by Jay | Aug 26, 2009 | Canada
Aug 26, 2009
Fredericton, NB – It’s that time of year again when Speedway 660 will crown its champions. It seemed like summer came late this year but at Speedway 660 the fun isn’t over yet. This Saturday night under the lights at Speedway 660 there will be a new champion crowned in the Coast Tire Street Stocks, Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman and the Irving Lubricants Pro Stock divisions. You can also catch the 4 cylinders here for their second appearance of 2009.
Race fans it is time once again to show you some appreciation for all the support you have shown this season at Speedway 660. This Saturday Fan Appreciation Day returns to the Geary Woods. It’s a chance for the fans to meet their favorite drivers in a pre-race autograph session starting at 6 pm. Fans will get to go trackside and get autographs, pictures and treats from their favorite drivers. Drivers get to see their fans before the last regular race of the 2009 season. There will also be prizes drawn throughout the day provided by our local sponsors.
This has been a long awaited day for the drivers. The points have heated up in the past couple of weeks. There are some repeat champions as well as some surprises in this year’s point standing. . Who will be the next champion?
In the Coast Tire Street Stock division, Brian Fox leads over Rick Cashol by only 9 points. Cashol has won many championships before and knows how to get it done. He has had some very strong competition knocking on his door each week with Jason Shannon only 17 points back.
Michael Banks is set to win his first Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman championship as well. Banks has been close in previous years but never won the illustrious crown. John Rankin has come on strong this season winning a couple features and has been very consistent throughout leaving him just 6 points back from Banks. He too would be a first time winner of the championship. Just behind these two top runners are few other well known names just waiting in the wings, Wade Harris, Brent Roy and Glen Nott all have legitimate shots at winning a championship on Saturday night. There are just 20 points between Michael Banks and fifth place Glyn Nott.
Defending champ Greg Fahey is exactly where he wants to be, in the same position, where he ended the season in 2008. Three-time champion Glenn Rasmussen is waiting for the chance to take the reins from Fahey and add another championship to his resume. Rasmussen is back this season racing full time and is in a good position just 12 points away from point’s leader Greg Fahey. Race fans have seen some great racing the last couple of weeks. These guys are racing hard in the Pro Stock division trying to gain those all-important points.
This will be the last regular point’s event of the 2009-racing season but it is not over. Next weekend is SPEEDWEEKEND from Sept 4th to Sept 7th headlined by the Peterbilt 250 on Sunday.
Race fans won’t want to miss it this Saturday night. Come out and meet your favorite driver and see who will be the next champion. Things are going to get exciting down at the Speedway 660. It will be WicKID Family Fun for sure.
Fan Appreciation Day
Saturday, August 29th at 7pm
Pit gates open at 2pm
Grandstands open at 5pm
Autograph Session at 6pm
Racing starts at 7p.m.
Note: Raindate Sunday, August 30th at 2p.m.
Regular points racing in the Coast Tire Street Stock Division (20 lap feature), Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman (30 lap feature), Irving Lubricants Pro Stocks (40 lap feature) and racing in the 4 cylinders.
Ticket Prices:
Adults (16 and over) $12
Youth (ages 9-15) $9
Children (ages 8 and under) FREE
Family Pass: Two adults, Two youth plus 4 pop and 4 fries for $35.
by Jay | Aug 26, 2009 | ACT, New England
Waterbury, VT – The American Canadian Tour (ACT) will open up the 2010 season at the 4/10-mile Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York (A/S) in April.
Albany-Saratoga Promoter Bruce Richards contacted the ACT office several months ago and discussed the possibility that there might be a change from the clay surface to the asphalt. “Part of our plan is to pull up the clay this Fall and open the first several events in the Spring with the asphalt. We have considered this for a number of years, but now it is time to make the move. The ACT has grown throughout the Northeast and Canada over the past several years, and our long-standing relationship with Tom Curley and Ken Squier made this a natural for us to hook up again for what will be a very exciting change for Albany-Saratoga Speedway’’, said Richards.
‘Malta”, as the track was know for many years in the 60’s and 70’s, used to be one of the regular asphalt tracks for weekly Modified racing. Part of the race for NASCAR National Point Championships would see some of the Northeast’s greatest stars make “Malta” a regular stop. On a weekly basis the best of New England stars like Rene Charland, Ed Flemke, Don MacTavish, Bugsy Stevens, and dozens of other New England ‘shoes’ would take on the great drivers from New York , including Jerry Cook and multi-time NASCAR National Champion, Rome, New York’s Richie Evans.
