NEW ENGLAND MOTORSPORTS SOUTH For Dec 26th 2015
By Lou Modestino
The Granite State Pro Stock Series will be a part of the 28th annual Northeast Motorsports Expo, at the Augusta Civic Center, in Augusta, ME, on January 8-10.
The Northeast Motorsports Expo is a chance for organizations, sponsors, and race teams to display their hard work for the upcoming season, and gives racers and fans a chance to ask questions and gather information for the year ahead. The Northeast Motorsports Expo holds the annual Helluva Good Pit Crew Competition, Memorabilia Auction, and will also include a spotter’s seminar from Shawn Waddell, of Waddell Communications.
The Granite State Pro Stock Series will be officially releasing the 2016 schedule at the event. Also, the 2014 Granite State Pro Stock Series champion, Dillon Moltz, and car owner Mark Brackett, will have their car on display.
Tickets for the Northeast Motorsports Expo are $9 for adults, Adults: $9.00, $7.50 for seniors, just $5 for children 6-12, with children 5 and under free. Three-day passes will be available Friday Night for $20.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway’s landmark 50th season will be one to remember in 2016. Officials have overhauled the stock car racing schedule for the historic Rutland County facility, and the calendar will be packed with exciting, family-oriented, NASCAR-sanctioned events on both of Devil’s Bowl’s race tracks – a fast half-mile paved oval and a tight three-tenths-mile clay oval – situated on Route 22A in West Haven, Vt.
The asphalt will make a big change as it moves to a new Saturday night slot at 6:00 p.m. beginning on May 21; the track had previously operated on Fridays. The Bond Auto Parts Modified division will again headline the program in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series presented by Yandow Sales & Service and John Deere, along with Central Vermont Motorcycles Late Models, Brileya’s Chrysler-Jeep Renegades, and Portland Glass Mini Stocks.
Highlight events will include the return of the American-Canadian Tour Late Models for the People’s United Bank 100 on June 4, the Coca-Cola Firecracker Spectacular on July 2, the fifth annual C.J. Richards Memorial 67 Modified event on August 6, and the Vermont 200 Championship Weekend on September 10-11.
The Dirt Track at Devil’s Bowl will also see big changes in its third season as the schedule sees a major expansion to 13 events primarily on Sunday evenings at 6:00 p.m. The Dirt Track is scheduled to open on Sunday, May 22 and will also compete under NASCAR Whelen All-American Series sanction with the Sportsman Modified class as the headline division. Support classes will include the Renegade and Mini Stock divisions and appearances by other divisions including the Sprint Cars of New England tour.
Dates for major special events on The Dirt Track will be announced soon, including The Stove Depot “King of the Clay” Sportsman 100 and the second annual Green Mountain Sprint Car Nationals. The asphalt and dirt tracks will run on back-to-back nights on eight different weekends during the season.
“This schedule is something that we’re really proud of, and I personally can’t wait for the 50th season of racing at Devil’s Bowl,” promoter Mike Bruno said. “There are still many more announcements that we’ll be making during the winter that will only add to the excitement.”
Devil’s Bowl Speedway will honor its champions and top drivers from the 2015 season at the Holiday Inn Rutland-Killington in Rutland, Vt. on Saturday, January 30, 2016.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway Marketing Director Dick Therrien has stepped down from his duties at the Vermont track, effective immediately. Therrien was part of the Devil’s Bowl Speedway staff for just over one year and contributed a significant amount of positive addition to the overall program during that time.
Therrien joined the staff in September 2014 after many years of prior experience at several weekly racing facilities in northern New England. He oversaw the sponsorship and marketing department at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in 2015 and grew several new relationships for the track. He served in the same role at Airborne Park Speedway during the year and held several positions on race days as well.
“We thank Dick Therrien for his service to the track, the racers, the fans, and especially our sponsors and marketing partners,” promoter Mike Bruno said. “Dick brought a great deal of knowledge and experience to the table, and we all certainly benefitted from it. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”
Devil’s Bowl Speedway will present its 50th season of stock car racing and family entertainment in 2016 with a full schedule of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing on both its asphalt and dirt tracks.
