The Juice -- Home of the Talented

-by Justin St. Louis

Bradford's Bear Ridge Speedway -- the "Home of the Coupes" -- is certainly the best-kept secret in Vermont racing. It also might be the home of some of the best drivers in Vermont. Look at these numbers: Chris Donnelly, despite running a partial schedule in the track's headline Sportsman Modified division, won six features in 2009, double the count of track champion Gary Siemons. Josh Harrington was an eight-time winner in the Sportsman Coupes, and Andy Johnson won a half-dozen Fast Four races.

But the most shocking numbers were posted by Limited Late Model champion Dan Eastman and Hornet champion Tom Placey. They each won 11 times -- yes, eleven -- in 17 weeks of competition at Bear Ridge. And Eastman missed two races, bringing his win average to a staggering 73 percent.

Now, are there flaws in making a statement that Bear Ridge has the most talent of Vermont's three tracks? Of course. First of all, there's no pure way to compare the high-banked, asphalt quarter-mile at Thunder Road to the flat, lightning-fast, clay half-mile at Devil's Bowl Speedway or the tiny, clay quarter-mile at Bear Ridge. The tracks are all extremely different from each other. Second, the car counts are vastly different at each track; Thunder Road will easily have 2:1 the numbers that Devil's Bowl has, and 3:1 the count at Bear Ridge on any given night. That's a fact. Third, opinions being what they are, well, anything is possible.

But as car counts grew on a weekly basis at Bear Ridge, the same guys kept winning. Example: On opening night at Bear Ridge, Eastman won a five-car feature. He also won one with 14 cars just past the middle point of the season. And for most of the year, he had Jeremy Hodge, Shane Race, and Will Hull chasing him down. Race won three of the features Eastman didn't, and Hull was strong enough to beat Eastman for the championship at Canaan Speedway this year.

Another example: In the first six weeks of racing at Bear Ridge, Modified car counts hovered between eight and twelve, and Donnelly was winning. At the season finale, 25 cars took to the track, and Donnelly was still the winner.

Siemons, who won his third-straight Bear Ridge Speedway title in the Modifieds, was also extremely consistent, reeling off an incredible amount of podium finishes. Were it not for a scary mid-season flip that left Siemons scrambling for a week or two, he might have had another win or two. Wayne Stearns, who challenged Siemons for the title all year despite missing several events, is a very talented racer, and took three victories. Two-time winner Ryan Avery has shown signs that, with equal equipment, he could run with the best of them.

And Placey never saw a field smaller than a dozen cars in the Hornet class, winning six-straight feature from June 29 to August 8.

Now, we very much realize that respect is due Kenny Tremont, Jr., who won six features and the 358-Modified championship at Devil's Bowl, and to Jean-Paul Cyr, who won the Thunder Road Late Model championship in his first try. There is also much to be said about racers like Todd Stone, Vince Quenneville, Jr., Frank Hoard, III, Bill Duprey, and Mike Clark at Devil's Bowl, and Cris Michaud, Dave Pembroke, Phil Scott, Jimmy Hebert, and Pete Ainsworth at Thunder Road. But for our money, Bear Ridge Speedway has a talent pool as rich as any track around.

***

Anyone who thinks Brooks Clark isn't going to win a race next season is daffy. The Fayston driver won the "most improved" award for Thunder Road's Late Model division last year, and, at least in the court of public opinion, he's on the short list of those to win this year's trophy, too. Clark finished in the top-ten five times in 2009, including a surprising fifth in the 100-lap regular season finale, and snuck his way into a ninth-place finish in the championship.

Clark is in a group of young local racers with a solid future in the sport, alongside Craig Bushey, Chip Grenier, Grant Folsom, and Milk Bowl polesitter Nick Sweet. He began a few years ago in a second-rate car at Riverside Speedway as a teammate to Owen Wimble, father of Clark's girlfriend and spotter, Lacey. He and his family team moved to the weekly Thunder Road trail in 2007 to gain more experience and become stronger. The move is starting to pay off.

"Just to see how much we've improved from when we started [racing at Thunder Road] to now, it's unbelievable," Clark says. "We're just having fun doing it now."

Clark has been strong enough on occasion to hold his own against the likes of champions Jean-Paul Cyr, Phil Scott, Cris Michaud, Dave Pembroke, and Jamie Fisher. In the 100-lap race on August 27th, he finished between Michaud and seven-time Late Model winner Rich Lowrey, and was moving forward as the race ended.

"Following them around every week gives me more experience and makes me better as a driver, I think," said Clark. "You watch what they do and try to follow in their footsteps. We just try to improve as we can. To be able to run up there with those guys, it's pretty cool."

***

Cris Michaud says that with a little rest and healing time, he'll be back to normal. In fact, he said he hopes to be at Thunder Road on Sunday to watch the races. Michaud fell off a ladder at work this week, fracturing a vertebra in his back as he landed. His doctors told him there shouldn't be any risk of complications or further injury, so long as he stays out of the race car and off the jobsite for about a month.

Chad Wheeler, who retired after becoming the 2006 "King of the Road", will race in place of Michaud at the Milk Bowl on Sunday.

***

It's freaking hockey season, dude, and Les Habitants are already les vainqueurs! The Montréal Canadiens opened the 2009-2010 NHL season Thursday night with a big OT win over the hated Toronto Maple Leafs.

Travis Moen scored in the second period and had two fighting majors, so what more do you need out of a guy? And Carey Price with 43 saves? Woo! Although I'm saddened that the racing season is pretty near done, at least I have the Habs to keep me fired up through the off-season. Olé, olé, olé, olé!

***

Speaking of the Canadiens, defenseman Patrice Brisebois has retired after 18 seasons and over 1,000 NHL games. He was a huge contributor to Montréal, but he gets a free pass from VMM for calling it quits. Why? Because he's becoming a stock car racer.

Brisebois ran a pair of NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races in 2009, finishing 17th and 12th on the road courses at Trois-Rivières and Montréal, respectively.

"I'm going to try and go as far as I can in auto racing," Brisebois told the Associated Press last week. "I'd love to be able to move on to the (NASCAR) Nationwide or Sprint [Cup] series, but it's going to be very tough. Another dream of mine would be to do the 24 Hours of Le Mans."

You go get 'em, Pat.

***

AROUND THE REGION:

Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...

Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford): Chris Donnelly of Piermont, N.H. won his sixth Sportsman Modified feature of the season in Saturday's season finale. Gary Siemons of Orford, N.H. clinched his third track championship with a runner-up finish. Kevin Chaffee of Orange was third with Middlebury's Justin Comes fourth and Jeremy Huntoon of Bradford fifth. Rookie Jason Horniak of Bradford took his third Sportsman Coupe win of the year, over Topsham's Melvin Pierson, Bryan King of Corinth, Ritchie Simmons of Bradford, and champion Josh Harrington of Topsham. Jason Giguere of Enfield, N.H. won the Limited Late Model feature over Bradford's Arnie Stygles, Shane Race of South Strafford, Robert Tucker of East Corinth, and Jason Blake of Waitsfield. Josh Sunn of White River Junction won the Fast Four feature over champion Andy Johnson of Wilder, Steve Bell and Kevin Harran of St. Johnsbury, and Tim Hodge of Vershire. Bradford's Tom Placey wrapped up the Hornet title with his 11th win of the year over Mike Ryan of Chelsea, Charlie Lakin of Groton, Bobby Bell of St. Johnsbury, and Mike Chapin of Chelsea.

Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): Josh King of Vernon finished ninth in Saturday's Super Stock feature, with Dana Shepard of Putney tenth. Joe Rogers of Ludlow was 12th in the Mini Stocks with Brattleboro's Travis Grover 23rd. Vernon's Heath Renaud finished second in the four-cylinder Enduro with Ascutney's Tyler Lescord third, and Dick Houle of West Brattleboro was the division champion.

NASCAR Camping World Series East: Ryan Moffitt of Grimes, Ia. won Friday's Sunoco 150 at Dover Int'l Speedway in Dover, Del., with Barney McRae of Milton 18th. Rookie Ryan Truex of Mayetta, N.J. was named the champion.

Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl (Barre): Nick Sweet of Barre won the Booth Bros./H.P. Hood Pole Position for the 47th Annual Chittenden Milk Bowl on Saturday, with Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. of Hudson, N.H. taking the outside of the front row. Dave Pembroke of Middlesex, John Donahue of Graniteville, and Joey Laquerre of East Montpelier won the "Triple 50" qualifying heats, and Quinny Welch of Lancaster, N.H. won the last-chance "B" feature. The Milk Bowl main event was postponed on Sunday by rain.

***

WEEKEND SCHEDULE:

Friday, Oct. 2
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 7:00pm (Enduro)

Saturday, Oct. 3
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. -- 5:00pm (Championship Night)
Twin State Speedway -- CANCELLED
White Mountain Motorsports Park -- CANCELLED

Sunday, Oct. 4
Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre -- 1:00pm (Final Event -- Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl)
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 2:00pm (True Value Modified Racing Series)
White Mountain Motorsports Park -- CANCELLED


LOCAL TOURING SERIES:

True Value Modified Racing Series: Sun., Oct. 4 -- Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. (2:00pm)

The Juice: Best '250' Ever?

