Upcoming
Events:
JJanuary 21-Eric Beers Annual Racing Party- Cementon Park
This year the party has been moved to Cementon Park.
Located at the corner of Rt 329 and Fornicari Drive, just a half a mile east
of the Rt 145 & Rt 329 intersection. Again the party this year will have
a appetizers, a full course dinner, beverages, a live band, games of chance
and racing videos of Eric's wins in 2005, games of chance and surprise giveaways
and celebrity guest. It is always a good time in the middle of winter to see
everyone and talk and watch racing. We look forward to seeing everyone and
sharing the fun.
Call 610-261-9468 or 610-261-9510 for tickets or questions
THANKS TO EVERYONE AND HAVE A SAFE AND PROPERSOUS HOLIDAY.
Eric
New
Smyrna Speedweeks - February 2006 - Stay tuned for details
HOT
NEWS AND RESULTS:
November 26 - Turkey Derby - Wall Stadium
- Time 7th - start 4th- Finish 4th
It was a typical Wall Stadium Day of Racing. Very difficult to pass and you
made most of your moves on the restarts. Eric start 4th and was running in
the fourth position at about lap 5 when he got hit so hard from friend Tim
Arre he heard a loud crack. "I got hit and lifted so hard I thought for
sure something broke underneath" Eric said. Eric went to the pits for
the guys to look at the car and make sure everything was where it was supposed
to be. They gave him the thumbs up and back out he came. Eric started dead
last and took him time just shaking the car out to make sure everything was
ok. From there it was to the front. Eric made his way up to third and it was
like the old Flemington days with Blewett, Wooley, Eric and Pete Britian racing
together. Eric was doing just fine until Somebody got into somebody and hit
Eric who hit someone knocking the toe out. From there Eric had a fast car
but was not as good as the the top three. Good run - Car in one piece. Next
up Florida.
Nov
4-5 - North South Shootout Concord Speedway - 10th
Man oh Man - What a great race track and great race. Eric started 8th and
was up to 7th when a caution cam e out on lap 29 he went in and made adjustments
on the car. Went back out ran it cool for awhile and then had to make his
mandatory pit stop. From there Eric made his way up to fourth and as one observer
put it- "I had to check and see if the 3 had a wing on top the way Eric
was dirt racing it out of 3- wicked fast." Eric thought to himself "we
might have a chance her - the car keeps getting better the longer we go."
He was battling with Blewett - the race winner with 15 or 20 to go and was
getting ready to try to pass when all of a sudden it was like someone flicked
a switch and the car got wicked loose. Eric reflected later: " I don't
know what happened, the car was great, I was battling with John for 3rd and
the car was getting better, all of a sudden it was like someone flicked a
switch and the car was wicked loose. It was so loose I had a hard time getting
it straight on the dog leg. I don't know if the tires glazed over or we broke
a bag in the shock. The tire were good- stagger was still where I wanted it-
actually it was so much i should have been a little tight. That's racing and
why so cant deal on the could shoulda woulda- chalk it up and learn from what
happened and get um next time." Eric held on to finish 10th.
Nov
4-5 - North South Shootout Concord SPeedway Starts 8th
Ericmade it NC late for practice as he was stuck several times on Route 81
for accidents. He made for some and the team had to make some changes on the
car. After practice on Friday, the team was confident as they had a wicked
fast car. However, when Eric went out for time the car did not handle as well
as ric had it in practice - this is despite a 8th fastest time. After looking
at the tires it was determined one of the tires was bad and beginning to blister.
Hoosier exchanged the tire and Eric ran his heat which he won by over half
a lap. Thats racing folks. You take what you can get because you never know
what can happen. The team is confident starting near the front to hopefully
avoid the Big One and pit and get to the front. Will try to recap the race
tonight. See ya then
Thomspon Speedway_ October 30- 29th
The team lost the battle but won the war. Despite getting involved in a lap
42 accident when a car spun up the track coming out of turn 2. Eric and the
BRE Team finished in 5th place in points - ONE POINT in front of Donny Lia.
It looked bleak for a while until Lia had his own problems pushing him to
finish a few laps behind the leader and closing the gap. Eric and te team
were just waiting for the race to coem to them. Restarting on the the bottom
groove hurt Eric several times pushing him back to about 15th in the pack
when the wreck occured. Eric was relegated to waiting the race from there.