One of Devil’s Bowl Speedway’s most unique marketing programs will be returning for the 2016 race season. LaFlamme’s Furniture Stores, with locations in Bennington, Vt., Granville, N.Y., and the all-new LaFlamme’s Furniture Mall located at the Diamond Run Mall in Rutland, Vt., has renewed its agreement to support the “Super Fan Zone” at Devil’s Bowl.
The one-of-a-kind LaFlamme’s promotion proved to be a huge hit with Devil’s Bowl fans in its first year in 2015. Every person who purchased an adult admission ticket had the opportunity to win the prize of sitting in the Super Fan Zone. The ‘Zone’ features two beautiful electric leather recliners set up in a private, raised seating area at the top of the grandstands. Winners in 2015 also received a voucher for food at the track’s concession stand as well as a gift certificate to the Fire & Ice Restaurant in Middlebury, Vt.
At the end of the season, LaFlamme’s split the chairs up; one was given away to a lucky fan through the 50/50 raffle, and the other went to Bond Auto Parts Modified track champion Vince Quenneville Jr. The value of each chair was nearly $1,000.
“We are excited about returning to Devil’s Bowl Speedway again in 2016,” said LaFlamme’s Furniture Stores owner
Christopher LaFlamme. “This idea that was presented to me last year was just so innovative and fun, and I saw how much the crowd was interested last season. This program is a great way to let people know about our stores and our products, and especially the brand new furniture superstore at the mall.”
Devil’s Bowl Speedway will celebrate its landmark 50th season in 2016 with a full schedule of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series stock car racing and family entertainment on both its asphalt and dirt tracks.
Pro All Stars Series (PASS) officials have released the six dates and locations that will make up the 2016 PASS National Championship Series. The schedule is comprised of six premier Super Late Model events in both PASS North and PASS South that will determine an overall PASS National Champion. The PASS National Series will be highlighted once again by the prestigious 43rdAnnual Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway in August. And, the PASS National Championship Series will return to Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park for the first time since 2010.
While awards are currently still being finalized, the champion will once again receive a unique championship ring, while team members will receive championship belt buckles, from longtime PASS supporter, Northern Race Tire.
“Thanks to a lot of time and effort by a group of really dedicated people, we are very pleased to announce our 2016 PASS National Series,’” said PASS President Tom Mayberry. “These events exemplify what’s great about short track racing and we feel each of them will attract the best Super Late Model drivers from across the continent. All of these events are unique and will prove to be a challenge for our competitors. With events from Maine to South Carolina, a broad base of fans will get to see racers from all over North America come together to crown Super Late Model racing’s only true National Champion.”
The PASS National Championship Series gets underway in just over a month with the Winter Meltdown at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina on February 6. In addition to a talented group of PASS regulars, former PASS National Champions Ben Rowe, Joey Doiron and Jay Fogleman, who returns in 2016 to race for the national title, hope to contain a strong contingent of drivers from the United States and Canada as they tackle the tough, flat half-mile speedway for 150 green flag laps. Fittingly on Super Bowl weekend, fans will get to see drivers from across the spectrum of short track racing as big events for the South East Limited Late Models, Southeast Supertrucks, and Mini Stocks will also be taking place as part of the Winter Meltdown.
From Greenville-Pickens Speedway in February, it is back to the most traditional stop on the PASS National Championship Series, Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina on March 26. The 11th Annual Easter Bunny 150 will continue in 2016 as one of short track racing’s biggest events of the Spring. Since veteran Mike Rowe won the first Easter Bunny 150 back in 2006, Hickory Motor Speedway’s hallowed victory lane has been cherished by every Super Late Model driver that has followed in his tire tracks. This year’s Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory will also be the inaugural event of the most anticipated new series in the country, the Southern Modified Racing Series Presented By PASS.
Race three of the 2016 PASS National Championship Series will be the first of the year in New England and will be contested at one of the fastest tracks in the country. The PASS Super Late Models will compete for 75 laps at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Connecticut as part of the Icebreaker weekend April 9-10, along with the NASCAR Whelen Modfieds. PASS returns to Thompson Speedway for the first time since 2012 in an event that will also double as the PASS North Super Late Model season opener.
