Local racing legend Eddie MacDonald from Rowley, Mass. will drive the #32 Go FAS Racing Ford Fusion owned by fellow New Englanders Archie St. Hilaire from Old Orchard Beach, Maine and long-time NASCAR crew chief Frank Stoddard from No. Haverhill, N.H. Completing the all-NE team is Michael Alden, President and CEO of Blue Vase Marketing based in Beverly, Mass, as the primary sponsor aboard the Go FAS Racing entry in the Camping World Sales 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 13.
Archie St. Hilaire is no stranger to New England racing as a long time participant in the old Busch North Series, currently the K&N Pro Series East, before moving on to the Nationwide Series while Stoddard cut his teeth watching and learning from one of the greats in New England, Stub Fadden from his hometown. The #32 on the Go FAS Racing Ford is in honor of Fadden and his car’s number for nearly four decades. The duo joined forces this year to compete in the Sprint Cup Series and instantly chose Eddie Mac to drive for them at the “Magic Mile.”
“I was talking with Mike (Alden) some time ago and he expressed interest in sponsoring a New England driver for the NHMS race and asked me if I knew of anyone, “ chuckled St Hilaire. “I immediately said “I sure do” and gave him Eddie’s name. Eddie is a great driver with a lot of successful experience at this track with six wins. I love Eddie, his family, and his entire race team. They are a great bunch of people and I couldn’t be happier for Eddie and our team. It will be a lot of fun and with Eddie’s experience we hope to have a strong run.”
“This is my dream come true,” said an elated MacDonald from his race shop in Newburyport, Mass. “I can’t thank Archie, Frank, and Mike enough for giving me this opportunity to race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It has always been a goal to drive a Cup car and to do it at my home track with family, friends, and supporters from all over New England is something very special to me. I have been lucky enough to win a number of races here so hopefully my experience will provide me the opportunity to run well for Archie and the team. I have driven for Archie a couple of times in the Nationwide Series and I appreciate all he has done for me. Archie is truly one of the nice guys in racing and has always been supportive of me and is always trying to help me out. Archie, Frank, and Mike are providing a great experience to compete on the big stage and I just hope I can learn quick enough to be competitive. I love racing at Loudon and this is the icing on the cake.”
“This is the third race Blue Vase Marketing will be our primary sponsor, “said St. Hilaire. “They were on the hood at Phoenix and Las Vegas and helped us out at Daytona. Mike (Alden) is a great guy and didn’t know anything about racing but has become an enormous fan and supporter. Go FAS Racing is pleased to have him aboard. His company represents many products and Androzene (an herbal male enhancement) will be on the hood and Arthri D3 (an all natural joint health supplement) another of the products his company represents will display on the quarter panels. Mike loves this and has made plans to bring a lot of product sponsors to the track and make a great day of it. We are all happy to have Eddie MacDonald drive our car and look forward to having a good, fun day.”
While Eddie Mac has raced and won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the K&N Pro Series East and other divisions, he is still in awe of competing at NASCAR’ highest level saying, “It hasn’t completely sunk in yet because we are so busy getting the K&N car ready for the Friday race at NHMS but I’m sure I’ll be speechless when it finally happens and I am in the seat of the #32. I hope all our New England fans come out to support us and enjoy the experience. This is my dream, my goal so I know I am going to love every minute. See you at the track!”
-The excitement continues to build for the inaugural running of the NAPA Auto Parts SK 5K. It has been dubbed the biggest race in SK Modified® history and the drivers are ready. With a posted purse of over $27,000, paying $5,000 to the winner, it is certainly the biggest pay day the SK Modified® division has ever seen.
In addition to the posted purse and weekly contingency prizes, drivers will also have the opportunity to make some extra cash before the feature race even begins. To add a little excitement to what is already expected to be a very challenging race to qualify for, there will be additional purse money awarded to the top 3 finishers in each qualifying race. Each heat race winner will receive $250, 2nd will receive $150, and 3rd will receive $100. Total additional purse money to be allotted for qualifying races will be $2,000.
“The drivers and fans wanted a big event and I think we are delivering,” said Stafford General Manager Mark Arute. “We want our SK teams to know that we appreciate the show they put on each week. We know it’s one of the best divisions in the country and we want to reward them for that.”
A large field of SK Modifieds® are expected to attend the Inaugural July 4th race. Only 26 cars are scheduled to take the green which will make qualifying for the NAPA Auto Parts SK 5k a challenge itself. Throw in a payout to the top 3 in each qualifying race and we have heat races the fans will not want to miss.
