February 11, Brockton, MA--- There's big doings up in Maine next weekend in Portland, Maine. It's the Racine Preview Show that will draw all of the Maine ovals; kart tracks, motoX and tractor pull clubs. Also, many NH and Vermont venues will be represented. It's also a good chance for all of these venues and tours to get a jump-start on the up-coming season. It gets going on February 22-23, 2008 at the Portland Expo. Friday hours start at 5 p.m. and run to 10 p.m. Saturday starts at 10 a.m. and goes through 10 p.m.

Drivers, car owners, crewman and fans are expected to converge on Bezema Buick, Pontiac, GMC on Sunday, June 1 on the Auto Mile for the fourth annual event. The Bezema dealership is just one mile north of the long shuttered famed quarter-mile speedway that created racing legends such as drivers Bill Slater, Ernie Gahan, Bugs Stevens, Leo Cleary and five decade car owner Joe Brady. All were on hand at the recent New England Antique Auto Racers Hall of Fame Banquet and indicated their attendance on June 1. In fact all are members of the NEAR HOF.

Antique racecars from NEAR, STARS and even a few from ACOT are expected to be on hand that day. Plus, all racecars are welcome to the Annual Norwood Arena Reunion. Also, street antiques, muscle cars and classics will be part of the show. Dash plaques will be given out to racecars, street antiques, muscle cars and classics. There will also be a trophy for the best racecar and street machine awarded by peers. Coastal 181 is expected to bring some new motorsports books to the show as well as HOT CARS, COOL DRIVERS written by Lew Boyd which gives insights to the Norwood Arena racing wars during it's heyday along with other tracks in southern New England.

Also, collectable vendors are also expected. Don Thomas, the Norwood Arena Webmaster, also plans to his usual array of equipment so that attendees will be able to check the latest information on that website. Host Marty Bezema, Sr., a former competitor at the Norwood Arena and other tracks, will be there to welcome his former adversaries during the glory days at the Norwood Arena Speedway. It's set to get underway at 11 a.m. and to be completed by 4 p.m. Rain or shine.

If you didn't make the show last year mark your calendar now. And if you have any pictures, news stories or scrapbooks bring them along. A table will be provided for that purpose. Hot Dogs and Hamburgers will be served free in Marty's Cafe on the property of the Bezema dealership. For further information call Bezema Buick, Pontiac, GMC at 781-769-4700. The Bezema dealership is located at 401 Providence Hwy. (US Rt. 1) in Norwood, MA on the Auto Mile.

With the recent additions of two New Hampshire ovals –All-Star (Epping) and Twin-State (Claremont)–Northeastern Midget Association competitors will face a 19-race agenda in 2008. Eight tracks are involved in NEMA’s largest schedule in 20 years. The 56th NEMA campaign gets underway at Thompson Speedway’s traditional season-opening Icebreaker on April 5-6. The winged wonders are part of Waterford Speedbowl’s Modified Nationals on April 12-13. “Over the winter tracks were coming to us,” says president Mike Scrivani Jr. “Good fields of talented drivers and excellent equipment makes NEMA one of the best tours in the northeast. We are excited at the prospect of showing it off.”

All-Star (the former Star Speedway) has had more NEMA races than any other track. Ben Seitz won the 138th NEMA race at All Star last September. Kyle Carpenter won the last visit to Twin State back in 2005, besting Joey Payne Jr. and Adam Cantor. Charter members Waterford Speedbowl (four dates), Seekonk Speedway (4) and Stafford Motor Speedway join Thompson (3), Monadnock (3) and Lee USA (2) Speedways are on the busy agenda.

The schedule includes traditional headliners Xtreme Tuesday July 8 at Stafford, Open Wheel Wednesday at Seekonk on July 16 and the Boston Louie also at Seekonk on Aug. 9. The traditional triple-header finale – Waterford’s Finale Oct. 4-5, Seekonk’s DAV Memorial Oct. 11-12 and Thompson’s World Series Oct. 17-19, is also intact.

2008 NEMA SCHEDULE

April 5-6 Thompson (Icebreaker) April 12-13 Waterford (Modified Nationals)

May 3-4 Seekonk

May 10 Waterford

May 24 Monadnock

June 27 Lee USA

July 3 Thompson

July 8 Stafford

July 16 Seekonk (Open Wheel Wednesday)

Aug. 2 Waterford

Aug. 9 Seekonk (Boston Louie)

Aug. 30 Monadnock

Sept. 12 Lee USA

Sept. 20 All Star Speedway

Sept. 27-28 Claremont (Twin State)

Oct. 4-5 Waterford (The Finale)

Oct. 11-12 Seekonk (DAV)

Oct. 18-18 Thompson (World Series)

Riverside Speedway (Groveton, NH) track management has adopted a new handicapping procedure for the 2008 racing season. “The old handicap system had a few flaws in it, and after sitting down with my Pit Steward and Handicapper, Doug Farnsworth, I think we have closed the gap in making it fair for our regular competitors, and making it fair for part time competitors as well, stated General Manager, Dick Therrien. "In our old system, competitors that started after opening day were assessed a penalty which basically affected them for the entire season. With the new format, teams should be able to overcome a missed event after a certain amount of races, and then be handicapped into their normal position.”

