On Saturday night the competitors from Seekonk Speedway will gather at the Venus D’Milo Restaurant in Swansea for the annual awards banquet. Dave Darling of Rehboth will get the top honors for winning the Pro Stock title again. Bridgewater’s Dick Houlihan ended the season in third place while Taunton’s Ken Spencer earned a sixth overall in the top class while Walpole’s Craig Weinstein came in 11th.
Gary DeGasparre won teh Late Model title, Paul Lallier took the Street Stock championship with Dighton’s Chris DeMoura placed 12th in that class. Mike Cavallaro was the top top Sport Track driver with Taunton’s Scott Dion placing fourt and Darryle Church of Brockton earing a sixth overall.
Also getting their share of awards on Saturday night are Legend Champion Shaun Buffington, Pure Stocks Jesse Melbert, Sport 4’s Henry Lavallee, SYRA 600 (Mini Cups) Tyler Boudrea and in the SYRA 750’s it was Austin Blais taking top honors. The cocktail hour starts at 6 p.m. while dinner follows at 7 p.m.
At the recent Hot Rod/New England Dragway Reunion at the Elk’s Club in Hudson a capacity crowd showed up to see lots of vintage drag racing vehicles in the parking lot while inside there was a marathon of DVD action on the movie screen on drag racing at the long shuttered Connecticut Dragway, Orange Airport and Sanford, Maine, Charlestown, RI as well as some early New England Dragway in Epping, NH. New England Dragway in Epping, NH is still in operation while there are reunions this year at Charlestown and Orange airport. New England Dragway does bring back the vintage drag racers at various times during the summer. Gil Corriane the organizer of the NED events and was involved in the management at NED up through the late 70’s.
Out of Warren, RI is the King & Marshall T/f 114 dragster that makes a lot of appearances. Driven by Jimmy King and maintained by Don Marshall they won the 1971 NHRA Gator Nationals at the Gainesville, FL venue beating the best dragsters in the country. The King & Marshall Plymouth Duster,another drag car of that era, is being restored by Ray Helger of Little Compton, RI.
We received some personal information that The National promoter Bob Mosscoffian of Oxford will be moving his longtime National event out of downtown Worcester and the custom/hot rod/drag show at the nearby Green Park in that city to the Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut the weekend of July 5-7, 2013. We heard and read reports that Bob and the City of Worcester had many issues over the event. The National has been held in that city for over 22-years. The 23rd edition will move to the closed circuit complex some 15 miles south of Worcester. Mosscoffian also revealed to me that he’s still trying to put a fall version of his event in the southern Rhode Island area..
Stafford Motor Speedway’s SK Light Modified division will welcome another second generation driver for the 2013 season with Dylan Menditto joining the driver roster. Menditto is the son of former SK Modified® competitor Darrin Menditto and he will carry the same #29 on his car that his father used in the SK Modified® ranks.
18-year old Menditto began his racing career at age 5, and he has raced go karts, quarter midgets, and sprint cars at Whip City Speedway. Menditto has won championships in the Junior Sportsman 1A, Junior Sportsman A, and Junior Sportsman divisions in the go kart ranks, he won 6 races from 2006-2007 in the 250 class at Whip City Speedway, and he was second in points and Rookie of the Year in the 270 class at Whip City in 2008. With experience on both dirt and asphalt, Menditto is looking forward to making his Stafford debut and following in the footsteps of his father.
Stafford Motor Speedway’s DARE Stock division will welcome two new members from the Wild Thing Kart Series to its ranks for the 2013 season. The sister and brother combination of 16-year old Alexandra and 14-year old Ryan Fearn will make the move up to Stafford’s rookie division after racing in the Monday night Wild Thing Kart Series for the past 8 seasons.
Alexandra Fearn makes the move into the DARE Stock division from the Senior Outlaw division. 2012 was Alexandra’s first season in the adult Senior Outlaw division and she was the youngest and only female competitor in the division. Alexandra scored 1 win this season and she finished 4th in the Senior Outlaw points standings.
After exiting the 2012 season with uncertainty about his plans for the 2013 SK Modified® season at Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford Springs native Michael Bennett will team up with the Skowyra family to drive their #50 Flamingo Motorsports entry.
“We talked with Michael last year about this year, and he’s been in touch with us several times so far this winter, and we were able to make a deal that works out great for both him and us,” said crew chief Adam Skowyra.
