules finally gave way with 22 laps to go. Once in front Hirschman would finish the race uncontested as he drove away to a nearly two second margin of victory. "He did make me work for it and when I did put the car there he was smart enough to know that I was coming and I didn't want to get into him and certainly didn't want to take him out and then run the risk of them (officials) putting me to the rear," said Hirschman. "I wanted to pass him clean and he gave me room. He and I have always run good together."
Paules had to settle for second with newly crowned track champ Jones, Pecko and Justin Gumley rounding out the top five. "Matt (Hirschman) was just better than me and that's the way it was for tonight. I had to move over and let him by which I did going into turn three. Next time if it's the other way around I know he would do the same for me, it's the respect that we have for one another," said Paules.
"We knew we had a strong car tonight but Matt had the chance to work on his car a little bit when he pitted earlier. Plus there were a lot of cautions and had we gone more green laps I feel it would have been a different story and he would have had to work his tires a little bit harder," he continued. "When there's $5000 to win you have to go for it but I'm not going to wreck a race car over it, there's always the next race." Even though his runner-up spot paid a respectable $2500, Paules stood a chance at making eastern Pennsylvania short track pavement racing history by winning $10,000. Whenever his sponsor, John Schneider of Schneider and Sons, Inc., Scrap Medal of Allentown is in attendance, he doubles the winnings if he would win the race. "That was on my mind all week. $10,000 is a lot of money to put in the bank this time of the year. Our rebuilding time for next year is now so that would have been great." Hirschman and Paules will have one more chance to go after big bucks when Mahoning Valley holds their season finale on October 29. A $3000-to-win 100 lap main plus an additional $2500 to either two if they can win that track's Poker Series.

Matt Hirschman Earns First “King of the Mountain” in Ten Years at Mountain Speedway
By: Gene Ostrowski

October 9, 2011

In conjunction with Day two of the 12th annual “King of the Mountain” (KoTM) event at Mountain Speedway, a slew of race cars and fans headed to the track on Sunday to not only see who will claim the $5,000 Modified prize, but also to see who the 2011 track champions would be in the final points event of the season. When it was all said and done, Matt Hirschman of Northampton, PA rebounded from a spin earlier to claim the big money and his first KoTM victory since 2001. Nicknamed “The Rocket”, Ricky Ross, Jr. of Mountaintop, PA started eleventh and then rocketed to the $1,000 Street Stock victory and Pete Verwys of Stroudsburg, PA stormed to his fourth straight FWD feature win. With 34 Modifieds in the pit area, qualifying was important to the drivers, as the top 15 fastest time trailers were assured a spot in the big 150-lap show. Matt Hirschman timed fastest with what is believed to be a new track record at a time of 13.188 seconds. The top ten drivers redrew for starting spots, which put Chuck Hossfeld on the pole position. Hossfeld led the 29-car starting field to the drop of the green flag and led the opening circuit over Todd Baer, Earl Paules, Roger Coss and Justin Gumley. However, only one lap later, Baer took the top spot and Paules followed through to take second. Content to run to the finish, Paules didn’t put much pressure on the leader early on, but he did take the lead on a lap 22 restart following the first yellow flag. Hossfeld also got by Baer on the restart and grabbed second. With Paules still in command, the red flag waved on lap 30 when Travis Fisher and Brad Van Houten tangled in turn four following a restart. Several drivers pitted under the lap 30 caution periods, including Rusty Smith, Matt Higgins, Eddie Brunnhoelzl III and Kyle Ebersole. Green flag racing resumed and with 40 laps complete, Paules led over Hossfeld, Matt Hirschman, Zane Zeiner and Nick Pecko. However, the yellow flag waved six laps later when the leaders were racing in lapped traffic. A lapped car slid up the track and slowed up Hirschman, which caused many of the other front-runners to instantly check up, including Zeiner, John Fortin and Brian DeFebo. Hirschman was the only one of the three that was able to continue.
With the green back out and Paules in command, the yellow struck once again, this time on lap 66 when Tommy Wanick III got into Hirschman and took him around in turn four. Despite the spin, Hirschman didn’t pit for tires Paules continued out front following the restart, but a quick yellow slowed the action once again on lap 72. With a great restart, Hossfeld took the race lead. Paules dropped to second and was hounded by Pecko, followed by Ebersole and Gumley. It appeared that Hossfeld had the car to beat, but that all changed following a lap 91 yellow, which involved a spin by John Markovic. Several of the front-runners pitted for tires, including Hossfeld, Paules, Pecko and Gumley. Hossfeld got back on track first, but only to find his right rear wheel chasing him down the backstretch. Hossfeld did head back to the pits and retuned to the speedway. The pit stops moved Barry Callavini to the point for the restart and he led a lap before Bobby Jones on lap 92 overtook him. Jones then led two circuits before Paules overtook him. With 50 laps remaining, Paules was out front, with Pecko, Hirschman and Darren Scherer in tow. During the same lap and while racing three-wide for the fifth spot, Coss, Gumley and Callavini took things three-wide. The end result was a very tore up racecar for Coss, who found himself in the turn four fence. Green flag racing resumed and it became apparent that Hirschman was on a mission. He overtook the strong running Pecko for second on lap 112 and then slipped underneath Paules for the race lead in turns three and four 16 laps later. Despite three yellow flags after taking the lead, Hirschman remained out front and could not be denied his second career KoTM victory. Paules was forced to settle for second, followed by Jones, who won raced his way in through the consi and also clinched the Modified title two weeks prior. Pecko and Gumley completed the top five. Hirschman reminisced in victory lane about what he called his best career victory, his KoTM victory in 2001. “This win is huge and that first King of the Mountain victory in John Markovic’s back up car in 2001 is what first got me noticed and helped me land a lot of good rides since then”, noted Hirschman.

Modified (150-laps) 1. MATT HIRSCHMAN 2. Earl Paules 3. Bobby Jones 4. Nick Pecko 5. Justin Gumley 6. Todd Baer 7. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 8. Allen Creveling 9. Barry Callavini 10. Andy Walko 11. Chuck Hossfeld 12. John Markovic 13. Daren Scherer 14. Rob McCormick 15. Jason Hearne 16. Roger Coss 17.Kyle Ebersole 18. Travis Fisher 19. Tommy Wanick III 20. Jim Storace 21. Matt Higgins 22.Zane Zeiner 23. John Fortin 24. Brian DeFebo 25. Brandon Oltra 26. Rusty Smith 27. Brad Van Houten 28. Ken Vogel, Jr. DNS: Shaun Carrig DNQ: Brian Sones, Terry Markovic, Dean Gulick, Randy Richard, Joe Mooney

The October 1 - Mahoning Speedway - Poker Series Race was rained out this weekend and moved to October 29

October 2 - Stafford Speedway - NASCAR - 8
In thrilling fashion, Ted Christopher won the CARQUEST Fall Final on Sunday at Stafford Motor Speedway. On a green-white-checkered finish, Christopher, out of Plainville, Conn., got his No. 36 Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet underneath Erick Rudolph to take the lead just after the field took the white flag to collect his 12th career victory at the Connecticut half-mile track. For Christopher, it was his Tour-best fourth win of the season and the 42nd of his storied career. On the final lap Christopher got inside of Rudolph entering Turn 1, Rudolph went to block, Christopher held his ground and the two banged nerf bars rolling through the turn. Christopher came out of Turn 1 with the lead and rode to victory. Ryan Preece capitalized on Rudolph’s misfortune to earn the runner-up position followed by Donny Lia in third. Eric Beers finished fourth and Rudolph ended up in the fifth position. Kevin Goodale, points leader Ron Silk, Matt Hirschman, Doug Coby and Justin Bonsignore rounded out the top 10. Bonsignore, who picked up his third career Coors Light Pole Award on Saturday, had an answer for all comers over the first 79 laps when he made a trip to pit road for fuel and tires. In the early going, overtures were made by Christopher, Lia and Preece. However, after everyone cycled through pit stops, Bonsignore was not able to work his way back through traffic. Todd Szegedy, who entered the day just eight points behind Silk, suffered an early-race spin and made multiple pit stops before climbing back as high as second in the race. Another late-race spin resulted in a 22nd-place finish. Silk’s top 10 effort combined with Szegedy’s misfortune means that Silk will take a 57-point lead to the season finale.

1 3 36 Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet 154 185 5 Running
2 8 40 Ryan Preece American Lamp Recycling/Mizzy Cst. Chevrolet 154 170 Running
3 2 11 Donny Lia Spectro Performance Oils Ford 154 165 Running
4 4 45 Eric Beers Horwith Frghtlnr/John Blewett Inc. Chevrolet 154 160 Running
5 13 98 Erick Rudolph Mohawk N.E./Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet 154 160 5 Running
6 5 50 Kevin Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 154 150 Running
7 7 6 Ron Silk T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 154 146 Running
8 16 3 Matt Hirschman Cape Cod Copper/LI Mod Maniac Chevrolet 154 142 Running
9 12 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrecking Chevrolet 154 138 Running
10 1 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 154 144 10 Running
11 21 10 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard's Auto Stores Chevrolet 154 130 Running
12 18 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 154 127 Running
13 17 39 Richie Pallai, Jr. Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet 154 124 Running
14 24 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/MacLad Drywall Chevrolet 154 121 Running
15 19 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 154 118 Running
16 22 8 Glenn Tyler Jayfor/Gallagher Enterprises Chevrolet 154 115 Running
17 14 9 Tom Rogers, Jr. * MissMarianaLee.com Chevrolet 154 112 Running
18 29 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Chevrolet 154 109 Running
19 26 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 154 106 Running
20 25 17 Glen Reen Silberman Heating & Cooling Chevrolet 153 103 Running
21 27 38 Glenn Griswold * Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 151 100 Running
22 15 2 Todd Szegedy Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Const. Ford 151 97 Running
23 23 07 Patrick Emerling * Emerling Chevrolet Ford 148 94 Accident
24 9 58 Eric Goodale Perimeters for the Home Chevrolet 147 91 Running
25 20 88 Bryon Chew * Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka Chevrolet 128 88 Engine
26 11 46 Eric Berndt North End Auto Parts/Cape Cod Agts Chevrolet 105 85 Accident
27 6 4 Bobby Santos "Mystic Missile" Dodge 102 82 Rear End
28 30 22 Chuck Hossfeld Jerry Gradl Motors Chevrolet 95 79 Engine
29 28 79 Chris Kopec Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 93 76 Brakes
30 10 16 Mike Stefanik Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford 66 73 Engine

RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Justin Bonsignore, Time: 18.427 Seconds, Speed: 97.683 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 25 mins, 57 secs Average Speed: 53.752 mph Margin of Victory: 0.179 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 8-11 (Car #39 spin Turn 2); 18-23 (Car #38 spin Turn 2); 32-36 (Car #2 spin backstretch); 38-43 (Car #99 accident Turn 4); 46-50 (Multi-car accident Turn 4); 56-61 (Car #9 spin Turn 2 <38>); 77-81 (Car #39 spin Turn 2 <38>); 86-89 (Car #50 spin <99>); 97-104 (Multi-car accident Turn 4 <99>); 111-114 (Cars #3, 93 spin Turn 4 <51>); 120-123 (Car #93 spin Turn 2 <9>); 43-145 (Car #58 spin Turn 4 <38>); 148-152 (Multi-car accident Turn 4 [Red Flag 4 mins.]). 13 for 65 laps.
Lap Leaders: Justin Bonsignore 1-79, Erick Rudolph 80-153, Ted Christopher 154.
Total Laps Led: Justin Bonsignore 79, Erick Rudolph 74, Ted Christopher 1. 2 changes involving 3 drivers.

CONTINGENCY AWARDS
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Gary McDonald, 26 Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Chevrolet
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Justin Bonsignore, 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Richie Pallai, Jr., 39 Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Tom Rogers, Jr. *, 9 MissMarianaLee.com Chevrolet
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD: Ted Christopher, 36 Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet

Race Story By Polly Reid

In October, Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees is the worst thing to see coming out of the bullpen at a Major League Baseball game. The veteran pitcher has 42 saves in the post season as a member of the Bronx Bombers. He's one of the best at finishing a game.
130 miles to the northeast of Yankee Stadium sits another venue that has a phenomenal closer. Stafford Motor Speedway, in Connecticut, is Yankee Stadium to Ted Christopher. The 53-year-old is a multi-time track champion and had 11 tour wins on the half-mile before Sunday's Fall Final for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Christopher is one of the best when it comes to finishing a race at Stafford
So when it came down to the ninth inning, the closing laps, at Stafford, the 36 machine with TC aboard was trying to close another dramatic chapter in the history of the Fall Final. Insert a 19-year-old Erick Rudolph from Ransomville, New York and you have your setting for a Fall Classic.
Rudolph played the pit strategy just right to lead to the white flag, but Christopher, who took tires late, had run him down and had his right-front tire almost to the door of Rudolph’s No. 98 Mohawk Northeast/Original Pizza Logs machine. The two drag-raced to turn one and made contact, nearly causing both to spin. Christopher gathered it up and took the lead as Rudolph washed up the track and saw Christopher sail away like an unhittable fastball.
Christopher finished the lap and took the victory in the Fall final for his 42nd career Modified Tour win, the same number of saves as Rivera and the jersey number he wears too. "He knew I had a faster car and he had to protect the track as much as he could," said Christopher in victory lane. "I had my right-front to his left-rear, we were actually touching coming off the turn (four). He was trying to protect and I was trying to win. I think the faster car won."
It's the fourth time in his career that won a race at Stafford by taking the lead the lead in the final 10 laps. It was the first time in TC's career where he led only the final lap of a Tour race to win it.Rudolph was able to hang on to a top five finish after the contact in one, but was very upset with the final lap of the race. He managed to explain his side of the story and was not pleased with the outcome.
"I was going into (turn) one just like I did every other time," said an emotional Rudolph after the race. "Ted just stuffed it in there and almost took us both out. I don't know. It's typical of him. He's a flat out idiot."
It ruined what could have been his second-career Tour win and the best run of the season for the 98 team. Still, Rudolph was able to make a positive out of what turned into a fifth-place finish."I can't complain of how the car was handling," said Rudolph. "I am proud of the team and how we got it together and how we ran. We can take something away from this as we had a good car if we come back and run here."
Then third-place runner and second-place finisher Ryan Preece had the bird's eye view for the final lap. The 2011 Stafford SK Modified Champion saw no reason to blame ether party."I almost thought I was going to win one like I lost one a couple of years back," said Preece. "Teddy got a run on Erick and I don't know if it was enough to say he was there or not, but Erick and Teddy got together and we all got sideways trying to avoid it."
Donny Lia finished behind Preece on the podium with Eric Beers and Rudolph in fifth.The win was extra special for Christopher who won the previous race at Stafford only to split with his current team for a few weeks. All the pieces were put back in place with the same personal and the results were the same.
"It's good to win," said Christopher. "I like coming back and knowing that we can run strong here. It was disappointing that we were third in points when we took some time off, but that's behind us."

Qualifying for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was pushed back a few hours because of the morning rain delay and while the clouds and mist threatened to shelve the thirty car field from time trials, the weather held as Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville, NY in the M3 Technology Chevrolet took down his first Coors Light pole award of the 2011 season . With a lap of 18.427 seconds, 97.683 mph, Bonsignore edged out Donny Lia, Ted Christopher, Eric Beers and Eric Goodale the top five for the front starting spot in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour CARQUEST Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway. “This morning I woke up, I was content to start sixth, lining up by points,” said Bonsignore referring to the weather. “I was shocked we actually got a chance to get in there- two weeks in a row we’ve had a pretty good window between the rain and to get everything in two weeks in a row, that’s pretty cool. Practice was less than ideal, we had some good runs then we went to do a mock run with new tires and the rain started to pick up just enough where we couldn’t get a good run. We just parked it, figured we had a good enough car, I didn’t think we’d get the pole, actually I shocked myself with this one. I thought we’d be a top five, I didn’t think we’d get the pole, it’s pretty cool, we haven’t gotten a pole all year.” “This car is pretty much going to be our ‘every week’ Tour car- it won’t be for just Bristol or Loudon anymore. The car was brand new at the beginning of this year, we ran it three times at Loudon and Bristol. Besides the one wreck at Loudon, this car hasn’t finished worse than fourth, it’s got a pretty good track record so far.” His third career pole, Bonsignore won the Fall Final pole award one year ago. “It’s really satisfying,” said Bonsignore about repeating the award. “Last year we got caught up in a wreck, none of our doing mainly because of the re-draw. They’ve done away with that so hopefully we can what I feel, unsettled from last year. I felt we had a car good enough to win, it was unfortunate we got taken out, not of anyone’s doing, it was a racing deal. We really wanted to win this one last year so hopefully we can do it this year.” “We’ve been running great lately, we’ve been putting a lot more focus on the Tour now that Riverhead is over. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for next year.” Two podium finishes in the last two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events, a third at Loudon and a third at Lime Rock Park, the 2010 Sunoco Rookie of the Year would be a good bet to take the CARQUEST Fall Final win for 2011.

POS CAR DRIVER TEAM TIME SPEED
1 51 Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y. M3 Technology Chevrolet 18.427 97.683
2 11 Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y. Spectro Performance Oils Ford 18.478 97.413
3 36 Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn. Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet 18.555 97.009
4 45 Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa. Horwith Frghtlnr/John Blewett Inc. Chevrolet 18.573 96.915
5 50 Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y. Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 18.574 96.91
6 4 Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass. "Mystic Missile" Dodge 18.604 96.753
7 6 Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn. T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 18.622 96.66
8 40 Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn. American Lamp Recycling/Mizzy Cst. Chevrolet 18.634 96.598
9 58 Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y. Perimeters for the Home Chevrolet 18.649 96.52
10 16 Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I. Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford 18.711 96.2
11 46 Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn. North End Auto Parts/Cape Cod Agts Chevrolet 18.723 96.138
12 52 Doug Coby, Milford, Conn. Reynolds Auto Wrecking Chevrolet 18.726 96.123
13 98 Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y. Mohawk N.E./Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet 18.728 96.113
14 9 Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y. * MissMarianaLee.com Chevrolet 18.736 96.072
15 2 Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn. Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Const. Ford 18.75 96
16 3 Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa. Cape Cod Copper/LI Mod Maniac Chevrolet 18.766 95.918
17 39 Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet 18.773 95.882
18 93 Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Monk Mechanics Chevrolet 18.776 95.867
19 99 Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J. Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 18.823 95.628
20 88 Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y. * Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka Chevrolet 18.898 95.248
21 10 Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn. Ron Bouchard's Auto Stores Chevrolet 18.904 95.218
22 8 Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y. Jayfor/Gallagher Enterprises Chevrolet 18.907 95.203
23 07 Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y. * Emerling Chevrolet Ford 18.942 95.027
24 18 Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y. Buoy One Seafood/MacLad Drywall Chevrolet 19.086 94.31
25 17 Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass. Silberman Heating & Cooling Chevrolet 19.092 94.28
26 33 Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn. Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 19.166 93.916
27 38 Glenn Griswold, Vernon, Conn. * Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 19.217 93.667
28 79 Chris Kopec, Palmer, Mass. Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 19.334 93.1
29 26 Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y. Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Chevrolet 19.844 90.708
30 22 Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, N.Y. Jerry Gradl Motors Chevrolet No Time

Sept 25 - Mountain Speedway - 1

Matt Hirschman started eighth and moved into the fourth spot when he got by Creveling on the second lap. One lap later, Pecko made a pass for the lead on Fischer stick and he took command of the event. The first yellow flag waved when Barry Callavini, Matt Wentz, Kyle Ebersole and Creveling tangled in turn four. From the second spot, Hirschman lined up alongside Pecko for the restart. One lap later he climbed to the lead. The yellow waved again, this time on lap six, when Fisher made contact with Todd Baer. Several others had contact in the incident, including Earl Paules and Roger Coss. Green flag racing resumed and only eight laps in, Ebersole attempted to get underneath Pecko in turns three and four. Ebersole’s left front tire caught the apron of the track, which shot him up into Pecko. By this point in the event, Bobby Jones, who appeared to be driving a rocket, held the second spot behind Hirschman. Brunnhoelzl retained third, followed by Ken Vogel, Jr. and 20th place starter, Brad Van Houten. With the green still flag back in the air, Dave Brigati cracked the top five on lap 22 and then lost the position to Baer three laps later. Despite many challenges for the lead, Jones was forced to settle for second, as Hirschman claimed his first win at the speedway in his first start of the season. Vogel finished third, followed by Baer and Brunnhoelzl.

Dave Brigati, Bobby Jones and Matt Hirschman were heat race winners. Earl Paules won the consi.

Modified (40-laps) 1. MATT HIRSCHMAN 2. Bobby Jones 3. Ken Vogel Jr 4. Todd Baer 5. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 6. Earl Paules 7. David Brigati 8. Nick Pecko 9. Lenny Fischer 10. Brad Van Houten 11. Allen Creveling 12. Tommy Wanick III 13. Jarred Nace 14. Pat Verwys 15. Kyle Ebersole 16. Joe Mooney 17.Barry Callavini 18. Roger Cross 19. Matt Wentz 20. Tom Casagrande DNS: Brian DeFebo

Sept 24 - New Hampshire Speedway - NASCAR - 9

Solid top 10 finish at New Hampshire for Team 3

By Jason Remillard, The Republican
LOUDON, N.H. - For those who have complained that the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway ceased being exciting, here's a big plate of crow. Archrivals Ron Silk and Rowan Pennink - with some help from a supporting cast of competitors - put the crowd on the edge of their seats Saturday. There were 17 lead changes, with polesitter Silk earning the most important one on lap 85 to win the New Hampshire 100.
"The car was great right from the beginning," Silk said. "We got out and led some laps. We didn't make any changes at the pit stop. I was happy with the car." It's safe to say the magic is back in the "Magic Mile," especially after a string of recent domination by NASCAR Sprint Cup star Ryan Newman, who blew an engine on lap 41.
"Ryan Newman was going to have his hands full if he didn't lose the engine," said runner-up Todd Szegedy. "It wasn't going to be a runaway for anybody." Szegedy made a charge late in the race to finish second, but Silk regained the points lead (2182 to 2174) with two races remaining - next Sunday at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway and Oct. 16 at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway. Silk, of Norwalk, Conn., scored his seventh career victory, second at New Hampshire and third of the season. Justin Bonsignore finished third, his career best at NHMS. A mechanical issue on the final restart relegated Pennink, who led the points for most of the season's first half, to 22nd. "The 93 (Pennink) was really good. I think me and him probably had the two best cars," Silk said. "I'm not sure what happened on the restart, but luckily we were able to edge him out."
Ted Christopher had to start in the rear of the 29-car field after missing Thursday's qualifying session to tend to his wife, who was injured at work. In typical "TC" style, he roared his way through the field and got as high as second before settling for fourth. The race was delayed 24 minutes at lap 38 when a light mist fell on the track. A good pit stop gave Silk the lead off pit road, but he had to start behind a few cars that opted not to stop. Defending Tour champion Bobby Santos III, who also missed qualifying Thursday, led briefly before Silk surged ahead again.
Drivers made good use of their bumpers - AKA "The Chrome Horn" - to push their competitors around the Magic Mile. At times, that allowed cars to slingshot past the ones in front of them, though it just as often simply pushed the front cars further ahead. If Saturday's excitement carries over to Stafford and Thompson, the 2011 season will have a wild conclusion. "It's a lot of fun, especially doing it with a guy like Todd Szegedy," Silk said. "It's going to go right down to the wire."

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 1 6 Ron Silk T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 100 190 10 Running
2 8 2 Todd Szegedy Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Const. Ford 100 170 Running
3 3 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 100 165 Running
4 29 36 Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet 100 160 Running
5 2 45 Eric Beers Horwith Frghtlnr/John Blewett Inc. Chevrolet 100 160 5 Running
6 5 98 Erick Rudolph Tempo Graphics/Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet 100 150 Running
7 20 25 Zane Zeiner ATC Dodge 100 146 Running
8 12 16 Mike Stefanik Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford 100 142 Running
9 7 3 Matt Hirschman Cape Cod Copper/Nash Road Mtrs Chevrolet 100 138 Running
10 17 58 Eric Goodale Perimeters for the Home Chevrolet 100 134 Running
11 23 14 Ken Woolley, Jr. Ling Trucking/Atlantic Sprinkler Chevrolet 100 130 Running
12 14 10 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard's Autos/Roush Yates Chevrolet 100 127 Running
13 15 71 Rob Fuller Draco Spring Ford 100 124 Running
14 16 40 Ryan Preece Mizzy Const./Logan Steel Chevrolet 100 121 Running
15 19 8 Glenn Tyler Jayfor Chevrolet 100 118 Running
16 11 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrkng/NEAJS.com Chevrolet 100 115 Running
17 10 7 Patrick Emerling * Emerling Chevrolet Ford 100 112 Running
18 28 4 Bobby Santos "Mystic Missile" Dodge 100 114 5 Running
19 25 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/MacLad Drywall Chevrolet 100 106 Running
20 21 88 Bryon Chew * Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka Chevrolet 100 103 Running
21 24 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 100 100 Running
22 6 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 99 102 5 Running
23 18 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Agts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet 96 94 Running
24 26 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 81 91 Axle
25 22 39 Richie Pallai, Jr. Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet 65 88 Accident
26 13 79 James Civali Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 65 85 Accident
27 9 28 Woody Pitkat Ramar-Hall Chevrolet 57 87 5 Engine
28 4 77 Ryan Newman Aggressive Hydraulics/Menards Chevrolet 40 79 Engine
29 27 38 Jake Marosz Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 18 76 Handling

RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Ron Silk, Time: 29.764 Seconds, Speed: 127.967 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 13 mins, 0 secs Average Speed: 86.959 mph Margin of Victory: 0.374 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 37-46 (Rain [Red Flag 24 mins.] <16>); 62-65 (Car #28 stalled pit road entrance <16>); 66-71 (Multi-car accident frontstretch <88>); 94-98 (Car #40 spin backstretch <52>). 4 for 25 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ron Silk 1-6, Eric Beers 7, Ron Silk 8-9, Rowan Pennink 10, Ron Silk 11-13, Rowan Pennink 14-15, Ron Silk 16-18, Rowan Pennink 19-20, Ron Silk 21-22, Rowan Pennink 23-30, Ron Silk 31-33, Rowan Pennink 34-43, Woody Pitkat 44-47, Bobby Santos 48, Woody Pitkat 49-51, Ron Silk 52-82, Rowan Pennink 83-84, Ron Silk 85-100.
Total Laps Led: Ron Silk 66, Rowan Pennink 25, Woody Pitkat 7, Eric Beers 1, Bobby Santos 1. 17 changes involving 5 drivers.

