The 2009 Season in Modified Racing.

Well here we are 8 months after it all started at the Icebreaker. Only one race remains on the 2009 calendar, the Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium.

I was a good year on the WHT 13 races at 7 tracks in 5 states. I know that 13 races is not enough for some people but except the Spencer Speedway race the tour raced in front of good or great crowds all year long. The crowds at Bristol and New Hampshire we huge, seeing the mods at Thunder Valley and on TV was quite a thrill. The road trip to Bristol with Teds Race Tours was quite a trip. If you ever get a chance to travel with Ted do so as it is 40 dedicated race fans for anywhere from 1- 3 days on the big green bus.

The point race got very exciting after Bristol and went down to the wire. Donny Lia charge up the standings all summer and Fall was exciting to watch. Plus Donny had #3 team with Ryan Preece in tow all summer. No matter what was thrown at Donny, he and the team rose above it. The charge from the back 3 times at NH in September are what legends are made of.

Ted Christopher's decent in the standings after starting the season with 2 wins and a second was almost as startling as 2009 champ Donny Lia's climb to the top. Just one or 2 small breaks and Teddy might have been be the 2 time champ.

All told 2009 saw 61 different WMT drivers hit the track. Not the largest amount in history but with tough economy that was not too shabby. The True Value Tour had 69 different driver in action this year, the ROC had 57 drivers in only 8 races and while the Southern tour which only averaged 12-20 cars per race saw 43 drivers race at least once. Even the shortened season of the ASA tour saw 27 drivers this year.

With the ROC, WMT, WMST and True Value Series there were probably 125-150 different teams in action this year. Now if we could get them all in action at the same track like the old Race of Champions, that would be a sight to see.

In addition to tour tracks the independent track Shangra La II opened to good crowds and growing car counts. Lets hope they can keep the growth going with the installation of the rest of the grandstands, lights and the completion of the infield pit area. This would be a tremendous track to the ROC, WMT and maybe the Race of Champions some day.

This year I got to travel a lot more than I had planned and got to see a wide variety of tracks, I really enjoyed getting back to Oswego on 2 occasions. The steel palace has lost some its luster from when I first went there but it is still a big time track that puts on a great show. Labor day weekend it was packed with tons of cars, campers and fans. I also got to see the winged supers. for a special show in July.

Some of the more interesting news in the early off season is the paving of Albany Saratoga and Devils Bowl in Vermont. Those 2 tracks along with Airbourne Speedway may give the mighty mods 3 more quality tracks to race. Those and the WMT traveling to Lime Rock Park next year gets me excited already. The ROC and MRS racing series has already booked a race on April 18th 2010.

Add in the 10 rumored Speed TV races for the WMT series and it is shaping up to be another great year of open wheel racing all up and down the east coast.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

I can be reached at Mjaworecki@gmail.com

Another Season is Almost Over.

Well here we are its mid October and its freezing outside. There is 1 more race to go for the WMT at Thompson Speedway. Hopefully the weather will warm up and we can have a great day of racing.

The season started so strong for the 36 team and driver Ted Christopher with wins at Thompson and Stafford. The last 6 or so races have not been so good. Wrecks, motor problems, bad luck and a race car that was just not that fast. After Stafford and dropping out of 1st place all the way to 3rd place I am sure Ted wonders how did the season that started so strong go so wrong.

On the other side of the coin the point leader #4 of Donnie Lia has been a rocket ship. I don't think anyone has ever gone 2 laps down, been involved in at least 3 wrecks and still finished 2nd. The big difference most of the season for Donnie vs Ted Christopher is Donnie rebounded from most wrecks to finish races well. TC did not have that luck. Donnie racked up 4 wins this season and the New Hampshire track title. Of all the drivers in the championship hunt Donnie must feel the most confidence as he is on roll.

Then there is the 18 year old driver who has gained many fans this year, Ryan Preece. Ryan has been strong all year winning races at Riverhead, the tough 1/4 mile track on Long Island and Stafford. The biggest reason for his 2nd place standing right now is his consistency, Ryan racked up many top 5 and top 10 place finishes. Only a 24th place finish at the first NH race in June and a 18th place finish at the Bud 150 at Thompson keep Ryan out of the point lead. This season has proved Ryan has a bright future ahead of him.