A new era on the asphalt at A/S will take place when the Late Model full-bodied cars of the American Canadian Tour compete at the historic New York oval. The American Canadian Tour has been sanctioning major short track stock car events throughout New England and Canada since 1986. It will now add Albany Saratoga Speedway to its only other New York track, Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh.
“I can’t wait to visit Albany Saratoga. My dad (legendary driver Beaver Dragon) has told me about all the racing that went on there in the 60’s. Our team always enjoys the challenges of a new track”, said ACT veteran racer Brent Dragon from Milton, VT. Dragon will join race teams from every corner of New England and two provinces of Canada to make racing history at the Albany Saratoga Speedway in April, 2010.
“This is going to be a lot of fun for our race teams”, Tom Curley, director of the American Canadian Tour said. “They all like going to new tracks and ‘Malta’ is a special place for me personally. I spent nearly every Friday night for a couple of summers at A/S with my friend Don MacTavish, back in the mid-sixties. Without his great finishes at “Malta”, he never would have won his NASCAR National Championship. I also raced my ‘36 coupe with a 427 big block there, although I doubt it will show up in many record books, but it was always a fun place to be on a Friday night back then”, Curley said with a laugh.
The opening date is slated for April, 2010. The day and particulars will be forthcoming as soon as the 2010 American Canadian Tour schedule is completed sometime around mid-November.
For additional information contact the ACT office at 802.244.6963 or [email protected], or the Albany Saratoga Speedway office at 518.587.0220.
by Jay | Aug 25, 2009 | ACT, NASCAR, New England, Thunder Road
Unadilla, Georgia’s David Ragan will pull into Thunder Road for Thursday night’s final race of the 50th season on a high after a morale boosting victory in Bristol, Tennessee this past weekend over Carl Edwards. The 23 year old prospect for NASCAR stardom won his second Nationwide series of the season after his victory at Talladega, Alabama earlier this summer. The 100 lap main event will put the “scourge” of Georgia short tracking up against Thunder Road’s top talent. Along with his Nationwide series success, he’s been a top ten finisher in the past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 11 times, driving for John Henry (Red Sox Owner) and Jack Roush. He has already been signed for another year in their UPS car for Sprint Cup Racing.
“I am truly excited about the prospect of running at Thunder Road. Tony Stewart told me that seldom in his experience has he raced against guys that drive harder and are more respectful of each other than the guys at Thunder Road”, he said. But he cautioned that you need track time to get in the rhythm of the famed Barre high banks. “I intend to be there early and really work on what everyone tells me is as challenging a short track as one can find in the US”, he said.
Ragan will be carrying his familiar number 6 but the car bears the livery of the Shriner’s Hospitals for Children. “It’s a personal thing with me but I know a bit about their burn center and have made Shriner’s my choice of cause in which I want to be involved.”
Ragan hopes with some precautions to challenge Thunder Road’s best including Cris Michaud, Jean-Paul Cyr, Hurricane Fisher, David Pembroke and Phil Scott. This week’s finale is 100 laps for 26 late model cars.
The largest fireworks show ever presented at Thunder Road will conclude the 50th annual Thursday night season leaving only the Bond Auto 250 for the Labor Day Weekend and the famed 47th Chittenden Milk Bowl Saturday, September 26th and Sunday, September 27th.
Post time for this Thursday night’s race is 6:00 p.m.
by Jay | Aug 24, 2009 | PASS
Naples, ME 8/24/09- Saturday August 29th the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South super late models make their third and final trip to the “Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars,” Hickory(NC) Motor Speedway. So far this season, two different drivers have scored wins at the 3/8th mile bullring. First being Ben Rowe who claimed his first Easter Bunny 150 win in March and then on July 5th Justin Wakefield finally broke his string of bad luck to score his first win of the ’09 season. With several new names expected to be in attendance, this year’s version of the Over the Mountain 150 may be the best one yet.
One driver who will be showing up for nothing less than the winner’s trophy will be Riverview, Florida driver Perry Brown who will be making his 2009 series debut. Brown collected his one and only series win at the Watermelon Capital Speedway on his way to a third place finish in the 2008 final championship points standings. Other expected entries include Michael Pope and Alex Yontz who really turned heads in his first ever super late model start at Orange County Speedway on August 8th. Possibly the most anticipated entry will be that of Andy Loden, who has won the last three NASCAR late model stock car championships at the track, proving he knows his way around the place. However; super late models are a new venture for the Stanley, North Carolina based race team as he and his team are coming off of a fourteenth place finish in their first ever super late model start at Five Flags Speedway’s Blizzard series event on August 7th.
