Hinckley, Pennink Provide Modified Sparks at Airborne

Modified Racing Series coverage presented by GossCars.com

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Rowan Pennink had it all but won 99 and ¾ laps into the inaugural Modified Racing Series event at Airborne Speedway.

But after lap 100, Les Hinckley walked away – literally – with the winner’s trophy.

Hinckley, of Windsor Locks, Conn., led the race from the outset until a lap 74 restart brought Pennink, who started 15th, to the front row and eventually the lead. Pennink led through two more quick restarts, but had a rear view mirror full of Hinckley and Dwight Jarvis over the final eight laps.

As the white flag flew signaling the final lap, Pennink appeared to have the race in hand. Geoff Gernhard, about to be put one lap down, pulled to the inside lane in turns three and four to stay out of the leaders’ way.

Pennink, of Huntington Valley, Pa., closed on Gernhard’s car quickly and appeared to get out of the throttle exiting the final corner. Hinckley’s car made contact with Pennink’s rear bumper, causing Pennink to get sideways. At that moment, Hinckley swept to the outside, beating Pennink by less than a foot in a drag race to the finish line. As they crossed the stripe, both cars came into contact again and both slammed into the wall in a shower of sparks, grinding to a halt in Turn 1.

With both cars heavily damaged, Hinckley and Pennink walked to victory lane where they exchanged a war of words through the media.

“The 06 (Hinckley) just flat-out wrecked us there coming to the checker,” Pennink said. “He wasn’t gonna beat me to the start/finish line so he had to try something, and I guess that’s how he wanted to do it. He just destroyed two cars when we’ve got a race tomorrow [at Thunder Road] as well. It’s a shame that people gotta drive like that. The 06 just drove like a complete retard tonight.”

Hinckley admitted getting into Pennink, but felt that the post-race wreck was intentional on Pennink’s part.

“I got into the back of him a little bit in the left-rear when he turned down on me [in turn four],” Hinckley said. “His momentum was broke, I drove up the outside of him, cleared him at the start/finish line, and then he turned right on me and drove us both down the frontstretch [wall]. He doesn’t like it, and I don’t like being torn up, but I didn’t turn left on anybody, and I didn’t turn right on anybody. He can point the finger at me all he wants but he knows what he did.”

Both drivers were critical of lapped traffic not yielding to the leaders.

Jarvis, of Ascutney, came from 14th to finish third. Carl Pasteryak of Lisbon, Conn., was fourth with Ken Barry of Preston, Conn., fifth. Todd Annarummo, Jimmy Kuhn, Eric Goodale, rookie Norm Wrenn, and Eddy Spiers completed the unofficial top ten finishers in order.

The Modified Racing Series will complete its weekend doubleheader at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., on Sunday at 1:30pm. Hinckley’s car owner, Chuck Montville, said that while the frame of their car was slightly damaged, they expected to be at Thunder Road to compete. Pennink’s car suffered heavy damage to the front and rear ends and his Gary Casella-led crew was preparing to work throughout the night to try to repair the car.

Patrick Dupree of Saranac Lake, N.Y., won his third Airborne Speedway Modified feature in four starts, beating out Leon Gonyo of Chazy, N.Y., and Maxime Viens of St-Cesaire, Que., who finished a career-best third. Brandon’s Don Scarborough was fourth, and Napierville, Que., driver Martin Roy recovered from a flat tire at mid-race to finish fifth.

Bucko Branham of Plattsburgh, N.Y., won the Sportsman feature over Morrisonville, N.Y.’s Shawn Duquette, with Jamy Begor, Robin Wood, and Nick Heywood completing the top-five.

Lonnie Rivers of Cadyville, N.Y., won the Renegade feature, followed by Keith O’Neill of Mooers, N.Y., and Swanton’s Kevin Boutin. Randy Martin inherited the Mini-Modified win in the technical inspection line when Rick Doner was disqualified, and Billy Joyal was the Bomber winner.

