By Lou Modestino
Stafford Motor Speedway will open its doors for business in 2014 with its traditional Spring Motorcycle and Ty-Rods Automotive Swap Meets. The Spring Motorcycle Swap Meet is the first event on the 2014 SMS Calendar of events, and is scheduled for Sunday, March 30. The 28th Annual Ty-Rods Automotive Swap Meet will be the following Sunday, April 6th.
Stafford Motor Speedway’s 2014 Season Ticket Packages are available and are on sale now at the SMS Box Office. After March 14, all season ticket packages will increase in price. Season tickets include General Admission, Reserved Seat, Season Paddock Pass, and Kids Club season packages. Season tickets offer fans access to all Stafford Motor Speedway NASCAR Racing events during the 2014 season, including NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and Modified Racing Series events. Season tickets do not include admission to Monster Trucks, Swap Meets, or Wild Thing Kart events.
Stafford Motor Speedway’s 2014 Season Ticket Packages are available and are on sale now at the SMS Box Office. After March 14, all season ticket packages will increase in price. Season tickets include General Admission, Reserved Seat, Season Paddock Pass, and Kids Club season packages. Season tickets offer fans access to all Stafford Motor Speedway NASCAR Racing events during the 2014 season, including NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and Modified Racing Series events. Season tickets do not include admission to Monster Trucks, Swap Meets, or Wild Thing Kart events.
Stafford Motor Speedway has announced that for the seventh consecutive season, the track’s Memorial Day Weekend NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event will be sponsored by TSI Harley-Davidson, the oldest Harley-Davidson dealer in the state of Connecticut. The 24th Annual TSI Harley-Davidson 125 will mark the 10th consecutive season that TSI Harley-Davidson has been a race title sponsor at Stafford and the race will be held on Friday, May 23.
-Stafford Motor Speedway has announced that Lincoln Tech of East Windsor will return as the title sponsor of the track’s Lincoln Tech 80 Valenti Modified Racing Series race on July 18. The 2014 season will be the fourth consecutive year that Lincoln Tech has sponsored the VMRS event at Stafford, and the fifth consecutive season that Lincoln Tech has been part of the Stafford Speedway family of sponsors.
With the 43rd Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler less than two months away from taking the green flag, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour teams are busy gearing up for “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring.” One team that will have a definite spring to their step in preparation for the Sizzler is the new owner-driver combination of Mike Smeriglio, III and Doug Coby, who will move over to the #2 Dunleavy Truck Truck and Trailer Repair team after driving the last several seasons for Wayne Darling’s #52 team. The Coby/Smeriglio combination got their relationship off to a great start with a victory in the Battle at the Beach in Daytona last month and Coby is hoping to carry that momentum over to the Sizzler.
With the 2014 season lurking, the GSPSS is heading into its third season with some experienced staff members on board, as well as a couple of new faces joining the team. President Mike Parks is rejoined by core staff Josh Vanada and Jenn Ready. Vanada, the Managing Event Director of the GSPSS, is confident of the staff around him. Vanada states “We are glad to welcome back our talented group of officials, as well as welcome a few new ones. Our staff is the lifeblood of our race day operation, and we are fortunate enough to have a talented and accommodating team.” Ready, the Director of Operations and Race Day Coordinator, is quick to applaud the GSPSS staff as well. “I am personally looking forward to 2014 as we will, quite possibly, have the best touring staff in the Northeast,” declares Ready. The team also welcomes back Handicapper Carrie Kelly, Starter Bryon Callen, and Spotter Official Rich Keator.
Scott Miller and Pete Frappier will be teaming up to oversee the technical staff in the series’ third season. The duo are long time officials in the racing business, and Parks assures they possess the knowledge and drive to keep things running smoothly. Frappier and Miller will be joined by Randy Stefanik, Mike Green, Ken Fowler, and Ray King on the tech pad.
