The TSI 150 That Was Run After Midnight.

In the last "extended" episode of the View From Turn One, it had rained for three straight weeks. Would the track be forced to postpone/cancel a fourth straight program? Well, there was action at the track on Friday as the Whelen Modified Tour continued its tour and the five weekly divisions revived the season. Week two was in progress. Coming up in this entry... Two races on the program are shortened, and the program is in jeopardy because of a minor issue. We start, however, with qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour's TSI Harley Davidson 150. A grand total of 37 cars were on hand to take time, with only 31 of them actually going into the show later on in the night. Unlike the Spring Sizzler, when all of the cars in attendance were inserted into the lineup, some of these drivers were not going to return. Out of the drivers in attendance, the fastest qualifier happened to be Chuck Hossfeld, who got around the track in 18.132 seconds (equals out to 99.272 miles an hour). 30 other drivers would also be sent into the field through either their fastest time or a provisional, and the stage was officially set for the main event.

But of course, first thing's first.

Pardon my limited knowledge of the first "feature" to roll off for the evening: The Late Model 16. I thought that the article on the track's site would have something about the race, but I've read and reread it. Nothing. So here's what I know happened. There was one caution in the entire event, occuring on lap-5 as Kyle Nosal and Joe Rzeszutek spun/got into an accident coming out of turn four. Other than that, it was pretty much a clean race. Wayne Coury, Jr took down the win, followed by Mike Mordino, James Civali (yeah, you read that right), and Rick Charette. (Again, I'm sorry that I can't tell you more about that race.)

And then, we got into the feature event portion of the program. The fireworks kicked off with the SK Lights and their 20-lap event. Aaron Goff was the leader of the race from the drop of the green flag to lap-6 when he spun in turns three and four to bring out the first caution. That incident gave the lead to John Walmsley, who lead for two laps before giving way to Chris Matthews. Matthews would assume that position for two laps as the second caution of the race came out for Goff and another driver that I cannot remember at the moment. (I know it was a white car.) Back to green, and it was Matthews once again out in front. This lead was only good for three laps, because the cautions just kept right on coming. On lap-13, the chaos began as Ted Cain, Chris Bakaj, and Michael Lane spun in turn one. That was cleaned up (and driven off), and the race resumed... For three turns. The yellow came back out on the restart as a multi-car accident occured in turn three. Again, the caution was out and the field was bunched up. And for the third time on the same lap, the field recieved the green only to see the yellow come out once again. This time, it was for Lane, Joe Allegro, Jr, and a car that I couldn't get in a three-car accident. By this time, however, the field had passed its time limit of twenty minutes, so they got a yellow/checker combination. Matthews was still at the head of the group at the time the race was halted, so he picked up his second straight SK Light race of the season. Walmsley finished second, followed by Mark Bakaj and Harry Wheeler.

As the pit crews and drivers of the SK Modifieds came out onto the track, the safety team was busy trying to fix a piece of fence in the turn two area that was harmed during the SK Light feature. The fence work took some time, but it eventually was fixed and the 40-lap feature for the SKs was underway. It was originally Glenn Griswold on the pole for this feature, but Wade Mattesen made sure that the lead was his when the race started. He'd have the head for the first six laps and the first three cautions. On lap-2, Todd Owen spun in (what I think was) turn three to bring out the first caution of the event; lap-4 had him and Kenny Horton in another turn two incident, and on lap-6, it was a third straight turn three melee site as it was a multi-car accident. Numerous cars spent time on pit road for repairs. But back out on the track, Mattesen would lose the lead and second place to both Brad Hietala and Ted Christopher, and they'd have it for about a lap as Richie Pallai, Jr and Horton spun on the backstretch to bring out yet another caution. Both were able to drive away, and the race resumed with Hietala still in front. He'd only have the lead for a lap and three turns, however, as he and Christopher got together and spun in turn four to bring out the caution on lap-12. Woody Pitkat would be the new leader of the race, and the speed of the race would pick up dramatically from this point until less than ten laps to go. The next caution would fall on lap-32 as Vincent Anglace and Curt Brainard spun on the backstretch. Three laps later, the cars of Hietala, Billy Pauch, Jr, and a white car (I'm now telling myself I've got the wrong number, so now I'm confused) were in an accident coming out of four. On the restart, it was still Pitkat out front, but Christopher had fought his way from out of nowhere, and by lap-37, he had retaken the lead. On what was going to be the final lap, Horton spun in turn four to bring out the caution. You'd think that all of this was going to lead to a two-lap shootout for the win, right? Wrong. The rain had come, and the race had to end under a red/checker. Christopher had taken down the win; Pitkat was second, Jeff Malave third, and Bo Gunning fourth. (Sidenote: Malave had been accused of violating the tire rule that had been in place this season, but a press release out Tuesday denied that accusation.