-by Justin St. Louis

We're not going to speculate about the entire history of the competitiveness of the Oxford 250, because, frankly, we've only been to eight out of the 36 run and are quite unqualified to make such projections. While any guess that we made about how the 2009 edition ranks compared to the rest would be farcical, but of the 250s we've seen, Sunday's race was far and away the best one ever. We've witnessed the race as a NASCAR Busch North Series event (1992), an ACT Pro Stock Tour race (1993), an open Pro Stock show (2001, 2004-06), and an open Late Model event (2008-09), and there is just no question that this year's TD Banknorth 250 was the best in terms of competition and race-long excitement.

Three-wide racing has become sort of a common thing at the previously one-groove Oxford Plains Speedway these last two or three seasons, but three-wide racing for the lead -- a lot of it -- is unheard of pretty much everywhere. And for the biggest race in the country? Get out.

Watching Patrick Laperle, John Donahue, and Brent Dragon go at it for the lead was thrilling. Watching Dragon, Ben Rowe, and Joey Polewarczyk doing it was thrilling. Watching the leaders slice through lapped traffic three- or four-wide was thrilling. Watching Eddie MacDonald slingshot his way up the outside was thrilling. Get the picture? Unbelievable action.

"What a cool track to race on the way they've got it right now," said Brian Hoar, who finished fourth in the race after leading 39 laps just past the halfway point. "It's pretty incredible, actually, it just makes you smile. I was watching heat races just smiling, I mean, watching Eddie MacDonald come three-wide up through there in the heat race. And you can just do that, there's a groove out there."

"It's intense, it's fun," said third-place finisher Donahue. "It was good from the second and third groove. In the beginning I was gonna go chase down Brent, and we got into the top three there, Patrick was in there, running three, four, five-wide when I took the lead, that was fun. Man was that fun."

Hoar said that the give-and-take shown at Oxford lately -- and at the 250 especially -- has been outstanding.

"Now everybody accepts and understands that it's [not] unacceptable to go three-wide," he said. "That mentality has to take place because, you know, somebody gets pissed sometimes when you go to a track and somebody goes three-wide and they go, 'What the hell are you doing?' And then they do something stupid to stop you or cause you not to be able to complete that deal. But [at Oxford], everybody respects that right now and is conscientous of it.

"[They're thinking] 'Gotta run the middle, I gotta stay here, don't move too high, don't move too low.' And the guy on the inside is saying, 'Don't slip up, I've got two guys out here.' And the guy on the outside goes, 'Give me some room, don't get too high.'

"The racing was fun out there."

It was fun from the grandstands, too. Congratulations to every one of the 71 drivers at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday for putting on a show that no one there will soon forget. Congratulations to Tom Curley of the American-Canadian Tour for getting the current northeastern Late Model rules program to the point it's at right now. And congratulations to Oxford promoter Bill Ryan for taking a huge chance back in 2007 and putting this type of car in the Oxford 250. We'll admit that even as a lifelong Late Model fan, the changeover from the Pro Stock division was scary and caused some skepticism. We now know that it was done for a reason, and the payoff was Sunday's event.

Just plain awesome.

***

Speaking of awesome, Saturday's Northeastern Speedway revival was something to behold. The 1/5-mile track in Lower Waterford, just outside St. Johnsbury, was dusted off for the first time since 1966, and brought together some of the greatest collections of memories in New England stock car racing history. We were honored to share moments with great drivers like Glenn Andrews, Johnny Gammell, Harold Hanaford, Paul Martel, Skip Easter, Glen Gadapee, Paul Belknap, and more, and would like to thank owners Paul and Lise Bellefeuille for their efforts in restoring the track to the beautiful condition it is in now.

We visited the place on a whim on Milk Bowl weekend in 2007, before the Bellefeuilles purchased the facility, and saw shadows of what used to be a great little race track hiding in a thick forest of . About eight months later, we received word that Northeastern had been purchased and was to be renovated. Instantly, we circled the date "July 18, 2009" on the calendar, and were glad to take part in its re-christening.

Here's a video (thanks to our Senior Correspondent, Ron St. Louis) of part of the parade laps that included restored and re-created coupe racers that actually raced at Northeastern Speedway from 1959-1966. We've got a photo album posted, too.



***

If you thought Jean-Paul Cyr never had a chance to contend for the Thunder Road championship this season, you thought really, really wrong. Cyr was his classic, winning self last Thursday, and we're only halfway through the year. Watch that #11 car, he's probably not done yet.

***

AROUND THE REGION:

Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...

Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.): Todd Stone of Middlebury finished fourth in the Modified feature on Saturday night, with Aaron Bartemy of Sheldon sixth. Richie Turner of Fairfax was the runner-up in the Tiger Sportsman feature with Milton's Larry Underwood tenth. Mike Terry of Grand Isle won the Renegade feature with Swanton's Dave Rabtoy second, Lance Rabtoy of Fairfax sixth, and Milton's Rob Gordon eighth.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Malta, N.Y.): Friday's races were rained out.

Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford): Saturday's event saw double features for all regular weekly divisions, including the double-points Mekkelsen RV Mid-Season Championships. In the double-point features, Travis Shinn of Groton, N.H. scored the victory in the Sportsman Modifieds over Thetford Center's Wayne Stearns and Gary Siemons of Orford, N.H., while other winners were Melvin Pierson of Topsham (Sportsman Coupe), T.C. Forward of Lyme, N.H. (Limited Late Model), Andy Johnson of Wilder (Fast Four), Bradford's Tom Placey (Hornet), and Melissa King of Corinth (Hornet Queen). In the regular Clifford Concrete/Robbins Property Maintenance features, Chris Donnelly of Piermont, N.H. was the Sportsman Modified winner over Corinth's Bryan King and Ryan Avery of Thornton, N.H., while other events were won by Josh Harrington of Topsham (Sportsman Coupe), Strafford's Shane Race (Limited Late Model), Mitch Durkee of Sharon (Fast Four), and Placey again in the Hornet class.

Canaan Dirt Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Friday's program was rained out.

Canaan Fair Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Kris Lyman of West Hartford finished third in the Pro Stock feature on Saturday with South Royalton's Kevin Menard eighth. Bradford's Arnie Stygles was third in the Super Street race with Colby Hodgdon of Windsor seventh. Jamie Hodgdon of Ascutney was the Pure Stock winner, while Chris Riendeau, also of Ascutney, was third. Josh Sunn of White River Junction won the Outlaw Mini race over Chris McKinstry of Thetford, Chris Lyman of Hartland, Bobby Prior of White River Junction, and Robert Gioia of East Thetford. Quechee's Kyle Small won the Bandit feature over Ascutney's Tyler Lescord, with Bruce Jaycox of Hartland fourth and Mike Parker of Bradford fifth.

Devil's Bowl Speedway (West Haven): Kenny Tremont, Jr. of West Sand Lake, N.Y. won his fourth 358 Modified feature of the season on Sunday over Ray Hoard of Granville, N.Y. Tim LaDuc of Orwell finished third, one spot better than Brandon's Vince Quenneville, Jr. Todd Stone of Middlebury was fifth, Rob Langevin of Londonderry was seventh, and Brian Whittemore of Florence was tenth. Robert Bublak of Fort Edward, N.Y. won the Budget Sportsman race over Whitehall, N.Y.'s Frank Hoard, Jr. and Frank Hoard, III of Manchester. Cullen and Seth Howe of South Londonderry were fourth and sixth, respectively. Cale Kneer of Troy, N.Y. won the Pro Street Stock feature over Jeff Washburn of Benson and Carl Vladyka of Fair Haven. Chuck Towslee of Manchester seventh with Lori Langevin of Londonderry ninth. Dan Older of Ballston Spa, N.Y. won the Limited feature over Brandon's Mike Clark, and Kayla Bryant of Rutland won the Mini Stock/Duke Stock race.

Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): Putney driver Dana Shepard finished 10th in the Super Stock race on Saturday with Vernon's Heath Renaud 14th. Joe Rogers of Ludlow was 11th in the Mini Stock feature. Dick Houle of West Brattleboro was second in the 4-cylinder Enduro with Vernon's Josh Houle third.

Oxford Plains Speedway (Oxford, Me.): John Donahue of Graniteville finished third in the TD Banknorth 250 on Sunday night behind Eddie MacDonald and Patrick Laperle. Williston's Brian Hoar was fourth, Brent Dragon of Milton was sixth, and Cris Michaud of Northfield was eighth.

Riverside Speedway (Groveton, N.H.): Derek Ming of Island Pond won the Outlaw Sportsman feature on Saturday night with David Ofsuryk, Jr. of Newport Center fourth and Dan Sidney of St. Johnsbury sixth, while Dilyn Switser of West Burke won the Super Stock feature with Lyndonville's Ben Bedor seventh. Hardwick's Andy Fecteau won the first of two Street Stock features over Derby Line driver Brendan Hunt and West Burke's Jesse Switser, while Swister and Kyle Pembroke of Montpelier finished second and third, respectively, behind Brandon Lambert in the second feature. Ernie LaPlant of Lyndonville was third in the Dwarf Car feature, while Cabot's Johanna Christman posted finishes of first and second in the two Angel features.

Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl (Barre): Late Model driver Jean-Paul Cyr of Milton scored his first win of the year in Thursday's Times Argus Mid-Season Championship, over Dave Pembroke of Middlesex, Doug Murphy of Tunbridge, Craig Bushey of Cambridge, and Phil Scott of Montpelier. Kris Grout of Waterbury won the Tiger Sportsman feature, with Plainfield's Matt Potter, Joey Roberts of Georgia, Pete Ainsworth of Middlesex, and North Wolcott's Brendan Moodie in tow. Tunbridge driver Gary Mullen won the Street Stock feature over Graniteville rookie Travis Hull, Mike Martin of Crafstbury Common, Garry Bashaw of Lincoln, and East Haven's Michael Moore, while Waterbury's Josh Erwin inherited the Junkyard Warrior win in the tech line over Barre's Kevin Dodge, Donny Yates of North Montpelier, Lance Donald of Williamstown, and Keith Fortier of Hinesburg.

True Value Modified Racing Series: Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney finished second in the Maine-ly Action Sports 100 at Oxford Plains Speedway on Saturday night, with brother Peter Jarvis, also of Ascutney, in sixth. Point leader Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, Mass. was the winner.

Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Ascutney's Chris Riendeau finished sixth in Sunday's Late Model feature with Rutland's Dallas Trombley seventh and Dola Holland of Ludlow ninth. Ascutney rookie Joey Jarvis scored his first Modified win with Riendeau fourth, Leo Martin, Jr. of Windsor seventh, Nate Kehoe of Windham eighth, and Peter Jarvis of Ascutney tenth. Russ Davis of Cavendish was second in the Super Street race with fifth Mendon's Chris Wilk third. Tara Tarbell of Springfield won the Strictly Stock feature with Michael Burke of Bellows Falls sixth and Josh Lovely of Barre seventh. Kyle Small of Quechee won the Wildcat race over Jeremiah Losee of North Springfield and Cody Small of Hartland.

White Mountain Motorsports Park (North Woodstock, N.H.): Stacy Cahoon of St. Johnsbury was second in the Late Model feature on Saturday night with McIndoe Falls driver Bernie Lantagne eighth. Stevie Parker of Lyndonville finished third in the Strictly Stocks with Milton's Gordie Stone eighth, while Concord driver Rubin Call was the Strictly Stock Mini runner-up.

***

Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in Barre is back in action on Thursday night, while the True Value Modified Racing Series is at Thompson Int'l Speedway in Connecticut. The Jake McDowell Memorial Street Stock 100 is at Riverside Speedway on Friday night while regular events will be held at Albany-Saratoga, Canaan Dirt, and Twin State. The ACT Late Model Tour is at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Me. on Saturday, while the PASS North Super Late Models are at Riverside, the SCoNE 360 Sprint Cars are at Bradford's Bear Ridge Speedway, and regular events are held at Airborne, Canaan Fair, Monadnock, and White Mountain. Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven will have the Empire Lightning Sprints on Sunday along with a regular program.

Pinkham to Bateman: "Put the racing back in the racing"

OXFORD, Me. -- David Pinkham had a great start to the 2008 season. He won at Waterford Speedbowl and his home track, Oxford Plains Speedway, and was a contender for the True Value Modified Racing Series championship. But a disagreement over a rules controversy left Pinkham and his Tom Greeley-owned team frustrated; they sat out the final two races of the year, slumping to a fifth place points finish.

This year, the team has made just two starts, coming in the two most recent TVMRS events at Lee USA Speedway and Oxford Plains. But time has done little to fix the hard feelings Pinkham has for the rulebook put together by series founder, president, and full-time competitor Jack Bateman.

Pinkham made his season debut at Lee two weeks ago, finishing seventh. At Oxford on Saturday night, he grunted out an entertaining drive from the final row of the 22-car starting grid to finish third in the Maine-ly Action Sports 100.

"That's we're supposed to do on this tour," he said, "we're supposed to be entertaining. I think that's something Jack Bateman really needs to think about if he really wants us to bring people onto this tour and put some fans in the grandstands. He's got to take some of these rules he's got and throw them away. Especially this 'A-B' rule."

The 'A-B' rule Pinkham refers to, according to the TVMRS rulebook, dictates that "if car A spins car B, car A will be put to the rear of the field and car B will be put in front of car A at the rear of the field."

"Even," Pinkham adds, "if somebody chops you and hits you and you spin them and it's not your fault. I just think it's not a good rule."

Pinkham drove without incident at Oxford on Saturday night, but was affected by the rule on multiple occasions in 2008. He thinks the deletion of the 'A-B' rule -- and others concerning competition -- would go a long way toward improving competition and bring more fans and teams to the True Value series.

"Let us race again, because that's what these fans want to see, just like they saw tonight," Pinkham said. "There's a good bunch of guys on this tour, and they've got to remember why we're here. We're here to entertain and put on a show for the fans. That's how we're going to get them back in the grandstands, and I think we've got to start thinking that way again."

Pinkham, of Buxton, Me., said he enjoyed his race at Oxford on Saturday on front of his hometown crowd, but hopes that Bateman might re-evaluate some of his procedures. "It means a lot [to run well with the True Value series], you know, we work very hard and we've got a great bunch of guys. Warren Johnson prepares an awesome car, Tom Greeley gives us what we need to run well, we're just a bunch of regular normal guys that like to race once in a while.

"But we like to race. And I think it's time we put the racing back in the racing."

(PHOTO: David Pinkham of Buxton, Me. is no fan of some of the True Value Modified Racing Series' competition procedural rules. Photo by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

McKennedy Continues TVMRS Hot Streak at Oxford

OXFORD, Me. -- It seems that each racing season one driver has everything figured out. For the True Value Modified Racing Series in 2009, that driver is Jon McKennedy.

The 22 year-old from Chelmsford, Mass. earned his third TVMRS win of the season on Saturday night at Maine's Oxford Plains Speedway after a long battle with fellow young gun Andy Seuss, building on his point lead in the series. McKennedy started from the pole position and led the first 15 laps of the Maine-ly Action Sports 100 before giving way to Rob Goodenough, then raced hard with Seuss during an 82-lap green-flag stretch, first for the second position, then later for the lead again. Seuss ran in the high lane with McKennedy on the bottom. Seuss' car was a tad better off the corners in the beginning, but McKennedy said one final, daring move between Seuss and the lapped car of Ken Barry was what made the difference.

"It was wild and fun, I'll tell you," he said. "The first 40 laps I felt like I was putting too much pressure on the tires. A few times I got a run underneath [Seuss], but he was able to burst back by me. I just kept telling myself to slow down and wait another 20 laps or so. We caught up to some traffic and I decided to go and it worked out, at the end of the race we still had some tire left. My car was a little tight at the beginning and I needed the whole race track to run off the corner. To clear him on the bottom was tough at the beginning, the car was tight and I really didn't want to push the tires too much, but I found a good opening there and I really sailed it in and it stuck and we cleared him."

Unofficially, the pair each led twice from laps 43 to 76 before McKennedy made what proved to be the winning pass.

"We knew he was going to be the car to beat, and he has been lately on the True Value tour," Seuss said of McKennedy. "To win, you've got to stay ahead of him. That's all I was doing, and I was trying not to burn it up at the same time. He obviously had a far superior car and got by us and just took off. It was a ball, we had a good side-by-side battle, but by the end he must have just been sick of running with me because he kind of pushed me up and around that lapped car. But you know, he was going forward and he needed to do that to get some clear air, so congratulations to him."

From that point on, McKennedy was long gone; the only thing that slowed him down was a caution flag for a spinning Kevin Iannarelli on lap 97, erasing the quarter-track lead McKennedy built over Ascutney racer Dwight Jarvis, who passed Seuss, of Hampstead, N.H., for second place on lap 87. David Pinkham of Buxton, Me. slipped under Seuss five laps after Jarvis for third place. Eddie Dachenhausen of Danbury, Conn. finished fifth.

"This is our third win, we're leading the points. I feel like we should have won a few more races, but we just had some mechanical failures that took us out," said McKennedy, who also has victories at Twin State and Seekonk this season, and was in contention late at Monadnock and Thunder Road before trouble. "I can't say enough [about the team], the car's been running great. I think the biggest thing is we have a notebook this year, you know, we raced all these tracks last year and some the year before, so we know what we need as far as suspension and stuff like that when we get to the track and it's showing this year. We unload and nine out of ten times it's fast."

OFFICIAL RESULTS -- Maine-ly Action Sports 100
True Value Modified Racing Series -- Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Me.
Saturday, July 18, 2009

Pos.-Driver-Hometown

1. Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, Mass.
2. Dwight Jarvis, Ascutney
3. David Pinkham, Buxton, Me.
4. Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H.
5. Eddie Dachenhausen, Danbury, Conn.
6. Peter Jarvis, Ascutney
7. Rowan Pennink, Huntington Valley, Penn.
8. Rob Goodenough, West Swanzey, N.H.
9. Jack Bateman, Canaan, N.H.
10. Steve Masse, Bellingham, Mass.
11. Sean Bodreau, Claremont, N.H.
12. Eddy Spiers, Beacon Falls, Conn.
13. Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn.
14. Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, Conn.
15. Ken Barry, Preston, Conn.
16. Jacob Dore, Sanford, Me.
17. Mike Douglas, Jr., Auburn, N.H.
18. Jimmy Dolan, Bethel, Conn.
19. Joe Doucette, Framingham, Mass.
20. Kevin Iannarelli, Maynard, Mass.
21. Tony Ricci, Westbrook, Me.
22. Mike Holdridge, Madison, Conn.

