Ryan Preece to battle at Martinsville Speedway

Ryan Preece celebrating his World Series victory at Thompson in 2015

Posted by Wayne G. Barber & photos by Wayne G. Barber

Ryan Preece will be making his second of three scheduled starts in the NASCAR highest division Sprint Cup this Sunday November 1, 2015 at the bullring Martinsville Speedway. The race car pre-entry list is at 43 race teams so all teams will make the show.
 Preece raced earlier in 2015 at the New Hampshire Speedway in Loudon and is also scheduled for the championship race at Homestead, Florida.
 At Loudon Preece started 38th and came home in one piece in 32nd completing 296 of the 300 lap event good for $ 79,615
 Last year 2014 Preece also ran the final Homestead race. It was in the Xfinity series in a Chevrolet and had a final result of 28th for 16 points and the last driver on the 206 lead lap.

The Ford Preece will be driving has been driven by a few different drivers in the 2015 racing season.

Josh Wise	17
	Reed Sorenson	6
	Timmy Hill	5
	T.J. Bell	1
	Michael Waltrip	1
	Ryan Preece	1

Qualifing will
 be on Friday Oct.30 at 4:20pm and the feature will be on Sunday Nov. 1st with a 1:28pm start for 500 laps and 263 miles of rubbing and racing on NASCAR's smallest track.

Source: Nascar.Com press release and personal notes from covering the race.Photo property of Wayne G. Barber collection.

2015 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series State Champions

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

     Congratulations

Connecticut  Keith Rocco    Maine        Reid  Lanpher    Mass.       Angelo Belsito (R)   New Hampshire Bill Kimball Jr.   New York   Jimmy Zacharias   Vermont    Vince Quenneville   Source: Hometracks.Nascar.Com.

Ned Jarrett to drive pace car at Martinsville Speedway

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Ned Jarrett to drive pace car at Martinsville: NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett, a championship winning driver and legendary broadcaster, has experienced just about everything in the world of NASCAR. However, there is one thing he has never done, until now. Jarrett will be the Honorary Pace Car Driver for the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500. Jarrett, who recently turned 83, said Martinsville is the perfect place for him to drive. "One of the things that makes me feel good about it is knowing that the track hasn't changed much," Jarrett said. "They say you never forget how to ride a bicycle, well maybe I won't have forgotten how to drive a car around Martinsville Speedway. I certainly look forward to it. It's quite an honor." Jarrett, who won 50 races in his career, never won at Martinsville, despite it being his favorite type of track. In addition to Jarrett leading the field to the green flag, Martinsville Speedway will welcome back the N.C. State University Marching band to perform the National Anthem. The Bandit Flyover Team will once again fly over the track before the race and the Rev. Jonathan Fallwell will give the invocation.(Martinsville Speedway)(10-27-2015)

Radio Alert Tonight 6:05pm on wnri.com worldwide " Championship Night" !

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

E-Mail now thru the broadcast at waynewnri@yahoo.com with your congratulations and questions.


Tentatively Scheduled at 6:15 pm Granite State Pro Stock 2015 Champion

Derek Griffith

Tentatively Scheduled at 6:30pm Mr. Rooter New England Truck Series 2015 Champion

Roger Turbush

All the results from the last two big weeks of short track racing and the Sprint Cup Race from Taledaga, Alabama

Woody Pitkat Wins Tri Track Event At Waterford

Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Story & Photo Kyle Souza & Tri Track Series

Woody Pitkat picked up his first career Northeast Race Cars and Parts Tri Track Open Modified Series feature win on Sunday evening at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Pitkat, driver of the No. 42 modified, got out front just before halfway and dominated the final stages to score the big payday of $8,000 that came along with his win.

“We had such a great car today, it was unbelievable,” Pitkat mentioned while celebrating after the race. “This is just awesome. I said after we finished second in the heat this was like our fourth second in a couple weeks. We finally got the win.”

Steve Masse, sporting the colors of Dunleavy Truck and Trailer Repair, lead the field to the green flag for 65 laps on Sunday. He immediately jumped out to the lead, while outside pole sitter Todd Annarummo settled in line right behind him.

Before the field could build some momentum, Richard Savary smashed the turn three wall in his Alloy Wheel Repair No. 99, drawing the first caution flag. He left with the assistance of a tow truck and the field went back under the green flag, with Chase Dowling making a move under Annarummo for second. The filed got single file throughout the top five and while Ryan Preece started his charge from the outside row, the second caution flew for a car stopped at the beginning of turn two on lap eight.

Masse and Annarummo once again lead the field to green once the track was clear, and Dowling jumped to second on the start, with Pitkat in tow on the bottom side of the track. Annarummo quickly slid back outside the top five at that point, with a car that was not handling to his liking. He was passed by Pitkat, Les Hinckley and Preece before he could find his way to the bottom.

Pitkat made a move under Dowling on lap sixteen, grabbing the second spot and setting his sights on Masse. While he did that, Hinckley, driving for car owner Wayne Darling, grabbed third from Dowling trying to keep pace with Pitkat.

