By Lou Modestino
Thursday, August 1st is the new date for the Valenti Modified Racing Series to run at the Thompson Speedway. Track officials announced late on Thursday that an agreement had been reached with the Valenti Modified Racing Series officials to run the event next week. The change was made necessary when rain forced the postponement of the July 25th race date.
The event is expected to draw the very best race teams on the VMRS roster. Current points leader Tommy Barrett, JR will lead the impressive lineup of drivers to the Connecticut oval. Drivers like Rowan Pennink, Richard Savary, Louie Mechalides, Norm Wrenn, Chris Pasteryak and many more are expected to compete for a starting spot in the VMRS 75-lap feature event.
Several Thompson regular competitors and graduates are also expected to compete with the VMRS series. Drivers like Keith Rocco, Ted Christopher, Woody Pitkat, Todd Owen, and Charlie Pasteryak are only a few of the many drivers who are fan favorites at Thompson and who compete with the Valenti Modified Racing Series.
Joining the program will be all five of Thompson’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions along with the New England Truck Series. The previously scheduled extra distance race for Thompson’s Late Model division will be run at a date to be announced. That division will compete in a regular 25-lap main on Thursday, August 1st. Grandstands will open at 2 PM with racing getting under way 30 minutes earlier than usual at 5:30 PM.
Rain checks from the rained out May 19th event will be honored at this event or at any other event of equal of lesser value.
Seven drivers and one car owner with hundreds of victories and dozens of championships comprise the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame’s Class of 2013. It is the 16th class and brings the membership to well over 115.
Drivers Stan Meserve, Brian Ross, Drew Fornoro, Ralph Nason, the late Bob Stefanik, Bill Eldridge and Bob Sharp and car owner Ron Berndt will be inducted at the 16th annual NEAR Hall of Fame Banquet Sunday, Nov. 10 at the Lodge at Manelley’s in South Windsor, CT.
The New England Antique Racers website www.near1.com will have complete times and ticket prices in the near future.
Merserve, a Maine product, has been a driver, car owner/mechanic and race official for four decades plus including a season (1968) as an independent on the NASCAR Grand National circuit. As a driver, he won throughout Maine, including a pair of Oxford Opens and captured championships at Unity, Speedway 95, Wiscasset and Oxford Plains.
Berndt, a Meriden, CT native, has won in six different decades, most recently in 2012. Grandson Eric Berndt is on the end of a long list of drivers that include Sparky Belmont, Danny Galullo, Ted Christopher and Dave Alkas. His win total is estimated to be well into triple figures and his championships were won at Plainville Stadium, Waterford Speedbowl and Thompson Speedway.
Originally from Chelmsford, MA, Eldridge was the Northeastern Midget Association’s first champion (1953) and, some 40 years after retiring, is sixth on the clubs’ all-time win list with 32. Driving for the likes of Gibby Parmenter, Mike Scrivani, Bob Bahre and Rollie Lindblad, Eldridge, who began in the post World War II days, captured four NEMA championships.
A Bay State native, Stefanik competed throughout New England, but found his greatest success at Riverside Park. Over a 20 year run, he was successful in Novice and Sportsman (titles in ’66, ’67 and ’68) cars before busting on the Modified scene with car owner Joe Czarnecki in 1968, winning three championships (1970-71, ’73). His 21 Riverside Modified wins include the 1972 Riverside 500 with Billy Greco. Stefanik passed away in 1984.
Fornoro, who joins his father Nick in the Hall, holds Northeastern Midget Association records with 85 victories and nine championships, most of the former and all of the latter with owner Gene Angelillo. Born in Danbury, Fornoro won at least one NEMA feature in 21 different seasons, grabbing checkereds at over 20 different tracks.
Readily identified with Datsun, Connecticut’s Sharp is one of New England’s most accomplished road racers. His list of SCCA and IMSA championships stretches well into double figures, winning three different titles alone in 1975. He achieved even more success as an owner, putting wheels under the likes of actor Paul Newman, Jim Fitzgerald and son Scott, all of whom added championships to the Sharp name.
A NASCAR Modified mainstay in three decades, the 1984 Stafford championship and the 1986 Spring Sizzler, both coming in his own cars, are included in Brian Ross’ impressive resume. The Ballston Spa, NY product started in 1961 at Saranac Lake, NY and before it was over in 2000 scored from Maine to Florida in both Modifieds and Late Models driving for others (Bob Garbarino, Ed Cloce) and himself. He was the 1984 Race of Champions winner at Pocono and a multi-time champion at Oswego.
