So... Yeah. Those banquets for the touring series/NWAMS coming this week? Stafford's got a press release on them. Won't link to that, because it's the same thing I linked to a few days ago when I did the blog entry dedicated to NASCAR Home Tracks. (There's also a press release up for the NWAMS, which I also have linked.)
Although there are more press releases on the site as well. So let's get into those, shall we?
+ One last tidbit of information in regards to the banquet and all events in the week leading up to it: There was a karting challenge between the drivers attending and some of the media. The event took place in North Carolina on Wednesday. There's video and a picture of the action in the article. Bobby Santos won the event. Ryan Truex (K&N Pro Series East) was second. Keith Rocco was third. The picture in the link was courtesy of Getty Images. Wherever that album is, I can't find it.
+ Don't think that the banquet is the only newsworthy thing going on this week. There's also a story about Victoria Bergenty.
After my hiatus since May, I've decided on a new lease on life. I've re-emerged from the dark layers of hell with a new location for all things VFT1.
Showing posts with label East Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label East Series. Show all posts
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Friday, July 09, 2010
And Now, for Something Completely Different.
I said I was going to get this out on Thursday, but an early Friday morning post must be a lot better. As most of you know, last Saturday was the first Whelen Modified Tour/K&N Pro Series race at Lime Rock Park. I was there and took a few photos and videos for you. First up, here's the video in three parts.
And for the pictures, here are a few of them for the time being. All of them can be found on my Webshots account.
The event will be seen on Speed channel on the 24th of July. (Of course, this will be edited if I forgot the date and it's wrong.)
And for the pictures, here are a few of them for the time being. All of them can be found on my Webshots account.
The event will be seen on Speed channel on the 24th of July. (Of course, this will be edited if I forgot the date and it's wrong.)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The End of a Touring Era?
Here's a good piece from Shawn Courchesne of the Hartford Courant, in regards to short track touring series and their death from Connecticut tracks. It didn't just begin to dwindle with the sucking economy. This has been like this for a while now.
They've tried flash races. Didn't work.
They've tried massive weekend shows with numerous divisions. Yet it doesn't seem to work.
Who knows what might happen past 2009? The future of short track touring series is in serious Jeopardy.
[The Backstretch/Hartford Courant]
They've tried flash races. Didn't work.
They've tried massive weekend shows with numerous divisions. Yet it doesn't seem to work.
Who knows what might happen past 2009? The future of short track touring series is in serious Jeopardy.
[The Backstretch/Hartford Courant]
Sunday, December 28, 2008
SMS Says No to CWES
Late news from the scheduling front... And a question for the readers. Anyone who wanted to see a repeat of what happened at the 2008 Fall Final in regards to the Camping World East Series, raise your hand. If there are any hands raised at this very second, put them down right now.
Stafford decided that they weren't going to host a CWES race in '09, with the economy and an unknown when it comes to who'll even be racing in the series playing factors into the decision.
Talk about a TKO.
Though I have to agree with the attendance factor during the Fall Final. To me, it looked like the size of the crowd back in October remained close to what it usually is when a major weekend arrives (read as: Spring Sizzler and Fall Final). And with God-knows-who deciding that they'll be strapping into a ride in that division, it usually means hit or miss. In this case, it's a miss.
With the exception of that '08 race, events like the CWES didn't really do it for me. There goes the streak, ending at 16 straight years with a CWES race on the schedule.
Stafford decided that they weren't going to host a CWES race in '09, with the economy and an unknown when it comes to who'll even be racing in the series playing factors into the decision.
Talk about a TKO.
Though I have to agree with the attendance factor during the Fall Final. To me, it looked like the size of the crowd back in October remained close to what it usually is when a major weekend arrives (read as: Spring Sizzler and Fall Final). And with God-knows-who deciding that they'll be strapping into a ride in that division, it usually means hit or miss. In this case, it's a miss.
With the exception of that '08 race, events like the CWES didn't really do it for me. There goes the streak, ending at 16 straight years with a CWES race on the schedule.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The End of the Road. Results of Fall Final Weekend.
Two weeks ultimately separated the final Friday night of racing and the Fall Final because of rain and other scheduling conflicts, meaning that racing season was going to end later than usual. (The last time rain pushed the Fall Final back into the matter of mid or late October? 2006.) In store for two days of action were: Two sets of time trials, five weekly divisions going out for qualifying heats, five final features for the five weekly divisions, two main events, and one All-Star race to close out what was truly a memorable season at Stafford.
Saturday afternoon was strictly qualifying (and some features). The cars of the Camping World East Series time trialed first, and it was Brian Ickler who set the fast time there. Not only did Ickler set the fastest time, but he also set the track record at Stafford with a lap time of 19.376 seconds. Then it was time for Whelen Modified Tour time trials, and the fastest driver there was Mike Stefanik, who clocked in a lap time of 18.158 seconds.
And after the qualfiying heats for the five weekly divisions, it was time to run some features. Winners from the features run on Saturday were Kyle Casagrande in the DARE Stocks, Chris Bakaj in the SK Lights, and Sean Foster in the Limited Late Models. The championships went to Norm Sears in the DARE Stocks, while Joe Allegro, Jr in the SK Lights, and Bill Davis in the Limited Late Models. The last race was the Paradiso-Muska DARE Stock shootout, where Sears came back from the tail end of the field to win.