CONTINGENCY AWARDS
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Ted Christopher, 36 Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Ron Silk, 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Ron Silk, 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Patrick Emerling *, 07 Emerling Chevrolet Ford
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD: Ron Silk, 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet


Sept 22 - New Hampshire Speedway - NASCAR - Time 7

Ron Silk, looking to get his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points lead back, will start on the point for Saturday's New Hampshire 100 after winning the Coors Light Pole Award Thursday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Silk had a top lap of 29.764 seconds (127.967 mph) around the 1.058-mile oval. It was the fifth career pole for the Norwalk, Conn., driver, who won at the ‘Magic Mile’ in 2009. The New Hampshire 100 will be carried by SPEED Saturday at 1 p.m., prior to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Silk finished 15th at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., last week to drop 12 points behind Todd Szegedy in the championship standings. Szegedy, who won at Lime Rock and earlier this season at New Hampshire, qualified eighth Thursday. Eric Beers, who was fastest in Thursday’s practice, qualified second with a lap of 29.793 (127.842), followed by Justin Bonsignore at 29.799 (127.816). NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman, the defending race winner, and Erick Rudolph rounded out the top five. Rowan Pennink, Matt Hirschman, Szegedy, Woody Pitkat and rookie Patrick Emerling completed the top 10. The New Hampshire 100 is set to go green Saturday at 12:45 p.m.

Qualifying Results
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour - New Hampshire 100 Lineup
Race Saturday; Qualifying Thursday
at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H.
Lap Length: 1.058 miles
1. (6) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 127.967
2. (45) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 127.842
3. (51) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 127.816
4. (77) Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind., Chevrolet, 127.419
5. (98) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 126.977
6. (93) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 126.952
7. (3) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 126.842
8. (2) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 126.812
9. (28) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 126.795
10. (07) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 126.728
11. (52) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 126.686
12. (16) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Ford, 126.643
13. (79) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 126.576
14. (10) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 126.559
15. (71) Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass., Ford, 126.412
16. (40) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 126.061
17. (58) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.969
18. (46) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.815
19. (8) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.645
20. (25) Zane Zeiner, Bath, Pa., Dodge, 125.628
21. (88) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.006
22. (39) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet, 124.940
23. (14) Ken Woolley, Jr., Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 124.609
24. (99) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 123.115
25. (18) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 122.497
26. (33) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 122.462
27. (38) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 117.963
28. (4) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, No speed
29. (36) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, No speed

Sept 18 - Lancaster Speedway - US OPEN - RoC - 2

Quote from Jimmy Zacharias - Kinda explains the circumstances of Matt's day

"- And as far as the storace/hirschman deal.... Yes he was in my car..... But under no circumstances did me, my father or any of the guys have ANY part of what had happened... Storace was the only one who had any control over that... Yeah it did look bad because i was in 2nd but nothing i can do or say will change what had happened... so let the Sh*t talking begin...... "

Chuck Hossfeld held off Matt Hirschman by inches and won both the Race of Champions (ROC) Modified Tour 100 Sunday as well as the ROC season championship.
"Matt's a great racer and we just happened to beat him today," said Hossfeld.
On the drop of initial green flag, polesitter Hossfeld took the lead but Daren Scherer took it away a lap later. Scherer maintained the front spot until Hirschman grabbed the lead out of Turn Two on lap 60. On lap 71, Hirschman got trapped in traffic and Jimmy Zacharias grabbed the lead.
Hossfeld sailed into second on lap 79 and then overhauled Zacharias for the winning pass with 8 laps remaining. He then survived the last lap side-by-side battle with Hirschman.

R.o.C. Modified Tour 100 finish:
parentheses indicates starting position
1. (1) Chuck Hossfeld #22
2. (19) Matt Hirschman #60
3. (4) Mike Leaty #25
4. (13) Billy Putney #88
5. (2) Daren Scherer #3
6. (20) Patrick Emerling #2
7. (5) Karl Hehr #59
8. (11) Tom McGrath #12
9. (12) Rusty Smith #34
10. (7) Kyle Ebersole #5
11. (14) Tony Hanbury #32
12. (9) Doug Reaume #14
13. (13) Dean Rykema #24
14. (16) Chris Ridsdale #1
15. (18) Kevin Lewis #44
16. (17) Jimmy Zacharias #71
17. (3) Tommy Cloce #69
18. (_8) Dave Wollaber #15
19. (21) John Ramsey #25R
20. (6) Jan Leaty #6
21. (15) Jim Storace #47

Lap leaders: 1: #22, 2-59: #3, 60-70: #60, 71-92: #71, 93-100: #22.

Sept 17 - Lime Rock - NASCAR - 12

NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR
'66/99' PRESENTED BY TOWN FAIR TIRE

by Polly Reid
The expectation was there, the guarantee was not. After earning the Coors Light Pole Award, then dominating two thirds of the race, Todd Szegedy found himself fourth on a restart after pitting. On the final restart with seven to go, Szegedy now in third, headed to turn one, first getting by Justin Bonsignore then side my side Mike Stefanik past the start finish line heading into Big Bend emerging the leader for the final time and never looked back to score the win in the NASCAR Whelen Modified 66/99 presented by Town Fair Tire at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT. Stefanik crossed for a solid second on the 1.5 mile, eight turn road course with Bonsignore third, Richie Pallai fourth and Ted Christopher fifth. Ron Silk the point leader going into Lime Rock was caught up in a caution on a restart and suffering right front damage, was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop. The TS Haulers crew was able to get Silk back out but the Norwalk, CT driver who threatened for the lead in the early going finished his day 15th. Szegedy’s win combined with Silk’s finish launched the Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction Ford into the points lead by 12 over Silk. “I never once thought we had this in the bag,” stated Szegedy. “I know we had a superior car but I had to start fourth then start third, I knew we had to get a good restart and get past these guys because I didn’t know how good the guys were behind me. You never know what you’re going to do in that kind of a situation because you’re not used to sailing into a corner and have to downshift twice and be in control while you’re braking because that just doesn’t happen in ovals. Mike gave me plenty of room, I had my downshifting down and then just drove away. The car was awesome. We made it, it was pretty amazing.”; Szegedy was challenged early on by Silk and Erick Rudolph - the trio pulling away from the pack but as the laps ticked on, Szegedy built a comfortable lead until the competition yellow waved on lap 20. A tangle mid-pack on the restart reined in the field as the three cars involved were able to drive away. By the half, lap 33, Szegedy in command led Rudolph, Silk, Stefanik, Bonsignore and Pallai in sixth. Ted Christopher who was running fourth, had spun coming down hill just before the half, but recovered to get back into the top ten shortly after the half way point.
The game changer came when the a full course caution flew on lap 41. With 25 to go, it was wholesale pit stops. Ed Flemke and Doug Coby stayed out and led the field while Stefanik coming in third gained valuable positions coming out of the pits first after a four tire change, Szegedy and Bonsignore followed. On the restart, what started in Big Bend concluded in the Left Hander, as at least eight cars were involved in the yellow that flew including Silk who pulled away with right front damage. The restart repeated, Coby took over the front spot on lap 52, but two circuits later, the day would end for Coby after getting into the dirt heading to the Downhill. As Stefanik got by, Bonsignore had the front row seat to the conclusion of Coby’s day. “He crossed in front of me, it didn’t look like he hit all that hard but coming back around, he hit a lot. I guess he tried to bring it back out of the dirt too quick he probably should have rode it down the hill as much as he could - sometimes in road racing, I know I haven’t done it much, but you have to ride the dirt out until you can get the car back straight. He just didn’t have the right angle like Mike said and he didn’t have a prayer of saving it, I don’t think the best could have.”;
The red flag was brought out for the clean up and when the green waved it was a seven lap dash that did not disappoint the fans. Stefanik led to the green with Bonsignore, Szegedy, Pallai and Flemke the top five. Christopher recovered from his earlier off track excursion and restarted 12th. Szegedy made his move to become the new leader on lap 61 getting by first Bonsignore then Stefanik, the Ridgefield, CT driver finishing what he started a year ago- a trip to victory lane at Lime Rock Park. “I almost blew it today,” admitted Szegedy. “The combination of the car wouldn’t turn, driving it in hard, just as hard with the other set of tires and it just didn’t stick, it did it twice - it got dicey and at that point I said I really have to use my head here, I got a good car, I got to take it easy and just pass them when I can and that’s what I did. Trust me, even when I was leading for once I never thought I had this one in the bag- I know how it works.”; Referring to the results one year ago when Szegedy literally dominated the entire event only to be bested by Dale Quarterly with new tires in the closing circuits, Szegedy never counted out his competitors. “I knew Silk was going to be tough- he came out of road racing go karts like I did so I knew that he was going to be good and those guys know how to set up a race car. I was also worried about Teddy of course, Stefanik and Justin- Justin came out of go karts too so I knew those were the guys I had to beat. But today, I didn’t points race, I came here to win- I came here to get the pole and win. I was going to do everything I could to get this win.”; Stefanik in the Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises machine simply could not hold off Szegedy as the Coventry, RI driver put it, we’re all in ‘Todd’s sandbox’. “He was just too strong on the front stretch for us - we were decent through out. Our car took a while to get going, it seemed like 8 or 10 laps the we would run our best lap - I think lap 14 was our best lap of the race today, I don’t know why and talking to Justin he said his car was sliding around, it just wouldn’t hook up, it’s not that it was ill handling it just slid a lot. I had a lot of fun today - I almost messed up down there and down shifted too early in second and almost spun the thing out that was the only real bad, bad error -I probably made another 2000 errors I could hide….somewhat. It’s just a game of mistakes here.”; Stefanik continued, “The guys did a great job on the pit stop, I have to thank our team again for the outstanding pit work that they do - it’s a little tougher on the guys here because of the wheel spaces we have to run to get our cars prepared for the road course so it makes it a little more tricky but they did an outstanding job.”; In the hunt all weekend from opening practice to the checkers, Bonsignore from Holtsville, NY in the M3 Technology modified summed up his day. “After pitting, we kind of got jammed up in the short chute after Big Ben and I already have a broken thumb and I jammed it again, I got into Mike a little bit and re-injured that - once the adrenaline kicked back in it didn’t hurt and we got the restart, got a couple of free spots, Teddy drove off, Doug wrecked- Todd, I don’t know where Todd was going into one he messed up off of the last corner, we went down the front stretch and he drove it probably three markers deeper than I would of and I said I’m not going to make I don’t know how he’s going to make the corner, then we got to second and I’m feeling good ready to go thought we had a good chance at Mike and the red flag killed it. Just like Mike’s car we just took too long to get going, we needed 10 to 12 laps -right there at the end we were clicking off some low 54’s - I thought we had a chance. All in all, it was just a great day.”; “When I was younger, this was all I raced was road courses,” said Bonsignore about his kart days. “Never in anything I had to shift or anything with this much horse power but driving these kind of tracks, staying smooth you have to have a lot of finesse - the more you can minimize the mistakes - that’s all it is, just stay on the track. I mean Teddy probably had one of the better cars but if you don’t stay on the track it’s tough. That’s the name of the game like Mike said you can hide a lot of your mistakes but sometimes you mess up bad. It’s all abut minimizing your mistakes as much as you can and just staying on the course.”; Three wins for Szegedy this season, car owner Mike Smeriglio has witnessed his team grow and gel as the season continues. “I’m happy for the guys, Szegedy earned this one the hard way. He kept his cool, he had a better car, the team did an awesome pit stop - you know we have a bunch of guys that are newbie’s going over the wall - I couldn‘t be more proud of them.”; The new points leader, Smeriglio did not hesitate to explain their strategy, “It’s pretty simple, just keep digging, run well, go for wins and the points will come around. We’re disappointed the 6 car couldn’t race us in the end today but there’s three races to go, I know they’re going to be right there with us all the way to the end.”; A road course it particularly stressful on a team, squeezing in the extra preparation needed in the midst of a diverse schedule that is also the busiest part of the season- Lime Rock marking the fourth of six consecutive events. Crew chief Phil Moran reunited with Szegedy this year knew what was at stake. “Todd’s so good here as a road racer and after last year, loosing the race, he got beat by strategy and tires, we weren’t going to let that happen to us this year. I wanted to give him a good car. I know he had one last year so we worked out butt off to get it that way this time.”; From his perspective, Moran continued. “When we did the fuel stop, I talked to Todd about how the car felt and he said the car was awesome. That was about 15 to 20 laps away from our pitting for tires. It did enter my mind about not pitting but it would have ticked him off so much if I didn’t pit because that’s all we talked about in the shop all week, we had to do it, we had no choice. I knew everybody else was on the same page, in the same strategy zone that we were in because they saw what it did for Quarterly last year, we had to do it.”; But it didn’t make for an easy watch in the final going. “The biggest thing that I did with the car this week” explained Moran, “was to make sure nothing broke on it because road courses are 80 percent driver and the rest is car preparation as far as anything breaking, nothing falling off the car so that’s what we had to do. Todd’s so good here- he knows where to pass and how to pass, that’s what did it for us.”; “The team that we have is incredible, the guys come to the shop all the time, I’ve got a great group of guys and I couldn’t ask for a better car owner. Mike gives me everything that I need and then some- including moral support which is a big thing at this level of racing- you don’t see that much anymore.”;
Informed he was the new points leader in the post race interview, Szegedy was surprised. “That’s a big deal but they’re hot on our heals- we have three to go and I said two races to ago, we’re right there, but we have four left, I can get into the points lead in one race but I can loose it back in one race too. We can’t change anything we’re doing, I just have to continue to keep going. The way I look at it is if we win the championship that’s a pretty awesome thing especially coming from the back the way we did, starting off real bad getting wrecked in the first two races like we did. If we finish second it’s still a great year because we put a new team together, reunited with my crew chief, we did a lot, built two race cars, we have a third one we’re building, we have a group of dedicated guys - almost all new guys on the team so it’s pretty amazing for us to be running the way we are.”;
Szegedy at 2,004 points, Silk with 1,992 and Rowan Pennink still in it with 1,911- the season maybe winding down but it is far from over. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the third and final visit of the year for the New Hampshire 100 on Saturday September 24th.


LAKEVILLE, Conn. - Todd Szegedy battled back after losing the lead during on a pit stop and then making an off-track excursion to win the NASCAR Whelen Modified 66/99 presented by Town Fair Tire at Lime Rock Park on Saturday. It was a sweet win for the Ridgefield, Conn., driver - who led all but the last four laps before being relegated to second in last year's inaugural tour visit to the 1.5-mile, eight-turn road course. With his victory on Saturday, he took over the lead in the championship standings. Szegedy, who had experience at LRP in other racing series prior to his NASCAR career, dominated the early action on Saturday. He started from the pole in his No. 2 Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction Ford and opened up a lead of more than two seconds early. However, he fell to fourth following a pit stop during a caution on Lap 44. He later went off course, but quickly recovered and set out after the leaders. After moving up to second on Lap 60, Szegedy took the lead from Mike Stefanik a lap later and then pulled away from the field to win by a margin of 1.796 seconds. Stefanik finished second followed by Justin Bonsignore, Richie Pallai, and Ted Christopher. Rowan Pennink, Erick Rudolph, Eric Beers, Kevin Goodale and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top 10. Previous race winner Doug Coby looked poised to go back-to-back but wrecked while in the lead on Lap 55 and finished 18th. The race featured seven lead changes among five drivers. Szegedy led a race-high 49 circuits. The win was Szegedy's 17th career victory and the third this season for the 2003 tour champion. Three wins and podium finishes in six of the last eight events have propelled him to the top of the standings, with 2,004 points over 1,992 for Ron Silk, who finished 15th on Saturday. The Lime Rock race marked the fourth of six-consecutive weeks of racing for the Whelen Modified Tour. The busiest portion of the 2011 schedule started at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Aug. 24 and will get a break following Stafford (Conn,) Motor Speedway on Oct. 2, a stretch of six races in 40 days.
The next event on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is the New Hampshire 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 24.

1 1 2 Todd Szegedy Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Const. Ford 66 190 10 Running
2 5 16 Mike Stefanik Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford 66 175 5 Running
3 4 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 66 165 Running
4 7 39 Richie Pallai, Jr. Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet 66 160 Running
5 9 36 Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations/M&T Enterprises Chevrolet 66 155 Running
6 8 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 66 150 Running
7 3 98 Erick Rudolph Mohawk N.E./Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet 66 146 Running
8 17 45 Eric Beers Horwith Frghtlnr/John Blewett Inc. Chevrolet 66 142 Running
9 12 50 Kevin Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 66 138 Running
10 11 07 Patrick Emerling * Emerling Chevrolet Ford 66 134 Running
11 16 10 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard's Auto Stores Chevrolet 66 135 5 Running
12 15 3 Matt Hirschman Cape Cod Copper/Riverview Chevrolet 66 127 Running
13 18 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Agts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet 66 124 Running
14 19 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 66 126 5 Running
15 2 6 Ron Silk T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 65 118 Running
16 20 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 63 115 Running
17 6 4 Bobby Santos "Mystic Missile" Dodge 61 112 Running
18 14 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrkg/Johnson Ldscp Chevrolet 54 114 5 Accident
19 13 58 Eric Goodale Perimeters for the Home Chevrolet 50 106 Running
20 10 79 James Civali Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 46 103 Accident
21 21 88 Bryon Chew * Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka Chevrolet 3 100 Transmission

RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Todd Szegedy, Time: 53.902 Seconds, Speed: 100.182 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 27 mins, 22 secs Average Speed: 67.989 mph Margin of Victory: 1.796 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 20-21 (Competition caution); 23-26 (Car #58 off course Turn 3); 42-45 (Car #58 off course Turn 8); 47-51 (Mult-car accident Turn 3); 55-58 (Car #52 accident Turn 7 [Red Flag 7 mins.]). 5 for 19 laps.
Lap Leaders: Todd Szegedy 1-43, Jamie Tomaino 44, Ed Flemke, Jr. 45-46, Doug Coby 47, Ed Flemke, Jr. 48-51, Doug Coby 52-54, Mike Stefanik 55-60, Todd Szegedy 61-66.
Total Laps Led: Todd Szegedy 49, Mike Stefanik 6, Ed Flemke, Jr. 6, Doug Coby 4, Jamie Tomaino 1. 7 changes involving 5 drivers.

CONTINGENCY AWARDS
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Eric Beers, 45 Horwith Frghtlnr/John Blewett Inc. Chevrolet
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Todd Szegedy, 2 Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Const. Ford
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Erick Rudolph, 98 Mohawk N.E./Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Patrick Emerling *, 07 Emerling Chevrolet Ford
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD: Todd Szegedy, 2 Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Const.

ALISBURY - NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Ted Christopher turned road course racing into dirt track racing Saturday at Lime Rock Park in Salisbury. Christopher put together a most dramatic highlight reel of off course adventures on the way to a fifth place finish in Saturday's Whelen Modified 66/99 at Lime Rock. On lap 30, running in the top-five, Christopher did an off course 360 degree spin coming onto the front straightaway, seemingly never slowing as he rumbled back onto the track at speed in 12th place. Not long after he got fully sideways going into the chicane before powering out of the slide.But the most dramatic move of the day for Christopher came on lap 54 when he was running third behind leader Doug Coby and second place Todd Szegedy. Going into the Big Bend first turn, Szegedy went low to go under Coby, but before entering the corner, Christopher went under Szegedy to send the trio three-wide into the corner. Christopher's move ended with him rolling hard off course once again. Christopher said Szegedy hit him off course. "I can't control when somebody punts me," Christopher said. "But there's still a bunch of races left." Szegedy, the eventual race winner, laughed at the notion that he punted Christopher."I don't know how I could have done that being on the outside," Szegedy said. "We banged wheels, but he went straight. He probably shouldn't have done that. If he was that much better than me he could have waited until the next lap. But it worked out for the best." Eventual second place finisher Mike Stefanik said he was laughing in his car watching from behind as Christopher tried to complete the pass. "I actually started laughing when I saw how hard Teddy went into the corner with no angle," Stefanik said. "I was like 'This ought to be good.' You really sit back and kind of chuckle to yourself like you're at the movies. Obviously Teddy couldn't turn and kind of locked up the front tires and went off into the dirt. You're not surprised, you just kind of chuckle a little bit. This really is a game of mistakes and Teddy drives so freaking hard all the time that, it's impossible for even road course veterans to not make a mistake here, and when you're charging like that - he went off a few times right around me - and every time you could see him leaving the track. I don't wish that on anybody, but sometimes you see the situation and you just say, 'Ok, this ought to be good.'"

Good Day Gone Bad
Doug Coby saw an almost guaranteed quality finish end up crunched against a Lime Rock Park barrier off of West Bend after he got off course while leading with 11 laps remaining. "I got the left sides off in the dirt over there and I tried to straighten it out and I thought I did and then the thing just hooked to the right and I just hit the fence head-on up there," Coby said. "It was just one of those things where we were all kind of getting crazy. I was just trying to settle in and I just missed the corner over there and just barely dipped the left sides off by maybe six inches. "It was so stupid. All I had to do was ride around and get top-five out of the deal. We actually had a really fast car. I had a car that could run with [the leaders]. It sucks. Just my own stupidity and inexperience." Coby, who won the in the most previous Whelen Modified Tour event last Sunday at Thompson International Speedway, ended up 18th in the 21-car field. Stefanik and third place finisher Justin Bonsignore both had front row views of Coby's hard wreck. Stefanik said Coby likely reacted to quickly to try to get back on track instead of trying to ride out the miscue on the grass. "He was leading right in front of me and he kind of took a wide entry into West Bend and I said to myself 'Oh, I can't go in that wide.'" Stefanik said. "Your natural instinct is to get back on the track and get going but you've got to look like 'Ok, I screwed up. Ok, that's me.' You've got to mow some lawn before you get back on the track." Said Bonsignore: "I guess he tried bringing it out of the dirt too quick. He probably should have just rode it down the hill as much as he could. Sometimes in road racing you've got to ride the dirt out until you get the car back straight. He just didn't have the right angle. He really didn't have a prayer of saving that."-

NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR
'66/99' PRESENTED BY TOWN FAIR TIRE QUALIFYING
by Polly Reid
After topping the charts in both NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour “66/99” presented by Town Fair Tire practice sessions here at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT, Todd Szegedy in the Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction Ford followed up his time around the 1.5 mile road course with a 53.902 second lap, 100.182 mph to score the Coors Light Pole Award, his second pole award of the season. “It’s always nice to be the quickest car,” smiled Szegedy. “That’s half the battle that’s over with. Start up front and hopefully we’ll stay out of trouble.”
Following Szegedy in the line up will be points leader Ron Silk in second, Erick Rudolph third, Justin Bonsignore and Mike Stefanik the top five. Szegedy of Ridgefield, CT was aware he would be closely watched. “I know a lot of people expect me to get the pole but that puts a lot of pressure on you because now you really want to do well. The track is a lot different than last year, there was a lot of nose grip and this year it’s very tight, you know we’re a second off from last year.” “Mike Smeriglio gives me phenomenal equipment- Phil Moran, the countless hours he spends on these cars is just absolutely phenomenal. He spent all last Monday night, he was in the shop all night long, he slept there to make sure this car was perfect for me. He felt a lot of pressure too to make sure it was right.” “I still haven’t figured out the tricks,” said Szegedy about adjusting to a road course, even with his past experience. “I know I can pick up another second or more, as crazy as it sounds, but I really believe I can just by driving the corners better. I feel I’m messing up in some corners that I could carry more speed, I’m not going to say which corners, but I feel I can carry a lot more speed and that’s going to pick up a lot more time. I need to figure out my entry, back to the throttle - not running a road course on a regular basis, you have to figure it all out again.” Szegedy who led the inaugural event one year ago, dominated until the closing circuits when Dale Quarterly on fresh Hoosiers made the pass for the win. “We do know that tires make a big difference and there will be a tire change tomorrow- it’s just a matter of when, we’re not sure.” “To me, it’s a challenge,” added Szegedy about the road course on the NWMT schedule.” “I wish I could come here every weekend and run. If I was a multi-millionaire there is no doubt I would be here.”

