by Jay | Dec 1, 2009 | Canada, New England, PASS
Naples Me (11/30/2009) Pro All Stars Series (PASS) President Tom Mayberry has announced the series’ tenth anniversary super late model schedule .The fastest full fender short track racers in the east will visit ten speedways in four states and the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The venues range from New England’s fastest short track, the 5/8 mile Thompson International Speedway, to the tight confines of the Riverside Speedway quarter mile.
Caribou Maine’s Spud Speedway is a new stop for the series, with an 8/21 race date scheduled. The season will open on April 18th at Speedway 95 and conclude at White Mountain Motorsports Park on either September 17 or 18. One additional race date is still under negotiation. A finalized schedule will be confirmed by January 1, 2010.
PASS will get the season off to an early start with the PASS Florida Winter Fest at New Smyrna Speedway on January 29 and 30, 2010. The Winter Fest 150 will award points toward the 2010 PASS National Championship.
2010 License forms and the entry blank and schedule for PASS Florida Winter Fest are available for download now at www.racewithpass.com and www.proallstarsseries.com .
2010 PASS North Super Late Model Schedule
(Tentative – Subject to Change)
DATE TRACK LAPS
4/17-18 SPEEDWAY 95 HERMON, ME 150
4/30-5/1 BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY SCARBOROUGH, ME 150
5/22 WHITE MTN MOTORSPORTS PARK N WOODSTOCK, NH 150
6/12 SPEEDWAY 660 FREDERICTON NEW BRUNSWICK 200
7/3 CANAAN SPEEDWAY CANAAN, NH 150
7/10 BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY SCARBOROUGH, ME 150
7/13 LEE USA SPEEDWAY LEE, NH TBA
7/31 RIVERSIDE SPEEDWAY GROVETON, NH 150
8/14 SEEKONK SPEEDWAY SEEKONK, MA 150
8/21 SPUD SPEEDWAY CARIBOU, ME 150
8/26 THOMPSON INT SPEEDAY THOMPSON, CT TBA
9/9 -12 BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY SCARBOROUGH, ME 300
(PASS 400 WEEK END)
9/17 OR 18 WHITE MTN MOTORSPORTS PARK N WOODSTOCK, NH 150
ADDITIONAL DATE TBA, FINAL SCHEDULE CONFIRMED BY JANUARY 1, 2010
by Jay | Dec 1, 2009 | ACT, Canada, New England
Waterbury, VT – The American Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Models from Thunder Road will open the newly paved Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, Vermont on Sunday, May 23, 2010. Track promoter Jerry Richards said, “This is going to be a great way to bring the new asphalt to life at Devil’s Bowl. It has been over 30 years since the track was asphalt, but we think having Thunder Road’s Late Models on the ½ mile will certainly give our fans at the “Bowl” a great opening event.”
Thunder Road Late Models will be joined by some of the regular ACT U.S. Touring teams for this grand opening of the original Champlain Valley Racing Association (CVRA), which was founded by legendary promoter CJ Richards.
Tom Curley, the President of ACT and managing partner of Thunder Road said, “When we learned that the “Bowl” was being returned to asphalt we really wanted our teams to be a part of it. Most of the Thunder Road Late Models have raced various tracks on the ACT, and this just seemed like a great fit. We have no races scheduled at Thunder Road from May 2 until Memorial Day weekend, so I am sure there will be great support from the Late Model teams.” When asked if there would be some ACT U.S. Touring teams in attendance, Curley concluded, “I am sure there will be a number of teams from Chittenden County and central Vermont who will want to give Devil’s Bowl a try, and this change the CVRA is going through is something ACT wants to support.” The sister track of Devil’s Bowl, Albany Saratoga Speedway, will host an ACT event on April 25th at the newly paved 4/10ths mile speedplant.
Some of the Northeast’s biggest names in Late Model racing are expected to attend this historic event at Devil’s Bowl. Defending Thunder Road Champion Jean-Paul Cyr, who started his Modified racing career at Devil’s Bowl, along with three-time Thunder Road Champion Cris Michaud, will bring his potent Ford to the ½ mile. “I think this is really great,” said ACT star Brent Dragon from Milton, VT. “My father (Beaver Dragon) and uncle (Bobby Dragon) were both a part of the five-track Northern NASCAR circuit back in the mid ‘70’s, and I am really excited that we have a “long track” back in Vermont”, said Dragon. Brent Dragon is noted for his dominant performances on most of the long tracks where the ACT participates.
by Jay | Nov 30, 2009 | Maine, Wiscasset Raceway
Wiscasset Raceway and Walker Racing announce Sunday Twilight Racing!
Your browser may not support display of this image. (Wiscasset, ME) At the very beginning of stock car racing the bootleggers would race on Sunday afternoons to see who had the fastest moonshine car. The first Daytona 500 took place on a Sunday. Now Wiscasset Raceway will race on Sundays! The Center of Speed, Wiscasset Raceway, is constantly searching to improve racing in Maine and have decided to break the trend of Saturday night racing and start a new Maine racing tradition with Sunday afternoon Twilight Racing. “We feel that going to Sunday afternoon events will free up time for the fans to take care of normal work and family obligations which often happen on Friday and Saturday,” says Doug White, owner of the Wiscasset Raceway. “This is a great opportunity for race teams throughout the State to have an alternate day to be able to race!” Dave Walker, from Walker Racing, was instrumental in the switch to Sunday racing in 2010. “I’ve heard from 20 or 30 different race teams that would love to race on Sundays,” said Dave. “This will give lots of teams a chance to race more than once every weekend.”