Congrats to friend and neighbor Tony H on capturing his 5th Title.
1. (8) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Dodge, 125,
$7,250.
2. (17) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo, N.Y., Ford, 125, $4,000.
3. (3) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Pontiac, 125, $3,600.
4. (26) Mike Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Pontiac, 125, $3,300.
5. (11) Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Chevrolet, 125, $1,800.
6. (9) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Chevrolet, 125, $2,400.
7. (20) Anthony Ferrante Jr., Franklin Square, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125, $2,000.
8. (18) Alex Hoag, Bath, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125, $1,500.
9. (21) Ken Barry, Griswold, Conn., Chevrolet, 125, $1,900.
10. (29) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale, N.J., Dodge, 125, $1,900.
11. (6) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon, Conn., Chevrolet, 125, $1,980.
12. (1) Tony Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 125, $2,560.
13. (7) John Blewett III, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 125, $1,990.
14. (15) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125, $1,820.
15. (23) Jeff Malave, Manchester, Conn., Chevrolet, 125, $1,100.
16. (30) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown, Pa., Chevrolet, 124, $1,850.
17. (5) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Chevrolet, 123, $1,775.
18. (28) Dave Etheridge, Portland, Conn., Chevrolet, 111, suspension, $1,650.
19. (16) Rick Fuller, Auburn, Mass., Pontiac, 105, $1,700.
20. (27) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, Mass., Chevrolet, 74, radiator, $1,300.
21. (13) Eddie Flemke, Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 62, $1,600.
22. (32) Jimmy Storace, Kingston, N.H., Chevrolet, 54, $1,300.
23. (25) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Ford, 45, $1,700.
24. (2) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Dodge, 42, accident, $900.
25. (14) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 42, axle, $1,700.
26. (24) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 42, accident, $1,600.
27. (4) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 34, accident, $900.
28. (31) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point, N.Y., Pontiac, 17, overheating, $1,600.
29. (12) Tommy Cloce, Canton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 14, axle, $1,300.
30. (10) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 10, accident, $1,700.
31. (22) Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Pontiac, 3, accident, $900.
32. (19) Mike Ewanitsko, W. Hempstead, N.Y., Dodge, 3, accident, $900.
FAILED TO QUALIFY: Thomas Bolles,
Wade Cole, Nevin George, Joseph Hartmann, Mike Molleur, Ken Bouchard, Howie
Brode, Jake Marosz.
TIME OF RACE: 1 hour, 11 minutes, 17 seconds. AVERAGE SPEED: 65.759 mph. MARGIN
OF VICTORY: 2.3 seconds. BUD POLE AWARD: Marquis. FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED
DRIVER AWARD: Coby. POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: M. Christopher. TOMMY
BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Blewett. CAUTION FLAGS: 7 for 37 laps.
LAP LEADERS: T. Hirschman 1-45, Marquis 46-50, Blewett 51-101, Marquis 102-125.
LEAD CHANGES: 3 among 3 drivers.
POINTS STANDINGS (top 10): T. Hirschman 2749, T. Christopher 2731, Hossfeld
2666, Marquis 2647, Beers 2470, Lia 2469, Coby 2327, Fuller 2236, M. Christopher
2202, Sylvester 2178.
Thompson Speedway
-
Mother Nature wins again as the rain in the forecast forced the cancelation
of the Twin 100s rescheduled from July. It all comes down to the last race.
THe point title is on the line and the top 6 in points are pretty much locked
into position it is just a matter of where they finish. A bad race among any
of them will really suffle it up. For example Teddy and Tony are only 36 point
apart. ERic and Donny Lia are only 25 points apart and Eric is 85 points out
of 4th- SO as we know anything and everthing can happen and it all comes down
to this.
October 1-2 - Stafford Speedway
- 7th
Eric time trialed 10th on a day when a lot of good cars went home. Amazing
that time trials alot of the top pacjk are within 10 and 100ths of each other
before there is a drop off. So Eric started out the race in 10th and got up
to 6th when the caution came out on lap 50. The team decided to pit and take
4 tires. From here there was not another caution and thats what hurt the 3
car tonight. With one caustion Eric felt that he had a second place car. Thats
racin folks and that why Eric and the BRE TEAM will be back out next week
at Thompson for the rescheudled double header of Modifieds and Bush cars on
Saturday. SHould be a great day of racing.
1.