Then it was Sunday, and racing started at around high noon with the Camping World East Series event. Eight cautions set up something that was nothing like what has been seen all season at Stafford, but it was something that could be talked about for quite some time. The final restart took place on lap-143, and one of the most dramatic finishes took place. Brian Ickler spun while coming to take the green flag, giving the lead to Ted Christopher before the field came to the start/finish line. Coming off of turn four to take the white flag, Peyton Sellers appeared to give a tap to the back bumper of Christopher's car and sent him spinning and facing the other way coming out of the turn. The yellow/checker came out, and Sellers thought he had won the race. It took a few minutes for CWES officials to determine that Sellers had indeed won the race. DEI teammates Trevor Bayne and Jesus Hernandez finished second and third respectively, while Austin Dillon finished fourth.
After the confusion and chaos with the CWES race, it was time for the SK Modified race. And it seemed as though the tradition of what was usually a bashfest would continue into the final weekend of play. And with two guys officially in contention to win the championship in Keith Rocco and Ted Christopher, would either driver fall into unlucky hands? If so, when? Those questions would be answered before the race was over, and in suprising fashion. It would all begin with Curt Brainard taking the lead when the race began, but it would be Richie Pallai, Jr taking the lead from Brainard on the second lap. A few cautions passed before Pallai would eventually lose the lead to Rocco on a restart. On the next lap, it would be Christopher who would pass Rocco for the lead. Again, more cautions, and still Christopher out front. But with only three laps to go, something would go wrong with Christopher's car, and he would slow down on the backstretch and ultimately spin before making it to pit road with three laps to go. This gave the lead to Woody Pitkat and, because of the fact that the car of Christopher was indeed broken, the opportunity to clinch the championship to Rocco. Although Pitkat was able to hold off Rocco over the final few laps, it would be Rocco taking the 2008 SK Modified championship. On the board, the top-four spots belonged to Pitkat, Rocco, Jeff Baral, and Brainard.
The next-to-last event on the schedule of the Whelen Modified Tour rolled off the grid next, with the championship still up for grabs there as of the start of the race. After the redraw on Saturday, it was Mike Stefanik and Ted Christopher sharing the front row. And for most of the race, it was Stefanik out in front (sans a pit stop under yellow in which two people on the lead lap didn't pit on, giving Rob Summers the lead; and one lap where Ryan Preece was trying to battle for the lead as well). Over the final few laps, it was a challenge from Matt Hirschman, but Stefanik held off the challenge to take down his first win of the season and the 20th all time at the half-mile. Rounding out the rest of the top-four were Hirschman, Chuck Hossfeld, and Todd Szegedy.
2008 at Stafford ended with the Late Model race which saw two leaders and only one caution; the caution being early in the race. Scott Cook pulled out in front when the green first came out, but he would give up the lead to Ryan Posocco on lap-10. It would feel like Posocco was in another time zone when he started to increase his lead over the final 20 laps of the event. His seventh win of the season came when he crossed the start/finish line over seven seconds in front of Jim Mavlouganes. Tom Butler finished third, while Joe Rzeszutek came in fourth. Posocco was able to officially celebrate the championship he had won during the final Friday night event of the season, as he clinched the championship back in September.
It starts up again in late April when the Spring Sizzler rolls into town. It's been one rollercoaster ride. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Next month, I'll make an entry about the banquet that'll take place in the middle of November (I think I read the 14th or something), and then a whole bunch of winter entries will also come. So for the final time, stay safe and I'll see you again in April of 2009.
Saturday afternoon was strictly qualifying (and some features). The cars of the Camping World East Series time trialed first, and it was Brian Ickler who set the fast time there. Not only did Ickler set the fastest time, but he also set the track record at Stafford with a lap time of 19.376 seconds. Then it was time for Whelen Modified Tour time trials, and the fastest driver there was Mike Stefanik, who clocked in a lap time of 18.158 seconds.
And after the qualfiying heats for the five weekly divisions, it was time to run some features. Winners from the features run on Saturday were Kyle Casagrande in the DARE Stocks, Chris Bakaj in the SK Lights, and Sean Foster in the Limited Late Models. The championships went to Norm Sears in the DARE Stocks, while Joe Allegro, Jr in the SK Lights, and Bill Davis in the Limited Late Models. The last race was the Paradiso-Muska DARE Stock shootout, where Sears came back from the tail end of the field to win.
Then it was Sunday, and racing started at around high noon with the Camping World East Series event. Eight cautions set up something that was nothing like what has been seen all season at Stafford, but it was something that could be talked about for quite some time. The final restart took place on lap-143, and one of the most dramatic finishes took place. Brian Ickler spun while coming to take the green flag, giving the lead to Ted Christopher before the field came to the start/finish line. Coming off of turn four to take the white flag, Peyton Sellers appeared to give a tap to the back bumper of Christopher's car and sent him spinning and facing the other way coming out of the turn. The yellow/checker came out, and Sellers thought he had won the race. It took a few minutes for CWES officials to determine that Sellers had indeed won the race. DEI teammates Trevor Bayne and Jesus Hernandez finished second and third respectively, while Austin Dillon finished fourth.
