story by Chris Roy
Anthony Pagliarulo, is one of NELCAR’s young guns, driving the number 87 legend car. Anthony is looking to capture his first NELCAR career win this season. This past weekend the legends were at Seekonk Speedbowl which is in Anthony’s home state of Massachusetts. Though the sky was full dark clouds the rain held off long enough for the legends to take checkered flag. Anthony finished the 2010 season in 10th place and after 3 races this season he is currently in tenth place once again.
RPM. How was the racing last weekend at Seekonk Speedway?
Anthony. The racing at Seekonk was really good. It was a very fun track and I think we put on a good show for the fans. I got into a late race wreck which ruined our night, but it was a great track to go to.
RPM. What is it like to race at the Seekonk Speedbowl?
Anthony. Seekonk was a different track than we are used to racing at because of the high banking there. You really had to wheel the car around that track to be fast. It is also a wide race track with two racing grooves, so it made for some great racing. It was different, but still a really fun track to drive and I hope I get to race there again.
RPM. Returning to the Oval this weekend at NHMS, which hasn’t been good to you the last 2 times.
Anthony. Yeah, I have had some real bad luck at NHMS, but both times we have been there we have been in the top 10 during practice, so we are pretty fast at that track. I will not be racing at NHMS this weekend though. I do not really know when we will run that track again, but hopefully our streak of bad luck stops the next time we do race there.
RPM Other than car troubles at NHMS, how is the road and oval course?
Anthony. The NHMS road course is a ton of fun and a real challenge. It took a while to get used to shifting and braking multiple times every lap, but once you figure out how to get around the course it is a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the road course race there last season. The NHMS oval is a fun track too. It is small and totally flat which makes for a lot of tight racing. The only change I would make to the oval track is the barriers in the corners. In the middle of the turn they pop out a little bit, so if they make the barriers even all the way through the corners that will make the track even better.
RPM. What’s your favorite track to race at?
Anthony. Beech Ridge Motor Speedway is definitely my favorite track to race at. The Thursday Thunder races we have there are a lot of fun and the fans there are awesome. It is a great track and we usually put on a great show for the fans on Thursday nights. They also have the best food of any track I have been to, so that is another small reason for why it is my favorite track.
RPM. How did you get into racing?
Anthony. Well my dad has always been a big fan racing, so when I was younger he used to take me to NHRA drag races in New Jersey and NASCAR races at Loudon. He also took me to Star Speedway and Lee USA Speedway a lot to watch the races and I loved going to those tracks, so my dad’s love for racing rubbed off on me at a young age. Then when I was 7 years old, my dad bought me my first go-kart from the Murphy family. Mike Murphy is a race car driver that lives down the street from me and our families are good friends, so they also helped get me involved. Once I started racing at the Sugar Hill Speedway, my addiction to racing set in and I have loved racing ever since.
RPM. Has the fuel price effected your racing?
Anthony. The price of gas has definitely affected our racing. With the high cost of gas we cannot travel as much as we would like to sometimes. It is just another racing expense that we have to work to save up for.
RPM. A question I ask most everyone, safety is always an issue what would you do to improve the safety of the drivers?
Anthony. Legends cars are pretty safe to drive so I do not know of any improvements I would make. I have walked away from every wreck I have gotten into, including a real bad wreck at Wiscasset a few years ago where I flipped over 7 times. There is obviously a risk of getting hurt in any type of racecar anytime you hit the track, but the safety equipment we all wear keeps the drivers pretty safe I think.
RPM. Do you work on the car as well as drive?
Anthony. Yes, I do work on the car along with driving it. My dad does a good amount of the work, but he teaches me a lot about cars. He has taught me a lot about fixing and maintaining the race car, so I am getting better at working on my car.
RPM. How does racing compare to hockey?
Anthony. Racing and hockey are both very fun sports to be involved in. When I am playing hockey or driving the racecar, I get a big adrenaline rush from both sports. They are both very expensive sports, but also great sports to get into.