December 4, Brockton, MA--- In what is being dubbed as one of the wackiest events ever held at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, New Hampshire, the 2nd ever, Alan's Home Improvement, Pre-Hangover 150, an enduro event paying $500 to win, is scheduled for Sunday, December 30th at 2 p.m., is set to thrill the die hard race fan. If you’re ready for something that will entertain you to no end, this is the event for you and your family!

Last year, Riverside had some of our Daredevil Youth Racer competitors registered, as well as drivers from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. With the open format of any vehicle such as cars, trucks, and vans being allowed to race, some entries may be very interesting. No traction enhancement devices will be allowed including studded tires, chains, 4 wheel drives or all wheel drive vehicles.

In the event of severe weather, the event will be held on Tuesday, January 1st, New Years Day at 1 p.m. Riverside Speedway is located on Brown Road, off Route 3 in Groveton, New Hampshire. Registration forms and a full set of simple rules are available on the track website, www.riversidespeedway.org. You may also register at the track on the day of the races. For more information call the track hotline at 603-636-2005.

The Best Western Executive Court Inn and Conference Center, Manchester, NH., provided the setting recently, as the Lee USA Speedway, Lee, NH., concluded it’s 2007 season with the annual “Banquet of Champions” honoring the tracks competitors that compete weekly in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. Five drivers were crowned champions for the NASCAR sanctioned race track and over twenty five presentations were made for special achievements.

Following a social hour and dinner, award ceremonies were hosted by announcers Deryl Morley and John Spence Sr. Track owner Red MacDonald and NASCAR official Ron Bennett handled award presentations. J.R.Baril Haverhill, MA, captured his eighth career championship, his sixth Lee title, and his second consecutive championship in the Ciotti Race Products Late Model division. Three wins and consistency paved the way to the title for the second generation racer. Baril closed out the season with a victory in the Dave Reynolds # 2 Late Model, a car he will drive weekly in 2008.

Veteran Bo Green, Berwick ME., was a three-time winner in 2007 and with his consistent effort he found himself atop the point standings at seasons end capturing his second consecutive championship in the Prime Storage Late Model Sportsman division. Green thanked his crew for their effort and also dedicated the season and championship to his late father, step father, and Uncle Gary Gaudette, a long time area racer. Green plans to return to Lee in 2008 with his own ride and will also focus on his son Ryan who will be competing in the LMS division on a limited schedule.

Eddie Witkum Jr , Merrimack, NH., captured his first Lee title in the small block Super Modified division. Driving the Callahan Motorsports-Delphi Construction # 39, Witkum was a strong force all season long. A 9-time feature winner, Witkum finished in the top five 17 times in 2007. The second generation driver will return with car owner Dave Callahan next season.

Veteran racer Brian Thompson, Danville, NH was crowned champion of the Planet Aid Hobby Stock division. Thompson intends to return to hobby stock action next season, his 28th year of competition. Thompson says his car was ready the day after the banquet. Epping, NH’s Ben Brown, strong out of the box in April, ran strong all season and captured the track title in the Roadrunner division.

Long time car owner/builder Dennis Soares was presented the NASCAR/Craftsman Mechanic of the Year award. NASCAR racing at every level is a team sport, and this is particularly true of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series,” said George Silbermann, Managing Director of Racing Operations for NASCAR. ”The 2007 Craftsman Mechanic of the Year program recognizes the significant contributions of the men and women who prepare the racing machines at NASCAR Home Tracks across North America. We appreciate Craftsman’s continued support of this important program.”

Achievement awards were presented to recipients in all five divisions.

Roadrunners....
2007 Rookie of the year..... Chris Jacobson
2007 Sportsmanship award.....Keith Jones
2007 Hard luck award.....Chris Jacobson
2007 Most improved driver....Dana Faulkner
2007 Best Team Performance....Ben Brown

Hobby Stocks.....
2007 Rookie of the year....Pat Tanguay
2007 Sportsmanship award...Matt Thomas
2007 Hard luck award...Todd Bregy
2007 Most improved driver.....Matt Thomas
2007 Best Team Performance....Brian Thompson

Late Model Sportsman......
2007 Rookie of the year....Kevin Abele
2007 Sportsmanship award...Bob Melvin Jr
2007 Hard luck award...Jason Marr
2007 Most improved driver....Michele Fushpanski
2007 Best Team Performance....Wayne Whitten

Small Block Supers....
2007 Rookie of the year...Dan Lane
2007 Sportsmanship award...Dan Bowes
2007 Hard luck award...David Bouchard
2007 Most improved driver.....Jeff Locke
2007 Best Team Performance....Ed Witkum Jr

Late Models....
2007 Rookie of the year....Miles Chipman
2007 Sportsmanship award...Ricky Wolf
2007 Hard luck award...Jeremy Harclerode
2007 Most improved driver.....Katrina Canney
2007 Best Team Performance....Phil Baril Jr

Bob Watson, Marketing Guru for the Lee Speedway in NH, has another job. His company Sunshine Productions supplies a DJ for fund raisers and parties. He can be reached at 386-717-4887.

