December 29, Brockton, MA--- The stars of Seekonk Speedway’s 62nd season will be honored Saturday night, January 19, at the track’s annual awards banquet and dance at the Venus de Milo Restaurant, located on Route 6 in Swansea. Close to 900 competitors, crew members, officials, fans, and their families are expected to attend the gala affair. Third generation racer David Darling of Rehoboth will be honored for the second consecutive year as champion in the top tier Pro Stock division.

Joining Darling at the head table will be Pawtucket, RI’s Gerry DeGasparre, Jr., who earned his second consecutive and third career title in the Late Model division, Mike Cavallaro of Seekonk, who earned his second straight Sport Truck crown, and Robert “Sparky” Arsenault of Attleboro, who claimed the Street Stock title for the second time in his career. Swansea’s Bill Chouinard will be honored as the Pure Stock champion. In the Seekonk Youth Racing Association Brian Mondeau, 15, of Bridgewater and Tim Brown, also 15, of Norton captured the respective 750 and 600-restrictor plate divisional championships.

Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Driver awards will be given in each class, in addition to the traditional top ten in points and feature winners’ trophies. The Venditti family will honor two deserving recipients for their dedication and commitment to the sport with the coveted Anthony Francis Venditti and D. Anthony Venditti Memorial Awards.

The speedway has scheduled three pre-season open practice sessions at the 1/3-mile Bay State oval on Saturday April 5, April 19, and May 3, beginning at 11 AM. The first green flag of the season will wave on Sunday May 4, at 1 PM with Seekonk’s Pro Stocks, Late Models, Sport Trucks, Street Stocks, and the Northeastern Midget Association in attendance. Pure Stocks will open their season at the May 25 Demolition Derby Thrill Show Spectacular. The Fast Friday Series, featuring the Seekonk Youth Racing Association, Pure Stocks, and Go-Karts gets underway June 6 at 7 PM.

Tickets for the 62nd annual Seekonk Speedway Awards Banquet and Dance are $30 each and can be purchased by contacting the track office directly at (508)-336-9959. A cocktail hour will precede 7 PM family style dinner and awards presentation. For more information, visit online at www.seekonkspeedway.com.


Red Sox pitcher Mike Timlin ended the 2007 season going 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA over 50 appearances. he also made a couple of key strike outs in the Red Sox clinching victory in game four of the World Series with the Colorado Rockies, and with his recent re-signing, Red Sox fans will wee him at Fenway in 2008. He's one of many celebs making appearances a this weekend in the World of Wheels at the Bayside Expo Center in Dorchester.

Also, Tow Mater was the loveable, but not too smart rusty tow truck with a heart of gold and voice of Larry The Cable Guy, who was Lightening McQueen's sidekick in CARS. To bring him to life, a Chevy Dually pickup truck body, chassis and nearly everything else was cut, the radiator relocated to the passenger compartment and one-off tooling created for all new body panels.

All types of motorsports action and displays are part of this annual participation that kicks off the winter motor head show season in New England.

The 34th Annual Town Fair Tire World of Wheels takes place at Boston's Bayside Expo Center, located off I-93, Exit 15, and on the MBTA Red Line's JFK/UMass T Stop (free shuttles during show hours). Show hours are Friday, Jan. 4, 2008, 5-11 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008, 10 a.m.-11 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for children 6-12, free for children 5 and under. Discount coupons will be available at participating Town Fair Tire locations.

Also this weekend, Scheduled for January 4 - 6th, the Northeast Motorsports Expo & Trade Show set for the Civic Center in Augusta, Maine provides an early preview of the 2008 season for race fans and all motorsports enthusiasts. Whether one's interest is stock car racing or another form of motorsports entertainment - like drag racing, motocross, sports car racing, truck and tractor pulling, ice racing, mud running or go-kart racing - the 20th Anniversary Northeast Motorsports Expo & Trade Show has it and more all under one roof.