Sept 11 - Thompson Speedway - NASCAR - RACE 15 - SHOWDOWN 34

UNOH SHOWDOWN - THOMPSON INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
by Polly Reid

It was all about the cash at the end of the line. No points, 50 green flag laps of racing with the pot at the end of the run a cool $15,000 to the winner. A combined race of the top finishers in both the Northern Thompson 125 and the Southern Thompson 125, the UNOH Showdown lined up with the best of both, a 36-car field ready to duel it out for the impressive payday. It started with an old fashioned coin toss, the Southern Modified Tour winning the flip, electing to start on the outside row. With the Northern field lined up on the inside led by Doug Coby and the Southern field on the outside with Southern Thompson 125 winner George Brunnhoelzl, III setting the pace. But at the checkers it was Coby backing up his dominating Northern Thompson 125 victory with an equally impressive performance in the highly anticipated UNOH Showdown taking the UNOH Showdown title and including the sponsored laps led, raising Coby’s total winnings to an unofficial $20,000 plus payday for the once struggling to get a full time Tour ride driver. Ted Christopher followed across for second, James Civali third, Brunnhoelzl III fourth and Eric Goodale fifth. “Anyone who doubted that 125 was boring and I had it easy, I think we proved we had the car to beat tonight with all those cautions. I hope we put on a good show for all the fans. I want to thank UNOH and Whelen for putting on this show and of course Thompson Speedway, this is a great way to start September. The car was unbelievable, I’ve never had a car like this at any race track.” Coby stepped out to lead from the green but was soon challenged by Ted Christopher who moved into second before the fifth circuit had clicked off. Carrying the momentum, Christopher wasted no time going low in turns three and four getting under Coby for the lead on the 7th lap taking Preece and Civali with him. Coby was shuffled back to fourth when the second caution waved on lap nine. The restarts at this point played into Coby’s favor and one circuit into the restart was side by side with Christopher and eventually completed the pass taking the lead over for good on lap 13. Coby survived six more restarts, warded off the challenges of Ryan Preece, Civali then Christopher to take the checker flag for his second win of the day. “I’ve never had a car like that before, ever, it was awesome. Sure there were some bobbles here and there but I could go anywhere I wanted to- our team deserves it. This is just unbelievable.”
“The guys gave me a good car there,” said Christopher. “Just not quite good enough. Congratulations to Doug, they had a great car here all day. Once you get it right here it seems like your day keeps going, he probably wishes he had a few more races today.” Civali backed up his podium finish earlier in the day with a solid third, the Meriden, CT driver pleased with his day at Thompson. “We had a couple of good races today- the car was good we just snugged up just a little bit for this race and try to drive it harder. The first race we were saving a lot so we wanted to go hard and have something at the end but it got too tight, it never freed up for us at the end there we couldn’t hold off Teddy it was so tight, it was that close.” Sixth went to Bobby Santos who took the green 27th, seventh to front running contender Preece who was shuffled back and ran out of time. “That was a heartbreaker,” said Preece. ‘You know, if we went green all the way I think I would have had something for him. Our car was definitely starting to come in more and more, we were really fast but then the cautions came out and it seemed like we’d be on the bottom for the restarts, we’d get into fourth, we’d pick up a position to get back to Doug, the caution would come back out and we’d be right back at the bottom.” Eighth was Mike Stefanik who picked his way forward from a 32nd starting spot, ninth to Justin Bonsignore and Ed Flemke a solid tenth after taking the green 21st.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour - NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour -
UNOH Showdown Unofficial Results (Exhibition)
Sunday At Thompson International Speedway

1. Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 50 laps,
2. Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 50.
3. James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 50.
4. George Brunnhoelzl, III, W. Babylon, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
5. Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
6. Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 50.
7. Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 50.
8. Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Ford, 50.
9. Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
10. Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 50.
11. Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Ford, 50.
12. Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 50.
13. Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
14. L.W. Miller, Dushore, Pa., Chevrolet, 50.
15. Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
16. Frank Fleming, Mt. Airy, N.C., Ford, 50.
17. Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass., Ford, 50.
18. Tim Brown, Cana, Va., Chevrolet, 50.
19. Gary Putnam, Concord, N.C., Chevrolet, 50.
20. Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Ford, 50.
21. Thomas Stinson, Chester, Va., Chevrolet, 50.
22. Austin Pack, Winston-Salem, N.C., Chevrolet, 50.
23. Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Ford, 50.
24. Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 50.
25. Steve Park, East Northport, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
26. John Smith, Mount Airy, N.C., Chevrolet, 50.
27. Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 50.
28. Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 43, accident.
29. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 37, suspension.
30. Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 35.
31. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 34.
32. Jeff Malave, South Windsor, Conn., Chevrolet, 28.
33. Greg Butcher, Mocksville, N.C., Chevrolet, 15, shifter.
34. Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 12, engine.
35. Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 6, mechanical.
36. Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 3, axle.

Time of Race: 0 hours 45 minutes 16 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.994 seconds
Laps Led: Doug Coby 46, Ted Christopher 4
Caution Flags: 8
Lead Changes: 2 among 2 drivers

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NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR UNOH NORTHERN THOMPSON 125
by Polly Reid

Doug Coby can check one more thing off his list of things to accomplish in his racing career. The Milford, CT driver cruised to his second career victory in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Northern Thompson 125, his first win at Thompson International Speedway. James Civali crossed for second, pole winner Ryan Preece third, Ted Christopher and Todd Szegedy the top five. “This thing is stout at this race track,” said Coby. “You know we lost one here at the World Series, if any one was here you know we definitely had that one wrapped up. It’s been a dream of mine to make that right hand turn into victory lane. This is my first victory at Thompson in any division here. These guys with the 52 team, what an awesome car for this track. I want to thank Johnson’s Landscaping and Harvey from Reynolds Auto Wrecking, he makes this all happen for me. He believed in me last year and said he wanted to get me in a full time Tour ride and get you out there running every week. Without him, I wouldn’t be here, so Harvey and Kim, this one’s for you.” Pole winner Ryan Preece led the 25 car field to green with Coby tucking in for second, the pair pulling away from the pack. “I think Ryan and I were sizing each other up early on and for a while we broke away,” said Coby. By lap 25, it was Preece, Coby, Christopher, Eric Goodale and Erik Rudolph the top five. Four circuits later Coby made what turned out to be the winning pass- Coby moving low under Preece to take the lead on lap 29. Once out front, Coby put some distance from the field until the first caution on lap 59 waved- Eric Berndt into the turn one and two outside wall. On the restart, it was Coby lining up next to Preece, Christopher, Civali, Eric Goodale, Tom Rogers, Szegedy, Matt Hirschman, Ed Flemke and Bobby Santos the top ten. Going green, the field was quickly reined in to do it all again with a three car tangle in turn two- while all drove away, it was the end of the day for Buzz Chew. Just past half way on what became the final restart of the event, it was here that Civali was able to make his move into second place, a sudden threat for Coby. “The restart was big,” said Civali. “We got from second to fourth, the car was really good on the restart. Doug was a little bit off from what I was on the restart, I had a little shot at him there but then my car backed off a little bit and Doug’s got better, we really couldn’t do anything with him.” The field quickly became single file and while there was certainly passing going on, it was not for the lead. Coby was able to stretch away from Civali and while heavy lap traffic slowed the leader in the closing circuits, Coby’s lead appeared to not diminish as the Reynolds Auto Wrecking Chevrolet crossed the stripe for the victory. “You got to have something get away before you get something, at least in my racing career. Some guys like Ted seem to knock them off left and right but he’s also 18, 20 years older than me so I’m sure the next 18 years or so I’ll have a shot at winning more races.” Coby paused before continuing, “The stars were aligned today. We just had a really good car.”; “The whole weekend was good,” said John McKenna, crew chief for winning car owner Wayne Darling. “We’re ecstatic, especially at this place. We have a lot of young guys on the team that are enthusiastic. We’re going to try harder, keep it going. This is a tough series to win in, this is great.” “This is huge,” said Civali about finishing a strong second, another sign that the season for the Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac is taking an turn in the right direction. “Our only podium finish this year. We ran well in Canada and Bristol, we’ve made some changes in the car and it seems to be paying off. We just cracked the top ten in points after Canada and this is another good points run for us here - we’d like to get into the top five in points before the end of the season, we know it’ll be tough.” “I had a good car but it was Doug’s race to win,” explained Preece, “I was saving myself as much as I could, he just had a little more than I did. My car started to get a little free in the center but it was still pretty good where I could still roll and pick up the throttle and have good bite off. I was happy to finish third.” “Thompson is everybody’s favorite track,” continued Coby. “I mean it’s not Loudon but it’s everybody’s favorite track - it’s the track I have the most career starts on besides Stafford and to have come close so many times and finally get it, it does mean a lot. It means a lot for it to happen on 9-11. I didn’t say that in victory lane but that is of course something everyone is thinking about, everything our country has been through. 10 years later we’re still living the American Dream but we’re all thinking about the men and women that serve our country, that protect us.”; Points leader Ron Silk closed out the Northern Thompson 125 with a solid top ten finish crossing the line 9th. Todd Szegedy continues to make strides forward, his fifth place finish adding valuable points, the gap now at sixty points with Silk at 1874, Szegedy 1814. Rowan Pennink who finished 8th stands third in points at 1761.

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Doug Coby put together an unforgettable Sunday drive at Thompson International Speedway.
The Milford, Conn., driver collected his second career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win in the Northern Thompson 150 and then backed it up by winning the non-points UNOH Showdown in a matchup of the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified tours. Ted Christopher and James Civali finished second and third, respectively, in the UNOH Showdown. The 50-lap "dash for cash" matched the top finishers from the two 125-lap events earlier in the day. George Brunnhoelzl III, who won the Southern Thompson 125, earlier in the day, finished fourth in the showdown. By virtue of their wins, Brunnhoelzl and Coby started on the front row for the showdown. Coby took the lead on Lap 1 and never looked back. Eric Goodale was fifth, followed by Bobby Santos, Ryan Preece, Mike Stefanik, Justin Bosignore and Eddie Flemke. Coby also dominated the Northern Modified 125. He was followed across the line by James Civali, Ryan Preece, Ted Christopher and Todd Szegedy. Coby's other career win was at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway on April 30, 2006. Tom Rogers Jr. was sixth, followed by Eric Goodale, Rowan Pennink, points leader Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore. Brunnhoelzl took advantage of a late penalty to Steve Masse to grab the win in the Southern Thompson 125. Masse, making his NASCAR touring series debut, took the lead on Lap 47 of the Southern Thompson 125 from two-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Donny Lia. However, on a Lap 119 restart, Masse was posted for jumping the restart. That handed the lead to Brunnhoelzl, who cruised to his third win of the season. Burt Myers was second and Tim Brown third. Andy Seuss, Steve Park, Frank Fleming, Timmy Solomito, Lia, Thomas Stinson and Austin Pack rounded out the top 10. Masse, who did not heed the black flag, was scored with a 14th-place finish.
Brunnhoelzl leads Seuss by 134 points and John Smith by 162 with four races remaining. Both tours are back on track Saturday, Sept. 17 as the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has the Town Fair Tire 100 at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., and the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour is at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Northern Thompson 125
Unofficial Results
Sunday At Thompson International Speedway

1. (2) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 125 laps, 99.769 mph.
2. (8) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 125.
3. (1) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
4. (6) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
5. (9) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 125.
6. (10) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.
7. (4) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.
8. (16) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 125.
9. (5) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
10. (23) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.
11. (19) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
12. (17) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 125.
13. (13) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 125.
14. (20) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
15. (14) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 125.
16. (25) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 125.
17. (12) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 124.
18. (7) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 124.
19. (11) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Ford, 124.
20. (15) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 122.
21. (24) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 122.
22. (22) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 76, engine.
23. (21) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 65, mechanical.
24. (18) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 58, accident.

Time of Race: 0 hours 46 minutes 59 seconds
Margin of Victory: 2.087 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: R.Preece (119.879 mph, 18.769 seconds)
Caution Flags: 2 for 10 laps.
Lead Changes: 3 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Preece 1-19; D. Coby 20; R. Preece 21-28; D. Coby 29-125.

Standings: 1. R. Silk, 1874; 2. T. Szegedy, 1814; 3. R. Pennink, 1761; 4. D. Coby, 1719; 5. E. Beers, 1701; 6. B. Santos, 1655; 7. M. Hirschman, 1591; 8. J. Civali, 1571; 9. J. Bonsignore, 1562; 10. E. Goodale, 1490.

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THOMPSON —
Doug Coby remembers sitting atop the hill near the Little T Quarter Midget track aside Thompson Speedway, watching the big races down below. “We used to sit on the clubhouse hill, watching the weekly shows and Tour shows, whatever, and my dad used to make me sit up there with a stopwatch, making me realize that the guy in 13th may be going as fast as the leader, but when (the leader’s) running smooth, he’s not going to get caught,” Coby said. That was 24 years ago, but it’s a lesson he didn’t forget. Coby ran smooth Sunday and nobody caught him in either the Whelen Northern Modified 125-lap Tour race or the big-money, 50-lap Whelen Northern and Southern Division event that concluded the first UNOH Showdown at Thompson Speedway. The win got rid of some ghosts for the Milford driver. It was his second win on the Whelen Modified Tour, the first since 2006, and was his first at the track that he used to marvel at as a child. It also made up for a pair of near misses in the 2005 Thompson 300 and last year’s World Series. "I deserve it, I don’t want to sound cocky with that, but I’ve been through a lot with this Tour,” Coby said. “(I have) a lot of people believing in me to get the job done, and it means a lot to pay them back with good runs.”; He made those runs on the right day. Coby brought almost $30,000 in prize money back to his trailer for the day. “Purses in Modified racing are hurting these days, and this track put up the big money and we took it all,” Coby said. Coby took home $15,000 for winning the 50-lap race, $5,650 for leading all but four laps and another $5,000 for winning the Tour event. Ted Christopher, who finished second, was the only other driver to lead laps. “We were just too tight in the center, we fought it all day,” Christopher said.

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THOMPSON, Conn. - Doug Coby waited his whole career to win one race at Thompson International Speedway.
In a single memorable Sunday, Coby earned not just one checkered flag, but two - and a boatload of money to boot. Coby, of Milford, Conn., made up for a boring victory in his 125-lap NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points-race victory earlier in the day by pulling in the win in the 50-lap UNOH Showdown, which also consisted of the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour's best. "I've never had a car like that ever," Coby said. "Sure, there were a few bobbles, but it was awesome." George Brunnhoelzl III, of West Babylon, N.Y., started the inaugural showcase of NASCAR's Modified stars by winning a 125-lap points race for the Southern Tour. After scoring his first points-paying Tour win since April 30, 2006, at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, Coby prevailed in the $15,000 dash for cash. Including bonuses for leading laps, as well as the money earned in the 125-lap race, he pocketed more than $25,000 in one afternoon. For Coby, who won a $10,000-to-win Modified open race in the same car at Seekonk Speedway earlier this year, it was a bit of redemption after a pair of near-misses at Thompson, including in last October's season finale. "I have a lot of favorite racetracks, and Thompson is one of them," Coby said. "It means a lot to me to be here, not only because of the '05 (Thompson) 300 and last year's World Series."
While the first race was a snoozefest, the prospect of winning at least $15,000 drove the 36 competitors in the Showdown. The WMT drivers, who race at Thompson several times a year, held the advantage at the 5/8-mile track and dominated the finishing order. Coby, Ted Christopher, James Civali and Ryan Preece shuffled positions numerous times over the 50 green-flag laps. However, it was Coby occupying only spot that mattered for most of it. "In this type of stuff, everybody's good," Christopher said. "But those guys (Coby's team) were exceptional." In the opening race, Coby drove ahead of Ryan Preece on the ninth of 125 laps and never surrendered that lead, holding off a late charge by Civali for his second career checkered flag. The main reason for the flag-to-flag domination is that the fields get strung out easily due to the lack of a mandatory pit stop, especially when there are few caution flags to bunch the cars back together. Extending the race even another 25 laps would put a pit stop in play, where teams could opt to change tires. This event used to be a full 300-lap race, but it's no longer your father's Thompson 300 - like it or not. "I think it can be tweaked," Christopher said of the format. "There's no racing." A bit of drama took place late in the Southern Tour feature, as it appeared as though Steve Masse would cruise to the win in his first NASCAR touring series start. He had taken the lead from Donny Lia on lap 47 and was well in command until being penalized for taking off too soon on a late-race restart. Masse, of Bellingham, Mass., received the black flag from NASCAR officials for hitting the gas about 25 feet before the designated restart line, but he refused to serve the penalty. When Brunnhoelzl, who was running second at the time, was given the win, both he and Masse drove to Victory Lane. As Brunnhoelzl exited his car, the pro-Masse crowd greeted him with a chorus of boos. Defending WSMT champion Burt Myers finished second, while Masse was relegated to 14th place.
"Rules are rules," Brunnhoelzl said. "I've been on the other end of that."

Sept 9 - Stafford Speedway - MRS- 4

Stafford Springs, CT)---The Modified Racing Series made its second visit of the 2011 season to Stafford Motor Speedway for the 2nd Annual Shark Cycle 80. Chris Pasteryak was the big winner of the night, taking the lead on lap-2 and leading the rest of the way to pick up his first victory at Stafford Motor Speedway and his family's first modified victory at Stafford. The Shark Cycle 80 took the green flag with Ken Barry taking the point, but he was only able to lead the first lap as Chris Pasteryak moved to the lead on lap-2. Barry held second behind Pasteryak until lap-15 when Doug Coby took the position. Keith Rocco was now up to fourth after starting seventh, and Max Zachem was in fifth. Steve Reed was in sixth, Matt Hirschman was seventh, Todd Owen was eighth, Tom Bolles was ninth, and Rowan Pennink was tenth after starting from the 24th position. Pasteryak and Coby were separated by only a car length or two and they were beginning to pull away from Barry in third place. Barry remained in third until lap-31 when Rocco went by to take the spot. Pasteryak had stretched his lead out from several car lengths to nearly a half straightaway over Coby on lap-35 and Rocco wasn't making up any ground on the two lead cars, but that lead was all erased with 42 laps complete as Bolles spun in turn 2 to bring the race's first caution flag out. Pasteryak took the lead back under green with Coby in second. Rocco was third, with Hirschman fourth, and Ted Christopher was now up to fifth. Pennink was in sixth behind Christopher, with Barry, Rob Goodenough, Reed, and Les Hinckley rounding out the top-10. While Pasteryak and Coby continued to occupy the top two spots, Hirschman was all over the back of Rocco looking to take away the third position. But that fight for third was halted by the caution flag with 59 laps complete as Tommy Barrett, Jr. spun in turn 4. On the restart, Hinckley and Jack Bateman made contact with both cars spinning backwards into the turn 1 wall and Hinckley's car ended up on top of Bateman's car, which brought the red flag out. As the race went back to green, Tom Bolles spun in turn 2 to bring the caution back out before a lap could be completed. Pasteryak took the lead back under green with Coby and Pennink behind him. Hirschman settled into line in fourth, just ahead of Rocco and Christopher. Pennink went to the outside groove on lap-65 to move around Coby and take over second place. Pennink closed the gap to Pasteryak and he was right on Pasteryak's bumper with 10 laps to go. The action was slowed with 77 laps complete for a spin by Tom Bolles in turn 4, setting up a three lap dash to the finish. Pasteryak took the lead on the restart and he led Pennink around for the final 3 laps to take the victory. Rounding out the top-5 behind Pasteryak and Pennink was Coby, Hirschman, and Rocco.

Race Summary Sept 9, 2011 Stafford Springs (CT) Motor Speedway
Distance: 80 laps Time of Race: 55:02 Best Lap Time: 18.618 (Coby) Best Speed: 96.681
Margin of Victory: 0.183 Lead Changes: 1 (Lap 2) Lap Leaders: Barry (Lap 1) Pasteryak (Lap 2) Cautions: Laps 42 (Bolles) 59 (Barrett) 59 (Red for Bateman/Hinckley) 59 (Bolles) 76 (Bolles)

MODIFIED RACING SERIES SHARK CYCLE 80 (80)
1) Chris Pasteryak
2) Rowan Pennink
3) Doug Coby
4) Matt Hirschman
5) Keith Rocco
6) Ted Christopher
7) Dave Etheridge
8) Rob Goodenough
9) Dennis Charette
10) Lou Mechalides
11) Mike Holdridge
12) Tim Jordan
13) Norm Wrenn
14) Steve Reed
15) Bobby Drown
16) Tom Bolles
17) Max Zachem
18) Tommy Barrett, Jr.
19) Joe Doucette
20) Ken Barry
21) Shelly Perry
22) Les Hinckley
23) Jack Bateman
24) Todd Owen
25) Rob Summers

For 35 years, the Pasteryak family has been trying to get to victory lane at the famed Stafford Springs (CT) Motor Speedway. Friday night, September 9, it finally happened. With his Father Charlie, and Uncle Carl, watching from pit road, Chris Pasteryak, of Lisbon, CT., started third in a 25-car field, took the lead on lap two, and went on to win the Valenti Modified Racing Series “Shark Cycle 80” for his third victory of the 2011 season. “My family has been coming here since 1976. This is the first time we ever had a modified in victory lane here. A cool night, a great night,” said Pasteryak. The Stafford victory was Pasteryak’s sixth series win. Kenny Barry, of Preston, CT., chased Pasteryak for 12 laps before Doug Coby, of Milford, CT., moved into second on lap 14. Coby pursued the race leader until lap 63 when Rowan Pennink, of Huntingdon Valley, PA., who started 24th, took over second. Pennink closed fast on Pasteryak, often right on his bumper after late race restarts. “The restarts were killing me,” said Pasteryak. “It took five or six laps to get going again and then hold on.” Pennink overcame a leak in an earlier qualifying race. He passed the most cars in the feature race to win the Sunoco Hard Charger award. Coby, Matt Hirschman, Northampton, PA., and Keith Rocco, Meriden, CT., rounded out the top five. Ted Christopher, Plainfield, CT., Dave Etheridge, Portland, CT., Rob Goodenough, Swanzey, NH., Dennis Charette, Southington, CT., and Louie Mechalides, Tyngsboro, MA., finished sixth through tenth. Five caution flags and a red flag slowed the race that took 55 minutes to complete. 20 of the 25 cars that started the event finished on the lead lap.

Sept 4 - Delaware Speedway - 12
Ron Silk appeared to have a game plan that even a 48-minute rain delay could not derail. He patiently waited for the right moment on Sunday at Delaware Speedway and won the Delaware 150 in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour action. In the tour’s inaugural race beyond the borders of the United States, Silk, out of Norwalk, Conn., started from the outside pole position and held on to that track position until it was time make his move. That time came with a Lap 107 pass of Erick Rudolph, who led the race’s first 106 circuits after earning his second career pole position on Saturday afternoon. From there, it looked as if it was going to be smooth sailing for Silk behind the wheel No. 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet. By Lap 132, he built a 1.222-second lead on Rudolph, but a spin in Turn 4 by Rowan Pennink brought out the caution flag and allowed weather into the equation.
Pennink’s broken oil line forced NASCAR officials to display the red flag to allow the clean-up crew easier access to the spill which trailed from Turn 1 all the way into Turn 3 on the half-mile track. In the meantime, rain began to fall on the track. The weather coupled with the clean up sent the cars to pit road on Lap 143. After the weather delay, Silk survived two green-white-checkered finish attempts before beating Doug Coby to the finish line.
For Silk, it was his second win of 2011, having emerged victorious on May 27 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, and the sixth of his tour career. Todd Szegedy picked up third followed by James Civali and Eric Beers in fourth and fifth, respectively. Eric Berndt, Justin Bonsignore, D.J. Kennington, Jaime Tomaino and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top 10. Kennington, the reigning NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion hailing from nearby St. Thomas, Ont., was making his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut at his home track. Pennink’s DNF caused him to drop from second to third in the season standings with 11 of 16 races complete. Silk now leads Szegedy by 77 points and Pennink by 117. The race was slowed due to caution a season-high 13 times. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads to familiar territory for its next outing to take on its counterparts from the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour on Sunday, Sept. 11 at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway in the UNOH Showdown. Each tour will have a 125-lap feature event followed by a 50-lap exhibition event with competitors from each tour pitted against one another.NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Delaware 150 Unofficial Results
Sunday At Delaware Speedway, Delaware, Ont.
Lap length: 0.5 miles

Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 159 laps, 58.828 mph.
2. (5) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 159.
3. (8) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 159.
4. (7) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 159.
5. (4) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 159.
6. (10) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 159.
7. (18) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 159.
8. (6) D.J. Kennington, St. Thomas, Ont., Dodge, 159.
9. (16) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 159.
10. (13) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 159.
11. (3) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 159.
12. (9) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 159.
13. (12) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 159.
14. (1) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 159.
15. (17) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 159.
16. (15) Cole Powell, Mt. Brydges, Ont., Chevrolet, 156.
17. (11) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Pontiac, 153, accident.
18. (14) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 133, accident.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 21 minutes 5 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.362 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: E.Rudolph (102.360 mph, 17.585 seconds)
Caution Flags: 13 for 67 laps.
Lead Changes: 1 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: E. Rudolph 1-105; R. Silk 106-159.

