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.