Maine’s Ralph Nason has truly done it all over six decades – race driver, owner/builder, track owner/promoter. Starting in the early 1960s, “Racin’ Ralph” has won just about everywhere in Maine including Getty Open and Oxford 250 wins (three of them) at Oxford Plains. A two-time NEPSA champ, he has promoted just about everywhere as well. He continues to own Unity Raceway.
Waterford Speedbowl returned to the race track with another round of its Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday program, placing six drivers into the winner’s circle. Dave Garbo Jr. of Stonington returned to the Speedbowl and picked up his second win of the season in INEX Legend Cars racing, while Ken Morin Jr. of Old Saybrook and Christian Eckes of Middletown, NY shared honors in twin INEX Bandolero features.
John Yagmin of Tolland rallied late in the Super X-Car feature to score
the win and Brad Voglesong of Middletown won the X-Car feature. The Wacky Race win went to Waterford’s Chris Thomas.
Justin Bonsignore got faster and faster as the day went on. The 23-year old driver earned his first victory of the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season in the Whitcomb 200 from Monadnock Speedway in rural Winchester, N.H., on Saturday night.
Bonsignore, from Holtsville, N.Y., recorded a time just outside the top 10 during the day’s final practice session, before turning it up in qualifying, scoring a spot on the front row alongside pole winner Eric Goodale. When the green flag dropped, it didn’t take long for Bonsignore to establish his dominance, as he took the lead on lap 17 and never looked back.
The victory is the third of his career, and first at a quarter-mile track since his 2011 win at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway.
Doug Coby, coming off his first win of the season in the Town Fair Tire 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 14, settled for the runner-up spot. After having to begin the race from the rear due to missing the driver’s meeting, Rowan Pennink worked his way up to the front, finishing third. Bryon Chew and Ryan Preece completed the top five.
Ron Silk, Andy Seuss, Richie Pallai Jr., Woody Pitkat and Eric Berndt rounded out the top 10.
After seven of 14 races Preece now leads Pennink by 42 points with the defending champion Coby in third, 45 back.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is next in action on August 2 for the CARQUEST 150 from Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.
Stafford Speedway returned to NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing action with a 5-Star Series event on Friday, July 26th. Ryan Preece picked up his division leading 6th win of the 2013 season in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Woody Pitkat scored his second win of 2013 with a thrilling finish in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Tony Membrino, Jr. picked up his second win of the 2013 season in the 20-lap SK Light feature, David Arute took his second win of the 2013 season with a thrilling last lap pass in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Cliff Saunders scored his second win of the 2013 season in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
Anthony Marvuglio went from without a ride to “living a dream” in a little over 24 hours. Driving the Bertrand 74, Marvuglio won the Northeastern Midget Association’ 27-lap Shane Hammond Memorial Saturday night at Waterford Speedbowl. It was the second straight year Marvuglio won the race that memorializes his brother.
Taking the lead on a restart with 10 laps remaining, Marvuglio had an almost three second lead over Todd Bertrand (Bertrand39) at the finish. The final laps featured John Zych Jr.’s run from sixth to third. Phil DiMario (Cantor 7ny) the only other leader, was fourth with Seth Carlson (Feigel 71) fifth.
“I just drove it into the middle of the turn until I knew I cleared him,” said Marvuglio of the winning pass, pointing out “the car allowed me to do it that.” It was the second win of the season for the Tim Bertrand –owned car, the Boston Louie winner with Doug Coby aboard. Calling the car “phenomenal,” Marvuglio said “it tells you what it wants to do.”
Todd Bertrand, who started fifth, took second on the restart, was also “living a dream.” Finishing behind “my best friend” is like a win to me,” he said.
It was, Marvuglio explained, best friend Todd Bertrand who called between four and five on Friday afternoon with the news: “we want you to drive the 74 tomorrow.” Marvuglio, idle since losing a motor in the Bourbeau 38 at Stafford, planned to “enjoy my brother’s race, maybe sell some T-shirts for the [Hammond] foundation.”
Starting fourth, Marvuglio, the first heat winner, grabbed second immediately and followed pole-sitter DiMario. Although he did lead briefly coming off two with 13 left, Marvuglio was part of a freight train that had Carlson, Todd Bertrand, Randy Cabral and Zych behind him.