Standings: 1. R. Silk, 1736; 2. T. Szegedy, 1659; 3. R. Pennink, 1619; 4. E. Beers, 1589; 5. B. Santos, 1531; 6. D. Coby, 1529; 7. M. Hirschman, 1473; 8. J. Bonsignore, 1428; 9. J. Civali, 1401; 10. E. Rudolph, 1386

Aug 27 - Mahoning Speedway - Poker 35- RAIN

Aug 24 - Bristol Speedway - NASCAR - 13

Matt had a top ten car maybe even a top five car but if you watch early in the race during one of the wrecks it looks like Matt gets through but actually clips his right front tire and bent everything beyond fixable

NWMT UNOH Perfect Storm 150
Qualifying
8/24/11
By Polly Reid

Bobby Santos has even more to smile about as the Franklin, Mass. driver followed up his stout practice sessions in the Mystic Missile Dodge with a 15.035 second lap at 127.622 mph to claim the Coors Light pole award for the NWMT UNOH Perfect Storm 150. “I’ve got a great car under me and the guys have done a great job all day” said Santos. “I think we’ve been pretty close to the top of the board all day and from what I learned here last year it’s really going to help me in tonight’s race. I’m really excited.”
“Car was a little bit on the free side which probably wasn’t a bad thing because when you’re here a lot of people are tight. It was kind of tough it out and drive the best lap I could,” Santos smiled. “I mean it’s scary running two laps as fast as you can on the bottom but it’s a lot of fun.”
It is Santos third Coors Light pole award of the season. “The pole means a lot here,” continued Santos. “Last year we were close and to get it this year, that’s pretty neat. The track is a lot of fun and there is a lot of prestige coming here in a modified- it’s pretty cool.”
A combined event with both NWMT and NWSMT, a separate Coors Light pole award went to the top NWSMT qualifier, Tim Brown of Cana, VA.
“We were good in the first practice with our Wall to Wall Chevrolet but we struggled in the second. We changed a lot of stuff on the car for qualifying and that’s what we’ll race. We seemed to be OK for qualifying but I’m still not happy with the car but it was good enough to get the pole for the southern side.” Brown hesitated before continuing, “But we still don’t stack up well to the rest of the field. We’re looking forward to getting this race on, try and make some adjustments on the car and contend for the win- especially for the southern side for the points.”
Mike Stefanik had mentioned motor issues during practice, their time posting deep in the field at 26th in the final session. The Flamingo Motorsports team, with a little help, finally discovered the culprit “The alternator wire was broken,” said crew chief Stan Szaban. “We changed the wire, put in new plugs and charged the battery- it seemed to be better for time trials.” Indeed a huge improvement, Stefanik will take the green flag sixth.
The hint of motor problems earlier in practice turned out to be a reality for Todd Szegedy. After qualifying the UNOH/Wisk Laundry Ford seventh, the decision was made to change motors. “We went through the car checking the motor,” said car owner Mike Smeriglio. “We can’t send him out with something that’s not safe.” The MSR team headed up by crew chief Phil Moran was last seen working feverishly pulling the motor. For the main event, Szegedy will drop to the back of the pack just prior to the green flag. Equipped with an in-car camera, the 2 car should make for interesting viewing during the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 for the fans.

NWMT UNOH Perfect Storm 150
By Polly Reid

Same car, same driver, different motor- same results. Ryan Newman of South Bend, IN made good use of timing to make a final pass for the lead with 22 to go repeating what he did a year ago- score the win in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour UNOH Perfect Storm 150 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Following Newman across the line for the combined annual NWMT and NWSMT event was Justin Bonsignore for second, Todd Szegedy third, James Civali and Patrick Emerling the top five.
“I felt we had a better car in practice this year than we did last year” said Newman. “You never know how it’s going to play out- I don’t think anyone anticipated the multiple yellows. Once we got racing which seemed to be around lap 75 then we got another caution and we came in, pitted for tires. Gary Putnam did a great job with both the car and the calls during the race. With Kevin ‘Bono’ Manion not being here after the Loudon deal this is a little bit of redemption for us just to come out here and redeem ourselves a little bit with respect to people’s opinions after the last Loudon.”
His fourth career NWMT win, second in a row at Bristol Motor Speedway for Newman, the key to the event appeared to be when the leaders pitted just past the half way mark on lap 86. Szegedy who had pitted earlier inherited the lead followed by L.W. Miller, Tim Brown, Civali, Andy Seuss with the fresh Hoosier group lining up after that including Bonsignore, Newman, Mike Stefanik, Eric Beers Eric Berndt the top ten. Civali made his pass to become the newest leader on lap 94- Civali, Szegedy and Newman making it a three car break away from the pack. The ninth and final caution on lap 104 changed the complexion of the top ten when contact between Ron Silk and Eric Goodale set off a chain reaction collecting up the hard charging Brown and Stefanik. Brown and Stefanik joined the growing list of teams that would collect DNF’s for the event. The double file restart with 38 to go lined up with Civali leading, Szegedy, Newman, Seuss and Bonsignore the top five. With 22 to go, Civali and Szegedy still out front, Newman timed his move to become the new and final leader on lap 128. “Civali got tight- he was good on the restarts, really fast, then he would get tight just past the center of the corners. Szegedy was on older tires so I wouldn’t say he was a sitting duck but we had an advantage over him in respect to just the tires themselves,” explained Newman. “Todd did a good job sneaking around the 79 while I was trying to work the bottom - I got around the 79 at the same time - Todd got a little tight off of turn four and I just timed it right going underneath him - it got me a head of him at the start finish line and so I just went a little extra harder going into turn one and got the lead.” From there on in it was a race for second. On the move, Bonsignore had worked his way into the top three, his sights on Szegedy making the pass low on the front stretch for second with 14 to go. As the green continued, the top four spaced out their run with Newman keeping a solid distance from Bonsignore to score the win, Szegedy worked to keep up with Bonsignore as his handling faded for third while Civali hung on to a somewhat distant fourth. Meanwhile Emerling recovered to score his best rookie finish of the season at fifth. “It was just really a fun race,” said Newman. “The yellow flags at the start of the race kind of slowed everybody’s thoughts but getting back to green flag racing I thought we saw some really good racing. We had some really good restarts, at least from my standpoint. I think I came from 8th to 3rd in a lap and a half. It was all fun- I have to thank Aggressive Hydraulics, Menards and Chevrolet for all of there help - this race car, it’s a lot of fun to come out here. Like I said on one hand we redeem ourselves after Loudon on the other hand starting all over to prove we can do it.” “We had a pretty good day- we had an early draw for time trials which killed us, we qualified 19th,” said Bonsignore. “The first half of the race we avoided some wrecks we should have been in, got lucky getting through those- a couple of guys pitted and on the restarts, we were on the outside, our car was really good on the top. We got up to fifth or sixth there and decided to pit when the leaders did - the guys had a great pit stop, we were the first ones off of pit row which I’ve got to thank my guys for that, that was the first time we’ve done that as a team. We were buying our time after that, picked them off one by one.” On the final restart, Bonsignore did have to start on the bottom. “That allowed Newman to get further away from us than I would have liked. He just got too far out in front of us then. I got past Todd with 20-something to go - the car was good but I had knocked the toe in around lap 100, 110, the car got too tight in the center. I don’t know if Newman was playing with us, he just took off the last 15 laps and we just kind of salvaged what we could. I’ve got to thank my guys, M3 Technology- since our first win we’ve been able to turn our season around, show we can run up in the top five every week.” The day started memorable for Todd Szegedy, the Mike Smeriglio owned Ford topping the speed chart in the first practice. The rest of the day however was a head scratching struggle for crew chief Phil Moran and the rest of the MSR team but when the checker dropped, crossing the line third had to feel like a near victory. “The day started off real smooth,” said Szegedy. “The car was real fast, we were fastest in the first practice but we were only quick for a couple of laps then the car would go right to tight, it was odd, different than what I’ve ever felt. It would be so tight I could come out of the corner and crank the wheel to the left and still be going straight. Exiting the corner I had the wheel turned to the left and still be going straight it wouldn’t be turning towards the infield like you’d think it would, that’s how tight it was- that was baffling. The second practice we came out pretty decent but at the end of practice I noticed a skip, something weird in the engine but I didn’t know if it was any cars around me because I was still going fast, I didn’t really feel the engine loose it’s power. As a per-caution, we checked the ignition, changed the spark plugs on it, thought it was running a little lean and put a little jet in it, then we went to do our qualifying run and it was absolutely terrible. We had to swap the engine.” Changing motors after qualifying put Szegedy to the back of the pack for the initial green flag. An in-car camera on the UNOH/Wisk Detergent Ford, the Speed viewers had plenty to see. “I was just biding my time, passing on the outside but we got involved in a bunch of wrecks- just in the middle of them I don’t know what people were doing, they were wrecking on the straight away, in the middle of the corners, they were everywhere. Then a spark plug wire fell off, I couldn’t believe it- we pitted for that, went a lap down, meanwhile I was just taking it easy back there then drove hard. We waited for a caution to come out, it did, we got our lap back, made another run, decided to pit early, take tires then rode the wrecks and made our way to the front. We ended up too tight, that killed us. If we didn’t tighten up the car so much we would have had something for Newman.” Szegedy continued, “Man, we have such a phenomenal team, words don’t explain it, the guys work together so well, we’ve got the best team on the Tour, there’s no question about it. The wins will come, the championships will come if we keep this up.” “You get such a good head of steam going here, we got within five or six car lengths but the car was just getting tighter and tighter as the track rubbered up,” Bonsignore added. “I might have been a little too aggressive wanting to tighten the car up on our pit stop- they left that up to me - I feel I might have over compensated then I got the toe knocked in so it made it even worse. We had the second best car on new tires. I knew we could get Todd and James (Civali), they raced me really clean, I knew they would. It was a really good day, we’ve really turned our season around it seems since our first win. We’re contending every week now which is were we feel we should be. It’s just a shame we got so far behind in the beginning of the season. We’re building towards next year because we think we can contend for championships like Ronnie and Todd and all those guys.”
Crew member of Newman’s 77, Gary Putnam talked about their day from his perspective. “We were a little too tight in practice. We got it where he was pretty happy with it and we were trying a couple of different things just to build up our notebook a little bit better. We thought we would have a decent shot at the pole, then we missed the autograph session, that was my fault. It was on the entry blank, mandatory, Ryan missed it so we only got one lap for qualifying, that’s probably what hurt us. We still got a good starting spot, kind of paced ourselves for the first half of the race. We went into the deal with thinking anything past half way we’ll come in and change tires.” Putnam continued. “There’s always a concern when you pit, some guys stay out and you’re back in the pack. It took both Civali and Todd a long time to get back up through the field and ultimately it took the rest of the field to pit for them to get up there. For whatever reason this year it was hard to pass cars, for everybody, I mean even if you were a fair amount quicker than the guy in front of you, it was tough. Then we got an awesome restart right after the pit. He cleared all the mess, that helped a tremendous amount.” Like the elephant in the room, Putnam offered a few words about the disqualification at Loudon. “The whole deal was just unfortunate, it was an oversight on someone’s part. We all paid the penalty, it wasn’t good for us, it’s not good for the division, its not good for anybody, we felt really, really bad about it. We worked on getting ready for here, read the rule book for the 3rd time, make sure everything else was right.” Putnam, whose wife Marcy is listed as the car owner of the 77 added, “We want to show people we can win races. It was the first race on that motor, it was brand new built. I’ve been telling people for the last three years, it’s the guy in the seat. There’s a reason why he is 8th in the Cup points.” The 77 will be at Loudon in September. “That was the plan all along. He loves driving there, he loves driving here and he really wants to try Thompson.” Coors Light pole winner Bobby Santos became one of several engine failures of the day as well as outside pole starter Erik Rudolph. His first trip to Bristol Motor Speedway, Doug Coby adjusted well to the high banks of BMS, starting his day ninth, the Milford, CT driver was running as high as fourth at the half before motor issues sidelined the Reynolds Auto Wrecking machine with 95 laps complete.
With Ryan Newman representing the north and taking the lead spot, the first car for the southern tour received credit for a NWSMT win. The surprised victor was series regular, Frank Fleming, who managed to avoid mishaps and used a late race pit strategy to give him the win. Fleming has had a lot of race wins but this was his first ever modified tour win. Having his first tour win occur at Bristol was a major accomplishment for the small family race team. For the past two years at the Bristol combo race the Fleming race team battled an ill handling race car. This year the team finally found the right combination that helped them be where they needed to be during the final laps of the race.“In practice I have come up here for two years and I drove the race as loose as I could be,” Fleming said from his hauler. “I turned some good times in practice and even had a top ten car in practice. But in the race I would be so loose that I could not drive it. I told Chris today we have to keep it from bottoming out and get this car where I could drive it in the corners and not be loose. So we worked on it during practice all day. Everybody thinks that my car got faster, but it didn’t. I did not put my new tires on until fifty to go and that helped me."
"My car was good all day long. I could drive it in the corners hard without it being loose. I just think that we made the right calls for the chassis. I do not know what we could have done to qualify better but these other boys just seem to know how to do it. Guess I will just keep hunting.” All smiles as he continued to work with officials to get the car through post race inspection Fleming had the reality of the day’s accomplishment finally sink in. He not only had a top ten finish but a win on the southern modified tour. And just when he did not think it got any better, he realized that the team’s performance was nationally televised. “We got the southern win. This is a combination race with both the north and the southern cars. I really love to run the northern cars but they always have an edge on us for some reason or other and I do not know why. I like a lot of competition and man it was here today. I was sitting here looking at that field of cars over there and those are the best field of cars in the country. And I finished eighth out of the thirty-four or thirty-five cars that started this race I think that is terrific. We were the first southern car in the race and that will put my name in the NASCAR books. I have won a lot of races here in the south. I probably won sixty or seventy races all together but I have never had a NASCAR tour win. Now we have one to our credit and we had live TV on Speed.” Southern modified driver Andy Seuss made his way up through the field and after a great pit stop found himself among the top five. Cars with fresher tires though soon pushed Seuss back further in the top ten. In the end Seuss managed to pull off a ninth place finish and was only one spot shy of a southern modified win. “I really wanted to run in the top five in the whole race but I am happy to come out with a top ten for the whole race. We had a really good car and after that whole pit stop situation shook out we got back up to third. Then we got real, real tight. We will put that in our notebook and figure it out. Nothing changed on the stagger or anything the tire just got tight. We are thinking that maybe the stagger closed up or something but we are real happy with a second. It was a good point’s day and we managed to stay pretty clean throughout the race. Somebody got my rear though when the field checked up to avoid accidents. But overall we real happy and the car is in one piece.” Seuss has had an up and down time since loosing his car owner late last year. But it now looks like things have stabilized and are finally going in the right direction. Seuss has joined George Brunnhoelzl on the Harvey team and things are working out good for the new team. “This year has been unreal. The second that I walked in the shop, the only thing I could think of was if you want to be real serious with a modified this is the place where you have to do it. In the shop you could eat off the floor. You could even eat off the cars. I did not know how a teammate situation would go. I have never been in one. And they are more helpful than I ever would have thought. I am having a blast. If it were not for a late race wreck at Bowman Grey, I would have three top fives in out first three races. So I am real happy about that and just want to build on it.”

NASCAR PR STORY & FINISH

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman drove away with the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday. Newman successfully defending his 2010 Bristol win and registered his fourth career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory overall. Wednesday’s triumph came in Newman’s first start on the tour after he was disqualified from a win in July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. “This is a little bit of a redemption for us, to come out here and redeem ourselves a little bit in respect to people’s opinions after Loudon,” Newman said.
Newman led twice for a race-high 109 laps. After one top-10 effort in his first four Modified races, Newman has won each of his last four official starts. “It was just a really fun race,” Newman said. “The yellow flags at the start kind of slowed everybody’s thoughts, but getting back to green flag racing, I thought we saw some really good racing. It was a lot of fun.” Justin Bonsignore finished second in the annual combination race between the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. The pole winner in 2010 at Bristol, Bonsignore has earned top-five finishes in three of his last four outings this year and is up to a season-best 10th in the standings. “I’m just a go-kart racer - where you flat-foot it - and this is similar,” Bonsignore said of his fondness for racing at Bristol. “It just fits my driving style. I like it, and it’s a lot of fun. I’ve been looking forward to coming back since last year and I can’t wait to go back next year. Maybe we should get two races here.” Todd Szegedy rallied from an eventful day for third place. An engine change relegated him to the rear to start, and he was caught in multiple on-track incidents that preceded a spark plug wire falling off. He then came back from a lap down for his fifth podium finish in the last seven races.
James Civali and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top five. It marked the first top-five finish of Emerling’s rookie season and the best finish of the year for Civali. Eric Beers was sixth, followed by Ron Silk, Frank Fleming, Andy Seuss and Eric Goodale.
Fleming was the top finishing NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour driver and will be credited with a win on the tour. It is his first career victory. The race, which aired live on SPEED, saw four lead changes among three drivers and was slowed by caution nine times for 51 laps. It was the third edition of the combo race at the ‘World’s Fastest Half Mile.’ Silk stretched his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points lead to 41 over Rowan Pennink, who finished 21st overall. Szegedy is third, 16 points behind Pennink. George Brunnhoelzl III, the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour points leader, finished 29th overall and his lead is 110 over John Smith and 123 over L.W. Miller. The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will return to the track in just two days at Caraway Speedway on Friday, Aug. 26. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour gets back on track with the inaugural event at Delaware (Ont.) Speedway on Sept. 4.

UNOH Perfect Storm 150 Unofficial Results
Wednesday At Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn.
Lap length: 0.533 miles

(Start position in parentheses)
1. (4) Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind., Chevrolet, 150 laps, 58.369 mph.
2. (19) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
3. (7) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 150.
4. (3) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 150.
5. (27) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 150.
6. (11) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
7. (5) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
8. (21) Frank Fleming, Mt. Airy, N.C., Chevrolet, 150.
9. (22) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 149.
10. (10) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 149.
11. (24) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 149.
12. (16) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 149.
13. (8) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 149.
14. (28) Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., 148.
15. (34) Austin Pack, Winston-Salem, N.C., Chevrolet, 148.
16. (20) John Smith, Mount Airy, N.C., Chevrolet, 147.
17. (32) Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Ford, 144.
18. (31) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 136, vibration.
19. (25) L.W. Miller, Dushore, Pa., Chevrolet, 131.
20. (26) Jamie Tomaino, Jr., Lexington, N.C., Chevrolet, 131.
21. (13) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 131.
22. (33) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 127.
23. (14) Tim Brown, Cana, Va., Chevrolet, 105.
24. (6) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 104, accident.
25. (9) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 95, engine.
26. (1) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 76, engine.
27. (30) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Pontiac, 53, drive shaft.
28. (17) Corey LaJoie, Concord, N.C., Chevrolet, 42, accident.
29. (15) George Brunnhoelzl, III, W. Babylon, N.Y., Chevrolet, 42, accident.
30. (23) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 42, accident.
31. (2) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 14, engine.
32. (29) Daniel Hemric, Kannapolis, N.C., Pontiac, 9, rear end.
33. (12) Andy Petree, Hickory, N.C., Chevrolet, 8, accident.
34. (18) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 8, accident.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 22 minutes 11 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.826 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: B.Santos (127.622 mph, 15.035 seconds)
Caution Flags: 9 for 51 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Newman 1-86; T. Szegedy 87-93; J. Civali 94-125; T. Szegedy 126-127; R. Newman 128-150..

CONTINGENCY AWARDS
NWMT COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Patrick Emerling *, 07 Emerling Chevrolet Ford
NWMT COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Bobby Santos, 4 "Mystic Missile" Dodge
NWMT FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Eric Berndt, 46 Cape Cod Agts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet
NWMT SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Patrick Emerling *, 07 Emerling Chevrolet Ford
NWSMT COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE: Austin Pack *, 31 B&J Bldrs./Shady Grady/Comtech Chevrolet
NWSMT COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Tim Brown, 02 Hayes Jewelers/Wall to Wall Chevrolet
NWSMT FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Frank Fleming, 40 Autos by Nelson/Lewisville Motors Chevrolet
NWSMT SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Austin Pack *, 31 B&J Bldrs./Shady Grady/Comtech Chevrolet
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD: Ryan Newman, 77 Aggressive Hydraulics/Menards Chevrolet

NWMT Standings: 1. R. Silk, 1551; 2. R. Pennink, 1510; 3. T. Szegedy, 1494; 4. E. Beers, 1434; 5. B. Santos, 1401; 6. D. Coby, 1359; 7. M. Hirschman, 1346; 8. M. Stefanik, 1323; 9. T. Christopher, 1296; 10. J. Bonsignore, 1282.

Aug 20 - Mahoning Speedway - Poker 100 - 4

Two of the best Tour-Type Modified drivers in the region waged a high-speed game of "can you top this?" Saturday night at Mahoning Valley Speedway. And when the checkered flag waved over the 100-lap feature, Earl Paules, Jr. took home the $3,000 first-place prize. Paules, of Palmerton, Pa., spent most of the race battling back and forth with Dover, N.J., ace Don Wagner. The two swapped the lead eight times in a spellbinding battle before Paules pulled ahead for good on a lap 91 restart. The win, worth $3,000, was Paules' fourth at Mahoning this year and his second in the Poker Series. He now has two Aces (wins) and two Kings (seconds) in his quest for the series title. "That's respectful driving," Paules said afterward. "You got to have that respect and Don (Wagner) has that. I'd lead for a while and he'd drive by me on the outside. I'd let him go because he was better than me. He seemed better than me the whole race, so the only time I could get him was on restarts." The 100-lapper began with pole starter Matt Wentz zooming into the lead. On lap three, third-starting Wagner moved past Wentz to take the top spot. Meanwhile, Paules, who had set fast time at 9.827 seconds (91.584 mph) earlier in the night, moved to third behind Wagner and Lonnie Behler after starting from seventh. The top 12 drivers from time trials redrew for feature spots. The first 21 laps ran caution-free until Wentz and John Bennett tangled in turn two, with Bennett hitting the wall. Under the caution, Behler pulled to the pits, giving Paules second and setting up the battle that dominated the rest of the event. Paules moved by Wagner on the lap-21 restart, then Wagner passed him back on lap 25. And so it went for the next 65 laps, Paules and Wagner running side-by-side and exchanging the lead. Making their battle even more exciting was the fact that track points leader Tyler Haydt and Poker Series standout Matt Hirschman ran side-by-side inches behind Paules and Wagner for most of the distance.
The race's deciding moment came on lap 91 when a spin by Mike Carroll Jr. brought out the final caution flag. Paules outgunned Wagner on the double-file restart and stayed in front to the end. Haydt got by Wagner for second, with Hirschman and Brian DeFebo completing the front five.
"During a red flag (on lap 43), I was yelling to Wagner that he was too fast, and if we ran side-by-side nobody could pass us," Paules said. "Then before that last caution I saw him wiggle a little there going into turn three, and it made me wonder if he was losing his tires a little bit."
Said Wagner: "Earl is the best. We gave each other plenty of room and he was pushing harder at the end. I'm sure it was a good show." Wagner is a one-time 2011 Poker Series race winner.
Runner-up Haydt had the best seat in the house for most of the Paules-Wagner tussle. "I'll tell you what, it was neat watching those guys," he said. "They kept it clean. It was good racing."
The second-place finish gives Haydt three Kings in the Poker Series championship chase with two series races left (a "Wild Card" 35-lapper this Saturday and a 100-lapper on Oct. 1). Haydt's run also helped him extend his track points lead over Bennett, who finished 23rd and last after the lap 21 wreck. With his fourth place tally Hirschman now has the best poker hand with four Queens.