The 4th place team which is still not out of it but would need a lot of things to go right is the #2 Wisk team of Todd Szegedy. Todd was very strong through the middle of the season but a wreck at the September NH race and his wreck at Stafford really hurt their chances.

This weekends rain pushed back the championship battle 1 more week or the champion would have been crowned already. It should be an exciting weekend for the fans. Who will win, who will loose, only time will tell.

Also on Sat October 24th Wall Stadium, twin 66 lap Modifed races paying $6,600.00 to win each. That's a potential payday of $13,200.00!! An added attraction will be Ray Everham in his final appearance at Wall Stadium.

See you at the races.

Bristol ( No not ESPN in Ct.)

With rain off and on, especially in and near Bristol it was looking iffy at best for a race at Thunder Valley.

Practice was interrupted a bit on Tuesday and qualifying was canceled but other than that it was smooth sailing.

The past few days traveling 14 hours to see race that lasts less than 1 1/2 hours really confirms why I am a race fan. Good racing, a great racing facility,good company and good stories .

The #4 Mystic Missle does prove that the best man can win. Donny paced himself the 1st 75 laps of the race , made a few adjustments and had the field covered the last 75 laps of the race. Even jumping the start and giving back the lead did not slow Donny down.

Donny won the 1st ever Whelen Mod race at Bristol, hopefully the first of many races there. TC Ted Christopher looked like the car to beat but he got tight as the race went on and he could not hold back the potent#4.

Great runs by Ryan Preece, a couple more laps and he may have had 2nd. Ryan has had 2 wins and a 3rd in 3 races, not too shabby. George Brunnhoelz III a southern driver from Babylon NY was strong all day and finished 4th. Woodie Pitkat was near the top 5 all day and finished 5th.

Tod Szegedy looked real strong early, running secong most of the race, but faded to 6th. Rowan Pennink, Ed Flemke, Burt Meyers and Erik Rudolph had good days to round out the top 10.

OK the other side of the coin, James Civali, Buddy Emory and Matt Hirshman had the dubious honor of being the first mods to wreck at Bristol, they along with Ryan Newman had short days when he got bounced of the backstretch wall when the field checked up for that wreck.

Saves of the day, Erik Rudolph in his run in the canceled time trials, he was sideways and almost didn't lift and Eric Goodale who lost the handle under Ed Flemke had it turned hard right and only lost 1 spot.

Plus something you rarely see, Mike Stefanik had a good race going when he blew the engine late in the day. The other Sprint Cup driver in the race, Kasey Kane also left the race with a blown engine.

Wow is one of the words I have for not the race but the event at Bristol Motor Speedway, great is another. Bristol really knows how to stage an event and I for one hope it is a yearly event at that. Many others shared that thought. You really feel a part of "Big Time" racing when you have a race at Bristol!

Up next and closer home to the teams, Chemung NY on August 29th.

Thompson washed out, up next BRISTOL!

As I have said before, rain rain go away.

For the second time this season a Whelen Mod Tour race has been rained out.

The Thompson Bud 150 has been re-scheduled for September 3rd also a Thursday night.


Now all eyes turn to next Wed. August 19th at 6:15 and the Bristol Speedway in Tennessee.

About 40 ground pounding Whelen Mods will converge on the world famous Bristol Speedway.

Ryan Preese will try and make it 3 in a row at a track that the tour has not raced before except possibly Donnie Lia who finished 12th in a then Craftsman truck race.


The North Tour drivers will be joined by about to 10-12 Southern teams

Can Ryan Preece win his 3rd in a row at Thompson?

It's almost like watching Joey Logano blossom on the Sprint Cup level, Ryan Preece is moving to the top of the pack on the Whelen Mod Tour.

At only 18 years of age and just out of high school, Ryan has really taken off this year. Starting with a solid 4th in the Icebreaker it has been almost all top 10's including 2 wins. The lone poor finish was a 24th at the New Hampshire Speedway. Ryan currently sits in third place in points behind Todd Szegedy and Ted Christopher only 27 points out of first place.

Next up is the 8th race of the season, the Bud 150 at Thompson International Speedway Thursday August 13. Can Ryan make it 3 wins in a row? I think a good starting spot could help and Ryan has been timing well recently.

Will winning 3 in a row for Ryan be easy, no. There are several drivers that always run well at Thompson and are always a threat to visit victory lane.

