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PRESENTS---

May 2 Westfield, MA--- The 2007 season officially kicked off this past weekend at Stafford Motor Speedway with the 36th Annual CarQuest Tech-Net Spring Sizzler. On Sunday, the day kicked off with the annual pit party. After spending an hour talking to their favorite drivers, fans made their way back to the grandstands for a truly exciting day of racing.

The main event of the day was the 200-lap event put on by the Whelen Modified Tour. When the green flag dropped, it was the #48 of Tony Hirschman who was in command of the field. But the talk of the field was the #36 of Ted "TC" Christopher and the #14 of Reggie “The Reg” Ruggiero. As the race went on, there were a total of fourteen yellow flags. For ten laps after each caution the whole field was battling two by two. Missing most of the accidents in the field was Christopher in his machine. He eventually took the lead and held the lead for many laps. He ended up giving up his lead on lap 111 to pit. TC’s day went down hill from that. “The Reg” was also having a great day until car troubles ruined his chance of winning. Even though those two drivers were struggling, there were many lead changes going on. When all was said and done, it was Donny Lia in his number 4 machine taking done the victory.

The SK Modifieds hit the track running for their first points event. For some drivers it was a rough start to their season because of flats on the pace laps and on the first green flag lap. After a few restarts the field was going strong. Like in the WMT the talk of the field was TC, who was driving the number 13 modified that he had in storage. TC’s car had been sitting out races for over a year. He was wondering how it was going to compete. His final result was a sixth place finish. There were battles for all positions at all times. When all said and done, Woody Pitkat was proclaimed the winner. But after tech was done on his car, NASCAR officials had found an illegal part on his car and was disqualified. The win was then given to Lloyd Agor.

In the 30-lap Late Model race it was the #01 of Jim Mavlouganes showing the way at the drop of the green. But car troubles plagued him early on, and had to give up his lead to the #10 of Wayne Coury JR. As the race went on the field tended to spread out with the main battle between Tom Fearn and Scott Cook for the 9th position. With the field being as spread out as it was, it didn’t bother Corey Hutchings, who just kept digging through the field and ended up visiting victory lane.

And because of rain on Saturday afternoon the D.A.R.E Stock got rained out and pushed to Sunday. The race was also the only race to go green to checker without seeing a caution flag. In making only his second start at the famed half mile, it was Jeff Jolly taking done the win.

This coming Friday at SMS is Opening Night with all of the divisions competing. Hope to see many fans show up for this event.


Lisa Pignatare behind the wheel of the #99 Mini-Sprint Car at the Whip City Speedway (John Balathunis photo)

Lisa Pignatare is a recent high school graduate and now pursues a degree in Communications, Mass media.  From May through October, she is a track announcer and scorekeeper for Whip City Speedway in Westfield, Ma.  Her column is sponsored by Haskell Motorsports, located at www.HaskellRacing.com. Lisa may be contacted at ryrfan8828@comcast.net.

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