by Lou Modestino
There are not many entries for the mid-February World Series of Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida. According to good sources this is it. JR Bertuccio, Ron Silk, Patrick Emerling, Al Ermmarino, Chuck Hossfeldt, Tommy Barrett Jr, Ryan Preece and
Matt Hirschman.
It also appears that only Silk, Preece, Don Lia and Barrett are planning to run the Battle at the Beach II at Daytona on a temporary paper clip designed course on the backstretch of Daytona International Speedway.
Stafford Motor Speedway has announced that Call Before You Dig has signed on to become the title sponsor of the track’s August 8th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event. In addition to becoming the title sponsor of the Call Before You Dig 8-1-1 NWMT 150 event, Call Before You Dig will once again present the Call Before You Dig 8-1-1 Challenge for Stafford’s weekly drivers. The Call Before You Dig 8-1-1 Challenge will culminate on the August 8 Call Before You Dig 8-1-1 NWMT 150 night and award five $8-1-1 bonuses for a total of $4,055 in contingency money.
“We’re all very excited about our program for the 2014 season,” said Derek Brown, Vice President of Damage Prevention and Education for Call Before You Dig. “We were notified that the August race was available for a title sponsor and since the race date happened to fall on the same night that the Call Before You Dig 8-1-1 Challenge was going to culminate, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to receive the added exposure that a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race brings. Whelen Modified Tour races at Stafford always bring in great crowds and we wanted to take advantage of that to help raise awareness for not only our 8-1-1 phone number, but our www.cbyd.com website. August 11th is 8-1-1 Day and 8-1-1 Day is used nationwide to remind everyone to always call 8-1-1 before digging. We plan special events on or around that date to bring added awareness and contractors are reminded that they can request an electronic dig ticket by using www.cbyd.com.”
After setting a Stafford Speedway record for the most career DARE Stock victories with 20, hometown driver Kyle Casagrande will join the track’s Late Model rookie class for the 2014 season. Casagrande has 7 years of DARE Stock experience at Stafford and he will try to make it back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners in the Casagrande family as his younger brother Cory took home the 2013 Late Model ROY honors. Casagrande made three starts in his family owned #71 Late Model last season and he is ready to take on a full season in Stafford’s premier full fendered division with his familiar #7 on the car.
With the 2014 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season on the horizon at Stafford Motor Speedway, the track’s premier SK Modified division has added a new driver to its rookie class. Defending SK Light Modified track champion Tony Membrino, Jr. will be making the move up the modified ladder for the 2014 season with a new car and a new car number. Membrino and his TMR team struck a deal with Steve Greer and he will swap his familiar #44 for #79 as he prepares to make his SK Modified® debut at the Spring Sizzler on April 25-27.
For the first time since the 1994 season, INEX Legend Cars will be part of the weekly Friday night program at Stafford Motor Speedway, joining the SK Modifieds®, Late Models, SK Lights, Limited Late Models, and DARE Stocks. The Friday night US Legend Car series, which will consist of 14 events, will be INEX sanctioned.
The INEX Legend Cars will receive both Stafford Motor Speedway track points and US Legend Cars series points. At the SMS Annual Champions Awards Banquet, being held on November 21,2014, the INEX Legends Car Champion will be crowned making it the first US Legend Car Champion at the famed New England short track.
In the eyes of Barry Gray, the 2013 season was an off year. The Belchertown, MA driver picked up a win, 4 top 5’s, and finished 7th in points, but had 4 DNF’s, 3 of which occurred before lap 10. Gray’s goals are to have more success during qualifying rounds, and to practice self-preservation. “To finish first, first you must finish,” Gray adds.
Gray’s racing career wasn’t a planned thing. One day, Gray headed to see a man named Bruce Clark to pick up a washing machine. What he brought back with him was a race car. The irony of the situation is that same Bruce Clark’s daughter, Christina, would catch the eye of Gray’s son Adam years later, as they are due to be married this upcoming October.
Barry Gray has enjoyed a storied career. His Pro Stock days at Riverside Park and Monadnock have given him 6 titles, including the New Hampshire State Championship between Monadnock and Twin State Speedway in 2007. He has captured over 100 victories in his career, including a pair of wins in the Granite State Pro Stock Series itself. To say he is a premier level driver would be an understatement.
The Gray family also has some competition for best racer in the family. Adam Gray is a multi-time Late Model champion at Stafford Speedway, including a remarkable 2013 campaign which Adam racked up 6 wins in 18 races. Adam’s first race didn’t start out how he had planned, suffering a flat tire, but then proceeded to go on a tear and pick up 16 straight top threes, and his 17th race fell to a dismal…fourth. Barry and Adam had a year racing families envy in 2008, when Adam won the Late Model championship, and Barry picked up top honors in the Pro Stock division. When asked who would win in a race between father and son, Barry Gray answered with a chuckle. “Would he wreck me for the win? Yes. Would I wreck him for the win? I’m not so sure.”