“Getting the fans involved is one of our top priorities here at Stafford,” continued Arute. “We appreciate the support from all of our fans and wanted to give them a race to call their own.”
The qualifying race bonus money is just another unique twist to a race that is already the first of its kind.
Get your tickets today for the July 4th NAPA Auto Parts SK 5k.
Richard Savary used a different approach Friday night breaking away from the norm. He charged to the front from his 11th starting position, challenged early front runners Tom Carey Jr., and Todd Szegedy, to take the lead on lap 55 and go to win the Valenti Modified Racing Series sanctioned ‘Port City 100’ at Lee USA Speedway, Friday night, June 27.
The win was the Canton, Massachusetts., drivers second this season and his third career VMRS victory.
Instead of doing what most drivers do when competing at Lee, hang back and save their tires for the second half of the race, Savary changed his strategy and ran hard early on to put himself in contention for the lead.
“This is the first time here for all of us with this new right rear tire so nobody knew what it was really going to do. I took a page out of the Steve Masse book. He seems to get to the front and try to hang there. I thought I’d give that a try tonight. Late in the race we had good clean restarts. Hard racing. I think if the 21 (Bonsignore) was in front of me I would have had my hands full but I’m glad it was someone like him driving the car behind me.”
Savary continued, “We weren’t very good in practice so we made a lot of changes. We rode and then got to the front. I have to thank Justin (Bonsignore) for being a gentleman. I got a little aggressive with him for a couple of laps when we were racing for the lead. He gave it back to me going into three and four for the white (flag). That’s racing. I tried to give him as much room as I could on the outside but I wasn’t going to give up either.”
Holtsville, NY., driver Bonsignore came on late in the race to pressure Savary for the win. Bonsignore showed frustration in victory lane.
“ I’m tired of finishing second, that’s four out of seven this year. We’ll just continue with consistency to get ourselves back
in it. That’s the first time here with the MRS so I’m pretty happy”
Bonsignore also voiced frustration when talking about making a bid for the lead.
“Gotta find where the rules are here. I mean I was up there against the wall down there in (turn) one and had him beat. Can’t be upset with second but when your going for the lead you got to be a little more consistent. We’ll go to Monadnock (July 5) and try and get the W.”
Steve Masse, of Bellingham, MA., finished third. Not the kind of night he hoped based on his game plan. “Usually here people save tires and go slow so I thought I’d switch it up a bit and pick the pace up..It really didn’t work out. We didn’t have the best car tonight. A third place finish is still good and we’ll take it.”
Dwight Jarvis, of Ascutney, VT, made another of his late race charges to finish fourth, with Rowan Pennink, of Huntingdon Valley, PA, rounding out the top five. Sixth through tenth were, Chris Pasteryak, David Schneider, Carey, Donnie Lashua, and Max Zachem.
Qualifying heat winners were Lashua, and Szegedy. Lashua was substituting for Todd Owen.
18 cars entered the event. 15 finished on the lead lap.
The race was completed in 32 minutes, 35 seconds with only two caution flags needed for minor spins.
The series moves to the Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, NH, Saturday night, July 5, for the Firecracker 100.
Lee USA Speedway
June 27, 2014
Entrants (18)
Distance 100-laps
Time of Race: 32:48:405
Margin of Victory: 0.072
Best Speed: 90.995
Best Lap Time: 14.836
Best Lap By: Tom Carey Jr
Lap Leaders: Carey (1-54) Savary (55-83) Bonsignore (89)
Savary 85-100
Lead Changes (3)
Cautions: Laps- (72, 83)
Unofficial Finish: (1) Savary (2) Bonsignore (3) Masse (4) Jarvis (5) Pennink (6) Pasteryak (7) Schneider (8) Carey Jr (9) Lashua (10) Zachem (11) Mead (12) Szegedy (13) Willis (14) Wrenn (15) Smith (16) Medeiros (17) Nocella (18) Cyr
It was happy homecoming for Eric Goodale.
The 28-year-old from Riverhead scored his first career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win Saturday night in the Hoosier Tire 200 at Riverhead Raceway.
Goodale powered the No. 58 GAF Roofing/RBSCorp.com Chevrolet past Ted Christopher shortly after a Lap 170 restart and led the final 25 laps en route to the victory.
Goodale’s previous best finish in 77 starts was second at Riverhead last June. He also finished runner-up in the inaugural UNOH Battle At The Beach at Daytona International Speedway.
Christopher held off Matt Hirschman for second. Ryan Preece, who had won the previous three races at Riverhead, slipped by Timmy Solomito for fourth in the closing laps.
