'Ladies Challenge for Charities Race" at Stafford Speedway this weekend

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Ladies Challenge for Charities Race at Stafford This Weekend

(Stafford Springs, CT)---The NAPA Auto Parts Fall Weekend has an added twist this year.  Twelve ladies will take to the track in Street Stock rides on Saturday, September 29 all in the interest of charitable giving.  Thirteen different charities will reap the benefits of this special event, thanks to the hard work of these amazing ladies and car owners in the Street Stock division.

Last year it was Cassie Rocco, wife of SK Modified® driver Keith Rocco, along with Maina Rufrano, car owner and proud mom of SK Light driver Marcello Rufrano, that hit the track to raise money for charity.  The pair accumulated nearly $6,000 in donations from the racing community for the American Cancer Society last year.  Fast forward one year and event has grown into its own Ladies Challenge feature event in Street Stocks with over $18,000 raised to date.  

The ladies will take to the track with limited racing experience.  The starting order is determined by the amount of money raised.  The participant that raises the greatest amount of money will be awarded the pole position for the feature event and bragging rights for such a great accomplishment. 

Below are the participants with the cars they are associated with and links to the each participant’s charity of choice.  The current order is based on the money raised to date with Nicole LaRose in the #11 Travis Hydar Racing car with a commanding lead over by Mary Ann Gambacorta in the #23 Gambacorta Motorsports Car and Debbie DeSanctis in the #01 Johnny Wicker Walker ride.  If you would like to see your favorite driver move up in the starting field, click on the link and make a donation.  

Driver	Associated Street Stock Team	Charity Link for Online Donations
Nicole LaRose	#11 – Travis Hydar	Catherine V. Hubbard Animal Sanctuary
Mary Ann Gambacorta	#23 – Vince Gambacorta	Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
Debbie DeSanctis	#01 – Johnny “Wicker” Walker	Honor and Remember
Lianna Berndt	#89 – Samantha Anderson	CT Humane Society
Megan Surdell	#16 – Nicole Chambrello	Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
Gail McClain	#21 – Jason Lafayette	Alzheimer’s Associtation Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
Maina Rufrano	#2 – Meghan Fuller	American Cancer Society
Cassie Rocco	#39 – George Bessette, Jr.	Mike Tidabeck Medical Expenses
Elizabeth Vassar	#33 – Rent A Racecar	Ronald McDonald House
Tiffany Spinnato	#22 – Rent A Racecar	Disabled American Veterans
Shannon DiConstanzo	#78 – Mike Hopkins	American Lung Association
Amber Larsen	#68 – Greg DeMone	Shriner’s Children’s Hospital

  

             

Results and the 2018 Champions Night begins.....

Posted by Wayne G. Barber and Photos by Wayne G. Barber

News, Results, Driver Changes, Sponsor Changes, Schedules and Driver Interviews

E-Mail the show at waynewnri@yahoo.com


Tonight at 6:05 pm Monadnock Speedway's 2018 Super Stock Champion #11x Tyler Leary will discuss his Championship year and his season still running at Stafford Speedway where he is 2nd in the points. You can share the photos, but please reference the source, Wayne G. Barber

Ronnie Williams Claims Stafford Speedway Sk Modified Championship

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

(Stafford Springs, CT)---After finishing a career best third in the 2017 SK Modified® standings at Stafford in his family owned car, Ronnie Williams made the move to the #50 team owned by Les and Tina Skowyra and led by crew chief Adam Skowyra for the 2018 season.  In switching teams, Williams faced a new chassis and a new crew, but things came together quickly for the new combination and last Friday they clinched the 2018 SK Modified® track championship with one race still to go. 

“Now I can talk about being champion,” said Williams.  “It’s kind of weird because it really hasn’t sunk in yet since we still have one more race left this season.  It’s definitely an amazing feeling to clinch the championship with this group of guys.  I thought at the beginning of the year that there was no reason why we couldn’t win the championship.  I had a new chassis going from CD to Troyer, a different engine builder, different tire guy, different spotter, and I’m not a guy who likes change at all.  I’ve been chewing the same type of gum for 10 years and when I go into a restaurant they already know what I want, I don’t have to order anything.  There were a lot of new components and I knew that they ran well last year so there was a little bit of added pressure on me, but in the end it all paid off.”

“You always hope you can have a season like we did,” said crew chief Adam Skowyra.  “We had all the equipment, Ronnie had experience, and the whole team had experience so you hope you can come out of the gate swinging for a championship but the odds are stacked against you.  Everyone jelling together right from day one is the main reason why we were able to be champions this season.  It was awesome to be able to clinch the championship one race early.  Now we can go to the Fall Final and have some fun trying to win the race.  Last year the Fall Final was pretty stressful for us all.  The last month the points were always on our minds and when we took the checkered flag this past Friday night, it felt like a 10,000 pound weight had been lifted off our shoulders.”

Any question marks about the new combination of Williams and the #50 team were quickly put to rest with back to back second place finishes to open the season.  Following what would be his worst finish of the 2018 season to date with an 18^th place finish on May 11, Williams and the #50 Les’s Auto Center team took off on an 11 race stretch that saw them finish outside the top-5 only once.  That stretch of races helped catapult Williams and the #50 team into the points lead, a position they never relinquished. 

“We really didn’t have any bad races this year, there was only one race where we had any issues and we still got back on track and finished that race a lap down,” said Williams.  “For us to put ourselves in a position to clinch the championship with one race still to go really shows that all of our hard work paid off.  I really drew the easy job driving this car.  All the guys on this team bust their butts in the shop every week and I have the honor and privilege to go out and do what I love to do every Friday night.  This championship season is thanks to a great crew and all of our sponsors, Empower Financial, Les’s Auto Center, Alltown Sanitation and Recycling, Centurn Machine, Napa of Tolland, Palmer Paving, Pettit for the awesome power, Williams Race Gears, and Flamingo Motorsports.”

