By Lou Modestino
We had an opportunity to chat with Tom Barrett, Sr. at his Victory Lane Lounge and Pub in Millis. He fields a Modified Tour type car for his son Tommy Barrett, Jr. Tommy, Jr. is really focused on the Valente Modified Tour as it resulted in that driver taking three wins in 2012. Those came at the VMRS events held at Stafford and Waterford in Connecticut and the finale during the Oktoberfest at Lee USA Speedway in NH. While Tommy Jr. didn’t qualify for the VMRS Rookie of the Year because he wasn’t eligible due to a technicality in the rules. He did, however, finish sixth in points and that’s pretty fantastic when you consider all of that.
According to the guy paying the bills, “We’re going to do the same thing in 2013,” said Tom Sr. On the rumor that Tom Jr. had something going with a superspeedway ride ARCA stockcar circuit, Tom Sr. said, “You have to bring a bunch of money in order for that to happen. Our sponsor is the Victory Lane Bar & Grill and we don’t have that kind cash laying around.” On how it went financially last year and the prognosis for 2013, “It was a struggle last year and it’s going to be the same thing next year,” quipped Tom Barrett, Sr.
NASCAR announced the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule that will feature traditional dates at some of the premier short tracks and speedways in the northeast.
In its 28th season of competition, the Whelen Modified Tour will see the 14-race slate spread across seven tracks in four states. New to the schedule in 2013 will be a special event as part of Speedweeks at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and a second date at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway.
“Modified fans are some of the most passionate in motorsports,” said George Silbermann, NASCAR vice president, regional and touring series. “The 2013 calendar will give them plenty of opportunities to enjoy the stars, cars, and the tremendous excitement of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.”
The season will commence with the inaugural UNOH Battle at the Beach non-points event on the short track at Daytona on Feb. 19 in which the Whelen Modified Tour and Whelen Southern Modified Tour will compete in combination.
Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway will host the regular season opener on April 14 with the Icebreaker. The campaign will also conclude at Thompson in the World Series on Oct. 20. Another Thompson date is set for Aug. 15.
Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway will have its four traditional Whelen Modified Tour dates for the 22nd consecutive season, highlighted by the Spring Sizzler (April 28) and Fall Final (Sept. 29). Those two dates bookend Friday night Stafford events on May 24 and Aug. 2.
Riverhead, just one of two tracks along with Thompson to play host to the Whelen Modified Tour in each of its first 28 seasons, will add a second date for 2013. In addition to the summer event on June 29, a fall event has been added for Sept. 14.
Three national series companion events also will be included in next season’s schedule with traditional appearances on the two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekends at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 13 and Sept. 21 in Loudon, N.H. Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway again hosts the Whelen Modified-Whelen Southern Modified Tour combination event at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway as part of a doubleheader with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Aug. 21.
After a very successful return to Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl in 2012, the shoreline oval is back on the 2013 slate for June 22. Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H., will welcome the Whelen Modified Tour May 11.
2013 NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR SCHEDULE
Date Track (Length) Location
Tue., Feb. 19 *^ Daytona International Speedway (.4-mile) Daytona Beach, Fla.
Sun., April 14 Thompson International Speedway (.625-mile) Thompson, Conn.
Sun., April 28 Stafford Motor Speedway (.5-mile) Stafford, Conn.
Sat., May 11 Monadnock Speedway (.25-mile) Winchester, N.H.
Fri., May 24 Stafford Motor Speedway (.5-mile) Stafford, Conn.
Sat., June 22 Waterford Speedbowl (.375-mile) Waterford, Conn.
Sat., June 29 Riverhead Raceway (.25-mile) Riverhead, N.Y.
Sat., July 13 New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile) Loudon, N.H.
Fri., Aug. 2 Stafford Motor Speedway (.5-mile) Stafford, Conn.
Thu., Aug. 15 Thompson International Speedway (.625-mile) Thompson, Conn.
