by Jay | Sep 21, 2009 | NASCAR, NASCAR K&N Pro Series, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
Loudon, NH (September 20, 2009): Despite a vibration in the No. 38 Bestway Disposal/Renton Coil Spring Chevrolet, Alan Tardiff was able to rally to a seventh place finish in Friday night’s Heluva Good Fall 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a NASCAR Camping World Series East event, and put together a lucky seven combination that tightened up his point race heading into the series’ finale at Dover next weekend.
Tardiff’s finish marked his seventh top-10 finish of the season and moved him up to seventh in the point standings, just seven points out of sixth place.
“It’s a mirror finish of June: we had a seventh place in both races. We’re pretty happy with it,” said Tardiff.
Tardiff started nineteenth after posting a qualifying speed of 122.762 mph Thursday afternoon, and moved up to 15th at the drop of the green where he remained until pitting at lap 15. He returned to the track to take the green at lap 18 in the top-20.
Tardiff picked up a vibration early in the race, but worked through it and continued to soldier on.
“The car had a lot of grip up on top and it was really comfortable. We picked off quite a few cars pretty quick. The car picked up a major vibration – again. We had one the last time we were here and the brake pads crystallized on us. This time, I don’t know what happened, but I breathed on the brake pedal and it was just shaking the whole car around going around the corners,” he said.
A caution flew at lap 30 with Tardiff in the 14th position for the restart. In less than 10 laps, Tardiff had wheeled the No. 38 Bestway Disposal/Renton Coil Spring Chevrolet up to ninth before the caution slowed the pace once again. Pit stops allowed Tardiff to gain two spots under the yellow and the team would restart the race from the seventh position.
The Lyman, Maine native maintained the seventh place position despite developing a throttle-loose condition in the latter stages of the race. He dropped back to tenth by lap 70. When the race went green at lap 92, Tardiff had dropped all the way back to 12th. He gained two more spots before caution came out yet again.
NASCAR shortened the race to 100 laps after rain delayed the start by 40 minutes, and decided to shorten it up to 99 laps because of darkness. The final restart came at lap 97 where Tardiff rallied in a two-lap dash to the checkers to cross the line in seventh place.
“I just held on to it. It got wild at the end, but I was able to gain a few spots,” said Tardiff. “It was hard to make a run going down the straightaway with the car getting throttle loose, but we just held on to it. It was a good points day for us and good effort by everybody on this team. We’ll take it and move on to Dover.”
The Bestway Disposal/Renton Coil Spring Chevrolet and driver Alan Tardiff will return to action on Friday, September 25th for the Sunoco 150 at Dover International Speedway. The event marks the season finale for the NASCAR Camping World Series East 2009 season.
by Jay | Sep 21, 2009 | NASCAR, NASCAR K&N Pro Series, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
Loudon, NH (September 20, 2009): Brett Moffitt was quiet and unassuming following the Heluva Good! Fall 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Friday evening, but his smile said it all.
Moffitt drove the No. 44 Brettmoffitt.com Chevrolet to a convincing runner-up finish in the second to last NASCAR Camping World Series East race of the 2009 season, and heads into the finale at Dover International Speedway fifth in the point standings.
“The 71 had a good car. We were a little bit better, and I think if that last caution hadn’t come out we would have won,” Moffitt said. “We had a really good car today so I have to thank all the guys on the crew and at ASM for that. We came in (to pit) before most people so that put us pretty far back in the field. We just had to stay out of trouble coming up through. Those last few laps were pretty wild from my vantage point so I’m sure it was a good show for the fans.”
Rain delayed the start of the race, and forced NASCAR to cut back on its scheduled distance due to time constraints, but Moffitt was strong right out of the box. Moffitt moved up from his third starting position to second and remained there until lap 15 when he pitted for fuel.
Moffitt lined up tenth for the restart at lap 18 and quickly moved through the field. He reached eighth by lap 22 and was challenging Derek Ramstrom for fourth by the 29th circuit. A caution slowed his pace and gave him an opportunity to come back down pit road for an adjustment.
