Champions for Charities Drivers

The timeline was simple: Tuesday, a banner on the main page of Stafford's site said that the drivers who were going to participate in the Champions for Charities were going to be revealed the following day. And on Wednesday, the drivers were revealed.

To be eligible for consideration, there were only two stipulations you had to meet: You had to drive some type of open-wheel race car, and you had to have been a champion of an open-wheeled division.

The term "if you build it, they will come" applies here, as a dozen champions accepted invitations and will convene at the mini mile during CARQuest Extreme Tuesday. The list of twelve drivers includes both asphalt and dirt champions. Not all of them have selected their charities, but it should be determined in the coming days and weeks.

Your press release for this event is here, and your entry list is here.

Modified Tours Galore!

Your Earl update? A dinky category 1 hurricane.

Get ready for this one. Next week? Very interesting. The next few weeks? Just as interesting. The visualization of having more than one modified tour coming to Stafford in the span of about a month has become a reality. Not only will the Whelen Modifieds be coming back for the Fall Final at the start of October, but next Friday night will mark the debut appearance for the Modified Racing Series.

All of the news, information, and whatnot is here in this semi-megapost.

Modified Racing Series
+ You want an entry list? Here you go. Tentatively put at 40 drivers.
+ On that entry list are a few Stafford SK drivers. One of which is Todd Owen. He's started two races so far in this season, and hasn't posted anything in the top-20. If good luck's going to come, he's hoping it comes at Stafford.
+ Ryan Preece is also on the MRS entry list as well - with the 2x. The number may be familiar as famous drivers of the past have been behind the wheel. It'll be the first time that Preece drives it up north. His last race in this car? New Smyrna.

Whelen Modified Tour
+ The schedule is over on the sidebar.
+ You'll also be getting the entry list for this race as well.

Quick Pre-Race Stuff

Okay, it's Friday. The weather looks nice. And I have to get ready. Here's some quick pre-race news for you.

+ So far, the 2010 season has been good to Dillon Moltz. Extra distance races have been kind to him, and he'll look to make it to victory lane for a third straight year in the first of two events. (He's the defending winner of this particular event.)

+ Ryan Preece is getting some SK Modified seat time. His first night in the division will be tonight.

+ Speaking of Whelen Tour drivers, they'll be back at the track on May 28th for the TSI Harley Davidson 125. You want an entry list for that? Click here.

Out Like a Lamb

March is known to come in like a lion, and out like a lamb. We're almost at the end of the month and are less than four weeks away before the Spring Sizzler, and there's more news to report on.

+ 2010 will mark Ed Flemke, Jr's 20th attempt to win the Sizzler. It's been two decades worth of ups and downs. But inspiration can be found in a seven-time NASCAR champion and 20 attempts at the Daytona 500.

+ For Frank Cardile, the plan for this season is simple: Get to victory lane. He's been close before, but hasn't made it there. The plan this year is to win.

+ Another sponsor has re-upped in the form of The Davidson Company. They will be part of the SK Modified contingency program, tacking on a cash bonus to the winner of every SK feature this season.

And if you want to know... There is an entry list available for the Whelen Modified Tour and the big spring race. Yes, it's a short list right now. Two drivers as of early Wednesday morning.

Rosters (Again) Taking Shape

Along with all of the new rules that are being implemented for the new season, there's also something else coming up. Driver rosters for the 2010 season are already coming into shape. Even though there's not a lot of drivers in each division's roster, we've got driver rosters and they'll be growing as the winter goes on.

2010 SMS Driver Rosters
+ SK Modified
+ Late Model
+ Limited Late Model
+ SK Light
+ DARE Stock

All rosters linked are organized by car number.

Quite a Few Things; All Fall Final Related [FF MEGAPOST]

Whoops. Where has the year gone! I can remember coming on here to post news about the start of the season, and we're already at the end of September. I can't imagine what has happened. Looks like time does fly fast when you're having fun.

I've got a few stories to post for you, so let's do that before I procrastinate any longer than I already have been.

SCHEDULE RELATED
One race to go. One last link to post here (I hope). The schedule for the CARQuest Fall Final (part the 37th) can be found if you either click here or if you go off to the sidebar and look for all of the helpful links in regards to this weekend. There have been rumors of a rain date -- the weekend afterward, October 9-11, with maybe Columbus Day just in case -- but there may or may not be a need for that now since Sunday looks like it's going to clear up. Who knows? We'll find out when Saturday and Sunday get here.

