In NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour news the much talked
about “Spec Engine” for the Whelen
Modifieds continues to be a hot
topic. When ever there is change or
the possibility of change
competitors become unhappy as they
sometimes are forced to obsolete
equipment that they paid dearly for
or got for nothing. When tire rules
were in their formative years some
of the division’s top competitors
including the late Richie Evans were
against a tire rule, especially one
that mandated the use of Hoosiers.
Simple economics were Evans’
reasoning because he was getting
Goodyears for free! Once the Hoosier
Tire rule was put in place there was
no need to give a certain few top
runners free tires as with the rule
in place Hoosier would win every
race, no matter who was driving.
Putting in a tire rule did in fact
help the division as NASCAR could
dictate which compound would be used
to get the best life from the tire.
It is NASCAR’s intent to give
engines more life at a lesser cost.
The pieces of the puzzle for the
2008 season are slowly but surely
falling into place. The Stafford
Speedway has already announced their
2008 schedule. NASCAR is expected to
announce their Whelen Modified Tour
Series and Busch East Series
schedules this coming Friday and
Saturday at Series banquets at the
Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville ,
CT. My spies up in northern
Connecticut tell me that the
Thompson Speedway will open on April
5 and 6 with the Annual IceBreaker
and will close out their season on
October 18 and 19 with the World
Series. Overheard behind the office
trailer at the Waterford Speedbowl
was word that the shoreline oval
will open for 2008 on April 13 with
the Nationals. Following the
Nationals the Speedbowl will begin
their Saturday night schedule
tentatively on April 19. Waterford
will close out their season on
October 4 and 5 with the Finale. The
Seekonk Speedway, located on Route
6, the Gateway to Cape Cod, will
open on May 3 and 4 and will run
through October 11 and 12 when they
close out their season with the D.
Anthony Venditti Memorial.
The competitors, their families and
fans of the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour Series will gather this Friday
night at the Mohegan Sun Casino for
their annual awards banquet. Taking
center stage will be driving
champion Donny Lia and car owner
champion Bob Garbarino. Lia, in 16
events beat Todd Szegedy by 180
points for the title. Lia scored six
victories along the way and when not
in victory lane found himself in the
top ten on 13 occasions. Szegedy
also ran the entire schedule,
recording two wins included in 11
top ten finishes. In the final point
standings Matt Hirschman ended up
third with Ronnie Silk and Ted
Christopher rounding out the top
five. Sixth through tenth were James
Civali, Mike Stefanik, Jimmy Blewett,
Jamie Tomaino and Ed Flemke Jr.
There were 68 different competitors
who raced in at least one tour
event.
It had been rumored that Don Lia was
moving on to the NASCAR Truck Series
but evidently that possibility is
presently on hold.
In TV land this week, the racing is
scarce to say the least. From now to
mid-January when testing resumes in
Daytona the TV coverage is just not
there. Viewing will begins this
Tuesday, Dec 11 at 5:30 on ESPN2
with NASCAR: Chasing Glory, a
behind-the-scenes look at the Chase
for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. ESPN2
continues their coverage at 7:00pm
with a re-cap of the December 7
NASCAR Busch Series Awards Show that
was held in Orlando, FL. Viewing
will resume on Thursday at noon when
the Speed Channel presents a re-cap
of the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series season. The November 19
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Banquet that was held at the Hard
Rock Hotel in Hollywood , FL follows
at 1:00pm . Friday’s viewing kicks
off at noon on Speed with the June
12th Summer Shootout for Legends
Cars, Bandolero and Thunder Roadster
racing, Round #1 from the Lowes
Motor Speedway in Concord , NC.
Saturday night at 6:00 will see the
June 2 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt
Series which ran at Florence
Speedway in Union , KY. Sunday’s
viewing will be limited to Round #2
of the Summer Shootout from the
Lowes Motor Speedway. The Speed
Channel wraps up the weekend with
The Speed Report at 7:00 .
On the Speedway Stock Market Scene
last week two of the three speedway
stocks had a negative ending as the
International Speedway Corporation
was the lone gainer as they went up
0.59 to 43.20. Speedway Motorsports
dropped 0.26 to 33.49 and Dover
Downs dropped 0.07 to 6.73.
Sprint/Nextel went up 0.12 to 16.64
while Sun Oil dropped 1.90 to 65.20.
Goodyear dropped 0.31 to 28.44 while
DIRT Motorsports dropped 0.04 to
0.45. In the drug sector Pfizer went
up 0.64 to 24.40 while Bristol
Meyers-Squib dropped 0.40 to 29.23.
In the home improvement sector Home
Depot went up 0.93 to 29.49 and
Lowes went up 0.67 to 25.08. The
parcel carriers had another good
week as Fedex went up 1.75 to 100.22
and UPS went up 0.49 to 74.17.
That’s it for this week from 40
Clark St. Westerly RI 02891 . Ring
my chimes at 401-596-5467. E-Mail is
smithpe_97_97@yahoo.com
