Green-White-Checker

BREAKING NEWS: Bruton Smith says New Hampshire race dates are safe

Camping World East Series, Whelen Modified Tour part of the future, too

Bruton Smith uttered the words New England race fans have longed to hear.

During a press conference on Sunday morning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Smith, whose Speedway Motorsports Inc. purchased the track from Bob and Gary Bahre last fall, said that the facility is in no danger of losing either of its 2 annual Sprint Cup Series dates.

"No," Smith said when asked if he was going to move either of the races to either Kentucky Speedway or Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "We'll try to accomplish that in another way. We're working on some stuff."

Modifieds rained out at Wiscasset Raceway

Wiscasset Raceway has rained out Saturday night's program.

Heavy mist, drizzle and fog moving into the coastal area and forced the postponement of the Wiscasset Ford 100 for the True Value Modified Series.

The race has been rescheduled for Aug. 9.

ON SITE: Chuck Hossfeld wins closest race in NHMS history

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

For race winner Chuck Hossfeld, Saturday's New England 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was, indeed, the best race of the 4-race NASCAR weekend at the track. For Ted Christopher, losing the closest race in track history had a decidedly different feel.

"That's how it usually works here," Christopher said after losing the drag race off of the final turn by one one-thousandth of a second. "I really made a mistake on the last lap, but that's how it goes. Sometimes you pick the right lane, and sometimes you pick the wrong one."

DAY 1 AT NHMS: Fresh paint and fresh faces

Even the concession stands have more life.

New England's only superspeedway, which has been both lovingly and critically labeled "a big short track," New Hampshire Motor Speedway underwent some changes this offseason under its new ownership. New general manager Jerry Gappens promised recently that fans would see more color, and Speedway Motorsports Inc., which bought the track from Bob Bahre, delivered.

It's everything from the subtle to the serious.

ON SITE: Thursday is a washout at NHMS

We've, uh, lost the track.

Intense track-drying efforts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway took place early this afternoon, allowing the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour to get out on the track for approximately 30 minutes of practice before steady rains pelted the facility yet again.

Jet dryers returned to the track shortly after 4 p.m., but ceased trying to dry the track shortly thereafter.

ON SITE: Rain washed out Camping World East Series qualifying

Since we're not allowed to say the word "rain" here, let's just say we're having "weather issues" at New Hampshire Motor Speedway today.

The only thing that's been on the track has been jet dryers, and it's rained so hard for most of the day that even they weren't broken out until shortly after 1:30 p.m. NASCAR Camping World East Series qualifying has been rained out.

Officials are still hoping to dry the track in time to hold practice sessions for both the East Series and the Whelen Modified Tour, as well as an entire Modified Tour qualifying session.

ON SITE: Look out for the golf carts, dude

Some things never change.

Despite all the new signage, logo placements and vibrant color schemes, it's still the same old New Hampshire. How do I know this?

Because it took all of 3 minutes of being in the infield this morning before I was nearly run over by another one of those golf carts on steroids.

Jimmy Spencer to be honored at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Fifteen wins in 4 years will usually get you noticed. It did the trick for Jimmy Spencer.

The former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver will be honored as part of the 60th anniversary of the Whelen Modified Tour prior to the New England 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway next Saturday. Spencer won 2 Mod Tour titles during his run and earned the nickname "Mr. Excitement" that he carried with him to his Cup career.

Spencer is one of only 3 drivers to win consecutive Modified championships, and he was the first to do so when he completed his 1986-87 back-to-back seasons.

ON PIT ROAD: Jeff Gordon, Junkyard Warriors and John Force

It's Thursday again. That means it's time to roll the old Mini Stock out of the garage, wipe the dust off and shake down the setup with a spin around the dirt track at the end of the street. With that, here's the latest list of notes collected in a dog-eared notebook over the last few weeks...

* A FEW YEARS back, during that very dark period in my life when I was trapped working and living in southern New England, I wrote a story about how Thompson International Speedway officials had tossed around the idea of at least exploring the possibility of a Craftsman Truck Series race at their historic .625-mile facility.

At the crux of it, the track really needed only add some seating to bring its overall capacity into the tens of thousands with a slam dunk of a built-in local sponsor in either Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun right down the road, This came at a time when the Truck Series was returning to short tracks -- heading back to Mansfield, Ohio, among other venues.

ON SITE: Childs, Chadbourne will lead them to green

And we're underway at Wiscasset Raceway, where there are 31 Late Models here to run the Coastal 200 a little later this afternoon.

