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Monthly Archives: January 2019
Darrell Keane on track to challenge for 2019 Late Model title at Stafford
Darrell Keane On Track to Challenge for 2019 Late Model Title at Stafford
(Stafford Springs, CT)—After a stellar rookie campaign at Stafford Motor Speedway, Enfield, CT native Darrell Keane is ready to return and challenge for the Late Model track title this season. The initial plan for 2018 was to run a partial season as Keane knew race nights would take a backseat mid-season as wedding plans would take center stage. A strong start to the season found Keane and the #79 Botticello, Inc. team in NAPA Victory Lane in the third race of the season which enticed the team to stay on track.
“Last year we only planned on doing around 10 races spread throughout the season and before we knew it, when we took our break I think we were at 10 races,” said Keane. “Taking that break was the best decision for us because we did our homework and we came back even stronger than we were at the beginning of the season. Everyone is really excited to get back at it and I’m excited for this season. We’re making some changes on the car over the winter to update some things and we’re all really anxious. Now we know what we need to be very competitive and it looks like the Late Model field will be even tougher this year. We have to dot all our i’s and cross all out t’s to make sure that we can come out of the box just as good or even better than we were at the end of last season.”
Keane and the #79 Botticello, Inc. team served notice that they would be championship contenders last season by nearly winning the season opening NAPA Spring Sizzler® feature event and winning his first race in his third start. Keane was the Late Model points standings leader for two weeks early in the season before Tom Fearn took control of the championship race.
“I expected to run somewhat decent but we never expected to win in our third start after almost winning the Sizzler,” said Keane. “After the Sizzler I thought that we had something good and to win our third race was shocking. I was figuring on getting a win maybe towards the end of the season. My original thought was if we could get a top-5 at the Sizzler we’d all be pretty happy with that and then before we knew it we led for pretty much the whole race except for the last 2 laps where I made a rookie mistake and I blew it. That just goes to show that races at Stafford are never over until the checkered flag. Our performance is all down to the good people I have helping me out. Between Botticello, Inc., Valhome Productions, BFR Chassis, Cap N Hitch of New England, my wife for dealing with me every week, my Uncle Chucky, and my nephews Nicholas and Darren, if it wasn’t for all those guys, I wouldn’t have a good car to bring to the track every week”
With a season’s worth of experience under his belt, Keane and his #79 team will be better prepared to start the 2019 season and he has set the bar for himself as not only being a championship contender, but exceeding his win total from 2018.
“Our goal last year was to win one race and we got two, so anything more than that this season would be good,” said Keane. “We’re going to run the full season and try to really focus on points. You really can’t start to worry about points until towards the end of the season but you have to have consistency and that will be our focus. I think we showed at the end of last season we could be consistent and the results really started to show. Everyone wants to have the season that Tom Fearn had but if we could get 3 wins we’d be happy and we really want to be in contention for the championship. If wins don’t come for us this season, we’d still be happy being in contention at the end of the year.”
After his 5-race break, Keane closed out the 2018 season on a high note with a second win and four consecutive podium finishes. Keane will be looking to carry that positive momentum into the start of the 2019 season and he will be hoping for a repeat performance at the NAPA Spring Sizzler® without losing the lead in the final laps.
“The first three weeks seems to set a precedent for how the season is going to go, so it’ll be important for us to get off to a good, strong start,” said Keane. “If we should encounter a rough spell at the start, the main thing for us will be to not give up and buckle down and stay positive. Luck has a lot to do with racing and sometimes you create your own luck and sometimes you’re dealt a bad hand. We know what we have to do and how things run once we get to the racetrack, and all those little things add up to make you more comfortable. There’s always a chance that something might happen that catches you off guard, but I think we’re well prepared to have all our bases covered and we’ll be ready to go.”
The 2019 Late Model season will kick off at the 48th Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® on April 26-28. Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are on sale now by calling the Speedway Box Office 860-684-2783 or online at www.staffordspeedway.com.