Modified Feature Finish, 100 Laps: 1. Earl Paules, 2. Tyler Haydt, 3. Don Wagner, 4. Matt Hirschman, 5. Brian DeFebo, 6. John Markovic, 7. Rob Shultz 8. Brian Romig 9. Chip Santee, 10. Mike Carroll, 11. Bobby Jones, 12. Kevin Rex, Jr., 13. Andy Szapacs, 14. Matt Higgins, 15. Terry Markovic, 16. Anthony Sesely, 17. Matt Wentz, 18. Tom Flanagan, 19. Todd Baer, 20. Troy Bollinger, 21. Frankie Althouse, 22. Lonnie Behler, 23. John Bennett

Aug 13 - New Hampshire Speedway - NASCAR - 22

NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY GRANITE STATE CLASSIC
by Polly Reid
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Granite State Classic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway went into double overtime needing two attempts at a green white checker finish to get it done extending the event an extra ten circuits beyond it’s 95 advertised distance. Holding off challenges from Eric Beers, Todd Szegedy and then Woody Pitkat, it was a determined seven-time NWMT Champion Mike Stefanik from Coventry, RI in the Eric Sanderson owned, Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises sponsored modified who crossed the line for the win, his first of 2011. Pitkat claimed second at the line, Szegedy third with Justin Bonsignore and Beers the top five. “It’s been a long time coming,” admitted Stefanik about his 71st career victory, his 7th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “The team gave me a great car. I’m so happy for the team, more so than for myself. Nobody wants to win more than I do. Sly and the team gave us that opportunity today.” A day that was dominated early on by Coors Light pole winner Bobby Santos III, Stefanik took the green 12th, cracking the top ten before a half a dozen circuits had been displayed on the new NHMS scoring tower. When the fourth caution flew on lap 32 for Teddy Christopher who was suddenly off the pace and unable to get to pit row under his own power, the call was made to bring Stefanik, now running third, down pit row for tires. Santos leading with Erik Rudolph second stayed out as over half the field came in including Beers and Szegedy. “Sly called me in around lap 35,” said Stefanik. “The tires are going to stay under the car, they don’t really wear out here if you have a good car, you’re going to stay good. He made a great call to bring it in when we did, he gave me a great car. I could go where I wanted to go, it felt good.”
“We planned on pitting about half way and when the caution came close to that we decided to come in,” explained Stefanik’s crew chief Stan ‘Sly’ Szaban. “It would also give us enough time to get back to the front. We didn’t make any changes, the first set of tires Mike was happy with the car so we wanted to match the second set with the first.” First off pit row, Stefanik lined up 12th for the restart while Santos continued to lead the way into what would be the longest green flag run of the day, the Franklin, MA driver swapping the front spot back and forth with Bonsignore. Santos back on top when the next caution waved on lap 58 herald most of the remaining field to the pits including Santos and Bonsignore. Pitkt in the Ramar-Hall Chevrolet who had not pitted at all, inherited the lead with Stefanik lining up second on the lap 65 restart, James Civali third, Beers and Szegedy the top five. Pitkat and Stefanik picked up where Santos, Bonsignore and Erik Rudolph left off, swapping the lead several times around the Magic Mile. Stefanik leading, Szegedy had taken possession of second from Ptikat and just as the Ridgefield, CT driver made his move on Stefanik, it was another caution in the books, now only 13 to go. Stefanik, Szegedy, Beers, James Civali, Pitkat and Ryan Preece your top three rows in the double file restart didn’t get far when a melee on the front stretch pulled the field back in, the multi-car tangle bringing out the red flag for an extensive clean up on lap 86. Stefanik and Szegedy heated up the restart with a side by side battle when all was cut short with two to go as the ninth caution was recorded for a three car tangle in turns three and four setting up the first green, white checker attempt. Stefanik leading the way with Szegedy, Beers, Pitkat and Bonsignore the top five would do it all over again as the tenth and final caution waved on lap 100. Another shot at a green white checker, Stefanik kept the Sanderson machine out front while Pitkat battled side by side with Szegedy edging past the Wisk/A & J Romano Construction Ford to claim a career high second for the Stafford, CT driver. The double green white checker finish extended the Granite State Classic from the expected end of 95 laps to 105. “I tried to come up with a plan, I knew if I could be leading down the backstretch, I could do it,” said Stefanik whose last career win was September 2009 at Martinsville. “I told the guys on the radio when it got to be green, white, checker, I said this might get a little ugly. I wouldn’t do anything stupid, put anyone in jeopardy, but I was going to do what I could to make my car difficult to pass. When it comes to one to go, you just can’t let anyone drive by you.” “We knew Mike was going to have to do what he had to do because there were some pretty strong cars behind us,” added Szaban. “Because of the draft here, we weren’t sure we could hold them off or not- Mike did a great job. The team gave him a good car to try and win this race, but in the end, it was Mike’s driving ability that got the win.” Deep in the pack, on the starting grid in 22nd, Woody Pitkat played out a strategy in the Don King owned machine that paid off big in the end. “We had a plan before the beginning of the race, if were going good, because I’m not a great qualifier, we’d probably try and stay out and grab some positions that way. We didn’t pit, our car pretty much stayed the same throughout the whole race. I’ve never raced up there with those guys before, it was a lot of fun. I tried to hang in there, be there at the end and finish. I just can’t thank the guys enough, Don King for giving me the opportunity, Bob Fill helping me and my spotter Michael O’Sullivan, just an awesome, awesome day.” On the final restart, Szegedy was poised to claim a second win this year at the Magic Mile for car owner Mike Smeriglio when things changed in a hurry. “When I went to make a move on Mike on the backstretch- right when I went to make my move, I got bump drafted and nailed him in the left rear and just about turned him into the fence. It messed me up and it allowed everyone to get closer to us. Woody was able to get on the inside, I might have been able to roll around him on the outside but he was getting a good solid push from someone behind him. I hung tough on the outside there.” Starting the Granite State Classic a solid third, Szegedy appeared to struggle in the beginning, slipping as far back as 8th before making their first pit stop of two on lap 22. “For some reason our car was real free- it wasn’t like that in practice. I knew other people were too but when it was getting close to time to pit, I didn’t want to beat the car up more- try and stay ahead of guys when I couldn’t so when a guy made a run on me, I let them go. We put a wedge in it, dropped stagger, spring rubbers, we did what we had to do and it came to me, I was pretty amazed. Phil Moran (crew chief) he’s absolutely phenomenal, what can I say, I wouldn’t be in this position if they didn’t give me the car that they do every week. They brought me back up front again, they’re the best.” Stefanik’s Granite State Classic win will remain memorable for car owner Eric Sanderson. “Wow, ever since I’ve been coming here as a car owner I’ve wanted to go to this victory lane. 16 years. I’m kind of speechless to say the least. Winning any of the New Hampshire races is like winning Daytona, the World Series, the Superbowl, whatever you want to call it, it’s just incredible.”
“The crew works hard, they practice and they’re serious about it,” said Szaban. “We have a bunch of young guys that are into it and they do a great job. The effort that goes into this, every race- the win, I don’t even know how to put this into words, it’s huge.” “It’s a nutty game we play,” smiled Stefanik. “There is nothing that can bring you as high up as you are right now then in a week drop you like a rock. But you can be a rock as long as you know you have another peak coming. This is a huge peak for us and we’re going to try and enjoy it. Last week was great (2nd at Stafford) we would have loved to have hung on but we couldn’t, Teddy got by us. But we had a great pit stop, put us in position and this team, they’re digging and digging. They’re a great bunch of guys and I’m very happy for them.” Santos crossed the line sixth, Ryan Preece seventh, Glen Tyler, Erick Rudolph and Doug Coby completed the top ten. Point leader Ron Silk rallied to take 11th, his finish strong enough to remain the leader over Rowan Pennink who crossed 16th. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads to Tennessee, the August 24th event at Bristol Motor Speedway will be telecast on SPEED at 6pm ET.

LOUDON, N.H. – Mike Stefanik survived several restarts in the closing laps and picked up a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win in the Granite State Classic on Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Under perfect weather conditions, Stefanik, out of Coventry, R.I., in the No. 16 Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Pontiac, earned his first win of the season and the 71st of his Tour career by edging Woody Pitkat at the line. It was Stefanik’s seventh win at the track and first since Aug. 2, 1998. Additionally, it was his first overall victory since winning at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Sept. 27, 2009. The runner-up marked the best career finish for Pitkat, from Stafford, Conn. Todd Szegedy crossed the line in the third position followed by Justin Bonsignore and Eric Beers in fourth and fifth, respectively. Bobby Santos, Ryan Preece, Glenn Tyler, Erick Rudolph and Doug Coby rounded out the top 10. Pit stops in the middle portion of the race shuffled the field which left Stefanik and Pitkat at the front to battle it out through two red flags brought out by separate multi-car accidents. Perennial championship contender and five-time New Hampshire winner Ted Christopher experienced mechanical problems on Lap 33 and had to go behind the wall for repairs relegating him to a 28th-place finish. In Friday’s qualifying session, defending Tour champion Bobby Santos claimed his second Coors Light Pole Award of the 2011 season and the sixth of his career. It was, however, his first at the New Hampshire track.

1 12 16 Mike Stefanik Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Pontiac 105 185 5 Running
2 22 28 Woody Pitkat Ramar-Hall Chevrolet 105 175 5 Running
3 3 2 Todd Szegedy Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Const. Ford 105 165 Running
4 4 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 105 165 5 Running
5 2 45 Eric Beers Horwith Frghtlnr/John Blewett Inc. Chevrolet 105 155 Running
6 1 4 Bobby Santos "Mystic Missile" Dodge 105 160 10 Running
7 16 40 Ryan Preece Mizzy Const./Reynolds Auto Wrkg. Chevrolet 105 146 Running
8 21 8 Glenn Tyler Jayfor Chevrolet 105 142 Running
9 8 98 Erick Rudolph Accell Const./Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet 105 143 5 Running
10 14 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrkg/Johnson Ldscp Chevrolet 105 134 Running
11 13 6 Ron Silk T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 105 130 Running
12 25 88 Bryon Chew * Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka Chevrolet 105 127 Running
13 19 7 Patrick Emerling * Emerling Chevrolet Ford 105 124 Running
14 23 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 105 121 Running
15 29 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Pontiac 105 118 Running
16 5 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 105 115 Running
17 31 10 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard's Autos/Kleer Lumber Chevrolet 99 112 Running
18 26 39 Richie Pallai, Jr. Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet 97 109 Running
19 7 79 James Civali Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 92 106 Accident
20 18 70 Andy Seuss Rockingham Boat/GEX Publishing Chevrolet 92 103 Accident
21 6 64 Ron Yuhas, Jr. The A-Team/Beaver Bats Chevrolet 92 100 Accident
22 10 3 Matt Hirschman Cape Cod Copper/Riverview Chevrolet 86 97 Accident
23 15 50 Kevin Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 86 94 Accident
24 24 58 Eric Goodale Perimeters for the Home Chevrolet 86 91 Accident
25 20 11 Donny Lia Night Train Motorsports Ford 86 88 Accident
26 30 38 Jake Marosz Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 62 85 Handling
27 11 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Agts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet 58 82 Accident
28 17 36 Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet 50 79 Rear End
29 9 14 Jimmy Blewett Ling Trucking/Atlantic Sprinkler Chevrolet 47 76 Engine
30 28 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 41 73 Engine
31 27 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/MacLad Drywall Ford 24 70 Ignition

Aug 12 - Stafford - MRS - resume race lap 33 running 3 - Finish 4

"KID ROC" BECOMES THE LITTLE KING CAPTURING STAFFORD VRMS WIN
Keith Rocco Won his First Ever Touring Series Win

by Denise DuPont
The Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS) returned to Stafford Speedway on Friday August 12th to complete a race that was originally started on June 24t h. The race resumed on Lap 32 with Stafford track regular Keith Rocco in the lead. The weather was picture perfect with race teams and fans alike were ready for racing. Keith Rocco brought the field of cars around and maintained his lead at the restart of the race. From then on it was Rocco’s race as he fought off attempts to take the lead spot away. At one point Hirschman passed Rocco to take the lead on lap 54 but then series founder Jack Bateman spun bringing out a caution. So as fast as Hirschman took the lead spot, the caution returned it right back to Rocco. Using the same tires that he started the race with a month and a half ago, Rocco saved what he could for when he needed it to get his first ever Touring Series win. “The race was great. We did not know what we had when we came back because the tires sat for so long,” said Rocco after the race. “The car was real good. I wanted to save the car as much as I could for the end of the race and that was what we did. At the end of the race we had great motor bite so the thing had plenty left. We saved as much as we could in the middle of the race because we did not know how much tire we had left. Then we gave it everything we had the last ten laps. I am sure that Todd (Owen) was just trying to get by me and then ride but we just did what we had to do. ”;
Todd Owen has tried his hand at racing with the VMRS. But he has gotten bitten by the bug again and is ready to try his hand at more races. Friday he suited up and jumped into the #29 car own by Luther Hosmer. Owen used his home track experience to wheel his way up to second on lap 62. His car was strong and if there were a few more laps he may have taken over the lead. “What a blast! I started in the back and it (the race) took almost two months to finish it but in the end it was fun. When I got to second I thought for sure that that race was mine to win. I did not know if Keith running up front used a lot up to get there. He had a little bit at the end. We were good at the end but we were not going to pass him. It was just a great run for the Cooker Construction car.”;
Doug Coby started the race in fifth and hung out racing the car conservatively until it was time to make his move forward. He was rewarded for his efforts at the end of the race with a podium finish “We were good in practice. We tried to setup the car the same way as last time we were here which was about a month and half ago. We were a little tight and there in not much you can do about it but beat the heck out of the car and have the tires go away. I was decent at the end but I just did not have enough for those two (Keith Rocco and Todd Owen). They were both pretty fast so I just stayed out of trouble.”;
Coby not only stayed out of trouble but managed to be at the right place at the right time to take advantage of others race misfortunes. “When the #13 car (Steve Masse) bonzai’d the #34 (Dave Etheridge) and then lost it, so I gained two spots. Then Todd (Owen) and the #59 (Matt Hirschman) got together and I got to pass them It was a good car. I was kind of hoping that Todd would drive into Keith’s nerf bar a little bit and it would open the door. But he (Todd Owen) drove his best. It (#20) just was not a winning car tonight.”;
ROC champion, Matt Hirschman, had the lead once only to have the caution flag fly taking his lead away. He drove a good clean race but “Lady Luck” just did not give him the break he needed for a win. He made the best of the situation and completed the race with a strong fourth place finish. ”We had a car that could win tonight. There was just a bad timing with the cautions. I was racing Keith clean and I had him twice. Then the caution came out. During the last restart I was not able to get back down. The #20 (Doug Coby) filled the second place spot underneath me. He then squeezed me up off of turn two. And I dropped back to fourth. From that point on it seemed like everybody equaled out. But definitely earlier it seemed that we had a real good chance of winning. It was just bad timing.”;
Notes from Stafford Speedway VMRS Race 8/12/2011:
After capturing your first win at your home track in the VMRS, what are you thoughts as a racer on the series?

Keith Rocco
I think that this is a great series. It is cost effective with the tire rule. The payoff is real good. I think that it is a real thing of the future.
What are your plans for the future for competing with the VMRS?

Todd Owen
“I will be at Waterford tomorrow (8/13). We said if I made it out of here in one piece we would go to Waterford. We will see if we can do a few more this year. I am buying the car from Luther Hosmer. Right now I am trying to get the money to put the deal together. So we may come back here or go to Thompson, but we will see where we go from there.”;

Doug Coby drove back from Loudon, NH NWMT qualifying to finish Stafford’s VMRS race. Coby was grateful to the #20 crew for their efforts in getting his car ready for him.
“The car was tight for the first half of that race but it actually came around at the end. I want to thank my guys for hanging around here all day waiting for me to come back from Loudon. The #20 car is a great car in the series. I am fortunate to be able to drive it. I just want o give a shout out to modified legend Bob Polverari. He is in the house and he is helping out our team.”;
Did Keith and Todd Owen have a extra advantage over other VMRS competitors running the race at their home Track?

Matt Hirschman
“Keith runs here so obviously he knows the track well. He is winning here all the time. I knew that he wasn’t going to give it up or make a mistake. But we did at one time clearly have him and then he ran me clean. It was just bad timing. It is just luck I guess. I do not know what else you could say. But it is part of it. You cannot take anything from Keith because he ran a good race and he still held off everybody at the end. So I cannot change the timing of the cautions. That is all part of racing. The shoe could have been on the other foot. I could have gotten saved by it too. But it always stinks when it happens to you.”;

- - - - - - - - -

Keith Rocco continued his winning ways at Stafford Speedway as he picked up his first career Modified Racing Series victory in the Lincoln Tech 80. The race was started on June 24th, but rain halted the race with 32 laps complete. Rocco was the race leader when the rain came and he had to fight off strong challenges from Matt Hirschman and then Todd Owen to take the victory as he led the final 47 laps of the race.
With the race taking the green flag on June 24th, Keith Rocco led the field to the green and he led the first lap of the race before Chris Pasteryak went to the front on lap-2. Dave Etheridge followed Pasteryak by Rocco as Rocco fell from the lead back to third place. Matt Hirschman was in fourth and Doug Coby rounded out the top-5 in the early laps. The top-5 ran in line until lap-11 when Rocco moved past Etheridge for second. Rocco continued his charge back to the front on lap-13 when he made a power move to the inside of Pasteryak in turn 3 to retake the lead. The top-4 cars were beginning to pull away from Coby in fifth, while Josh Sylvester, Steve Masse, and Todd Owen were lined up behind Coby. The first caution came out with 25 laps complete as Mike Holdridge spun, which erased the margin that the top-4 cars had built up. Rocco took the lead back under green with Etheridge moving into second. Hirschman took third, with Pasteryak falling back to fourth and Coby continued to run in fifth. The second half of the top-10 was Masse, Sylvester, Owen, Joe Ducette, and Les Hinckley.
The caution came back out and the race was halted with 32 laps complete for rain with Rocco in the lead.
As the race resumed, Rocco powered into the lead with Hirschman taking second. Etheridge was third, with Pasteryak and Masse making up the top-5. Owen was sixth, Coby was seventh, Sylvester was eighth, Steve Reed was ninth, and Hinckley was tenth. Hirschman was hounding Rocco for the lead and several times Hirschman was able to get alongside Rocco, but he was not able to complete a pass. Etheridge and Pasteryak were continuing to run third and fourth while Todd Owen was now in fifth with 30-laps to go. After several laps of trying to make a pass for the lead, Hirshcman was finally able to make a pass stick on lap-54 as he went by Rocco in turn 2, but Jack Bateman spun to bring the caution out and put Rocco back to the front of the field for the restart. Rocco took the lead with Etheridge moving into second ahead of Hirschman. But Hirschman fought back on the outside groove and went back by Etheridge as the caution came back out for a spin by Sylvester with 55 laps complete. Rocco took the lead while Hirschman took second and Owen made a hard charge on the outside groove to pull alongside Etheridge for third place. Owen would take the spot from Etheridge on lap-57 while Rocco continued to lead ahead of Hirschman. Hirschman again was making a bid for the lead, but was not able to make a pass. Mike Holdridge, Sylvester, and Bateman all spun in turn 1 to bring the caution back out with 59 laps complete. Hirschman and Rocco were side by side before Rocco got clear into the lead. The caution came back out with 60 laps complete as Steve Masse got loose in turn 2 and Rowan Pennink drove up and over his right side tires and found the wall. Also involved were the cars of Pasteryak, Tim Jordan, and Etheridge.
Rocco and Hirschman were again fighting side by side for the lead while Owen was right behind Rocco. Rocco got clear of Hirschman on lap-62 and Owen moved into a side by side duel with Hirschman for second. Hirschman fell back to fourth as Coby moved up to third while Owen was all over the back of Rocco for the race lead with 15 laps to go. With 10 laps to go, it was a four-car train for the top spot with Rocco leading Owen, Coby, and Hirschman. With 5 laps to go the running order remained the same, but Rocco was able to pull away from Owen by several car lengths. Rocco led the field around to take the checkered flag. Owen finished second, with Coby, Hirschman, and Hinckley rounding out the top-5.

MODIFIED RACING SERIES LINCOLN TECH 80 (80)
1) Keith Rocco
2) Todd Owen
3) Doug Coby
4) Matt Hirschman
5) Mike Stefanik
6) Les Hinckley
7) Max Zachem
8) Chris Pasteryak
9) Tommy Barrett, Jr.
10) Dave Etheridge
11) Steve Reed
12) Norm Wrenn
13) Tim Jordan
14) Jack Bateman
15) Joe Doucette
16) Lou Mechalides
17) Steve Masse
18) Rowan Pennink
19) Josh Sylvester
20) Mike Holdridge
21) Rob Goodenough
22) Shelly Perry
23) Jon McKennedy
24) Jeff Malave
25) Todd Annarummo
26) Richard Savary
27) Justin Bonsignore
28) Adam Norton

Aug 5 - Stafford Speedway - NASCAR - 13

It was a struggle all night - but team worked hard for a 13th place finish

STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY:TOWN FAIR TIRE 150
by Polly Reid

With 15 to go, Ted Christopher made his made his move, committing low going into turn three, the Plainville, CT driver cleared Mike Stefanik for the lead and held off Stefanik to the wire scoring the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Town Fair Tire 150 win at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Stefanik crossed for second, Bobby Santos third, Eric Beers and Eric Goodale the top five.
“We were really tight in the beginning there but it probably played in our favor because I think everyone was getting loose,” said Christopher, “but in the end you just have to go with this thing. It’s weird because it started to get tight again so I had to run a little different line to hold Michael off - it was a lot of fun.” The Town Fair 150 ran the first 116 laps under the green flag and while Coors Light pole winner Doug Coby led the 28 car field to green, it was outside starter Tom Rogers who powered on the outside to become the first leader of the night, the Patchogue, NY driver holding the position until Coby made his calculated move on lap 16 becoming the second leader.
With Coby out front, the field stretched out and while Christopher worked his way to second under green, the laps continued to tick off and at the half way mark it was Coby, Christopher, Todd Szegedy, Rogers, Beers, Santos, Justin Bonsignore, Ron Silk, Stefanik and Erik Rudolph the top ten. Christopher finally closed the gap enough to take the lead from Coby on the 88th circuit and did what Coby had done earlier, checked out from the field. Christopher’s lead all went away with a muddled incident on lap 116 in turn four. Coby and Szegedy running second and third took the brunt of it and while both drove away, their stellar night in an instant, evaporated. Pit row came alive, the action heated up as Christopher led the way for fresh Hoosiers. But three tires later, it was Stefanik’s Flamingo Motorsports team that came off pit row first, the Coventry, RI driver moving from seventh to become the new leader of the night followed by Santos, Eric Goodale, Christopher and Rowan Pennink the top five. A caution on the restart for a spin in turn two closed the field up again, Stefanik at the point with 20 to go was strong, but Christopher in the Eddie Whelan owned, Al-Lee Installations sponsored Chevrolet, was not going to let this one get away and made his move heading into turn three edging a nose, then completed the pass before coming out of four to become final leader of the night. While Stefanik stayed on Christopher’s bumper, it was Christopher at the line collecting his 41st career NWMT victory, his 11th at Stafford, his third of 2011. “It was a lot of fun,” said Christopher’s crew chief Brad Lafontaine. “This is our third time here, the other two times, Teddy likes a loose race car, but every time we have a loose race we don’t win. This time here, I kept it tight, so it fell right into our plans because the race went so long without a yellow they just backed right up to us and then we were able to pull away from the rest of the field. I was hoping it would go green the rest of the way because there was no one coming and we were still pulling away.”
“When the caution came out, that was the last thing I wanted to see,” admitted Lafontaine. “We took three tires, made a wedge adjustment and came out fourth, the guys did an excellent job and Teddy took over from there. I said to Teddy, ‘I’m hoping you’re as hungry as me’ and he said, ‘I’m always hungry’.” The newest car in the Whelan stable now has two wins in the four times it’s been on the track. The pit stop became truly pivotal, crucial to the eventual outcome of the Town Fair Tire 150. “This one’s for our team,” said Stefanik. The Eric Sanderson owned, Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises machine collecting a strong podium finish. “They put me out front - that was a fantastic pit stop - we were just a little too snug to hold it but it was great to have a car up front like that - it’s just hats off to the team - I can’t say enough for the hard work they put in and that pit stop showed it.” Santos slipped out of the top five only once in the 150 lap event, but a strong pit stop put Bob Garbarino’s Mystic Missile Dodge, immediately back in the hunt lining up second on the final restart. “We had a good run,“ said Santos. “I just have to thank the guys who kept fighting and getting me an awesome pit stop that got us a good finish, I just got to thank the team for doing such a good job.” Ron Silk’s seventh place finish was enough to keep the Norwalk, CT driver in the points lead by one over Rowan Pennink, the Huntingdon Valley, PA driver crossing sixth. Rudolph, Coby and Jimmy Blewett completed the top ten. Christopher’s win moved him up to third in the standings over Szegedy while Santos claims the fifth spot in points as the NWMT heads to Loudon, NH for the Granite State Classic Saturday August 13th.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Town Fair Tire 150 Unofficial Results
Friday At Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford, Conn.
Lap length: 0.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)
1. (3) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 150 laps, 82.142 mph.
2. (8) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 150.
3. (5) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 150.
4. (4) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
5. (12) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
6. (17) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
7. (10) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
8. (11) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
9. (1) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
10. (6) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 150.
11. (7) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
12. (16) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
13. (22) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
14. (9) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 149.
15. (15) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 149.
16. (13) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 149.
17. (18) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 149.
18. (19) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 149.
19. (2) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 149.
20. (28) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass., Chevrolet, 148.
21. (23) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet, 148.
22. (21) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 148.
23. (14) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 147.
24. (25) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Pontiac, 146.
25. (26) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 145.
26. (20) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 127.
27. (27) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 121, handling.
28. (24) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Ford, 17, engine.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 0 hours 54 minutes 47 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.247 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: D.Coby (98.776 mph, 18.223 seconds)
Caution Flags: 2 for 14 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Rogers,Jr. 1-15; D. Coby 16-87; T. Christopher 88-120; M. Stefanik 121-134; T. Christopher 135-150.

Standings: 1. R. Silk, 1275; 2. R. Pennink, 1274; 3. T. Christopher, 1217; 4. T. Szegedy, 1159; 5. B. Santos, 1132; 6. E. Beers, 1129; 7. M. Hirschman, 1119; 8. D. Coby, 1113; 9. M. Stefanik, 1023; 10. E. Rudolph, 1012.