Those drivers include Jimmy Blewett, Tedd Christopher, Donnie Lia plus Mike Stefanick is due for a win, Todd Szegedy has been so close this year and would like the point lead back .

Then there are several local drivers who always seem to be near the front of the pack including Eric Bernt who took the pole at Stafford last Friday, Chris Pasteryak, Woody Pitkat, the Reg, Reggie Ruggerio plus always strong running Ronnie Silk in the immaculate Hill billy #79. Jamie Tomanio ran real strong in April at the Icebreaker and could be a threat to win.

Time trials start at 5:30 followed by a 6:15 autograph session, Thompson's 6 regular divisions then take to the track followed by the Bud 150 at 8:45.

Thompson Speedway is located at 205 East Thompson Road, Thompson, CT 06277 , exit 99 off of rt 395.

Ryan Preece Wins at Riverhead Raceway.

OK , so as one of my friends calls it Christmas is over. Ryan Preece came to Long Island and swept the entire day. The teenage Nascar driver got is first "official" win on the WMT.

That is now 2 races in a row with teenage winners. I not sure if that has ever been done before. There were many younger drivers in the race which bodes well for the future of the tour.

As many people commented Saturday was a beautiful day, sunny and warm with bright blue sky's. Steve Lombardo claimed he brought the weather from his California home. Steve had the honor of driving the Charlie J coupe before the feature.

32 Nascar modified cars filled the pits. Teams from about 5 states converged on the tight 1/4 mile track. Long Island was well represented with 13 of the 28 starters based on Long Island.

Practice was uneventful except a small incident between Wade Cole and Erick Rudolph.

Qualifying was a surprise with the #3 of Ryan Preece taking his first pole at Riverhead. The 25 lap heat was pretty uneventful with most cars finishing where they started. The one surprise was the 59 of Erick Rudolph who could not get the car to handle all day, so the Spencer winner went home early.

The race itself was decent except for the 3 red flags that were thrown for incidents on the track, the lap 2 pile up in turn 2 being the biggest incident involving 6 or 7cars.

Several drivers did not fare well. They included Ted Christopher who got a flat on a restart. TC tried to stay out to draw a caution but touched the 79 of Ronnie Silk and pounded the wall. Ronnie was also in and out of the pits all night finishing 27th. Several cars had engine problems including Donnie Lia, and John Fortin who overheated and dropped out.

Other drivers having a less than enjoyable race were Ken Heagy who dropped out with front end damage, as did Frank Vigliarolo. Kevin Goodale had a top 3 run going and was strong all night. The 51 of Justin Bonsignore touched the 33 when lapping him and spun the 50 of Kevin to the infield. It would have been his best finish on the tour, Kevin finished 13. Kevin's brother Eric got caught up in a lap 2 pile up and finished 17th.

Several drivers had very good runs,Jamie Tomanio started 27th and finished 7th, quite a turn around from the blown engine at Spencer. Glen Reen started 22nd and finished 5th, one of his best runs on the tour. Eric Beers started 26th and finished
6th and Todd Szegedy started 24th and finished 8th. Long Islanders Howie Browdie, Dave Brigati and Justin Bonsignore came home 2,3 and 4.

But in the end it was all Ryan Preece, Ryan had his best day on the tour since his Martnsville win. Ryan, his crew and family could not stop smiling after the win. In a short time Ryan has shown he can run well at any track where the tour visits.

The points have now changed a bit. TC is now second with Todd Szegedy leading and Ryan is now 3rd.

Even with 3 reds, the race was run in a reasonable 52 minutes 49 seconds.

See all the action from Riverhead here: http://jaws17.zenfolio.com/p56556202

Up next Stafford Speedway Friday night August 7th which is the second of 5 races in the busy month of August.

See you there.

Next Up Long Island

Well this week the modified tour hits Long Island. Probably 30-32 teams from all over the northeast will converge on Riverhead Raceway.

After trips to the far reaches of New York State, Connecticut and Pa. it will be nice to make the short trip to Riverhead.

Favorites this week have to include Jimmy Blewett, Ted Christopher, Todd Szegedy and Donny Lia plus locals Bill Park and Chuck Steuer should give the tour drivers a run for their money.