Source: Scott Running/Safford Speedway PR
Note: If your track, tour or event is not posted on this blog send your press releases and flyers to: lmodestino@hotmail.com
NHMS-Get the Sights and Sounds Package!
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Northeast Motorsports Museum-Newsletter-New displays and Slot Car Racing
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Maine’s Craven get’s color gig with Fox Sports
Craven joins Fox Sports
Image by ESPN
Fox Sports will announce today the addition of Ricky Craven to its on-air talent line-up for the 2019 NASCAR season.
Through a post on his Twitter account, Craven announced his departure from ESPN on Jan. 23 after 11 years as a NASCAR analyst for the network. In that time, Craven routinely appeared on “SportsCenter” and other programs to dissect races and discuss breaking news.
Now with Fox, Craven will be a part of the “NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition” show as well as practice and qualifying sessions and other weekend programming. He will work out of the new virtual studio Fox Sports is rolling out this year.
“I’m honored to join Fox Sports and have always had great admiration and appreciation for the company’s dedication and commitment to our sport,” Craven said. “Fox has an amazing team I have felt a connection to since 2003 when they enthusiastically delivered the broadcast of our finish at Darlington. I eagerly await the start of our new season.”
Sunoco Race Fuels, New England Racing Fuel join Bullring Bash as Official Fuel partner
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Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park announces division rules and purse structures for 2019
THOMPSON SPEEDWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK ANNOUNCES DIVISION RULES & PURSE STRUCTURES FOR 2019
ADDITION OF THE LITE MODIFIEDS ADDS NEW DIMENSION TO THOMPSON SPEEDWAY
By Kyle Souza, for Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
THOMPSON, Conn. – Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park announced division rules and purse structures for the 2019 NASCAR Whelen All American Series season on Tuesday.
With the Lite Modifieds adding to an already strong base of divisions at the Connecticut oval, Thompson Speedway is excited to welcome a new class – one that already has plenty of support from drivers and teams in the New England region. The weekly class will begin their season as part of the 45thannual Icebreaker weekend in April.
“By making the Lite Modifieds our Division III class, we wanted to send a signal that the division is very valuable to Thompson Speedway,” Terry Eames, Thompson’s General Manager, said.
With the addition of the Lite Modifieds as a weekly class, the purse for the Division III class has increased from what it was during their few select events last year. A 20-lap feature event will pay $500 to winner.
In the rules department, the addition of the Lite Modified class weekly required Thompson’s technical inspection staff to take a close look at the rules for 2018 and make a few slight changes in preparation for a 10-race schedule. There are also rules changes for the Sunoco Modifieds, Late Models, Limited Sportsman and Mini Stocks, but all are minimal. Teams can find the updated rules on the Thompson website, where any changes from the 2018 rules are outlined in red on each page.
“The Thompson Speedway technical staff takes great pride in making sure the rules packages for every division are scrutinized, not only in the offseason, but throughout the season,” Mark St. Hilaire, Thompson’s Chief Technical Inspector, said. “Tech officials are always available to the competitors and are welcoming of any and all suggestions that would help make racing more competitive.”
With the cost of racing seemingly rising each year, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park is committed to making sure all drivers have equal ground to race on. Rules changes often come with an added expense for race teams, something Thompson doesn’t want to happen.
“The officials are always looking to stay current with the technological advances in our field, which helps the competitors by keeping cost down,” Mark St. Hilaire said. “We realize that changes cost money and we look to make sure expensive parts or technology do not limit the times a competitor can race throughout the season. We also strive to make the complete field of cars as competitive with each other as possible so we can provide a great experience for our fans.”
Each division rulebook will be available on the Thompson website, and teams are encouraged to read through them and direct any questions to Thompson’s Technical Director Mark St. Hilaire prior to the start of the season.