July 30 - Riverhead Raceway - NASCAR- 13

"Tough night at Riverhead. Lost an engine in practice. Thanks to the 46 team owned by Bob Katon for allowing us the use of his spare engine. Started 24th – Finished 13th"

Justin Bonsignore converted his home-track advantage into his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory. The 23-year-old from Holtsville, N.Y., drove away with the Lighthouse Mission 200 Saturday at Riverhead Raceway.
Bonsignore, the 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco Rookie of the Year, also runs regularly in Riverhead's weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Modified Division. He is second in the track's point standings. Todd Szegedy was second, followed by Ron Silk, Ryan Preece and Doug Coby. Rowan Pennink rebounded from an early wreck to finish sixth. The finish allowed Silk to take the points lead by five over Pennink.
Jamie Tomaino, Patrick Emerling, Bobby Santos and Richie Pallai rounded out the top 10, Earlier in the day, Riverside veteran Howie Brode earned his first career Coors Light Pole Award on the tour. His night ended early, though, when he was caught up in a multi-car accident in the first half of the race. Brode led the first 17 laps before Bonsignore made the decisive move to the front on Lap 18. With his sixth-straight top-five finish, Silk passed Pennink for the season points lead. Silk now leads by five tallies with nine races remaining.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Lighthouse Mission 200
Unofficial Results
Saturday At Riverhead Raceway, Riverhead, N.Y.
Lap length: 0.25 miles

(Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 175 laps, 34.464 mph.
2. (3) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 175.
3. (16) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
4. (7) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
5. (9) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
6. (6) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 175.
7. (10) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 175.
8. (28) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 175.
9. (19) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 175.
10. (27) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet, 175.
11. (23) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 175.
12. (18) Dave Brigati, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 175.
13. (24) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 175.
14. (22) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
15. (20) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 172.
16. (25) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 160.
17. (4) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 158, accident.
18. (21) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 158.
19. (8) Shawn Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 146, accident.
20. (26) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 124.
21. (12) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 119.
22. (13) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 85, radio.
23. (1) Howie Brode, East Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 69, accident.
24. (5) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 69, accident.
25. (15) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 60, suspension.
26. (17) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Chevrolet, 58, accident.
27. (11) George Brunnhoelzl, III, W. Babylon, N.Y., Chevrolet, 22, accident.
28. (14) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 1, accident.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 16 minutes 10 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.352 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: H.Brode (75.898 mph, 11.858 seconds)
Caution Flags: 11 for 100 laps.
Lead Changes: 1 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: H. Brode 1-17; J. Bonsignore 18-175.

Standings: 1. R. Silk, 1129; 2. R. Pennink, 1124; 3. T. Szegedy, 1038; 4. T. Christopher, 1032; 5. M. Hirschman, 995; 6. D. Coby, 970; 7. E. Beers, 969; 8. B. Santos, 967; 9. R. Yuhas,Jr., 890; 10. E. Rudolph, 870.

July 23 The RoC - Oswego - DNF
"Had a great run going at Oswego that turned out to be a disappointing night."



SUNOCO RACE OF CHAMPIONS MODIFIED 200 OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH: ZANE ZEINER, Tony Hirschman, Eric Rudolph, Lee Sherwood, Jimmy Zacharias, T.J. Potrzebowski, Dave Wollaber, Jan Leaty, Terry Cheetham, Billy Putney, James Civali, Dean Rypkema, Ryan Preece, Jim Storace, Tom Cloce, Daren Scherer, Doug Reaume, Earl Paules, Mike Leaty, Kyle Ebersole, Tommy Farrell, Chuck Hossfeld, Rusty Smith, Wilbur Hebing, Karl Hehr, John Ramsey, Patrick Emerling, Sege Fidanza, Jody London, Chris Ridsdale, Kevin Lewis, T.J. Zacharias. DQ- Matt Hirschman.


July 20 Seekonk Speedway- Open Show - 2

The Right Driver and Team Combination
Works For a Seekonk Modified Madness Victory
Darling Team Wins Their Third Event - With
Coby as The Wheelman This Time Around

By Mike Twist
When Doug Coby joined the #52 Darling Motorsports Modified team as its wheelman for the 2011 season, both the driver and team hoped for success on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and in open shows throughout the year. It was a fair wish too, as both parties are proven winners.
But there was one race on their schedule where they just didn't hope to win…they expected…worked towards…and maybe even planned…to be in the position to contend for the victory. That race was the 2011 Modified Madness feature that took place as part of Seekonk Speedway's Open Wheel Wednesday program. It was a race that the #52 team had won twice before with drivers Matt Hirschman and Chris Pasteryak and it is a race that takes place on hallowed ground for the team. The Darling family are business owners in the Seekonk area. Their shop is within walking distance of the racetrack and they have used the area as a base of operations through the years when drivers such as Hirschman, Pasteryak, Jerry Marquis and Dale Quarterley have driven their racecars. This time around, they accomplished their goals and scored a run-away victory in the race. Both parties did their jobs flawlessly to get to victory lane. The team prepared a car that was just as racy on lap 100 as it was at the start of the race. The driver did his part as well - taking the lead from Les Hinckley on the fifth lap, never putting a wheel wrong, holding off the field over the course of several late race restarts and keeping a strong Matt Hirschman at bay as the laps clicked down. “It's big for me and it's big for the team,” said Coby. “This is only our fifth or sixth race together. We could have won the World Series. We had a shot at the last Tour race at Thompson and now we're in victory lane at Seekonk. This just really goes to show that these guys can put a car together.”; Coby has driven for many teams during his Modified career. He's isn't someone who brings a large check to each operation, so job security isn't a reality for him very often in today's expensive world of short track racing. When Coby joined the John McKenna-led #52 team this year, he learned quickly that it was a different team from what he was used to. But different can prove to be good - just like it did at Seekonk on Wednesday night. “They have a different strategy sometimes from other teams,” said Coby. “They set up their cars a little differently. John comes from a full-fendered car background with the North car and he brings a lot of knowledge from that to the Modified. I think it's weird sometimes, but he really makes it work. “He [McKenna] has gotten to know me as a driver in just five races. Of all the drivers they've ever had, I don't like the car to be tight at all. They've made adjustments and I think that is important. We're building something good together. There is a lot of trust between what I do and what he does. It makes it a lot of fun. I'd like to win for every team that I drive for.”;
Considering just how important Seekonk is to the Darling team, you might expect that Coby could be paralyzed by pressure coming into this event. However, he stayed cool throughout the 100-lap event and claims to have felt little or no pressure to bring the car home to victory lane.
“There was no pressure because Seekonk is the type of track where it is hit or miss,” said Coby. “They had another driver in this car last year and he didn't do well in it. So it all depends on the night, the set-up and the track. I watched when Chris Pasteryak won here in this car and I told Chris and (his father) Charlie after the race that it was one of the most impressive cars that I've ever seen on a short track. The car never moved….and I got to drive that car tonight. Sometimes you know there is one good car at a racetrack and everyone knows that the #52, the #12 (of Todd Annarummo) and the #5 (of Chris Pasteryak) are the good cars that get around Seekonk. So I guess there was a little bit of pressure because I didn't want to be the guy who goofed that up.”;
Not goofing it up meant not running the car too fast and wearing out its tires. As quick as Coby was throughout the race, he still managed to conserve enough so that his ride was strong from start to finish. “I had a lot of car left still,” said Coby. “On the long runs, it was really, really good. I think I could go another 50 laps if I had to. It was one of those nights when the stars were aligned for us.”; The biggest obstacle for Coby during the race was a string of restarts after various lap 80 incidents. Each time, Coby and Matt Hirschman played restart games with each other. There were jumps, false starts, stalls and even a little bit of crowding between the two drivers. But Coby still came out on top when the dust settled. “On those lap 80 restarts, I thought the rest of the race might be like that…restarts every two lap,” said Coby. “For it to go green to the end from lap 80 was to our advantage. It gave Todd [Annarummo] less time to get to me and Matt fell back a little bit. Once I knew that I had a car length, I knew that I was good if we had no more cautions.” Hirschman maintained second place at the race finish - a result that he wasn't exactly disappointed due to the fact that he personally knew how strong the Darling team is at Seekonk based on his 2008 victory there while driving for the team. “I lost to a team that always has a good car here,” said Hirschman. “The car stays right across the street and they come over and test here every year for this race. They have won three of the past five years here and that is the car to beat when you come here. I knew that. They had a good starting position close to the front and when I won here, I started near the front.“; Todd Annarummo, Mike Stefanik and Chris Pasteryak rounded out the top five finishers. Hirschman Makes Up Ground to Finish Second After the dust settled from the heat races, Matt Hirschman found himself with a start in the feature event that was outside the top 10. He overcame that though to battle for the lead and finish the 100-lap event in the runner-up spot. “I had a good car, but I was coming from a ways back after where we started,” said Hirschman. I got them one at a time and none of them were freebies for me. The cars that wrecked, did that long after we got past them. I had to earn every position one at a time. I never really had to force the issue. Everyone raced me clean. They gave me room. It was a fun night and a fun race.”; Up and Down Week for Mechalides On Saturday night, Louie Mechalides took home the $12,000 winner's purse in Ricky's Race at Canaan Fair Speedway (NH). Things didn't work out so well for him a few days later at Seekonk though. Mechalides got caught in a wreck at just the 10-lap mark of Modified Madness. He pressed on for a few dozen laps after that, but ended up with a finish of 24th.

Pit Notes
- Matt Hirschman's #50 Modified had a smaller, less powerful but lighter 355-cubic inch engine under its hood at Seekonk. It is one that is used in SK Modified competition normally.- Seekonk Speedway (MA) wasn't a brand new track for Tim Jordan. The MRS Rookie attempted to qualify for an ACT Late Model event at the track several seasons ago, but had chassis issues that kept him out of that race. This time around, Jordan finished second in his heat race and then ran strong before getting caught up in a wreck.
- Seekonk Speedway legend Vinnie Annarummo returned to action in this year's Modified Madness race as a teammate to his son Todd Annarummo. Vinnie won his heat race and ran in the top five for much of the feature, before ending up with a finish of eighth.
- Mike Stefanik's stop at Seekonk was part of a very busy stretch of racing for the veteran driver. Stefanik raced in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, the Ricky's Race MRS show at Canaan Fair Speedway (NH) later that evening, at Seekonk on Wednesday and in the open competition Modified show at Thompson International Speedway (CT) on Thursday. Stefanik was the only driver to run all four races, while Doug Coby and Ryan Preece competed in three of the four shows. Matt Hirschman entered all three races, but did not make the feature at Canaan after having engine issues earlier in the day.
- Other winners on Open Wheel Wednesday at Seekonk Speedway were Randy Cabral (NEMA Midgets) and Phil Lausier (Pro Four Modifieds).

July 16 Canaan Fair Speedway - MRS - DNS - MOTOR TROUBLE

LOUIE MECHALIDES TAKES RICKY’S PURPLE TO THE WINNER CIRCLE
Mechalides Gets First 2011 Win and Big Purse
by Denise DuPont

On Saturday, July 16th the Valenti Modfied Racing Series (VMRS) went to Canaan Fair Speedway for the fourth annual “Ricky’s Race For Kids”. In addition to the normal series drivers, there were several NWMT drivers in attendance to vie for the projected $36,000 purse money that was posted. The winners portion being - $12,000.
Louie Mechalides drew for the pole, led every lap and won the 112 lap race. The #85 team was the only car in the field to sport the Ricky Miller purple so it was appropriate that the purple team take the checkers and the win. ”I really did not want to draw the pole but when it was a good place to start. The car was really good so I was lucky be able to have run all those laps that hard and still have a car at the end of race.” The race was caution laden with ten cautions marring the momentum of the race. Leading the race Mechalides was ahead of the accidents and managed to avoid any damage. “I cannot believe how many cautions there were in the race,” said Mechalides while reflecting on the race. “We usually have two caution and we had about five cautions before lap 10. We could have done without all the cautions. I could have gotten stuck in the back. But it was a good race.”
The cautions benefited Mechalides because he was surrounded by the strongest of survivors “After the cautions I knew that I had all good cars starting on the outside of me. I was trying to race with them and not loose any spots. Mike Stefanik and Kirk (Alexander) were all fast. So I knew I had my hands full. They all run pretty good.”
Modified champion Mike Stefanik jumped into the #66 car of Ed Marceau to make a run for the money. The team had a great night but it was one spot short. Stefanik finished second after also surviving the many accidents. “A second place finish is good for just dropping in at the last minute we got a little tight at the end.”
Stefanik came to Canaan immediately following the NWMT race at Loudon. The team did not have enough time to complete their normal race preparation which including tires. “I think that we missed our tire sizing just a little bit. It was a problem that we got here a little late and did not get a good tire selection, which is not really any body’s fault. It is just the way the weekend went. Being over at the big track and not being able to have all your guns loaded when you pull into the pits it hurts a little bit. But I am not going to complain about a second place finish. It was a good run. The car does not have any scratches on it. So we should be ready to go to Seekonk on Wednesday and try it all over again. “ VMRS regular Norm Wrenn had his best finish of the season. Wrenn started mid-way in the field and executed his plan to finish the race as best he could. Not only did he follow his pre-race strategy but he also probably surpassed the team’s expectations. “The race was awesome. I started I think fourteenth and we had a plan going into this I was going to find a few open spots and coast because it was a long race and we needed to stay out of trouble. There were a lot of cautions and I stayed out of trouble. There was a bad crash on the front stretch and I was coasting at the time luckily. We had a little front end damage when a car came over the front end but luckily I was not pacing aggressively at the time. It probably saved me from being out of the race at that point. “ Wrenn’s car appeared to get better as the race went on. Coasting and finding the open spots saved enough of his car to ensure a strong podium finish. “Towards the end we were actually reeling in the leaders on every lap. I was able to get by the #43 as he spun his tires to get into third spot. . At the very end I was talking to myself, “Let’s not crash here. Let’s just get to finish and be happy with a third place. I did not want to be aggressive at the end and take a chance and place my nose where it did not belong.” VMRS past champion, Kirk Alexander, came to Canaan to win. He did not win but he had racing fun and was paid to do it. Alexander completed the race in fourth. “It was a awesome day and a great payday. We went forward and improved our position so that is really cool.” The VMRS drivers are use to competing on the track with a lot of green lap racing. When they have an off night an circumstances cause several cautions, drivers and teams find themselves in unfamiliar territory. “The car was awesome. I just did not need those cautions. The car stagger would open up under the cautions and it would take about six or eight laps to get it back to where it was good enough to run with them. Those cars up around me were really fast. I was lucky that I had an awesome race car. We had a good car tonight and started thirteenth and we finished fourth. I buzzed the tires on the restart when I thought that I had a shot to get back into second. I was racing with Mike Stefanik and Louie and I wish I could have done it without all the cautions. “ The existing point leader for the series, Chris Pasteryak, also enjoyed racing on the track even though he was involved in an incident. “It was an exciting race. It was a lot of fun. I kind of got spun early when I chopped a guy which was a racing deal.” On a close tight fast track, cautions do occur and Pasteryak was caught up in a few himself. “Then I got caught up in another racing deal. We probably could have earned a second place finish but I was more worried about the #0 (Mike Holdridge) trying to get by me on the outside and I got into Les (Hinckley). I turned him sideways in turn one and I finished fifth. I guess I got one coming from him but I will go to apologize to him in a few minutes. Other than that we have four wheels on it at then end of the night.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Louie Mechalides of Tyngsboro, MA., made his first win in four years a big one Saturday night when he drove to victory in the 4th annual “Ricky’s Race for Kids” 112-lap modified race, at Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, NH., before a large crowd. The victory, Mechalides’ fifth career series win, earned the veteran driver a $12,000 payday. The race benefited David’s House, of Lebanon, NH. Mechalides, driving for Lowell, MA., car owner Kevin Stuart, started on the pole and led the entire 112 laps He received early pressure from series champion, Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, MA., rookie Tommy Barrett, JR, of Millis, MA., then Preston, CT., veteran Kenny Barry who tried for 25 laps but could not overtake the race leader. Kirk Alexander, Swanzey, NH., gave it his best, laps 45 through 64, and Mike Stefanik, of Coventry, RI., worked over the leader from lap 65 to the finish. But it was Mechalides’ night. It was his first win since September 23, 2007. Stefanik turned in a strong effort driving the Ed Marceau #66 to a solid runner-up finish. Stefanik earlier in the day raced at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Nashua, NH., veteran Norman Wrenn finished third, a career best with the VMRS, Alexander was fourth, with Chris Pasteryak, of Lisbon, CT., rounding out the top five. Sixth through tenth were; Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, CT., Mike Holdridge, Madison, CT., Donnie Lashua, Canaan, Jacob Dore, Sanford, ME., and Joey Jarvis, Ascutney, VT.
Mechalides becomes the seventh different winner in eight races this season and is now tied with Andy Seuss and Dwight Jarvis for fourth on the all-time winners list with five wins apiece. The race, slowed by ten caution flags, took one hour and nine minutes to complete. 31 race teams entered the event. 18 of the original 28 starters finished the race with 16 cars on the lead lap.

Race Summary
July 16, 2011
Canaan Fair Speedway Canaan, NH.
Distance: 112 laps
Time of Race: 1:09:01
Best Lap Time: 13,723 (Alexander)
Best Speed: 87.357 (Alexander)
Lead Changes: 0
Lap Leaders: Mechalides (1-112)
Cautions: Laps; 1, 8, 10, 15, 41, 42, 43, 63, 87, 103

1 Louie Mechalides 85
2 Mike Stefanik 66
3 Norm Wrenn 53
4 Kirk Alexander 43
5 Chris Pasteryak 5CT
6 Les Hinckley 06
7 Mike Holdridge 0
8 Donnie Lashua 10x
9 Jacob Dore 05
10 Joey Jarvis 04
11 Mark McClay 61
12 Joe Doucette 55
13 Todd Patnode 24
14 Richard Savary 99
15 Ted Christopher 00
16 Max Zachem 79
17 Tom Barrett 9
18 Jon McKennedy 73
19 Aaron Fellows 7
20 Eric Goodale 58
21 Jim Boniface 88
22 Ken Barry 2
23 Dwight Jarvis 28
24 Doug Coby 20
25 Rob Goodenough 1NH
26 Tim Jordan 47
27 Rowan Pennink 25
28 Jack Bateman 17

July 16 New Hampshire Speedway - NASCAR - 4th

NEW HAMPSHIRE F.W. WEBB 100
by Polly Reid
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With only two short cautions inside the first ten circuits, it was green flag racing to the checkers and an impressive finish by Sprint Cup driver Ryan Newman of South Bend, IN who bested the field to take the victory in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, F. W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. A last lap pass by Todd Szegedy brought the Ridgefield, CT across for second with Ron Silk of Norwalk, CT third, Matt Hirschman and Doug Coby the top five. His third consecutive win at the Magic Mile in the Kevin Manion owned modified, Newman admitted a caution could have changed things. “I didn’t know what was going to happen if a yellow came out whatever lap it was going to be- it was sure going to changed the complexity of the race. We were loose, but we were the tightest loose of the top three up front there. Fortunately it all worked out for us.” Setting fast time on Thursday, Newman chose the outside lane for the green with Silk, Szegedy, Bobby Santos and Doug Coby the top five. Andy Petree, expected to make his first NWMT start, suffered damage in the final practice and did not start.
A caution on the first circuit slowed the pace when three cars tangled in turns one and two ending the day for Justin Bonsignore- the field lined up for another try. Newman again taking the outside, lined up with Silk, Santos, Szegedy and Rowan Pennink- only to be reined in again when Andy Seuss spun in turn four. Once again under way, it was quick to see who were the cars to beat as Newman, Szegedy and Silk set the pace, pulling away from the pack and as the long green run continued, the top trio continued to separate themselves from the rest of the field the circuits clicking off the board - eventually working lap traffic and before the half, they had put a good ten seconds between themselves and Ted Christopher in fourth. Ryan Preece made his return to the NWMT and had worked his Bustout/Reynolds Auto Wrecking modified up to fourth just past the half mark when suddenly he was down pit row- out with engine issues with 40 to go. Earlier, engine issues plagued several teams including Patrick Emerling who was out 16 laps in, then Jimmy Blewett with only 26 circuits in the books followed by Dale Quarterly with 29 laps completed and Mike Stefanik with 30- all pushed behind the wall. 25 to go, Silk leading, the green flag still out- only 14 cars remained on the lead lap- with Szegedy and Newman keeping the T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet in their sights. But as the laps ticked down and the green continued, Newman turned up the wick and moved low in turn three to nab second from Szegedy on lap 80 and after a brief side by side battle with Silk, made his pass in turns one and two, 16 to go on the scoreboard to secure the lead for the final time- taking the Aggressive Hydraulics/Menards Chevrolet across the line for the win. “This is really special,” said Manion whose regular job is crew chief for Sprint Cup driver Jamie McMurray. “This whole program we started with Gary, myself and Russell, we won here as a team in the early 90’s when we first started coming up here with Jeff Fuller then Steve Park. As a kid, to come up here and race with the Cup guys, it was really special. We made sure our car looked good because we had a lot of guys watching, it was one of the best races up here so 20 years later to come back here and be part of a team, learning the aspect of owning a car, the expense of getting up here and all the expense that goes on, just trying to get a pit crew together, it’s important to us and it’s special to win and pretty exciting.” Manion noted they brought two modifieds and they will be swapping them out then head to Seekonk on Wednesday, Thompson on Thursday and Riverhead on Saturday with Gary Putnam behind the wheel. Pulling down his fourth top ten finish with six events to date in 2011, Szegedy was able to capitalize when Silk went high on the last lap, making a smooth pass for a second. “Second to me was kind of a win to me. I mean we beat all the regulars and we’ve had some bad luck here in the last four or five races here, so this was definitely a good run- we had a great car. Towards the end I kind of went in a fuel conservation mode because we didn’t bank on knowing how many green laps we were going so I started backing out of it a little bit.” Referencing Newman’s recent dominance Szegedy offered this, “I think we have some work to do. We have to drive the track a little bit different, set the car up different- you know, he is not unbeatable. He definitely can be beat so we just have to work harder. They got a good car underneath him, he understands the cars now but anyone one is beatable, I don’t care if they’re superman.” Szegedy in the hunt all day in the Wisk Detergent/A.J. Romano Construction, Mike Smeriglio, III owned Ford led a handful of laps in the first third of the event.
Silk continues to be one to watch this season in the NWMT as the Norwalk, CT driver once again earned a top three, his fourth podium finish in six races. “I was surprised how long it went green, I’m sure everyone was. We had a pretty good car, all my guys did a great job all weekend, we really made about a thousand adjustments since we got here. We got a little bit close to Newman on the last lap there -Eric Beers gave me like a tow to get me within range of him and I really tried to sail down there into turn one on the last lap and I just got up there in the loose stuff and once you get up there you can’t get out. That was how Todd was able to get me on the last lap.” Silk smiling added, “It was a good day, we’ll work a little harder for the next race- maybe that 7 won’t be here for the Indy weekend, maybe we’ll get a break.” NWMT points leader Rowan Pennink crossed for sixth, Eric Goodale seventh, Ron Yuhas,Jr who started 24th crossed for 8th with Ed Flemke, Jr. and Woody Pitkat the top ten. Ted Christopher faded to 11th the last car on the lead lap. New Hampshire Motor Speedway got it right when they named Rachel Gilbert the Grand Marshal for the F.W. Webb 100. In April, the 100 year young- yes, 100, celebrated the milestone by driving the track’s pace car around the one mile oval. As the Grand Marshal today, the Laconia, NH resident who came to the Bryar Motorsports Park in the early 60’s, continues to make headlines as she gave the command ‘drivers start your engines.’ From the Magic Mile to the Long Island quarter mile, the NWMT heads to Riverhead Raceway July 30th.

1. (1) Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind., Chevrolet, 100 laps, 112.987 mph.
2. (3) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 100.
3. (2) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
4. (9) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 100.
5. (6) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
6. (7) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 100.
7. (12) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 100.
8. (24) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
9. (14) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
10. (21) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
11. (10) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 100.
12. (11) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 99.
13. (4) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 99.
14. (18) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 99.
15. (16) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 99.
16. (19) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 99.
17. (13) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 99.
18. (28) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 98.
19. (26) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 98.
20. (20) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 98.
21. (22) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Ford, 98.
22. (23) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet, 98.
23. (27) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 98.
24. (31) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass., Chevrolet, 98.
25. (32) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 97.
26. (33) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Chevrolet, 89.
27. (8) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 60, engine.
28. (17) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 30, engine.
29. (30) Dale Quarterley, Westfield, Mass., Chevrolet, 29, engine.
30. (15) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 26, engine.
31. (25) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 16, engine.
32. (34) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 1, accident.
33. (5) Andy Petree, Hickory, N.C., Chevrolet, 0, dns.
34. (29) Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass., Ford, 0, dns.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 0 hours 56 minutes 11 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.901 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: R.Newman (184.857 mph, 20.604 seconds)
Caution Flags: 2 for 6 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Newman 1-33; T. Szegedy 34-36; R. Newman 37-47; R. Silk 48-83; R. Newman 84-100.

Standings: 1. R. Pennink, 969; 2. R. Silk, 959; 3. T. Christopher, 916; 4. M. Hirschman, 866; 5. T. Szegedy, 858; 6. E. Beers, 836; 7. B. Santos, 826; 8. D. Coby, 810; 9. R. Yuhas,Jr., 777; 10. E. Rudolph, 776.