The day starts with a drivers meeting at 1:00PM, practice from 2-3, time trials at 4:30 and the 25 lap qualifying heat at 6:00.


In addition to the tour Riverhead will feature 2 local divisions, the Chargers and the Blunderbusts. Both will be running double point time trial shows, which usually bring out nice fields.

1st Time Modified Winner in Western New York.

Well, it may be old and it may need a few things (Including an extra port-a-potty or 2) Spencer Speedwayin Williamson NY played host to a pretty good modified race on Sunday. Originally set for Saturday night rain changed that by flooding the infield where the cars were to pit.

27 teams made the trip west, including the back up 2 re-numbered 90 for Renee DuPuis for what really looked like a start and park. Buck Catalano substituted for Jake Morosz and I believe his familiarity with the track served the team well as he brought the maroon 9 home in 15th place.Doug Colby was in the 79 back up machine re-numbered to his familiar 19 but dropped out with front end damage.

The heart breaker of the day was the 99 of Jamie Tomanio blowing the engine in practice and parking it for the event. Glenn Tyler graciously offered his back up car but Jamie chose to skip the event.

Drivers with problem using the race included, Johnny Bush "The Bushman" who lost a transmission late in the race and retired, Glen Reen who was having troubles all day also dropped out before the races end along with Jimmy Blewett who retired with damage to the car. Wade Cole had pit road problems when he left too soon before all or any of the lug nuts were secured and lost a right rear on pit road.

Ken Heagy was having a decent day until a trip off turn 3 left his car on the double hook although he recovered to an 18th place finish. Eric Beers blew a gasket or an oil line and spun by himself on the back stretch loosing time in the pits. Chris Pasteryak struggled all day with nerf bar damage and a damaged left front tire. Woody Pitkat slid back from a 5th place start to an unlucky 13th place finish.

The strangest incident occurred before the race started. Ted Christopher after inspection was driving down the infield access road, hit a pot hole and damaged a bunch of the front end sheet metal. Repairs were made before the feature started and it did not hinder his day. A loose handling race car left him in 10th place.

Enough with the bad how about the good. Second place Todd Szegedy was strong all day leading many laps early in the race and it he had a a few more laps may have been in victory circle.

Third place Chuck Hossfield from western New York made a pretty good return to the series, for a while it looked like he was the fastest but may have run out of tires at the end.

Fourth place Rowan Pennink was solid all day.

Ryan Preese was near the top all day, including leading a few laps but faded to 5th. Ryan had the back-up car ready to go as the team fought electrical problem during practice and the heat.

Usually 6th place is not what a driver aspires for but with all the troubles Donny Lia had Sunday, not too bad a finish. Donny had on a fire suit the promoted Autism research, a cause near and dear to my heart.

Rookie Eric Goodale is really getting comfortable with driving a full blown modified after racing SK's off and on the last couple of years. Eric is going to be in victory lane before too log. Eric had a fine 8th place finish after leading in the NH race and finishing 17th.

Now we save the best for last. Winner Erick Rudolph started 25th and passed a bunch of cars to win his first NASCAR Tour race. At the age of 17 years 3 months it was quite an accomplishment. Erick has continued a winning tradition started by his grandfather many years ago and continued by his father Charlie farther who was a winner on pavement and dirt. I think now that he has is first win, in the 1st race he finished this year there could be many more to follow!

The tour has a couple of weeks off, then its off to Long Island and Riverhead Raceway for the only stop there in 2009.

If he builds it, will they come?

As I entered the new track called Shangri-la II I could only wonder, if he builds it will they come?

Opening weekend and no more than 12 cars per class, odd for such a nice facility until you realize that no one there or anywhere near there had ever raced on cement!

Add in that opening day was the middle of every racers season at other tracks and you can understand the short fields.That plus word of mouth had circulated that the track would never be ready in time.

Guess what, it was done enough to schedule a FULL weekend of racing.

http://jaws17.zenfolio.com/p158924764

Track owner George Swansborough will have to add more seating, lights, a full PA stsyem, finish some paving and the fence, more permanent bath rooms and oh yes garbage cans and you will have a first rate facility. Word on the street is there will be foam blocks in place shortly, a welcome saftey addition to keep the drivers safe.

I for one will be back as soon as I can, 4+ hours drive from home will limit visits but for an ROC or WMT race I think I would be there in a heartbeat and I would not be alone.

