In NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour news it looks like Jimmy Blewett, who had 15 wins to his credit in 2007, will be spending his non-touring Saturday nights at the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island in 2008. Blewett will compete on the tour in 2008 but not in the familiar Eddie Partridge No. 12. Blewett will be driving the George Bierce No. 19 that was driven by Ronnie Silk. Partridge has consummated a deal that will see both race teams merged into one. To supplement the Bierce team Partridge will supply an additional car plus motors and transmissions. Blewett and the Partridge SK Modified will compete weekly at the Stafford Motor Speedway and at the Thompson Speedway. Silk is a candidate to drive the Curt Chase No.77 as well as the Boehler No. 3, which is if Bobby Santos III is committed to racing in the south. Eric Beers, who lives down the street from Tony Hirschman, will be stepping into the Massachusetts based No. 46 that was driven by Dick Houlihan. Beers, who drove the Boehler No.3 a while back, finished an impressive second in the No. 46 at the recent North-South Shootout. Jamie Tomaino, who is considered to be the oldest active tour driver with close to 500 starts, has his home in New Jersey up for sale and hopes to be moving to North Carolina . Once the move is made he will concentrate his racing efforts on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour with occasional starts on the northern tour.

The Wall Township Speedway located on the New Jersey shore will officially close out the 2007 racing season this coming Saturday, November 24, with Turkey Derby XXXIV. Since 1974, fans of Northeast Asphalt Racing have had an added treat for their Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Speedway Web Master Mike Clayton advises that this year promises to be one of the best ever, with overwhelming fan interest and teams from all over the east coast planning on racing for the coveted title of Turkey Derby XXXIV Champion. Wall will provide 8 divisions of racing excitement over 2 days on Friday and Saturday, November 23rd and 24th. The always popular Open Tour Type Modifieds will return to headline the event this year, along with the Wall/SK/B/SST Modifieds, Sportsman, RMP Modified Affordable Division, Street Stocks, INEX Legends, Value Towing Factory Stocks, and the Keenan Motors American Three Quarter Midget Racing Association. The Garden State Vintage Stock Car Club will also be displaying their vintage Modifieds in the grandstand area and put on an exhibition race during intermission Friday.

This year will mark the end of an era as it will be the final appearance of the Blewett Motorsports family owned, Red, White and Blue #76 Modified. Jimmy Blewett, in honor of his late brother John who lost his life in a racing accident at the Thompson Speedway last summer, will race the car number for the final time in the Wall and Open Mods, and then the car will be placed in the Blewett Automotive Museum . The number 76 will be retired by Wall Speedway. The Blewett 76 has been a mainstay in Modified racing the last 4 decades

The Stafford Motor Speedway honored its 2007 track champions at its 38th annual Champions Awards Ceremony last Friday, November 16, 2007 at the La Renaissance Banquet Facility in East Windsor , CT. The guests of honor included Ted Christopher who was recognized as the 2007 SK Modified Champion, which is his sixth overall at the central Connecticut oval. Corey Hutchings was honored as the 2007 Late Model Champion, which he achieved in his rookie campaign at Stafford . Chris Matthews, who missed out on racing for the inaugural SK Light championship in 2006 because he was on his honeymoon, drove to the 2007 SK Light Championship in dominating fashion this season, clinching the championship with two races remaining. Sean Foster drove to four feature victories and eight top-4 finishes in the final 9 races this season and was recognized as the 2007 Limited Late Model Champion, and Norm Sears put together an amazing stretch during the second half of the 2007 season with seven podium finishes in the final eight races to win his second consecutive DARE Stock Championship.

Reliable Welding and Speed Rookie of the Year honors will go to Wade Mattesen from the SK Modified division, Corey Hutchings from the Late Model division, Josh Sylvester from the SK Light division, and David Capriati from the Limited Late Model division. In addition to recognizing the 2007 track champions, other prestigious awards, including Most Improved Driver, Most Popular Driver, and the Reliable Welding & Speed Rookie of the Year awards were presented.

In TV land this week, Speed Channel viewing will begin on Tuesday at 8:00am with Inside Nextel Cup which will review the recent Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Wednesday at noon will see a rerun of last Saturday’s season ending NASCAR Busch Series Ford 300 that was run at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead , FL. The season ending NASCAR Nextel Cup Ford 400 from Homestead-Miami follows at 3:00pm . Thursday is Turkey Day. On Sunday at 1:30 ESPN2 has a 30 minute NASCAR Special which will review the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. ESPN2 follows with the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series season review at 2:00pm . ESPN Classic presents a day of racing starting with the August 12 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series at Watkins Glen followed by the September 30 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series at Kansas. The Speed Channel wraps up the weekend with The Speed Report at 7:00 , NASCAR Victory Lane at 8:00 and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain at 9:00 . Monday at noon the Speed Channel presents a three hour dirt track racing spectacular which includes the World of Outlaws World Finals, sprint cars and late models, season finale which was run at the Dirt Track at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte , NC , on November 3.

On the Speedway Stock Market Scene last week two of the three speedway stocks ended the week on the negative side. Speedway Motorsports dropped 0.76 to 36.42 and the International Speedway Corporation dropped 0.76 to 43.52. On the positive side was Dover Downs which went up 0.23 to 6.74. For the sixth week in a row Sprint/Nextel was in the red as they dropped 0.85 to 15.46. After two negative weeks the Sun Oil Company rallied as they went up 1.17 to 71.49. Goodyear went up 0.22 to 27.23. DIRT Motorsports also showed some life as they went up 0.07 to 0.51. In the drug sector Pfizer went up 0.56 to 23.39 while Bristol Meyers-Squib dropped 0.50 to 27.79. The home improvement sector finished on a positive note as Home Depot went up 1.02 to 29.07 and Lowes went up 1.09 to 25.01. The parcel carriers showed a mixed bag as Fedex dropped 2.94 to 96.80 and UPS went up 1.30 to 72.01.

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