April 13, Brockton, MA--- With gas prices continuing to rise and the state of the economy a concern, Lee USA Speedway management announced today they have slashed prices for their weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing Series programs for the 2008 season. Fans can expect to pay just ten dollars for adult general admission seating. The special price reduction will apply to regular events only. The Friday night weekly events begin May 2.

Lee, last week, announced it was going to “hold the line” on general admission seating for its season opening event this Sunday April 20, the “Governors Cup 200.” That race will feature the ACT Late Models, True Value Modified Racing Series, New England Legends Cars and Allison Legacy Series. The ACT and TVMRS will compete in 100 lap feature races. General admission seating for that event is just $20. Children from 11-15 years old are $10 and age 10 and under are free.

“With all the talk of four dollars a gallon for gas, we’d like to think slashing our admission a couple of bucks for our weekly shows will help,” said track manager Bob Watson. “We are family people too, we know it’s tough out there.” Watson added “We have great racing here with our weekly NASCAR sanctioned events and we want fans to feel they can have a night out, see what we offer at Lee, and enjoy themselves for a reasonable price.”

Late Model stock car driver Katrina Canney has filed an entry for the “New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 200” at Lee USA Speedway, the season-opening event for the American-Canadian Tour Championship Series on Sunday, April 20. The 18 year-old Barrington, NH racer will become just the third woman to compete in the ACT Late Model Tour ranks. Canney is a front-runner in the weekly Late Model division at Lee USA Speedway, and has finished inside the Top 10 in championship points in each of her two seasons in the track’s top class. The Coe-Brown Northwood Academy high school senior also finished in the Top 10 in all 15 of her feature starts at the 3/8-mile oval in 2007. “I want to gain some experience by racing against the ACT cars,” Canney said. “Our goal is to qualify for the feature event and stay consistent throughout the race. We’ve done pretty well at Lee, but this will be a big step for our team.”

Canney joins Tracie Bellerose and Katie Hagar as a female competitor with ACT. Bellerose, of Gorham, NH, has three ACT victories to her credit and finished third in championship standings in 2000. Hagar, of Damariscotta, ME, made one ACT start at Oxford Plains Speedway in 2006.

Seven-time and defending ACT Late Model Tour Champion Jean-Paul Cyr of Milton, VT will attempt to break a winless streak that dates back to August 2006 at the NH Governor’s Cup 200. He won at Lee USA Speedway in September 2005. Home-state drivers Randy Potter, Joey Polewarczyk, and Brad Leighton are expected to be ACT championship contenders, and are also among the early favorites to win the NH Governor’s Cup. Vermont’s Scott Payea and Brent Dragon, Maine’s Ron Henry, Massachusetts star Eddie MacDonald, Ontario rookie Jonathan Urlin, and Série ACT Castrol Champions Patrick Laperle and Donald Theetge of Québec will also be on hand.

Other Lee USA Speedway drivers expected to compete at the NH Governor’s Cup include two-time Track Champion J.R. Baril of Haverhill, MA, young gun Jeff Labrecque, Jr. of Rochester, NH, 2007 Rookie of the Year Miles Chipman of Epping, NH, and Newmarket, NH’s Jeremy Harclerode, who finished second in the most recent ACT Late Model Tour event at Lee USA Speedway two years ago.

The New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 200 will feature a pair of 100-lap races for the ACT Late Model Tour and the open-wheel True Value Modified Racing Series. The Allison Legacy Series and New England Legends Cars are also on the card. Post time is scheduled for 1:00 pm on Sunday, April 20.

Following the February 2008 SCCNH monthly meeting and a presentation by a well-established Drift Club from New England, a decision was made by the members of SCCNH to allow a special class for "Drift Cars" at the 2008 Spring SCCNH Mt. Ascutney Hillclimb on May 16-18, 2008. This special "Drift Car" class will be limited to ten (10) cars which will be hand picked from the Drift Club's membership to participate in the hillclimb. The cars chosen to participate will meet the NEHA Safety rules for "Prepared" cars and will be required to successfully pass Tech Inspection prior to participation. The reason this class was created for this event was because the Drift Club contacted SCCNH to ask if they could participate.

The Bangor (Maine) Daily News confirmed the report that Unity Raceway track owner Ralph Nason made the decision to "pull the plug" on the famed stockcar track. Citing the high cost of fuel (racing and street vehicles) as the biggest reason for not opening Unity Raceway this year. According to the story Anson left the door open for a lease and a possible sale of the venue. If neither happens, Ralph will take a hard look at reopening the track in 2009. "It all depends on the economy."

Thunder Road International Speed bowl will open its 2008 stock car racing season with the 10th Annual Merchants Bank 150 on the weekend of May 3/4. The Merchants Bank 150 is the third round of the American-Canadian Tour Late Model Championship schedule, and is the lid-lifter for Thunder Road’s regular NAPA Tiger Sportsman, Allen Lumber Street Stock, and Power Shift Online Junkyard Warrior divisions. This season marks the Bare, VT oval’s 49th year as the “Nation’s Site of Excitement.” Festivities kick off with the annual Merchants Bank Car Show on Main Street in downtown Barre City at 9:00am on Saturday, May 3. The show features racing machines from all four divisions, a Pit Stop Contest, and a two-mile parade to the race track beginning at 12 noon. Practice sessions start at 1 p.m. The Sunday, May 4 schedule begins with practice at 11:00am, followed by the popular “Class Day” ceremony at 1 p.m.