After the confusion and chaos with the CWES race, it was time for the SK Modified race. And it seemed as though the tradition of what was usually a bashfest would continue into the final weekend of play. And with two guys officially in contention to win the championship in Keith Rocco and Ted Christopher, would either driver fall into unlucky hands? If so, when? Those questions would be answered before the race was over, and in suprising fashion. It would all begin with Curt Brainard taking the lead when the race began, but it would be Richie Pallai, Jr taking the lead from Brainard on the second lap. A few cautions passed before Pallai would eventually lose the lead to Rocco on a restart. On the next lap, it would be Christopher who would pass Rocco for the lead. Again, more cautions, and still Christopher out front. But with only three laps to go, something would go wrong with Christopher's car, and he would slow down on the backstretch and ultimately spin before making it to pit road with three laps to go. This gave the lead to Woody Pitkat and, because of the fact that the car of Christopher was indeed broken, the opportunity to clinch the championship to Rocco. Although Pitkat was able to hold off Rocco over the final few laps, it would be Rocco taking the 2008 SK Modified championship. On the board, the top-four spots belonged to Pitkat, Rocco, Jeff Baral, and Brainard.
The next-to-last event on the schedule of the Whelen Modified Tour rolled off the grid next, with the championship still up for grabs there as of the start of the race. After the redraw on Saturday, it was Mike Stefanik and Ted Christopher sharing the front row. And for most of the race, it was Stefanik out in front (sans a pit stop under yellow in which two people on the lead lap didn't pit on, giving Rob Summers the lead; and one lap where Ryan Preece was trying to battle for the lead as well). Over the final few laps, it was a challenge from Matt Hirschman, but Stefanik held off the challenge to take down his first win of the season and the 20th all time at the half-mile. Rounding out the rest of the top-four were Hirschman, Chuck Hossfeld, and Todd Szegedy.
2008 at Stafford ended with the Late Model race which saw two leaders and only one caution; the caution being early in the race. Scott Cook pulled out in front when the green first came out, but he would give up the lead to Ryan Posocco on lap-10. It would feel like Posocco was in another time zone when he started to increase his lead over the final 20 laps of the event. His seventh win of the season came when he crossed the start/finish line over seven seconds in front of Jim Mavlouganes. Tom Butler finished third, while Joe Rzeszutek came in fourth. Posocco was able to officially celebrate the championship he had won during the final Friday night event of the season, as he clinched the championship back in September.
It starts up again in late April when the Spring Sizzler rolls into town. It's been one rollercoaster ride. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Next month, I'll make an entry about the banquet that'll take place in the middle of November (I think I read the 14th or something), and then a whole bunch of winter entries will also come. So for the final time, stay safe and I'll see you again in April of 2009.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Yet Another CWES Entry
We've got another name for the Camping World East Series entry list for this weekend's Fall Final.
The third name to jump in on the action in the month is Kevin Swindell, the 19-year-old son of Sammy Swindell, who is a three-time World of Outlaws champion.
This will be the second CWES race of Swindell's season. He raced in the event at Mansfield, Ohio back in August, starting seventh and finishing 13th. The car he will be racing in is a Gillette/Evernham Motorsports entry.
The press release this came from also talks about the other two drivers who had filed entries earlier this month (TC and Pitkat).
The third name to jump in on the action in the month is Kevin Swindell, the 19-year-old son of Sammy Swindell, who is a three-time World of Outlaws champion.
This will be the second CWES race of Swindell's season. He raced in the event at Mansfield, Ohio back in August, starting seventh and finishing 13th. The car he will be racing in is a Gillette/Evernham Motorsports entry.
The press release this came from also talks about the other two drivers who had filed entries earlier this month (TC and Pitkat).
Friday, October 03, 2008
More Triple Duty
The number of SK Modified drivers who are attempting to pull of the task of triple duty has doubled.
As of Friday, another driver has taken on the challenge.
Ted Christopher has become the latest entrant to pilot a Camping World East Series machine for the race on Fall Final weekend. He will be teaming up with Ted Marsh, who is no stranger to victory lane at the half mile.
In the one CWES race that Christopher had won back in 2000, he had been driving a car that was Marsh owned.
Are we going to see anybody else who may step up to the triple duty challenge?
As of Friday, another driver has taken on the challenge.
Ted Christopher has become the latest entrant to pilot a Camping World East Series machine for the race on Fall Final weekend. He will be teaming up with Ted Marsh, who is no stranger to victory lane at the half mile.
In the one CWES race that Christopher had won back in 2000, he had been driving a car that was Marsh owned.
Are we going to see anybody else who may step up to the triple duty challenge?
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Triple Duty
Here's an "almost a week away" story for you... Woody Pitkat's going to attempt triple duty at the Fall Final.
According to a press release released today (10/2), the Camping World East Series car that Pitkat will be running in was the same car he had raced in at Irwindale late last season, owned by Mike Olsen. Recently, both car and driver were at Stafford for a testing session.
Sponsorship was not hard to obtain: The Davidson Company and ECI/Cliff Nelson Motorsports agreed to help out. (Per the release.)
According to a press release released today (10/2), the Camping World East Series car that Pitkat will be running in was the same car he had raced in at Irwindale late last season, owned by Mike Olsen. Recently, both car and driver were at Stafford for a testing session.
Sponsorship was not hard to obtain: The Davidson Company and ECI/Cliff Nelson Motorsports agreed to help out. (Per the release.)
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Some Saturday Headlines
First off, expect the recap of the final Friday night of racing to come this week. And with that, here come the headlines.
+ Jeffrey Earnhardt will be driving a Late Model during Fall Final weekend. He will be in the #92 ride, which is currently driven by Tom Fearn. According to the press release that was released on Thursday, Earnhardt "struggled a little bit with the track" last year during the Camping World East Series race, and the extra seat time could prove to be a helpful bonus.