RESULTS: Modified Racing Series at Airborne 5/29/10

Modified Racing Series coverage presented by GossCars.com

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – US Army/Greg Atkins Logging/Taylor Rental 100
Modified Racing Series – Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Saturday, May 29, 2010

(Pos.-Driver-Hometown)
# - denotes rookie

1. Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, Conn.
2. Rowan Pennink, Huntington Valley, Pa.
3. Dwight Jarvis, Ascutney
4. Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn.
5. Ken Barry, Preston, Conn.
6. Todd Annarummo, Swansea, Mass.
7. Jimmy Kuhn, Jr., Bridgewater, Mass.
8. Eric Goodale, Wading River, N.Y.
9. #Norm Wrenn, Nashua, N.H.
10. Eddy Spiers, Beacon Falls, Conn.
11. Geoff Gernhard, Salem, Conn.
12. Max Zachem, Preston, Conn.
13. Bobby Drown, Milldale, Conn.
14. David Cranmer, North Hanover, N.J.
15. Jacob Dore, Sanford, Me.
16. Joe Doucette, Framingham, Mass.
17. Kenny White, Jr., Weare, N.H.
18. John Cleary, Madison, Conn.
19. Steve Masse, Bellingham, Mass.
20. Shelly Perry, Westerly, R.I.
21. Jimmy Dolan, Bethel, Conn.
22. Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, Mass.
23. #Joey Jarvis, Ascutney
24. Sean Bodreau, Claremont, N.H.
25. Rob Goodenough, Swanzey, N.H.

Airborne Speedway Modified
1. Patrick Dupree, Saranac Lake, N.Y.
2. Leon Gonyo, Chazy, N.Y.
3. Maxime Viens, St-Cesaire, Que.
4. Don Scarborough, Brandon
5. Martin Roy, Napierville, Que.

Sportsman
1. Bucko Branham, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
2. Shawn Duquette, Morrisonville, N.Y.
3. Jamy Begor, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
4. Robin Wood, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
5. Nick Heywood, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Renegade
1. Lonnie Rivers, Cadyville, N.Y.
2. Keith O’Neill, Mooers, N.Y.
3. Kevin Boutin, Swanton
4. Keith Pelkey, Clintonville, N.Y.
5. Chad Provost, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Mini-Modified
1. Randy Martin, Keeseville, N.Y.
2. Steven Bressette, Keeseville, N.Y.
3. Kris Clark, Keeseville, N.Y.
4. Speedy Bressette, Castleton
5. Bobby LaVair, Gabriels, N.Y.

Bomber
1. Billy Joyal, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
2. Michael Whalen, Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y.
3. Curtis LaGrave, Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y.
4. Josh Durivage, West Chazy, N.Y.
5. Cody Meyers, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Big Holiday Weekend Ahead For Modifed Racing Series

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- In keeping with the tradition of being the biggest motorsports weekend of the season, the Modified Racing Series sponsored by BobValentiAutoMall.com will spend the Memorial Day holiday weekend competing in two states in two days. It’s the first time race events have been scheduled back-to-back by the touring series.

Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., will host the series on Saturday, May 29, for the first time at the US Army/Greg Atkins Logging/Taylor Rental 100. On Sunday, May 30, the action shifts to the famed Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., for the running of the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic, the third appearance there by the MRS.

MRS drivers expected to enter at Airborne include defending champion Jon McKennedy of East Chelmsford, Mass., 2006 champion Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney, Vt., veteran Carl Pasteryak of Lisbon, Conn., recent Albany-Saratoga Speedway winner Rowan Pennink of Huntington Valley, Pa., defending Rookie of the Year Jacob Dore of Sanford, Me., and Kenny Barry of Preston, Conn., to name a few.

Each is also expected at Thunder Road on Sunday, along with defending Thunder Road winner Stephen Masse of Bellingham, Mass., three-time MRS champion and former T-Road winner Kirk Alexander of Swanzey, N.H., and former series champion Charlie Pasteryak of Lisbon, Conn., who is returning to competition after being sidelined with health problems.

Veterans Mike Holdridge, Sean Bodreau, Jimmy Dolan, and Les Hinckley, are also expected entries. Koszela Speed Rookie of the Year candidates Joey Jarvis, Norm Wrenn, and Kurt Vigeant are also planning to enter the holiday program.

