June 26--- Hingham resident Richard J. Valentine, CEO of F1 Boston in Braintree and F1 Outdoors in E. Bridgewater,  made it to victory lane  again at the EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, in Lexington, Ohio; his third victory in the last four races in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.  He and teammate Andy Lally, piloted their #66 TRG CRG/Maxter Porsche GT3 to victory recently at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (May 19), and, along with teammate Spencer Pumpelly, won the Sahlen・s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen (June 9).  The win puts Valentine and Lally into third place in the championship point standings, only seven points out of the lead.
 
     Lally, who took over from Valentine during the first caution, grabbed the lead from Leighton Reese with an outside pass on Turn 7 on Lap 61.  From there, Lally led by as many as 37 seconds before the race's last caution, but pulled away from Sylvain Tremblay over the final six minutes to post a 1.195-second advantage.
 
       In the post-race media conference, Valentine explained his role heading into this race did not differ from any other race this season.  "Our strategy is always that I get out on the first yellow.  Andy・s blinding speed is considerable ・ as far as our competition is concerned, he・s in a different zip code," stated Valentine.  "We're sticking with the strategy that's served us well.  With three wins and a second to our credit, it's hard to dispute it.  Team Engineer Lars Giersing and Owner Kevin Buckler did an outstanding job as always; a great car set-up and pit strategy, plus the best crew in the Rolex GT Series carried every aspect of the race with precision and speed."
 
       The car was handling so well the team didn't change tires on the final stop of the race.  Lally entered the pits on Lap 70 for fuel only and returned to the track in the lead. Cautions forced his lead to dwindle, and his only challenge came when Tremblay tried a pair of outside passes in the final 10 minutes.
 
       "We had no radio with 20 minutes to go, but TRG gave us the best car in the field again," said Lally, who led a race-high 34 laps averaged 84.297 mph.  "Our guys did a phenomenal job in getting everything going.  Win No. 3 this year, and we・re moving up in the points. We set up a pretty neutral car, so it wasn't too dramatic." The Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve resumes action July 5 with the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway. 
 
        After a grueling 24 hours and a wet photo finish at Le Mans, the teams competing in the American Le Mans Series return stateside for their next challenge, the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park in western CT on  July 6-7.
 
         Back for their fourth year at Lime Rock Park, the Series features the elite marquees of some of the most technologically advanced sports cars and racing machines in the world including Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Chevrolet, Courage, Ferrari, Lola, Mazda, Panoz, Porsche, Radical and Zytek. With advanced diesel power, semi-automatic paddle gearshifts, and sounds that only the pairing of passion and machinery can make, the cars truly employ the technology of tomorrow.
 
       The American Le Mans Series is one of the few in the world that can boast such a large and diverse competitive mix of world-class auto manufacturers that compete head-to-head every season. And with four classes lending four races within a race, you can guarantee an intense battleground. And, Lime Rock Park remains the only venue in the northeast where you can see the American Le Mans Series strut its stuff. While these four classes are preparing to take to the track, the sounds of Formula BMW and IMSA Lites will be heard as both groups return this season for their own intense competition.
 
     On Friday, July 6 Lime Rock Park will be jam-packed with practicing and qualifying from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. as all teams prepare for their standing in Saturday's race. On Saturday, July 7 it's the main event with the first rounds of Formula BMW and IMSA Lites starting at 9:45 and 10:30 a.m., the second round of Formula BMW and IMSA Lites starting at 12:45 and 1:30 p.m. and then the American Le Mans Series Round 6 at 3 p.m.
 
       In between all the action, fans can peruse the paddock around noon on Saturday for the Autograph Session, as all drivers will be available at their trailers for autographs and questions. And before the ALMS race make your way down to the Front Straight at 2:15 p.m. as fans are invited to join in the pre-race festivities. This year is Lime Rock's 50th Anniversary.
 