DRIVER ROSTER RELATED
I've posted these with the schedule as well, over on the side in the sidebar. There are two driver rosters you have to be concerned about. They belong to the Whelen Modified Tour, which makes the final of four appearances this year, and the Mini Stocks, which are coming from just about all over the New England region. 41 Mini Stocks are expected to show up, including three guaranteed entries through qualifiers over the summer.

NEWS ARTICLES
A few stories you should brush up on between now and this weekend:

+ Ryan Preece is in third place in points coming into this weekend's event. He's 12 points behind Ted Christopher. A win in this could certainly shake up the championship battle as Thompson still looms over the horizon.
+ The winner of the last two Fall Final events at Stafford (WMT-wise)? Mike Stefanik. He's looking to win his third Fall Final event in a row. Eight of Stefanik's 20 career WMT wins at Stafford have come via way of the Fall Final.
+ Richie Pallai, Jr is hoping two things happen: First, that he wins the SK Modified race (he won the race during Spring Sizzler weekend). Second, he'd really like to start the WMT race. He missed the field last time by .004 seconds.

LATE MODEL NEWS
And to finish things up in a megapost of epic proportions, a quick sidenote that CoCo Key Water Resort will be sponsoring the #51 Late Model, owned by Guy Beaudoin.

Entries for Fall Final WMT Race In

You know that the Fall Final is coming when the entry list for the Whelen Modified Tour race is up with a few entries. And with nine entries already in, the entry list for the aforementioned race is taking shape.

Keep checking the link in the sidebar as it's updated, or you can click the link above.

Invasion of the Mini Stocks

In the eight full years I have been going to Stafford on a regular basis (I'm not counting 2000, when I started to go in the middle of the season, nor this season because it's not over as of yet), I have never seen a Mini Stock division race at the track. The closest I've gotten to seeing them is at Thompson and Waterford, as they have a regular division.

At the Fall Final this year, Stafford is allowing Mini Stocks from the other two Connecticut tracks, plus out of state tracks, to race in a 15-lap feature. It'll be an invitational-like process, where there will be qualifying races in the weeks leading up to the event (the winner of the August 8 race at Monadnock will get an automatic invite to the show), and other drivers can register through August and September. After September 28, there's an inspection fee of $20. Anyone who registers before that time pays no fee.

Since Stafford doesn't have their own Mini Stock division, teams will have to follow their home track's rules.

Registration forms are found on the home page of Stafford's site.

EDIT: As of August 6, there is now an entry list up on the track's site with a short but available list of drivers entered for this race.

Town Fair Tire 150 News

Guess what? The third coming of the Whelen Modified Tour is on its way to Stafford. In a little under two weeks, they'll be here for the third of four appearances, as they'll be racing in the Town Fair Tire 150.

And since it's two weeks away, there's news to report on.

First off, the schedule. All weekly divisions need not qualify. Time trials will take up the qualifying session. Speeds things up knowing that there won't be heats right after the Tour boys take to the track.

Second, the entry list is rolling right along. It'll shape out over the course of the next week. Guaranteed. So this entry list is not the final entry list.

A Weekend of WMT News

Welcome to April -- where we're literally counting down the days until the start of Stafford's season.

While news stories may continue to pour in, there's also word that the first entries for the Spring Sizzler have been filed. It's confirmed word and only nine entries, but it's a sign that we're indeed getting closer to this season kicking off. It's enough to get me hyped up.

Speaking of Whelen Modified Tour drivers, Richie Pallai, Jr is planning to make his WMT debut when the Tour comes to the track in May. He bought equipment from former Tour driver Mike Molleur and was planning on debuting last season, but the work on the SK pushed plans back a year. If all works well, his goal for the season is to run three of the four WMT races at Stafford, a race at Chemung and Thompson (latter up in the air), and the open show at Seekonk.

November News

A few things since I haven't gotten sleepy from the turkey I had Thursday and needed to get these up before the new year rolls around (=P):

-- Award winners from the banquet. I know, this was two weeks ago tomorrow and I just got to putting this information up. No undeserving winners there.

-- Ticket package prices are up. Was it $400 for early birds last season? I can't remember if the prices went up or not from last offseason. (Bad writer!)

-- In purse news, over $400,000 was given out to the teams for their efforts in the 2008 season. The money was for point funds, awards, and contingencies.

-- Driver rosters are starting to take shape for the new season. Yes, it's only November. They're not much now, but stay tuned to those to see who's returning, who's moving up to what division, and what new faces will be seen at the half-mile.

That's it for now. More news to come (hopefully) in the near future. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.

A Lot of Fall Final News.

