Updated 05-13-08

Updated 05-09-08

Updated 12-8-06

Updated Hourly

LINKS

Now Available From
Coastal181 Publishers

Thursday 05/15/08
NEAR Hall of Famer Fred Luchesi Among Former Drivers Attending Norwood Arena Reunion June 1st: Some of Fred Luchesi’s peers felt that he retired from racing too early. The Pawtucket, RI racer had a very impressive resume. Consider that he was a NASCAR Champion back in 1948 the year that sanctioning body was formed for his string of wins at the Kingston Fairgrounds in RI. From that point on Luchesi won a number of features at such venues as Lonsdale Arena in RI, Westboro, Norwood Arena, Thompson in Conn., Dover, NH and Seekonk Speedway among several other tracks. As a matter of fact, a knowledgeable observer revealed that Luchesi won just about every feature at Lonsdale in 1955 right up through Hurricane Carol which inundated the venue that ultimately resulted in the demise of that oval. Fred’s ability to win on both dirt and paved ovals proved his versatility. He even took in the big dirt track at Langhorne Speedway in Penn. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

Palmer Takes 2nd Straight Legends Feature At Waterford's Wild n' Wacky Wednesday: Notching his second consecutive Wild n’ Wacky Wednesday Legends feature of the season at the Waterford Speedbowl was Jay Palmer. Early pacesetter Ryan Morgan spun on lap-18 allowing the winner to sneak-by on the inside. Fighting back a green-white-checker challenge from Shaun Buffington, Palmer won by several car lengths. Following was George Whitney, Carl Blandina, and Dennis Pantini. Overall, it marks Palmer’s third victory of the season. Other Feature winners were Jon Porter (Super X Car), Brad Voglesong (X Car), and Richard “Bubby” Brouwer (X Modified). Jon Porter survived several restarts in taking a convincing Super-X Car victory over Steve Barrett, Greg Moran Jr., John Yagmin, and George Correia. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

Could The IndyCar Series Be Back At New Hampshire?: Will the ground shaking grumble of stock cars give way soon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to the high pitched whine of IndyCar Series cars? It seems if New Hampshire Motor Speedway general manager Jerry Gappens has his way that's just what will be happening. Gappens didn't hide the fact Monday that he's interested in seeing the IndyCar Series return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It's been 10 years since the IndyCar style racing has graced the 1.058-mile oval in Loudon. The track hosted CART from 1992-1995 then the IRL from 1996-1998. The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne Jeff Simmons Back On Track In Indianapolis  The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne Carl Edwards Is Humpy's Choice For Saturday At Lowe's Motor Speedway The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne

Wednesday 05/14/08
Wild n' Wacky Set For Round II Tonight At Speedbowl: The Wild n’ Wacky Wednesday crowd gets back to business tonight. Over 100 cars showed up last Wednesday including a record number of X-Modifieds. The Legends Cars, X-Cars and Super-X Cars as due as well along with the NEMA Lites, the latter full-bodied Midget cars with either Ford Focus or Oldsmobile Quad-4 motors. With a $7 admission price, Wild n’ Wacky remains an extraordinary entertainment bargain. It has grown into one of the region’s premier mid-week motorsports programs. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

More History Awaits Cabral; NEMA Heads To Monadnock: Two-for-two so far with a couple of victories at Waterford Speedbowl, Randy Cabral is still not ready to declare himself a contender for the Northeastern Midget Association championship. He is, however, the driver to watch when NEMA pulls into Monadnock Speedway on Saturday, May 24. Monadnock is one of the “trickiest” venues on the NEMA schedule. The club returned there last year after a 10-year hiatus and it was a trio of veterans – Greg Stoehr, Jeff Horn and Nokie Fornoro – that filled the podium. Nokie, a winner back in 1981, is the only other current NEMA driver with a Monadnock win. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

True Value Modified Series Prepares For Thunder Road: It’s been over 40 years since a modified race car has turned a lap at the historic Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, VT, but the True Value Modified Racing Series will bring that long drought to an end, Memorial Day weekend, May 24, 25, when the fifth year series rolls into Vermont for the first time for 100 laps of ground pounding open-wheel modified racing at “The Nations Site of Excitement.” The TVMRS will join with the American-Canadian Tour Late Models who will compete in the 46th annual Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic. To say series drivers and officials are anxiously looking forward to the holiday weekend program is almost an understatement. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

