By Lou Modestino
On October 19th, the sound of high-powered engines will once again be present on the Groveton high banks of Riverside Speedway.
Five divisions will be making the trek to try and win some big money for the 2nd annual North Country Ford Fall Brawl. Late Models will be coming in droves to try their hand at picking up the $10,000 check for winning the Fall Brawl, the biggest winner’s purse ever at Riverside Speedway.
Two-time Thunder Road track champ and 2013 Milk Bowl winner Nick Sweet has publicly thrown his name into the hat, as well as “The Punisher” Wayne Helliwell, Jr, Joey Polewarczyk, Jr, last year’s winner Derrick O’Donnell, and 4-time Riverside track champ Bryan Mason.
Helliwell has already qualified by winning the Subway Fresh Fit 150 at Canaan, NH earlier this year, and another driver will have a chance to punch his ticket to the feature at the Fall Brawl by winning this weekend’s Late Model event at Oktoberfest in Lee, NH. This 200 lap event brought fans to the edge of their seat last year, and looks to do the same in 2013.
Also on the card, a Limited Late Model/Tiger Open, Street Stock Open, Pure Stock Open, and the Northeast Mini Stock Tour will conclude their season with their championship event. The Limited Late Model/Tiger Open boasts a winner’s purse of $1000, which should interest an array of drivers. The Limited Late Models were one of the most competitive divisions at Riverside Speedway in 2013, as veterans picked up wins, as well as multiple first-time feature winners.
The Street Stock Open event will be a tough one, as 2013 Street Stock Thunder Road Milk Bowl winner Jason Kenison will be there, as well as multi-feature winner and 2013 champion Jamie Heath, and 2012 Street Stock champ “Stormin” Keith Normand. The winner of the Street Stock Open will receive a stout $500 check. The Pure Stocks will perform on the big stage as well, as this 6-cylinder, front wheel drive division grows daily and is a huge crowd favorite. Of course, big stage means bigger money, and the Pure Stocks will be fighting for a $300 paycheck at the North Country Ford Fall Brawl.
Bob Guptill’s Northeast Mini Stock Tour will crown its 2013 champion at the Fall Brawl on October 19th. Emerson Cayer takes a 40-point advantage over multi-feature winner Toby Wells and Matt Sonnhalter into the event. Stark, NH’s Shawn Swallow is also looking for the checkers on his home turf in the 12th and final event of the NEMST’s season.
The North Country Ford Fall Brawl takes place at Riverside Speedway October 19th at 1PM. Tickets will be $20 for fans 10 and up, ages 6-9 will be just $5, and 5 and under will be free. Pit Passes will be a flat $35 across the board. Riverside Speedway is located at 78 Craggy Road, just off Brown Road, in Groveton, NH. .
Canaan Dirt Speedway General Manager, Dick Therrien has announced the qualifying procedures for The Windows & Doors By Brownell, Wilson Tire, Jaycox Property Maintenance and Lawpower.com, OctoberFAST 2013, scheduled to go green on Saturday, October 19, 2013 at 1:30 p.m. The event features a 100 lap, $2,500 to win Modified extravaganza. A $2,000 to win SCoNE 360 Sprint car main event, plus a $1,000 to win Sportsman Coupe race, plus a $300 to win Super Street / Limited Late Model challenge, and a $300 to win Bomber / Ridge Runner Hornets / Outlaw 4’s main event.
Drivers will draw for qualifying heat starting positions. The Modified field will be determined by heats, consolations and a last chance “B” feature. Twenty-four cars will qualify through the preliminary races, with two more drivers having the opportunity to advance from the “B” main if they elect to do so. The highest point runner in the Northern Modified Challenge Series that fails to qualify for the main event will receive a provisional if he/she is in the top 10 in points.
A final provisional will go to the top finisher in points from Canaan Dirt Speedway that failed to qualify for the main event, thus making the possibility of twenty-eight cars starting the 100 lap feature. There also will be an inversion redraw for the field which will determine the starting lineup for the Modified main event. The redraw will take place on the front stretch following qualifying.
All other divisions will draw for starting positions as well, and then they will feature a redraw for their main events. Depending on the number of Super Streets / Limited Late Models, and Bomber / Ridge Runner Hornets / Outlaw 4’s they may draw directly for their starting positions for a feature event, and have a heads up start from the draw. The SCoNE 360 Sprint Cars will be lined up by their own handicap system as this is their final point’s race of the season.
