By Lou Modestino
Millis’ Tommy Barrett will get the opportunity to drive the Chris Our Modified on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2014. He was supposed to be at the wheel the second team car. But with the departure of Mike Stefanik from the team Barrett was in the right spot and inherited that top ride.
The plan is to start the 2014 season off at Daytona International Speedway where Barrett will be competing in the 2nd Annual Battle of the Beach in mid-February. Also, the team will also compete at in the nearby New Smyrna Speedway World Series which will include a number of Modified Tour type events.
The schedule looks like this. Both the WMT and the K& N Pro Series, non point races, on the temporary track on Daytona’s backstretch. It will take place on Tuesday night, February 18. There will also be a point race for the K&N Series at New Smyrna and six Modified Tour type race races on subsequent nights from February 14-22 which includes the Richie Evans Memorial 100 on February 21.
The late Len Boehler, who called Freetown home, will be inducted into the Eastern Motorsports Press Assn. Hall of Fame on the weekend of January 3-5 down in King of Prussia, PA. Len’s son Mike, also of Freetown, said, “This honor is very much appreciated by my family. Because for all he did for Modified racing. That’s why we, my team, works hard. Dad instilled in all of us a strong work ethic.”
Also nominated and to be voted on that weekend include; the late Fred DeSarro, a Modified driver from Rhode Island, ACT Tour Race Director Tom Curley and Fitchburg’s Ron Bouchard a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver.
Ted Christopher, who has been the most prolific winner of Indoor racing events since Len Sammons Motorsports Productions brought indoor racing back to life in 2003, revealed that he and Donnie Preece, co-owner of the nearly invincible No. 13 Three Quarter Midget, have built a new car for 2014 action.
The car is scheduled for a test session at Borgers Speedway on Saturday, December 14 pending weather issues and the completion of the car. “It’s a copy of the other car but lighter,” Christopher said. “Bob Fill, who does a lot of the Late Models and Pro Stocks at Thompson and Stafford, helped with the building. It’s nothing crazy, some new ideas and some new angles.”
Christopher and Preece have retained their existing car as well and may field it as a second car in the Atlantic City or the Trenton TQ races. “ The one big difference between the cars is that this one has power
steering,” Christopher said. “It should make it a little easier to wheel.”
The newly designed car will have a lot to live up to. Since 2009, Christopher has won an outstanding 7 of 16 Indoor Races he has entered. Christopher also won the overall Indoor Series title in 2011
and 2012. Christopher won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in 2008. He has 42 career wins on that tour alone.
For 2014, Christopher will look to dethrone Anthony Sesely of Matawan, NJ who won the Fatheadz Indoor Series title last year on the heels of his first career Atlantic City Indoor Race victory.
Fatheadz Eyewear will be returning as the series sponsor and will pay bonuses to the top three overall TQ Midget drivers from the two race series. Drivers will receive points based on their qualifying efforts and feature finishes from Friday and Saturday night at both events towards the overall series crown.
The NAPA KNOW HOW Atlantic City Indoor Race Weekend will be followed by the first ever Battle of Trenton two-day, indoor racing event at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, N.J. Both races will feature top drivers from at least ten different States and Canada competing for the Fatheadz Eyewear TQ Midget Racing Series overall title.
John Blewett, Inc., of Howell, N.J., a prominent auto and steel scrap recycling dealer, has posted bonuses for the two Saturday TQ Midget feature races totaling $1,000. At both Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and Sun Bank Center in Trenton, Blewett’s has posted $100 in added prize money for each of the top five finishing spots. Jimmy Blewett, third generation family business owner, will be among dozens of TQ Midget drivers hoping to collect the bonus bucks.
Entries for both events have been filed by Sesely, New Egypt Speedway’s all-time Modified event winner Billy Pauch, 2013 ISMA Super-Modified champion perennial fan favorite Lou Cicconi, Jr. of Lester, Pa., past ARDC Midget champion Tim Buckwalter from Royersford, Pa., Bridgeport, NJ Speedway past Modified champion Mike Iles from Medford, N.J., past ISMA Super-Modified champion and Indoor TQ race winner Mike Lichty, Valenti Modified Racing Series reigning champion Rowan Pennink of New Egypt, N.J., and three time ATQMRA TQ Midget king Ryan Tidman of Levittown, Pa.
NAPA AUTO PARTS, the nation’s leader in automotive supplies, has signed on for the second consecutive year as the title sponsor for the Atlantic City Indoor Auto Races.
The indoor racing inside Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall is now in its 12th consecutive year of competition. Dates are Friday and Saturday January 24 and 25. 2014. The races will be preceded by a closed to the public, practice session on Thursday, January 23.
The Battle of Trenton Indoor Race schedule set for February 7 and 8, 2014 calls for Twin 20 lap features for the TQ Midgets and a complete program of Slingshots on Friday and a compete program for TQ Midgets and Champ Karts on Saturday.