With the 2007 NASCAR season in the rearview mirror and the 2008 season looming on the horizon, Stafford Motor Speedway has received a grand total of 128 number registrations thus far for its 2008NASCAR Whelen All American Series season. Stafford’s premier division, the SK Modifieds, lead the way with 35 entries. The SK Modified division is followed by the Late Model division with 32 entries, the DARE Stock division with 26 entries, the Limited Late Model division with 19 entries, and the SK Light division with 16 entries. “We are excited with the volume of car registrations we have received thus far,” said SMS CEO / GM Mark Arute.

“When compared to previous years, we’re on a record pace for number registrations at this point. We have a great mix of veteran drivers as well as new drivers spread out through our five weekly divisions and we’re looking forwards to another great season of weekly racing with what we feel will be some of the best racing competition in New England.” The SK Modified division has three former SK Modified track champions in Ted Christopher, Bo Gunning, and Frank Ruocco returning to Stafford along with Corey Hutchings, who is the defending Late Model track champion, and Doug Coby, the 1998 Stafford Late Model champion.

Other feature winning drivers that will be back at Stafford this upcoming season include Woody Pitkat, Keith Rocco, Eric Berndt, Brad Hietala, Todd Owen, Jeff Malave, Kenny Horton, Chris Jones, and Curt Brainard. The division will also see several Whelen Modified Tour drivers taking their turns behind the wheel of an SK Modified at Stafford this season in the form of Zach Sylvester, Ronnie Silk, and Jimmy Blewett. Adding to the rookie mix this season is former SK Light feature winner Matt Gallo, Brett Gonyaw, who will drive Bob Parker, Jr.’s entry that Bo Gunning piloted last season, and Christopher Jones. Stafford’s Late Model division also has several championship winning drivers returning. Corey Hutchings and Mike Quintiliano will be back for 2008 while Jim Peterson will return to Stafford for select events this season.

Two championship winning cars are entered from Ryan Posocco Racing and Marcia Kretschman, but do not have drivers listed at this time. Other division veterans that are returning include Jim Mavlouganes, Tom Butler, Scott Foster, Jr., Joe Rzeszutek, Ed Ricard, and Dillon Moltz, who will enter his first full season of competition after winning two races as a 16-year old rookie this past season.

Stafford’s SK Light, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions will continue to be the proving grounds that will produce future SK Modified and Late Model drivers, feature winners, and track champions. Drivers like Woody Pitkat, Ryan Posocco, Michael Bennett, Joey Ferrigno, Andrew Durand, Rick Lanagan, Kevin Gambacorta, and many others have started their Stafford careers in the DARE Stock division and have successfully made the move up the Stafford ladder to higher divisions, where they have achieved race wins and championships.

Stafford’s 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season will begin with the37th annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler presented by CARQUEST on the weekend of April 25-27, 2008. To see which drivers have submitted an entry to race at Stafford in the 2008 season, visit the TEAMS section of www.staffordspeedway.com, and click on the 2008 team listing for the SK Modified, Late Model, SK Light Modified, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions.

Here's what's going on this weekend in New England that will interest the motor heads. From January 4-6, the Augusta (ME) Civic Center -offers the 20th Anniversary Northeast Motorsports Expo. The hours are 6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Down in the Boston area it's the Bayside Expo (Exit 15 off I-93, Dorchester, MA)-hosting the 34th Annual Town Fair Tire World Of Wheels, Cavalcade Of Customs, Various Types Of Motorsports, The hours are 5-10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. On Saturday, 1/5 there's indoor racing action at MotoTown (Windsor, CT)-offering MX in various classes Including Woman. The morning session starts at 6:30-8 a.m. The afternoon session begins at noon and goes to 2 p.m. On Jan. 5-6, the Conn. Expo Center (Hartford, CT)- hosts the 9th Annual Northeast Motorcycle Expo. The hours are Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., On Sunday, 1/6 MotoTown (Windsor, CT)-hosts Indoor Mini Sprint Races on a dirt oval track from 4-10 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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