A multi-car crash in turn three brought the third caution flag of the evening over the series, when Ted Christopher, Anthony Nocella and multiple other drivers were collected and facing the wrong way. The crash drew a short red flag before the field doubled up and took the green flag. However, flagman John Spence Jr. didn’t like the way the field came off turn four and called the start back — and that was all Pitkat needed.

He drove by the outside of Masse on that restart, driving it deep down into turn one and pulling out the advantage by the time the field hit the backstretch. “Steve got a good initial start and I shifted before him and tried to drive it in there harder and get in front of him,” Pitkat later mentioned.

A final caution flag of the event flew on lap 26, when Brendon Bock came to a stop. While he did that, it was a lucky break for Jon McKennedy, who was black flagged under the caution and could solve an air cleaner problem under yellow instead of under green.

The final half of the feature event was lead by Pitkat, who dominated, leading the final laps by over four seconds. He scored the victory, beating out Hinckley, who crossed the line second in his Seekonk Grand Prix ride. Ron Silk, who had won the event at the Speedbowl in September, finished third. Christopher came back from his early race spin to finish fourth, with former NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ryan Preece completing the top-five.

Masse hung on for sixth, with McKennedy seventh, Chris Pastreyak eighth and Matt Hirschman and Chase Dowling completing the top ten.

Ron Silk and Eric Bendt picked up qualifying victories on Sunday afternoon as well.

Official Results: 65 Lap Feature At New London-Waterford Speedbowl October 25:

1. Woody Pitkat
2. Les Hinckley
3. Ron Silk
4. Ted Christopher
5. Ryan Preece
6. Steve Masse
7. Jon McKennedy
8. Chris Pastreyak
9. Matt Hirschman
10. Chase Dowling
11. Andy Jancowiak
12. Todd Annarummo
13. Dennis Perry
14. Mike Holdridge
15. Kirk Alexander
16. Max Zachem
17. Zane Zeiner
18. Dan Meservey Jr.
19. Joe Doucette
20. Brendon Bock
21. Anthony Nocella
22. Keith Rocco
23. Eric Berndt
24. Norman Wrenn
25. David Schneider
26. Richard Savary

Griffith Seals Championship in Breakout Season

Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Ramstrom Victorious in Bemer’s Super Bowl

GSPSS Photo

WATERFORD, CT – Derek Griffith puts the exclamation point on his breakout season, becoming the fourth different champion of the Granite State Pro Stock Series, as Derek Ramstrom grabs the win in the Bemer’s Super Bowl 150 at New London-Waterford Speedbowl.

  Barry Gray and Mike O’Sullivan led the field to the green, with Gray needing a win to have a shot at knocking off Derek Griffith for the 2015 season crown.  Gray would lead until lap 4, when the first of twelve cautions came out for an incident between Billy Joerres and Roger Oxee.  D.J. Shaw would eventually overtake the lead, and set a blistering pace, as Griffith and Ramstrom kept within striking distance. 
  While Shaw continuously kept Griffith at bay on restarts, Ramstrom took notes, and overtook Shaw the first chance he had on the front row of a restart.  Shaw would continue to pressure Ramstrom, until breaking a rear end on lap 81, ending his day early.  Griffith would get the chance to attack Ramstrom again, but could not finish the job, as Ramstrom powered away for the victory. 
 After the race, Ramstrom spoke about the facility, saying “This is an awesome place to run a Pro Stock.  I hope to come back here next year.”
 Ramstrom continued, “It’s a shame D.J. [Shaw] broke, I think he was definitely a contender for the lead.  Derek Griffith had a great year.  He had a great year, and has a lot of talent.”

Griffith would settle for the second spot, which secured the championship for the Hudson, NH resident.  Griffith exclaimed, “I’m in shock still.  I’m really happy with my team.  Louie [Mechalides] set up a stout car all year.  My whole team is excellent.  At this point, I don’t think there’s a lot of teams better than our team.  Everyone is so supportive, it’s huge, how into racing they are, and how much they believe in me.”

  Gray would fight back through the field to take the third spot, and second in the overall standings.  Nick Cusack battled adversity all day, including changing a clutch after practice, to finish fourth, with Tommy O’Sullivan surviving to claim the fifth spot.  Former modified driver Jeff Pearl nabbed the sixth spot, Zig Geno climbed to seventh, with Scott Kulesa finishing eighth.  Dillon Moltz, who was involved in an incident on lap 82, and pitting late for fuel, would salvage a ninth place finish, with Mike Parks rounding out the top ten.  Cory Casagrande and Moltz would pick up qualifying heat wins.