Saturday’s Airborne Speedway race program gets underway at 5:00pm, while Sunday’s race card starts at 1:30pm at Thunder Road. For additional information log on to www.modifiedracingseries.com

Airborne Hosts Modified Racing Series Memorial Day Weekend

(From track press release)

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Airborne Speedway will celebrate Memorial Day weekend by hosting a Modified Racing Series event for the first time Saturday, May 29, and the tour’s top drivers are looking forward to racing their low-slung 600-horsepower machines on the progressively-banked half mile.

“We’re hearing that there are three or more racing grooves to play around with,” defending Series champion Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, Mass., said. “That should be a lot of fun and it should make it a very interesting, competitive race.”

Veteran Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney, recent Modified Racing Series winner at Monadnock Speedway, feels the same way. “We’re excited,” Jarvis said. “We’ve heard a lot of good things about Airborne.”

“The Airborne race is the first part of a big doubleheader for our series,” founder, promoter and competitor Jack Bateman said. “We race the next day at Thunder Road. It’s something we’ve never done before. This is our seventh season and we have 65 teams entered, which is a record for us. It’s really exciting.”

Greg Atkins Logging and Taylor Rental present the Modified Racing Series 100-lap event. All Airborne divisions will also compete. Post time is 5 p.m.

“I think this race will be a treat for our fans and it should bring in some race fans from outside the area,” Perrotte said. “The Modified Series cars are the type that race so well at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. They’re a link to a lot of Airborne history from the '50s and '60s.”

This Saturday, May 15 is Econo Lodge Kiddie Rides Night. Kiddie rides begin at 4:40 p.m. Post time is 5 p.m. All Airborne divisions will be in action. Admission is $10 for adults, kids 12 and under free.

Jarvis Wins Modified Racing Series at Monadnock

(From MRS press release)

WINCHESTER, N.H. – Despite 12 caution periods Ascutney, Vt., racing veteran Dwight Jarvis scored his first win of the season Saturday night in front of a large opening night crowd when he captured the Bond Auto Parts Spring Dash 100 for modified race cars at Monadnock Speedway.

The win by Jarvis was his sixth career victory with the Modified Racing Series, sponsored by BobValentiAutoMall.com.

Starting 17th in a 24 car field, Jarvis methodically worked his way through the lineup, taking the top spot on lap 76. It was a hard fought victory for the popular driver who chased hometown driver Jim Boniface for several laps before making the pass. Boniface led the race for 68 laps.

2009 Koszela Speed Rookie of the Year Jacob Dore of Sanford, Me., made a late race charge to finish second. Boniface settled for third, while Rowan Pennink of Huntington Valley, Penn., finished fourth with Sean Bodreau of Claremont, N.H., fifth.

Pennink, who started 24th in the field, was involved in an early race skirmish on lap 36, that forced him to start last again. He made a late race charge that led to his fourth place finish.

32 race teams entered the event, the third of 19 races for the popular touring series.

The next scheduled race for MRS is the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta N.Y., on May 21.

Modified Racing Series at Albany-Saratoga Postponed

MALTA, N.Y. -- The inaugural "East-West Showdown" for the Modified Racing Series and the Race of Champions Modifieds at Albany-Saratoga Speedway has been postponed by rain.

A tentative make-up date has been set for Friday, May 21.

Showers in Malta, N.Y., halted qualifying during the third of four heat races; RoC regular Pete Brittain of Oakhurst, N.J., won the first heat, with MRS rookie Norm Wrenn of Nashua, N.H., winning the second heat. Modified Racing Series officials reported that a combined 50 MRS and RoC teams were to attempt qualifying.

Ascutney rookie Joey Jarvis finished second to Brittain in the first heat, with his uncle Dwight Jarvis, also of Ascutney, in sixth place. The May 21 program will begin with a complete restart of the third qualifying heat.

Modified Racing Series Welcomes a New Jarvis

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

WATERFORD, Conn. -- The Modified Racing Series has seen plenty of stars in its six-year tenure, among them the Jarvis brothers of Ascutney. Dwight was the 2006 champion of the series, and is among the most successful Vermonters to ever wheel a stock car with another 18 track championships in his hip pocket. His brother, Peter, was the 2007 MRS Rookie of the Year, and has won races from New England to Florida.