By Brian Danko
LOUDON, N.H.---Whenever the NASCAR modified tour returns to the New Hampshire Motor speedway, from the fans up to the competitors, they know that it is going to be one of the must see races of the year but this year, fans who were used to seeing the high powered rockets won’t be able to watch either live or on tape delayed because the spring race won’t be broadcast. After watching the race, it’s a good thing as the race wasn’t one of the best.
Last year, fans of the open wheel series and fans of racing in general knew watching the mods at the one mile speedway was something special but this year fans will only be able to watch the modifieds twice on the tube this year beginning with the mid August race at Bristol and the fall race here at New Hampshire. Both of those races will be shown live on Speed.. Part of the problem was when the parent company of Versus was sold and they changed their upper management and dropped the coverage of the modified tour that they had in 2010, which consisted of at least 8 races, taped for a later broadcast and shown in a one hour version. The fans, crews, drivers and car owners loved it. The modifieds, after years of neglect were finally getting the long overdue television exposure that NASCAR had promised for at least 10 years. And not only did they get a couple of live events but the taped shows were just as good as they replayed a couple times giving sponsors a reason to hop on board the modified tour. When the 2011 television schedule was released, needless to say, competitors of the modified tour were downright ticked off at going from 8 races to just two, albeit it live events. I caught up with a trio of drivers to get their views during Saturday morning and none were two happy with it. “It’s not disappointing.” Doug Coby said, “Its downright ridicules. We’ll do everything we need to do to get television and then we have it and lose it.”; Doug was aware of the deal with Versus but he can’t understand how the K and N Series East and West has 24 of their 25 events on TV and the modifieds get two. “There is TV here for the Cup practice, Nationswide practice and race and they tape the K and N race (on Friday) and we can’t get something, especially here.”;
“You can’t build up a following if you only have one or two races a year on TV. Right now, we need to start now for next year. We’ll all bitch and complain about it and nothing will get down. It almost seems the K and N got more races at the expense of the modified tour.”; Doug’s biggest complaint was ‘don’t tell us your working on something when you’re not.’; Teddy Christopher is another driver used to being at the front of the pack and he and his sponsors would love the exposure but he too was disappointed. “It’s very disappointing. I understand that they lost a deal with Versus but they don’t say anything. We are expecting it and we don’t have it.”;
Mike Stefanik, a seven time modified tour champion too was disappointed in the lack of coverage this year after the large exposure last year. “Everyone wants TV. I know that but it’s very disappointing to go from the number we had to two. It was great morale booster for our team, our crew and our car owner. It gave our car owners business great exposure which otherwise we wouldn’t have had.”; NASCAR said that they never promised the modified tour competitors anything in 2011 and that, like all their sanctioned races, they would like TV for them but this year the deal with Versus fell through and it was too late to secure anything other than the two live events at Bristol and New Hampshire later this year. Many of the drivers did say that they lost potential sponsorship when the lack of television dates dried up and in today’s economy that hurts every team that banked on coverage in 2011.

PETTREE INVOLVED IN PRACTICE WRECK
Many eyes were looking at what Andy Pettree, III, the long time Sprint Cup car owner turned announcer would do in his modified. He turned many heads when he qualified fifth for the F.W. Webb 100 but his day turned sour on Saturday morning when he was clipped by another car and turned into the wall on the front stretch during the modifieds only practice of the day. His team was seen working feverishly to get the car repaired for what would be his first ever event at New Hampshire but he was forced to withdraw from the race.

NEWMAN DOES IT AGAIN
If Ryan Newman ever loses his full time ride on the Sprint Cup circuit, he might be willing to come and play in the NASCAR Whelen modified tour series as he captured his third straight modified pole for the Saturday companion event. Newman, running a Kevin Manion/Gary Putnam owned modified not only won the pole position, his third straight at Loudon but he captured the 100 lap race in dominating fashion. There is some question on the win as reports on the way home were that Newman’s car was found to have issues but that no decision would be made until during the upcoming week. Newman who loves racing on the modified tour when asked if would like to see the modifieds at more races with the Cup series said it would be great for the series.
“These cars would be awesome at the one mile tracks. They would be great at Phoenix, Richmond and Martinsville.”;
That’s when crew chief, Kevin Manion spoke up and said he remembers going Richmond and Watkins Glen with the tour back in the 90’s and how awesome the modifieds were at Richmond in particular. The modified tour returns here next month as part of the Indy Car weekend while the Sprint cup series are in Watkins Glen, N.Y. A quick trip today by air but would they come? According to Kevin Manion, they have discussed it but they haven’t made any decisions. You can tell that Newman loves running the modifieds and the tour regulars, while they don’t like getting beat by him, like him running because of the respect factor. It goes both ways.

34 CARS FOR 38 SPOTS
A sure sign of the struggling economy is that only 34 modifieds showed up in New Hampshire for the 38 starting spots available. It surprised many that teams with multiple cars didn’t do a start and park, a ritual performed weekly on the Cup and Nationwide series weekly. The track was paying $1800. To take the green yet nobody budged. Chad Little the modified tour director even called on one competitor who usually runs the two Loudon races to inquire if he would consider running Loudon. The reported response out of the drivers mouth was, “are you going to buy me a set of tires?”; Rob Fuller, nephew of tour champions Rick and Jeff Fuller qualified for the race but he lost the motor early Saturday morning and they loaded up for the weekend.

TOUGH DAY FOR MANY TOUR REGULARS
It wasn’t the kindest day for defending series champion, Bobby Santos. Although the talented driver finished 13th, it was a distant 13th as he and former champion, Teddy Christopher, who finished 11th just couldn’t get a handle on the car. You usually expect both these drivers to be battling for the win at NHMS. Mike Stefanik’s streak of lousy luck continued as he finished in 28th after having issues during the early part of the race.

GOOD DAY FOR COBY AND HIRSCHMAN
While some drivers had their problems, Doug Coby and Matt Hirschman has great days finishing fifth and fourth respectively. Eddie Flemke, Jr. had underneath his hood a Rousch motor and while Eddie said the team did have problems, a ninth place finish is what the doctor ordered after his rough stretch.


Matt won this RoC Tour Race Saturday night shootout at the new Southern Tier Concrete Palace, Shangri La II in Owego NY. This win gives the teams confidence going into a stretch that has Matt competing in two races in New Hamphire this Saturday, Seekonk on the 20th and then to Oswego on the 23rd as Matt continues his quest to capture his first RoC victory.


July 9 Shangri La 2 - RoC- Win

For the first time in fourteen months, the Race of Champions Modifieds competed at the half mile high banked concrete oval, Shangri-La II Motorspeedway in Tioga Center, NY last Saturday night. The race was the fourth RoC race scheduled at the ASA member facility during the 2010 and 2011 seasons, but the last two scheduled events have been lost to rain. The RoC Modifieds and Speed STR's joined the RoC Modifieds, ASA Latemodels, Sportsman and Street Stocks in a full night of racing activity. The competitors showcased their talents before the largest grandstand crowd of the season on a beautiful and comfortable summer night. The on track action began following the singing of the national anthem by 7 year old Baylee Morrison. Baylee is a student at the Hochstein School of Music and is a National American Miss state finalist. Her parents are avid RoC Tour and NASCAR Whelan Modified Tour fans, and the family made their first trip to Shangri-La II.
There were 29 RoC Modifieds on hand, competing in three heat races. All of the divisions made it through the heat races with little to no problems. 12 Modified drivers took part in the re-draw with heat race winners Jimmy Zacharias, Chuck Hossfeld and Chris Whitenight drawing starting positions 6, 10 and 9 respectively. It took until the ninth driver to re-draw to pull a top 4 starting spot. Oxford, NY's Rusty Smith was that ninth driver, and he drew the Pole. The final driver to draw, Kyle Ebersole, started on the outside of the front row. The 26 car Modified feature began under Gary Folk, Jr's green flag. Ebersole quickly captured the front spot by passing polesitter Smith in turn two of the first lap. The first of nine cautions flew on lap 17 after Chris Whitenight and Doug Reaume got together in turn 4. The field remained under the green flag until the second caution flag appeared on lap 41. Five more cautions slowed the racing through lap 62. Hirschman followed Ebersole for 30 laps, but had a run on lap 72 and took the lead when Ebersole slipped coming off turn four. One final caution on lap 97 set up a tremendous restart with Ebersole right on Hirschman's rear bumper. Hirschman held off Ebersole on for his second Tour win of the season, and his first ever win at Shangri-La II. Ebersole's second place finish was also his best finish at Shangri-La II. Ebersole finished fifth in the May 2010 RoC event and third during a regular feature on August 5th, 2010. Erik Rudolph started in the fifteenth position, and used patience in working his way toward the front. The Ransomville, NY driver passed cars on the inside and on the outside, but could not take advantage of the late race restart to make a bid for the win and took the checkers in third. Rudolph finished fifth in the May, 2010 event. Rusty Smith tried to have everyone think he was disappointed when he drew the Pole starting position, but Smith had a good run, remaining in the top 5 all race long, finishing fourth. Jan Leaty improved three spots from where he started to finish in fifth place. Daren Scherer captured the Hard Charger Award, passing 14 cars from his twentieth starting spot to finish sixth. Earl Paules and Chuck Hossfeld pitted for a right rear tire change on lap 62, and quickly began working toward the front of the pack. Paules finished eighth. Hossfeld was involved in the final caution on lap 97, and wound up finishing fourteenth.

1. 60 Matt Hirschman
2. 5 Kyle Ebersole
3. 98 Erick Rudolph
4. 34 Rusty Smith
5. 6 Jan Leaty
6. 3 Daren Scherer
7. 47 Jim Storace
8. 8 Earl Paules
9. 69 Tommy Cloce
10. 53 Brian DeFebo
11. 95m John Markovic
12. 14 Doug Reaume
13. 55 Steven Reed
14. 22 Chuck Hossfeld
15. 7 Eric Kocher
16. 88 Billy Putney
17. 2 Patrick Emerling
18. 25r Patrick Emerling
19. 17c Chris Whitenight
20. 26 Scott Conover
21. 25 Mike Leaty
22. 27 Andrew Walko
23. 51 Wilbur Hebing
24. 07 T.J. Zacharias
25. 71 Jimmy Zacharias
26. 44 Rick Kluth

July 2 Mahoning Speedway - Poker - 3

The record will show that Kunkletown’s Tyler Haydt led all 100 laps in Hand 3 of the Modified 100 Poker Series event Saturday night at Mahoning Valley Speedway but yet it was a race decided by inches. Just like Hand 2 from two weeks ago, the outcome came down to the last lap, last turn which again included Earl Paules and Matt Hirschman. Haydt was steadily holding off Hirschman and with the laps dwindling down a caution waved with six to go. Many felt this was a last chance for Hirschman to make his move especially with a two abreast restart. Indeed there was a move but it instead came from Paules. With two laps to go he was running topside over Hirschman and brought the crowd to their feet as he sailed past and went after Haydt on the final circuit. Both ran virtually dead even as they headed to the checkers. Haydt made it across first but just barely as he edged Paules by a scant .019-second margin of victory. “It really feels good to get one of these (100-lapper). We had a good car in a couple of these races and if a couple of things would have went right we would have won one or two already,” said 26-year Haydt. Prior to the race during the redraw Haydt, who picked second starting spot, noted how he would love to get a 100-lap Mahoning win. He had had numerous chances in the past but always fell short when it counted most. This time around he made it his race to lose as he showed all race long. He out-jumped Rob Shultz at the initial start and right away let everyone else run for positions behind him. Although not a dominating run, Haydt did have enough power to keep a safe enough distance on second place which was held between Shultz, Paules, Zeiner and Hirschman. Then came that final restart which led to the exciting shootout to the finish. “I ran too hard in the beginning and that hurt the tires. I had to lean on Earl (Paules) coming off of (turn) four on that last lap. Another two laps and he would have been going by me because I was done. I was holding on for dear life,” noted Haydt who won $3000 and also moved back on top of the weekly point standings after incoming leader John Bennett dropped out on lap 31 and finished 16th. In the last two 100-lap races Paules has lost by a combined total of .412-seconds. “Tyler ran me clean there at the end and he did what he had to do. He got into my skid rail a little bit but we all came out of here clean. We needed just one more lap,” said Paules. With his third place tally Hirschman takes control of the Poker Tournament with three Queens. Don Wagner was fourth. He set fast time and ran in the top five all night while Zane Zeiner, who was making his first Mahoning start this year, completed the top five.

Feature Finish, 100 Laps: 1. Tyler Haydt, 2. Earl Paules, 3. Matt Hirschman, 4. Don Wagner, 5. Zane Zeiner, 6. Kevin Rex, Jr., 7. Joe Mooney, 8. Terry Markovic, 9. Rob Shultz, 10. Brian Romig, 11. Mike Carroll, 12. Frankie Althouse, 13. Troy Bollinger, 14. Brian DeFebo, 15. Matt Higgins, 16. John, Bennett, 17. CJ Jones, 18. John Markovic, 19. Chip Santee
Did not qualify: Doug Bell

June 30 Thompson Speedway - NASCAR- 12

The BRE #3 team had a Dead battery during qualifying. Had to start 25th and was behind all night long. Got into top 10 late but lost a few spots on last restart

by Polly Reid

Ted Christopher overcame what could have been a disastrous day by sticking to pit strategy that turned out to be key for the Plainville, CT driver who after winning the pole, started from the back of the field at the green, pitted with 25 to go and with fresh tires, ‘carved’ his way forward taking the lead with 8 circuits remaining to win the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Budweiser ‘King of Beers’ 150 at Thompson International Speedway. Ron Silk wagered a valiant battle as the two went side by side in the closing laps, but it was Christopher’s fresh Hoosiers that gave him the edge for the victory, Christopher’s 40th NMWT career win, his seventh at Thompson in the last nine NWMT events. Silk crossed for second, Rowan Pennink third, Bobby Santos and Eric Berndt the top five. “I’m probably glad we didn’t start on the pole because that thing was so evil, it was good that we could make changes with it, made some more and I told them at the end, give it some stagger and a little bit of wedge and let me do what I got to do - I got turn three down pretty good at this place,” said Christopher. “I’ve got to thank Eddie Whelan, this is a brand new car, brand new motor, Tony’s Competition Engines, Northeast Race Car and Parts, Brad sets it up, like I said, it’s always nice to have new pipe.” Earning his 23rd career pole earlier in the afternoon, Christopher missed the drivers meeting and penalized, would start the event last. While Rowan Pennink led the field to green, Christopher, climbed to just inside the top twenty when the first yellow waved at lap 53 and pitted for adjustments with the leaders. Doug Coby inherited the lead after electing not to come brought the field back around for green on lap 63 only to be reined in for a second caution on lap 66, a four car tangle that included Christopher in turn three. Pitting again for adjustments, Christopher was off the radar deep in the pack on the restart while Coby, Bobby Santos, Pennink, Justin Bonsignore and Todd Szegedy led the way. Just past the half way mark, Pennink passed Coby for the lead as the field settled into a long green run, Silk appearing in the top five by lap 80, while Bonsignore’s night ended with battery problems. It was the caution on lap 118 that proved to be the turning point for Christopher who was able to come in for fresh tires, however lining up deep in the pack on the lap 124 restart led by Pennink, Silk, Coby (who still did not pit), Santos and Szegedy the top five. Silk wasted no time taking over the front spot at the green while in the back, Christopher picked off the field one by one, up to fourth when the next yellow waved on lap 134. Eleven laps to go at the green, Christopher moved into second and set his sights on Silk leading using his familiar passing move in turns three and four with 8 to go when the final yellow of the night came out. The field closed up, Christopher chose the inside lane on the restart and never looked back scoring to score the win. “It really doesn’t bother me (the penalty) the biggest thing about starting in the back is worrying about getting wrecked you have to be extra cautious- it’s pretty fun to watch that stuff from back there that’s for sure.” Christopher continued, “Racing to win is one thing but to put on a good show is another. It was a good show and hopefully people will come back to watch more racing.” “New car, new motor, new everything,” explained crew chief Brad Lafontaine. “We didn’t practice much, only 3 laps in practice, 2 laps in time trials, sat on the pole- we were on a high note, hung around here so long we just lost track of time I guess and we missed the drivers meeting. I missed it, Teddy missed it and we weren’t even hanging around together. It was just one of those things- I apologized to Eddie. Teddy and I talked when we realized we got penalized, we said we have to keep the wheels on the car and move forward the best we can.” Suspecting they might have had a bad tire when the car wasn’t ’good’ the first 100 plus laps. “We kept pitting, trying to figure out what was wrong with the car. The other guys are putting tires on, we’re checking rotor temperature.” A list of adjustments then finally tires at the end, as Lafontaine put it, “who else do you want in your car with 25 to go?” Lafontaine realized they indeed had a chance to win as he was clicking off his stop watch. “I’m thinking to myself, this thing is so fast, it’s back to where we were in practice and time trials.” Four pit stops, a spin, Lafontaine admitted, “We got lucky with the cautions, we got lucky with the spin, you know, you have to have a little luck in the game too. The team, they did a great job, everything I was barking out to them they were just doing it, everyone went 100 percent. When you have a good bunch of guys that know what they’re doing, you know, it just works.”
His share of success at Thompson, Silk almost pulled off the win. “He got some tires there at the end, we took tires around lap 60. The guys did a great job, we weren’t that good on the first half of the race we made adjustments, really got the car a lot better. Ted and all those guys did a great job, congratulations to them and we’ll go get ready for Loudon and try to win one.”
The podium finish for Pennink keeps the Huntingdon Valley, PA driver in the points lead. “We had a great car through the whole race, we didn’t need those last couple of cautions at the end, man that 93 car there, when we were out front it was just unbelievable. I could drive it anywhere I wanted. For some reason when that caution came out, I don’t know what the tires did but we didn’t need that heat cycle on the tires and the thing gave up a little bit after that caution.”
Todd Szegedy fresh off his victory at Monadnock Speedway four days ago finished sixth, Doug Coby, who never pitted was seventh, Eric Beers eighth, James Civali rallied after motor problems in practice was ninth and Eric Goodale tenth

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
Budweiser 'King of Beers' 150 Unofficial Results
Thursday At Thompson International Speedway, Thompson, Conn.
Lap length: 0.625 miles

(Start position in parentheses)
1. (1) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 150 laps, 87.164 mph.
2. (9) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
3. (2) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
4. (3) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 150.
5. (7) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
6. (5) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 150.
7. (4) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
8. (12) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
9. (23) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 150.
10. (17) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
11. (14) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
12. (13) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
13. (8) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
14. (11) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
15. (6) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
16. (18) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
17. (21) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 150.
18. (20) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
19. (16) Dave Etheridge, Portland, Conn., Chevrolet, 148.
20. (24) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 145.
21. (22) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 143.
22. (26) Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, R.I., Chevrolet, 116, electrical.
23. (27) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Pontiac, 113.
24. (15) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 83, battery.
25. (25) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 64, engine.
26. (10) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 53, fuel pump.
27. (19) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 29, engine.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 4 minutes 32 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.711 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: T. Christopher (120.366 mph, 18.693 seconds)
Caution Flags: 5 for 27 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Pennink 1-56; D. Coby 57-75; R. Pennink 76-124; R. Silk 125-141; T. Christopher 142-150.

Standings: 1. R. Pennink, 819; 2. R. Silk, 789; 3. T. Christopher, 786; 4. E. Beers, 709; 5. M. Hirschman, 706; 6. B. Santos, 702; 7. T. Szegedy, 683; 8. M. Stefanik, 669; 9. E. Rudolph, 664; 10. D. Coby, 655..

June 25 Monadnock Speedway - NASCAR - 3rd
Todd Szegedy showed everyone why he is still someone to watch on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Szegedy, the 2003 tour champion, started from the pole and led every lap to win the Monadnock 200 Sunday for his 15th career tour win and first since August of last year.
With his win Szegedy became the fourth different winner in as many races this season on the tour and it was his first top-five finish of the season. Szegedy held off Justin Bosingnore who followed in second while Matt Hirschman was third. Ron Silk was fourth and James Civali completed the top five. Defending race winner ted Christopher finished sixth with Mike Stefanik seventh and Ron Yuhas Jr. eighth. Erick Rudolph and point leader Rowan Pennink completed the top 10. Pennink used his solid finish to retain the points lead by 25 over Silk (644-619.
The race was slowed six times for caution.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Monadnock 200 Results
Lap length: 0.25 miles

(Start position in parentheses)
1. (1) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 175 laps, 48.491 mph.
2. (7) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 175.
3. (4) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 175.
4. (2) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
5. (5) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 175.
6. (14) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
7. (10) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 175.
8. (6) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
9. (8) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 175.
10. (12) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 175.
11. (11) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
12. (23) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 175.
13. (9) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass., Chevrolet, 175.
14. (19) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 175.
15. (13) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 175.
16. (15) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 175.
17. (3) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 174.
18. (17) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 174.
19. (27) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 174.
20. (26) Dave Etheridge, Portland, Conn., Chevrolet, 173.
21. (21) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet, 173.
22. (16) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 172.
23. (24) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 172.
24. (25) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 172.
25. (22) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 171.
26. (18) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 171.
27. (28) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Pontiac, 171, clutch.

RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Todd Szegedy, Time: 12.447 Seconds, Speed: 72.307 mph
Time of Race: 0 hrs., 54 mins, 8 secs Average Speed: 48.491 mph Margin of Victory: 0.417 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 2-5; 38-45; 48-54; 85-95; 106-112; 153-161. 6 for 46 laps.
Lap Leaders: Todd Szegedy 1-175.
Total Laps Led: Todd Szegedy 175. 0 changes involving 1 drivers.

CONTINGENCY AWARDS
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Eric Beers, 45 Horwith Freightliner Chevrolet
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Todd Szegedy, 2 Wisk Laundry Detergent/AJ Romano Ford
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Justin Bonsignore, 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Patrick Emerling *, 07 Emerling Chevrolet Ford
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD: Todd Szegedy, 2 Wisk Laundry Detergent
Top 10 Driver Points: Rowan Pennink 644, Ron Silk 619, Ted Christopher 601, Mike Stefanik 584, Matt Hirschman 579, Eric Beers 567, Erick Rudolph 546, Bobby Santos 542, Todd Szegedy 533, Ron Yuhas, Jr. 505

MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY
by Polly Reid
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After setting fast time earlier in the afternoon earning his first Coors Light Pole award of the season, Todd Szegedy of Ridgefield, CT in the Wisk/AJ Romano Ford kept the momentum going leading all 175 laps, green to checker, to score the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Monadnock 200 victory. Szegedy survived six cautions and held off the challenges of Ron Silk then later Justin Bonsignore to collect his first victory of 2011, the 15th of his career. Bonsignore crossed for second with Matt Hirschman, Silk and James Civali the top five. “Phil Moran prepared an awesome car for me, it makes my job a lot easier, coming here certainly helped.” Szegedy said referring to the previous week at Monadnock where he competed in the Twin 25’s where he finished fourth and second. “It’s a unique track, there are little knacks you have to learn at this track to figure it out. I knew what the car needed, we struggled a little bit in practice and we kind of threw a big change at it, then we put it on the pole and kept this Mike Smeriglio Ford up front - I can’t thank Michael my car owner enough, he puts this all together, and the guys at the shop, it’s some of the best chemistry we’ve ever had. I’m hoping there is going to be more to come after this.” Szegedy’s car owner Mike Smeriglio could not agree more about the chemistry. “To have this much success this early, it’s a great feeling. I could not be happier for the guys and ladies of this team.” During the long green runs, as expected, lap traffic comes into play on the tight quarter mile high banked oval. There was one very close call just before the half way mark that could have ended Szegedy’s night when in turns three and four, a lap car spun just in front of the leaders. “Randy my spotter did a heck of a job. He told me to go high, go high. I couldn’t see a thing there was so much smoke. I got lucky. It got hairy a couple of times coming up to lap traffic, it always does. This track, you have to hang on, there’s no doubt about it.”
Bonsignore from Holtsville, NY started the Kenneth Massa owned M3 Technology Chevrolet seventh and using patience, made his way into second passing a stout running Silk for the position with 30 to go. “I think we used our stuff up too much trying to get up to second, we didn’t need that last caution, the car just took 15-20 laps to get going,” said Bonsignore. “It’s unfortunate but we have had a dismal start to the season, so this is real good. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going for Thursday, Loudon and from then on out.” Bonsignore continued smiling, “We’ve been having great luck at Riverhead, we’re actually leading the points there, just waiting for it to turn around on this end of it. Can’t thank my guys and crew chief Aaron Clifford enough, hopefully we can keep this going.” While it is the second time in two years the Tour has visited Monadnock Speedway, Matt Hirschman has not- at least not ever as a driver which makes his podium finish even more special. Lining up fourth at the green, the Northampton, PA driver never dropped his Cape Cod Copper/Riverview Chevrolet out of the top five during the entire 175 laps. “This is the first time I’ve ever raced here - I haven’t been here since 1993. I certainly remember the track from when I was here in ‘93 with my dad, but nothing that you could use to my advantage today. It’s nice to come here and get a top five here with the Boehler team. We showed that we could finish in the top ten, but that’s not what we’re after, we want to perform better than that. The top five is were it’s at and a top three is even better. This is something for us to build on- it’s our fourth race together and there’s a lot of racing coming up so I’m looking forward to it and hopefully we can get in victory lane this year.” Collecting his second top ten in four races, Ron Yuhas of Groton, CT brought the A-Team/Beaver Bats Chevrolet over the line 8th. Yuhas ran a weekly show at Monadnock in early June, that trip paying off. “It was actually a phenomenal learning experience. I got to talk to Kirk Alexander for quite some time and he was very helpful. Whether he knows it or know, he was kind of like a mentor for me - he gave me a couple of tips and tricks for this place. Then I got to race with him, follow him, actually all the regulars here, they know this place better than anybody. It was definitely well worth the trip and it was fun doing it.” A big mention to Glen Reen, finishing 13th, Andy Seuss and Renee Dupuis, all three coming to Monadnock for their first Tour race of 2011. Seuss qualified a strong third, holding that position until a restart just before lap 50, contact sending the Hampstead, NH driver into the infield. Seuss recovered to finish the night 17th. Points leader Rowan Pennink qualified 12th and was running as high as 8th when just after a restart, contact in turn two shuffled the Huntingdon Valley, PA driver out of line. Pennink was able to keep control but lost several spots, his 10th place finish not reflecting how many cars he actually did pass.
Pennink remains the point leader, 25 over Silk as the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads to Thompson International Speedway this Thursday for the Budweiser King of Beers 150.