The feature events will see the Mods going 100 green flag laps. There will be a competition yellow at lap number 50 which will allow teams to add fuel, change tires and make necessary repairs. There will be no courtesy laps in the first fifty laps, but the second half of the race will give race team’s one courtesy lap under caution. The intermission will be exactly eight minutes.
The cars will then be called to the track, realigned and then back to racing. The SCoNE 360 Sprint Cars will have a 30 lap race while the Sportsman Coupes will have a 30 lap event, the Super Streets / Limited Late Models will go 25 laps, and the Bomber / Ridge Runner Hornets / Outlaw 4’s main event will be a 25 lap feature.
Post time on October 19 will be 1:30 p.m. The pits will open at 9 a.m., track packing at noon, while hot laps go off at 12:25 p.m. Grandstands will open at 11:30 a.m. Adult tickets are just $20. Jr. & Sr. just $15, Kids 11 & under are admitted free. The pit fee is just $35 per person. Canaan Dirt Speedway accepts VISA, Mastercard, and Discover Card, and there will be plenty of free camping for the weekend. For more information visit the Track website at www.canaanspeedways.com, or call the Track hotline at 802-274-8823. Canaan Dirt Speedway is located on Orange Road, just off from Route 118 in Canaan, New Hampshire.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH in 2014 the weekend of the Sylvania 300 Sprint Cup race. The event was off the schedule for the past few years.
Tommy Barrett, Jr. of Millis made a tire swap during a lap-55 caution period, then took the lead on lap-91, and went on to win his second consecutive Valenti Modified Racing Series sanctioned ‘Laticrete 100 at Lee USA Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Barrett becomes the first series driver to repeat victory at the New Hampshire tracks 26th annual Oktoberfest program. He won last October’s race.
Matt Mead took the lead from the start and was the class of the field until Steve Masse of Bellingham rolled by on lap 55. Masse fast became the pace setter until Barrett reeled him in and passed Masse with 9-laps remaining. Barrett’s win, his third this season, is his 6th career VMRS victory.
Barrett’s successful strategy of a mid-race tire swap worked once again. “We always save tires at the beginning when we come here. We were banking on the pit stop at the half-way. We did the double swap came back out and it worked my way up through with Les Hinckley. The right front tire was giving out a little but once out front the car was fast.”
Masse settled for second with Jon McKennedy finishing in a solid third. Richard Savary of Canton and Hinckley rounded out the top five. Mike Willis Jr., Louie Mechalides, Mike Holdridge, Rowan Pennink, and Norm Wrenn finished sixth through tenth.
Pennink, of Huntingdon Valley, PA, nailed down the 2013 series championship with his ninth place finish. “I’ve got to give a huge thank you to this ‘Team 25’ they did an awesome job all season. I couldn’t have done it without any of these guys.”
Pennink wins the series 10th Anniversary title and will get a $10,000 check that goes with it at next month’s series banquet. For car owner Gary Casella of Saugus it’s extra special. He was a driver/car-owner when the VMRS was started. He joins Kirk Alexander and Dwight Jarvis as the only series champions that were charter members of the series.
Barrett’s win moved him back into second place in the point standings with 574 points. Savary moved from fifth to third with 550 points. Mechalides has 545 points in fourth and Chris Pasteryak slipped back to fifth with 539.
The Lee race was completed in 45 minutes, 26 seconds with only four caution periods for minor incidents. Some 31 cars entered the Lee event with qualifying races on Saturday. Heat winners were Pennink, Holdridge and Barrett with Todd Owen winning the consolation race. 26 cars started Sunday’s race.
Rookie Dylan Kopec will receive the $200 Laticrete Rookie Bonus.
Next event: Saturday, October 20, at Thompson CT Speedway, the final race event of the 2013 season.
Race Summary:
Race No.16 of 17- Lee USA Speedway
Entrants 31 (26 starters) Distance: 100-laps
Time of Race: 45:26:596
Best Lap Time: 14.799
Best Speed: 91.222 (Masse)
Lead Changes: 2
Lap Leaders: 1-55 (Mead) 56-91 (Masse) 92-100 (Barrett)
Cautions: Laps 55, 59, 75, and 83
Unofficial Order of Finish: Barrett, Masse, McKennedy, Savary, Hinckley, Willis, Mechalides, Holdridge, Pennink, Wrenn, Zachem, Dolan, Owen, Kopec, Patnode, Pasteryak, Mead, Jarvis, Goodenough, Nocella, Seuss, Rocco, Dore, Doucette, Goodale, Storace (DQ) Pit Road Violation.
