News

two drivers look to add their name to storied list of champs

9/28/2017

What does an average finish of 1.50, leading 43% of your division’s feature laps, and a division-high 3 wins get you? Ask Sunapee’s Dana Smith. Smith comes into Championship Night with a 45-point advantage on Connecticut’s Nick Salva and while it may be a longshot Salva can overtake the point leader this Friday, Smith won’t take anything for granted. Smith has been on the accelerator all season. He was the opening night winner leading all 30 laps. A win in Race # 3 and # 5 complemented his initial win while finishing no worse than 2nd. Should Smith be celebrating a championship in front of the fans Friday, it would be his first Tour-Type Modified championship.

While Nick Salva has been racing for the partial schedules for the better part of 9 seasons, this is his first at Claremont Speedway. Salva has two podium finishes and six top 5’s in 6 races here. Salva cut his teeth at Stafford Motor Speedway in the DARE Stocks later moving to SK Modifieds. In addition to driving the #44 Michaud Racing entry, Salva races at Thompson Motor Speedway in the Sunoco Modifieds.
Christopher Bolton is currently 3rd in points with 240, 26 behind Salva. The Weare, NH pilot has three top 5’s, and 6 top 10’s. Brandee Tree has enjoyed a successful season thus far as she enters the night 4th in the point standings, only 16 behind Bolton. Tree has one top 5 finish.

Claremont’s Jeffrey Murray rides 5th with 217 points. Murray started hot out of the trailer with two runner-up finishes to begin the season. He has three podium finishes, and five top 10’s in 5 races. Todd Patnode sits 13 markers behind Murray in 6th. Patnode swept the two segment races in the Daddy’s Pizza Twin 30’s on September 8th and also was crowned the Sportsman Modified Champion at Monadnock Speedway this season.

High school senior, Dylan Rock, is 7th in points with 185. Rock has one podium finish this season and has been the victim of some bad luck. He has four top 10’s in 5 races. The “Cornish Comet” Bucky Demers is 8th with 158 points. Demers has missed the last two races but has one top 5 and four top 10’s.

Brian Robie is 9th with 135 points. Robie grabbed one feature win, his first-career Tour-Type Modified win, on Race # 4. Robie has two top 5’s in 3 races this season. Cameron Sontag rounds out the top 10 with 107 points.
While the Casella Modifieds have been rained out three times this season, it all comes down to the final night for Smith or Salva to punch their name on the impressive list of Tour-Type Modified champions at Claremont Speedway. It should be an exciting night at the Thrasher Road speedplant.

History in the Making for Bly & bodreau

9/26/2017

With 9 different feature winners, 13 different heat race winners, and 19 different lap leaders, the R.E. Hinkley Super Streets have been one of the most competitive racing divisions in all of New England. With one race left in the season, only two drivers are left standing with a chance to win the championship and it will be the first one for both of them.

“Radical” Ricky Bly has had sole possession of the top spot since Race 8 and has outlasted the competition to this point leading Dylan Bodreau by 33 points heading into Friday. Last year’s runner-up, has posted a division-leading 3 feature wins, and 87 feature laps lead as well. His nine top 3’s are tops in the division as well. Since Race 8, he has four podiums in five races during that span. This is Bly’s 17th race season as he seeks his first-ever championship.

3rd generation racer Dylan Bodreau comes into championship night within distance of the title. Bodreau is enjoying a great season thus far and has done so in a stealth-like manner. Bodreau picked up his feature win on Race # 9, has posted five top 3’s, and is tied for the division lead with ten top 5’s. He is also one of three drivers to have recorded at least twelve top 10’s in 13 races. Bodreau last finished 2nd in points in 2011 and is seeking his first championship in his 11th season.

While Bodreau will pull every trick out of the Bodreau Racing stable to overtake Bly, he has 2nd year driver, Hayden Scott, only 25 points behind in 3rd. Scott opened the season with his first career Super Street win in the Mike Richardson Memorial 75 and won later in season on Race 12. Scott has been in the top 5 in points all season. He has four podium finishes, six top 5’s, and just like Bodreau and Bly, twelve top 10’s. Scott is 3rd in the division with 66 feature laps led as well.