Well, we're almost at the end of the season already. There's only a few more weeks left before the Fall Final gets here. So what does that mean? There's already a ton of news up on Stafford's site. At some point inbetween the last feature of the August 29 program and 3:00am EST on August 30, there are three links you're going to be familiar with from now until the last weekend arrives.

Want to know what the schedule looks like as of now? You got it right here. Also, entry lists for the Whelen Modified Tour and the Camping World East Series are already up and running. Not much now, but there will be more names on these lists in the course of the next month.

More news to come very soon. I mean, tomorrow. I'm planning on getting a lot done. I have a busy Labor Day weekend (telethon phone bank on Sunday night, which means television time), so I can't waste time I already shouldn't be. Expect an earlier entry than usual this week.

Did I Really Miss That? Results of 7/18.

No, I didn't miss all of "that", but I did miss something that will be mentioned later in this entry. Speaking of this entry, here's what's coming up: Two drivers lose their spots on the board in two different divisions, and a red flag comes out in another. (Sounds like the perfect time to think about where my absence falls into place, doesn't it?) So I think this is the point where we just dive right into the action. It shall be like last week's entry: A quick little thing that includes enough about the event to make it worthwhile. Let's get to it, then. Here is what went down on the night of July 18.

DARE Stocks: It was a first time winner in victory lane after this race was all said and done. The other big story to come out of this race happened after a multi-car accident with a little less than two laps to go. This incident hindered the performances of a few of the top runners in the race, including Scott Roy and Norm Sears. The result of this was John Kasper and Tom Stirk on the front row for the final few laps. On the restart, Kasper moved out in front, and was able to stay out in front for his first career DARE Stock win. Stirk would finish second, followed by Todd LaPorta and Duane Provost.

SK Lights: All of the cautions in this race occured either near or after the halfway point. The yellow came out once for a spin and then twice for debris (coincidentially, both debris cautions were on the same lap). On the restart, it was Heather DesRochers pulling out in front. But on the next lap, she would get loose, go up high into the second turn, and collect three other drivers -- including Chris Bakaj. This gave the lead to Alan Provost, who would lead up to lap-16 when Chris Matthews would assume the first position. The battle was now for the second spot, which was between Provost and Mark Bakaj. Using this battle for the runner-up spot, Matthews pulled away and won his sixth feature of the season. Bakaj was able to beat Provost to the line for second, while Raymond Grassetti finished fourth. Tech would have something to say at the end of this one, however, as Grassetti's car was a bit too heavy on the left side. So he was penalized and was sent to last place.

Late Models: In the span of six weeks, two different drivers have seen victory lane. A caution before the halfway point of the race was also a factor in determining who was going to win. While Wayne Coury, Jr and Corey Hutchings were fighting for the lead, the two drivers made contact and ended up in turn four, giving the lead to Ryan Posocco. The rest of the race ran caution free, with Posocco leading every lap on the restart to the end of the race to pick up his third feature in a row and fourth of the season. At the time, the rest of the board looked like this: Woody Pitkat, Rick Charette, and Brian Chapin. But Pitkat's car was found to be illegal in the form of a failed compression test, and he was dropped to last place in the finishing order.

SK Modifieds: Two debris cautions (on the opening lap and on lap-15) weren't going to beat the one caution I ended up missing. Knowing that if I got up out of my seat, I was going to miss something, I got up after prior to one restart on lap-14. Bad timing on my part. While I stood down on the midway, the biggest accident of the night occured, bringing out the red flag in the process. It was a multi-car accident over in turn one, with about five or six (maybe even seven) different drivers named as accident cars. Up at the front of the field, however, two different drivers led the race -- Glenn Griswold for the first 14 laps, followed by Woody Pitkat after Griswold spun to kick dirt up into turn four. On the restart, Pitkat moved out in front and started to pull away from the rest of the field. The true battle for position was for second between Ted Christopher and Keith Rocco. Meanwhile, the laps ticked down and the lead for Pitkat was now at a full straightaway as he dominated the final 25 laps to win his second race of the season. It would be Christopher in second, followed by Rocco in third, and Frank Ruocco in fourth.

Limited Late Models: Let's start with the pre-race stuff. Stacey Botticello returned to the track for the first time in a few years. I got the word that she was back through a friend of mine, and when I made my way to the gate over in turn three, that was the first and last thing I basically saw. (Actually, I wasn't even behind the backstretch yet, and that's when I saw her car.) But she wasn't a factor in this race. Who was a factor? Bill Davis, though his time up in front wasn't until late in the race. For that, you'd have to go to lap-14 when Darrin Havanec took over the lead from Ed Charette... And then got loose in turn four, spun, and brought out the caution. This put Charette back into the lead, but it was only for a short time. Davis moved into the lead on the restart and then held off Andrew Durand over the last six laps (and two more cautions) to win his third race of the season. Durand finished in second, with Sean Foster in third and Kevin Gambacorta in fourth.