When the other is racing, Barry and Adam spot for each other. “It’s more stressful when you aren’t in control of the car,” Barry comments. “You aren’t in control of your destiny.” Gray is also quick
to point out spotting for each other has helped each driver. “It’s a lot easier to communicate how the car is handling,” the elder Gray admits.
When not at the race track, Gray is running his Meadows Motor Cars business, and an avid New England Patriots fan. However, Gray admits racing takes up a lot of his time. His family is dear to his racing hobbies, and he is proud to have passed along his racing knowledge to his son. “I try to be slow and steady, and I think that helped Adam this past year,” said Gray. “Again, to finish first, you must first finish.” Gray enjoys the GSPSS because it gives him a chance to travel to different tracks, but has his eyes set on the Monadnock date on the schedule. Gray has two victories and a top five to go with it. He credits his success to his crew, including Gary, Walter, Alan, Leon, Bob, and his son.
The Granite State Pro Stock Series hits Monadnock on May 24th, but you can catch the GSPSS at their first race of the 2014 season at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on April 5th and 6th.
Anthony Sesely of Matawan, N.J., won Friday night’s NAPA Know How Indoor TQ 30-lap feature inside Atlantic City, N.J.’s Boardwalk Hall after outdueling Ted Christopher of Plainville, Ct., in a mid-race showdown.
Christopher led the first seven laps of the feature until Sesely worked his way under his long time, bitter Indoor racing rival. The two ran nose to tail through lap thirteen when following a restart they tangled, snapping one of Christopher’s car’s tie rods, ending his night. Sesely escaped unscathed and led to the finish.
The mid-race turning point shuffled the pack behind leader Sesely with first Andrew Nye, then Jimmy Blewett, then Matt Janisch moving for the runner-up slot.
The race was slowed fourteen times by caution flags. Janisch prevailed for second ahead of Rob Vivona, Brett Michalski and Rob Neely. The five were the only finishers from among the 23 race starters.
“This is amazing but I’m as happy for Rob Vivona as I am for myself,” said Sesely. Vivona is a childhood friend of Sesely’s and was making his first start in racing after a six month sabbatical. Vivona, who is fighting cancer, actually postponed a chemotherapy treatment to race in the Atlantic City events.
Runner-up Janisch was involved in several scrapes during the feature but came back from each. “The first one, when I got spun and had to go to the rear of the field hurt my chances,” Janisch said. “But I’m happy to survive and finish second.
Vivona, who was noticeably weakened from his drive, was humbled by his third place finish. “I got lucky a few times out there,” said Vivona. “I just wanted to finish and we did.”
Ninety TQ Midget drivers time trialed to gain starting berths in a series of heat races.
Sesely’s 8.276 time bested Christopher’s 8.326 clocking to set fast time. Andy Jankowiak, Tim Iulg, Andrew Nye, Neal Williams, Matt Roselli and Vivona rounded out the top eight.
Two drivers, Erick Rudolph and Patrick Emerling originally had posted first and third fastest times respectively. But both times were disallowed when technical inspectors found irregularities in their cars’ fuel, a strict prohibition. They were disqualified and did not compete in the Friday race action.
Qualifying was also completed for Saturday night’s Champ Kart and Slingshot features. Justin Bonsignore’s 9.515 lap time outpaced Anthony Colandro, Jonathan Cash, Douglas Stearly and Chris Daley in the top five from among sixty six Karters on hand.
Gary Hieber outran Matt Massone by running a 10.043 lap in the Slingshot time trial runs to lead a forty-four car field. Eddie Strada, Frank Yankowski and Kurt Bettler trailed in the top five.
The TQ Midgets will requalify for tonight’s 40-lap TQ Midget Gambler’s Classic main event. Champ Kart and Slingshot features will precede the TQ headliner.
TQ Midget A-Feature (30 Laps): 1. Anthony Sesely, 2. Matt Janisch, 3. Rob Vivona, 4. Brett Michalski, 5. Rob Neely, 6. Pat Bealer, 7. Jimmy Blewett, 8. Mike Lichty, 9. Andrew Nye, 10. Mike Iles, 11. Tim Proctor, 12. Randy Cabral, 13. Tim Iulg, 14. Neal Williams, 15. Shawn Nye, 16. Ted Christopher, 17. Billy Pauch, 18. Zane Zeiner, 19. Donny Lia, 20. Jonathan Reid, 21. Matt Roselli, 22. Andy Jankowiak, 23. Lou Cicconi Jr., 24. Jeff Kot.