Moffitt lined up ninth for the restart at lap 35, but the Grimes, Iowa-native didn’t have any chance to advance when caution slowed the pace of the event once again. He lined up ninth for the restart at lap 46. Moffitt had the chance to advance once again and moved up to sixth by lap 63, and was back in the top-five by lap 70.
The racing got intense around lap 85 when the leaders were three wide heading into the corners – fighting for every bit of real estate. On lap 86, Moffitt used the battles to his advantage and moved up to third just before the caution came out.
The drivers paced one more caution period when NASCAR announced that the final restart would be the only chance at a green-white-checker finish. They would have to shorten the race again to 99 laps because of the darkness that was descending over the track. Moffitt could not stop eventual race-winner Eddie MacDonald from taking the lead and settled for a second place finish at the checkers.
“We’re definitely happy with this finish,” said Moffitt. “We would have liked to win tonight, but Eddie (MacDonald) has been running really well lately so we can’t be too down about finishing second to him.”
Moffitt heads to Dover International Speedway for the Sunoco 150, the series season-ending finale, on Friday, September 25th.
by Jay | Sep 21, 2009 | NASCAR, NASCAR K&N Pro Series, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
Loudon, NH (September 20, 2009): It seemed that Matt Kobyluck would author another successful chapter in his career Friday night at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after leading the most laps in the Heluva Good Fall 125, but late-race cautions rewrote the story and left the Uncasville, Connecticut-native with an alternate ending. Kobyluck lost the lead to Kevin Swindell on a late-race caution and was relegated to a fourth place finish when the race was shortened to 99 laps for darkness.
“If we would have had some green flag racing there I would have gotten the positions back,” said Kobyluck, driver of the No. 40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet. “We had the best car we’ve ever had here and we had the best car out of everybody so to not come home with the win was very disappointing. I can’t take away that we led a whole bunch of laps and I’m very proud of the guys and what we brought here this weekend. We’ve been working hard all season, and we finally figured some things out.”
The Mohegan Sun race team set the fastest practice times on Thursday afternoon and backed it up with a qualifying effort of 125.587 mph to earn a fifth place starting position. He jumped up to fourth at the drop of the green and remained there until pitting at lap 15 for fuel.
Kobyluck re-entered the race in the eighth position for the restart at lap 18 and was pressuring Derek Ramstrom for the third spot by the 22nd circuit. Kobyluck took the position at lap 24, but the leaders had pulled away by nearly four seconds.
An accident at lap 30 tightened the field up with Kobyluck on the outside of David Mayhew for the restart at lap 35. At the drop of the green, the duo battled it out side-by-side through turns one and two. Mayhew got the advantage going down the straightaway, but Kobyluck would reel him in again heading into the corners. A caution slowed the pace at 43.
Mayhew came down on pit road during the caution to fuel up while Kobyluck took over the lead. Kevin Swindell would take the green on the outside of the Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet at lap 46, but it was all Kobyluck when the green dropped.
A long green flag run developed, which was optimal conditions for Kobyluck’s set-up. Despite only a carlength separating each of the top-three cars, the Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet was never in danger of losing the lead.
At lap 71 NASCAR threw the caution once again. It was not what the team wanted to see.
“On the restarts I needed a half-a-lap or three-quarters of a lap to get heat back in the tires so that I had good grip. My car was much free’r than everybody else’s and they were much tighter. They were able to get going much better on the restarts and as soon as I could drive a lap, I could drive away from everybody,” explained Kobyluck. “The cautions were the last thing I wanted to see.”
Kobyluck and Swindell were side-by-side through turns one and two on the restart, but an accident right behind them brought the caution out again. On the second attempt, Swindell was able to get by the Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet as Kobyluck fell back to fifth. Because of the darkness that fell upon the track, NASCAR decided to shorten the race to 99 laps after they had already shortened it to 100 laps earlier for rain.