NASCAR Camping World Series News & Notes - Iowa: The entry list reads like a ‘who’s who’ of NASCAR short-track drivers, from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series development teams to seasoned veterans with championship resumes. The US Cellular 200 marks the only time the NASCAR Camping World Series East and NASCAR Camping World Series West will meet in the same race with points on the line. And the event has produced an all-star roster of cars. Mike David (No. 2 Bennett Lane Winery Toyota) and Eric Holmes (No. 20 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota) will resume their championship battle in the NASCAR Camping World Series West. A trio of drivers, including Holmes’ Bill McAnally Racing teammates Austin Cameron and Moses Smith, are lurking right behind the leaders. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

Video Views From Ricky Carmichael and Austin Dillon At New Hampshire Motor Speedway: An open test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Monday gave the media on hand the chance to sit down with two of the new personalities garnering a lot of attention this season in the Camping World East Series. Legendary Motocross rider Ricky Carmichael is racing this season for longtime Sprint Cup Series regular Ken Schrader. Carmichael finished fifth in his series debut at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. Austin Dillon backed up the attention his car has gotten with a victory in his series debut. Dillon, the grandson of Sprint Cup Series team owner Richard Childress, is driving for Andy Santerre Motorsports in a No. 3 car that has the look of those made famous by the late Dale Earnhardt when he drove for Childress. The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne

Tuesday 05/13/08
NEAR Hall of Fame Nominations Sought: The list of nominees for the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame are “streaming in” according to Bruce Cohen, the organization’s vice president. “We’re had a couple dozen or so and they’re still coming,” says Cohen. “They run the gamut from the real pioneers to the more recent guys. I have really been impressed.” It is the result of an “outreach program” by Cohen and New England Antique Racers President Peter Newsham. The forms will be available wherever NEAR appears. Forms were sent out with the last NEAR newsletter. They are or soon will be on several websites. Cohen will also accept nominations without a form as well, either at modman181@comcast.net or at 112 Central St, Apt. #2, Somerville, MA 02143. A short bio of the nominee is encouraged. Signatures (Photos) will also be appreciated. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

Phil Smith's "Champ Trail": The Stafford Motor Speedway fell victim to rain for the second week in a row. The New England DODGE DEALERS LATE MODEL 100 has been rescheduled to Friday night, June 27. NASCAR New England, the hour long Television production that covers the weekly racing will be back on NESN for ten episodes during the 2008 season. The tentative starting date will be in late June. The Waterford Speedbowl enjoyed another good night of competition with Keith Rocco making it two in a row in SK Modified competition. Rocco took the lead from Jay Miller with 13 laps remaining in the 35 lap feature. Miller faded shortly after as Jeff Pearl moved into the second spot. Pearl tried repeatedly to overtake Rocco but was forced to back out of it when it became obvious that Rocco would wreck anyone who attempted to pass. Rather than wrecking Pearl made a smart decision to settle for second spot. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com-Phil Smith

Points Major Concern For Speedbowl Competitors: When the final tally is made for the 2008 Waterford Speedbowl SK-Modified championship, May 10 may be one of the keys. Dennis Gada, seeking a record seventh championship, came back from a mid-race crash to finish 10TH and hold on to the division point lead. Gada, who likes being atop the standings, will take an ever-so slim two-point edge on the streaking Keith Rocco into Saturday night's 35-lap SK feature. It is the headliner of Little League Night at the Speedbowl. The yearly Wiffleball Home Run Derby sponsored by www.sidsvault.com featuring teams comprised of Speedbowl drivers and Little Leaguers, is also on a program that includes a 30-lap Late Model feature and 20 lappers for the Sportsman, Mini Stocks and Legends. Little Leaguers in uniform along with their coaches, will be admitted free. The front gates open at 4PM and qualifying kicks off a 5. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