“We’re looking to start the year off with some top-10 runs and if we can do that, hopefully we can turn that into some top-5 runs. Michael has won in every division he’s raced in at Stafford and I think if Michael and I are able to quickly learn one another, we can be pretty good. Everyone on the crew is excited, we’re all looking to have a great year, and it’s nice for us to have a plan for the season.”
For Dave Secore, Jr., the 2013 season at Stafford Motor Speedway will be a season of chasing after a dream of winning a race. Secore is a fourth generation racer at Stafford Speedway who has ties all the way back to the Stafford Springs Agricultural Park days of the track.
A near fatal accident in the winter of 2001 moved Secore from the driver’s seat into a car owner’s role. As a car owner, Secore won the 2006 DARE Stock track championship with Norm Sears and Secore has won races with Dan King, Sears, and Don Wood as his drivers. Secore is still without a victory as a driver, which he is hoping to change this season.
After a successful rookie season that saw him drive to victory lane and finish 9th in the points standings behind the wheel of the #19 Steve Greer owned entry, North Haven native Tyler Hines will return to the SK Lights with a new car. Hines and his family have purchased from Gunsmoke Stables the #27 car that was formerly driven by Earl Pelletier and they will renumber the car to 25 to match Hines’ hockey number with Greer providing the engine for the car.
“We bought Earl Pelletier’s old car and Steve Greer is going to let us use his engine for this year,” said Hines. “We found out at the end of the year that Steve was going to use the car as a backup car for his MRS team, so we needed to find a car. We can’t thank Steve enough for letting us use that engine, it really makes things a lot easier for us this year and I’m excited to have my hockey number back on the car. I’ve had 25 as my hockey number for about 10 years, so it’s going to be nice to have my number back.”
With his feature victory last season, Hines was one of three rookie drivers and one of seven first time winners in the SK Light division. Hines reached victory lane in only his third start in the division, and while he says he and his team were disappointed that they couldn’t add a second victory to their tally, he says the win was a bonus and something that the team can use to build on for his second full season of SK Light competition.
Stafford Motor Speedway’s SK Modified® 2013 rookie class has added SK Light standout and Waterbury native Joey Cipriano, III to its roster for the upcoming season. Cipriano will pilot the Steve Greer owned #19 Gunsmoke Stables entry and will try to win SPAFCO Rookie of the Year honors. Cipriano debuted with the Greer team for the final SK Modified® feature event of 2012 at the CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend, and he earned a top-10 finish coming home in 7th after starting the race in 18th. With limited practice leading up to his debut SK Modified® effort, Cipriano is looking to build on his Fall Final experience and carry over the momentum of that top-10 finish to his rookie season and the season opening CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler.
The Northeast’s largest indoor all automotive swap meet is quickly approaching. On January 19&20, 2013 vendors offering a huge assortment of all things automotive will assemble at Autoparts Swap ‘n Sell. For 38 years, Start/Finish Productions has presented the Autoparts Swap ‘n Sell at the Eastern States Exposition Center, “Home of the Big E”, in West Springfield, MA.
The event attracts vendors from up-and-down the East Coast-from Maine to Florida -and the Midwest offering a huge assortment of wares for diehard racers and car enthusiasts of all types. Wholesalers, retailers, and private sellers will offer everything from high-performance parts and accessories to safety equipment, tools, gadgets and more. Collectors will find unique pieces of automobilia and memorabilia while restoration specialists are sure to uncover hard-to-find vintage originals along with replica and reproduction pieces.
Autoparts Swap ‘n Sell offers prices competitive with any online bargain hunting without the cost of shipping and without the wait. Buyers get the opportunity to inspect items first-hand; making shopping virtually risk-free.
For nearly four decades, the Autoparts Swap ‘n Sell has stood as a tradition for the automotive community. Single-day adult admission is only $10.00. Kids under 12 are admitted free with a paid adult. The show will run from 8 AM to 5 PM on Saturday and Sunday, January 19 & 20.
Autoparts Swap ‘n Sell provides the ultimate weekend getaway for automotive enthusiasts who have a passion for stock cars, hot rods, classics or custom cars. Swap meet and flea market aficionados and avid bargain shoppers will revel in the acres of new and used parts all under one roof.
Here’s what else is happening in southern New England. The International Car Show is on through Sunday at the Boston Convention Center.