But as the Jarvis brothers enter the twilight of their careers, the next generation is ready to step in. At just 18 years old, Joey Jarvis, Peter's son, enters his first full season in the Modified Racing Series.

"We just want to make it in to all the races," Joey says. But don't let him fool you into thinking he's not comfortable behind the wheel. In his first season of Modified racing at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, N.H., last year, he lost the championship by just a single point. The year before that, he took podium finishes in all 18 of his starts to stroll to the track's Strictly Stock championship. Before that, he dominated youth divisions at Twin State and Canaan.

And the car he's driving this year? It's the Wally Albro-owned #9NH formerly driven by -- who else? -- Peter Jarvis.

"It's a good car, and it's getting better and better," said Joey, a very accomplished saxophonist and guitarist. "I think we should be good this season, but I just want to learn." In his three starts with the Modified Racing Series last season, Jarvis showed that the learning curve may be a sort one; he registered a seventh-place finish at Lee USA Speedway to end the year, and was impressive to begin 2010 at Waterford Speedbowl on Sunday.

While running in sixth place on lap 76 and catching the leaders, Jarvis ran out of fuel under caution. He lost one lap while in the pits, but rallied to finish 11th.

"I think we proved the underdogs are here," he said after the race. "We didn't get much to show for how we ran, but if we hadn't run out of gas I think we would have been right up there with the leaders."

With the impressions he's made already, and the pedigree his racing family gave him, Joey Jarvis likely won't have long before he is the leader.

Modified Racing Series Boasts Historic Registration Numbers

(From MRS press release)

CANAAN, N.H. -- The recently released roster of 65 race teams intending to compete with the BobValentiAutoMall.com Modified Racing Series in 2010 is the largest pre-season count in the seven-year history of the series. Competitors from all over the northeast are preparing for the new season and a strong car count is anticipated for the season opener at the "Budweiser Blastoff" weekend at Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl on March 27-28.

"It is unbelievable when you think of it," said tour announcer John Spence. "We have always had respectable numbers going into a new campaign, but to have 65 teams saying they are going to give your series a try speaks volumes of where this tour is at. Those numbers are where you like to be going into your seventh season."

As the tour makes its way around New England on a 19-race schedule, fans can expect to see series favorites like defending champion, Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, Mass., 2008 champion Chris Pasteryak of Lisbon, Conn., 2006 series champion Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney, and occasional appearances by three-time champion and all-time winner Kirk Alexander of Swanzey, N.H.

Twelve different drivers visited victory lane last season and all are returning in 2010. Joining the four champions will be New Hampshire racers Rob Goodenough and Andy Seuss, Doug Coby and Kenny Barry of Connecticut, Massachusetts drivers Stephen Masse and Jimmy Kuhn, Rowan Pennink of Huntington Valley, Pa., Rookie of the Year Jacob Dore of Sanford, Me., and Mike Stefanik of Coventry, R.I.; seven of those drivers claimed their first MRS checkered flag last season.

Many new names fill the roster coming from other sanctions, weekly programs, and outside the six-state New England region. New to the series this year will be NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour regular Eric Goodale of Riverhead, N.Y., and former NASCAR Busch North Series regular Bryon Chew, of Inlet, N.Y.

North Hanover, N.J., driver David Cranmer plans to spend his racing season in New England. "I'm looking forward to the full MRS schedule this year," said Cranmer. "This will be the first full season of tour racing for me. After Wall (N.J.) Stadium closed in 2008 we ventured south to the ASA Southern Modified Tour. I think the MRS is the best touring series that is still within reach for the grassroots racer."

Household names familiar to New England race fans will also debut this year. Ronnie Silk of Norwalk, Conn., will drive the Eddie Partridge entry in selected events, and former MRS winner Rob Summers of Vernon, Conn., also hopes to run as many shows as possible that do not conflict with his ISMA Supermodified schedule.

"Stormin" Norman Wrenn, of Nashua, N.H., a twenty-plus year veteran, moves to a full-blown modifieds after much success with the New England Pro4 Modified Series. Wrenn, also an accomplished pro-stock and super-late model racer, will run select events.