Marvuglio, however, was watching DiMario “get really loose, especially off two. He had to pinch the car to stay on the bottom “In the end I think we would have had something for him.” It was a matter of being patient.”
With six winners in seven races, NEMA heads to Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY Saturday night. It will be NEMA’s first visit to Airborne since 1971.
NEMA NUGGETS – Deb Marvuglio, Hammond’s mother, did an incredible job in hosting the race…Marvuglio and Zych shared fastest laps honors each turning a 12.933 (104.383 mph), the only two sub 13 laps…The Cantor family continues to get strong runs, Phil Dimario winning his heat before the fourth place feature finish…A dozen cars finished the 27 laps, testimony to Waterford’s stature as a Midget track…Marvuglio said the 74 demands finesse with both hands and feet. “You can’t just jerk it around. In this race, I turned into a driver,” he said.
Results: 1. Bug Marvuglio, 2. Todd Bertrand, 3. John Zych Jr., 4.Phil DiMario, 5. Seth Carlson, 6. Randy Cabral, 7. Ian Cumens, 8. Bethany Stoehr, 9. Russ Stoehr, 10. Paul Scally, 11. Jim SantaMaria, 12. Matt O’Brien, 13. Doug Cleveland, 14. Jim Chambers, 15. Joey Payne.
Avery Stoehr made it two straight Northeastern Midget Association Hammond Memorial Lites wins Saturday night at Waterford Speedbowl. It was the second win of the season for the third generation racer who came from the ninth starting spot.
Taking the lead with an inside move on Scott Bigelow with 14 left, Stoehr survived a restart challenge from Kenny Johnson five laps later and went on to a .730 margin of victory. Johnson (Johnson 46) and Ian Cumens (Seymour 9), both fighting tight race cars, completed the podium. Point leader Carl Mederios (Mederios 50) and Brandon Igo (Igo 45) completed the top five.
Stoehr and Johnson, the latter starting eighth, battled most of the night. A lap after Stoehr assumed command, Johnson passed Bigelow in the back for second and was well within striking distance when the final yellow showed. Unfortunately Bigelow, who ran well all night was involved.
While Stoehr “didn’t want to see the caution,” he was confident. The car, he said, “got really good” especially on the bottom. Johnson’s car “got tighter as the race went on.” Cumens, who started 10th, was also in the restart battle briefly.
Bigelow, who started second, grabbed the immediate lead with Richie Morocco on his tail right away. They dueled for 10 laps, each leading, while Stoehr and Johnson moved forward. When the first yellow showed with 22 remaining, Stoehr was fourth and Johnson fifth. Three laps later they were third and fourth.
The Lites will join NEMA Saturday night at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY.
NEMA NUGGETS –Johnson took fast lap honors with a 14.151 (95.400 mph)… A former NEMA car-owner champion, Carl Kibbe wrenches the 15a for the Stoehr family. He says Avery has the same smoothness that his father Russ has shown in NEMA for decades…Logan Rayvals and Scott Bigelow were the heat winners… Joey Payne’s son Anthony made his full midget debut with a 10th in the Scrivani 21…Thirteen cars finished all 27 laps…Rookie Richie Morocco, who also fell victim to ill fortune, continued to impress.
Results: 1. Avery Stoehr, 2.Kenny Johnson, 3. Ian Cumens, 4. Carl Mederios, 5. Brandon Igo, 6. Danny Cugini, 7. Logan Rayvals, 8. Ryan Bigelow,, 9. Paul Bigelow, 10. Anthony Payne, 11. Dana Shaw, `12. DJ Moniz, 13. Meg Cugini, 14. Richie Morrocco, 15. Kelly Ferrell, 16. Jake Smith, 17. Scott Bigelow, 18. Randy Cabral, 19. Kevin Park.
Dave Darling, Tyler Thompson, Scott Dion and Chris DeMoura all won Everett’s Auto Parts features at Seekonk Speedway.
Dave Darling picked up his fourth win of the season, holding on through a flurry of cautions throughout the 75 lap Phil’s Propane Triple Crown race. Front row starters Tom Scully, Sr and Ken Spencer swapped the lead back and forth through the first twenty five laps of the event.
With 1/3 of the race completed, Darling had moved into second, and used a restart to power past Spencer for the lead. Spencer fell back into second, with Dick Houlihan, Mike Brightman and Ryan Vanasse rounding out the top five. Darling held the lead at the 50 lap mark, with Vanasse in second, trying to chase him down. Several times, Vanasse would pressure Darling for the lead, but the defending champion would not waver.