Heading into September 8th, 2015 track champion Jack McClay was only 16 points behind Bly in the Newport Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Point Standings. Finishes of 21st (Lap 1 wreck) and 15th (mechanical issue fighting for the lead) in the past two events has sent McClay back to 4th in points, 25 points behind Scott. McClay has 2 feature wins on the season, six podiums, nine top 5’s, and ten top 10’s.

Positions 4 through 7 could change easily change hands before the night is over as 2012 track champion, Craig Smith (23/52) sits in 5th with 522 points, 2 points behind McClay. In what has been an emotional year for Smith, he has a feature win, three podiums, eight top 5’s, and eleven top 10’s doing so with two different cars.
Rookie Craig Smith (97) has 513 points and is 6th heading into the final night with his 1st career Super Street win under his belt. Smith has logged three podiums, five top 5’s, and ten top 10’s. His 5 heat race wins is tied for tops in the division with Ben Poland.

Poland has 500 points on the year and is 7th. Poland has four top 3’s, five top 5’s, and eight top 10’s. The 2011 Super Street champion finished 4th in points in 2016.
“Judge” Joe Brown (353 points), Bryan Town (353 points), and Kenny Fowler (334 points-1 win) make up the remainder of the top 10. Andrew Martell (324 points) and Ryan Currier (321 points) are lurking outside the top 10 and hope to have good showings this week.

With an average starting field of 21 cars this year, 33 points is within striking distance. From 1st to 21st, there is a 42-point span. Whoever ends up taking home the title of 2017 R.E. Hinkley Super Street Champion, they did so by beating the best in one of the best racing divisions in the Northeast.

Sky Is The Limit For Janovsky, Colburn, or Thompson

9/25/2017

Even though Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey folded up their tents earlier this year, the Pepsi Limited Sportsman division will contin-ue the tradition of the three ring circus this Friday night as their division boasts the most championship attractions and the clos- est point battle. “Polish Prince” Tyler Janovsky, Chris Colburn, and “Hot Stuff” Kenny Thompson have been atop the Newport Chev- rolet Weekly Racing Series Point Standings all season long and it all comes down to one final show.

Janovsky currently sits in the center ring with a 15-point lead on Colburn and 23 points on Thompson. A high school senior at       Twin Valley High School, Janovsky has led the point standings since Race # 2 with 2 wins, 3 runner-ups and 3 thirds. His 65 laps led is tops in division.

The hottest driver right now in the division may very well be Colb-urn. With 2 feature wins and 10 top 5’s over the 12 races sched- uled, the rookie Colburn has struck lighting (McQueen) in a bottle at the right time. At the beginning of the month, the 2nd generat- ion racer trailed Janovsky by 29 points and over that three race    span since, he has closed the gap to within 15 points. Colburn al-so is tied for the division lead with 3 heat race wins.

Thompson, the other high school senior (Fall Mountain Regional), leads the division with 3 feature wins, adding 6 top 3’s, and 9 top 5’s to his dance card. Thompson was on his way to his 4th feature win last week until a wheel bearing failed on the # 39 ending his night. As a result, an 18-point deficit grew to 25 heading into this Friday night.

The players from positions 4 through 10 are penciled in but not necessarily in the order in which they arrive. Cornish’s Chris Gil- bert rides 4th in points after missing the first 3 weeks. Gilbert has 1 podium (2nd-Race # 8) and 7 top 5’s and is ahead of Joe Te-       treault by 16 points. Tetreault has 358 points with 1 feature win and 3 podium finishes to his credit while rookie Briana Akusis,        runs 6th in points with 337. Josh Ruel (312), 2-time winner David Greenslit (287), 2016 champion Scott Vien (240), and Cote Swen- son (234) round out the field.

By comparison, last year, Vien headed into championship night    with a 3-point lead on Colburn’s father, Gary, and 36 points on      Janovsky. When the dust settled, Vien grabbed the feature win      and his 1st title. Colburn finished 2nd and lost by 6 points. Will    the “Polish Prince” do what he needs to do to be crowned track   champion? Will Colburn add another championship to the name? Will “Hot Stuff” catch fire and win both the heat and feature to     give him a shot at the title? Any way you slice it, someone will be drinking a nice cold Pepsi as there will be a new first-time champ-ion!