“We played the cards we were dealt and made the best of it,” said Kobyluck.
And that meant gaining one more position on the final two-lap run before taking the checkers. The top-five finish was enough to solidify the fourth place point position as the series heads into the season-ending race at Dover International Speedway next week.
by Jay | Sep 20, 2009 | NASCAR, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
LOUDON, N.H. – Ron Silk passed Reggie Ruggiero on the backstretch of the last lap and held on through Turns 3 and 4 to earn the victory in the New Hampshire 100 Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Photos from Race
It was Silk’s fourth career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win and his first at the ‘Magic Mile’ – traditionally one of the most prestigious events on the schedule.
Silk, of Norwalk, Conn., swapped the lead with Ruggiero three times and ran bumper-to-bumper in the last 10 laps, with Silk surviving the battle. Ruggiero settled for a fourth-place finish after getting shuffled three spots on the last lap. Donny Lia crossed the line second followed by pole winner Ryan Preece and Mike Stefanik finished fifth.
Lia entered the race third in points but his car caught fire during practice on Thursday and he was not able to qualify. After starting at the rear on Saturday with a provisional, Lia was involved in an early accident and went down three laps. He was the beneficiary during three subsequent cautions, and rocketed toward the front for a runner-up finish.
Lia’s effort moved him up to second, 48 points behind Ted Christopher with three races remaining. Christopher finished seventh.
Rowan Pennink, Christopher, Ryan Newman, Erick Rudolph and Chuck Hossfeld rounded out the top 10. It was the best NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour finish for Newman, who is a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor, in his fourth start.
Todd Szegedy was involved in an accident on Lap 84 and settled for 29th, which ended his streak of top-10 finishes at 13 and dropped him from second to fourth in the championship standings.
The race featured 17 lead changes among eight drivers, and was slowed by 11 cautions.
The 11th race of the 2009 season will take place Sunday, Sept. 27 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
by Jay | Sep 20, 2009 | NASCAR, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
LOUDON, N.H. — Kyle Busch didn’t have the fastest truck on Saturday, and he had barely enough fuel to make it to the finish line.
Photos Link
Neither circumstance prevented him from winning his third straight start in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series and his fifth race of the season. Busch took the checkered flag in the Heluva Good! 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as points leader and runner-up Ron Hornaday Jr. and his team owner and third-place finisher, Kevin Harvick, battled for position behind him.
Harvick believed Hornaday’s failure to move over in favor of Harvick’s faster truck in the closing laps — which Harvick attributed to lack of communication between crew chiefs and spotters — cost Kevin Harvick Inc. the victory.
Busch took on four seconds’ worth of fuel during a splash-and-go on Lap 172 of 200 and got back on track ahead of Hornaday, whose stop on Lap 170 had lasted almost twice as long. A debris caution on Lap 189 helped Busch conserve enough gas to get to the end of the race. His fuel cell hit “empty” as he approached victory lane.
“They told me we were going to be about five (laps) short (after the final stop),” said Busch, who finished .560 seconds ahead of Hornaday. “I was like, ‘You’re kidding me! We just stopped and filled this thing.’ It barely made it. It ran out coming into victory lane there.”
Matt Crafton finished fourth, followed by series rookie Johnny Sauter. Stacy Compton, Brian Scott, Mike Skinner, Colin Braun and Rick Crawford completed the top 10.
Harvick expressed his displeasure after the race.
“The communication between the spotter and the crew chief wasn’t relayed to the driver very clear,” Harvick said. “I felt like one of the two trucks should have won the race. I felt like we were a little bit better truck, but you can’t put yourself in position to do something underneath him (Hornaday) that would be detrimental to his championship chase.
“It’s just some things internally that we probably need to work on there. Second and third today is still a good day, a good day for (Hornaday) in the championship race, but I feel like we didn’t do what we needed to do.”
Hornaday, who extended his lead in the series standings to 217 points over Crafton, said he wasn’t aware of the problem until after the checkered flag.