A flurry of late race restarts slowed the pace, but Darling continued to keep the pressure behind him, picking up the win. Dick Houlihan slid past Vanasse on the final laps for second, with Vanasse, Tom Scully Jr and Fred Astle rounding out the top five.
1) Dave Darling 2) Dick Houlihan 3) Ryan Vanasse 4) Tom Scully Jr 5) Fred Astle 6) Ken Spencer 7) Dave Silvia 8) Mike Mitchell 9) Dick Benoit 10) Kevin Folan 11) Kyle Casper 12) Phil Meany 13) Dave Hutchins Sr 14) Mike Brightman 15) Tom Scully Sr 16) Bob Hussey 17) Elmer Wing III 18) Vinnie Annarummo 19) Bobby Pelland III 20) Daryl Stampfl 21) Manny Dias
Tyler Thompson held off some heavy challenges from former Street Stock champion Ryan Lineham in the 30 lap Late Model feature. The pair started on the front row, and for 30 laps, kept the pressure on each other, using every inch of the 72′ wide speedway to keep the other behind.
Several times, the pair raced wheel to wheel for the lead, leaning on each other. Only a few laps through the middle of the race did Linham edge out Thompson for the lead, but he would not be able to seal the deal, having the Somerset show edge back in front.
Mark Hudson ran third for much of the early part of the race, only to fall back when Gerry DeGasparre and Dave Hutchins Jr moved past. As the race wore on, Hutchins fell back on the outside, allowing Dylan Estrella and Bobby Pelland III to move into the top five.
1) Tyler Thompson 2) Ryan Lineham 3) Gerry DeGasparre Jr 4) Dylan Estrella 5) Bobby Pelland III 6) Jeramee Lillie 7) Dave Hutchins Jr 8) Joe Kohler 9) Bill Bernard 10) Mark Hudson 11) Ron Barboza 12) Greg Cotter
Scott Dion picked up his first win of the 2013 season, holding off some hard charges from Rick Martin, Rob Murphy, and finally points leader John Paiva, clinching the Phil’s Propane Triple Crown Championship for the Sport Trucks.
Dion jumped out front from his front row starting position, with Murphy in tow. Murphy held on to second until the half-way point when Martin finally squeezed through for second. A lap 17 caution put Martin aside Dion, and it appeared that the 5 time champion would be on the way to his second win in a row, edging Dion out front for a pair of laps, but it wasn’t to be, as Dion powered back past.
One final caution with five laps remaining put Paiva on the outside, and he also was able to edge Dion for a pair of laps, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Taunton driver, as Scott held on for the Triple Crown win.
1) Scott Dion 2) John Paiva 3) Rick Martin 4) Brandon Dion 5) Rob Murphy 6) Nick Uhrig 7) Lenny Guy 8) Anna Gregoire 9) Joey Wakefield 10) Bill Schoeler 11) Dan Leach 12) Chase Belcher 13) Taylor Therrien 14) Jon Letourneau 15) Mike Duarte 16) Dane Saritelli 17) Jim Hawkins 18) Billy Clarke
Chris DeMoura finally got the monkey off his back and was able to finish a race. This time, it was in front of the pack, as he picked up his first win of the season. Chris started on the pole, and never looked back in the non-stop 25 lap feature.
Craig Pianka slid past Ray Negley on the opening laps into second, but couldn’t close in on The Outlaw enough to mount a serious challenge. With the top two drivers checked out, Negley had his hands full with rookie Austin Blais trying to move past the veteran. The 15 year old tried the inside and outside, but to no avail. For much of the race, Blais had Ed Gannon III on the outside as they battled for position. Gannon slid back over the final laps as he was caught on the outside.
1) Chris DeMoura 2) Craig Pianka 3) Ray Negley 4) Austin Blais 5) Bobby Bettencourt Jr 6) Steve Axon 7) Gerard Berthelette 8) Crystal Serydynski 9) Scott Serydynski 10) Ed Gannon III 11) Paul Lallier 12) Steve Potter 13) Scot Bruneau 14) John Hanafin 15) Chris Beauleau 16) Rey Lovelace 17) Bill McNeil 18) Darryl Perry 19) Joe Melberg 20) A J Solomon 21) Mike LeFort 22) Bob Henry 23) Jimmy Belmont.