  The Granite State Pro Stock Series will hold an informational meeting on Saturday, November 28, at the Clubhouse at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, at 11AM.  For more information on the Granite State Pro Stock Series, visit www.gspss.net.
  BEMER’S SUPER BOWL 150
 OFFICIAL FINISH
 New London-Waterford Speedbowl
 10/24/15

 Pos (Start)           Driver                                   Hometown

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1. (13)   Derek Ramstrom                              West Boylston, MA

2. (7)      Derek Griffith                                    Hudson, NH

3. (1)      Barry Gray                                           Belchertown, MA

4. (8)      Nick Cusack                                        Scarborough, ME

5. (14)   Tommy O’Sullivan                           Wilbraham, MA

6. (18)   Jeff Pearl                                             Salem, CT

7. (17)   Zig Geno                                              Canterbury, NH

8. (20)   Scott Kulesa                                       Georgetown, MA

9. (6)      Dillon Moltz                                       Waterford, CT

10. (11) Mike Parks                                          Walpole, NH

11. (2)   Mike O’Sullivan                                                Springfield, MA

12. (9)   Larry Gelinas                                      Buxton, ME

13. (12) Joe Squeglia, Jr.                                               Derry, NH

14. (4)   D.J. Shaw                                             Center Conway, NH

15. (16) Jake Vanada                                       Berkley, MA

16. (22) Mike Mitchell                                    Cumberland, RI

17. (5)   Cory Casagrande                              Stafford Springs, CT

18. (19) Ray Christian III                                Groton, CT

19. (15) Josh King                                             Vernon, VT

20. (10) Jason Palmer                                     Berlin, CT

21. (23) Roger Oxee                                        Carmel, NY

22. (21) Billy Joerres                                       Somerset, MA

23. (3)   Jarrod Hayes                                      Calverton, NY

 

 

CONTINGENCY AWARDS

AR BODIES (Hard Luck)                                                  60 – D.J. Shaw

BOND AUTO PARTS (Last Car on Lead Lap)            57 – Zig Geno

BOND AUTO PARTS (Halfway Leader)                     35 – Derek Ramstrom

DRACO SPRINGS (Most Positions Gained)            35 – Derek Ramstrom

FIVE STAR AUTO BODIES (5th Place)                        16 – Tommy O’Sullivan

MACLELLAN METAL FINISHING (Heat 1 Winner) 5 – Dillon Moltz

MACLELLAN METAL FINISHING (Heat 2 Winner) 1 – Cory Casagrande

SEYMOUR PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS (Random)               17 – Jason Palmer

RB PERFORMANCE (3rd Place)                                   29 – Barry Gray

RB PERFORMANCE (7th Place)                                   57 – Zig Geno

SHERWOOD WHEELS (Most Laps Led)                     35 – Derek Ramstrom

SUNOCO RACE FUELS (Heat 1 Winner)                    5 – Dillon Moltz

SUNOCO RACE FUELS (Heat 2 Winner)                    1 – Cory Casagrande

VDL FUEL SYSTEMS (5th Place)                                   16 – Tommy O’Sullivan

POWERTRAIN TECHNOLOGY (4th Place)                2 – Nick Cusack

COIL-OVER COMMANDER (Feature Winner)        35 – Derek Ramstrom

PRINZICISION RACING (Feature Winner)                              35 – Derek Ramstrom

Logano wins Three in a Row with Talladega Victory

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Logano wins at Talladega: #22-Joey Logano won the CampingWorld.com 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway for his 6th win of the season, 1st win at Talladega and 14th career win.
    Logano led 20 of the 196 laps.
It was an unusual end to the race. First, coming to the green flag for the green-white-checkered finish, #48-Johnson and #42-Larson spun out as the cars got through the restart zone. NASCAR had thrown the green flag, but put the yellow back out before the cars got to the start-finish line and froze the field to attempt another restart.
Then on the next restart, #4-Harvick, who had been reporting engine problems, failed to get a clean start. #6-Bayne passed Harvick, but made contact with him trying to get back in line and was spun out. Several drivers accused Harvick of intentionally wrecking Bayne. About a dozen cars were collected and NASCAR threw the caution just past the start finish line.
NASCAR had to review video tape to determine Logano was in the lead at the time the caution came out and establish the finishing order for the rest of the field.
Logano won all 3 races in the Contender round of The Chase.
#88-Earnhardt, Jr. finished 2nd followed by #24-Gordon, #2-Keselowski, #19-Edwards, #27-Menard, #78-Truex, Jr, #15-Bowyer, #17-Stenhouse, Jr., and #41-Busch.
#11-Hamlin, #31-Newman, #88-Earnhardt, Jr., and #20-Kenseth were eliminated from the Chase.
The race went caution free for the first 131 laps, the longest green flag strecth to start a race this season.
There were 30 lead changes among 18 drivers and 3 cautions for 18 yellow flag laps.
The average speed was 167.311mph.
(10-25-2015)

Sprint Cup Driver Chase Standings - Eliminator Round: [after Talladega, race 32 of 36]
1) #22-Joey Logano [6 wins], 4000
2) #99-Carl Edwards [2 wins], 4000
3) #24-Jeff Gordon, 4000
4) #41-Kurt Busch [2 wins], 4000
5) #2-Brad Keselowski [1 win], 4000 points
6) #78-Martin Truex, Jr. [1 win], 4000
7) #4-Kevin Harvick [3 wins], 4000
8) #18-Kyle Busch [4 wins], 4000
Points are reset after each round, for the Eliminator Round it goes to 4000, no points for wins
The order is set by the points standings after the last round.
(ties are broken by wins, 2nds, 3rds, etc, with in that round of the Chase)
(10-25-2015)