Doug Coby finished sixth, followed by Ron Silk, Tom Rogers Jr., Shawn Solomito and Bobby Santos.
John Beatty Jr., who won the Coors Light Pole Award earlier in the day, finished 14th.
Justin Bonsginore lost the points lead after he was collected in a Lap 102 spin by Glen Reen and suffered right front suspension damage. Bonsignore finished 16th. Coby took the points lead by seven over Santos (204-197). Bonsignore is one point behind Santos and two ahead of fourth-place Christopher.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads next to New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The tour’s top drivers will race Friday, July 11 in the non-points Whelen All-Star Shootout; the championship season will resume Saturday, July 12 with the New Hampshire 100.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Hoosier Tire 200 Results
Saturday
At Riverhead Raceway
Riverhead, N.Y.
Lap length: 0.25 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (5) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200 laps, 39.938 mph.
2. (4) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 200.
3. (10) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, PA, Chevrolet, 200.
4. (21) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Ford, 200.
5. (7) Timmy Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200.
6. (8) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 200.
7. (2) Ron Silk, Norwalk, CT, Chevrolet, 200.
8. (6) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200.
9. (3) Shawn Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200.
10. (23) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Chevrolet, 200.
11. (20) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200.
12. (1) John Beatty, Jr., Merrick, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200.
13. (16) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 200.
14. (25) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass., Chevrolet, 199.
15. (9) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, NY, Chevrolet, 196.
16. (24) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, NY, Chevrolet, 184.
17. (30) Jimmy Zacharias, Candor, N.Y., Chevrolet, 167, accident.
18. (22) Wade Cole, Hartland, Conn., Chevrolet, 156.
19. (29) Dave Brigati, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 151, electrical.
20. (17) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 151.
21. (15) Donny Lia, Jericho, NY, Dodge, 143, accident.
22. (19) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 130, suspension.
23. (18) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 127, accident.
24. (13) Frank Vigliarolo, Mt. Sinai, NY, Chevrolet, 121, parked.
25. (27) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Pontiac, 61, handling.
26. (11) Kyle Ellwood, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 57, brakes.
27. (14) Tommy Barrett, Jr., Millis, Mass., Chevrolet, 50, suspension.
28. (12) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn, Chevrolet, 40, accident.
29. (26) Dave Salzarulo, Monson, Mass., Chevrolet, 22, handling.
30. (28) Melissa Fifield, Wakefield, N.H., Chevrolet, 20, handling.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 15 minutes 7 seconds
Margin of Victory: 2.229 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: J.Beatty, Jr. * (75.257 mph, 11.959 seconds)
Caution Flags: 11 for 90 laps.
Lead Changes: 6 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Beatty,Jr. 1-58; R. Silk 59; J. Beatty,Jr. 60-86; T. Christopher 87; J. Beatty,Jr. 88-110; T. Christopher 111-175; E. Goodale 176-200.
Standings: 1. D. Coby, 204; 2. B. Santos, 197; 3. J. Bonsignore, 196; 4. T. Christopher, 194; 5. W. Pitkat, 184; 6. R. Silk, 172; 7. T. Solomito, 169; 8. E. Goodale, 168; 9. R. Preece, 168; 10. P. Emerling, 164.
On a night honoring special guests Whelen Engineering, Todd Bertrand (#39) claimed his first win of the 2014 season in commanding fashion as he took the lead in the early stages of the caution free feature. Following in second was teammate Randy Cabral (#47) with Bethany Stoehr (#5b) home third.
Under a perfect sky, the Twin State Speedway facility played host for an evening of food, souvenirs and racing action for the employees of Whelen Engineering, located in nearby Charlestown, NH. At intermission, the NEMA and NEMA Lites drivers passed out 350 NEMA fan appreciation tee shirts. That was followed by an on track Meet & Greet where fans were able to collect autographs, handshakes and photos.
As the feature action began, Bethany Stoehr pulled out to an early lead from her outside pole starting spot, followed by Bertrand and Ryan Bigelow (#13).
Bertrand was able to power past Stoehr and take the lead on lap four, followed by Bigelow in third, Jim Chambers (#21) in fourth and Paul Scally (#30) fifth.
From the ninth starting spot, a fast moving John Zych (#9) took fifth on lap six, moved past Chambers for fourth by lap eight, and past Bigelow for third on lap ten. While the top five was sorting out, team Bertrand became the show as Todd Bertrand was extending his lead and Randy Cabral (#47) was weaving his way up through the field from his tenth starting spot and entering the top five on lap nine.