Sail-Lyn to T-Bird Mini MARt Wildcats Title

9/24/2017

Just like last season, the Wildcat division title was locked up before the last race of the season, and in 4-cylinder form, this year’s champion, Zachary Lyn, dominated on the way to his first championship ever. Lyn’s worst finish on the season was his Race 1 effort where he finished fourth. Since April 28th, Lyn has visited the podium each week thereafter with 5 wins, 2 runner-ups, and 4 thirds. His 5 wins are a speedway best and his 123 laps led in 12 point events (37.8%) are tops as well. After Lyn, the rest of the division point races are exciting.

Even though the title has already been claimed, the race for the runner-up spot is still alive. Comeback driver of the year candidate, Dale “Slingshot” Squires Jr., currently sits 2nd in points with his first career feature win coming in Week 2 of the racing season. Squires has 7 podium finishes, and 11 top 5’s. “Mr. Consistent” Kyle Currier is 3rd and is within 20 points of Squires Jr. doing so quietly. With only 1 podium finish ( a 3rd in Race 10), Currier has 8 top 5’s and is one of only 3 drivers to have finished all 12 races in the top 10. New father Nick Little is 4th in points and mathematically still within distance of the 2nd spot. Little trails Squires by 54 and is only 34 points behind Currier for 3rd.

To round out the Top 6, last year’s Rookie of the Year, Samantha Stoddard, is 5th in points only 16 points behind Little for 4th as Jim Carley, the other driver to have top 10’s in all 12 races, is 6th in points only 10 behind Stoddard.

From 7th to 10th, Kodi Sabins, the 2016 track champion, is 7th while only running a part-time schedule. Sabins has run 7 races, won both segment races in the Cody Lafont Memorial Twin 25’s, added a couple more feature wins and has not finished outside the top 3. He leads Dr. Sam Giveen by only 1 point (368-367) while Giveen leads his rookie of the year contender, Zachary Morse, by 47 points. Chris Carver rounds out the top 10 with 288 points.

So the final night of racing will be wild with a number of positions still to be set. Will Squires Jr. hold off Currier for the runner-up spot? Who will win the rookie title? With an average starting field of 14 cars, heat races and each spot is important. It could make all the difference.

One 2 Go - 4-Cylinder Nationals for NEMST

9/14/2017

What does over 40 cars trying to qualify for a 100-lap, $ 1,500 to win event for 4-cylinder race cars look like? You’ll have to come to the speedway tomorrow night to find out as the Northeast Mini Stock Tour sanctioned event takes the center ring at the 1/3 mile oval. Cars from all over the northeast are expected to attempt to qualify for the first of its kind event. Household names like Kodi Sabins, Matt Gauffin, Kimmy Rivet, and Ken Thompson will take their shot picking up the big money while 2017 Wildcat Champion Zach Lyn as well as Dale Squires Jr. will also throw themselves into the fray. Series’ full-timer Emerson Cayer has a slim 10 point lead on Nick Anderson heading into the event.

The R.E. Hinkley Super Streets continue their season-long slugfest as Hayden Scott grabbed his 2nd win of the season last week. “Radical” Ricky Bly finished 2nd solidifying his NCWRS point lead over Dylan Bodreau, Scott, and Jack McClay, who dropped to 4th after being involved in a Lap 1 incident last week.

The Pepsi Limited Sportsman saw 2nd generation driver Chris Colburn lead the entire event and hold off Bryan Town to win his 2nd feature of the year. “Polish” Prince Tyler Janovsky finished 3rd and holds an 18 point lead on “Hot Stuff” Kenny Thompson and 26 points over Colburn heading into their final 2 events.

The T-Bird Mini Mart Wildcats are off this week and with only one week left, 2nd year driver Zach Lyn locked up his 1st championship with his 5th win on the year. The point battles will continue throughout the top 10 on September 29.

The NEMST will kick off our evening at 7 PM so you will want to get there on time and bring a friend. With over 300 total laps of green flag action, $ 10 is a great bargain!

The rain date for this event is Saturday, September 16.