The next race on the 2016 PASS National Championship Series will be at perhaps the most legendary of all short track races. The 43rd Annual Oxford 250 at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway on August 28 will continue a tradition that started in 1974 and has seen such winners as Butch Lindley, Geoff Bodine, Junior Hanley, Ricky Craven, Mike and Ben Rowe, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch. And, with one of the richest purses in all of Super Late Model racing, the Oxford 250 should once again attract North America’s best drivers, all competing for the $25,000 winner’s share. This year, Turner, ME’s Glen Luce bested over 70 other drivers to claim over $30,000 for his first win in the prestigious race.
Next up, the PASS National Championship Series will hold its final race of the year in New England at another traditional stop, the Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, ME. The PASS 400 Weekend at Beech Ridge on September 16-18 is always a favorite for both fans and competitors and this year’s contest will be no different.
The PASS National Championship Series will conclude on November 5 at Concord Speedway with the 14th Annual North-South Shootout. PASS made a successful return to Concord in 2015 with events in May and November. The 2016 North-South Shootout will again be a test of man and machine around the treacherous half-mile triangular speedway. It will be a big weekend of racing that will see the inaugural Southern Modified Racing Series Presented By PASS champion crowned the night before and the PASS South Super Late Model champion also crowned on Saturday, November 5.
The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) has announced the release of the 2016 ACT Late Model Tour schedule. The 13-event series will see the Tour visit 12 different tracks in six U.S. states and the province of Quebec as they pursue the $10,000-to-win ACT Championship.
The season will once again kick off with the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway on Sunday, April 10 and crown the 2016 champion at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway on Saturday, October 15. Other traditional early-season events which have returned include the 18th Merchants Bank 150 at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road on May 1, the Spring Green 116 at Plattsburgh, NY’s Airborne Park Speedway on May 14, and a 100-lap event at Fair Haven, VT’s Devil’s Bowl Speedway on June 4.
The 2016 schedule will again feature three ACT/Pro All Stars Series (PASS) doubleheaders. The two series open the Oxford Plains Speedway racing season on Sunday, April 17. ACT and PASS then travel to Quebec’s Autodrome Montmagny on Saturday, July 23. The 150-lap event is the ACT U.S. Tour’s first visit to the speedway since 1999 and is a combination event with Série ACT.
The third ACT/PASS doubleheader is set for Saturday and Sunday, September 17 and 18 at Scarborough, ME’s Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. The ACT portion will mark the return of the Fall Foliage 200 to Beech Ridge, which previously hosted the event from 1987 to 1989. Beech Ridge will be the only track to host two ACT Tour events in 2016, with the Fall Foliage 200 being held in addition to their traditional early-August date.
Autodrome Montmagny is one of three tracks the ACT Tour will return to in 2016 after a long hiatus. The Tour visits Connecticut’s New London-Waterford Speedbowl on May 21 and Massachusetts’ Seekonk Speedway on July 16 for the first times since 2010 and 2007, respectively, as part of the Southern New England Tripleheader. The three-race, three-track series concludes in the ACT season finale at Thompson as part of the World Series of Speedway Racing. Annual summer visits to N. Woodstock, NH’s White Mountain Motorsports Park and Groveton, NH’s Speedway 51 round out the schedule.
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2016 ACT Late Model Tour Schedule
# DATE DAY TRACK EVENT
1 Apr 9-10 Sat-Sun Lee USA Speedway NH Governor’s Cup 150
2 Apr 17 Sun Oxford Plains Speedway Oxford 100/PASS
3 Apr 30-May 1 Sat-Sun Thunder Road Merchants Bank 150
4 May 14 Sat Airborne Park Speedway Spring Green 116
5 May 21 Sat NLW Speedbowl NLW Tripleheader 100
6 Jun 04 Sat Devil’s Bowl Speedway Devil’s Bowl 100
7 Jun 18 Sat White Mountain WMMP 150
8 Jul 16 Sat Seekonk Speedway Seekonk Tripleheader 150
9 Jul 23 Sat Autodrome Montmagny Montmagny 150/PASS
10 Aug 06 Sat Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Coastal 100
11 Aug 20 Sat Speedway 51 Lil Joey Generation Next 151
12 Sep 17-18 Sat-Sun Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Fall Foliage 200/PASS
13 Oct 15 Sat Thompson Speedway World Series Tripleheader 75
Schedule Subject to Change