(3) Tony Hirschman, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 150, 78.855 mph, $7,850
2. (5) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $4,050
3. (15) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 150, $3,200
4. (21) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 150, $3,500
5. (6) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $2,700
6. (12) Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $2,100
7. (10) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $2,400
8. (4) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Ford, 150, $2,200
9. (9) John Blewett, III, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 150, $1,750
10. (11) Reggie Ruggiero, Rocky Hill Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,500
11. (14) Anthony Ferrante, Jr, Franklin Square, Chevrolet, 150, $1,500
12. (19) Ken Barry, Griswold Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,475
13. (2) Jimmy Blewett, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 150, $1,450
14. (25) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 149, $1,725
15. (1) Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Pontiac, 149, $1,000
16. (23) Jeff Malave, Manchester Conn., Chevrolet, 149, $975
17. (17) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 148, $1,750
18. (29) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 148, $1,725
19. (27) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 148, $1,600
20. (20) Kenny Horton, Guilford, Chevrolet, 148, $875
21. (24) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 148, $1,650
22. (30) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 146, $1,625
23. (26) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 127, Engine, $1,500
24. (13) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 112, Engine, $1,600
25. (32) Wayne Anderson, Yaphank N.Y., Chevrolet, 108, Black Flag, $800
26. (7) Frank Ruocco, Cheshire Conn., Chevrolet, 102, Suspension, $800
27. (22) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale N.J., Dodge, 78, Engine, $1,500
28. (18) Steve Park, East Northport N.Y., Chevrolet, 67, Suspension, $800
29. (8) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Pontiac, 57, $1,500
30. (31) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point N.Y., Pontiac, 21, Overheating, $1,500
31. (28) Mike Stefanik, Coventry R.I., Chevrolet, 12, Accident, $1,500
32. (16) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 8, Accident, $1,500
September
24-25 - Lancaster Speedway - Sunoco Race of Champions Tour
- WIN
Eric Beers and the Horwith Racing, Sunoco Race Fuels #9 Modified, finished
out the Race of Champions Tour Schedule by winning the US Open at Lancaster
Raceway. It was Eric's first win at the historic Buffalo track. The weekend
did not start out as planned because as he was getting ready to go green,
in his heat race, the shifter broke off in his hand. He had to pull the car
off and fix it. By the time they got it fixed, the heats were over and Eric
was slated to start 6th in the consi's on Sunday.
Eric started 6th in the consi and went on to win. The Open started with Eric
in the 22nd position. Eric ran his own race, working his way up through the
field at his pace and was in the top 10 by lap 50. The next caution after
lap 50 Eric brought the car to the pits to the attention of the fabulous pit
crew where they changed right sides only, tightened it up a little and sent
Eric on his way.
When he went back out, Eric ran his own race and worked his way through the
field, making sure not to hurt his tires. When he got to second, leader Mangus
had a half a straight away lead at times but Eric still ran his own race and
let him go. Eric would slowly catch him as the laps went on, but each time
he would get close, the caution would fly. When the caution came out with
16 to go- Eric came over the radio and said to the crew - "If we can
go green to checkered from this point on , I think we might have something
for Mangus". Well, with 7 to go Eric made the winning pass and went on
to win the US OPEN.
Another
good day for the Mud Lane Race Teams.
Heat Winners - Jan Leaty, Tommy Cloce, Tim Mangus and
Chuck Hossfeld
Consi Winners - Buck Catalano and Eric Beers
FEATURE - Eric Beers, Tim Mangus,
Danny Knoll, Lee Sherwood, Tom McGrath, Matt Hirschman, Pete Brittian, Billy
Putney, Bobby Holmes, Tommy Cloce, John Markovic, Karl Hehr, Cheetham, Rusty
Smith, Zane Zeiner, TJ Potrobowski, Chuck Hossfeld, and Sege Fidanza.
GREAT ARTICLE FROM SPEED 51
BEERS BOUNCES BACK WITH STRONG POST-INJURY SEASON by Mike Twist
Mod Pilot Missed a Race, But Is Still Top
Five in Points
Eric Beers has definitely known a few
ups and downs in his racing career over the past year. The Pennsylvania driver
started racing Late Models at age 16 and has spent his career driving just
about anything that he could get a ride in at just about any track where he
could race. He’s seen action on the RoC Tour and on the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour. He’s won the Race of Champions at Oswego. He’s won at Florida Speedweeks.