“It was a good day — until after the race,” he said. “He (Harvick) got up to me three or four times and I backed off. He ran underneath me. I don’t know if he was getting loose or whatever underneath me. I had older tires. I didn’t have fresher tires. But I’ll take second. …
“I’m going to talk to him right now. I don’t know what I done wrong.”
Note: The victory was Busch’s 14th in 65 truck series starts.
by Jay | Sep 20, 2009 | ACT, Canada, NASCAR, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
LOUDON, NH – Eddie MacDonald of Rowley, MA won the Inaugural ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. MacDonald came from the 19th starting position and took the lead on lap 36 from young Brandon Watson from Stayner, ON. Watson hung with MacDonald, not more than a car length away and eventually took the lead again on the lap 41 restart. MacDonald would eventually take the lead again for good.
“It was awesome to win the first ACT race here. I’m sure there will be more but winning the first one is special. There were still a lot of fans in the grandstands from after the truck race,” said MacDonald who scored his second win of the weekend after taking the East Series race at NHMS on Friday.
After MacDonald took the lead for the last time the battle of the race became for second. Nick Sweet of Barre, VT and Joey Laquerre from Montpelier, VT caught Watson for second. The three ran under a blanket for the final 7 laps with Sweet getting the advantage and Watson fell back to third after Laquerre momentarily lost the handle. Watson then had to hold off Patrick Laperle from St-Denis, QC for third at the line by a bumper. Laperle had to settle for fourth followed by John Donahue of Graniteville, VT taking fifth. Laquerre held on for sixth followed by Brad Leighton, Brian Hoar, Bruce Thomas, and Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. came home tenth.
Joey Doiron of Berwick, ME got the initial jump on lap one and led by three car lengths over pole sitter Bruce Thomas of Groton, CT by the time they were in turn 2. Doiron then pulled out to a comfortable lead for the first 20 laps before the handling on his car appeared to fade. Thomas was right there to take over followed closely by Ontario’s Brandon Watson. Watson and Thomas battled through lap traffic as the field remained under green for the first 31 laps. That ended when Eric Chase spun in turn two. Watson took the lead on the restart until MacDonald took over the lead after coming from his 19th starting position.
The Inaugural ACT Invitational at New Hampshire was completed in 38 minutes and 32 seconds with only 2 cautions. The lead was swapped five times among four drivers.
The Série ACT Castrol drivers will be back in action tomorrow at St-Eustache Speedway in St-Eustache, QC for a 300 lap to cap off their season. The American Canadian Late Model Tour will finish off their season at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday, October 11. Next Sunday, September 27 most of these drivers will show up for the 47th Annual Chittenden Milk Bowl at Thunder Road International Speedbowl.
Inaugural ACT Invitational
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Pos Car # Driver Hometown
1 17MA Eddie MacDonald Rowley, MA
2 88VT Nick Sweet Barre, VT
3 9ON Brandon Watson Stayner, ON
4 91QC Patrick Laperle St-Denis, QC
5 26VT John Donahue Graniteville, VT
6 15VT Joey Laquerre East Montpelier, VT
7 55NH Brad Leighton Center Harbor, NH
8 37VT Brian Hoar Williston, VT
9 35CT Bruce Thomas Groton, CT
10 97NH Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. Hudson, NH
11 11RI Ryan Vanasse Warwick, RI
12 48QC Karl Allard St-Felicien, QC
13 71ON Dan McHattie Cavan, ON
14 94ME Shawn Martin Turner, ME
15 21QC Jean-François Déry Quebec, QC
16 89VT Scott Payea Milton, VT
17 11VT Jean-Paul Cyr Milton, VT
18 14ON Sean Kennedy Dunrobin, ON
19 55VT Brent Dragon Milton, VT
