Goodyear Tire Gets Positive Reviews From Waterford Late Models

Budweiser Blastoff 100 coverage presented by "Fifty Years of Excitement"

WATERFORD, Conn. -- The Waterford Speedbowl Late Model division underwent a big change at the 2010 season opener on Sunday -- not in Tim Jordan winning the 50-lap feature, but rather in the tires that carried him to victory lane. For the first time in a weekly NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model race at the Connecticut track, the winner's car sported Goodyear tires.

Waterford Speedbowl changed from a Hoosier tires to the Goodyear D2672 and D2882 tires developed and used by the American-Canadian Tour. The Goodyear tire is built from a harder compound than the Hoosier and is therefore a bit more of a challenge to make handle, but should be a more predictable tire and will likely last longer.

Sunday's weather was nothing short of deplorable -- overcast and windy with temperatures in the low 40s to high 30s -- making the tire even harder to control. The race was marred by many spins and accidents, but still Jordan says the change was the right one to make.

"I think they're going to work, I just think it's a little cold. It's 39 degrees out, but guys have never really raced on [the Goodyears]," said the Plainfield, Conn., driver. "I have some experience with Tour racing with them so I kind of knew what to expect. I knew the car would probably get free on exit. Overall I think it's a great deal."

Jordan has been successful racing against the ACT Late Model Tour at his home track, finishing fifth last year at Waterford as well as testing and racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on the Goodyear tire. He won the 2006 Waterford championship and a total of 18 features on the Hoosier.

Hope Valley, R.I., driver Rich Staskowski was the Waterford championship runner-up last year, and had only raced once on the Goodyear tire in an ACT event in 2008. He finished fourth on Sunday and says he favors the Goodyear.

"I like the Goodyears a lot better than the Hoosiers," he said. In this cold weather they're really tough to get some heat and keep the heat into them, on the restarts they're really slick, but I like them. I think they're going to be a better tire for us and they're going to last longer. The Hoosiers really had a lot of weak sidewalls. I think they're going to be good."

Staskowski said he may attempt some ACT events in 2010 and that running the Goodyear tire every week will help Waterford teams prepare better for ACT events.

"I'd love to do some Tour racing this year. My finances might stop me, but I'm going to try to hit a couple races," he said. "[Running the Goodyear is] definitely going to help me prepare better against the Tour because that's what they run. We have to run what they run to be able to compete with them guys. When we put them on [in the past] we were behind the eight-ball from that moment until we actually got these things dialed in. I think it's a good move for Waterford Speedbowl to switch over to these Goodyears so all of these ACT guys can't have an unfair advantage when they come here."

Jordan is confident that his competitors will catch up to him soon.

"Really, I'm happy with the tire. I'm happy with their performance, they're consistent, they're great, but just a little slick," he said. "They're harder than the Hoosiers we ran on and it's going to take a couple of weeks for everybody to get used to it. I think you saw a lot of accidents that you would not have normally seen because people aren't used to them. That's racing I guess, when they change something on you, you've just got to adapt, and I guess we adapted the best.

"We've got experience on them. Whoever has the most experience usually gets it done, so we got lucky that we have experience on the Goodyear."

(PHOTOS: 1. Tim Jordan won the first Waterford Speedbowl Late Model race run on Goodyear tires; 2. A crew member for Rich Staskowski takes a measurement of the new Goodyear tires. Photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

PHOTOS: Budweiser Blastoff 100

Presented by "Fifty Years of Excitement"

Budweiser Blastoff 100

VIDEO: ACT Test Day 2 @ NHMS

The following video is from Day 2 of the Test & Tune session for American-Canadian Tour Late Models at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. In the video, Oxford Plains (Me.) Speedway driver Shawn Knight (#25), is joined by Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl racers Bruce Thomas, Jr. (#35) and Timmy Jordan (#47), former White Mountain Motorsports Park champion Stacy Cahoon (#83) of St. Johnsbury, ACT/Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl driver John Donahue (#26), Série ACT-Castrol driver Patrick Cliche (#5), and Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway point leader Ryan Vanasse (#11). VMM will more coverage of NHMS Test & Tune Day 2 soon.

(Video by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

COMMENTARY: Why Complain About Waterford?

-by Justin St. Louis

For perhaps the first time in American-Canadian Tour history, there were some big questions left unanswered, two days after a checkered flag fell. Maybe we're wrong about that, but for sure, nothing like the confusion surrounding the finish of Saturday's Nutmeg State 100 at Waterford Speedbowl has come up in recent memory.

