by | Oct 16, 2013 | New England, New England Motorsports South
By Lou Modestino
Thompson Speedway is abuzz with activity as the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing presented by Xtra Mart nears. With less than two weeks before fifteen racing divisions converge upon the Thompson complex for this three-day racing extravaganza, both staff and construction crews are working at full speed to have everything ready for race teams, fans and campers.
A new layer of asphalt now sits on the paddock area and on much of the renovated 1.7 mile road course that is scheduled to open next year. Construction continues on the huge garage area that will be part of the 2014 track opening and heavy equipment continues to prepare the landscaping work necessary to allow the speedway to host an event like the World Series. Fans will be amazed at the transformation that has taken place since the regular season-ending event held on August 29th.
Camping areas that fans and race teams are accustomed to will, for the most part, be unchanged and personnel will be available to assist campers beginning this Saturday, October 12th. As in the past, only self-contained campers will be allowed. Any tent campers must have a direct affiliation with a friends or family members who have a self-contained unit and must be set up next to those units. Hookups and dump station facilities are not available. Camp fires will be very tightly controlled for everyone’s safety and must be held in an above ground container.
This amazing three-day race event is like no other in the country. It is not only a huge race weekend but is also one of the best social and party weekends to be found anywhere. It is the traditional end of the New England racing season and everyone wants to be part of the action and fun that has become a hallmark of Thompson’s World Series weekend.
Race cars are scheduled to practice and qualify on Friday for their Saturday evening feature races. Racers participating in Sunday feature races will practice and qualify on Saturday Afternoon. In all, some ten feature events will be held on Saturday night headlined by the 75-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series main.
Sunday’s schedule includes five major divisions including the Super Modifieds of ISMA, NEMA Midgets, Sunoco Modifieds, Granite State Pro Stocks and the final race of the season that will determine the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH in 2014 the weekend of the Sylvania 300 Sprint Cup race. The event was off the schedule for the past few years.
Randy Cabral wasted little time in getting to the front. Taking the lead four laps in, Cabral won the Northeastern Midget Association 25-lap feature Sunday at Lee USA Speedway’s Oktoberfest. It was the second straight Oktoberfest win for Cabral and car owner Tim Bertrand.
Coming from the eighth starting spot, Cabral went around Joey Payne (Pernesiglio 80), the only other leader out of two. He beat back a challenge from Ian Cumens (Seymour29s) and had to do some nifty maneuvering through lapped traffic at the finish to claim his 37th career NEMA win.
Cumens was second with Jim Chambers (Chambers 21) third. John Zych Jr.(Zych 9) claimed fourth with Todd Bertrand (Bertrand 39) fifth. Cabral takes a slim lead over Zych atop the points into this weekend’s World Series at Thompson, the season finale.
Cabral first looked inside Payne. “Almost hit him,” he said. “It kind of got me sideways. I had to do a little back peddling and try the outside.” He had gone from fourth to second two laps before, passing both Chambers down the back and Cumens out of four. He went on to win the caution-free affair in just under six minutes, finishing a couple car lengths ahead of Cumens.
Zych passed Bertrand, after a four-lap battle, on lap 15.
Cabral gave much credit to car owner Tim Bertrand, pointing out “he was all over the car all day.” He called Lee “one of his favorite tracks.”
NEMA NUGGETS – Cumens had the fastest lap, a 13.802 on the 11th circuit…The NEMA feature went off at 6:23 pm, ending a long and frustrating day…Bethany Stoehr, looking for a second straight victory after capturing the Finale at Waterford, did not start, the car refusing to fire…For the first time in anybody’s memory, the Dumo Desire 45 was not on the scene. “I’m here,” responded regular driver Russ Stoehr, who drove the family 26b…Cabral, pointing out the track “is tough to get a hold of,” said he learned to drive Lee in the Mini Cup cars a few years ago.
RESULTS: 1. Randy Cabral, 2. Ian Cumens, 3. Jim Chambers, 4. John Zych Jr., 5. Todd Bertrand, 6. Anthony Nocella, 7. Seth Carlson 8. Paul Scally, 9. Joey Payne 10. Doug Cleveland, 11. Pau Bigelow, 12. Carl Mederios Jr.,
Danny Cugini won the 25-lap feature and Carl Medeiros Jr. captured the first “count all the races” championship as the 2013 Northeastern Midget Association Lites Division season came to an end at Lee USA Speedway’s Oktoberfest.
It was the first win for the ever-consistent Cugini who started sixth and passed Andy Barrows, the only other leader, at the halfway point. Barrows held on for second with Jake Stergios, Medeiros and Brandon Igo filling out the top five.
Medeiros, the point leader much of the season, and Cugini had no time to celebrate the crown. Due to the lateness of the feature, there was no Victory Lane ceremony.