20 02NH Randy Potter Groveton, NH
21 40VT Eric Chase Burlington, VT
22 80QC Donald Theetge Boischatel, QC
23 44VT David Pembroke Montpelier, VT
24 18VT Jamie Fisher Shelburne, VT
25 14VT Phil Scott Montpelier, VT
26 27MA Wayne Helliwell Jr. Dracut, MA
27 6VT Cris Michaud Northfield, VT
28 51ME Ricky Rolfe Albany Twnshp, ME
29 83VT Stacy Cahoon St. Johnsbury, VT
30 8NH Guy Caron Lempster, NH
31 73ME #Joe Doiron Berwick, ME
32 03ME Travis Adams Canton, ME
33 10NH Ben Rowe Turner, ME
34 60NH TJ Watson Cundys Harbor, ME
35 7ME Glen Luce Turner, ME
36 47CT Tim Jordan Plainfield, CT
by Jay | Sep 19, 2009 | Canada, New England, PASS
Johnny Clark finishes fifth, earns fourth PASS North Super Late Model Championship
Naples ME (9/19/09) Richie Dearborn started on pole in Friday’s Pro All Stars Series (PASS) North Night of Champions 150 at White Mountain Motorsports Park and never looked back to win the PASS super late model feature. Dearborn led every lap and was never really challenged, despite the best efforts of Ben Rowe (second) and Kelly Moore (third). The victory was the fourth Pro All Stars Series win for Dick and Deb Dearborn’s family race team, moving the Hollis Maine veteran up to sixth in the career win column. His last feature win came during the 2007 season at Hermon Maine’s’ Speedway 95. Dearborn is the tenth different PASS North feature winner of 2009.
Travis Benjamin crossed the finish line fourth and Johnny Clark claimed fifth, enough to earn the Farmingdale Maine speed merchant a fourth (and second consecutive) PASS North Championship. Clark topped the ultra-completive super late model series stats with three wins, eight top fives and twelve top tens in thirteen starts. His unofficial margin of victory over Rowe for the title is 32 points. Kelly Moore will finish the season third in the standings, while Dearborn will move ahead of Adam Bates for the fourth spot with Bates fifth in the final tally.
Clark led 199 laps on his way to the championship. With the 2009 title Clark moves into a tie with Ben Rowe at four for most PASS championships earned.
Thirty cars attempted to qualify for the 25 car field, with a number of invaders on hand to challenge the series regulars. Tracy Gordon was back in the saddle, driving DJ Howard’s ride. The Strong Maine veteran parked early, finishing 24th. Former White Mountain late model ace Mark Patten ran second early on until his race car gave up. Mike Rowe was back, this time behind the wheel of his familiar PT Watts ride, but the PASS 300 winner didn’t have enough car to challenge for the win and crossed the line eighth. Alan Wilson (11th) and Unity PASS winner Randy Turner (12th) both had solid runs.
Matt Frahm earned his 3rd top ten finish of 2009 with a strong sixth and PASS rookie Steve Legendre returned to the track where his stock racing career began to finish seventh.
The race pace was fast and furious. Super late models tour the banked quarter mile in the low twelve second range and just two minor cautions slowed the field. Eleven cars finished on the lead lap; twenty of the twenty-five starters were running at the finish.
Mike Rowe, Cassius Clark and Johnny Clark each claimed a qualifying race; Scott Alexander won the consolation round.
There’s plenty of PASS Super Late Model racing left in 2009 as the PASS South and Nation al Championship series head down the home stretch. Saturday September 26 is round two of the PASS National series at Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly North Carolina, and then it’s on to South Boston on Saturday October 17 for the Mason-Dixon Meltdown, the final round in the PASS National Championship. One week later the PASS South Champion will be crowned at Greenville-Pickens Speedway when the PASS South season wraps up with “The Howler”.
All the latest Pro All Stars Series news and stats are on line at www.proallstarsseries.com or www.racewithpass.com .