In 2002, he finished as the runner-up to Todd Szegedy for the Rookie of the
Year title on the NASCAR Modified Tour. Most of all, Beers is a nice guy who
is respected and liked by his fellow competitors. Therefore, when he was named
as the new driver of the legendary Boehler Racing Enterprises’ #3 car in the
off-season, there weren’t very many people in the pit area who weren’t happy
for him. Beers finally had the chance in his career to consistently run up
front in one of the best rides on the Tour.The future looked bright, but that
all was in jeopardy when Beers crashed hard on lap 53 of The Icebreaker at
Thompson. In the first race of the season, Beers suffered multiple injuries
and the first part of his potentially breakthrough season was now in doubt.
How long would Beers be on the sidelines after his crash? How far would his
recovery set back his goals for the year? Those questions hung in the air
in the Modified pit.Amazingly, the crash had minimal effects. Beers had to
sit out the second race of the season at Stafford Motor Speedway, but Szegedy
kept his seat warm with a third-place finish. Beers was back in the car for
the third event of the season and showed that he was more than ready to race.
He finished second at Riverhead and hasn’t looked back since. Beers won his
first career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Seekonk in July and has been
very consistent all season. Despite missing a race, he currently sits fifth
in the point standings. Since he has come back from his wreck, Beers has only
finished outside the top 10 once in 14 starts.Even Eric Beers is surprised
with the success that he has had this summer. He never dreamed when he was
recovering that a top five point finish was even possible.“No, I was just
hoping to get into the top 15 and maybe the top 10 if we were lucky,” said
Beers. Everything is Part of the bond that Beers shares with his car owners
is the fact that they were all raised around racecars.“They grew up the same
way that I did. The racecars have been out in the garage behind the house
my whole life and that’s what they’ve been around too. . We came home from
school and went outside to help on the racecar. We’d go to school the next
day and do that again. Then on Saturday, we would go to the track. We couldn’t
wait for Saturday to just go to the racetrack. They didn’t just get into this
deal and neither did I. I’ve been around this since they were born and they
have too.” coming together now. If you took out the Stafford race, we would
probably be third. I’m definitely happy. I’m just trying to keep this car
up front where it belongs.”It takes a good chassis, a powerful engine and
the right set-up to run up front on the Modified Tour. It also takes good
people on your team. Actually, it’s more important to have the right people
who can work well together. That is exactly what Beers has found with the
#3 team.“It’s just a great bunch of people,” said Beers. “ We have a great
time all of the time. Finishing up front makes us happy.” Beers suffered multiple
injuries in this Thompson wreck. It wasn't how he wanted to start the season.
Eric Beers right at home in his Modified. Beers has put 'Ole Blue out in the
lead pack countless times this season. That common upbringing has helped Beers
and the Boehler family become more than just driver and car owner.“They are
down to earth and that’s pretty much the same way that I was brought up. They
aren’t just my car owners. They are an extended family to me,
including Beth (ha ha - lottas love Cabana boy).
September
17 - Sunoco Race of Champions - Oswego Speedway
- 5th
It is not often in this pint of Eric Beers' career that a fifth place finsih
feels almost as good as a win. On this day a top five finish made for a good
night. It was a wierd day as rain wrecked havoc on the schedule and the whole
momentum of the day was shot. By the time the heat races came Eric was slated
to start 8th. Well the car in front of Eric was underpowered and rather than
him electing to drop the the rear for the start and see what transpired in
front of him Eric had to follow him back to the last position because they
were on the outside and wait for all the other cars to get by before he could
begin to race. Once Eric was in 14th spot he picked them off one at a time
to finish 5th in a qualifying position. The key here was that that he did
not get in the redraw (top three) rmeber that as the story goes on.
Eric is slated to start 26th. Not bad, its a long race right? Well on the
start two cars about 4-5 rows in front of Eric get together and jumble up
the field. Eric tried to squeak by on the outside in turn one but one of the
cars scooted up and caught the left rear. With a flat tire Eric brough it
in and changed the tire. No other apparent problems except the car was not
working as good as it normally does at Oswego (posssible brake problems and
the rear out of wack now). Eric stayed out until Lap 148 until he pitted for
his fresh rubber. From here the car was really cooking and it was even getting
a little rough in the stands as Erics Fans and family and firend were rubbing
elbows a little hard as he was making pass after pass and working his way
to thte front. Once in fifth palce he passed 4th place car Earl Paules about
5 times but each time the caution flew and he got stuck behind the fast number
8. Overall a great run and good work by the crew to give Eric the best bent
race car to run. Look at the record books folks and see how many repeat winners
of the Race of Champions there are. Mark my words Eric will win the Roc again
but the old saying is so true and it was proved again - you have to be a little
lucky to be good. Read the following article for another feel of te the 55th
annual Race of Champions.