According to Steve Smith, sales and marketing manager for the raceway, Sunday Twilight Racing is just the first of many innovations planned for 2010. “We want to make racing more affordable and more exciting for race teams and race fans,” says Steve. “We have new divisions, big events and lots more in the works for the new year.” Stay up to date on all the breaking news and big events for 2010 on the Wiscasset Raceway website www.wiscassetraceway.info. Doug White adds “We look forward to seeing all of the fans, race teams, and sponsors in 2010 for our new Funday Sunday Twilight Racing. BE THERE!”
by Jay | Nov 30, 2009 | ACT, Canada, New England
Waterbury, VT – Officials at Waterford Speedbowl have announced an agreement with the American Canadian Tour (ACT) to close the 2010 season with a Fall Doubleheader stock car 300 lap spectacle. The Late Model stars of the ACT and the ‘Bowl’ will join the southern New England SK Modified division at Waterford on the weekend of October 09/10.
The event will feature 150 lap main events for each division. The ACT Championship will be decided at the fall event, and teams from throughout the northeastern United States and Canada are expected to make the trip to the historic coastal Speedbowl. The popular SK Modified division, which has become a staple of Southern New England racing at the Speedbowl, Stafford Motor Speedway, and Thompson Speedway will assure a large field of the powerful open-wheeled stock cars.
“This is going to be a very much anticipated weekend for our race teams. We plan on having a year-end get together with fans and teams at Mohegan Sun Casino, a 150 lap race for ACT Late Models, on what is arguably one of the most competitive and fun race tracks the Tour races at, and a championship crowning to our 2010 season. This should make for a great weekend,” said Tom Curley, President of the American Canadian Tour.
The two-day event will feature Saturday practice and qualifying, and Sunday will be filled with 300 laps of championship racing for the ACT and SK Modified teams. Over $50,000.00 in posted awards will bring the best of both divisions to the “Bowl” to conclude their 2010 race seasons.
The addition of the Waterford Speedbowl event has required a change in the 2010 ACT schedule. The previously scheduled 48th annual Chittenden Milk Bowl at Thunder Road Speedbowl in Barre, VT will now become a stand alone race, and will not be an ACT 2010 point counting event.
ACT will also visit the 3/8th mile Speedbowl on August 21st for a 100 lap event. The 2010 ACT traditional opener will take place at the Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH on April 18th with the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150. The event was won in 2009 by Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, New Hampshire.
by Jay | Nov 30, 2009 | Maine, NASCAR, New England
Modified Champion Gahan Passes
Maine Resident Was The 1966 National Champion
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ernie Gahan, the 1966 NASCAR Modified national champion, passed away Thursday night at his home in Cranberry Isles, Maine at the age of 83.
Gahan, originally from Dover, N.H., got his start in auto racing at his hometown track – Dover Speedway – in 1948 after serving more than two years as an Army military policeman in Germany following Word War II. After getting his start at Dover, Gahan competed in the NASCAR Sportsman division until 1965, when he moved over to Modifieds.
Gahan compiled 6,560 points during his 1966 run to the title to distance himself from runner-up Bugs Stevens and third place Ray Hendrick. Driving a 1936 Chevrolet coupe, Gahan won 15 of the 71 races he entered that season, but led Hendrick by just 48 points heading into the season finale in Atlanta, Ga. Hendrick was caught up in an early race accident and Gahan crossed the line 10th to earn the crown.
Gahan made 11 starts in what is now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from 1960-66. He was bestowed the Buddy Shuman Award for outstanding contributions to NASCAR following an incident in which he helped Tiny Lund rescue Marvin Panch from a fiery crash prior to the 1963 Daytona 500.
Winner of an estimated 300-plus races during his nearly three decades as a racer, Gahan was a member of the inaugural New England Antique Racers Hall of Fame in 1998 and was a 1990 New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame inductee. Additionally, he is a member of the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame and Beach Ridge Motor Speedway Hall of Fame.
Gahan was in attendance at the 2007 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Awards Banquet as many of the NASCAR Modified champions gathered to kick-off the celebration of 60 Years of Modified Champions. He was honored for his 1966 title at the 2008 Spring Sizzler at Stafford.
“Ernie was part of the Modified legacy that has helped make NASCAR what it is today. He was a great racer and true New England legend,” said Jim Hunter, NASCAR vice president for corporate communications. “On behalf of NASCAR and the France family, our thoughts and prayers go out to Gahan’s family and friends.”
Services for Gahan will be held Wednesday at Purdy Memorial Chapel, 2 Concord Rd., Durham, N.H. The wake will be from 12-2 p.m., followed by the funeral service.