(PHOTO: Jon McKennedy in victory lane at Oxford Plains Speedway. It was his third True Value Modified win of 2009; photo by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

McKennedy Wins TVMRS at Twin State, Dwight Jarvis Second

CLAREMONT, N.H. -- Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, Mass. earned his first True Value Modified Racing Series victory of the season on Friday night at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, N.H., while home-track favorite Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney, Vt. finished second.

Jarvis, a 13-time track champion at Twin State and the 2006 TVMRS champion, came from the 24th and final starting position to briefly lead the Granite State Harley-Davidson 100 after the halfway point, but lost the lead to three-time TVMRS champion Kirk Alexander of West Swanzey, N.H. on lap 68. Three laps later, McKennedy passed both Jarvis and Alexander on the backstretch to take command. During the shuffle, Jarvis took second place away from Alexander, and the three held on to finish in that order.

Eddie Dachenhausen finished fourth, one spot better than point leader Steve Masse, winner at Barre's Thunder Road two weeks ago. The balance of the unofficial top-ten was completed by Chris Pasteryak, Les Hinckley, Rob Goodenough, Sean Bodreau, and Mike Holdridge.

Springfield driver Bruce Batchelder returned to the series to finish 13th, while Peter Jarvis, Dwight's brother, finished 15th.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- Granite State Harley-Davidson 100
True Value Modified Racing Series -- Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H.
Friday, June 5, 2009

Pos.-Driver-Hometown

1. Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, Mass.
2. Dwight Jarvis, Ascutney
3. Kirk Alexander, West Swanzey, N.H.
4. Eddie Dachenhausen, Danbury, Conn.
5. Steve Masse, Bellingham, Mass.
6. Chris Pasteryak, Jewett City, Conn.
7. Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, Conn.
8. Rob Goodenough, Swanzey, N.H.
9. Sean Bodreau, Claremont, N.H.
10. Mike Holdridge, Madison, Conn.
11. Jacob Dore, Sanford, Me.
12. Joe Doucette, Framingham, Mass.
13. Bruce Batchelder, Springfield
14. Doug Coby, Milford, Conn.
15. Peter Jarvis, Ascutney
16. John Cleary, Madison, Conn.
17. Jimmy Dolan, Bethel, Conn.
18. Eddy Spiers, Beacon Falls, Conn.
19. Mike Douglas, Jr., Auburn, N.H.
20. Butch Perry, Ashaway, R.I.
21. Rowan Pennink, Huntington Valley, Pa.
22. Shelly Perry, Westerly, R.I.
23. Todd Patnode, Swanzey, N.H.
24. Jack Bateman, Canaan, N.H.

PHOTOS: Memorial Day Classic

A photo gallery from the 47th Annual Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic at Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Sunday, May 24, 2009. All photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM unless otherwise noted. Click here to view album.

Memorial Day Classic a Memorable One at Thunder Road

Dave Pembroke may not have won at Barre's Thunder Road on Sunday if he wasn't in the right place on lap 82 of the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic 100. But he was.

The Middlesex driver was running behind leader Joey Polewarczyk with less than 20 circuits remaning in the ACT Late Model Tour race when Polewarczyk spun his car off the top of the banking in Turn 3, ending his chances for victory. Prior to that, the pair had raced side-by-side at the front of the pack for the majority of the race, with Pembroke in the low groove, never much more than a car length behind.

"I couldn't believe it," Pembroke said of the incident. "I saw the dust kick up a little bit and I watched him go over the top. I was watching to see if he was going to come back down over the bank and catch my quarterpanel. It was a lazy spin. He just dipped [his tires] off there and just couldn't bring it back. It's a fine line out there."

"It was mostly me who lost it," admitted Polewarczyk. "I was just too high and got in the marbles. I did a have a left-rear [tire] going down, but I don't think that had anything to do with me going off the track. It was a good battle, he raced me clean and I was racing him clean, it was just a lot of fun. I was just too high, that's the line I was running."

Pembroke was unsure of whether he would have been able to take the victory if wasn't for the leader's misfortune.

"I don't know. It would have been real interesting to see," said Pembroke. "I could catch him and I could get to him, but once I got inside of him and just being pinched down that little bit, not being able to run up off the corner just evened us right out. I wasn't going to move him, that's just not the way I do it. I guess I was prepared to finish second."

From there, Pembroke was never seriously challenged for the win, and cruised to his second Memorial Day Classic checkers in three years. Unlike his previous win in the event in 2007, this year's victory included an invitation to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. for the ACT Invitational in September. He will join Polewarczyk -- who earned his NHMS starting spot by winning at Oxford Plains Speedway on May 17 -- at the race.

"I was not looking forward to having to ask him for a ticket to Loudon," Pembroke laughed. "He would have had two of them. I went through all this in my head out there, I was like, 'Jeez, I'm gonna have to borrow a ticket to get to Loudon.'"

Brian Hoar of Williston posted his best ACT Late Model Tour finish since 2000 finishing in second place. Hoar and Milton racer Scott Payea had a lengthy battle for the position during the closing laps; Payea settled for his third third-place finish of the season and his fourth podium result in five starts. Cris Michaud of Northfield, who qualified through the last-chance 'B' feature, finished fourth, one spot better than Randy Potter. Jean-Paul Cyr, Eric Williams, John Donahue, Joey Becker, and Chip Grenier completed the top ten in order.

***

Masse Breaks Through in Modifieds


Nineteen year-old Steve Masse pulled off a major upset in winning the True Value Modified Racing Series event. Just two weeks ago at Waterford Speedbowl in Connecticut, the Bellingham, Mass. sophomore earned his first-ever top-five finish, then passed the series' reigning champion, Chris Pasteryak, with 13 laps remaining before taking the checkered flag.

One year ago, an inexperienced Masse wrecked his car at Thunder Road on both Saturday and Sunday of the Memorial Day Classic, and was also taken aside by officials at Waterford following a rough race in which he evoked the ire of many competitors and officials, and was essentially advised to not race over his head. Now in 2009, it seems the youngster has learned his lessons, and ironically, the two tracks have proven to be a godsend.

Masse also thinks his turnaround has been due to a combination of experience, attitude, and luck.

"It was just patience, just trying to pick them off one by one," he said. "My crew gave me a really good car, and Brad [LaFontaine] set it up and he really gave me a good car to work with this weekend. It's all about the mindset of just taking it one lap at a time. And I think it's a little bit of not having bad luck this year. To be honest, I think last year I had some bad situations I was in and things didn't turn out like I wanted them to, but this year it's just been one hell of a year."

After his winning pass on lap 87, Masse ran away and hid from the field, stretching out to nearly a third of a track lead over runner-up Rowan Pennink. Three-time TVMRS champion Kirk Alexander finished third with Eddie Dachenhausen and Jack Bateman in tow. Pasteryak faded dramatically over the final laps, finishing ninth.

***

Granite Memorials a Popular Addition to Thunder Road 50th

The addition of the new 'Memorial Park' at Thunder Road -- several Barre-crafted granite memorials honoring past champions and race winners, sprinkled around the track's grounds -- was a very popular attraction during the weekend. The pieces, according Thunder Road promoter Tom Curley during a pre-race address to the crowd, were carved and erected in a matter of about five days by local granite workers, and were as much a tribute the Barre community's heritage in the stonecarving industry as they were to the drivers they honor.

Thunder Road has operated primarily on Thursday nights for 50 years for one main reason: most of the local granite sheds paid their employees on Thursday afternoons in 1960, and track owner Ken Squier wanted to offer the workers and their families cheap entertainment while there was money to spend.

***

Tiger Sportsmen Put on a Show

Thunder Road's famed NAPA Tiger Sportsman division hadn't seen a caution flag in feature action since September 2008. That changed in a big way on lap 14 Sunday, as nearly half of the field piled up in Turn 1, including two-time champion Shawn Fleury, who slammed the temporary wall at the top of the track. Another pileup started when Mark Barnier and Tommy Therrien cleaned each other out three laps later, taking four more cars with them. The final caution came on lap 30 when Pete Ainsworth's car, which was involved the Barnier-Therrien scrum, overheated and spun in Turn 1.

The resulting restart set up an exciting showdown for the win between Brendan Moodie, Lance Allen, and Joe Steffen; Moodie had led nearly the entire distance, with Allen and Steffen running door-to-door inches apart on Moodie's rear bumper. As the green flag flew on lap 30, Allen drew even outside Moodie's car and nosed ahead to lead one circuit before Moodie regained control. Steffen nipped Allen for the runner-up spot, and the two were followed closely by Bobby Therrien, Cody Blake, Jeff French, and Derrick O'Donnell.

***

Street/Warrior Class Continues to Entertain

In the pit area grandstands, countless former drivers were overheard saying "I wish I still had a car," while watching the Street Stock/Junkyard Warrior main event and 'reserve' features on Sunday afternoon.