+ One championship down; four to go. Ryan Posocco was the first driver to win a championship in 2008 after finishing third in Friday night's Late Model feature event. The third place finish gives Posocco four championships in the Late Model division.
+ Jeffrey Earnhardt will be driving a Late Model during Fall Final weekend. He will be in the #92 ride, which is currently driven by Tom Fearn. According to the press release that was released on Thursday, Earnhardt "struggled a little bit with the track" last year during the Camping World East Series race, and the extra seat time could prove to be a helpful bonus.
+ One championship down; four to go. Ryan Posocco was the first driver to win a championship in 2008 after finishing third in Friday night's Late Model feature event. The third place finish gives Posocco four championships in the Late Model division.
Picture of your 2008 Late Model championship driver and crew is credited to the track website, and was not taken by me. Congratulations to the #48 team on a job well done.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Going "Camping" on Fall Final Weekend
The NASCAR Camping World East Series, formerly the NASCAR Busch East Series, will be running at Jack Arute's Stafford Motor Speedway in 2008. The tour will be part of the season ending Fall Final weekend, racing a 150-lap event as part of the seven division, end of September, two-day event. By bringing back the NCWES, Stafford will revert back to its 2001-2003 roots as it originally ran a twin billing of full fendered touring cars and Whelen Modified Tour machines on the same weekend. The NCWES was dropped from the Fall Final program in 2004.
First off, I'd like to know where I can find a Camping World. There doesn't seem to be one around where I live. Unless there's one of those in the state of Connecticut, I don't understand why I'm getting barraged with sponsors that don't seem to have any corporate sponsorship here. Second, I might not be the kind of person who likes the full fendered cars of the NCWES (remember their one and only appearance in '07 and how I left early), but Stafford's attempt to bring them back as part of the season ending weekend isn't as bad of a plan as I originally thought.
Getting both the NCWES and the WMT together on the same weekend will hopefully draw attention and get some more people to pay attention to the NCWES. It's been... Four years for this to surface again? It should hopefully get the attention of the fans, and this weekend could potentially start a new saga -- bringing the past to the present. Here's to hoping the NCWES will be successful under the new name. And here's to hoping I don't screw up the shortened version in future entries.
First off, I'd like to know where I can find a Camping World. There doesn't seem to be one around where I live. Unless there's one of those in the state of Connecticut, I don't understand why I'm getting barraged with sponsors that don't seem to have any corporate sponsorship here. Second, I might not be the kind of person who likes the full fendered cars of the NCWES (remember their one and only appearance in '07 and how I left early), but Stafford's attempt to bring them back as part of the season ending weekend isn't as bad of a plan as I originally thought.
Getting both the NCWES and the WMT together on the same weekend will hopefully draw attention and get some more people to pay attention to the NCWES. It's been... Four years for this to surface again? It should hopefully get the attention of the fans, and this weekend could potentially start a new saga -- bringing the past to the present. Here's to hoping the NCWES will be successful under the new name. And here's to hoping I don't screw up the shortened version in future entries.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
A Night to (Semi)-Remember
Okay, so again I've put this off until the absolute last day. (Though this time, with the amount of material I'm covering, it could have been worse. I could be writing this before the time I usually seclude myself and get ready for our next event.) But breathe easy, readers, as I uncover the mysteries, secrets, and scandals that was the June 8 event at the Stafford Motor Speedway... Which in turn included the first and only appearance for the Busch East Series, and that in turn gave fans their only opportunity to see some of the top developmental drivers racing for the major NASCAR Nextel Cup teams. Stars and cars all around, and not a second's worth of time to waste. So let's get to the action!
We started the night with thirty cars taking two laps of time each. Because sitting in the stands and trying to listen to all of the times was going to be quite difficult, I gave myself ample time and grabbed some pavement over by the time trial board towards the end of their session. There, I got a good look on how they do things: More organized than any other touring series I've seen in my life. (And I haven't seen too many.) Due to this prim and proper style of getting things done, I found that finding the fast time was going to be easy. And it was... Your fast time was 19.573 seconds (translating to 91.963 miles an hour), and it belonged to Sean Caisse. Regardless of where anyone qualified, there was no redraw. So where they qualified was where they would start in the feature later on in the night.
And now, we jump to our local part of the program. Since all weekly drivers in the top-18 in points were qualified into their respective features, there happened to be no last chance qualifiers. At about 7:30, we went from awards and the opening ceremonies to the SK Lights and their 15-lap feature. Their race started slow as on the opening lap, Aaron Goff spins in turn one. When officials wanted to try again, the cars of Harry Wheeler, Rich Hammann, Scott Nordman, and Ray Griffen, Jr were all involved in an accident that happened at the end of the frontstretch and into turn one. The third time was a charm, and they went a whole five laps before the caution flew again. This time, the wreck took place in the middle of the first and second turns. Involved in this melee were Brit Andersen, Chris Matthews, and Josh Sylvester. After that, it was smooth sailing to the finish. Matt Gallo held off a charge from Raymond Grassetti to score his first victory of the season. Grassetti came in second, followed by Kyler Cafro, Glenn Griswold, and Mark Bakaj.