Wed., Aug. 21 * Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-mile) Bristol, Tenn.
Sat., Sept. 14 Riverhead Raceway (.25-mile) Riverhead, N.Y.
Sat., Sept. 21 New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile) Loudon, N.H.
Sun., Sept. 29 Stafford Motor Speedway (.5-mile) Stafford, Conn.
Sun., Oct. 20 Thompson International Speedway (.625-mile) Thompson, Conn.
* Combination race with NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour
^ Non-points event
Schedule Subject to Change
The Northeastern Midget Association is a proud participant in the Boch Toyota of Norwood, MA 2012 Toys for Tots Drive. Boch Toyota, located at 277 Boston-Providence Turnpike, will host the event on Friday, Dec. 14 starting at 5 a.m. and continuing throughout the day.
NEMA race cars and drivers will be part of the festivities as will radio station WWAF which will broadcast from the dealership.
“We are very excited to be part of the Boch Toyota Toy Drive,” said NEMA president Mike Scrivani Jr of Brockton. “We ask that all NEMA fans come out and donate to this great cause.”
Boch Toyota is minutes from where the legendary Norwood Arena stood, a tough quarter mile that hosted a lot of New England racing. Between 1953 and 1969, Norwood Arena presented over 25 NEMA events.
Chuck Arnold, Bert Brooks, Joe Csiki, Al Pillion, Johnny Kay and Bill Randall, all members of the New England Auto Racer’s Hall of Fame, were NEMA winners at Norwood Arena.
Robert Palmer, who was the 1996 Late Model Rookie of the Year at Stafford Motor Speedway, will return to Stafford in 2013, driving in the SK Light Modified division. Palmer has not raced at Stafford since the 2000 season, when he ran a handful of SK Modified® feature events. Despite the long layoff, Palmer is excited about returning to Stafford to race on Friday nights.
“I love racing at Stafford, it’s the premier place to race, and I love the history at Stafford,” said Palmer. “I’m excited to be racing in the SK Light division because I think it’s the fairest division there is. I like that everyone has the same crate engine and I like the cost controls Stafford has with its rules for the SK Lights. I got started racing at Stafford in the Late Models in 1996, and my first win was in my rookie year. We ran Late Models for two years at Stafford and then moved up to the SK Modified® division where we raced a couple of times. After Stafford, I ran SK’s at Thompson for a few years, but you really need a lot of money if you want to be competitive. I went back to Late Models for a few years, and then I stopped racing. I was talking things over with my wife this winter and we made the decision to come back to Stafford to race.”
When the green flag drops on the 2013 Late Model season at Stafford Speedway, Michael Scorzelli of Feura Bush, NY, will begin his quest to win SPAFCO Rookie of the Year honors. Scorzelli has spent the past 5 seasons in the Late Model ranks at Thompson Speedway, and he finished 4th in the 2012 points standings with 2 victories. Scorzelli will look to take to the Stafford half-mile at full speed as he will have a brand new Bob Fill chassis and he looks forward to the challenge of taking on a new track for the first time.
“We looked at a few cars and they all seemed to be a bit hammered up, so we decided to go with a car that was new and fresh,” said Scorzelli. “I met up with Bob Fill when I started racing at Thompson.
He had a chassis that wasn’t finished sitting around his shop, so that’s what we decided to go with. We’re real excited about it, Bob builds real good racecars, he knows how to set the car up to get around the track really fast, and he knows my driving style. I enjoy going to new tracks and learning the track, it’s a nice challenge. We’re putting the best of everything together so it’s going to be my fault if we don’t run well.”
The 2013 season will mark Scorzelli’s first foray into racing at Stafford. Although he has raced and won at Thompson, and he has raced on the dirt track of Albany-Saratoga and at Oswego Speedway, he knows he is in for a challenge at Stafford.
On Friday and Saturday nights at 6 p.m. the Thompson Speedway Clubhouse will host Thompson Speedway’s 2012 Awards Banquet.