Series mainstays Les Hinckley, Jack Bateman, Jimmy Dolan, Mike Douglas, Jr., Eddy Spiers, Kevin Ianarelli, and Joe Doucette are all registered as well.

The Modified Racing Series will help Waterford Speedbowl kick off its 60th season. Teams will be afforded the opportunity to practice on Fri., March 26. For additional information log on to http://www.speedbowl.com/.

The Juice -- Why the World Needs Eric Williams, and a Big, Fat Thank You

-by Justin St. Louis

I was never a big fan of Eric Williams when I was a kid sitting in the grandstands at Thunder Road. I didn't hate him -- I booed Clem Despault and Dwayne Lanphear a lot more, for some unknown reason -- but I can't remember ever thinking he was "my guy" to cheer for.

He was exciting to watch, that's for sure: Like on the night he pushed someone (maybe Tom Tiller?) totally sideways -- and I'm talking nose-in-the-driver's-door-at-a-90-degree-angle sideways -- for more than a quarter of a lap, or the year he won almost half of the Flying Tiger features from the rear of the field, or all those nights he was black-flagged for whacking someone else for no apparent reason. It was long-known that Williams operated his team on a shoestring budget, hauling his car on an open trailer for longer than almost every other Late Model team. His cars almost never looked show-ready, although they were fast. And his fan club was notoriously loud, sometimes nasty, and always controversial.

As I grew up and eventually became a racer myself, I still watched and marveled at Williams, as he started becoming a constant threat for victory lane, no matter where he went. And the excitement continued: His year-long championship battle with Brian Hoar in 1999 that ultimately came down to Hoar's final-corner pass of Jamie Fisher to win the Milk Bowl and the "King of the Road" title by one point, his razor-close finish in an ACT Late Model Tour race at Canaan Fair Speedway with Dave Pembroke, his opening-day battle with Dale Shaw in 2004, his season-long confrontations with John Donahue the next year. The cars were still ugly and the fan club still cheered.

And in the last few years as I've gotten to know Williams on a bit more of a personal level through work, at least through interviews and whatnot, I've come to this conclusion: Thunder Road International Speedbowl needs Eric Williams. The American-Canadian Tour needs Eric Williams. The northeast is lucky to have him.

When Williams pulls into a race track, he's an immediate darkhorse for the win. He is certainly one of the most feared Late Model drivers at Thunder Road. He's a major threat at White Mountain Motorsports Park. And this year, he certainly stepped up his game on the flatter tracks at Oxford Plains Speedway and Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Due to his limited budget, Williams missed three of the 13 ACT events on the schedule, and was forced to use each of his finishes to count toward the ACT championship in the "Pick 10" points format. So while Brian Hoar was able to drop his 22nd-place finish at White Mountain, Scott Payea scratched a 19th from Oxford in May, and John Donahue excluded a 20th at Thunder Road, Williams had no choice but to use his 27th-place finish at Twin State and two bad showings at Airborne Speedway. And he still finished seventh in points, better than eight teams that went to every race.

The Eric Williams mystique goes way beyond that, though; he is a true character, and the catalyst for anyone with a dream. Williams owns and operates a small, one-man auto repair shop in his home town of Hyde Park, up in far-from-everything Lamoille County. With the modest income that shop creates, he and wife Lisa tackle the regular chores of owning a home, putting their daughter Lacey through college, and preparing for son Tucker's entry into school next year. Health issues involving Williams' brother and parents have been a recent distraction, and two years ago, a mudslide threatened to wash away the family's home. Tucker, 18, has a race car and is a multi-sport athlete in high school, which, again, takes time and money. It's a snapshot of small-town Vermont working hard to make a living and still have some fun on the side.

And Williams himself is a relic of small-town Vermont. The 46 year-old stands like a piece of rough-cut lumber, and speaks like a guy that might have chopped the tree down. "Thunder Road," he once told me, with the type of native Vermont accent found closer to the Canadian and northern New York borders than to the Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire borders, "is a whole diff'rent breed'a cat. If you can win here, I guess you can prob'ly win anywhere."