For the second feature, it was time to bring out the warwagons. We were going racing with fenders, because the Late Models took to the track. Everything was fine from the drop of the original green flag to around lap-13, when Doug Blowers spun on the backstretch. After he drove off, we were back to good, clean racing for the most part. But this all changed on lap-24 when it looked like someone's engine expired on them. The Super Clean Safety Team was on the case, applying speedy dry onto the track, starting in the vicinity of turn two. Of course, this race just wouldn't be complete without one more caution, and on the final lap, we got it. Blowers spun again -- this time, on the final lap -- in turn four, sending the boys into a mode of green-white-checkered. At the front of the pack, it was an intense two-lap battle, with Scott Foster, Jr and Jim Mavlouganes battling for the win. But Foster held Mavlouganes off and scored his second win of the season. Ryan Posocco and Jim Peterson rounded out the top-4.
Our third race of the night belonged to the Limited Late Models. They couldn't get one lap in before the first caution of the event flew. It was for Joey Ferrigno and David Capriati, who got into an accident over in turn four. When they were able to get the race "underway", they only got three laps in. On lap-4, Charlie Newman spun in turn four, which brought out yet another yellow. The second chance to get that lap into the record books didn't fare so well, as Peter Martin and Rick Lanagan were involved in an accident on the backstretch. Up front, however, it was all Andrew Durand. It was like a celebration lap as he claimed his third win of the '07 season. Darrin Havanec, Sean Foster, and Kevin Gambacorta finished off the board.
You've seen all of the good, clean races that occured so far, right? Who would have thought that the race of the night, however, belonged to the next set of cars to run: The SK Modifieds. From what I've read, nearly every car in the field of 27 either dropped out of the race early due to some problem, or was a part of one of the thirteen cautions that they brought out. The action got started on the second lap of the event, as Richie Pallai, Jr spun in the second turn. Six laps later, we had caution number two when Scott Bennett spun in turn four. Three laps later, a black car (I believed it to be Bennett) spun again; this time on the backstretch. After he drove his car off, we had our longest green flag session of the entire race: A whole 16 laps were run under the green before Curt Brainard spun in turn four on lap-27. A false start proved to be the case the second time around, and the third time was not a charm this time as there was a multi-car accident in turn three. The Mods could only get two laps in during the next green flag period, as Keith Rocco, Ted Christopher, Eric Berndt, John Cleary, Scott Bennett, Rowan Pennink, and Curt Brainard were involved in an accident in turn four. (Thankfully, Ben Dodge provided us with a list of who was involved in that accident. I wouldn't be so lucky again.) When they tried to do the lap again, there was controversy afoot. Coming out of two, Willie Hardie appeared to be knocked from both the side and the back and nailed the backstretch wall, collecting Lloyd Agor and Wade Mattesen in the process. Fingers were being pointed at the two possible suspects who might have ended Hardie's night: Zach Sylvester, who was the leader at the time of the caution, and Frank Ruocco, who was behind Hardie. For both of them, they ended up on the safe end of the deal. No black flags were given during the duration of that caution period. All might have been safe for now, but only one lap was turned under green as Cleary and Pennink were involved in an incident on the backstretch. On the possible restart, there was another multi-car accident on the backstretch. It could have been worse, as nearly everyone who wasn't a part of the accident tried to steer clear of a spinning Frank Ruocco. There appeared to be no contact. After the cleanup commenced, we got three laps into the record books before Keith Rocco brought out another caution. This time, it was a cingle-car accident in turn three. Two more laps would be run under green before Todd Ownn and Agor would bring out the twelfth caution... An incident on the backstretch. More fingers were pointed at people after this was said and done, but it turned out that Owen had a problem with the car. Therefore, nobody was to blame for knocking out another two cars. But the restart? Well, that didn't bode so well for both Sylvester and Christopher. The pace car wasn't even safely off the track yet, and there was a multi-car caution on the frontstretch. I couldn't tell who or what caused this to occur, but it knocked a few contenders out of this event. It set up a six-lap dash to the finish, however, for those who were still able to get their cars around the track at a safe speed. Only two cars had a shot of winning the feature, from what I could tell... Ruocco and Berndt. Berndt tried his best to make a move, but it wasn't enough. After about one hour, thirteen minutes of dramatics, we finally had a winner in this collected pile of chaos. It would be Ruocco's second win of the season. Berndt would finish second, followed by Bo Gunning and Brad Hietala.
And now we shift our attention from something that took nearly forever to complete to something that took about three minutes out of my time. The last weekly division to go was the DARE Stocks. And after what had happened in the previous features, they ran yet another caution free event. Norm Sears would be your winner, taking his second win of the season. (For some reason, the track's site says that this win was his first. Last time I checked, he was declared the winner of the May 4th event. I do not have the information about the reasoning at my fingertips at this point in time.) The rest of the board had Vince Gambacorta second, Duane Provost third, and Matt Chiarizio fourth.
Now it leads us to the main point of the evening (though I've already mentioned which race was the race of the night). It was finally time for the TSI Harley Davidson 150. Unfortunately, I would leave the track a bit early. I don't think this race was up my alley, and perhaps it was because I wasn't willing to sit down to watch this. Though I can tell you that the winner of the event was Eddie MacDonald, who isn't running every race on the schedule this year due to sponsorship issues. Following him to the line were Mike Olsen, Matt Kobyluck, Marc Davis, and Bryon Chew.
Now that I've spent the time going over what was a wild night, I would like to tell all of you that we are racing tomorrow evening. We are going back to having qualifiying heats for the Stafford divisions because we have no major touring series here until July 10, which by my page is a Tuesday night. Sit back, relax, and have a nice, safe, rest of the day. I'll see you tomorrow night. Until next time, the gas pedal's on the right...