Cynthia Tebbetts will be joining the team in 2014 as the Assistant Event Director. Tebbetts is a former race director of Lee Speedway and the Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA), as well as working for the International Super-Modified Association (ISMA) tour. “I was quite content sitting in the local short track grandstands, until I had a few inquisitive discussions from the Granite State Pro Stock Series,” Tebbetts explains. “Initially, I politely declined, but upon investigating the 2014 GSPSS schedule, the tracks where the tour is racing and the people I would be working with, I knew it was a win/win situation for all parties involved to say ‘yes’ to helping on a part-time basis.” Tebbetts is looking forward to the upcoming season and contributing to the growth of the tour throughout the region.
Another acquisition in the off-season for the GSPSS was the hiring of Announcer/Media Relations person Shawn Sicard. Sicard joins the team after working at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, NH, and is thrilled about the opportunity to join the young series. “The series is bursting with talent on the track and behind the scenes,” exclaims Sicard. “I am eager to be a part of the product this series has to offer.”
The Granite State Pro Stock Series will kick-off its third season with the Icebreaker presented by Town Fair Tire at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on April 5-6.
This Saturday, March 15 there’s a Third Annual Winter Movie and Slide Show in Beverly, MA at the Victtori-Rocci Post 56 Italian-American War Veterans in the lower hall and is handicap accessable at 143 Brimble Ave in that town. The presentation includes drag action from the 1960’s by Ed Pearson of the Orientals, Baron Hazen of the Strokers and Memorbilia by Kurt Hussey of the Lone Wolf club.
There will be a raffle by Donnie Cavanaugh of the Strokers. Memorablia, photo albums, club jackets, plaques and DVD slides will be there. You can bring what you have to share. Please bring snack foods and a cash bar will be available. Take Route 128 to Exit 19 onto Brimble St. The Victtori-Rocci Post is across the street. The parking lot entrance is at the lower level.
With the 2014 season opener fast approaching, the Valenti Modified Racing Series welcomes new marketing partners, long-time racing supporters Vinny Beedle and Mr. Rooter Plumbing of South Central, Connecticut, and Shawn Waddell of Waddell Communications.
Beedle owns and operates Mr. Rooter Plumbing, a 24-hour service headquartered in New Haven and committed to providing high quality plumbing services for the New Haven area and beyond.
Three drivers have committed to the 2014 schedule and will vie for the ‘Mr. Rooter Rookie Of The Year’ award. .
Mike Willis, of Grantham, New Hampshire, intends to compete full-time. Willis tested the VMRS waters in 2013, competing in four races with three top-ten finishes for his efforts. Willis was the 2013 Canaan Fair Speedway Modified \Champion, is a 3-time Crate Modified Champion at Canaan and Twin State Speedways, and a 500cc Mini Sprint Champion.
Rob Richardi, Jr. of Easton, Massachusetts, will compete for the Mr. Rooter title. Richardi was the 2012 New England Pro 4 Modified Champion and last year won five of the ten races he entered. Richardi made one start last season at Thompson, Connecticut.
2013 NEMA Lites champion Carl Medeiros, Jr. of Westport, Massachusetts, intends to compete full-time with the VMRS. Medeiros has a long resume in kart racing with multi wins and titles, and joins fellow NEMA Lites competitor Anthony Nocella on the New England series.
The new Waddell Communications ‘Lap Leader Challenge’ award recipient will receive $1,000 at seasons end if they tally the most laps led for the year. Waddell, headquartered in Plainville, Connecticut, provides superior radio communication service and diagnostics for the regions top touring series and race facilities.
Long-time marketing partner John Holland will present ‘New England Sunoco Race Fuels Top Qualifier Awards’ to qualifying heat and consi winners, Art Barry and SPAFCO Engineering will again support the ‘Most Improved Driver Award’ and Sherwood Racing Wheels of Owego, New York, will again support the series contingency program.
The 2014 VMRS season opens at Waterford Speedbowl, Waterford, CT, March 28,29,30, with the running of the ‘Blastoff 100’