4-CYLINDER NATIONALS FOR NORTH EAST MINI STOCK TOUR
Last Time Winner: None. This is an inaugural event.
September 8th Winners: Todd Patnode (Modifieds), Hayden Scott (Supers), Chris Colburn (Limiteds), Zach Lyn (Wildcats)
Time: Post time is 7 PM
Grandstand Admission: $ 10 for ages 6 and over
Grandstand gates open at 4 PM
Beer Garden opens at 6 PM
Weather: Partly cloudy, 70 degrees with a 15 percent chance of rain
Event Hashtag: #4CylinderNats #NCWRS
Pit Admission: $ 35
Prep: Pit gates open at 2 PM

Story Lines for the Week

Do the Math? – Mathematically speaking, there are still 7 different drivers able to win the division championship this year. One bad night for any of them can have an adverse effect on their chances. Ask Jack McClay. He came into last week only trailing by 16 points. McClay finished 21st after being involved in a Lap 1 incident so now comes into tomorrow night trailing by 54 points. Dylan Bodreau, Hayden Scott, McClay, the Craig Smiths, and Ben Poland all are within striking distance of Ricky Bly.
Be a Good Sport – Could we have another winner in the Pepsi Limited Sportsman this week? If Bryan Town is wheeling the Town Family Racing ride we could. He dealt with brake issues the entire feature last week and finished 2nd.
The Nationals – No, not the Washington Nationals but of the 4-cylinder variety. Heat races will be crazy as drivers don’t want to end up in the last qualifier. 26-27 cars are due to take the green leaving the possibility of a full field of cars going home with nothing to show for it.

Next week we are off due to the events in Loudon. We close out our season on September 29 with championship night for the Newport Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series.

One 2 Go - Daddy's Pizza Twin 30's for the Modifieds

9/7/2017

Open-wheeled awesomeness headlines the night’s race card with the Daddy’s Pizza Twin 30’s for our Casella Modifieds. Additional monies have been added to the race purse as well as race bonuses for the top 3 for each race. The Tri Track Open Modified Series has also ponied up some cash for their drivers who decide to compete in this event. A HUGE thank you to them! As this is a point race, the starting lineup for the first race will be set by heat races with the field inverted (lead lap cars in the front) in the 2nd race based on their finish from the first. The lowest average finish of both events will be the overall winner with the tiebreaker being the finish in the 2nd race. Last year, Dana Smith was the overall winner with Nick Boivin finishing 2nd and Scott MacMichael placing 3rd.

Dana Smith leads the ground-pounders in points after recording 3 wins in 5 starts. Prospect, CT’s Nick Salva , in the Michaud entry, currently rides 2nd in points only 39 points behind while Chris Bolton is 61 points behind. Last time out on August 25, Dana Smith just barely held off the charging Jeff Murray for the win.

DADDY’S PIZZA TWIN 30’S FOR THE CASELLA MODIFIEDS
September 1st Winners: Kenny Fowler (Supers) and Kodi Sabins (Wildcats)
Time: Post time is 7 PM
Grandstand Admission: $ 10 for ages 6 and over
Grandstand gates open at 4 PM
Beer Garden opens at 6 PM
Weather: Partly cloudy and 60 degrees
Event Hashtag: #DaddysTwin30s #NCWRS
Running Order (tentative): Modifieds (Race 1), Wildcats, Supers, Modifieds (Race 2), Limited Sportsman
Pit Admission: $ 35
Prep: Pit gates open at 3 PM

Story Lines for the Week

A Perfect 10? – Can we hit 10 different winners in 12 races? Ryan Currier and Ben Poland are two have podium finishes but have yet to carry the checkers. Will this week be their time?
Outside Looking In – It appears we could have a very healthy field of Modifieds for their special event. Will one of the newcomers take home the top prize or will one of the hometown shoes take the win?
Head of the Class – The Limited Sportsman point battle is going to come right down ‘til the end. The high school seniors, “Polish Prince” Tyler Janovsky and “Hot Stuff” Kenny Thompson, have the month of September to fiqure out who will be the Valedictorian.

Next week we will be running on all cylinders – 4 that is – as the 4-Cylinder Nationals will be held at Claremont Speedway. Entries from all over the Northeast are expected with an anticipated car count to be over 50. This 100 green flag lap race is a $ 1,500 to win affair. Our R.E. Hinkley Super Streets and Pepsi Limited Sportsman will be racing as well.