Becoming a track champion in the SK Modified® ranks and joining the long list of distinguished track champions that have called Stafford Speedway home over the years is a dream come true for Williams. Source: Scott Running Stafford Speedway Press Release

Monadnock Results

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Side by Side, Eric LeClair and Mike Smith brought the Sportsman Modified field to the green.  On lap two, the caution flew as Smith spun.  On the restart, LeClair battled with Ben Byrne for the lead.  Byrne made the pass as LeClair fell back to fourth.  Kim Rivet and Joel Monahan moved into the second and third spot.  Byrne and Rivet began to gain ground from Monahan as he felt the pressure of Keith Carzello on his back bumper.  Geoff Rollins also was in the mix of the battle as he ran fifth.  Carzello looked to make the pass for several laps as Rollins was glued to Carzello’s back bumper.  On lap thirty, Carzello moved into third as Monahan protected his spot from Rollins.  Two laps to go, Rollins took over fourth as Monahan dropped back to sixth. Kimball took over the fifth spot.  At the wave of the checkers, Byrne collected his second win of the season followed by Rivet and Carzello. 


Sportsman Modifieds: Ben Byrne,Kim Rivet, Keith Carzello, Geoff Rollins, Matt Kimball, Joel Monahan, Alex Pearl, Russ Hersey, Geoff Nooney, Dylan Bodreau, Eric LeClair, Mike Hall Jr, Alyssa Rivera, Victoria Bergenty, Mike Smith, Chris Ignazio, Matt McDougall

Limited Sportsman just about decided at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park

Posted by Wayne G. Barber & Photos by Wayne G. Barber

In the Limited Sportsman it was business as usual for Shawn Monahan who all but wrapped up his second consecutive championship in the division with his fourth win of the season after earning the title winless in 2017. The battle will be for second with Chris Meyers holding a ten point lead over Larry 'Leadfoot" Barnett who had a awesome run this week.
#2 Meghan Fuller diced it up early and led a lap and had her best run to date on the big track. Brent Gleason won his heat race for his dad who recently passed away and Shawn referenced it also in Victory Lane in a very classy manner.


LIMITED SPORTSMAN FEATURE TOP 10: 1. Shawn Monahan (Waterford, CT); 2. Larry Barnett (Moosup, CT); 3. Chris Meyer (North Franklin, CT); 4. Brent Gleason (Griswold, CT); 5. Meghan Fuller (Auburn, MA); 

NEAR opened the racing card at the Monadnock Speedway 9-8-18

Posted By Wayne G. Barber & Photos by Wayne G. Barber

20 entries including 4 Ford Flatheads with those Stromberg Carb's from NEAR opened the night of racing; for those that don’t know NEAR are made of cars that ran in the 50's, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. NEAR runs an exhibition type event that is designed to allow the cars to run while minimizing the risk of damage to these historical cars! In the Sportsman Division Joe Keefner in the 99K won in a car that was originally run in Flemington, NJ on both dirt and asphalt. In the Modified Division it was the 199 of Billy Kemp in a car he drove in the Pro-Stock Division at Monadnock Speedway in the 70’s. I have another 330 photos from the racing card if you need a particular car or driver let me know at waynewnri@yahoo.com

Tom Carey III, Spanks the Late Model Field at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park

Posted by Wayne G. Barber Photo by Wayne G. Barber

The Late Models started off the afternoon’s lineup of main events as one of the closest points races of 2018 with only eight positions separating Nicholas Johnson and Tom Carey III for the championship. It was a tale of two races for the points leaders as Johnson was involved in two separate incidents only four laps into the race, including a crash on a restart that also collected Woody Pitkat who was third in points coming into the race. Carey on the other hand spent much of the race in the top five and managed to wrestle his way to second place seven laps into the event before another caution slowed action on the track. Yet another caution flag waved soon after when contact between William Wall and Walt Sutcliffe in a battle for the top three created a multi-car incident resulting in a red flag and Sutcliffe approaching Wall’s stationary car to confront Wall face to face. The wreck was also the third incident involving Nicholas Johnson who spun to successfully avoid damage from the incident.

After two more cautions race control changed the restarts to single file allowing Tom Carrey III to take the lead while Nickolas Johnson worked his way through the field into the top five with eight laps to go. Carey went on to dominate the second half of the race scoring his first Late Model win at Thompson. Nicholas Johnson completed his comeback performance with a fifth-place finish making him perfect in top five finishes for 2018 in the division going into the final event. Carey celebrated the win in style with his family in victory lane and called it a long time coming.LATE MODEL FEATURE TOP 10: 1. Tom Carey III (New Salem, MA); 2. Mark Jenison (Warwick, RI); 3. William Wall (Shrewsbury, MA); 4. Nick Johnson (Rehoboth, MA); 5. Ryan Morgan (Gales Ferry, CT); 

“It’s been a long three years. I feel like we should have won here a couple of times, but we just never seem to be able to punch the ticket – I knew we had a good piece today and I said if that door isn’t going to open I’m going to kick it in,” Carey said in victory lane. With the title now within his grasp and only mere positions separating him and Johnson Carey said his team never races for points and they don’t plan to change that approach when they return for the World Series next month. “I’m going to go out there and do what I normally do,” said Carey. “It seems to be when people start points racing you start making silly mistakes. If Nick wins the championship than he deserves it and if I win the championship than I deserve it.” Source:  Thompson Speedway Media Press Release