Thompson, CT — The high banks of Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park will roar once again in 2021. American-Canadian Tour (ACT) and Pro All Stars Series (PASS) have announced a six-event schedule for the coming season that features the new Thompson Outlaw Open Modified Series.
The Outlaw Open Series consists of half a dozen high-paying events for Tour-type Modifieds that are expected to attract the top teams in the region. The series begins at the 46th annual Thompson Icebreaker from Friday, April 9 to Sunday, April 11. A 150-lap, $10,000-to-win Outlaw Open Series event will highlight the weekend card.
The stakes get even higher at the season-sending 59th Annual Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing from Friday, October 8 to Sunday, October 10. ACT and PASS have organized the return of the historic Thompson 300, which was last contested in 2005. A $20,000 minimum prize has been posted for the winner of the 300-lap showdown.
CHASE DOWLING POCKETS $10K PRIZE IN CALL BEFORE YOU DIG MODIFIED CLASSIC AT STAFFORD
BY SOUZA MEDIA/KYLE SOUZA
STAFFORD, Conn. — Chase Dowling took the home-track advantage to Victory Lane in the Call Before You Dig (CBYD) Modified Classic 81 at Stafford Motor Speedway on Saturday night.
Dowling, the driver of the No. S&S Asphalt Paving machine owned by Ben Dodge, rolled to a dominant win in the inaugural Tri Track Open Modified Series race at the Connecticut half-mile. The race win came with a smooth $10,000 check courtesy of CBYD and Tri Track — just a small portion of a purse that was over $58,000. Thirty-two cars started the race, while 51 Modifieds showed up in the pit area to attempt to qualify. It was the largest, and most talented, Modified field seen in a race in multiple decades of racing.
Dowling took the lead on lap 12, led through lap 30 when he pitted during a controlled caution, then blasted back to the front to take the top spot for the final time on lap 39. He would hold off Matt Hirschman on multiple restarts in the second half of the race to win.
Pole Clinches GSPSS Championship With A Win at The Speedbowl
Hudson NH’s Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk finished off his championship 2020 with a win on Saturday night. The driver of car 97 dueled with Angelo Belsito over the final 17 laps winning by just .103 seconds and clinching the 2020 Granite State Pro Stock Series Championship.
Cloudy skies greeted the teams of the Granite State Pro Stock series as they arrived for the second time in a month. On tap was a 100 lap affair and the crowning of the 2020 champion. Unfortunately mother nature would make the teams wait a bit longer than expected to get this done.
Angelo Belsito couldn’t best his track record but still set fast time in The Crazy Horse Racing Fast Time Challenge. Time trials were run with heavy moisture in the air slowing the pace and jumbling the order a bit. Behind Belsito, Gabe Brown and “Pole”would complete the top three in time trials.
TRI TRACK SET FOR STAFFORD DEBUT WITH $10,000 ON THE LINE
BY SOUZA MEDIA/KYLE SOUZA
SEEKONK, Mass. — It’s going to be coined as the biggest Modified race of 2020.
With more than 50 cars pre-registered, and the top Modified talent in the Northeast expected, Tri Track Open Modified Series teams are set for their debut at the famed Stafford Motor Speedway half-mile this Saturday, October 24.
The race has a total purse of over $57,000 — with a $10,000 winning prize on the line. It will pay $1,000 just to take the green flag in the 81-lap Call Before You Dig (CBYD) Modified Classic.
CBYD, a longtime supporter of racing at Stafford, is on board as the primary sponsor of this spectacular – a race that is drawing talent from the Tri Track Series, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Race of Champions Tour and more. All of the biggest names are coming to the show, and fans aren’t going to want to miss it.
Names like Matt Hirschman, Doug Coby and Justin Bonsignore are set to battle with Woody Pitkat, Craig Lutz, Matt Swanson, Ron Silk, Chase Dowling, Ronnie Williams, Burt Myers and more. There will be a mix of Modified veterans, rising stars, Stafford regulars and invaders chasing the big check and bragging rights.
Granite State Pro Stock Series Headed to Speedbowl for Finale
The Granite State Pro Stock Series will wrap up its 2020 season and crown their champion with a one hundred lap event at the New London Waterford Speedbowl, Saturday October 24th.
Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk came into the season intending to run a partial season but early success changed the Hudson NH drivers plans and he comes to Waterford as the series point leader. “I really enjoy going to Waterford and we are going there with the same mind set we’ve had all year” said Polewarczyk. “ Obviously we need to be smart, but we hope to be competing for the win” He went on to say “I’m extremely proud of our team to be in the position we are in, headed into the final race”.
Rowe Snaps Long ACT Winless Drought at Oxford as Hebert Locks up First Title
Belanger Overwhelms Field in Flying Tiger Oxford Open
American Canadian Tour
Oxford, ME — Turner, ME’s Ben Rowe and Williamstown, VT’s Jimmy Hebert took home the glory of the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) season finale at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday, October 18. Rowe broke a long ACT dry spell with his victory in the Lee’s Family Trailer Sales & Service 150 while Hebert’s third-place finish clinched his first ACT Late Model Tour championship.