By half way, the running order was Bertrand, Stoehr, Zych, and Cabral, who had just moved past Bigelow for fourth.
A patient Seth Carlson (#71), after starting eighth, was managing his was through traffic and was able to get to the top five on lap fourteen.
After a long chase, Cabral was able to catch and pass Bethany Stoehr for second on lap eighteen. Carlson was able to best Zych, who was fighting a loose race car, for fourth in the closing laps as Stoehr, Zych and Carlson were all wheel to wheel at the checkers.
After the race, winner Bertrand stated, “The track was real slick in practice, we made a few minor adjustments, added a new scuff tire, and went from there”.
Second place Cabral said post race that he was happy for his teammate, and “We never adjusted the car today except for stagger, and it felt real good.”
Third place Bethany Stoehr battled a tight car after “Just making stagger adjustments all day.” She was happy with third.
The next stop on the NEMA schedule is July 19, at the Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, ME for the Marvin Rifchin Trophy Race. Both the NEMA Midgets and NEMA Lites will be part of the Oxford 250 weekend, a premiere event in the Northeast.
The Bobby Seymour owned, Ian Cumens driven, #29 had engine problem very early on and dropped out for the day.
Back from NC, Alan Chambers, a former Lite driver, wheeled the family #7 ex-Cantor NEMA midget for a shakedown run and everything performed well.
Big thanks out to Melissa Tully and Kaylee Wallace for working long hot hours at the tee shirt trailer.
In the NEMA Lites,
| In his home state of NH, P.J.Stergios (#11) takes his second win in a row, and three on the year in the family owned Beast chassis. Starting from the tenth spot, it wasn’t until the late stages of the race when he was able to take the point. Andy Barrows (#46x) finished runner up with Scott Bigelow (#32) third.
Under a clear sky and on a slick track from the day’s heat, Richie Morrocco (#25) took the lead at the green, followed by Anthony Payne (#21) second, Barrows third, Kevin Hutchens (#27) fourth, and Ryan Krachun (#29) fifth. On lap four, Barrows and Paul Bigelow (#31) were able to power to the front where they would dominate until lap eight when a three wide fight for third through fifth occurred. As a result, Stergios was able to blast all the way into second and P. Bigelow slid back to fourth, while Hutchens went into third. What followed was a battle for the lead that had a very patient Stergios stalking the well handling #46x that kept Barrows in the lead. Barrows would say post race, “My brakes weren’t the best, but we set up the car for late in the race, and it paid off.” After getting through some traffic, Scott Bigelow (#32) got to the third spot on lap twenty one. A lap later, Stergio’s patience netted results as he got past the #46x to take the lead for good. Hutchens, who owned the third spot for fifteen laps, brought out the only yellow with a spin after a close battle with Anthony Nocella (#9) on lap twenty three. The single file restart had a running order of Stergios, Barrows, S. Bigelow, Nocella and P. Bigelow. The fast group would finish in that order giving Stergios his third checkers of the year.
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| UNOFFICIAL RESULTS NEMA LITES – TWIN STATE – 6/28/14 |
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The inaugural Vintage Motorsports Festival was held June 27th to June 29th on the newly re-opened 1.7 mile road course at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP) in Northeast Connecticut. Beautiful weather and over 220 vintage race cars participating made for a great turn-out through the weekend.
The Vintage Motorsports Festival celebrated the history of the Thompson road course, which originally opened in 1952, and has now re-opened in its fourth configuration. Two of the top vintage racing groups in the country, VRG (Vintage Racer Group) and VSCCA (Vintage Sports Car Club of America) were invited to co-sanction this event and, between them, had cars spanning the decades from the 1930’s through the 70’s.
Many drivers participating at the Vintage Motorsports Festival had completed their first driving school at Thompson, or brought cars that had once raced on the road course. Of the cars to note was a 1968 Chevy Camaro owned by Frank Grimaldi, first driven by Skip Barber, that had raced at Thompson between 1969 and 1973.
The weekend’s events also included a “Back in the Day” Car Show display on Sunday morning featuring cars that had raced on the first three configurations of the Thompson road course. At the show was a 1948 MG TC that had been originally owned and driven at Thompson by Karl Ludvigsen, renowned automotive journalist, author and historian. Bill Lightfoot also brought a 1959 Morgan +4 that he had competed with at Thompson from 1959 to 1968.
On Saturday, TSMP welcomed special guest, Mike Joy, who currently serves as the lap-by-lap voice of Fox Sports’ NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage. Joy got his start announcing at New England race tracks in the 1970’s, including Thompson Speedway, and is also an avid vintage racing enthusiast.