{"id":15504,"date":"2014-04-02T10:46:21","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T14:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=15504"},"modified":"2014-04-03T07:32:46","modified_gmt":"2014-04-03T11:32:46","slug":"new-england-motorsports-south-04-02-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/new-england-motorsports-south-04-02-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"NEW ENGLAND MOTORSPORTS SOUTH 04-02-2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lou Modestino<\/em> <\/p>\n

As the Icebreaker at Thompson Motorsports Park quickly approaches; some big names have filed last minute entries.
\nWinner of the last race for the Granite State Pro Stock Series (GSPSS) at TSMP, Larry Gelinas has announced his intent to pick up another win at the 5\/8 mile oval. The entry with the GSPSS makes for a busy weekend for the Buxton, ME driver, as he is also running for points in the Late Model division at TSMP for the 2014 season. Gelinas races as much as anybody on the tour, entering around 50 races during the 2013 season, including 11 races with the GSPSS en route to a runner-up finish in the championship standings. Even with the experience at the track and with the series, Gelinas isn\u2019t sold on himself being a runaway favorite. Gelinas stated \u201cIf Mechalides is there, he will be tough. (Mike and Tommy) O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s are tough. It could be somebody different. By the sounds of it, there are a lot of good drivers entering the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two-time defending ACT champion \u201cThe Punisher\u201d Wayne Helliwell, JR has filed entry with his Bruce Bernhardt Motorsports ride. The duo has turned heads on just about anything they\u2019ve been a part of on the racing scene, and the GSPSS is no exception. Helliwell, JR picked up the win last year at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, NH in dominating fashion, holding off the aforementioned Gelinas for his first checkers in the series. \u201cWe have a brand new car, so we will be shaking the car down at the Icebreaker,\u201d Bernhardt says. \u201cHowever, we don\u2019t attend a race we don\u2019t think we can win.\u201d Helliwell is more reserved about the first race of the year. He comments, \u201cWe want to take it step-by-step. We would like to get a good practice in and work the bugs out.\u201d Helliwell will be running a limited schedule in the GSPSS, as the Dover, NH driver will be turning \u201cOutlaw\u201d in 2014 by running partial schedules with the Pro All-Star Series, ACT, and GSPSS. Other big names that will be attending the race are Matt Frahm and Tommy O\u2019Sullivan. Frahm, the career wins leader in the GSPSS with 4, will also be there.
\n
\n\u201cWe regret having to move Blastoff Weekend\u201d stated Waterford Speedbowl track owner and promoter Terry Eames. \u201cWe were prepared to open the race season last weekend, however it appears Mother Nature just does not want to cooperate\u201d. Soaking rains are forecast on and off throughout the weekend.
\n\u201cWe still plan to have a really great event for race fans, just a couple weeks later\u201d. The entire Saturday and Sunday Blastoff Weekend schedule card will move to the new dates with no additional changes.<\/p>\n

The Speedbowl will welcome racers on Friday to an open practice session with pit gates opening at 10 a.m. Practice is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to get some cars on the track tomorrow along with conducting inspections and giving competitors a chance to complete
\npre-season registration paperwork\u201d offered Eames. \u201cThe more laps competitors can log early in the year, the better it is for everyone\u201d. Pit area admission is $30.00 for Friday\u2019s practice session. Grandstands will be closed.<\/p>\n

The Speedbowl season will officially begin this Saturday, April 5th when the track hosts its opening Saturday night NASCAR Whelen All-American Series event. A six division program anchored by the SK Modifieds gets underway with qualifying at 5:30 p.m. Main events will follow at
\napproximately 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Waterford Speedbowl management also announced that an open practice day has been added to its event schedule for Friday, April 11th in advance of Blastoff Weekend. The track was forced to stop its open practice on Friday a little more than three hours into the day when rain showers moved in.<\/p>\n

For Wilbraham, MA native Glen Reen, the 2014 SK Modified\u00ae season at Stafford Motor Speedway is full of promise. After only running a handful of races last season, Reen and his #17 TechEdProducts.com team have been busy during the winter putting together a new chassis to go along with a virtually brand new engine. These two factors have Reen excited about his prospects for the 2014 season at the Connecticut half-mile facility.<\/p>\n

With the first green flag of the 2014 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season right around the corner, Stafford Motor Speedway has announced that Connecticut Trailers of Bolton, CT has signed on to become the newest member of the Contingency Program. Connecticut Trailers will sponsor first place in the Late Model division, paying an extra $125 to each feature winner during the 2014 season.<\/p>\n

As the sun is ready to rise and shine over another NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler at Stafford Motor Speedway, one driver that is looking forward to the race is Woody Pitkat. In the off-season, Pitkat moved from the #79 team to the #88 Buzz Chew Auto team and he will take over the driving duties from Bryon Chew. While the #88 team is based in Old Forge, NY, Pitkat has already been to their shop several times in preparation for the 2014 season and he is excited about what he has seen at the shop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lou Modestino As the Icebreaker at Thompson Motorsports Park quickly approaches; some big names have filed last minute entries. Winner of the last race for the Granite State Pro Stock Series (GSPSS) at TSMP, Larry Gelinas has announced his intent to pick up another win at the 5\/8 mile oval. The entry with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[126,15173],"tags":[15183],"class_list":["post-15504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-england","category-new-england-motorsports-south","tag-new-england-motorsports-south-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}