He speaks deliberately, which can be funny, even if he's not trying to be funny. Maybe that's the Chittenden County "city boy" in me giggling over the words he says, knowing they're on purpose, although my own accent has thickened of late, and my Vermontisms (I caught myself saying "move it just a frogskin more" the other day) have picked up. Williams looks at you when he talks, and has a piercing gaze in his eyes. He smiles, a little, when he speaks, and it's obvious that even though he's probably tired, he's enjoying himself.

His line following his win at Oxford last week: "I figured as long I didn't do anything mentally challenged I'll be just fine," will forever live in my mind as one of my favorite interview quotes. But he's had some other good ones recently, too.

The 11-second summary of his third-place finish in the Milk Bowl: "We had a piece of crap in the first segment, had a really good car in the second segment but got boxed in, and then the third, the car was so-so but just worked out. Did alright."

At Thunder Road's pre-season practice session in April, speaking about losing his sponsor despite winning the track championship the year before: "I don't race to prove things, I race because I like to race. I'm glad that I had a good year, if that happens to be my last full-time year, you never know. I'd like to think the economy will turn around. If I hang around at least some, maybe something will come along. I certainly ain't saying I'm all done racing, it's just as of right now I don't have the funds to race full-time."

On the possibility that he might race full-time after winning the Merchants Bank 150 season opener at Thunder Road in May: "I can't really comment and give you anything other than baloney right now, I just don't know. To be honest with you, the first thing that crossed my mind was 'Hey, I can go to Airborne now.' I had a good day, I got some money for tires, so we're headed across the lake next Saturday and give that new pavement a whirl."

On how small his team feels compared to those of the high-budget ACT Late Model Tour operations: "We come down here every year to the first big race, we pull in with our little hauler and trailer. Some of these rigs I could park my hauler and truck inside their rig and still have a picnic underneath it, you know? And you stand there and you look around and you almost say, 'Man, what am I doing? This is crazy.'"

Regarding ACT president Tom Curley: "I'd like to finish top-ten in points. We'd get a check anyway, and I wouldn't mind a little bit more of ol' T-Bone's money. It spends nice."

Eric Williams is maybe the hardest racer in the last 20 years at Thunder Road. He fights for every spot, he isn't afraid to move people if he has to, and he works on his own equipment with his own money. His reputation preceeds him, too.

Nick Sweet at White Mountain in June: "I hate seeing that black bumper in my mirror. He's always run me clean, but I still let him go if he wants a spot."

Scott Payea, after rough-housing Williams a little at Thunder Road on the last lap of a Labor Day qualifying heat: "He would have done it to me, too. He has."

John Donahue, after winning the Milk Bowl: "You don't want to piss Eric off, because he gets mad and he don't forget."

No driver creates more controversy at Thunder Road these days than Eric Williams. No driver gets more of a rise -- good or bad -- out of the spectators than Eric Williams. No driver in the ACT ranks gets booed more than Eric Williams. No driver wins big races on a short budget like Eric Williams. And you'd be hard-pressed to find many drivers saying the things Eric Williams says. He might be a hero to only a select group of family and friends wearing red #7 shirts, a villain to everyone else. But he's a wonderful character for the sport.

We need him around.

***

Still all wound up about that Hart 100 thing. Good lord was that fun. We're contemplating doing the Hangover Enduro thing at Riverside in January on New Year's Day. Guess that means we'd have to go dig the car out of the ditch at Bucktona then, eh? Speaking of which, Riverside has the annual "Frostbite" Enduro on Saturday at 1:30pm, along with the PASS Sportsman Series finale.

***

There's a pretty large contingent of northern racers headed to Dixie for the PASS South Mason-Dixon Meltdown at South Boston Speedway in Virginia this weekend, including Danville racer Steven Legendre, ACT Rookie of the Year Joey Doiron, and jack-of-all-trades D.J. Shaw. Legendre, we think, is the PASS North Rookie of the Year, but there's been nothing made publicly official about that. Even Legendre said he doesn't know if he won it or not, because PASS isn't saying anything. Either way, he grabbed three top-tens in a dozen starts in his freshman season en route to 11th place overall, and those are better numbers than some of the series' veterans put up. Doiron finished 12th in ACT points with a fourth-place run at Twin State Speedway and an impressive outing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last month, and also had a great PASS effort at Beech Ridge earlier in the year. Shaw had five top-fives in 11 PASS starts this year, and also ran well in select ACT and NASCAR Camping World Series East races.