Riverside(Groveton, NH) Speedway’s General Manager, Dick Therrien has announced the date for the 2008 rules meetings, open to all current and prospective race teams. The event will happen on Sunday, December 16, 2007 at the American Legion hall in Groveton, New Hampshire.

The schedule of meetings will go as follows:

DWARF CARS: 12:00 PM – 1PM

STREET STOCKS: 1:00PM – 2:00PM

LATE MODELS: 2:00PM – 2:45PM

SUPER STOCKS: 2:45PM – 3:30PM

OUTLAW SPORTSMAN – 3:30PM – 5:00PM

There will be no meetings for the Cyclones, Angels or Daredevils.

The meetings will be designed to discuss any and all rule changes for the 2008 racing season at Riverside Speedway. Please plan on attending this meeting if you have any interest in running at Riverside Speedway next season. This will be your chance to participate in the rules making process.

Early reaction to the 2008 American-Canadian Tour schedule has been very positive, giving an indication that there may be even more full-time title chasers next year. A dozen teams gave it the old college try this year, with another nine attempting to qualify for more than half of the 13 races. A totally revamped schedule and championship points format will allow more of those teams that “just missed” full-time competition to enter the title hunt – a driver’s or owner’s best 10 results during the 12-race campaign in 2008 will be counted toward the ACT championship standings, thereby allowing teams to “drop” their two worst outings. That includes races that drivers fail to qualify for or even fail to attempt qualifying for.

One of the 2007 full-timers, 18 year-old Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk of Hudson, NH, thinks it’s a good system. “I like it a lot, I think it will work out well for just about everyone,” he said. “Every driver has that one track that they don’t like that much, or at least don’t have very good luck at. For me this past year, it was Thunder Road. I love racing there, but everything seemed to wrong for us there all year, even in the Thursday night races we ran that weren’t Tour races. Being able to get rid of two bad races is going to help a lot of teams.”

One of Joey Pole’s full-time competitors, fellow Granite State driver Randy Potter, agrees. Potter cited the unknown factors of racing at tracks he’s not very familiar with as an advantage for the “drop” system to be in place. “I’ve only been to Lee (USA Speedway, NH) once, and I’ve never been to Waterford (Speedbowl, CT), so the drop could come in handy for me at those tracks,” he explained. “To be honest, it would have been nice for me to have that option this year. That green-to-checkers race at Oxford, I was toast. There weren’t any cautions, and we never got a chance to pit and change the setup. It was our worst finish of the year, and it hurt us in the standings.” The potential for a regular “weekly racer” to turn some strong home-track runs into a Top 10 title bid is very good.

Cris Michaud, a three-time Thunder Road Champion, has been selective in his Tour racing over the last few years, but says that the new format could eventually change his mind. “I’m not committing to the Tour right now, but it’s certainly looking like more and more of a possibility than it had been for my team in the past few years,” said Michaud. “We only have one car and a pretty tight budget, but four of the Tour shows are at Thunder Road, so those races are no-brainers for the Thursday night drivers.”

While explaining why he liked the changes to the Tour schedule, Michaud almost sounded as if he was trying to convince himself that running the full season would be pretty easy while juggling a fourth try at the “King of the Road” crown. “I like Oxford (his best 2007 Tour finish, by the way, was at the Maine oval in April, 6th place), and I’ve won at Lee before, so we would probably go to most of those shows,” he said. “That’s eight total. I’ve been kicking myself about not going to Kawartha, so I think we’ll head out there, that’s nine, and White Mountain is close by, so that’s our ten races if we wanted to do it. Airborne and Waterford are the only ones left, and Airborne isn’t far from home at all. It’s a pretty good deal, I think.”