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park officials are already hard at work preparing for the 2019 season, one that begins with the 45th running of the Icebreaker from April 5-7. Icebreaker weekend will include the openers for all five NASCAR Whelen All American Series divisions and the third race of the season for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. The Pro All Star Series was recently announced as an addition to the Icebreaker schedule. The remainder of the divisions for the weekend will be announced in the near future.
Thompson’s 2019 10-race schedule includes the return of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, along with multiple other touring divisions that will join Thompson’s NASCAR Whelen All American Series classes.
Source: Taylor Pelletier
Sr. Manager, Event Services
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
Note: If your track, tour or event is not posted on this blog send your press releases and flyers to: lmodestino@hotmail.com
Nick Anglace joins 2019 Stafford SK Light Rookie Class
(Stafford Springs, CT)—With the kickoff to the 2019 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season at Stafford Speedway fast approaching, the track’s SK Light division continues to add to its 2019 rookie class. Oxford, CT native Nick Anglace will join his father Vinny as a 2-car SK Light team and campaign for Rookie of the Year honors behind the wheel of his #10 Anglace Racing Enterprises / Fox Pest Control Chevrolet. Anglace finished fourth in SK Light points as a rookie driver at Waterford in 2018 and he is looking forward to racing as a teammate with his father.
“I’m super excited to get out on the track at Stafford,” said Anglace. “I grew up watching my father race at Stafford and I always remember thinking how cool it would be to be on the other side of the fence and racing with my dad. I ran go karts for two years at Nutmeg Kart Club before I tested my father’s SK Light car in 2017 at Waterford. I was running competitive lap times so I said let’s try this out and and last year we did better than we expected to do with a fourth place finish in the points and a best finish of second. I’ve always wanted to race against my dad and now we can see who the better driver is between the two of us. I have to thank my father and Anglace Racing Enterprises, Fox Pest Control, CWPM, my Uncle Mark, and a few friends that help us out.”
While Nick Anglace will be seeing Stafford for the first time when he takes to the track during the season opening NAPA Spring Sizzler Weekend set for April 26-28, his father Vinny raced SK Modifieds® from 2005-2008 and he has been racing SK Lights from 2015-present. Nick has been busy preparing for his rookie season by logging virtual laps at Stafford in the world of iRacing and he hopes the combination of the virtual laps and his father’s experience at Stafford will help lead to a shortened learning curve.
“Obviously we’d like to run as well as possible,” said Anglace. “Last season at Waterford was all about getting some seat time in an SK Light car, so we got that out of the way. With Stafford being a new track for me, I’ve been doing as much iRacing as I can lately. Hopefully that will allow me to get the hang of the track quickly and we can start trying to run up front. My father says that Stafford is a hard track to master and obviously I’ve never driven there before so I’m not sure what to expect. He’s given me some tips and I’ve talked with some other drivers like Jonathan Puleo to get some insight from them. It’s definitely going to be helpful for both of us being teammates this season. With my father racing for wins, he can try some stuff in my car and if it works, he can use it in his car and maybe win a race this year.”
Another area where Anglace will look to ease the burden of learning a new track is to lean on his experience in helping his father around the shop working on his racecar. The Anglace team is also looking for any additional help that they can get at the track and in the shop during the week.
“I’ve helped my father out working on his cars over the years and learning how everything goes together and the science behind these cars is a fascinating thing,” said Anglace. “You look at a driver like Ryan Preece. He works on his own cars and won a lot of races, so once you know about the cars and how to drive them, you can be successful. I’m hoping I can do that this season. With just the two of us working on the cars, it’s going to be tough this season to manage 2 cars at once. We’re always looking for any extra crew help we can get.”
Anglace can also take solace in the fact that over the past five seasons of SK Light competition, there are over 10 drivers who won races as rookies with Jeremy Sorel and Cory DiMatteo also winning track championships as rookies. Anglace would like to emulate their rookie success and at least be in contention for the Rookie of the Year award this season.