The combination of the two four-cylinder divisions this season has been one of frustration for some of the current competitors, but has quickly become a favorite of fans and former racers -- chiefly those that raced Street Stocks in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Fun-to-watch crashes and wild three- and four-wide racing familiar to that time period have made a return to the track, thanks in no small part to the disparity in experience between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots', and also no doubt to the sheer number of competitors; 56 cars competed on Sunday in the class.

And so far, the newbies have outdone the veterans: young Bruce Melendy scored the Street Stock victory in the main event, with defending champion Jason Corliss a close second. The opening day winner, 17 year-old rookie Tucker Williams, finished in third place. Donny Yates was the Junkyard Warrior winner, finishing 17th out of 30 starters in the main event. In the 'reserve' feature for non-qualified cars, David Whitcomb was the winner with rookies Travis Hull and Jamie Davis second and third, respectively.


(Photos: 1. Dave Pembroke crosses the finish line to win the Memorial Day Classic in front of a packed house; 2. True Value Modified Racing Series winner Steve Masse; 3. Thunder Road's new "Kings of the Road" monument; 4. Tiger Sportsmen Pete Ainsworth (80), Dave Finck (37), and Brian Delphia (55) get together as Bobby Therrien (4), Tim Potter (28), and Jeff French (06) escape; 5. Warrior driver Fred Schroeder (red and yellow) and Street Stocker Vern Woodard (73) crash in Turn 2 as Mike Gay (03) and Dan Lathrop (6) scoot by. Photo 1 by Eric LaFleche/VLFPhotos.com; Photos 2, 4, 5 by Leif Tillotson; Photo 3 by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

Doug Coby Wins at Waterford in First True Value Modified Start

WATERFORD, Conn. -- Doug Coby of Milford, Conn. has a perfect 1-for-1 record in True Value Modified Racing Series competition, winning at Waterford Speedbowl in his first start with the series on Saturday night.

Coby, a regular SK Modified division competitor at Waterford as well as an established driver on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, held off multi-time WMT champion Mike Stefanik for the victory. Defending TVMRS champion Chris Pasteryak finished third. Les Hinckley was fourth, while young Stephen Masse finished a career-best fifth.

Ascutney brothers Dwight and Peter Jarvis finished 20th and 21st, respectively.

Five Years Old, the True Value Modifieds Look Ahead

Jack Bateman was a driver without a place to race. Ongoing disagreements at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, N.H. meant that the track's lead division -- the ground-pounding, open-wheel Modifieds so beloved by New England race fans -- would be gone from competition in 2004. Modifieds were off the card at Monadnock Speedway an hour down the road in Winchester, and things were so unpredictable at Canaan Fair Speedway an hour north that racers and fans gave up on the track.


But rather than sit idle, Bateman formed the Modified Racing Series. He picked up title sponsorship from True Value Hardware, and now in 2009, the series has just completed its first event of its sixth season. Bateman is still the series' President and is still a competitor with the tour. Drawing 26 cars to Mondanock on Saturday night was an average showing for the series on the pit side, and a packed grandstand on the other side of the fence was more of the norm.

Bateman sees the first half-decade of the True Value Modified Racing Series as positive. "Well, we've had an awful lot of fun with the thing, and it looks like the guys enjoy what we're doing, and that's really what it's all about," he said. "Our whole theory is to have a good time. As long as everybody's having a good time, it's all good."

The series was formed not only to give weekly-level racers a place to compete, but also to give those racers a place to showcase their talents without going broke, an alternative to the high-dollar equpiment and schedule of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. So far, it's mission accomplished; drivers from all six New England states plus Pennsylvania and New York competed at the season opener last weekend.

"I think it's an opportunity for guys who love Modifieds to race on a touring deal without having to pay the NASCAR-type money, and I think that's what attracts a lot of people," Bateman said. "And there's a few of those (NASCAR drivers) that are coming over because it just isn't feasible financially to do what they're doing."

Kirk Alexander, the series' all-time leading winner and the 2004, 2005, and 2007 champion, agrees.

"If you want to come race Modifieds on a touring series and spend the least amount of money, this is the one to do it on," he said. "And they're paying a lot better now, they're paying two grand to win. I know it isn't a ton of money, but when you don't have to spend a lot to be there at the race track it's pretty good."

NASCAR champions Mike Stefanik, Ted Christopher, and Ken Bouchard, have been attracted to the True Value series, and top young talents like Matt Hirschman, Jimmy Blewett, and Rowan Pennink have competed successfully on the series. In addition, drivers better known for their winning résumés in full-fendered cars -- drivers like Jean-Paul Cyr, David Pinkham, and Vinnie Annarummo -- have been frequent competitors.

Alexander is proud of the work his fellow True Value regulars, like 2006 champion Dwight Jarvis, Les Hinckley, Jon McKennedy, and Saturday's winner, Rob Goodenough, have done against the invaders; of the 'big gun' drivers, only Hirschman has been able to break into victory lane, last year at Twin State.

"Matty's the only one that has won. It means a lot. I mean, it's not like they come in and walk all over us," Alexander said. "I mean they're good, but they're good under their rules where they can spend a lot of money. Guys like Mike Stefanik, who has been racing forever, and that guy is an awesome driver, he knows his stuff. Teddy Christopher, he's awesome. But you know these (True Value) guys are good and there's some talent here that you don't just come in and walk all over us. They keep it down to a minimum on bumping and jamming, they don't put the bumper to people. You want to see good racing, and that's what we do."

"They're usually pretty competitive," Bateman says, "but it takes quite a lot of ingenuity to win on these little bullring tracks. Most (of those) guys are used to running big tracks like Stafford, Thompson, New Hampshire, Martinsville, and places like that. It's different with these little short tracks, it takes a different tact."

In recent years, Bateman's series has developed young talent including Andy Seuss, Bobby Grigas, and 2008 champion Chris Pasteryak, who now compete in the NASCAR ranks. Grigas, the 2006 TVMRS Rookie of the Year, is a consistent top-ten driver with the Whelen Modified Tour, while second-generation racer Pasteryak is in his first season there. Seuss has won two of his four starts on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour this season, beating the likes of Christopher and past champions L.W. Miller and Burt Myers.

It seems that given the momentum the True Value Modified Racing Series has built in its first five years -- full fields, full grandstands, and dates at top New England tracks including Oxford Plains, Lee USA, Thunder Road, Thompson, and more -- the next five years should be pretty good, too.

"I think it's a good deal, (Bateman) is going in the right direction," says Alexander. "You've got all these different kinds of rules and motor combinations so it makes it possible for people to come in with stuff that don't cost them a lot of money. I think it'll be a good thing."

"We're in pretty good shape, considering the economy and that sort of thing," said Bateman. "We've got 26 cars here, I think that's a fairly respectable number. We'll just see how it goes throughout the season and take it from there."

(Photo 1: Rowan Pennink's #25 car sits in front of a full grandstand at Monadnock Speedway on Saturday night. Photo 2: The TVMRS pits are always full of cars. Photo 3: Qualifying heat action is intense and gives the TVMRS a distinction from NASCAR's time-trial qualifying. Photo 4: The TVMRS field under the lights. Photos 1, 2, and 4 by Justin St. Louis/VMM; Photo 4 by Alan Ward)

Goodenough Wins TVMRS Thriller at Monadnock

WINCHESTER, N.H. -- Rob Goodenough fans rejoice. Kirk Alexander fans cringe. Dwight Jarvis fans stand proud. Jon McKennedy fans take what they can get. And every fan goes home a winner.

The True Value Modified Racing Series opened its sixth season in fine style at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H. on Saturday night, with a wild finish that brought the packed grandstand crowd to its feet.

For the first 89 laps of Saturday night's Bond Auto Spring Dash 100, three-time series champion Alexander looked as though he would take his fifteenth TVMRS victory at Monadnock, until he attempted to put a lap on Kenny White, Jr. The two inadvertantly made contact at full speed, sending leader Alexander hard into the Turn 2 wall, ending his race and opening the door for a barnburner of a finish.

Enter Goodenough, McKennedy, and Jarvis.

Running in positions two through four at the time of Alexander's demise, the trio suddenly found themselves playing the lead roles in the final act of the season opener. As the green flag flew for the restart on lap 89, Goodenough and McKennedy, who made up the front row, banged wheels, sending a plume of smoke into the air from the middle of Turn 4 all the way down the frontstretch to Turn 1 before they seperated. As McKennedy slowed only momentarily to regroup, Jarvis snuck under him and into second place.

Jarvis, who drove from 22nd place after pitting under caution on lap 21, raced, as one fan put it, "the hardest he's driven in years," and stirred his fans into a minor frenzy that grew louder with each pass. Mike Holdridge followed Jarvis on lap 92, taking third place away as McKennedy slapped the frontstretch wall, but just seconds before Holdridge's car lost power and came to a stop, bringing out the ninth and final caution flag.

As True Value Modified rules dictate, restarts inside 10 laps to go require single-file formation. As Goodenough held his line to protect the lead, Jarvis looked high and low each lap until the white flag flew, when he made a banzai run on the outside entering Turn 3, drawing even with Goodenough's car. But the drag race went to Goodenough by a bumper, handing the driver from nearby Swanzey, N.H. his first TVMRS win since a Monadnock score in 2007.