Vermont Motorsports Magazine was not at Waterford, so all of our information is second-hand at best. But here's what we understand to have happened: Brad Leighton wrecked with lapped driver Howard Payne out of the lead while racing for the win with Brian Hoar on lap 98. The white flag was out as the incident took place, followed quickly by the yellow flag. It seems like the cars of Hoar, Randy Potter, Tim Jordan, Scott Payea, and John Donahue crossed under the flagstand to take the white flag before the yellow flew, with the balance of the field locked in by the yellow. Under ACT rules, anyone that crosses the start/finish line to take the white flag before the yellow flies may race back to the finish line, and all others must retain their position and cross the finish line under yellow conditions.

Is it a perfect rule? Of course not. But it is the rule.

According to reports, third-place runner Tim Jordan -- a Waterford regular in just his second-ever ACT race -- slowed on the backstretch upon seeing yellow lights on lap 99 after he had taken the white flag, seemingly unaware that he should have raced back to the finish line, as outlined in the aforementioned rule. During this, Potter, Payea, and Donahue stayed at racing speed and passed Jordan to finish the race.

After the checkered flag, all five drivers, including winner Brian Hoar (whose finish, by the way, has never come into question) pulled into victory lane on the frontstretch. In the confusion, ACT officials -- maybe going back to the running order on lap 98 or 99? -- told Payea and Donahue to head back to the pits, and photos and interviews were taken from Hoar, apparent runner-up Potter, and third-place man Jordan. Following the race, the drivers were reportedly told to give their trophies back because the finish would have to be reviewed.

At 3:39pm on Monday, the official finish for the race was published by ACT. Hoar and Potter's finishes of first and second, respectively, were upheld. Payea was moved up to third, Donahue took fourth, and Jordan was placed back in fifth, the order in which he crossed the finish line. Brent Dragon and Joey Doiron were sixth and seventh, while Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. was eighth.

In addition to the finish, an excerpt of the ACT rulebook outlining the race prodcedure in question was included. (Click to go to page.)

According to a memo attached to the finish and rule posting, "It was determined that the yellow flag was displayed when the 97NH (Polewarczyk), running in 8th position at the time, reached the flag stand following the incident between the 55NH (Leighton) and 16CT (Payne). All cars in front of the 97NH are allowed, under the rules and procedures as sited above, to continue racing for position (with caution) until they complete the distance and receive a checkered/yellow flag."

Was it frustrating to not know the finishing order? Yes, absolutely. But understand this: ACT got it right the first time, and it shouldn't matter how long they took to do it.

ACT president Tom Curley, who is usually the race director for Tour events, was directing the Série ACT-Castrol event at Autodrome Chaudière in Québec at the time of the Nutmeg State 100. Curley was no doubt in the thick of reviewing scoring tapes for the Waterford race and making sure everything was done the right way. He has a reputation of integrity to uphold for his organization. In fact, the official finish for the Castrol event was also held until Monday, pending a review.

What looks worse? A sanctioning body that releases an ultimately false finishing order in a knee-jerk reaction, only to revise the finish several days later -- a la the PASS North debacle at Thompson Int'l Speedway last year -- or a sanctioning body that takes two or three days and gets everything correct?

"It's pretty simple," said Hoar on Monday at 2:00pm. "[ACT officials are] taking their time to get the finish right. There's no question that we won. The question is, when did [ACT chief starter Mike Wilder] throw the yellow? I took the white flag before the yellow, but to my knowledge, I don't know when the yellow came out after that. I know I took the white. Absolutely. I think the 47 (Jordan) did not race back to the line, and that's probably because he's never raced under that ACT procedure and didn't know the rule. Scott Payea certainly knows the rules, I'm sure John Donahue knows the rules. That's all it is, I think."

Even Payea, who has spent most of the season leading the ACT Late Model Tour point standings and will likely hold onto a very slim lead over Hoar after the finish is announced, wasn't losing much sleep over the outcome at Waterford. "Can't sweat it," he said at 1:45pm. "It's out of my control. I've got to worry about fourth not being good enough when Hoar is winning. I think I should have been third, but I'm not really complaining too much, although I do know the value of every position and point. We will worry about making the car better."

We're of the opinion that ACT did exactly what it needed to do to be a professional series that remains fair to its competitors and fans. We're not thrilled with the amount of time that passed since the checkers fell on Saturday night, but if that's all we have to worry about, that's no big deal. Kudos to ACT and Tom Curley for doing it right.