Shangri-La II Welcome!!

Well its about 24 hours since I was heading down a dust road near Tioga NY feeling very good about the future of a new race track.



Shangri-La II is now open for business.



Now the racing was OK, the track is still not finished and they need more cars to help fill the pits and stands every week, but it was a very good start.



I arrived so late there were only 3 races left but I enjoyed every minute.



As I arrived I was pleasantly surprised that the stands were full of race fans taking in the track ,racing and some beautiful weather. It was pretty quiet except the drag racing going on up the hill. 9 Street Stocks were lined up waiting for their last race of the day, the fans who filled the stands sat patiently for the next race as the track announcer kept them entertained.



After the Street Stocks ran their race up next was what I came for, the ground pounding modifides

A New Race Track Opens July 4th Weekend.

Wow, just think about that! In these poor economic times a new track is opening in upstate NY, Shangri-la II. And not just "any" track a progressive banked 1/2 mile cement oval! It remins me of Bristol. with about 150,000 less seats!

Track owner George Swansbrough has spent a lot of money to complete the facility to get ready for opening weekend. While everything may not be complete it looks like they will run the first show on 4th of July weekend.

All races at the track will be under the ASA banner.

The neat thing about this track is it will feature full blown asphalt modified race cars! This is a class that has stuggled to attract good fields at every track that runs them weekly except maybe Bowman Gray in NC. So Shangri-la II will have its work cut out for them on a weely basis, especially when there is a ROC or Whelen race running that night.

An intersting feature of the facility is that there is also a drag strip on the grounds, Skyline drags right next door and fans will have the opportunity to go back and forth between the 2 tracks watching both drag cars and stock cars in one night for one admission price!

We wish track ownership the best of luck getting this facility up and running and many great nights with filled stands and pits plus no rain!!!

Shangri-la II Speedway is located off of Rt. 17 west of Binghampton NY , for more information check the tracks web page http://www.shangrila-2.com/index.shtml

See you at the races.

NH how we love thee!

Well unless you are footing the bill for a bent race car.

Once again the WMT goes to NH and once again the crowd goes away very satisfied. This race had everything, passes back and forth for the lead, plenty of drafting, a new driver at the front, controversy, hot tempers, 39 very good looking cars and a nice crowd.

First of all congratulations to Donnie Lia on his first win since coming back to the tour, a nice run by Ed Flemke with a second place, Ronnie Silk finished a fine third and in post race comments took the blame for the last lap crash, other great finishes, Rowan Pennick in 4th and TC in 5th on 3 tires. I understand the 36 is a complete write off. Also seeing rookie Eric Goodale in the lead shows that there are up and coming drivers on the tour.

Further down in the field a top 10 for Glenn Tyler, its nice to see Glen in the top 10 at the tours biggest race. Also a great finish for the 18 of Ken Heagy in 13th after a 34th place start. Ken is one of the tours low budget teams but shows up each week with a nice looking machine.

OK and now the blame game and there was plenty of it going around, even an article that make TC "Public enemy#1", I think we are over dramatic on that one since another driver took the blame.

Next up Spencer Speedway in upstate New York, the furthest west race of the year since Mansfield is off the schedule. Then on to the only race on Long Island on August 1st at Riverhead Raceway.

Where is Noah when you need him?

Wow, when I spoke about rain last week I had no idea it would just keep raining. The only tracks to get their shows in were places like Stafford in CT, Williams Grove in Pa., Spencer in NY and a few others.

It just keeps raining, which on one hand is really bad for the tracks, but in a way good for the teams. Racing costs money and a lot of it. I know racers want to race but if you run 15 nights instead of 18 or 20 the costs to run the team go down . The end result should be more cars later in the season at the tracks.

As for the tracks, less shows mean less money coming in. But with that said, losing shows before schools close mean less lost revenue than starting this week, when the summer season kicks into gear. Crowds should be on the rise and with good weather the next 2 months are the key to a good season at the tracks.

This week will be one of our yearly road trips to Williams Grove. Times are tough but 1 trip to Williams Grove is always on our list.

Go see a short track race and support your local racers.

Rain Rain Rain

So you like to race, well if it doesn't stop raining soon we will all need boats. This weekend looks bad again. Lucky for Nascar they are in Sonoma where it almost never rains.