by Jay | Feb 3, 2010 | Maine, New England
Portland, ME – Legendary Maine racer Homer Drew will be the focus of an extensive Maine Vintage Race Car Association display at Northern New England’s biggest and best wintertime stock car racing showcase, Racin’ Preview 2010, set for Friday and Saturday, February 19-20 at the Portland Exposition Building on Park Street (U.S. Route 1).
Drew, a Raymond native who passed away shortly after his two Hall of Fame inductions, is considered to be Maine’s greatest stock car racer ever by most observers fortunate enough to witness his incredible talent behind the wheel of an oval track machine – no matter what kind of car, or what racing surface was under it. Drew was one of twelve inaugural inductees into the Maine Racing Hall of Fame. He had previously been inducted into the prestigious New England Auto Racers (NEAR) Hall of Fame.
At least four restored racecars instrumental in the long legacy left behind by Drew will be on display at the Portland oval track showcase. The display will feature one of the most revered cars in the history of Maine racing on asphalt tracks, the J-2 Camaro, then-owned by another Maine Hall of Famer, Jerry Seavey of Windham. With that famed ‘Playboy Racing’ machine Drew dominated the 1973 Getty Open series at Bob Bahre’s Oxford Plains Speedway against unmatched fields of talented racers in that era, or perhaps any since. Portland firefighter and Maine vintage race car guru Steve Pellerin of Gorham quarterbacked efforts to restore the Drew racecars.
The salute to legendary Maine racing Hall of Famer Homer Drew joins displays from most of the premiere racetracks and touring series competing throughout New England at the region’s only off-season show dedicated to oval track racing. The vast majority of racetracks and touring series operating throughout Maine and New Hampshire will be represented at the annual celebration, with hundreds of door prizes including dozens of free race event tickets to be handed out to lucky show ticketholders.
The extensive historical display by the MVRCA will be joined by dozens of current racecars in competition throughout Northern New England, including NASCAR Whelen All-American Series tracks like Scarborough’s Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway along with many independent tracks from throughout the tri-state area.
Super Late Models, dirt and asphalt Modifieds, Sprint Cars and many other types of weekend warrior racing hardware will be on display representing tracks and touring series operating throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Doors at the Portland Expo open at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, February 19, with several autograph opportunities and other activities ongoing through 10:00 p.m. Saturday show hours are 9:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. A limited amount of commercial display space remains available.
For further information please call (603) 447-4251 or email [email protected]
Current associate sponsors of Racin’ Preview 2010 include Racin’ Paper, Pave Tek of Kennebunk, Redneck Raceway of Acton, Saco Pathfinders, R & D Racing and Fabrication of Limerick, Wayne Elston’s Speed Shop of Carmel, Big Al’s Photos and Maineracing.com.
by Jay | Feb 1, 2010 | Video
Happy Holidays from New Hampshire Motor Speedway!
by Jay | Feb 1, 2010 | Video
SYLVANIA 300 NASCAR Newscast from the Sunday, September 20, 2009.
by Jay | Feb 1, 2010 | PASS
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — Johnny Clark Motorsports got its 2010 racing season off to a great start on Sunday, with a dominating effort en route to a 2nd-place finish in the PASS Winterfest 150 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway.
The race was originally scheduled for Saturday evening, but bad weather forced its postponement until Sunday afternoon.
Clark enjoyed a full straightaway lead with just five laps remaining and appeared to have a win in hand. But a late caution flag bunched the field to set up a race restart with just five laps remaining.
“I was pretty bad on restarts all day,” said Clark, of Farmingdale, Maine. “I was just a sitting duck.”
Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, N.H., capitalized by taking the lead and then the victory.
“It would take me four or five laps to catch the guy in front of me (on restarts),” said Clark, noting that the outside lane was the preferred groove on the fast, half-mile track. “I just didn’t have enough time at the end to get the lead back.”
Clark led a total of nearly 90 laps in the first of five PASS National Series races scheduled for 2010. The 4-time PASS North Series champion was the quickest of 24 cars in time trials earlier in the afternoon and lined up fourth on the starting grid following a re-draw of the fastest qualifiers.
He was disappointed not to have won after leading on a number of different occasions Sunday, but he conceded it was a great start to the new year.
“Absolutely,” Clark said. “We were awesome all weekend. Considering we didn’t even have a race car together two weeks ago, I think this said a lot about our team. We didn’t even know we were coming to Florida until the last-minute, but we proved that we’re ready to go.”
Clark anticipates that his next start will come in round No. 2 of the PASS National Series — in the Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway on April 3.
by Jay | Jan 31, 2010 | NASCAR, NASCAR K&N Pro Series
Logano Captures Second NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown Victory
Runner-up Pena, 16, impresses in debut
IRWINDALE, Calif. – Joey Logano got his second NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown trophy and Sergio Pena nearly made a historic debut on the national stage.
Logano, 19, held off the 16-year-old Pena and two-time race winner Matt Kobyluck for the victory in the 225-lap race Saturday before a sold-out crowd at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
It was Pena’s first career race in NASCAR’s top developmental series and it came in the non-points, postseason event, which has earned the moniker the “Daytona 500 of short-track racing.”
Logano made his mark by winning as a 17-year-old rookie in the 2007 edition; Pena, who only has one year of Late Model racing on his resume, nearly out-did that.
Logano and Pena waged a race-long battle for the lead from drop of the green. For most of the race it was the Pena in heated pursuit of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year. Pena was able to grab the lead on several occasions. Logano, however, got the best of two late-race restarts to pull away for the victory.
Kobyluck got by Pena briefly on Lap 218, and by the time Pena got back to second four laps later he didn’t have enough time to track Logano back down.
Logano wound up leading a race-high 171 laps. Pena led the other 54 and they swapped the lead five times. Following Logano, Pena and Kobyluck across the line was Matt DiBenedetto and Andrew Myers. Eric Holmes, David Mayhew, Eddie MacDonald, Paulie Harraka and Steve Park rounded out the top 10.
Reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Champion Jason Bowles finished 11th while K&N Pro Series East 2009 titlist Ryan Truex was relegated to 26th after a late-race accident.
It’s been a whirlwind weekend for Pena, a Winchester, Va., native.
Pena, driving for Revolution Racing and Drive For Diversity, beat out three teammates Thursday in a race-off for a chance to qualify for the Showdown. He easily did that, earning the pole in Friday’s qualifying.
The win was a vindication, of sorts, for Logano, who crossed the line first in last year’s NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, but was penalized to last place for aggressive driving on the last lap.
This was the second year the postseason event was held in January. The first five – 2003-2007 – were held in the Fall.