It was an hour or so later, and the rain stopped. The DARE Stocks helped out in getting the track dry; so while they were already out there, why not race? The 15-lap feature was the next race on the agenda. The race started with Barry Fluckiger getting the advantage as leader, but a multi-car accident going into turn three on lap-2 set the field up to do it once again. Fluckiger would take the lead again, and the race would be caution free until lap-13 when Matt Chiarizio spun on the frontstretch and stalled in the infield grass. Another caution would come out on the the last lap when Jesse Hinze spun in turns three and four. With only a few laps to make a move, Norm Sears would pass Fluckiger and hold on to win his second DARE Stock race of the season. Don Wood and Jeff Jolly would also pass Fluckiger, and those would be the top-four drivers.

By this time, it was getting too close to midnight for my mother, as she had been sick for about a week, so I let her off of the hook by going home. I missed all of the Whelen Modified Tour race, but I can tell you that Chuck Hossfeld wound up winning that race. Other noteworthy news out of it: Jimmy Blewett, who originally finished fifth in the race, was disqualified in regards to his carburetor and dropped to a last-place finish.

So where does that leave us? Well, the Limited Late Models and Late Models practically showed up at the track for no reason at all, as it was about one o'clock in the morning by the time things died down at the track. So their races had to be moved to future dates. The Limited Late Models will be running two features in tomorrow's program, as the race originally scheduled for last week will be the first thing in the books. The rest of the schedule can be found here. It's late, and I'm done. So it'll be less than 24 hours when we do this all over again. Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Let the Sunshine In

It's half past noon here in "Small Town" Connecticut, and the sun's shining. I'm still not ready for the night, but I'm going to get ready in about an hour and a half. This has the makings for a great night of racing. We're actually going to have some racing this month. And it's the Modified Tour.

You have one busy weekend, followed by three weeks off, and now you have another busy night. It'll be worth the wait. I'll see you guys at the track, and a longer entry will be up before the 30th. I'm still not sure if I'm going to be there because of other commitments (and I really don't need to have these limited engagements), so stay tuned.

Schedule of Events

First off, let me start by saying that I am surprised that there is no rain date for this week's event. I'd think that just in case it does rain on Friday, the track would be prepared to move the date to Saturday. But I guess that's why I'm not part of the track's management.

Anyway, I've got the schedule of events for Friday night's TSI Harley Davidson 150 event for the Whelen Modified Tour. Note that there are going to be no heats for all divisions. Consolation races will be run if necessary.

Three days from now. Here's to hoping it's going to be a dry one.

Three Strikes

Eh, I kind of figured something wasn't going to go down tonight. Anyone got any good ideas for indoor plans? I'm not a huge NBA fan, and there's nothing on television...

Seriously, though, the event's not going on. Track cancelled the program (with an update time of 11:27am). I could take it like a man for a third straight week, or I can start thinking about how it's giving me withdrawls. I hate to sound like a little kid, but my God. You can only take a 20-year-old to so many places these days!

Okay, calm down. I know how upset I'm going to make myself now because I'm going to start putting myself down. Let's hope that next week won't be a washout. I told you yesterday that the Tour'll be here. (Is there someone who's now planning a Saturday night rain date just in case? It worked the last time.)

Stay safe and dry, and If I feel like writing up anything inbetween now and next Friday, I'll do so.

NASCAR Day?

Tomorrow (May 16) is supposed to be the fifth annual celebration entitled NASCAR Day. Per the official NASCAR Day site, the premise of the day is very simple: NASCAR Day is a one-day celebration of the NASCAR spirit and its fans.

To put it lightly, there won't be any sort of celebration if tomorrow's program is rained out. From what I've read and seen so far, it looks like it's going to be a morning of sitting around, waiting for some sort of news to pop up on the track's site.

If we're not rained out (big if there!), there is no word on what the schedule of events is. I'd find something on the site by now, but nothing has come up. (They trying to tell us something a while in advance here?) Either way, cancellation of the program or not, I'll be back to write something up before next week.

Hey... As long as that weekend doesn't get rained out, it might be all good. We've got plenty of reminders since it's a Whelen Modified Tour race and all...

LM 100 Postponed

I told you I couldn't guarantee a long entry this week. There's nothing but rain (but when I woke up this morning, there was a short lull in the action), which forced the fine folks in management to postpone the first of two Late Model 100 events to June 27. So that's two wins this season for Mother Nature. Okay, we'll just try again next week. I knew it wasn't going to happen today about two days ago, anyway. Stay safe and dry, and hopefully we can get an event completed next week.

A Guarantee

I can guarantee you that an entry will be written at some point this weekend. I can't guarantee that it will be a long entry, however. There is a strong chance that there will be a second straight washout, so if it comes down to it, I'll be writing an entry stating so. It'll be early on Friday, the entry will. Keep it here for that.

I can guarantee something else. I'll give you the entry list for the upcoming TSI Harley Davidson 150 happening on May 23. It's the second appearance of the season for the Whelen Modified Tour. The last update was done at some point today. Two weeks from now, it's going to be a long night.

Other than that, kids, stay safe and dry. I know you'll be looking for drier pastures. (Like the mall tomorrow? I'll be there, as long as I'm not outside getting soaked.)

Too Wet for Week Two

The program for tonight, based on the site, has been "cancelled". Stafford's next event will be the Late Model 100 next week -- weather permitting.