We started the night with thirty cars taking two laps of time each. Because sitting in the stands and trying to listen to all of the times was going to be quite difficult, I gave myself ample time and grabbed some pavement over by the time trial board towards the end of their session. There, I got a good look on how they do things: More organized than any other touring series I've seen in my life. (And I haven't seen too many.) Due to this prim and proper style of getting things done, I found that finding the fast time was going to be easy. And it was... Your fast time was 19.573 seconds (translating to 91.963 miles an hour), and it belonged to Sean Caisse. Regardless of where anyone qualified, there was no redraw. So where they qualified was where they would start in the feature later on in the night.
And now, we jump to our local part of the program. Since all weekly drivers in the top-18 in points were qualified into their respective features, there happened to be no last chance qualifiers. At about 7:30, we went from awards and the opening ceremonies to the SK Lights and their 15-lap feature. Their race started slow as on the opening lap, Aaron Goff spins in turn one. When officials wanted to try again, the cars of Harry Wheeler, Rich Hammann, Scott Nordman, and Ray Griffen, Jr were all involved in an accident that happened at the end of the frontstretch and into turn one. The third time was a charm, and they went a whole five laps before the caution flew again. This time, the wreck took place in the middle of the first and second turns. Involved in this melee were Brit Andersen, Chris Matthews, and Josh Sylvester. After that, it was smooth sailing to the finish. Matt Gallo held off a charge from Raymond Grassetti to score his first victory of the season. Grassetti came in second, followed by Kyler Cafro, Glenn Griswold, and Mark Bakaj.
For the second feature, it was time to bring out the warwagons. We were going racing with fenders, because the Late Models took to the track. Everything was fine from the drop of the original green flag to around lap-13, when Doug Blowers spun on the backstretch. After he drove off, we were back to good, clean racing for the most part. But this all changed on lap-24 when it looked like someone's engine expired on them. The Super Clean Safety Team was on the case, applying speedy dry onto the track, starting in the vicinity of turn two. Of course, this race just wouldn't be complete without one more caution, and on the final lap, we got it. Blowers spun again -- this time, on the final lap -- in turn four, sending the boys into a mode of green-white-checkered. At the front of the pack, it was an intense two-lap battle, with Scott Foster, Jr and Jim Mavlouganes battling for the win. But Foster held Mavlouganes off and scored his second win of the season. Ryan Posocco and Jim Peterson rounded out the top-4.
Our third race of the night belonged to the Limited Late Models. They couldn't get one lap in before the first caution of the event flew. It was for Joey Ferrigno and David Capriati, who got into an accident over in turn four. When they were able to get the race "underway", they only got three laps in. On lap-4, Charlie Newman spun in turn four, which brought out yet another yellow. The second chance to get that lap into the record books didn't fare so well, as Peter Martin and Rick Lanagan were involved in an accident on the backstretch. Up front, however, it was all Andrew Durand. It was like a celebration lap as he claimed his third win of the '07 season. Darrin Havanec, Sean Foster, and Kevin Gambacorta finished off the board.
You've seen all of the good, clean races that occured so far, right? Who would have thought that the race of the night, however, belonged to the next set of cars to run: The SK Modifieds. From what I've read, nearly every car in the field of 27 either dropped out of the race early due to some problem, or was a part of one of the thirteen cautions that they brought out. The action got started on the second lap of the event, as Richie Pallai, Jr spun in the second turn. Six laps later, we had caution number two when Scott Bennett spun in turn four. Three laps later, a black car (I believed it to be Bennett) spun again; this time on the backstretch. After he drove his car off, we had our longest green flag session of the entire race: A whole 16 laps were run under the green before Curt Brainard spun in turn four on lap-27. A false start proved to be the case the second time around, and the third time was not a charm this time as there was a multi-car accident in turn three. The Mods could only get two laps in during the next green flag period, as Keith Rocco, Ted Christopher, Eric Berndt, John Cleary, Scott Bennett, Rowan Pennink, and Curt Brainard were involved in an accident in turn four. (Thankfully, Ben Dodge provided us with a list of who was involved in that accident. I wouldn't be so lucky again.) When they tried to do the lap again, there was controversy afoot. Coming out of two, Willie Hardie appeared to be knocked from both the side and the back and nailed the backstretch wall, collecting Lloyd Agor and Wade Mattesen in the process. Fingers were being pointed at the two possible suspects who might have ended Hardie's night: Zach Sylvester, who was the leader at the time of the caution, and Frank Ruocco, who was behind Hardie. For both of them, they ended up on the safe end of the deal. No black flags were given during the duration of that caution period. All might have been safe for now, but only one lap was turned under green as Cleary and Pennink were involved in an incident on the backstretch. On the possible restart, there was another multi-car accident on the backstretch. It could have been worse, as nearly everyone who wasn't a part of the accident tried to steer clear of a spinning Frank Ruocco. There appeared to be no contact. After the cleanup commenced, we got three laps into the record books before Keith Rocco brought out another caution. This time, it was a cingle-car accident in turn three. Two more laps would be run under green before Todd Ownn and Agor would bring out the twelfth caution... An incident on the backstretch. More fingers were pointed at people after this was said and done, but it turned out that Owen had a problem with the car. Therefore, nobody was to blame for knocking out another two cars. But the restart? Well, that didn't bode so well for both Sylvester and Christopher. The pace car wasn't even safely off the track yet, and there was a multi-car caution on the frontstretch. I couldn't tell who or what caused this to occur, but it knocked a few contenders out of this event. It set up a six-lap dash to the finish, however, for those who were still able to get their cars around the track at a safe speed. Only two cars had a shot of winning the feature, from what I could tell... Ruocco and Berndt. Berndt tried his best to make a move, but it wasn't enough. After about one hour, thirteen minutes of dramatics, we finally had a winner in this collected pile of chaos. It would be Ruocco's second win of the season. Berndt would finish second, followed by Bo Gunning and Brad Hietala.