And that shall be it for that event. You'll love what's coming up on Friday (weather permitting): Probably the biggest race for the SK Modifieds this season. I'm talking about 150-laps of open-wheeled action and plenty of possible strategy. It's edition number five for this race. I hope you wouldn't want to miss it for the world. The schedule can be found in the usual place, if you click this link right here. In other news, next month (yes, already planning for that), we have another Whelen Modified Tour race to watch. On August 8, it'll be the 18th annual NE Dodge Dealers 150. For those of you who are looking for an entry list, you can find it right here. So until the end of the week, stay safe and dry. Hopefully we shall meet again.

Sizzler '08 News

With a little less than 28 days to go until the Spring Sizzler, Stafford Speedway announced a few things in regards to the greatest race in the history of spring. First off, there's an open practice scheduled for the 19th of April. All divisions racing at Stafford this year are eligible to attend the practice except for the Whelen Modified Tour. (It's the week before the Sizzler, and the Tour doesn't allow drivers to practice at the upcoming track in the week leading up to the event.)

Secondly, the first two of many entries have been filed for the Whelen Modified Tour event as part of Sizzler weekend. You can expect to see this list updated multiple times in the next month. But yes... As of yesterday, two entries have been recieved.

So that's it for now. More news to come when I find it. Until then... *waves and exits*

A Cornucopia Filled With News

Okay, first off, I'd like to wish all of the faithful readers out there a happy Thanksgiving. Hope you stuff yourselves silly. I know I will. Now first thing's first. The important stuff.

High noon has come and gone... And what do you know, the 2008 schedule has been officially released. I was hoping to come on this afternoon and be relieved to see some excitement on the schedule for next season, and I do have excitement planned. Here's what I know after reading the schedule: There is NO word on a Busch East race at the half mile this season. I've gone through the schedule about three times now, and I would hate to tell you guys that they're not racing out there. But alas... I must tell you that the Busch East at Stafford is only a mirage. But the good news is that the Whelen Modified Tour is racing their usual four times in '08 (Spring Sizzler, Fall Final, and the usual dates in May and August).

Going through the thing, the first thing I noticed was that the Late Model 100 will be run three weeks into the schedule. Huh?

You heard me right. You'll see it right. Three weeks into the season, the Late Models will be running their first extra distance race. In June, you'll have the SK Modified 100. So what does this mean? Oh, Stafford had something up their sleeves, and they've delivered the goods. Something was brought back. Well, two somethings were brought back. Mark these two dates on your calendar now and request that time be taken off from work if you have to: July 25 and August 22. Those are the dates of the SK Modified and Late Model 150s! That. Is. Right. It's been quite some time since there has been a 150 for either the SKs or Late Models, but next year, you'll be getting both. (That, to be quite frank with you, was certainly not what I was hoping to see as I checked out the feast. But hey... A blogger's heaven is an extra distance race. And I shall be awaiting every lap of it.) Four years of absence will be just what the doctor ordered. Let's see what happens when an even greater strategy comes into play.

The CARQuest Extreme Tuesday is back. It will be held on July 8 of 2008. ISMAs, NEMAs, and Pro-4 Modifieds... Oh, my!

You can see everything schedule related here.

Also on tap, we had the banquet on Friday night. Other than what I heard about a school bus transporting all of those who were coming in from the Stafford Springs area into the area of the banquet in East Windsor, it appeared to be a fun time regardless. Numerous awards were handed out, including the official crowning of the five track champions of the '07 year. The other winners of awards and the categories that they won in included:

Most Improved Driver: Brad Hietala (SK Modified), Dave Wray (Late Model), Raymond Grassetti (SK Light), Joey Ferrigno (Limited Late Model)
Rookie of the Year: Wade Mattesen (SK Modified), Corey Hutchings (Late Model), Josh Sylvester (SK Light), David Capriati (Limited Late Model)
Most Popular Driver: Woody Pitkat (SK Modified/Late Model), Chris Matthews (SK Light), Sean Foster (Limited Late Model), Dan Flannery (DARE Stock)

Third on the agenda... If you haven't seen them already, Stafford's '08 rosters are being updated as we speak. Don't hesitate to check out who'll be driving what cars in what divisions as the end of April rolls around. And with that being said, I'm out until there's more news. Gas pedal's on the right, and have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving season once again from the faithful blogger at The View From Turn One.