I guess this is it for the day, although I may dish out a few more entries throughout the course of the week. But for now, stay safe and dry. (And I'll have to make some new plans.)

Friday Weather Update

It's 10:49 here at VFT1 "headquarters", and as of 10:35am this morning, we have no idea if we're going racing or not. Currently, there's a little graphic on the front page of the site with the words "foggy and misty skies" along with how tonight's racing program is in question. So I have no clue what's going on. I'm holding off on my usual Friday plans until I get a definite answer. Lord knows I'm not the kind of person who spends all of this time to get ready and whatnot, only to find out plans have been put on hold or cancelled. But yeah. Just stay seated, and another update will come later today.

Day Two.

In the last entry, I talked about all of Saturday's news and finishes from the first half of the Spring Sizzler. In this installment, we shall look at what happened on Day Two. There wasn't much on the schedule, but a claim of a "threat of weather" made sure that everything was out of the way before 6pm. (There wasn't a threat of anything, mind you, because the sun came out in the middle of the Modified Tour race.) But because I've put this half of the blog until Thursday -- *slaps self upside the head* -- let's just get this done and out of the way before I put it off any longer. With that, let's begin.

And as tradition like the past God-knows-how-many years (I've lost track, honestly, so I'm not looking to pick fights over it), Sunday's action started with the SK Modifieds. The action in that race started with Eric Berndt out in front until a lap-4 incident with Corey Hutchings and Zach Sylvester spinning in turn one brought out the first yellow in the event. On the restart, Berndt lost the lead to Woody Pitkat, and he would have the lead for a solid one lap as Bo Gunning spun in turns three and four on lap-5... Which was the second caution. When the green came back out, it was Pitkat once again out in front, but once again, a caution would tighten the field back up. This time, the caution came out on lap-8 when Kenny Horton and Curt Brainard wrecked coming out of turn four. Pitkat resumed command of the field on the restart for only two laps as... You guessed it. The caution flew on lap-10 for dirt that had kicked up onto the track surface in turn four. That was all cleaned up and racing resumed with Pitkat right back out front. Five laps later, however, the caution flew after Brad Hietala, Willie Hardie, and Kurt Lenahan were involved in a three-car accident on the backstretch. Pitkat would hold onto the lead on the restart, but at the 18-lap mark, he seemed to fumble, which allowed Rob Summers to gain possession of first. Summers would be in the lead on lap-19 when the caution would fly again for a two-car accident on the backstretch involving Sylvester and Frank Ruocco. After the cleanup commenced, the green came back out and it would be Summers at the head of the field with Pitkat still behind him. The lead would belong to Summers until lap-24 when Wade Mattesen spun in turn two to bring out the final caution of the feature. Summers went back into full control on the restart, but even with Pitkat inching closer on every lap, it wouldn't faze him and he took down his first win of the season. Pitkat would finish second, followed by Chris Jones and Keith Rocco.

We take a break from the full recap (and I took a break from full-fledged notes) because the next race was the Whelen Modified Tour's 200-lap main event. Cliff Notes version of this, kids: Thirteen cautions equaling out to a whole 71 laps of caution laps. Seven lead changes between five different drivers. And after one hour, 47 minutes, and two seconds, Ted Christopher won career feature number 98 after he finished first in the race. The next three to finish were Eric Beers, Chuck Hossfeld, and Mike Stefanik.

I took the notes back out for the final feature of the weekend, which happened to be the Late Model feature. We start with the opening lap of the event here. Wayne Coury, Jr took the lead from the outside of the front row and held it for three laps as the caution came out for Scott Foster, Jr who spun in turn three. It was a quick caution, and the green came right back out to the tune of Coury still in the lead. The race would be green for quite a few laps, and the next yellow would not be seen until lap-12 when Doug Blowers, Corey Hutchings, and Michael Bennett got together in turns one and two. It would be green and then yellow on lap-13 for a two-car "spin" of sorts as Foster and Brian Chapin spun in turns three and four. On the restart, Coury would still be in command, but his tenure as the leader would be cut short on lap-18 as things got a little chaotic. The yellow would come out for a spin on the frontstretch, courtesy of Dillon Moltz. Then on the second attempt, Bennett would spin in turn three (and I think some damage was done there, but it couldn't have been much since he finished in 12th). In the (final) restart, Coury eventually lost the lead to Tom Butler, who would hold the lead until lap-22 when Woody Pitkat took over, bringing Mike Quintiliano along with him. Pitkat would prove to be too much, and he would come across the stripe to pick up his first (Late Model) win of the season. Quintiliano would finish second, Ryan Posocco would be third, followed by Butler in fourth.

So that's two race days and two blog days. So now that the Sizzler is officially behind us, we divert our attention to the first Friday night of the season. The place won't be as chaotic Friday as it was this past weekend, I can tell you that much. The schedule of events is here, weather permitting (there is a "threat of weather", but it doesn't look like it could be much unless it hits the pavement). With all of that being said, it's time for me to close this edition. The blog doesn't officially turn three years old until later this month, but it is the three month anniversary of this thing. (May 16, 2006 was the date of the first entry. Short, because of rain.) But until tomorrow, stay safe and dry and I hope to see you at the track.