Rocco 'goes wide' to win: Sometimes your car needs to be as slender as a toothpick in order to get a lead. Other times, your car has to be thicker than a sequoia tree to keep it. With three laps to go in Saturday’s 35-lap SK Modified feature at Waterford Speedbowl, however, Keith Rocco of Wallingford made his car wider than an entire Redwood forest. He needed to, in order to hold off a frantic bid from Jeff Pearl after a late restart. Rocco went on to claim his second straight victory, and admitted he needed to use up as much race track as possible to pull it off. “I had to kind of make the car wide a]t the end and take up a lot of room, but with three laps to go, you do what you have to do to get the win,” Rocco said. “I don’t really like to drive like that, but we’re here to win races.” Manchester Journal Inquirer-Matt Buckler

NASCAR Touring Teams Test at New Hampshire: In a combined session today a total of 23 teams from the NASCAR Camping World Series East and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour tested at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The NASCAR Camping World Series East had a strong contingent of teams taking advantage of the test opportunity with a total of 18 cars. The garage featured a mix of New Hampshire veterans like Steve Park and Matt Kobyluck, as well as a host of rookies such as Austin Dillon, winner of the season-opener at Greenville-Pickens Speedway on April 19. The test session was held in advance of races for both series in June at the New Hampshire . The NASCAR Camping World Series East will run at the 1.058-mile track in the Heluva Good! Summer 125 on Friday, June 27 while the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will take to the track for the New England 100 the next day. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

Can The Canadian Fans Still Come If It's Not International Any More?: Welcome back to Loudon, New Hampshire, sans, campers, golf carts and drunken fans. It's just not the same driving in here without hearing someone 14 beers into a case of Natural Light screaming "Go Jooonya." I had the camera ready on the passenger seat of the Hartford Courant Racing Backstretch Toyota Camry (we had a top-5 car this morning) to take a picture of the new New Hampshire "Motor" Speedway sign out on the Route 106 entrance when rolling in for today's test session. No dice. It's still New Hampshire "International" Speedway for the masses cruising past the big track in Loudon. The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne Jeff Simmons Lands A Seat At Indy With A.J. Foyt Enterprises The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne

Monday 05/12/08
ISMA Prepares For 35th Season Opener At Waterford Speedbowl: In 1974 supermodified legends Jim Shampine and Nolan Swift, along with businessman Tom Heveron, laid the foundation for the International SuperModified Association (ISMA). In 1976, with the fundamentals of the club in place, a point fund system for the traveling group was begun as was its history. As the 35th season begins, the founding fathers can look down with pride at what has been accomplished throughout the years. The veterans and rookies competing in 2008 carry the ideals instituted and nurtured into the fourth decade of ISMA racing as new challenges face them on the horizon. The ISMA May 24th opener takes place at Waterford Speedbowl for the third year in a row. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

There's Getting Wide And Then There's Just Pushing The Limits: When is getting wide really just getting dirty? That's a question left to ponder after Keith Rocco's second consecutive Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature victory at the Waterford Speedbowl. Late in Saturday's victory Jeff Pearl seemed to get an outside run on Rocco off turn of turn 4 only to get pushed up toward the wall by Rocco coming out of the corner. After the race Rocco said: "We made the car as wide as we could. I hate to do it but with three laps to go you've got to do it sometimes." Getting wide is pretty standard racing lexicon, but its hard to categorize what Rocco did to Pearl, or for that matter Dennis Gada on May 3 at the Bowl, as "getting wide." The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne

Sunday 05/11/08
Rocco Scores Again, Thomas Returns To Victory Lane At Speedbowl Keith Rocco forged ahead during several late race restarts in scoring his second consecutive SK Modified feature at the Waterford Speedbowl Saturday evening. Rocco passed early leader Jay Miller with 13 laps remaining and then battled with Jeff Pearl before finally pulling ahead during the final circuits. Following Pearl was Rob Janovic Jr., Ron Yuhas Jr. and Tyler Chadwick. In Late Model action, it was Bruce Thomas Jr. recording his third feature of the season. Thomas battled with Ron Yuhas Jr. during the last half of the event before finally getting the advantage as the two approached lapped traffic and Thomas was able to sneak-by on the inside. Following Yuhas was Tim Jordan, Vin Esposito, and Ed Reed Jr. Other Feature winners were Walt Hovey Jr. (Sportsman), Randy Churchill (Mini Stock), Jason Palmer (Legends), and Randy Cabral (NEMA Midgets). TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