Michaud went even further into it. “Looking at it, half of the Tour schedule will be done by the time Thursday night races start at Thunder Road, and July and August are pretty much wide open to relax. Really, if you’re a Thursday night racer and you want to run the Tour, you only need to double-up a race weekend two or three times during the year to have a real shot at the full schedule. It’s a very interesting position to be in.” Michaud, you’ll recall, was an ACT Late Model Tour championship threat big-time in 2001, winning a pair of races and finishing a very close third in the standings. Potter and Polewarczyk aren’t exactly slouches, either; each driver was a first-time ACT winner in 2007, and finished the year fourth and seventh, respectively, in points.

The 2008 True Value Modified Racing Series Schedule was announced at the the 2008 Awards Banquet by series President Jack Bateman.
Seventeen races are on tap for the fastest growing touring series in the Northeast. The season is scheduled to begin on April 12th at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH. and end at the traditional Oktoberfest at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H. on October 19th.

The series will make its inaugural visit to Thunder Road Speedbowl in Barre, Vt on May 25th. It marks the first modified race at the historic ¼ mile track in over 40 years.

“ I am very excited about our 2008 schedule,” said Jack Bateman. “I am pleased to welcome back many of the fine speedways that have been a part of this series I thank them for their support over the years. And I am happy to welcome Thunder Road as the newest venue on the series.”

The Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk , Mass. will host the most events in 2008. The third-mile oval has four events on the schedule with one a non points event.

The Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H., the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H and the Waterford Speedbowl in Waterford, Connecticut will each host the series three times.

The series will make two stops in the state of Maine. The Oxford Plains Speedway will host an event on July 19 during the Oxford 250 weekend. The series will return to the Beech Ridge Motor Speedway on August 2nd. The Thompson International Speedway will also host one event for the third consecutive year.

2008 TRUE VALUE MODFIED RACING SERIES SCHEDULE

Date Speedway City

4/12 Monadnock Speedway Winchester, NH

4/20 Lee USA Speedway Lee, N.H.

5/3 Waterford Speedbowl Waterford, CT

5/25 Thunder Road Speedbowl Barre, VT

6/14 Seekonk Speedway Seekonk, MA

6/21 Waterford Speedbowl Waterford, CT

7/5 Monadnock Speedway Winchester, NH

7/11 Lee USA Speedway Lee, N.H

7/16* Seekonk Speedway Seekonk, MA

7/19 Oxford Plains Speedway Oxford, ME

8/2 Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Scarborough, ME

8/16 Waterford Speedbowl Waterford, CT

8/23 Monadnock Speedway Winchester, NH

8/30 Seekonk Speedway Seekonk, MA

9/7 Thompson International Speedway Thompson, CT

10/5 Seekonk Speedway Seekonk, MA

10/19 Lee USA Speedway Lee, N.H.

* NON POINTS EVENT

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Kirk Alexander of Swanzey, N.H. was honored Saturday night as the 2007 True Value Modified Racing Series Champion during the annual Awards Banquet at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Chicopee, Mass. It was the third series championship for Alexander who is also the all times series winner. “ I am very lucky to have a great team behind me”, said Alexander. “This championship is for my brother Tim, more than it is for myself.” Alexander also earned the Hoosier Tire East Award and was presented the Black Mountain Painting Award during the evening.

One of the highlights of the evening was the coveted Bob Polverari Award presented to a competitor who represents modified racing in a professional manner. Ed Dachenhausen of Danbury, Conn. was named the winner of this prestigious award.

The True Value Modified Racing Series Officials vote every year on a group of awards. The Most Improved Driver Award was presented to Mike Holdridge of Madison, Conn. who finished 10th in the series standings. The Sportsmanship Award was presented to Chris Pasteryak of Lisbon, Conn. Pasteryak finished 9th in the final run down. The 2007 Rookie of the Year Award went to Peter Jarvis of Ascutney, Vt. who finished 8th in the series point chase. The final award voted on by the series officials is the Hard Luck Award and that was presented to Jim Dolan of Bethel, Conn. Les Hinckley of Windsor Locks, Conn., the series runner-up, was given the Sunoco Hard Charger Award. The Top-15 drivers in the series were recognized during the evening and every driver received a point fund check and a trophy.

The Racing School has dubbed itself as "A Racecar Drving Experience". The school schedules classes at the Thompson(CT)Speedway, NHMS and the Waterford Speedbowl also in CT. If you would like to take a course in Florida the school has one at the New Smyrna Speedway in the Daytona area. There are all sorts of plans based on what you can afford. Give them a call at 1-877-CAN-RACE or check their website at www.theracingschool.com on the internet.

    Lou Modestino is a long-time columnist and Public Relations person, working for numerous tracks in the northeast, and now writes for The Enterprise in Brockton, MA.  He may be reached at lmodestino@hotmail.com. 

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