Championship leader Ben Rowe can now hopefully turn his focus more on his return to victory lane as he has built a comfortable but not insurmountable fifty-two point lead over second place man Ryan Blaney during the summer months of racing. With just four races before the ’09 season comes to a close, it leaves little time for sixteen year old Ryan Blaney to pick up his first career win. Blaney has been a factor each and every race yet trouble has hit his High Point, North Carolina based race team time and time again. Heath Hindman, who has been a staple in the series since 2007, has come on as of late notching a pair of top fives in the last two races. This recent success mixed with returning to the track where he scored his one and only PASS South series win in 2007 is more than enough motivation for the hard charging Hindman to do it again this year.
Preston Peltier, Jay Fogleman, Mark Gibson, Ryan Moore and a whole pack of the fastest cars and stars in the southeast will be looking to notch a Pro All Stars Series win at the famed Hickory oval.
The super late models won’t be the only PASS sanctioned series in action as the PASS Late Model Trucks will make their third start of the year at the famed track. While the first year series is still growing with each event, this has not taken away from the fact that the quality of racing hasn’t been anything less than stellar. Grant Davidson, who is the championship points leader and four time feature winner, as well as Jody Measamer have each scored wins at Hickory this season.
Tickets still remain for the Over the Mountain 150 at the Hickory Motor Speedway including a great two for one general admission ticket deal. For more information contact the track directly at www.hickorymotorspeedway.com or call 828-464-3655.
PASS time trials roll out at 3:00 PM and the racing action gets the green at 6:15 PM. All the drivers will meet and greet their fans on the front stretch at 7:30 PM, and the PASS South Over the Mountain 150 is scheduled for an 8:15 (approx) start.
For more information including schedules, standings, and results for all PASS sanctioned touring series visit their home on the web at www.racewithpass.com or www.proallstarsseries.com . For marketing or media questions contact Norm Desjardins at 603-539-3368 or for technical information contact Scott Reed at 207-625-3230.
by Jay | Aug 24, 2009 | Hudson, New Hampshire
Hudson NH – Sammy Gilman, Dave Blanchard, Louie Maher Jr. and John Morin Jr. all found their way to Hudson Speedways victory lane this past Sunday evening.
Gilman drove the race of his young life in the Thunder Lites, Hudson’s youth racing division. Gilman led wire to wire in a caution free event but it wasn’t easy for the Sandown, NH driver with multi-feature winner Bobby Stirk lll within a few car lengths the entire race. Dodging lapped traffic on the last lap, Gilman showed the poise needed to win. Second through fifth were Tyler Hatch, Dan Fortin, Derek Griffith and Dylan Bilodeau.
Blanchard won a hard fought battle in the Outlaw Sportsman. Taking the lead before the midway point, Blanchard held off a slew of challenges with Lee Weldy giving Blanchard the most trouble before contact with a lapped car ended Weldys day. Rob McCrae came home 2nd. Chris Lee recovered from two spins to finish 3rd. Fourth through tenth were Chuck Dehney, Peter Fiandaca, Tim Casey, John Meaney, Mark Parenteau and Keith Nelson.
Mark Nevers led the early part of the Rookie Stock main before getting together with Keith ”Slika” Ennis and spinning to the infield. Andy Nichols took control from there and led the middle laps until John Morin Jr. powered by and took home the checkers. Second through tenth were Dean Wendell, Corrie Merritt, Dan Murphy, Brian Harron, Nichols, Travis Nevers, Jerry Lepage and Ennis.
Louis Maher won his 8th Roadrunner feature. Second through fifth were Jef James, Patrick D’Alba, Darren Jacobs and Peter Raby.
The 4cyl. Enduro was won by Darren Jacobs followed by Patrick D’Alba, Leon Keniston, Ricky Labracque, and Kevin Hardy.
The Grand Enduro was won by Mark Nevers followed by “Recon” John Griffith, Travis Nevers, Brian Distephino and Corrie Merritt.
Buddy Wilkins won the Flagpole Race. Dave Heliwell won the Spectator Drags, and Rich Morrocco won the Spectator Race.
Next Sunday, August 30th at Hudson Speedway, it’s the return of the Classic Lites and V-6 Modifieds plus Rookie Stocks, Roadrunners, Thunder Lites, Spectator Race, Spectator Drags and the Flagpole Race. For more info please visit www.hudsonspeedway.info.
