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.

Bob Valenti Auto Mall to Sponsor Modified Racing Series

(From Modified Racing Series press release)

MARLBOROUGH, MASS. -- Jack Bateman, founder and president of the Modified Racing Series, has announced an agreement has been reached with BobValentiAutoMall.com as the title sponsor for the 2010 racing season. Bateman made the disclosure at the all-new Racers Expo in Marlborough, Mass., on Saturday.

“BobValentiAutoMall.Com has signed on for the new season. We look forward to working with the Valenti family. They are strong supporters of racing and have been for many years. We are pleased to have them as part our series,” Bateman said.

Bateman was joined by Bob Valenti Auto Mall representatives including company Vice President Rob Valenti who eagerly looks forward to the new sponsorship.

“We have been involved in local racing for nearly 20 years sponsoring drivers and local tracks. The Modified Racing Series gives Bob Valenti Auto Mall the opportunity to continue our sponsorship at the local level while expanding our reach to consumers throughout New England," saud Rob Valenti. “The Modified Racing Series and BobValentiAutoMall.com are the perfect fit as they both offer exciting vehicles at a great value to the customer. We are very excited about the 2010 season and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”

The family owned and operated business, based in Mystic, Conn., and Westerly, R.I., specializes in new and pre-owned vehicle sales and service. The Valenti family has been in the automotive business for over 80 years.

The popular Modified Racing Series, featuring open-wheel modified race cars, will compete in 19 races at speedways throughout the northeast including first time appearances at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, Conn. In 2009, 15 races were run with 12 different drivers victorious. Seven of those drivers were first time winners.

Mark Hann, President and CEO of Victory Motorsports Marketing Services, LLC, the newly named marketing specialist for the Modified Racing Series, worked with Bateman, Rob Valenti, and Dennis Perry, Business Development Manager of Bob Valenti Auto Mall to bring the sponsorship program to the series. Hann noted, “to have Bob Valenti Auto Mall become involved with the series as a marketing venue speaks volumes to what this sport and the series has to offer.”

Hann also disclosed something new this season for race fans to look forward too at each race. The Modified Racing Series sponsored by BobValentiAutoMall.com souvenir trailer and hauler will be on display so fans can purchase series related items and obtain information about Bob Valenti Auto Mall.

The 2010 season kicks off March 27-28 with the running of the “Budweiser Blastoff” 100-lap race at Waterford Speedbowl in Waterford, Conn.

Modified Racing Series to Hold Memorial Day Doubleheader at Airborne, Thunder Road

KEENE, N.H. -- The Modified Racing Series will have a busy Memorial Day weekend in 2010 in the Champlain Valley. Series president and competitor Jack Bateman announced on Sunday at a meeting with competitors and officials that his tour, formerly known as the True Value Modified Racing Series, will make its first stop at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y. on Saturday, May 29 next season.

The Airborne date creates a two-day doubleheader Memorial Day weekend for the open-wheel series, coupling it with long-time sister track Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in Barre on Sunday, May 30.

The Airborne race brings the MRS schedule to 19 races. One final event, scheduled for September 10 at a track to be named, is expected to be announced in two weeks, according to an MRS press release.

Bateman said that Thunder Road promoter and former Airborne manager Tom Curley was a key to finalizing the Airborne event, which has been run by promoter Mike Perrotte since 2005.

"We’ve been working on Airborne for three years now, it’s nice that we were able to put it together," said Bateman. "We could not have done it without the cooperation of Thunder Road and Tom Curley. I am pleased with the support they have given us for this special two-day event."

The Airborne Speedway event will be just the second visit for the series to New York; the first will be at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta in April in a combination event with the New York-based Race of Champions Tour. Bateman tested his car on the newly-paved Albany-Saratoga track last month.

MODIFIED RACING SERIES 2010 SCHEDULE (as of December 7, 2009)

#-Day-Date-Track-Location

1. Sat./Sun., March 27/28 -- Waterford Speedbowl, Waterford, Conn.
2. Sat./Sun., April 17/18 -- Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. (MRS/RoC combo)
3. Sat., May 1 -- Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H.
4. Sat., May 29 -- Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
5. Sun., May 30 -- Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre
6. Fri., June 4 -- Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H.
7. Sat., June 12 -- Seekonk Speedway, Seekonk, Mass.
8. Thu., June 17 -- Thompson Int'l Speedway, Thompson, Conn.
9. Sat., July 3 -- Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H.
10. Fri., July 9 -- Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H.
11. Sat., July 17 -- Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Me.
12. Sat., July 24 -- Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H.
13. Sat., Aug. 7 -- Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Me.
14. Sat., Aug. 14 -- Waterford Speedbowl, Waterford, Conn.
15. Sat., Aug. 21 -- Seekonk Speedway, Seekonk, Mass.
16. Thu., Aug. 26 -- Thompson Int'l Speedway, Thompson, Conn.
17. Sat., Sept. 4 -- Waterford Speedbowl, Waterford, Conn.
18. Sun., Sept. 10 -- TBA
19. Sat./Sun., Oct. 9/10 -- Seekonk Speedway, Seekonk, Mass.
20. Sat./Sun., Oct. 23/24 -- Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H.

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)