Only two cautions, the first before a lap was complete, slowed the race. Taking off from the pole, Barrows ran in front of a tight bunch before he and Cugini began a battle with six gone. Cugini’s winning move came down the front stretch.
It was a long ride for Stergios, a Lee regular, who came back from a second lap spin. A Stergios/Medeiros battle was a late-race highlight.
Results: 1. Danny Cugini, 2. Andy Barrows, 3. Jake Stergios, 4. Carl Medeiros Jr., 5. Brandon Igo, 6. Kenny Johnson, 7. D.J. Moniz, 8. Randy Cabral, 9. Paul Bigelow, 10. Megan Cugini, 11. Anthony Payne, 12. Christian Briggs, 13. Barry Cannon, 14. Logan Rayvals, 15. Avery Stoehr, 16. Richie Morocco.
Waterford Speedbowl was back in action Saturday to wrap up its NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing season, concluding a program suspended by weather a week ago. Keith Rocco of
Meriden continued to rewrite track history books, picking up victories in both the SK Modified® and Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model races to set a new single season record for wins at the track.
Rocco first won Saturday in the Late Models then came back to double up in the day’s main attraction, the 50-lap SK Modified® race, giving him 24 total wins on the year. Josh Galvin of Franklin scored a popular victory in the Street Stock race and Garrett Denton of Hope Valley, RI won a special Mini Stock Shootout event.
Tommy Barrett, Jr. of Millis made a tire swap during a lap-55 caution period, then took the lead on lap-91, and went on to win his second consecutive Valenti Modified Racing Series sanctioned ‘Laticrete 100 at Lee USA Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Barrett becomes the first series driver to repeat victory at the New Hampshire tracks 26th annual Oktoberfest program. He won last October’s race.
Matt Mead took the lead from the start and was the class of the field until Steve Masse of Bellingham rolled by on lap 55. Masse fast became the pace setter until Barrett reeled him in and passed Masse with 9-laps remaining. Barrett’s win, his third this season, is his 6th career VMRS victory.
Barrett’s successful strategy of a mid-race tire swap worked once again. “We always save tires at the beginning when we come here. We were banking on the pit stop at the half-way. We did the double swap came back out and it worked my way up through with Les Hinckley. The right front tire was giving out a little but once out front the car was fast.”
Masse settled for second with Jon McKennedy finishing in a solid third. Richard Savary of Canton and Hinckley rounded out the top five. Mike Willis Jr., Louie Mechalides, Mike Holdridge, Rowan Pennink, and Norm Wrenn finished sixth through tenth.
Pennink, of Huntingdon Valley, PA, nailed down the 2013 series championship with his ninth place finish. “I’ve got to give a huge thank you to this ‘Team 25’ they did an awesome job all season. I couldn’t have done it without any of these guys.”
Pennink wins the series 10th Anniversary title and will get a $10,000 check that goes with it at next month’s series banquet. For car owner Gary Casella of Saugus it’s extra special. He was a driver/car-owner when the VMRS was started. He joins Kirk Alexander and Dwight Jarvis as the only series champions that were charter members of the series.
Barrett’s win moved him back into second place in the point standings with 574 points. Savary moved from fifth to third with 550 points. Mechalides has 545 points in fourth and Chris Pasteryak slipped back to fifth with 539.
The Lee race was completed in 45 minutes, 26 seconds with only four caution periods for minor incidents. Some 31 cars entered the Lee event with qualifying races on Saturday. Heat winners were Pennink, Holdridge and Barrett with Todd Owen winning the consolation race. 26 cars started Sunday’s race.
Rookie Dylan Kopec will receive the $200 Laticrete Rookie Bonus.
Next event: Saturday, October 20, at Thompson CT Speedway, the final race event of the 2013 season.
Race Summary:
Race No.16 of 17- Lee USA Speedway
Entrants 31 (26 starters) Distance: 100-laps
Time of Race: 45:26:596
Best Lap Time: 14.799
Best Speed: 91.222 (Masse)
Lead Changes: 2
Lap Leaders: 1-55 (Mead) 56-91 (Masse) 92-100 (Barrett)
Cautions: Laps 55, 59, 75, and 83
Unofficial Order of Finish: Barrett, Masse, McKennedy, Savary, Hinckley, Willis, Mechalides, Holdridge, Pennink, Wrenn, Zachem, Dolan, Owen, Kopec, Patnode, Pasteryak, Mead, Jarvis, Goodenough, Nocella, Seuss, Rocco, Dore, Doucette, Goodale, Storace (DQ) Pit Road Violation.
Oktoberfest feature winners:
Ironman Super Series: Gerard Cote
Pro Stocks/Super Late Models: Dave Farrington Jr.
NE Classic Lites: Jim Wentworth
Late Models: Wayne Helliwell Jr.
Valenti Modified Racing Series: Tommy Barrett
Hobby Stocks: Jim Shorrey, Scott Serydynski
Small Block Supers: Tommy Tombarello Jr.