Anthony Sesely’s domination of Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City continued Saturday night when Sesely powered his No.16 600 Micro Sprint to a convincing victory in the climatic NAPA Know How Gamblers Classic 40-lap main event. It was Sesely’s second straight win in the prestigious race and his third straight inside Boardwalk Hall.
“This is unbelievable,” Sesely, of Matawan, N.J., said. “It is what racing is all about.”
Sesely led all 40 of the laps after drawing the pole position, a draw earned as one of the previous night’s top eight feature finishers, a race he also won.
Brett Michalski ran second initially before Matt Janisch moved up. A succession of cautions shuffled the running order. Mike Iles emerged as the runner-up through the halfway mark but back in the pack, Lou Cicconi, Jr., and Mike Lichty, two drivers who had been fast the previous night as well but had unsatisfactory results, were working their ways forward.
As the race progressed, Lichty got by Cicconi for second spot with five laps to go and held off a return challenge to preserve the position. The final sixteen laps of the race ran off non-stop and this allowed hard charging Shawn Nye to finish up fourth. Iles slipped to fifth.
Anthony Colandro of Islip Terrace, Long Island, N.Y. passed Douglas Stearly on the last lap after wild side by side battle saw Stearly spin off turn two. Jonathan Cash of Mechanicsville, Va., moved to second and then held off a trio of New Englanders in DJ Shaw, Mike Perry and Glen Meisenhelder.
In the 25-lap Snyder’s-Lance Slingshot feature, Simon Egan of Stroudsburg, Pa., moved into first place after Ben Whitaker, who led the first fourteen laps after starting from the pole position, suddenly slowed and pulled out of the race with mechanical problems. Egan had started back in 16th position.
oe Kata, gridded 22nd at the start, moved by Tyler Johnston on the twenty second lap to claim a fast closing second to Egan. Kata settled for third with Tom Arntz fourth and Matt Stangle completed the top five.
The $1,500 win for Egan was his second at Boardwalk Hall and the fourth for the 2001 Slingshot nicknamed ‘Old Faithful’ by its owner Randy Smith. Randy’s son Ryan also won twice in the No.55 car inside Boardwalk Hall.
The race was the finale of a two night NAPA Know How Atlantic City Indoor Race Weekend. Friday night’s 30-lap TQ Midget race was won by Anthony Sesely of Matawan, NJ.
Indoor racing continues on February 7-8, 2014 at Sun Bank Center in Trenton, N.J. with the running of the first annual PRC / Angela’s House Battle Of Trenton. The race concludes the Fatheadz Eyewear TQ Midget Series produced by Len Sammons Motorsports Productions.
TQ Midget Feature (40 Laps): 1. Anthony Sesely, 2. Mike Lichty, 3. Lou Cicconi Jr., 4. Andrew Nye, 5. Mike Iles, 6. Andy Jankowiak, 7. Jimmy Blewett, 8. Zane Zeiner, 9. Matt Janisch, 10. Pat Bealer, 11. Rob Neely, 12. Randy Cabral, 13. Glen Reen, 14. Rob Vivona, 15. Erick Rudolph, 16. Brett Michalski, 17. Shawn Nye, 18. Chad Jones, 19. Mack DeMan, 20. Jonathan Reid, 21. Rowan Pennink, 22. Matt Roselli, 23. Earl Paules, 24. Donny Lia, 25. Joey Payne, 26. Ted Christopher.
Champ Kart Feature (25 Laps): 1. Anthony Colandro, 2. Jonathan Cash, 3. DJ Shaw, 4. Mike Perry, 5. Glen Meisenhelder, 6. Joseph Pacovich, 7. Damon Schuster, 8. Brian Sullivan, 9. Ryan Swartz, 10. Richard Davidowitz, 11. James Hayden, 12. Todd Crenshaw, 13. Chris Daley, 14. Avery Stoehr, 15. Ron Midford, 16. Alex Colasanto, 17. Max Handley, 18. Douglas Stearly, 19. Dave Farrington Jr., 20. Daniel ‘DJ’ Doyle, 21. Todd Root, 22. Danny Bouc, 23. Justin Gumley, 24. Justin Bonsignore.
Slingshot Feature (25 Laps): 1. Simon Egan, 2. Joe Kata, 3. Tyler Johnston, 4. Tom Arntz, 5. Matt Stangle, 6. Tiffany Wambold, 7. Jerry Schott Jr., 8. Brett Bieber, 9. John Gilroy, 10. Danny Spellmon, 11. Ben Whitaker, 12. Jimmy Spellmon, 13. Frank Yankowski, 14. Jesse Hartman, 15. Nick Shaw, 16. Carl Bittenbender, 17. Kurt Bettler, 18. Kyle Lick, 19. Eddie Strada, 20. Matt Carman, 21. Lydia Rueckheim, 22. Gary Hieber, 23. Demetrious Drellos, 24. Matt Massone.