    Canton's Rick Savary no doubt landed the ride of a lifetime this season when he was hired to drive Art Barry's NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour car for the 2007 season, currently in 17th place as of June 21 in the point standings, he scored a pole position in the recent Charter Cable 150 at the Thompson Speedway in CT. But, Rick is going to have to find a new driving
assignment in 2008 because Art Barry is retiring after four decades of building and fielding top Modified cars for some of the northeast's best drivers. Ditto for Don Lia of NY  who drives another potent Modified for Bob Garbarino of Mystic, CT. Bob is also packing it in at the end of the current season.  At Thompson Speedway last week, Lia ended up winning the rain
shortened WMT 150. Franklin's Bobby Santos took a third in the Mike Boehler entry out of E. Freetown. Dick Houlihan was 18th while others from the area had problems including Rick Savary who ended up  24th due to mechanical problems, Jerry Marquis in the Brady Bunch car placed 28th and Marshfield's Bob Grigas ended the night in 32nd place. Leo Oliviera of Raynham was seventh in the Thompson Modified feature.  Raynham's Tom Cravenho just didn't have enough power or time to get by Jim Blewett in the Sunoco Modified feature and had to settle for runner-up.  "I'm catching up with him and one of these night's I'll beat him," said Tom.  Needham's Kerry Malone took a fourth in that one. In the Late Models Paul Newcomb, Jr. of Plymouth took a third.
 
     A good crowd turned out for last Saturday night's True Value Modified Series race at the Seekonk Speedway. Vinnie Annarummo of nearby Swansea proved that the home court advantage works. He bought a Modified car last year and continues to also compete in Seekonk's Pro Stock division and has entered selected TVMS races this year.  Pembroke's Bill Goodrow was sixth at the checkered flag.  Hometown driver Dave Berghman placed seventh while Jimmy Kuhn of W. Bridgewater had to settle for eighth after starting on the outside pole.  Dick Houlihan, Mike Stefanik of RI plus Ted Christopher and Charlie Pasteryak, both of CT, made up the NASCAR Whelen Modified contingent. However none of the four cracked the top ten at the finish.  That's an indicator that the TVMS is in fact a AAA Modified Tour not quite to the level of the WMT but that series stature is rising. Tom Cravenho of
Raynham just missed the cut in making the Seekonk TVMS field.  Also, at the Cement Palace Kevin Casper won the 50 lap Late Model Narraganset Triple Crown race while W. Bridgewater's John Dabrowski came in eighth. Adam Murphy of Rochester won the Sport Truck feature while Andy Jeffery of Middleboro was third followed by Taunton's Hugh Bowser.
 
       The Brockton Fairgrounds will be busy with Demo Derbies scheduled for Friday, June 29, Saturday, June 30, Wednesday, July 4, Friday, July 6, Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8. In addition the New England Dirt Track Series Flat Track Motorcycles will perform on a dirt quarter-mile track this Sunday night at 5:30 p.m. Among the entries is Plymouth's Bryan McKenna on board his Bettencourt Honda (W. Bridgewater) sponsored machine.
 
    Checking the southern New England racing calendar this weekend shows the following.  NHIS in Loudon will be busy all weekend with four major NASCAR events from Friday through Sunday.  The Busch East Series is on for Friday while the the NASCAR WMT and the Busch Grand Nationals go Saturday. Sunday at Loudon offers the Lenox 300 for the Nextel Cup cars. We are told there are plenty of tickets available for all of the events at NHIS.  Down this way Thompson Speedway in CT returns with Thursday Night Thunder. On Friday night Stafford Speedway in CT plans a full card of racing plus fireworks.  On Saturday night Seekonk Speedway hosts both the NEAR and STARS Antique clubs plus four divisions of stockcar action. Waterford in CT also plans a five card program with the Legend Cars added. Whip City in Westfield plans Mini Sprints and 4 Cyl. Street Stocks on the dirt oval. On Sunday, both
Seekonk and Waterford come back with Demo Derby programs at 6 p.m.

    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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