“Watching guys like Brian Narducci and Marcello Rufrano was comforting knowing that if they can do what they did as young drivers, hopefully I can do some of the same things and have the same kind of success they did,” said Anglace. “It’s not going to be easy at all. Some of these guys have been racing longer than I’ve been alive so it’s going to be tough for sure. Winning Rookie of the Year is something that at least I hope we can be in contention for at the end of the season. That would be a pretty cool honor to finish the year out with and I think we can get it done with the equipment that we have.”
The 2019 SK Light season will kick off at the 48th Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® on April 26-28. Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are on sale now by calling the Speedway Box Office 860-684-2783 or online at www.staffordspeedway.com.
Source: Scott Running/Stafford Speedway PR
DEVIL’S BOWL SPEEDWAY: Huge new events fill robust 2019 Schedule
PHOTO: Several new major events highlight an action-packed 2019 schedule at Vermont’s Devil’s Bowl Speedway. (Alan Ward photo)
Huge New Events Fill Robust Schedule at Devil’s Bowl Speedway
Dirt Sportsman Modifieds continue climb as top weekly division in New England
WEST HAVEN, Vt. – Devil’s Bowl Speedway has unveiled its 2019 schedule, jam-packed from May to September with special events. The Vermont facility enters its 53rd season after an ultra-successful transitional year that saw the full-time return of exciting weekly dirt racing to its half-mile surface, larger car counts, and more fans.
The “602” crate-engine Sportsman Modified division continues as the weekly Sunday night headliner. All 19 events will feature the Sportsman cars, and all but one includes the Limited Sportsman, Super Stock, Mini Stock, and 500cc Mini Sprint divisions. The Sportsman field exploded last summer to be one of the best car-counts of any division in New England, with an average of more than 27 cars per event and a total of 93 drivers participating.
As a reward to the Sportsman teams, several new big events have been created including two 100-lap races, two King of Dirt Racing (KOD) Crate Modified Series races, and two other extra-distance races. Those events all build up to the blockbuster $12,000-to-win Interstate All Battery Center “Vermont 200” on Labor Day weekend.
Weekly Sunday night racing begins on May 19 and continues each week through September 15. The first major event will be May 26 when the KOD stars roll in for the 50-lap “Memorial Day Kickoff” along with the winged, wild, and wicked-fast warriors from the Sprint Cars of New England (SCoNE) tour. The next extra-distance race will be on June 9 when the Charlie LaDuc Memorial race shifts to a new early-season date for its annual 54-lap feature.
The lone midweek event of the 2019 season will be on Wednesday, July 3, with Devil’s Bowl Speedway’s famous Independence Day fireworks celebration. The Sportsman Modifieds will race 100 laps and the SCoNE Sprint Cars are also in action with all weekly divisions. The SCoNE Sprint Cars are back on Sunday, July 14, followed by the eighth annual C.J. Richards Memorial on July 28, which has been extended to 100 laps for the Sportsman Modifieds.
The ground will rumble on August 11 with a major special event pitting the region’s Big Block and Small Block “358” Modifieds against each other. Two 25-lap features will be run – each paying $1,500 to win – with the top 12 finishers from each qualifying for the 50-lap, $10,000-to-win showdown. The KOD Crate Modified Series is also back in town for the Leon Gonyo Memorial 40, while the weekly Devil’s Bowl divisions get a summer break.
The Vermont 200 returns with a new date on Labor Day weekend. The event opens on Saturday, August 31, with a new “Win & You’re In!” race for the Limited Sportsman division – guaranteeing the winner a starting position in Sunday’s 200-lapper – plus special events for Super Stock, Mini Stock, and Mini Sprint classes and the Ron Casey Memorial Non-Winners Shootout for Sportsman Modifieds. The action on Sunday, September 1, features all Sportsman qualifying races and the 200-lap, $12,000-to-win main event, along with the SCoNE Sprint Cars.
The 2019 track champions in all divisions will be crowned on September 15 with a 50-lap Sportsman special, along with a 100-lap Enduro race for bone stock vehicles with only safety modifications.