More than 100 race cars will file into the Thunder Road infield for presentation, and Thunder Road’s 2007 Champions, Dave Pembroke (Late Model), Nick Sweet (Sportsman), Bobby Therrien (Street Stock), and Bunker Hodgdon (Warrior), will be honored as their battle flags are raised in the Forsythe Hill seating area in Turn 3. Winners of the car show will also be announced, with trophies awarded to the top three in each division. Green flag racing action begins with 10th Annual Merchants Bank qualifying heats at 1:30 p.m. Scott Payea of Milton, VT wrestled his first career ACT Late Model Tour victory away from cross-town rival Jean-Paul Cyr at last year’s Merchants Bank 150. Payea passed Cyr with 58 laps remaining to score the win. Cyr, the seven-time and defending ACT Champion, has won the Merchants Bank 150 three times – in 2002, 2004, and 2006.

New Gloucester, ME’s Ron Henry scored a career-best runner-up finish behind Payea last year, ahead of Cyr, Thunder Road standout Trampas Demers of South Burlington, VT, and five-time ACT Champion Brian Hoar of Williston, VT. Hometown driver Sweet began his Sportsman championship season with a victory in his division’s feature race, while Danville, VT’s Bruce Melendy and Dale Bickford of Lyndonville, VT scored career-first wins in the Street Stock and Warrior divisions, respectively.

Riverside Speedway General Manager, Dick Therrien, is a firm believer in not awarding points for the track’s Annual Car Show scheduled for Saturday, May 3, 2008, as he feels points should be won on the track racing, not just sitting on the track looking pretty. However, this year there will be an added incentive bonus for attending.

All cars that attend the car show will get to draw for their starting spots on opening night for their respective division. Cars not attending the car show will not get to draw for position, and will be put into the rear of the heat lineups by a plan put together by Therrien, and the Chief Handicapper. Attendance at the car show will be taken. All cars that were in attendance will be drawing for their respective qualifying heats starting positions, and a $25 bonus will be awarded to the driver that draws the #1 chip or the lowest numbered chip in each division. Daredevils will have two features and will have a $10 bonus for the lowest chip in each feature. Special note: Cars DO NOT have to be completely finished to enter the car show and be judged!

Riverside Speedway’s Annual Car Show will once again be sponsored by Eastman Trophy and NAPA. The show will be held weather permitting on Saturday, May 3, 2008. Pits will open at 8 a.m. Tech inspections will begin at 8:30am, and will run until 10am. The car show will be held on the track from 10am-12:30 p.m. Practice will be held from 1-3 p.m. for all divisions. All cars will have to pass a safety check before practicing. In case of rain, the car show will be held on Sunday, May 4th, using the same hours.

The snow has melted, mud season is over and Monadnock Speedway is gearing up for their traditional Spring Dash Season Opener presented by Bond Auto Parts. The very popular special opening event will feature the True Value Modified Racing Series hitting the pavement of the quarter-mile high-banked track for 100 laps of competitive racing action. The opener will also feature the NASCAR Whelen All American Series divisions of the Outlaw Pros, Late Models, Super Stocks and Mini Stocks. To conclude the evening’s race schedule will be the 4-cylinder and Full Size Enduros. The Bond Auto Parts Spring Dash Season Opener will be held on Saturday, April 26th with the green flag flying at 6 p.m. Pit gates will open at 10 a.m. with practice starting at 2pm. The General Admission main gate will open at 3 p.m.

The opener will be the start of a very active 2008 season at Monadnock Speedway. Several touring divisions will make their way to Southwest New Hampshire including True Value Modified Racing Series, NEMA, All Star Race Trucks, Allison Legacy North Series, Pro-4 Modifieds and newly added Classic Lites Series. In the month of May, the speedway will feature the racecars of yesteryear as New England Antique Racers, Senior Tour Auto Racers and the Atlantic Coast Old Timers make an appearance. The competitors will have the opportunity to shake down their race machine at the test and tune session on Saturday, April 19th. Practice will be held from noon to 5pm. The pit gates will open at 10am.

Seven-time and defending American-Canadian Tour Late Model stock car champion Jean-Paul Cyr of Milton, VT will trade in his fenders at Lee USA Speedway on Sunday, April 20. Cyr will run both halves of the “New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 200,” racing the 100-lap features for both the ACT Late Model Tour and the open-wheel True Value Modified Racing Series.

Although he is more widely recognized for his success in full-fendered Late Model racing, Cyr is a veteran of the ground-pounding Modifieds. He raced with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 1998-99, capturing a pole position at Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway and a top-five finish at the Richmond Int’l Raceway in Virginia. Cyr will race for True Value Modified veteran driver/owner Gary Casella of Saugus, MA. “I tested Gary’s car at Waterford (CT) Speedbowl last week, and I had a blast,” Cyr said. “It took a few laps to get used to driving the modified again, but when I came in the pits I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.”

Let's see what's happening in the North Country this weekend. This Thursday and Friday it's Open Practice for all divisions at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, ME. Saturday has All-Star in Epping, NH going with a practice session as well with similar drills at Lee USA in NH, Monadnock in Winchester, NH, Oxford Plains in western Maine. Up in northern Maine, it's opening day at Speedway 95 in Bangor. For the draggers New England Dragway in Epping, NH has ET action all weekend.

    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. 

Long Island Motorsports News encourages you to patronize our fine sponsors---

Disclaimer:  Views expressed by columnists and all others on this website are strictly their own, and may not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of the management of Long Island Motorsports News.

 Long Island Motorsports News, your source for racing coverage, is updated daily.

Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Long Island Motorsports News.  All rights reserved.