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As the 2014 season at Stafford Motor Speedway draws closer and closer to taking the green flag, the track’s premier event, the 43rd Annual Spring Sizzler, continues to grow. After making a successful debut last season, the Texas Roadhouse North East Mini Stock Tour presented by Twisted Tea will return to Stafford as part of Spring Sizzler Weekend. The Stafford race will be the first race of the NEMST’s Connecticut Triple Crown, which will award $1,000 to the top-5 finishers, including $350 for the champion of the three-race series.
“The Spring Sizzler will be our first race of our Connecticut Triple Crown,” said NEMST Founder/Promoter Bob Guptill. “We have $1,000 that will be split among the top-5 finishers and the winner will receive $350. Stafford will be our first race and then we’ll race at Waterford on May 31st and at Thompson for the World Series. All the competitors have been asking about coming back to Stafford after our race last season and with the Triple Crown we’re looking at having a big car count for the Stafford race. We’re looking forward to another great race at Stafford.”
Last year’s feature event saw eventual NEMST Champion Emerson Cayer take the lead on lap-3 and he held off a hard charging Toby Wells to take the checkered flag by a car length. Cayer is looking forward to the opportunity to defend his Sizzler victory.
“I’m definitely excited about returning to Stafford,” said Cayer. “We had never been to Stafford before and last year was a great weekend for us. We initially had some handling issues with the car since it was our first time there and we made a few changes and the car was pretty good. A lot of the guys got a lot faster as the season went on last year so I think there’s going to be some really good competition at Stafford this year. The car counts have grown every year and hopefully we’ll have even more cars at Stafford than we had last season. It’s always good to start the season with some good finishes and we’re hoping that we can be among the contenders for the checkered flag once again at Stafford.”
The action for the NEMST won’t be limited to just their feature event either. The NEMST heat races will be hotly contested as much like the Valenti Modified Racing Series, there are NEMST Championship points up for grabs during qualifying.
The NEMST will run a 25-lap feature event as part of the Spring Sizzler Saturday festivities, joining Stafford’s SK Lights, Limited Late Models, and DARE Stocks. Stafford’s SK Modifieds®, Late Models, and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will hit the track on Sunday for their feature races.
An impressive list of drivers have filed registrations to compete in Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park’s (TSMP) Sunoco Modified division in 2014. Last year’s champion, “Kid Roc”, Keith Rocco will be back to defend his title. Not only did the champ pick up his fourth Modified championship at Thompson, but also finished third overall in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Championship point standings. Rocco now has a seven year streak of finishing at least 4th or better in the national standings, dating back to 2007. Despite those credentials, Rocco knows this year will be tough. “There is some fierce competition again this year,” states Rocco. “We are just looking to go out, win races, and show some growth. Another national championship would be perfect, though.”
Defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champ Ryan Preece will be returning to compete at TSMP in 2014 as well. The Berlin, CT driver was named one of the top 13 drivers to watch in the NASCAR Next program in June, along with drivers Chase Elliott and Dylan Kwasniewski. Preece will be driving the #31 Falmouth Ready Mix entry for Al and Cathy Moniz. The team is looking to return to the form they were in in 2012, when they were the division’s titlists. In addition to his competition in the local and regional Modified ranks, Preece also slated to compete part-time in the Nationwide Series for Tommy Baldwin Racing.
Two drivers from TSMP’s Lite Modified division will be stepping up to the Sunoco Modified division in 2014. Defending Lite Modified Champion, Cam McDermott, will be making the jump to the Sunoco Modifieds, as will Troy Talman. Both drivers began their career at the Little T, which is TSMP’s 1/10-mile Quarter Midget facility. Talman is aware the competition will be tough, but he feels that he is up for the challenge. “I feel like I’m a combination of a bunch of drivers,” Talman admits. “Guys like TC (Ted Christopher), Preece, and (Woody) Pitkat. I feel like I have taken a bit from each of them, not just one.” Talman’s goals for 2014 are modest – get some valuable seat time and finish in the top five of the standings at season’s end.
Woody Pitkat, Danny Cates, and former Waterford Speedbowl Champion Tyler Chadwick will join the list of seasoned veterans and talented newcomers. With this field of drivers, the Sunoco Modified division at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park promises to be one of the most competitive divisions in throughout the area.
The season starts on April 5th and 6th with the Icebreaker, as nine divisions are scheduled to take to the compete, headlined by the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.