Jul 11, 2013 | New England Motorsports North
By Lou Modestino
NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour will race for the 58th time at the Magic Mile, which will be once more than the K&N Pro Series East among the two most-run series races in Loudon. The race is always highly contested with the short track machines drafting off one another. In the past six races, there have been five different winners, only Mike Stefanik has won twice.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman will enter the race as usual, but he has been bested by the field in the past five races. That shouldn’t come as a surprise as an open-wheel Modified is not similar to a Cup car at all, and the NWMT has some of the best non-national drivers in the country. This race, specifically, is a tough one to win.
Ryan Preece’s season has gotten him recognized by NASCAR Next and he’ll make his debut in the Nationwide Series later in the day. He’s won the last three modified races this season, has top-fives in all five events and leads the points by 33. There’s no guarantee in this race, but I give him the best odds to win.
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Jul 3, 2013 | New England Motorsports North
By Lou Modestino
Thunder Road International Speedbowl officials have announced the rescheduling of the Harvest Equipment and the Fairpoint Communications rained-out events as special Sunday evening shows.
The Harvest Equipment event, which was originally scheduled for Sunday, June 16 has been rescheduled for Sunday, August 4. The Fairpoint Communications event, from Thursday, June 27, will be on Sunday, August 18. Both shows will feature racing action from the Thunder Road Late Models, Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen and the Allen Lumber Street Stocks with 6 p.m. post times.
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Jun 27, 2013 | New England Motorsports North
By Lou Modestino
With Governor Peter Shumlin out of town, Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott took the first victory for a Vermont Acting Governor in state history in the 50-lap Late Model Feature at Barre’s Thunder Road on Thursday night, June 20, adding his 28th win to his resume as the track’s all time winningest driver. A pair of Milton, VT competitors, Scott Payea and Jean-Paul Cyr, completed the podium.
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Jun 20, 2013 | New England Motorsports North
By Lou Modestino
This week starting on Thursday through Sunday is the first annual Mello Yello NHRA National at the New England Dragway in Epping, NH. It’s the first time since the early 70’s since that series has made an appearance at NED. All of the top names in several pro classes will be in action including Funny Car standout John Force. Also competing in that class is Bob Tasca, III of Cranston, RI. Qualifying goes Friday, Eliminations Saturday and the Finals go Sunday.
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Jun 17, 2013 | New England Motorsports North
By Lou Modestino
For six decades Connecticut photographer Howie Hodge has been creating memories for countless auto racing enthusiasts through his camera lens. A good number of those photos taken were of his first racing love, the tour-type Modifieds.
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Jun 6, 2013 | New England Motorsports North
by Lou Modestino
Riverside Speedway kicked off it’s 2013 season with a bang with the Bond Auto Parts qualifying night.
The Sign Depot Limited Late Model division started off the night with Time Trial action. Local boy Jerrad Ledger topped the charts with a 13.80 lap, but the top 4 cars were all .11 seconds within each other. Ledger was followed by 2-time defending champ “Hollywood” Chandler Davis, his brother Jourdan Davis, and Doug Laleme. The trials set the tone for the heats, where Ledger and Jourdan Davis duked it out in heat 1. Davis overtook Ledger to take the win, and Aaron Smith finished a strong run to take third. The second heat saw Chandler Davis beat out Doug Laleme and “Old School” Mike Paquette for his first heat win of 2013.
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