And now we shift our attention from something that took nearly forever to complete to something that took about three minutes out of my time. The last weekly division to go was the DARE Stocks. And after what had happened in the previous features, they ran yet another caution free event. Norm Sears would be your winner, taking his second win of the season. (For some reason, the track's site says that this win was his first. Last time I checked, he was declared the winner of the May 4th event. I do not have the information about the reasoning at my fingertips at this point in time.) The rest of the board had Vince Gambacorta second, Duane Provost third, and Matt Chiarizio fourth.
Now it leads us to the main point of the evening (though I've already mentioned which race was the race of the night). It was finally time for the TSI Harley Davidson 150. Unfortunately, I would leave the track a bit early. I don't think this race was up my alley, and perhaps it was because I wasn't willing to sit down to watch this. Though I can tell you that the winner of the event was Eddie MacDonald, who isn't running every race on the schedule this year due to sponsorship issues. Following him to the line were Mike Olsen, Matt Kobyluck, Marc Davis, and Bryon Chew.
Now that I've spent the time going over what was a wild night, I would like to tell all of you that we are racing tomorrow evening. We are going back to having qualifiying heats for the Stafford divisions because we have no major touring series here until July 10, which by my page is a Tuesday night. Sit back, relax, and have a nice, safe, rest of the day. I'll see you tomorrow night. Until next time, the gas pedal's on the right...
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Solo Busch East Appearance (and Weekly Results)
It's been two days since I've posted a blog and it's also been that long since I remembered what the heck my password to Blogger was. I've succeeded in both tonight and therefore I bring you the events of June 16, 2006. This is also called the Busch East race from Stafford Motor Speedway. Speaking of the Busch East race, qualifying started at around 5pm Eastern Standard Time for the said series and Sean Caisse won it with a 19.796 time--which averages out to about 90.927 mile an hour speed. He also started on the pole after drawing it later on in the evening...but that's all I'm going to say about that for now. Let's get to the weekly portion of the night and I'll return later with more on the TSI Harley Davidson 150.
Unlike last week, we start out with the DARE Stock race and the first 15-laps of the night in terms of features. The first seven laps started out cleaner than a baby's diaper, and then from there it all fell apart. On the frontstretch, the race's big one occured when Jeff Hubbell, Melissa Blowers, and Lori-Jo Rzeszutek got into each other and sent themselves in both the wall and grass. All three of them were done for the event after that mess. As soon as the green flag came back out, another three car melee took place coming out of turn two. Once again, the caution came out but didn't last as long as the first one did. Those were the only two yellows of the race and that was all David Gambacorta had to face as he sailed to the finish line in first place.
Then it was the SK Lights and the 25-lap feature that they usually have. Phil Balmer decided that he would play dirty for a while and as he brought out a caution, he flipped off the officials at the pit gate near where I sit on a general admission basis. (Nice job, pal. I hope you get some time off to think about it. Can't wait for the police blogger.) The other main story of the race was Chris Matthews and his dominant performance. Methinks it was the right move to think that way because it was his second "dominant performance" of the season...he won the race and became the first SK Light driver to have more than one career win in the season.
After that, I decided not to write full recaps during the races as I needed to see what was going on rather than putting my eyes on my notes every five seconds. And with the 30-lap Late Model feature next, I knew it was a smart move on my part. Four caution flags flew in this race, all for minor accidents where all of the cars drove away on their own. But the story of the whole feature was Woody Pitkat. Could he win four features in a row? Not really. In the end, the Monson, Massachusetts native Jim Peterson took down his first feature win of the season in true fashion...a big lead at the end.
Speaking of big leads, the Limited Late Model 20-lap feature was the same story. A big lead was insurmountable for the rest of the field when Charlie Newman became the fourth different driver to win a race in this division in the 2006 season. (Let me tell you, it was better than the same two drivers winning every race last year...) There was only one caution, and it occured on lap-15. It was a minor spin inbetween turns one and two and that driver pulled away. But in the next feature, it was a different story...
The SK Modifieds took to the track for the final regular feature of the night...a 40-lap event. Unlike the previous week, there wasn't a controversial caution that took place. Yet there was a caution midway through when the leaders at the time (and I forget who they were) got together and caused a nice wreck on the backstretch. People were banging cars everywhere and one person even went airborne: A repeat wrecker from last time, Frank Ruocco. Lucky for him, he finished the race a few laps down. But coming down from the and landing on the track surface had to be a hard hit on the cracked ribs he suffered. (Oh, I'll stop for there. I really don't want to sound like a "homer" or anything...)
Finally, the event wrapped up with the TSI Harley Davidson 150 for the Busch East Series. (I admit to leaving early because it was sort of...well, getting boring for me. They aren't my favorite things to see in the whole world, but I did see enough to comment on it. Good for me.) What I didn't see though was a late race red flag. Apparently Rich Gould and Mike Johnson brought out the red for a full 22 minutes. Other than that, I didn't miss much. The race was a two-man show with Caisse and Matt Kobyluck leading every lap imaginable. In the end, the rookie took the lead and he took the race. Congratulations to Sean Caisse and the rest of his team. Two in a row is very impressive, and he could very well make it three when the group races again.