Oktoberfest feature winners:
Ironman Super Series: Gerard Cote
Pro Stocks/Super Late Models: Dave Farrington Jr.
NE Classic Lites: Jim Wentworth
Late Models: Wayne Helliwell Jr.
Valenti Modified Racing Series: Tommy Barrett
Hobby Stocks: Jim Shorrey, Scott Serydynski
Small Block Supers: Tommy Tombarello Jr.
Late Model Sportsman: Jimmy Russell
NEMA Midgets: Randy Cabral
Mini Stocks: Emerson Cayer, Bob Anderson
NEMA Lites: Danny Cugini
Pure Stock 4 Cylinders: David Stone
Outlaw Mini Stocks: Emerson Cayer
6 & 8 Cylinder Enduros: Bob Murphy
The 2013 New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is rapidly approaching and tickets must be ordered no-later than November 1st. Requests for reserved tables of 10 must be received by October 25.
There will be no ticket sales at the door. To be held at the Lodge at Manelley’s located at 65 Rye Street in South Windsor, Connecticut on Sunday, November 10, tickets are priced at $45 each. Doors open at 11 a.m. with dinner served at Noon.
Ticket order forms are available on The New England Antique Racers/Auto Racers Hall of Fame website www.near1.org
Seven drivers and one car owner representing hundreds of victories and dozens of championships comprise this years Hall of Fame class. It is the 16th and brings the membership to well-over 100.
Drivers Stan Meserve, Brian Ross, Drew Fornoro, Ralph Nason, the late Bob Stefanik, Bill Eldridge and Bob Sharp along with car owner Ron Berndt will be inducted.
Also on the slate, Peter Vander Veer, a standout auto racing writer for over 30 years, will receive the 2013 Jack Ratta/Charlie Mitchell Award. The award memorializes two outstanding motor sports journalists – Ratta who wrote for the Manchester Union Leader and Mitchell, a sportswriter/editor for many years at the Norwalk (CT) Hour.
The New England Antique Racers club is a non-profit organization that supports the history of New England auto racing. NEAR has been in existence since 1981 and has a growing membership of approx. 350-400 members and 80 antique race cars. Members live throughout New England and are available, on a no charge basis, for exhibition events at local race tracks in New England and several tracks in the New York area, with both original and historical replica race cars.
Since 1998, NEAR has inducted over 100 individuals into the New England Auto Racers Hall Of Fame, which is administered by the New England Antique Racers. Some very notable inductees include Richie Evans, Ron Bouchard, Bugs Stevens, Rene Charland, Pete Hamilton, Fred DeSarro, Ed Flemke, Sr. and Billy Greco.
While Wayne Helliwell, Jr. and Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. decided the American Canadian Tour Championship a few weeks ago at Airborne Speedway in the Fall Foliage 200, but they have one more title to settle this weekend. The duo sit atop the Ford Blue Oval Cup Standings separated by just one point, Helliwell leads, heading into the final ACT-affiliated event at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, NH this weekend.
The Ford Blue Oval Cup Challenge is a season-long point system that awards competitors who use Ford’s S347JR engine in ACT series and approved affiliated track events. Competitors use their best 18 events in the Ford Blue Oval Standings. The 2013 championship team will receive $2,000 for their effort. Helliwell is a two-time Blue Oval Cup Champion and has been atop the standings for the majority of the 2013 season. Polewarczyk has earned the most wins for Ford this season with four, and his 5th place effort in the Milk Bowl at Thunder Road brought him within one point of the lead.
Ford has racked up a total of nine feature wins in ACT and affiliated track competition so far this season. Helliwell and Polewarczyk combined to earn five (of 14) ACT US events with their Fords. Polewarczyk also secured the biggest win of the season in the $25,000-to-win ACT International 500 at Airborne Speedway back in July. Other event winners include Helliwell at Canaan Speedway, Dave Farrington, Jr. at Waterford Speedbowl and Dave Pembroke at Thunder Road.
The Fall Brawl at Riverside Speedway on Saturday, October 19 is the final ACT rules event at an affiliated track for 2013 and has therefore become the deciding event in the Ford Blue Oval Cup Championship.