June 24 Stafford Speedway - MRS - running 3rd - lap 32 - then rescheduled

KEITH ROCCO LEADS RAIN DELAYED RACE AT STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS) Stops on Lap 32 Due to Rain

by Denise DuPont

On Friday June 24th the VMRS returned to Stafford Motor Speedway for 80 laps of green flag racing. The field of series cars was joined with a few of the local modified drivers to make up a solid field of twenty-eight cars to start the race. Ted Christopher took the Joe Brady #00 car out for practice but was disqualified before the event even began. Series officials found that Christopher has a motor that did not meet the series specifications in their rule book. The changes made to the motor would have given Christopher extra horse power in the motor that would provide an extra advantage over the field. Rob Summers has motor issues in the #01 modified during his heat race that forced him to park his car on lap 4 of his heat race. The engine problems caused him to sit out the night of competition. So when it was all said and done there were twenty-eight cars ready to roll when the green flag was thrown. Starting on the pole at his home track, Keith Rocco quickly grabbed the lead. On lap 3 Rocco was passed by Chris Pasteryak for the lead. Rocco took a back seat and settled back into third. But Rocco did not stay there long. On lap 11 he made a fantastic slingshot move and passed Dave Etheridge for second in turn three. Two laps later Rocco made the same move on Chris Pasteryak in turn three and took back his lead spot. Rocco kept the lead until lap 32 when the caution flag flew as rain fell on the track dampening Rocco’s run. The race was called and Rocco will have to pick up where he left off in month. The VMRS will return to complete 58 laps of green racing. Keith Rocco may have started on the VMRS race on the pole but he also started with a dislocated shoulder injury. Rocco dislocated his shoulder racing an SK mod at Stafford and has been sidelined for some racing as his twin brother Jeff jumped in the seat for him. Watching Rocco race you never would have guessed he was in pain as he raced. “Once you are in the race car you do not think of anything but going to the front winning races. If I had injured my right shoulder it would have been worst because I definitely would have had a lot harder time shifting.”; Most driver like to run the bottom groove at Stafford and find that it provides them with the advantage that they need to move forward through the field of cars. Watching Rocco as he road the top groove made one wonder why he was breaking from convention. “I love the outside (part of the track). I tell everybody every time I go out there that I am going to make that outside groove work one of these days. There is definitely grip out there and with the tires it is awesome. The goal is to make the outside groove work of Stafford work.”;
Rocco jumped from a Late Model race win into the VMRS car to compete. This was not his normal migration to an SK mod and did it affect his racing edge? “It is a completely different race (VMRS). Every time we run that car there is a big learning curve. I have a lot of people behind me on that do the setups for the car, Every time we go out we are getting better and better. You cannot set the car up like and SK. It is completely different.” So Rocco will return to his weekly competition at local tracks for a month and return back to run the VMRS at the end of July. “We will pick up where we left off. I kind of do not know what to expect now. After the tire has been rain soak we do not know what to expect. But at least everybody is on the same page.”; I am not sure that everyone will return on the same page as Rocco on Friday July 29th but we will see when the series comes back to make the short dash for the win.

June 18 Mahoning Speedway - Poker - Win

Mahoning Valley Speedway has become infamous for their 100 lap Modified races and Saturday night was yet another prime example as Northampton’s Matt Hirschman came from third to first in a spectacularly wild finish over Earl Paules on the final circuit in Hand 2 of the Modified 100 Poker Series in a night of racing that won’t soon be forgotten. Even though fans had sat through 100 laps of action, the race came down to the final turn of the final lap when Anthony Sesely attempted to squeeze underneath Paules but in the process caused them both to spin. With not much room to spare, Paules was holding his line yet Sesely still forced the issue as he turned to the very bottom of the track in an attempt at the lead. With racing room at a minimum, they made contact with both losing control. Paules went into a tailspin while Sesely slid off track.
Although moving backwards Paules was still heading towards the finish line as the race leader while at the same time third running Hirschman had taken evasive action to the very top grove. As they headed to Dick Brown’s waving checkers, Hirschman eked ahead by mere inches and it would be the only time in which he led. John Markovic emerged home in third with John Bennett and Mike Carroll completing the top five. Sesely never recovered and wound up a disappointing 11th.

“What a race! I was so excited once I crossed the line and we were just one adjustment from having a car that would have outright won the race. But you never give up in these. When the checkered flag is in sight you just put it to the floor and it just all worked out,” said Hirschman who pocketed $3000. “It’s always good hard racing here. Mahoning Valley Speedway at its best with another fantastic finish.” Fast timer Don Wagner redrew the pole and was joined at the front by Sesely who was making his first Mahoning start of the season. Once under way Wagner was far and away the dominating force as he built substantial leads throughout the first 50 laps.
Pushing a hard pace, however, would be his pitfall as his tires went away and during a lap 54 restart Sesely was able to stay even with him and four laps later slipped into the top spot. Over the next 10 laps Bennett and Wagner swapped second spot. Paules then took the position on lap 65 and quickly went to work on Sesely. He needed only four laps to do so as he moved inside of Sesely in turn two with 30 laps left to run.
Over that remaining span Paules and Sesely ran bumper-to-bumper until the ill-fated final go-around. “What do you do? I’m just going to keep it under my breath. The difference between the opening when I went under him it was clean. When he went under me he ran into my skid rail and turned me sideways. That’s the difference right there,” said Paules.
For Paules it was not only a tough pill to swallow but a costly one as well. Long time sponsor John Schneider of Schneider and Sons, Inc., Scrap Medal of Allentown was again on hand and set to match the first place take which would have been worth $6000.
“In a situation like that anyone of the three of us could have been here in Victory Lane. It’s just fortunate that it worked out for us,” added Hirschman. This was Hirschman’s sixth Mahoning win and all have come in 100-lappers where he is now the all-time win leader in such events.

Matt Hirschman, 2. Earl Paules, 3. John Markovic, 4. John Bennett, 5. Mike Carroll, 6. Terry Markovic, 7. Kevin Rex, Jr., 8. Chip Santee, 9. Joe Mooney, 10. Don Wagner, 11. Anthony Sesely, 12. Lonnie Behler, 13. Matt Higgins, 14. Tyler Haydt, 15. CJ Jones, 16. Scott Adams, 17. Ed Heim, 18. Jason Collins

June 17 Spencer Speedway - RoC - 5th

One week ago Chuck Hossfeld of Ransomville, NY used up his entire car in just 50 laps of a 75 lap RoC feature event. The result of this taking place saw Chuck being passed late in the race for the lead and win. On Friday night at the Spencer Speedway Hossfeld learned from his mistake from the week prior. After drawing the pole position for the feature Hossfeld set a slower pace while holding off Daren Scherer early in the feature and Wilbur Hebing during the middle stages of the 75 lap feature. Following the final yellow flag of the race on lap 57 Hossfeld pulled away with ease to lead the final 18 laps and go on to the $2,800 feature win. The win was the third of the year on the RoC Tour in the first four races. Third place starter Hebing brought the Ed McGuire owned car home in second with outside pole sitter Scherer settling for third with sixth place starter Jimmy Zacharias ending up in fourth and 11th place starter and defending RoC Tour champion Matt Hirschman finishing fifth.

Chuck Hossfeld and Daren Scherer brought the field to John Nelsons’ green flag under threatening skies. Hossfeld was able to out drag Scherer into turn one to get the lead with Wilbur Hebing, Jimmy Zacharias, and Patrick Emerling in tow. With passing being a difficult proposition on this evening the top five stayed the same until lap 34 when Emerling was spun out of fifth by Jim Storace, Storace was sent to the rear for the contact. After two false starts the race resumed with Hebing scooting under Scherer for second with Erick Rudolph moving into fifth. With Zacharias, Rudolph and Matt Hirschman all racing for positions four through six, Rudolph spun out on lap 55 bringing out the yellow and this moved Hirschman into fifth.

“ I didn’t run a really good race last week “ said Chuck. “ I put on a good show for the fans but in reality the race was 25 laps too long for me last week. I burned our car up last week but in reality our car has been so good that I thought it would last. “
“ Tonight I knew when I drew the pole that I was going to run a slower pace tonight as long as I was in the lead and save my car for the end of the race. I have a really good Troyer car right now with a powerful Hutter motor under the hood and last but not least a great crew that prepares the car each race. It was a good night for us tonight. “

Chuck spoke about the hard time that took place on the double file restarts with Daren Scherer on the outside of him. “ The officials said we couldn’t start until the cone coming out of turn four. He ( Scherer ) was carrying a pace much faster than me before we got to the cone and I was caught between a rock and hard place. I didn’t want to lose the lead on a restart; I wish the leader could control the pace of a restart instead of a cone. “

Qualifying heat races for the 18 car field were captured by Scherer, Hossfeld, and Patrick Emerling.

SPENCER NOTES; Track management moved the RoC Modified feature up in the schedule with threatening weather in the vicinity, no rain fell at the track and the entire racing program was completed. Rusty Smith missing a RoC Tour event for the first time in a long time as parts for a new rear end was not delivered in time. Scherer and Mike Leaty did double duty on the evening with Scherer winning the Legends Cars feature while Leaty secured a top six finish in the B Modifieds. Terry Cheetham had to vacate a pole starting spot in the heat due to being push started, ditto in the feature as he started last instead of 11th.

RACE REPORT RACE OF CHAMPIONS ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR RACE # 4 JJ WHITE MEMORIAL

FINISH; Chuck Hossfeld, Wilbur Hebing, Daren Scherer, Jimmy Zacharias, Matt Hirschman, Kyle Ebersole, Mike Leaty, Tommy Cloce, Jan Leaty, Erick Rudolph, Jim Storace, Doug Reaume, Patrick Emerling, Scott Conover, Jody London, Chris Ridsdale, Terry Cheetham, Rick Kluth.

LAP LEADERS; Hossfeld ( 1 – 75 )
GATER RACING NEWS DRIVER BONUS DRAW $500; Emerling.
DART MACHINERY SET OF $1,500 HEADS; Rudolph.
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD CHARGER AWARD; Hirschman ( 11th to 5th ).
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD LUCK AWARD; Emerling ( 5th to 13th ).

June 11 Dunn Tire Speedway - RoC - Win

Dunn Tire Raceway Park stole a win from Mother Nature on Saturday night as the races went off without a hitch and rain free despite what the Weather Man had forecast. The Race of Champions Modified Tour rolled into town with 23 Modifieds on hand and at the end of the 75 lap feature event, it was Matt Hirschman taking the checkered flag. Bobby Holmes made it two wins in a row in the Sportsman Division while Mike Nash captured his second win of the season. Kalie Clementi bested the field of 4 Cylinder drivers to record her second career feature win at DTRP. The final event of the night was the highly anticipated Race of Champions Modified Tour 75 lap feature event. The field boasted the best of the best in local Modified racing and it was a true toss up on who would come home with the feature win. Tommy Cloce had redrawn the number one starting spot and started from the pole, followed by Jim Storace, Chuck Hossfeld, Karl Hehr, and Daren Scherer. As the 600 horsepower racing machines took the green flag, there was a scramble for the lead. Chuck Hossfeld dove down low, passing both Cloce and Storace to take the top sport. Storace followed Hossfeld and soon the pair had separated from the rest of the field. A yellow flag on lap 14 for debris, saw a number of top competitors pit early for the coveted right rear tire including Hossfeld, Mike Leaty, Matt Hirschman, and Erick Rudolph. The ensuing double file restart had Storace, Cloce, Scherer, and Jimmy Zacharias leading the way. Hossfeld, who was the first of the early pitters back on the track, restarted fourteenth. Hossfeld wasted no time and immediately set off, picking off cars and passing them at a furious rate. Just eight laps later, Hossfeld was already back up to sixth position and by lap 28 was challenging for third. Up front, Scherer made a move on the outside of Storace for the lead on lap 29, but all eyes were on Hossfeld, who took the second spot from Storace on lap 30 and who was on the bumper of the leader just two laps later. Scherer proved to be a challenge for Hossfeld, although Hossfeld prevailed on lap 37 and took the lead. Just as Hossfeld took the top spot, the caution appeared on lap 38 for a spun car.
The pits were a busy place during the caution as nine cars pitted for a tire including Scherer, Storace, Zacharias, Hebing, and Jan Leaty. Leaty was the first car back out on the track of the cars that pitted. Up front for the single file restart Hossfeld led Tom McGrath, Hirschman, and Rudolph. Hossfeld held the lead but another caution on lap 43 provided Hossfeld with a challenge. McGrath, who had been running second, ducked into the pits for his pit stop, putting Hirschman on Hossfeld’s bumper. As the green flag waved, Hossfeld held onto the lead, but Hirschman was right there with him, not allowing him to gain any ground. As the top two separated from the pack, M. Leaty began challenging Rudolph for third and fierce battle between Hehr, Kyle Ebersole, J. Leaty, Scherer, Hebing, and Storace played out for positions five on back. With just twenty laps to go, the yellow flag once again appeared, once again setting the stage for a single file restart. Hossfeld had a good start on the ensuing restart, but not good enough to keep Hirschman at bay. Hirschman went under Hossfeld for the lead going into turn one and by the exit of turn two, was the new leader. As the laps clicked off, Hirschman began building a lead over Hossfeld, who in turn was in sole possession of second place with Rudolph and M. Leaty a distance behind him.
Two more yellow flags would appear on lap 68 for the spun car of McGrath and lap 69 for contact between Hehr and Ebersole. With six laps to go, what would be the final restart of the night, saw Hirschman lead Hossfeld, Rudolph, M. Leaty, Hebing, Billy Putney, and J. Leaty to the green flag. Hirschman and Hossfeld stayed one-two, but M. Leaty passed Rudolph for third, taking Hebing and Putney with him, relegating Rudolph to sixth. The car to watch now though was Putney, who benefited from a late race pit stop and the fresher tires that went with it. Putney blew by M. Leaty for third on lap 71 and by Hossfeld for second just two laps later. Hirschman however had built up enough of a lead that Putney could not chase him down in the few laps that were remaining. Hirschman crossed the finish line first, with Putney second, and Hossfeld, who held off a hard charging Hebing, third.

Race of Champions Modified Tour Feature Finish (6/11): Matt Hirschman, Billy Putney, Chuck Hossfeld, Wilbur Hebing, Mike Leaty, Jan Leaty, Jim Storace, Daren Scherer, Tom McGrath, Patrick Emerling, Tommy Cloce, Doug Reaume, Kyle Ebersole, Karl Hehr, Erick Rudolph, Jimmy Zacharias, Chris Ridsdale, Scott Conover, Nick Barzee, Dave Wollaber, Kevin Lewis, Rusty Smith, Matt Clemens

Heat Winners: Hehr, Hossfeld, Hirschman



June 4 Star Speedway - Special Show - 6th

On Saturday, June 4th, the LATICRETE SBM 125 lap open modified race occurred at Star Speedway in Epping, NH. With over $30,000 in purse money available for teams to compete for, stars from the Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS), NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) and local tracks came to race for the cash. There was only a field of sixteen modified cars but the quality of the field and racing lack none. Modified race writer and supporter, Kevin Rice, worked with track promoter Bob Webber to pull together sponsors and competitors for the event. Their hard work was rewarded with fans, race teams and a premier show at the track.
VMRS champion Jon McKennedy returned to his home track ready to “Dash for the Cash”. McKennedy had his efforts rewarded with a win and over $7,000. He started the day qualifying fifth in time trials, finished the Dash race third and also started the race third. “I have a million laps here (competing at Star Speedway) and it definitely helps. I know every bump and crack in the track so it certainly helps.” Said McKennedy about his advantage of running the race where his race roots began. McKennedy ran smart and saved his car for when he needed it the most. “It was a great race. I really had a good car the first quarter of the race. The car was under me and had plenty of bite left. I could see that the cars were finally getting a little loose. I knew that I was in a good spot and I just had to keep the car under me and tell myself to save the tires as much as I could and just not spin the tires. It all worked out.” Then on lap 88 the first and only caution of the race came out. The #73 team of McKennedy’s strategy was to stay out and win the race. It was a big gamble that the team took paid off in the end when they crossed the finish line first. “There at the end of the race there was a caution and almost the whole field pitting for a tire and I figured “Oh man I am a sitting duck”. But we had a car that was good enough and I was able to make adjustments with the brake bias that helped the car steer getting into the corner and we were able to win. It feels good.”; Second generation driver, Chris Pasteryak team’s race strategy was pit and take a right rear tire to win. The team had a strong run and made a final for the win but they were just shy of their target. “We did not quite have enough for the win. We had put on a right rear during the one caution when everyone else pitted too. We freed the car up a little bit trying to adjust for it but we just did not go quite enough. And Jon was hook up. It is Star and it is his home track and I did not have quite enough for him.”
James Civali brought the Hill Brother’s #79 car across the finish line in third for a strong podium finish. Civali spun bringing out the one and only caution. He pitted and came back out on the track without missing a beat to charge forward tasting the win. “It was a pretty good race. The car was decent all day and we started off good. And then we got a little free during the middle of the race and ended up spinning out that drew the only yellow. But everybody needed it really to change that tire and then we kept going. I thought that we had something at the end and then it went away Chris Pasteryak got a little bit better at the end and I could not get to him but it was a good race.”; Another competitor whose roots are associated with Star Speedway is NASCAR Southern Whelen Modified Driver, Andy Seuss. Seuss returned to Star with a plan for the win. But in the end he could not beat the odds and settled for a fourth place finish. “A top five all night, you cannot argue with that. We were a little bit free. We probably over engineered ourselves. We were a little bit tight all day. We knew this place was going to loosen up and it loosen up pretty bad. The guys did an incredible job on the pit stop and that was what saved our race. We were in seventh (before the caution). We came out in sixth with a couple of guys that did not pit. Once we shuffled through those guys we finished in fourth. It was a great race for us. It is really a great race track. I am really happy to run back here at Star, my home race track. One of these times I am going to win one of these big races. I do not think that we have ever finished out of the top five in any of them. I am really happy with the guys and I am really happy the Leon Holmes Excavating on the car this week. Everything just came together running at home at Star Speedway.”; Nineteen year old Ryan Preece topped off his full weekend of racing by bringing the family owned #40 car to Star Speedway. Preece passed Doug Coby on Lap 7 to take over the lead. He led until lap 61 when winner Jon McKennedy passed him for the lead. “I am happy,” said Preece. “We have a car in one pieced and I had a good time. We led a lot of laps so we made a lot of lap money. And I go the SBM 125 lap 55 Pink Lap tire from that guy that did not exactly pay out a couple years back. I have to thank Kevin Rice and Long Island Modified Maniac for putting this show on. It was a lot of fun.” In the end, Preece completed the race fifth and was rewarded with a nice purse for all the laps he led. “It was good all day. This was an awesome race and everybody was real clean and it was just a good time. I loved the whole Dash for Cash thing. It just made it a lot of fun for all of us drivers and teams. It was just a real easy day. They did an awesome job putting on the show.” The Laticrete SBM 125 lap race at Star Speedway was a successful race all around. We are looking forward to the plans for this race in the future. It was a great event for the Modifieds in New England for both teams and fans. A special thanks to Kevin Rice, Bob Webber and all the sponsors who made this race a success.


Official Laticrete SBM 125 Finish/Payoff 1. Jon McKennedy $7,225, 2. Chris Pasteryak $2,875, 3. James Civali $2,800, 4. Andy Seuss $1,775, 5. Ryan Preece $3,215 (includes pink tire lap 55 fan donation fund), 6. Matt Hirschman 1,425, 7. Rob Summers $1,200, 8. Louie Mechalides $975, 9. Ted Christopher $1,225, 10. Rowan Pennink $1,125, 11. Doug Coby $1,535, 12. Jacob Dore $850, 13. Ken Barry $640, 14. Josh Cantara $830, 15. Chuck Steuer $820, 16. Dwight Jarvis $610.

Notes From Star Speedway

Thoughts on the race format:

Jon McKennedy
“I thought that the format was good. I think that they could have gotten away without the heat races. I think that the time trials were cool. It was something different. Then you have the fast cars starting where they should be. Sometimes with the heats it is the luck of the draw Is basically luck too. Time trials were fun to do. I hope that we come back here next year. I think that everyone was pretty happy.”

Chris Pasteryak
“I liked the race format a lot. We just need to get a few more cars out here.”
“If they have the race next year we will of course be back.”

James Civali
“I liked it. It was pretty good. I wished they had taken six cars for the Dash for Cash, I was sixth. But it was a pretty good race. I like the way they lined it up. It was real good.”

Ryan Preece
“It was awesome. Because you have a racy track here you can do that type of race here. With the qualifying, Dash for Cash and heat races it kind of reminds me of how the World of Outlaws do it. It gives the fans more time to watch their favorite driver or the modifieds go around instead of just sitting there and watching qualifying for a 125 single file race. This gives the spectators a lot more to watch.”

Andy Seuss
“The race format was really good. Unfortunately the race pit stop was a little bit of a cluster. You probably should not take tires here if you do not have a real pit road. It was unfortunate there but we had a good car. We are happy. The race format was cool with the qualifying and the Dash. Hopefully we will come back and have more cars to make it more interesting in the heat races.”

Thoughts on the Star Speedway:

Chris Pasteryak
“Star is a great place to race, it always has been. Webber has done a great job with the place. He cleaned it up a little bit and hopefully he has something to build on.”

James Civali
“I like it a lot. It is only my second time here and it is a pretty good track. It is kind of like a Monadnock or a Waterford. It is a lot of fun. It is a small track”.

Ryan Preece
“The race track is awesome. I think that it is a really racy track. It is really a real good track. I think that it is really tight and it killed my forward bite out. If you had a forty lap shoot out you really could have a lot of passing and it is definitely fun.”

May 28 - Oswego - RoC - #60 - 17th

Broken PanHard bar mount ends the teams night early - story to follow

Unofficial RoC Modified 75 Finish from Oswego

1. 22 Chuck Hossfeld
2. 98 Erick Rudolph
3. 25 Mike Leaty
4. 5 Kyle Ebersole
5. 07 Jimmy Zacharias
6. 69 Tommy Cloce
7. 08 Tommy Farrell, III
8. 50 Terry Chetham
9. 3 Daren Scherer
10. 14 Doug Reaume
11. 6 Jan Leaty
12. 1h Wilbur Hebing
13. 11 Rick Kluth
14. 1 Chris Risdale
15. 17 Ken Canestrari
16. 26 Scott Conover
17. 60 Matt Hirschman
18. 27 Andy Walko
19. 34 Rusty Smith
20. 18 Jody London
21. 31 Nick Barzee

DNS - 47 Jim Storace, 2 Patrick Emerling..

May 27 - Stafford Speedway - NASCAR - 10th

by Polly Reid

At the drop of the green it was Ron Silk’s to lose, but not this time. Silk followed up his dramatic time trial run with a commanding performance in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour TSI Harley-Davidson 125 taking a trip to victory lane at Stafford Motor Speedway, the Norwalk, CT driver leading every lap. Rowan Pennink crossed for second, Bobby Santos third, Ted Christopher and Erik Rudolph the top five. Silk survived lap traffic, three cautions including a red flag to collect his fifth career NWMT victory.“The car was just flawless the whole time. The guys did a great job, at the beginning of practice we struggled a little bit, they worked really hard for that hour and a half, it was about a hundred degrees out, they really made the right changes. I want to thank my car owners Connie and Eddie Partridge for letting me drive their cars, it’s great equipment, all the guys who work on it, Tommy Grasso our crew chief who works just as hard as anybody if not harder, I’m really happy for those guys.” The last driver out for time trials, Silk bested the field with his run earning his fourth NWMT career pole, his second at Stafford. It did not take long for the 31 car field to settle into single file as the laps began to tick off. A timely caution on lap 45 brought more than half the field down pit row- Silk elected to stay out along with Santos and Rudolph while Pennink and Christopher came in. “We were hoping our car was good enough where we wouldn’t have to make stop and adjust on it.,” said Silk. “The guys did a great job getting it right in practice. This place is getting harder and harder to pass, the cars are almost the same speed, starting out front is definitely a big help.” Silk, Santos, Rudolph and Doug Coby restarted the field only to be reined in when the 50 car of Kevin Goodale took a hard hit into the front stretch wall crossing back across the track finally stopping in the infield. The caution turned red flag to clean the debris and remove the heavily damaged car hammock style. Strong on the lap 62 restart, Silk wasted no time pulling his T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet away from the pack, his quest solid only to be pulled back in on lap 70 for a two car tangle in turn four involving Eric Beers and Buzz Chew. The caution quick, Silk continued his precision restarts and by lap 80 had a ten car length lead over Santos in second, Rudolph, Christopher and Todd Szegedy the top five. Meanwhile, Pennink was making his moves and just outside of the top five, continued to pick off the competition, first Szegedy by lap 90, Christopher one circuit later, Rudolph two rounds later, his sights set on Santos running second. With 15 to go, Pennink made his move passing Santos and continued marching forward to Silk, but ran out of time. At the checkers, Pennink scored his third 2nd place finish in as many races. “We had an awesome car, I got to thank all the guys, Doug Chouinard the crew chief, awesome power by Hutter, we were a little loose in the beginning, the guys made an awesome pit stop getting us out first off pit road, the car was good from there then we almost got in a couple of tangle ups which set me back a little bit but we just ran out of time at the end and couldn’t quite get to Silk with the lap traffic- congratulations to Ron and the 6 team.” Santos never waived out of the top three, his Mystic Missile Dodge running second most of the night