Late Model Sportsman: Jimmy Russell
NEMA Midgets: Randy Cabral
Mini Stocks: Emerson Cayer, Bob Anderson
NEMA Lites: Danny Cugini
Pure Stock 4 Cylinders: David Stone
Outlaw Mini Stocks: Emerson Cayer
6 & 8 Cylinder Enduros: Bob Murphy
The 2013 New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is rapidly approaching and tickets must be ordered no-later than November 1. Requests for reserved tables of 10 must be received by October 25.
There will be no ticket sales at the door.
To be held at the Lodge at Manelley’s located at 65 Rye Street in South Windsor, Connecticut on Sunday, November 10, tickets are priced at $45 each. Doors open at 11 a.m. with dinner served at Noon.
Seven drivers and one car owner representing hundreds of victories and dozens of championships comprise this years Hall of Fame class. It is the 16th and brings the membership to well-over 100.
Drivers Stan Meserve, Brian Ross, Drew Fornoro, Ralph Nason, the late Bob Stefanik, Bill Eldridge and Bob Sharp along with car owner Ron Berndt will be inducted.
Also on the slate, Peter Vander Veer, a standout auto racing writer for over 30 years, will receive the 2013 Jack Ratta/Charlie Mitchell Award. The award memorializes two outstanding motor sports journalists – Ratta who wrote for the Manchester Union Leader and Mitchell, a sportswriter/editor for many years at the Norwalk (CT) Hour.
The New England Antique Racers club is a non-profit organization that supports the history of New England auto racing. NEAR has been in existence since 1981 and has a growing membership of approx. 350-400 members and 80 antique race cars. Members live throughout New England and are available, on a no charge basis, for exhibition events at local race tracks in New England and several tracks in the New York area, with both original and historical replica race cars.
Since 1998, we have inducted over 100 individuals into the New England Auto Racers Hall Of Fame, which is administered by the New England Antique Racers. Some very notable inductees include Richie Evans, Ron Bouchard, Bugs Stevens, Rene Charland, Pete Hamilton, Fred DeSarro, Ed Flemke, Sr. and Billy Greco.
The gates where locked for the final time over three decades-ago. The place remained unceremoniously silent for a period of time before Dame Progress finally intervened & claimed another pound of flesh from Connecticut’s stock car racing landscape.
Sadly, these days it’s a fate that’s becoming a stark reality for many of our nations short tracks.
The reasons surrounding the demise of Joe Tinty’s little oval of asphalt known as Plainville Stadium are irrelevant now. What’s not is the fact that the track that meant so-much to people was gone in what seemed like blink-of-an-eye.
Plainville launched the careers of many of the sport’s best, and it provided a destination for generations of fans & racers who called the place home every summer Saturday evening for years.
Last weekend, the legends surrounding the old girl were revived again thanks to a dedicated group that refuses to let the memories fade at the Fifth-Annual Plainville Stadium Reunion.
Was it a success? You bet.
Throughout the day, a steady-stream of fans of the former oval converged on the Berlin Fairgrounds to meet the drivers that were a staple of the excitement that was Plainville Stadium. Along with a host of admired track regulars, the place was full of New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame members. There was a huge selection of historical artifacts that included everything from antique race cars to a large photo selection from former official track photographer, Phil Hoyt. Renowned racing photog Steve Kennedy, who got his start at the Stadium as a youngster was present to record the day’s activities, as-was Taftville, Connecticut’s Rene Dugas, long a fixture on the region’s racing photography scene.
Media personalities included award-winning racing journalist and New England Auto Racing Hall of Famer member Pete Zanardi as well as the brothers Danko, Gary and Brian. It was Gary who manned the microphone keeping fans abreast of the day’s activities.
“This is just one of those “feel-good” events, and proves that Plainville Stadium plays a very-significant role in Connecticut racing history” stated Zanardi. “Looking-around, it’s hard to comprehend just how-many feature victories are represented here today. It’s great that the history of the track is being recognized. It seems as-if just about racer in our region competed there at one time or another. A number of drivers that became the most-accomplished racers in New England got their starts at Plainville.”
Also on the slate were races sanctioned by the Nutmeg Kart Club on the club’s high-banked clay oval located on the grounds of the show and always a popular segment of the show.
Dave Alkas, Stadium “King” and also a member of the prestigious New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame, the much-accomplished Don Moon, and Gary Bienkowsky of the of the Nutmeg Kart Club are among the primary organizers of the event every year.
“This has again turned-out great,” stated Alkas. “To think that after all-these years Plainville Stadium is so fondly-recalled, is almost an emotional experience for those of-us that called it home. Back-then, we were kind of known as a track that was sort-of a rough-place to race with boisterous fans and kind of a rowdy reputation. Today, it proves that a lot of people miss Plainville Stadium. It really was a great track and a fun place to be a part-of. I know I miss it a great-deal,” he said.