"It was very fast-paced, rough, it was (deep breath)... it was interesting out there," said Goodenough. "I needed that break (Alexander's crash), I admit it, yeah, he had a fast car and he would have won this race unless something happened like it did. (But) that's what being a strong second-place competitor does, it just pays off one of these nights, and that's just what it did today."

Alexander took his fate in stride, sparing White of any direct blame. "The car was awesome, just lapped traffic, you know, things got out of control there. Maybe I should have backed off, maybe not," he said. "It looked like the 77 (White) was trying to hang it down, I don't know if he got his left-front caught on the guy in front of him or something, but it looked like he shot right, and I just turned right with him and locked up my brakes and that was the end of that. It kinda sucks, but what are you gonna do, get mad about it? Big deal, we'll come back and win next week." Alexander was not hurt in the crash.

Once Alexander met his end, Goodenough and Jarvis stole the show.

"I was trying to hold it down to the bottom because this thing was getting really loose," said Goodenough. "I thought (Jarvis) was coming up the outside of me, and he did one of his famous moves. I think he was looking out there and snuck it back down to the bottom and then went back out. I knew he was going to go anywhere he could go. I was just trying to keep it in one groove, and the guys told me I was going to have to be on my toes for the last couple of laps because he had something for me. They were right."

"I knew I was going to have a good run, the car was there and it hooked up good," said Jarvis, of Ascutney. "I'm pretty happy, and I was pretty confident we'd head back up through (after pitting). The car was real loose at the end. I think if I could have got up beside (Goodenough) I had something for him, but I had it all hanging out, she was loose."

McKennedy, of Chelmsford, Mass., held on for third place ahead of Eddie Dachenhausen and Sean Bodreau. The unofficial top-ten was completed in order by Rowan Pennink, Mike Douglas, Joe Doucette, Jack Bateman, and Bill Park. Peter Jarvis, Alexander, and Dachenhausen won the qualifying heats, while Pennink won the last-chance consi.

Feature winners in Monadnock Speedway's weekly divisions were Russ Hersey (Outlaw Pro Stock), Matt Mead (Super Stock), and Tim Jackson (Mini Stock).

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS - Bond Auto Spring Dash 100
True Value Modified Racing Series - Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H.
Saturday, April 25, 2009

Pos.-Driver-Hometown
1. Rob Goodenough, Swanzey, N.H.
2. Dwight Jarvis, Ascutney
3. Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, Mass.
4. Eddie Dachenhausen, Danbury, Conn.
5. Sean Bodreau, Claremont, N.H.
6. Rowan Pennink, Huntington Valley, Penn.
7. Mike Douglas, Jr., Auburn, N.H.
8. Joe Doucette, Framingham, Mass.
9. Jack Bateman, Canaan, N.H.
10. Bill Park, Manorville, L.I., N.Y.
11. Peter Jarvis, Ascutney
12. Jimmy Dolan, Bethel, Conn.
13. John Cleary, Madison, Conn.
14. Steve Masse, Bellingham, Mass.
15. Mike Holdridge, Madison, Conn.
16. Kirk Alexander, West Swanzey, N.H.
17. Kenny White, Jr., Weare, N.H.
18. Todd Annarummo, Swansea, Mass.
19. Todd Patnode, Swanzey, N.H.
20. Jacob Dore, Sanford, Me.
21. Kevin Iannarelli, Maynard, Mass.
22. Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, Conn.
23. Tony Ricci, Westbrook, Me.
24. Butch Perry, Ashaway, R.I.

(Photo 1: Bond Auto 100 winner Rob Goodenough celebrates his victory. Photo 2: (L-R) Runner-up Dwight Jarvis, winner Rob Goodenough, third-place Jon McKennedy. Photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

The Juice: Ten Things, Lots of Modifieds, and Who's Quinny?

-by Justin St. Louis

We're one race down, about 60 to go, give or take a few. And we couldn't be any happier about it! Here's this week's "Juice"...

***

Brad Leighton winning the first starting spot for the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway has its positives and negatives. The pros are that Leighton is a top-name driver, a proven winner at NHMS, has first-class equipment, and will represent ACT, northeastern Late Model racing, and NHMS well. The cons -- there are far fewer cons than pros -- are that Leighton (right, Eric LaFleche/VLFRacing.com photo) is just a part-timer with ACT, that he is one of the guys that everyone expects to dominate at NHMS, that now the "little" teams that make it in will have to work that much harder to beat him, and that as ACT-type race teams go, his is one of the few "superteams" that sort of -- sort of -- makes the purist, underdog-loving race fan go, "Oh, well, Leighton's in, so guys like (name a 5th-place driver at your local track) might as well not even show up."

But actually, thinking further about it, how is that possibly a bad thing? A little team should have to work harder to beat the champions and the proven winners. It should be a motivation piece, not a deterrent. Imagine this: Timmy Jordan from Waterford Speedbowl gets into the ACT Invitational, or how about young Brandon Watson up at Kawartha Speedway, or Ryan Vanasse at Seekonk Speedway, and one of those guys actually breaks into the winner's circle at Loudon. And say Brad Leighton, the guy no one is supposed to be able to beat, finishes second. Would that not be a major victory for short track racers everywhere?

The more we, as nitpickers, try to find something wrong with the ACT Invitational at NHMS, the more we simply can't find anything wrong with it.

***

We noticed a lot of things at the ACT season opener last weekend, and here are ten of them in no particular order:

1. The concentration of top-tier Vermont-based teams is shrinking. In fact, there were only three native Vermonters (Scott Payea, John Donahue, Brian Hoar) to finish inside the top-ten in the NH Governor's Cup 150. The same thing happened twice at Oxford Plains Speedway last year, and there were only four Green Mountain racers in the top-ten at Lee USA (and a few other tracks) last year. In the grand scheme of it all, that's a very good sign.

2. Is there no more ACT partnership with Toyota? The pace car on hand was the Dodge Charger, and the Toyota logos are now gone from the ACT website and the official Race Report. Maybe we answered our own question, we'll have to see at Thunder Road.

3. The number of drivers known for their success in other areas now participating in ACT is growing more and more. You can add former Busch North Series standout Mike Johnson and southern New England stars Fred Astle and Jeff Zuidema to the list.

4. When announcer John Spence asked the crowd if anyone was cheering for the Montréal Canadiens, I was the only person that stood up. And now I know why.

5. Two big surprises -- Joey Laquerre showed up, and Claude Leclerc didn't. Kinda weird.

6. How awesome was that Hobby Stock guy Chris Titcomb that finished third? (right, Alan Ward photo)

7. Why isn't J.R. Baril a stronger force to be reckoned with when the ACT guys come to his house? Larry Gelinas, Wayne Helliwell, Ricky Wolf, Jeremy Harclerode, and occasionally Bryan Kruczek have run well against the Tour teams, but when ACT is at Lee USA, multi-time champion Baril (also a multi-time winner of long distance events at various tracks and a former PASS North regular) has sort of... just... been there.

8. You know, Cris Michaud really wasn't that far off on Sunday. It was only the first race with the Ford engine, and really, 15th isn't bad after a 150-lap show with an unraced, unproven combination. We're hoping that ACT's decision to hold off on approving the engine for competition won't last too much longer. Michaud admits that his driving style hasn't adapted yet to the different power curve of the Ford engine, and that changes in setup, like adding more gear (Michaud said his team ran 20 more points than normal in the gear ratio at Lee to try and make the car better) might help. It's a work-in-progress, just like the Chevrolet engine Michaud helped to develop in 1999 and 2000. Give it a few weeks, and you'll see a front-running Ford, just like when Phil Scott won in his second start with the Chevy engine against the "big motors" in 2000.

9. Tyler Cahoon could really surprise some people this year.

10. God bless those weekly guys that came to Lee from places like Oxford and White Mountain and Wiscasset and Waterford to just have a chance at sniffing an invite to Loudon, N.H. and the 1-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Guys like Shawn Martin, Travis Stearns, Glenn Martel, Mark Anzalone, and Corey Morgan. And God bless the guys that are giving the touring thing a shot for the same reason, like Miles Chipman and Rowland Robinson. That's what the whole NHMS event is about, and the race fans are going to be the big winners because of it.

***

VMM: "That was quite a battle you had with Quinny."

Eddie MacDonald: "Who's Quinny?"

MacDonald was surely not the only one asking that question after the NH Governor's Cup 150 last Sunday. Quinny Welch, in case you hadn't heard, is one of the top Late Model racers at White Mountain Motorsports Park, having won the track title there in 2007, and finishing a close second last year, but he doesn't get out much. Welch made a surprise visit to Lee USA to see how well he stacked up this year, and went home with a fine fifth-place finish, the first ACT top-five of his career. He ran either nose-to-tail or side-by-side with home-track hero MacDonald for the final 75 laps of the race, tha pair swapping the fourth and fifth positions several times. (Photo left: Welch (#78) and MacDonald (#17) going at it. Alan Ward photo)

"It was a helluva run, I wasn't expecting it," said Welch. "We started out really tight (but) were just a little better than all of the guys in front of us, and all of a sudden it kicked in and got some wicked good bite on the top side. Then we got to MacDonald, we battled with him for the whole race and it was very good, it was clean. To race with him here is pretty impressive for us. It's pretty cool. The guys did a great job, and all weekend long we were pretty good, we made the right choices, and there we were."