Motivated Cabral Romps At The ‘Bowl: Randy Cabral may have missed his calling. Now two-for-two after a dominating performance in the Northeastern Midget Association 25-lap feature Saturday night at Waterford Speedbowl, he should consider motivational speaking. He’s good at finding reasons to win. Grabbing the lead from Joey Payne Jr. on a lap two restart, Cabral absolutely ran away in the Bertrand #47. Only a yellow with 12 to go delayed Cabral’s rush to victory. He again powered away from Payne. His time for lap 16 was a sizzling 12.742 seconds. “Pretty good,” understated Cabral who had a half straightaway on Bobby Santos III at the checkered. Santos cleared sister Erica on the last restart and took second from Payne in the backstretch with three left. Erica Santos and Greg Stoehr completed the top five.  TheSpeedwayLineReport.com

Rookie making impact: It isn't easy to win consecutive feature races in the rough-and-tumble SK-Modified division at the Waterford Speedbowl. Not with drivers like Dennis Gada, Rob Janovic Jr. and others making the division the most challenging and competitive at the track. But in his first full season at the Speedbowl, Keith Rocco is beginning to feel more at home, evidenced most recently by Saturday night. Rocco became the first driver of the season to post back-to-back SK-Modified wins, and he joins some elite company. The only two drivers to win consecutive races last season were the aforementioned Gada, who won the final three races of the year, and Janovic, who went on to the title. Rocco said it was the first time he'd ever won two races in a row. ”We're just getting better and better every week,” the soft-spoken 23-year-old said. New London Day-Owen Poole

Churchill Wins Waterford's Mini Stock Feature: One by one, drivers took their verbal shots at Randy Churchill. He's too rough. He's making enemies. He's out of control. Churchill laughed off his peers' assessments in the Waterford Speedbowl Mini Stock division. It's not hard to figure out why. "I'm not here to settle for second place," Churchill said. "I want to win every race." And Churchill has been reaching that goal more times than not this season at Waterford. When the dust settled following the 20-lap Mini Stock feature at the Speedbowl Saturday, Churchill, of Norwich, had won for the third time in five events. But the celebration was delayed briefly while Churchill righted his car after getting hit and spun out following the event by Phil Evans, the driver he took the lead from with less than two laps remaining. The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne

Kyle Busch Pulls Another Rabbit Out Of His Hat At Darlington: A portion of the post race chatter from the second and third place finishers of Saturday's Sprint Cup Series Dodge Challenger 500 centered around the celebration habits of the winner. Second place Carl Edwards likened it to David Copperfield, third place Jeff Gordon to Houdini. One thing is certain, there's no denying Kyle Busch is on a magical run. Busch's smoky post race burnouts followed by his exaggerated bows to mostly booing crowds are become all too familiar to fans and it was a production he got to put on once more at Darlington as he rallied back from a pit road penalty and survived numerous scrapes with the wall to to win his third Cup race of the season Saturday. The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne   We; Oui; Wee; Wee-Wee; I . . . Yes, I Am So Sick Of It  The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne It's Bruce Thomas Jr. Again In The Bowl Late Models; Is Tim Jordan Still Talking? The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne  Another Emotional Night For NEMA's Randy Cabral At Waterford  The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne Keith Rocco Makes It Two In A Row In SK Modifieds At Waterford The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne  Randy Churchill Takes Checkered In Physical Waterford Mini Stock Feature  The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne Brad Leighton To Focus On Limited Camping World East Starts In 2008  The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne Scott Dixon Scores First Career Indy Pole  The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne Good Weather For A Race Day In Connecticut? This Can't Be True The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne

Saturday 05/10/08
Jeff Gordon: "Typical Kyle Busch" In Run In With Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Four-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon chimed in Friday with his opinion on the wreck heard round the NASCAR world last week during the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Gordon's teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., ended up spinning in a late race battle for the lead with Kyle Busch. Earnhardt, currently on a 72-race winless streak, ended up 15th. Busch ended up finishing second to Clint Bowyer. Busch and Gordon had been teammates until last season when the hiring of Earnhardt at Hendrick Motorsports necessitated the release of Busch from the organization. Busch now drives for Joe Gibbs Racing. The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne Carl Edwards' Sideways Action Has Others Turning Their Cars Inside Out  The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne Clint Bowyer Quietly Making Noise In 2008 The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne  Daytona In The Rearview, Roger Penske Back Home Again In Indiana The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne  Rain Postpones Stafford Motor Speedway Friday Night Opener, Again The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne

Friday 05/09/08
Phil Smith's "Looking Back": Forty five years ago in 1963 it rained at the Utica-Rome Speedway. Forty years ago in 1968, Jerry Cook took the win at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday night. Dave Kotary finished second with Ron Narducci, Dave Lape and Eddie Pieniezek rounding out the top five. At Stafford, Eddie Flemke made it two in a row despite a lot of pressure from Bugsy Stevens, who finished second. Fred DeSarro finished third and was followed by Sal Dee and Lou Toro. Bugsy Stevens made it two in a row at the Norwood Arena on Saturday night. At Fonda it was Lou Lazzaro over Ed Pieniezek and Dick Clark. Sunday racing at Thompson and Utica-Rome rained out. Thirty five years ago in 1973, Modified action began on Friday at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y. Fred DeSarro took the opening night 100 lapper over Leo Cleary, Bugsy Stevens, Paul Radford and Lou Lazzaro. TheSpeedwayLineReport.com-Phil Smith

RAINED OUT New England Dodge Dealers Late Model 100 Tonight at Stafford: Stafford Motor Speedway's Late Model division will take center stage early in the 2008 season on Friday, May 9th for the 14th Annual New England Dodge Dealers Late Model 100. When it comes to extra distance Late Model racing at Stafford, few drivers can claim the success that Ryan Posocco has found. With a normal Late Model feature distance covering 30-laps, Posocco has excelled when the feature distance exceeds that 30-lap number. Posocco has two career 50-lap feature wins, two career Late Model 100 wins, and a single Late Model 150 win. During the 2003 season, Posocco won both the 100 and 150 lap events in the same season, a feat that has never been matched in Stafford's long and storied history. Posocco says the reason for his extra distance prowess is simple. StaffordMotorSpeedway.com

Berlin's Ryan Preece Prepares For Iowa Speedway Event: Ryan Preece has never been to Iowa, though he has made many virtual visits of late from his Berlin home. Preece, a junior at Xavier High School in Middletown, has been logging as many laps as possible at the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway on his racing simulator in preparation for his Camping World Series debut at the track on May 18. "I've never been further [west] than Indiana," Preece said. "This is big time for me." The 17-year-old Whelen Modified Tour regular will attempt to qualify for the US Cellular 200, a combined Camping World East and West Series race for Greenville, S.C., car owner Maxie Bush. It will mark the debut for Preece in a full-bodied stock car. The Hartford Courant-Shawn Courchesne

Little T division gets hooks 'em young": Sunday brought rain, but still they came. There is a second side to Thompson Speedway, a smaller venue, but one that is the training ground for what may be the next generation of race drivers to come through this area. Although about a half of what was normal showed up at Thompson Speedway, the ones who were there were ready to unpack the trailers or the pick-up trucks and get down to racing. It never happened. At least on this Sunday at the Little T quarter-midget track, although that is far from the norm. The rain left the track too wet to compete on with only a couple of cars going out and taking some practice laps.
The drivers had to settle for going home with mom and dad to play video games and do homework. Norwich Bulletin-Marc Allard

WATERFORD SPEEDBOWL

THIS WEEK

Semi-Monthly Racing Commentary with
LEW BOYD

MAY 1:
BOBBY'S BLUES

MANY VINTAGE MODIFIED RACING VIDEOS
ONLY $19.95

2001 SPRING SIZZLER AND ICEBREAKER VIDEOS!

The Internet Broadcast Of Gary Danko's Speedway Line Report is Made Possible By

Public Service
Advertisements

Racing Against Cancer

Wristbands
Join The Team!