Unofficial Results – PASS North super late model 150 – White Mountain Motorsports Park
North Woodstock NH – 9/18/2009
1) 33 Richie Dearborn, Hollis ME 2) 4N Ben Rowe, Turner ME 3) 47 Kelly Moore, Scarborough ME 4) 17 Travis Benjamin, Morrill ME 5) 54 Johnny Clark, Farmingdale ME 6) 14M Matt Frahm, N Salem NH 7) 20 Steve Legendre, St. Johnsbury Vermont 8) 2 Mike Rowe, Turner ME 9) 98 Adam Bates, Warner NH 10) 21 Donnie Lashua, Meredith NH 11) 53 Alan Wilson, Hebron ME 12) 1 Randy Turner, Readfield ME 13) Nick Ribbe, Kingston MA 14) 17A Scott Alexander, Orrington ME 15) 7 Donnie Whitten, Biddeford ME 16) 12 John Dabrowski, West Bridgewater MA 17) 4X Bradley Babb, Windham ME 18) 71 Corey Robert , Canaan NH 19) 09 Jeremy Davis, Tamworth NH 20) 0 Bill Whorff Jr. Topsham ME 21) 97 Walt Hammond Orange NH 22) 8 Cassius Clark, Farmington ME 23)01 Joe Decker, Chesterville ME 24) 14 Tracy Gordon, Strong ME 25) 07 Mark Patten, Belmont NH
by Jay | Sep 19, 2009 | ACT, NASCAR, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
1. Bruce Thomas, Jr.
2. Joey Doiron
3. Brandon Watson
4. Timmy Jordan
5. Joey Laquerre
6. Randy Potter
7. Shawn Martin
8. Nick Sweet
9. Sean Kennedy
10. Ryan Vanasse
11. Jean-Francois Dery
12. Karl Allard
13. Donald Theetge
14. Brian Hoar
15. Ben Rowe
16. Dave Pembroke
17. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr.
18. Patrick Laperle
19. Eddie MacDonald
20. Brent Dragon
21. John Donahue
22. Brad Leighton
23. Scott Payea
24. Phil Scott
25. Jean-Paul Cyr
26. Wayne Helliwell, Jr.
27. Dan McHattie
28. Glen Luce
29. Stacy Cahoon
30. Travis Adams
31. Guy Caron
32. T.J. Watson
33. Eric Chase
34. Jamie Fisher
35. Ricky Rolfe
36. Cris Michaud
by Jay | Sep 19, 2009 | Video
A recap of the races that occurred at Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, CT on the night of Friday, (more…)
by Jay | Sep 18, 2009 | NASCAR, NASCAR K&N Pro Series, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
MacDonald Back In Victory Lane
Third win in last four races at Loudon
Jason Cunningham, NASCAR
September 18, 2009 – 6:25pm
LOUDON, N.H. – Eddie MacDonald closed the gap on NASCAR Camping World Series East points leader Ryan Truex Friday night at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a win in the Heluva Good! Fall 125.
MacDonald beat Kevin Swindell to the line on a Lap 92 restart and kept the lead when Swindell faltered on a Lap 97 green-white-checker restart to win the rain-delayed and darkness-shortened race in Loudon.
MacDonald, driver of the No. 71 NEMO/Daymark Chevrolet from Rowley, Mass., entered Friday trailing Truex by 50 points in the season standings. By virtue of winning the race and leading a lap, MacDonald was able to gain 20 points on Truex – who finished third – with just one race remaining to decide the championship.
MacDonald also earned a secure spot in the postseason NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, to be run Jan. 30, 2010 at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (Calif.).
Brett Moffitt wound up second Friday and was followed across the line by Truex, Matt Kobyluck, and Jesus Hernandez. Kobyluck led a race-high 38 laps but lost the lead to Swindell on the Lap 82 restart.
The rest of the top 10 finishers were Jody Lavender, Alan Tardiff, Steve Park, Max Gresham and Swindell.
The race was originally scheduled for 125 laps, but the start was delayed by 40 minutes due to rain and the race was shortened to 99 laps by darkness.
The finale of the 2009 season and the crowning of a champion will take place on Friday, Sept. 25 with the Sunoco 150 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