Unlike last week, we start out with the DARE Stock race and the first 15-laps of the night in terms of features. The first seven laps started out cleaner than a baby's diaper, and then from there it all fell apart. On the frontstretch, the race's big one occured when Jeff Hubbell, Melissa Blowers, and Lori-Jo Rzeszutek got into each other and sent themselves in both the wall and grass. All three of them were done for the event after that mess. As soon as the green flag came back out, another three car melee took place coming out of turn two. Once again, the caution came out but didn't last as long as the first one did. Those were the only two yellows of the race and that was all David Gambacorta had to face as he sailed to the finish line in first place.
Then it was the SK Lights and the 25-lap feature that they usually have. Phil Balmer decided that he would play dirty for a while and as he brought out a caution, he flipped off the officials at the pit gate near where I sit on a general admission basis. (Nice job, pal. I hope you get some time off to think about it. Can't wait for the police blogger.) The other main story of the race was Chris Matthews and his dominant performance. Methinks it was the right move to think that way because it was his second "dominant performance" of the season...he won the race and became the first SK Light driver to have more than one career win in the season.
After that, I decided not to write full recaps during the races as I needed to see what was going on rather than putting my eyes on my notes every five seconds. And with the 30-lap Late Model feature next, I knew it was a smart move on my part. Four caution flags flew in this race, all for minor accidents where all of the cars drove away on their own. But the story of the whole feature was Woody Pitkat. Could he win four features in a row? Not really. In the end, the Monson, Massachusetts native Jim Peterson took down his first feature win of the season in true fashion...a big lead at the end.
Speaking of big leads, the Limited Late Model 20-lap feature was the same story. A big lead was insurmountable for the rest of the field when Charlie Newman became the fourth different driver to win a race in this division in the 2006 season. (Let me tell you, it was better than the same two drivers winning every race last year...) There was only one caution, and it occured on lap-15. It was a minor spin inbetween turns one and two and that driver pulled away. But in the next feature, it was a different story...
The SK Modifieds took to the track for the final regular feature of the night...a 40-lap event. Unlike the previous week, there wasn't a controversial caution that took place. Yet there was a caution midway through when the leaders at the time (and I forget who they were) got together and caused a nice wreck on the backstretch. People were banging cars everywhere and one person even went airborne: A repeat wrecker from last time, Frank Ruocco. Lucky for him, he finished the race a few laps down. But coming down from the and landing on the track surface had to be a hard hit on the cracked ribs he suffered. (Oh, I'll stop for there. I really don't want to sound like a "homer" or anything...)
Finally, the event wrapped up with the TSI Harley Davidson 150 for the Busch East Series. (I admit to leaving early because it was sort of...well, getting boring for me. They aren't my favorite things to see in the whole world, but I did see enough to comment on it. Good for me.) What I didn't see though was a late race red flag. Apparently Rich Gould and Mike Johnson brought out the red for a full 22 minutes. Other than that, I didn't miss much. The race was a two-man show with Caisse and Matt Kobyluck leading every lap imaginable. In the end, the rookie took the lead and he took the race. Congratulations to Sean Caisse and the rest of his team. Two in a row is very impressive, and he could very well make it three when the group races again.
Friday, June 16, 2006
TC's Got a (Tour) Ride and the Busch Boys Roll in Town
It's official: Ted Christopher will be in Jennerstown (PA) on Saturday night. And he will be in a Whelen Modified Tour car as well. The Hartford Courant states that Eddie Whelan has offered the former Stafford SK Modified champion a ride and he has accepted to drive for him. (Note: Whelan currently fields a full-time ride for Mike Andrews, Jr. The car was previously driven by Mike Ewanitsko, but injuries have kept him out of the car.) Nobody knows if this deal will continue past Jennerstown.
In other news: The Busch East Series makes its only appearance at the half mile tonight. I haven't been feeling all too good over the past few days, but my medical condition is withstanding and I should get the clean bill of health for tonight's events. A full report on the night will be written up while I'm there and I will be posting it up on here tomorrow.
In other news: The Busch East Series makes its only appearance at the half mile tonight. I haven't been feeling all too good over the past few days, but my medical condition is withstanding and I should get the clean bill of health for tonight's events. A full report on the night will be written up while I'm there and I will be posting it up on here tomorrow.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Some Friday News
Even though there hasn't been racing in a while, there is some new news to give to you. The first order of business concerns this rain and how it has been affecting the schedule as of late. Stafford management has decided to add two new events onto the docket (September 15 and 22) in a desperate attempt to give the fans some makeup events. Let's hope those weeks are full of sunshine and clean racing, because it's time to actually see something go on.
And now, let's fast forward a few days to June 16. That's when the Busch East series makes its first and only appearance of the 2006 season at the half mile track. The entry list has been added to the website and can be found at the following address:
Busch East entry list: July 16
Other than that, I have nothing else to report on tonight. More to follow in the upcoming week...like if there's going to be a fifth straight week of showers or not. Until then, keep reading and I'll see you then.
And now, let's fast forward a few days to June 16. That's when the Busch East series makes its first and only appearance of the 2006 season at the half mile track. The entry list has been added to the website and can be found at the following address:
Busch East entry list: July 16
Other than that, I have nothing else to report on tonight. More to follow in the upcoming week...like if there's going to be a fifth straight week of showers or not. Until then, keep reading and I'll see you then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)