Had about an hour delay at the start of the program for "Operation Recognition," a ceremony honoring military personnel and war veterans in attendance today, but Bill Childs Jr. of Leeds, an Oxford Plains Speedway regular, and rookie Adam Chadbourne will start the 200 from the front row. We'll post the whole lineup in the CURRENT EVENTS section ASAP.

ON SITE: Running at about half-throttle

I feel like a man that's been singled out.

Everywhere I turn there's another can, another flavor of Full Throttle -- the Coca-Cola Company's cheap imitation of an energy drink. They're giving away free samples to fans today, but let's be very clear here. I'm not getting any, OK.

I'm a Monster guy. OK? I'm not looking for soda with extra sugar and caffeine. I'm looking for a bunch of ingredients I can't pronounce, ones that I have no idea at all what they do for me, ones that will probably knock a good 12-15 years off my expected life span.

Now that we've gotten past that....

ON PIT ROAD: An outlaw, a promoter and a tire carrier walk into a bar...

It's Thursday again. That means it's time to roll the old Mini Stock out of the garage, wipe the dust off and shake down the setup with a spin around the dirt track at the end of the street. With that, here's the latest list of notes collected in a dog-eared notebook over the last few weeks...

* THIS IS THE kind of guy we just don't see enough in racing anymore. Eddie MacDonald is working hard at becoming an "outlaw" in an age where most assume an "outlaw" is somebody who races in a dying PASS division once every month or so.

This season, MacDonald has already run in both the NASCAR Camping World East Series and the American-Canadian Tour. Before the season's over, he plans to hop in a PASS North Series car, too -- giving him the distinction of running in the 3 most signifcant full-bodied northeast touring series all in the same year.

ON SITE: Gappens sheds light on NHMS plans

It's increasingly clear that fans are going to see both lights and an Indy Car race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the future. 

When those things will actually take place is hard to pinpoint, but Speedway Motorsports Inc. -- which purchased the track from Bob Bahre for $340 million last fall -- has both on the radar.

New general manager Jerry Gappens likes the idea of both, sooner rather than later -- particularly that of track lighting.

Harnish an Outlaw winner

Mike Harnish scored one for the little guys on Saturday night.

Harnish recorded his 1st career PASS Outlaw Late Model victory, beating out Alan Wilson and Dale Shaw -- both making their 2008 Outlaw debuts -- in a 75-lap event at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, N.H.

Jimmy Renfrew and Chris Staples rounded out the top-5 in a 12-car field.

ON PIT ROAD: Ramstrom, riled up and ridiculously unimportant

I'm kind of enjoying the new digs, but there's a pile of boxes over in the corner of the spare room that I just can't bring myself to unpack. You know, it's like I just hit the wall -- it's going to take some time to get settled here.

And, no, there's no jacuzzi. But I did hear that Marcos Ambrose was bringing over a grill and some charcoal as a house-warming gift. No word on whether or not Boris Said will be coming, too, and stocking the fridge with some No Fear energy drink...

In the meantime, we'll just have to make do with the shrimp quesadillas and pork tenderloin...

* HERE'S THE REAL deal on PASS North Series driver Derek Ramstrom.

Despite rumors suggesting there are already "several" NASCAR teams interested in the teen from West Boylston, Mass., the 2006 Outlaw Late Model champion hasn't been offered any development deals. What he has been offered, according to his father, Rick, is a contract from an agent.

GWC still turning laps

"You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been, a place that has to be believed to be seen."
- U2

Wow, I feel like a race car owner in search of a sponsor for his investment.

It was a long, strange weekend, one that sandwiched a feature story about Cassius Clark and a 1-2 Rowe finish at Beech Ridge around the Central Maine Newspapers laying off 9 people on Friday. Luckily, I wasn't one of them -- though I did consider in the aftermath just how fortunate I'd been.

I mean, who pays to have a fishing writer on staff, right? What a gig!

But, as newspapers struggle for their lives in these internet times, tough decisions continued to be made.

Polewarczyk wins ACT opener at Lee

Alexander takes Modified portion of program

(From ACT press release)

Joey Pole warczyk Jr. blistered the American-Canadian Tour field at Lee USA Speedway on Sunday, taking his 2nd career victory at the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 100. The Hudson, N.H., driver took the lead from pole-sitter Larry Gelinas after starting 3rd and dominated the balance of the event to take the win in just over 46 minutes.

Polewarczyk, 18, said that for 2008, his team is “all business.”