With a shoestring budget, Welch put a plan in place for the season -- and he, just like virtually everyone else with a Late Model, wants to race at NHMS -- but may have to change his direction if he keeps running well with ACT.

"I want to run White Mountain full-time to try to get to Loudon, but if we keep running like we are right now we might get a shot at Loudon before we have to run a whole season to do it," he said. "My goal was to start the first three (ACT races). If we made it here we could go to Thunder Road, and we made it, so we'll go to Thunder Road in two weeks, and then I'd really like to go to Plattsburgh (Airborne Speedway). I think that's a track that's suited for me, and nobody else has been there yet so I think we'll have a good shot at that one."

In his rare ventures outside his home track, Welch has run very well; last year, he finished eighth in the Milk Bowl at Thunder Road, and won a 100-lap Late Model open at Riverside Speedway. Those results, plus the top-five finish at Lee and the battle with MacDonald -- one of the hottest things on east coast short tracks these days -- should give Welch the confidence he will need to go with the skill his team has displayed so far. A great candidate, in our opinion, for one of the "at-large" bids for the ACT Invitational at NHMS, should he not earn a guaranteed starting berth otherwise.

***

Danville's Steven Legendre, as we had reported a week or so ago, is now racing with the PASS North Series. Legendre made his debut in the Super Late Model ranks at Speedway 95 near Bangor, Me. on Sunday, finishing a respectable 15th, the final car on the lead lap.

Defending PASS North Champion Johnny Clark won the NAPA 150 after passing Richie Dearborn and Cassius Clark with less than 15 laps remaining to take the opening day victory, the 17th of his PASS North career. Cassuis Clark capitalized after contact with Dearborn moved him up to second place; Scott Chubbuck also slipped by for third. Dearborn, who led much of the race, finished fourth ahead of Adam Bates. Derek Ramstrom, Chris Staples, John Flemming, Ben Rowe, and Donnie Whitten completed the top ten in order.

***

How cool is this?

Dan Bowes (silver #25), Justin Belfiore (black #98), and defending Lee USA Speedway champion Eddie Witkum, Jr. (white #39) raced here for the lead just inches apart near the halfway point. Bowes would hold off Belfiore for the victory.

You have got to respect anyone that can wrestle a 700-horsepower bullet around a 3/8-mile track, averaging laps about 100 miles per hour, and not wreck the guy outside of him. Too bad we didn't get any footage when they were THREE wide.

***

Brett "The Jet" Hearn of Sussex, N.J. won the 35-lap season opening 358 Modified event at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y. on Friday, ahead of Ronnie Johnson and Matt DeLorenzo. Middlebury's Todd Stone finished in fifth place, with Dave Camara of Fair Haven in seventh. Airborne Speedway promoter Mike Perrotte of Elizabethtown, N.Y. finished 10th.

Derrick McGrew of Ballston Spa, N.Y. won the 25-lap Budget Sportsman race with rookie Tim Hartman second in his first-ever open-wheel race. Manchester's Frank Hoard, III finished third. Rob Yetman of Castleton, N.Y. won the Pro Stock feature for his first career victory, while Dan Petronis of Mechanicville, N.Y. won the Limited feature.

***

The True Value Modified Racing Series kicks off its sixth season (sixth, already?) at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H. on Saturday with the Bond Auto Parts Spring Dash 100 beginning at 6:00pm.

Kirk Alexander of nearby West Swanzey, N.H. is among the expected entries for the event, and has taken 14 of his series-leading 31 victories at the high-banked 1/4-mile. Les Hinckley of Windsor Locks, Conn. and Ascutney's Dwight Jarvis are also expected for the race; Hinckley has three TVMRS wins at Monadnock, while Jarvis has won twice there in TVMRS competition, including the Spring Dash in 2006. Jarvis is also a five-time Monadnock Speedway track champion.

Along with the TVMRS troops, the "Mad Dog" will see its Outlaw Pro, Super Stock, Mini Stock, and 4-cylinder and full-size Enduro divisions open the curtain on their 2009 seasons.

***

Speaking of the True Value Modifieds, the series has cancelled its May 16 event at All-Star Speedway in Epping, N.H. All-Star promoter Bobby MacArthur had been in some hot water with the Town of Epping, and seems to have sorted the situation out in time to open his season as scheduled, but will not see the TVMRS cars at his track this year.

The Town of Epping initially refused MacArthur's operating license application due to several unaddressed issues, including the storage of between 300 and 400 used tires on the speedway's grounds. MacArthur's permit to hold stock car racing events has since been granted, but not in time for the powers that be in the TVMRS office to keep their faith in those at the All-Star Speedway office.

***

Andy Seuss of Hampstead, N.H. took his second NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour win in four events this year, beating George Brunnhoelzl at Lanier National Speedway in Georgia... and again, the car count was deplorable. While Seuss had plenty of tough competition from top drivers Brunnhoelzl, Ted Christopher, and L.W. Miller, there wasn't much else. A dismal 14 cars showed up to compete at Lanier.

The WSMT is off until July 3 at Caraway Speedway, when it makes its second of six trips to the Asheboro, N.C. half-mile. If the number-one Modified division in the southern United States is going to survive, it's going to need to a little better than fields of 16, 20, 26, and 14 cars. We'll see if the early summer vacation will help the some of the missing teams get some legs underneath them and help the struggling series finish the year strong.

***

Okay, okay, okay, the Burger King likes square butts and he cannot lie. We get it.

We'll see you at the races!

Cyr Shifts Focus, For Now

In American-Canadian Tour racing, there isn't much left for Jean-Paul Cyr to accomplish. He holds the record for all-time and consecutive ACT championships, at seven and five, respectively, ranks a close second in all-time ACT Late Model Tour race victories, has won all of the major events on the schedule at least once, and is a past recipient of the Don MacTavish Award for lifetime contributions to motorsports. Prior to that, he had been a track champion on the Devil's Bowl Speedway dirt in Fair Haven and a top independent competitior on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. And for nearly the entire first decade of the 21st century, Cyr has been the face of northeastern Late Model racing.

But when a driver achieves so much success so frequently, he or she can become... bored.

So here comes Cyr, at 44, bored and seeking new challenges. The Milton racer is stepping out of an ultra-successful ride in the Rick Paya-owned RPM Motorsports #32 car and into a new car with an unproven team. Away from the ACT Late Model Tour - at least full-time - and into the tough-as-nails weekly wars at Barre's Thunder Road. And, more often, out of the close confines of a stock car cockpit and into the open air atop a speeding motorcycle.

Cyr has formed a new team with Joey and Jeff Laquerre to run for the 2009 Thunder Road Late Model championship. Joey Laquerre, who posted his first Thunder Road win as a car owner in 1968 and his most recent win as a driver some 40 years later, will field a new Race Basics-built car for Cyr at the Quarry Hill oval. His son, Jeff, will attempt to add to his impressive résumé as a championship-caliber crew chief, and will oversee the operation. Both Cyr and Jeff Laquerre have brought crew members to the fold, aiming for the "King of the Road" crown in the track's 50th season.

Said Cyr simply, "The number-one goal is to create a very stout team that can be a threat week-in and week-out, and the number-two goal would be the Thunder Road title." He did offer that the new team plans to compete in selected ACT events, although its touring schedule has not been finalized.

But there's more. As mentioned, Cyr will return to the roots he planted in his teenage years on the seat of a motorcycle. He has recently returned from the Mexican desert, having enlisted the help of Baja racing legends Johnny Campbell and Tim Morton, and is in the process of training for the Baja 500.

"I grew up racing motocross and hair scrambles," said Cyr. "In my late teens I raced the Florida winter series for a couple of years. Before I raced cars, that's what I did. I kind of became burned out on them, but around that time when I was younger the Baja had always intrigued me so it had always been kind of one of those personal goals to get out there. My father had gone out to Baja and did some trail riding a few times, and he'd come back telling stories."

Cyr began dabbling in the desert a couple of years ago, and the itch came back.

"I happened to meet the right people out there that were involved in racing the Baja 500 and 1000, and I made all the right connections," he said. "Now the opportunity has become very real. On June 6, I race the Baja 500, and I'm going to race that solo. To race at Baja and race cars, it's two different things, but I have to focus on both aspects. To race every weekend with the (ACT) Tour would interfere too much with my ambitions with the Baja. We're talking right now about forming a team for the 1000 (in November), myself and another rider, through Baja Bound (a ride/race program operated by Morton). So Thursday nights (at Thunder Road) really fit in really well for this year, where it wasn't going to take up a lot of my time and cut into too much of my training."

But back to four wheels, Cyr's touring experiences had begun to stagnate over the last couple of seasons. Until last year, he had never seriously been challenged for the ACT championship since his first of five consecutive titles in 2003. During that span, he won over 20% of the races run on the series, and had started to look in other directions, including brief stints as Race Director on Thursday nights at Thunder Road, and as the driver of Gary Casella's #25 car on the True Value Modified Racing Series. Racing full-time at Thunder Road, it seemed, was a logical change of atmosphere.