For Rowe, it was the multi-time Pro All Star Series champion’s first win in an ACT-sanctioned event since 2006 — a drought of more than 14 years. Hebert, meanwhile, finally claimed a title after having finished second or third in the ACT standings four different times during his career.
Stark, NH’s Jamie Swallow Jr. set the early tempo, snatching the lead from polesitter Marcel J. Gravel amidst a trio of early cautions. Once the field got going, Swallow checked out, putting several seconds between himself and a raging battle that included Ryan Kuhn, Rowe, Tom Carey III, D.J Shaw, Derek Gluchacki, and others.
VARIETY OF MOTOR PACKAGES COMING TO TRI TRACK DEBUT AT STAFFORD LOOKING FOR $10,000 CHECK
BY SOUZA MEDIA/KYLE SOUZA
SEEKONK, Mass. — When the Tri Track Open Modified Series rolls into Stafford Motor Speedway on Saturday for the Call Before You Dig Modified Classic 81, a variety of different motor packages will come with the top talent in Modified racing to chase a $10,000 winning prize.
As previously released by Tri Track ahead of the Monadnock date in August, there are multiple different motor packages possible for each event. At Stafford, it will be no different. With talent coming from multiple different divisions, there will be various engine packages, and all of them will have a shot to take a purse of over $57,000 with contingency and additional bonuses included.
There will be a 21-degree Dart Spec Head Tour-Type motor under the hood of the No. 00 for Jimmy Paige and driver Justin Bonsignore and others in the field, while various drivers will compete with an 18-degree Tour-Type engine, including names like series points leader Matt Hirschman, Woody Pitkat, Mike Christopher Jr., Ron Silk, Todd Owen and more.
Cabral, Stergios Take NEMA/Rifchin Memorial Prize at Claremont
NEMA returned to the Claremont Motorsports Park for the first time in five years this past Saturday. Randy Cabral pulled off a “hail mary” pass with seven laps remaining in the NEMA feature, passing Todd Bertrand and leader Mike Horn to take down his third win of the season. In the Lites feature, PJ Stergios passed leader Jim Santa Maria with five laps remaining to take down the victory.
The race celebrated Marvin Rifchin, who was a long time supporter of NEMA. Marvin’s contributions to the industry have been nationally recognized. In 1999, he was inducted into the NEAR Hall of Fame. In 2003, he was inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame. Throughout the 60?s, 70?s, 80?s, and into the 90?s, Marvin’s tires helped deliver countless NEMA victories and championships with guys like Russ Stoehr, Bill Eldridge, Al Pillion, Dave Humphrey, Lee Smith, Joey Coy, and Drew Fornoro just to name a few.
Waterbury, VT — The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) is slated to descend on Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway this Saturday, October 17 at 1:00pm for the final event of the 2020 racing season. The Lee’s Family Trailer Sales & Service 150 for the ACT Late Model Tour and Oxford Open for the ACT Flying Tigers send off the 35th season of ACT competition with a bang.
Despite a season with unique challenges never before seen in ACT’s long history, the finale is still brimming with excitement and intrigue. Late Model stars like Jimmy Hebert, D.J. Shaw, Ben Rowe, Dylan Payea, and Derek Gluchacki are ready for 150 more laps to decide who will end the campaign on a high note. They’ll be joined by Flying Tiger standouts Jason Woodard, Cameron Ouellette, Colin Cornell, and more in an encore trip to the famous 3/8-mile oval.
TRI TRACK RACE PROCEDURES RELEASED FOR CALL BEFORE YOU DIG MODIFIED CLASSIC 81 AT STAFFORD
BY SOUZA MEDIA/KYLE SOUZA
SEEKONK, Mass. — Tri Track Open Modified Series officials released a list of race procedures to teams this week ahead of the debut at Stafford Motor Speedway on October 24. The Call Before You Dig (CBYD) Modified Classic 81 will pay $10,000 to win, but there will be plenty of strategy that comes into play to decide the winner of the big prize.
Different than other Tri Track events in 2020, teams will be allowed to purchase 10 tires towards their inventory for the day — meaning teams can change up to two tires for any reason during the race, instead of just one. That will create a whole new element of strategy – with some electing to pit early, and others staying on track and waiting it out hoping for a late caution.
Like the other three Tri Track races this season, a controlled cold caution flag period will occur, with the caution flying somewhere between laps 30 and 35, at the discretion of race control. In addition to announcing the caution through race control radio, the flagman will display the yellow and checkered flags at the same time to indicate the caution period. Pitting during this caution is optional – meaning it is possible to gain track position by staying out. Cars will pit in the order of running during the last lap run under green, with cars coming out of the pits and lining up at the end of the field in the order they entered. Therefore, no one who pits will lose any spots, unless drivers elect to stay out. Pit cars will be placed at the back of those who stayed on the track.