The Northeastern Midget Association’s new “Lite”division has announced nine dates for 2008 with the prospects for more according to club Vice President Tim Bertrand. The “NEMA Lites” will make their debut at Waterford Speedbowl’s Modified Nationals April12-13. The “NEMA Lites” is a more economical route into open-cockpit racing. While the cars will be traditional Midgets, the motors will be less expensive Ford Focus and Oldsmobile Quad 4 engines. Bertrand reports “extraordinary interest” in the “Lites” and expects strong fields. The new division will run in conjunction with the full-fledged NEMA cars at Lee USA Speedway twice (June27 and Sept. 12), at Seekonk Speedway three times (Open Wheel Wednesday June 16, the Boston Louie Aug. 9 and the DAV on Oct. 11-12) and at Twin State Speedway on Sept. 27-28. Waterford’s Finale Oct. 4-5 is also on the agenda. “The Lites will visit traditional Midget tracks and we believe that in important,” continued Bertrand. “The objective is to pave the way for competitors to move into full-powered cars.”

NEMA LITES 2008 SCHEDULE

April 12-13 Waterford Speedbowl (Nationals)

June 27 Lee USA Speedway

July 16 Seekonk Speedway (Open Wheel Wednesday)

Aug. 9 Seekonk (Boston Louie)

Sept.. 12 Lee USA

Sept. 20 All Star Speedway (Epping, NH)

Sept. 27-28 Twin State Speedway (Claremont, NH)

Oct. 4-5 Waterford (The Finale)

Oct. 11-12 Seekonk (DAV)

New Hampshire's Andy Seuss knows both the ups and down of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway (FL). The 20-year-old gathered national attention in 2006 by winning the Modified championship as part of Florida Speedweeks.

“Two years ago, Speedweeks was really good to us. We came out unscratched for the week and ended up winning the championship. That was really special.”

But good times don’t always last. A Speedweeks in 2007, a string of bad luck during the nine day vent took its toll on the team, even forcing them to load up and return to New Hampshire a few days early with a bent racecar.

“Last year was quite the opposite,” said Seuss. “Even though we had a better team and I thought we had a better chance of winning races last year, we had a tough week. Luck didn’t go our way and we ended up in a few wrecks.”

Now, as the 2008 version of Speedweeks is set to kick off, Seuss is ready to get back to his championship-winning form – even though he is not counting on winning another championship. This time, he is looking more for a victory or two.

“We’re looking to turn that all around this year,” said Seuss. “Winning the championship was really special to me, but I also know that to do that a lot of things need to happen a certain way. You can’t go down there expecting to win a championship because you might be very disappointed when you come back. It was a surprise when it happened the first time and even now, it would be a surprise if it happen again.

“By the same token, I know that we are capable of doing it. But what I really want to do is to win a race. We have been so close to that, so it’s our goal to win a race. It would mean a lot because I’ve won the championship and some critics have pointed out that I haven’t won a race. So to win down there would mean a lot to me. Anytime that you can win a Modified race, it is a great feeling.”

The World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing is currently underway at the New Smyrna Speedway in Fla. and will wind up on Saturday night, February 16 with the Richie Evans Memorial race.

Motorsports publisher Coastal 181 has announced the upcoming release of ED OTTO, NASCAR’s Silent Partner, a gripping new biography of Ed Otto, one of America’s greatest all-time motorsports promoters. The book will be launched formally as part of the 50th Daytona International Speedweeks celebration.

Few fans of racing today may know the name Ed Otto. However, it is safe to say that the sport would be very different now if not for the cigar-smoking super-promoter from New Jersey. Deeply involved in the formative seasons of NASCAR 50 years ago, Otto was a dynamo of a man. He offered up hundreds of shows at facilities across North America, a feat that would seem impossible before the advent of email and cell phones, let alone the national highway system. He was unendingly creative, establishing a list of firsts that has never been equaled. Among them were the first use of TV to broadcast races; the organization of the inaugural NASCAR races in California, at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, and at Chicago’s Soldier Field; as well as the NASCAR events at Watkins Glen. He was first to use airplanes to transport drivers from one event to another; he ran motorcycle races in Yankee Stadium and the Winter Nationals drag races in Florida with Wally Parks. As NASCAR’s 40 percent silent partner, it was his charge to take the fledging association out of the South to a national audience.

ED OTTO, NASCAR’s Silent Partner was written by Ed’s son Edgar Otto and acclaimed Miami-based author Joann Biondi. It is the 15th motorsports book published by Coastal 181 and, as with other Coastal 181 books such as GOTTA RACE! by Ken Schrader and RICHIE! (the Richie Evans story) by Bones Bourcier, it is full of unusual photographs, some never before published.

ED OTTO, NASCAR’s Silent Partner is 208 pages, with hard cover. It will be available for purchase on February 12, 2008 for $29.95. Orders maybe placed online at www.coastal181.com or by calling 877-907-8181 toll free during business hours.

Ricky Craven of Newburgh, Maine told the Bangor Daily News that he still misses racing. With 275 Nextel Cup starts in his career, Ricky would like to get back into racing. His last driving assignment was a Craftsman Truck race and he eventually dropped out of the sport. He told the northern Maine daily that he gets calls now and then to do some Nationwide and Craftsman Truck driving assignments. And he's considering taking one of those offers in the future. Craven's career took a major hit when he was in a serious wreck in a Cup race. His efforts at a comeback had mixed results because his past injuries were severe head trauma which had also ended other drivers career.

On opening night at the New Smyrna Speedway in Fla. Tyngsboro, MA driver Louis Mechaldes ended up tenth in the Super Late Model feature. On Saturday Louis finished 27th in the Super Late Models while Andy Suess of NH came in 12th in the Tour Modified feature. Mechaldes came back Sunday night to finish fourth.

Here's what's happening in the north country this weekend. Canaan Fairgrounds in NH offers a 4 Cylinder Enduro on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. The Lakes Region Racing Assn. will be in action on Berry and Lee Pond in Multonboro, NH on Sunday at noon.

    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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