"I'm always looking for new challenges," Cyr explained. "With our recent history on the Tour, I was looking for new challenges. Thunder Road is certainly a big challenge. What intrigues me about it are the fans at Thunder Road. It's like, until you race Thunder Road weekly, I believe, you're never truly accepted by the fans there, and I love the fans there and I'd like to be more of a part of that before I move on to different venues. I can see myself running the Tour next year, (but) I needed an escape."

And then Cyr said something completely unexpected: "You set goals, and I've never truly achieved any goal that I've ever set, believe it or not."

How could this be possible for a man who has won more than anyone else in the last half-dozen years, for a man who has won championships on two wheels and four, on dirt and asphalt, and has competed successfully virtually everywhere?

"I tend to set fairly high goals, and I believe your goals should be high enough where you don't achieve them," he said. "What do you do after you achieve a goal? The project is done. So if you want to continue on with anything in life, anything that you love, I believe you always set your true ambition just above your likelyhood or ability. That way you can carry through, that's how you can win more than one championship, that's how you keep going. The novelty (of winning ACT races and titles) had worn off, and it was just time for something different, something to inject a little bit more excitement into my life. That's how the Modified happened, I was looking to make my job harder. And I did, just seeking satisfaction. It's kind of complicated, but it's not. Just looking to mix things up, add a little bit of excitement, create desire once again. I like an electric atmosphere, I like for things to be not so much black-and-white but a little bit more adventurous. That's all I was seeking, and once you start doing different things it opens up different opportunities."

So how long is Jean-Paul Cyr going to be seeking adventure at Thunder Road or in the desert? Are his days of ACT dominance over?

"Would I like to win eight ACT championships? Sure, but it's not going to be this year," he said with a laugh. "For me it's a learning-charge-your-battery-focus-on-Thunder-Road-race-the-Baja-and-not-get-killed-type of year."

World Series: Jarvis Squeaks Out Top Ten Point Finish

Ascutney racer Peter Jarvis concluded the 43rd Annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing with an eighth-place finish in the Tour-type Modified division at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway on Saturday night, and moved back into the Top 10 in championship standings on the final night. Jarvis entered the 25-lap finale in a tight battle for points positions 8-11 with John Jensen, Louie Mechalides, and Kevin Goodale, and was able to move up a position to finish 10th overall in the nine-night series.

Jarvis, the 2007 True Value Modified Racing Series Rookie of the Year, did all he could by finishing eighth in the race with Jensen and Goodale right behind in ninth and 10th, but was unable to overtake either driver in the standings. Mechalides was unable to make the start of the finale, dropping him to 12th overall behind Jarvis and J.R. Bertuccio. The final tally saw Goodale finish eighth in points, just four markers ahead of Jensen (644-640) and only six ahead of Jarvis (638).

Ted Christopher of Plainville, Conn. won the race and the World Series championship in the Tour-type Modfieds.

Final Point Standings
43rd Annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing
New Smyrna Speedway - New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Tour-type Modified

Pos.-Driver-Hometown-Points
1. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT - 819

2. Eric Goodale, Riverhead, NY - 727
3. Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, NY - 709
4. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, NJ - 701

5. Bobby Grigas, III, Marshfield, MA - 697
6. Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, MA - 678
7. Matt Hirschman, Northampton, PA - 670
8. Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, NY - 644
9. John Jensen, Wolcott, CT - 640
10. PETER JARVIS, ASCUTNEY, VT - 638

World Series: Jarvis 10th in Richie Evans 100

Peter Jarvis of Ascutney held on for a top-ten finish in the 24th Annual Richie Evans Memorial 100 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway on Friday night. Jarvis, a True Value Modified Racing Series regular, drove the Wally and Dennis Albro-owned #9NH to his third top-ten in seven starts in the Tour-type Modified division at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, but slipped to 11th in points after chief rivals John Jensen and Kevin Goodale had better finishes. Jensen, of Wolcott, Conn. finished seventh after leading some laps after the halfway point, while Riverhead, N.Y.'s Goodale clawed to a fifth-place finish.

Championship positions 8-11 are seperated by just ten points, with Goodale leading the group at 568. Tyngsboro, Mass. driver Louie Mechalides sits ninth at 566 after failing to finish the Richie Evans 100, with Jensen (562) and Jarvis (558) close behind. The World Series draws to a close on Saturday night with a 25-lap finale for the Tour Modifieds.

Ted Christopher of Plainville, Conn. copped the Richie Evans Memorial 100 victory for his fourth career triumph in the race. He also won in 1994, 1997, and 2000. Ronnie Silk, Bobby Grigas, III, Matt Hirschman finished second through fourth. Goodale was next in fifth place at the finish, followed by Chuck Hossfeld, Jensen, Eric Goodale, Andy Seuss, and Jarvis.

Point Standings
43rd Annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing
New Smyrna Speedway - New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Tour-type Modified, after Night 8 of 9, Fri., Feb. 13, 2009

Pos.-Driver-Hometown-Points
1. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT - 719
2. Bobby Grigas, III, Marshfield, MA - 633
3. Eric Goodale, Riverhead, NY - 632
4. Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, NY - 627
5. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, NJ - 617
6. Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, MA - 590
7. Matt Hirschman, Northampton, PA - 584
8. Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, NY - 568
9. Louie Mechalides, Tyngsboro, MA - 566
10. John Jensen, Wolcott, CT - 562
11. PETER JARVIS, ASCUTNEY, VT - 558

World Series: Chase Scores Another 5th, Jarvis Rebounds to 13th

Milton's Eric Chase continued his streak of top-five finishes on Thursday night at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway's World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, finishing in fifth place for the third night in a row. With the finish, Chase continues to hold onto eighth place in the ASA/Crate-type Late Model division point standings, and tightens the gap considerably to just four points - or, one on-track position - behind seventh-place driver David Rigan, 146-142.

Former point leader Patrick Laperle of St-Denis, Que., the defending American-Canadian Tour champion, was involved in a lap 10 crash that heavily damaged his JPN Racing/Shear Metal Products #91 Chevrolet, as it slammed the Turn 1 wall rear-end-first before hitting the driver's side. Laperle was uninjured, but his crew is already in the process of pulling an "all-nighter" to make repairs to the car in time for Friday's 50-lap finale. Laperle, who officially finished 22nd, now trails David Wagner, who won Thursday's feature, by 24 points for the championship, 246-222.

Points in the Crate Late Models are awarded as follows: 40 points to the winner, 36 for second place, 32 for third, etc., to a minimum of four points (10th place and lower). To clinch the championship, Laperle will need to win on Friday and have Wagner finish 8th or worse, or finish second and have Wagner to finish no better than 9th. One saving grace for Laperle may be that the Crate Late Models will qualify via time trials for Friday's 50-lap race. For most of the World Series, the division has had heads-up starts based on the previous night's finish, meaning Laperle would have had to start in 22nd place Friday under the regular format.

Peter Jarvis of Ascutney rebounded after crashing in afternoon practice to post a 13th-place effort in the Tour-type Modified event on Thursday. Jarvis is now tied for ninth with Kevin Goodale at 482 points, while John Jensen sits 11th just two markers back. The 24th Annual Richie Evans Memorial 100 is up next for the Tour Modifieds on Friday night, with a 25-lap feature scheduled to close out the World Series on Saturday.

World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing Night 7 Results:
ASA/Crate-type Late Models
1. David Wagner
2. Stephen Nasse
3. Kyle Maynard
4. Joey Gase
5. ERIC CHASE
6. Austin Kirkpatrick
7. Josh John
8. Nick Glaze
9. Landon Cassill
10. Shaun McWhirter
--
22. Patrick Laperle

Tour-type Modifieds
1. Ted Christopher
2. Bobby Grigas, III
3. Ronnie Silk
4. Matt Hirschman
5. Chuck Hossfeld
6. Jimmy Blewett
7. Eric Goodale
8. Robbie Fuller
9. Jon McKennedy
10. Kevin Goodale
--
13. PETER JARVIS

Point Standings Following Night 7:
Pos.-Driver-Hometown-Points
ASA/Crate-type Late Models
1. David Wagner, Akron, OH - 246
2. Patrick Laperle, St-Denis, QC - 222
3. Stephen Nasse, Pinellas Park, FL - 182
-- Joey Gase, Cedar Rapids, IA - 182
5. Landon Cassill, Cedar Rapids, IA - 178
6. Kyle Maynard, Weirsdale, FL - 158
7. David Rigan, Clarence, NY - 146
8. ERIC CHASE, MILTON, VT - 142
9. Jimmy Weller, Hubbard, OH - 122
10. Nick Glaze, Austin, AR - 110
-- Austin Kirkpatrick, Ocala, FL - 110

Tour-type Modifieds
1. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT - 619
2. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, NJ - 555
3. Eric Goodale, Riverhead, NY - 552
4. Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, NY - 543
-- Bobby Grigas, III, Marshfield, MA - 543
6. Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, MA - 530
7. Louie Mechalides, Tyngsboro, MA - 498
8. Matt Hirschman, Northampton, PA - 496
9. PETER JARVIS, ASCUTNEY, VT - 482
-- Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, NY - 482