Each support division will have a special event during the year; the Mini Stocks are up first on June 2, followed by the Mini Sprints on June 23, Super Stocks on July 7, and Limited Sportsmen on August 4.
A new event already creating lots of buzz is the Vintage Racing Celebration on Sunday, June 30. The event is an open-invite race for cars and competitors from all vintage racing clubs and organizations, and Devil’s Bowl Speedway will have drivers and personalities from days gone by on hand to meet with fans.
The double-points Vince Quenneville Sr. Memorial Mid-Season Championships and driver autograph session will be held on July 21, and the Can-Am Mod-Lite Series invades Devil’s Bowl for the first time on August 18 with half-scale dirt Modifieds capable of the same speeds as full-size Sportsman cars. The annual “Double Stack” Night with double features for all five weekly divisions will be held on August 25.
The popular and unpredictable Street-Legal Spectator Races highlight opening night on May 19 and again on September 8. Devil’s Bowl goes “Topless for Dad” on Father’s Day, June 16, as the Modified classes take their roofs off and the Mini Sprint division goes wingless, and “Hometown Heroes Night” returns July 7 with free admission for first responders and military members who wear their uniform or provide proper identification.
Competitor registration forms and membership licenses are available at a discounted rate now through March 31. Season passes for both general admission grandstand seating and the pit area are also on sale now.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway is located on Route 22A in West Haven, Vt., four miles north of U.S. Route 4, Exit 2, and just 20 minutes from Rutland, Vt. For more information, visitwww.DevilsBowlSpeedwayVT.com or call (802) 265-3112. Devil’s Bowl Speedway is on Facebook at facebook.com/DevilsBowlSpeedway, and on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat at @DevilsBowlSpeed; follow the action using the #DevilsBowl hashtag.
DEVIL’S BOWL SPEEDWAY – 2019 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (subject to change)
Sun., May 19 – 53rd Annual Season Opener – Street-Legal Spectator Races
Sun., May 26 – “Memorial Day Kickoff 50” – King of Dirt Series – Sprint Cars of New England
Sun., June 2 – Mini Stock Special
Sun., June 9 – Charlie LaDuc Memorial Sportsman 54
Sun., June 16 – Father’s Day Special – Topless/Wingless Night
Sun., June 23 – 500cc Mini Sprint Special
Sun., June 30 – Vintage Racing Celebration
Wed., July 3 – FIREWORKS – Sportsman 100 –Sprint Cars of New England
Sun., July 7 – Hometown Heroes Night – Super Stock Special
Sun., July 14 – Sprint Cars of New England
Sun., July 21 – Vince Quenneville Sr. Memorial Mid-Season Championships (Double Points)
Sun., July 28 – C.J. Richards Memorial Sportsman 100
Sun., Aug 4 – Limited Sportsman Special
Sun., Aug 11 – Big Block/358 Challenge – $10,000 To Win – King of Dirt Series Leon Gonyo Memorial 40
Sun., Aug 18 – Can-Am Mod-Lite Series
Sun., Aug 25 – Double Stack Night – Double Features All Divisions
Sat., Aug 31 – VERMONT 200 WEEKEND
· Limited Sportsman “Win & You’re In”
· Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, 500cc Mini Sprints
· “Ron Casey Memorial” Sportsman Non-Winners Shootout
Sun., Sept 1 – VERMONT 200 WEEKEND
· Sportsman Modifieds – 200 Laps – $12,000 To Win
· All Sportsman Modified Qualifying & Main Event
· Sprint Cars of New England
Sun., Sept 8 – Street-Legal Spectator Races
Sun., Sept 15 – Championship Finale – Sportsman 50 – Enduro 100
Source: Justin St. Louis, Media Director
Note: If your track, tour or event is not posted on this blog send your press releases and flyers to; lmodestino@hotmail.com
This Week at New England Dragway
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