***

Peanut butter and jelly on white bread just isn't the same. And for that matter, Smuckers needs to step up its game. Even the Shaw's generic store brand stuff is better.

***

Ascutney's Dwight Jarvis was the runner-up behind Mike Stefanik in the True Value Modified Racing Series event at Seekonk Speedway last Sunday. What, I say, what does Jarvis have to do to win a race these days? Seekonk was Jarvis' fifth second-place run of the year. I'm guessing when you've won 19 championships in your career like Jarvis has, second place gets old after a while. The TVMRS bunch has one more stop on the schedule at Lee USA Speedway in coastal New Hampshire on Oct. 24/25 before the year is out.

***

I've come across a bit of a dilemma here, now that racing season is all but over in these parts. I'm not really sure what VMM will be up to in the next few days, weeks, or months, but I'll think of something. And when I do, you'll read about it here. Because there's kinda nowhere else to read it.

But I do want to thank each and every one of the readers to visit this little blog this year. I started a hit counter on April 1st and saw the 50,000th visitor come through last month, not quite six months into the count. I have no idea if that's a good number or not, but it sure sounds like a lot, so thank you for reading. And a huge thank you to the groups that have joined on recently to support us: RPM Racing Engines in Georgia, Vt., Burnett Scrap Metals in Williston, and C&S Screenprinting in Richmond.

The MotorMag hit 48 races this year (55 if you count rainouts), and I'm thinking about getting to one or two more before the calendar changes. I made a lot of friends, ruffled a few feathers, and saw some great racing. I developed a new appreciation for dirt racing, and although I still don't totally understand it, I like it and want to see more of it. There are some plans for VMM for the future, and they'll come along in time.

I want to send a special thank-you to the folks that do this job a lot better than I do, including but certainly not limited to Travis Barrett of Green-White-Checker, Seth Leavitt of WCAX-TV Channel 3, Big Bigelow of the Caledonian-Record, Tom Herzig of the Times Argus and the Union Leader, Mike Twist of Speed51.com, T.J. Michaels of Frank 107.1 FM, Lee Kittell of WDEV Radio Vermont, and Phil Whipple of the Lewiston (Me.) Sun Journal.

A HUGE thanks to photographers Leif Tillotson and Alan Ward for their help this year, and also to Jamie Williams.

Thanks to Pete Hartt for being there. Anna Grearson, too.

Thanks to my old man, Ron, and my friends Eddy and Jeff Companion for helping out with a few things this summer, and to both Gene Gagnes (Lil and Big) for sharing a tank of gas here and there.

Thanks to John O. Casey, Dave Moody, Cho Lee, the legends of Thunder Road, the staff at Queen City Printers, and the fans that have so enthusiastically supported "Fifty Years of Excitement".

I would be forgetting myself if I didn't thank the promoters and staff at the following tracks and series for their help, cooperation, and belief that VMM is worthwhile to them: Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Bear Ridge Speedway, Airborne Speedway, Northeastern Speedway, White Mountain Motorsports Park, Oxford Plains Speedway, Fred Neergaard and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Twin State Speedway, Riverside Speedway, Canaan Fair Speedway, the American-Canadian Tour, the True Value Modified Racing Series, and the Sprint Cars of New England.

Thanks to the drivers and teams for letting me get in their faces all year, and for not punching my lights out when they probably wanted to a couple times. (I'll probably have to thank them for that a few times over the years.)

But most of all, again, thank YOU, the readers of Vermont Motorsports Magazine. I've had comments and emails come in from everywhere all year thanking me for the stuff I've written. Folks, don't thank me, thank the drivers and the promoters for making all this happen. All I do is write down what they say and give you a place to read it. I can't tell you how flattered I am to hear someone at Thunder Road or Bear Ridge tell me that they read VMM "two or three times a day" -- say nothing of the folks that say it that are from New Hampshire or New York or Maine -- even a racer from Rhode Island once this summer!

The first year was rocky at times, but I feel like it was a positive one, overall. Here's hoping the next one or two or 17 will be even better.

Thank you, everyone, and winter well.

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)