BY JR KENNERUP ( RoC MEDIA )
Hot Shoe “ Chuck Hossfeld used a tried and true formula on how to win the
55th Sunoco Race of Champions at Oswego Speedway. The Ransomville, NY driver
was only one of two cars who pitted on lap 51 for their mandatory pit stop
in the 200 lap feature.
Hossfeld then masterfully drove the Jerry Gradl, Jr. owned Troyer chassis
back up through the talented 42 car starting field. When all of the leading
cars in front of him pitted on lap 133 for their mandatory pit stop Hossfeld
inherited the lead he would never relinquish. Chuck led the final 74 laps
to record his second career sunoco Race of Champions win.
Lee Sherwood who was the other car that pitted with Hossfeld on lap 51 drove
a steady, patient race to come home second in his best career RoC finish.
Earl Paules who started 41st and was leading on lap 133 when he pitted ran
out of laps to finish a fast closing third. JR Kent who was ride less at the
start of the day picked up a ride in the Dave Koroleski driven Modified after
hot laps and finished an impressive fourth. Defending RoC winner Eric Beers
finished fifth after being involved in three different yellow flags during
the feature.
“ To me it was perfect pit strategy “ said the happy winner who earned $ 10,000
plus an additional $4,850 in lap money for the win. “ When you look back over
the last three or four years pitting early hasn’t worked. My strategy worked
tonight I don’t know because of the rain but I watched the heat races and
there wasn’t a lot of passing going on. So I figured that track position was
going to be pivotal so we talked about it depending on our draw. We picked
12th and it ended working out for us and it was perfect because our car was
on rails all day long and that was the important thing. “
Chuck was asked if he surprised that only one other car pitted with him on
lap 51? “ I kind of was because they way the skies were. We didn’t know what
the skies were going to do and the last three or four years the early pitting
hasn’t worked. “
Chuck who redrew the worst possible number in 12 bided his time early in the
race as he hung in the top ten. Then he pitted on lap 51 and when the green
came back out Chuck knowing that he was first in line of the cars who pitted
started to work methodically to the front. On lap 122 Chuck showing a very
powerful racecar motored into fifth and made a great move coming off turn
two to get into third one lap later. Chuck passed Matt Hirschman on the outside
of turn two on lap 124 to take second and he applied immediate pressure on
leader Earl Paules. Hossfeld kept the pressure on Paules until the yellow
came out on lap 133 with Paules pitting for his mandatory pit stop.
“ I passed guys without hurting the car “ recalled Chuck on his nifty maneuvers
back to the front after pitting. “ It might have looked aggressive but on
a restart we would pass one and wait for the car in front of us to get loose
and we would go under them. The important thing while coming through the field
was not burning off my rear tires and that was the very important thing to
be honest with you. “ The well spoken driver talked about winning his second
Race of Champions Silver Bowl. “ When you look at some of the guys who have
won this thing. George ( Kent ) he’s a great driver who has won this race
a lot here. The names of the drivers who have won this race before me, wow….
we pulled it off. “ Chuck continued on about the late race cautions which
forced the race to run an additional ten laps. “ When we kept having those
cautions at the end of the race, it was getting old fast “ said Chuck with
a smile. “ I was worried about my gas but my crew chief Jim Rudolph told me
I was fine so I felt better after hearing that from him cause I trust what
he says. I was more worried about having a stroke or a heart attack during
the last few laps. The big problem was trying to keep my tires clean as you
get a lot of rubber built up on them when they are worn out like mine were.
It‘s nice having a gentleman like Lee Sherwood behind you when you‘re racing.
We have raced together for years and haven‘t even touched during those years
and I can appreciate running with a guy like that.“ “ I have to thank my whole
crew and car owner Jerry Gradl “ said Chuck. “ They did this without me as
I was at New Hampshire yesterday. They got the car here, they got it unloaded,
they got everything prepared. Jim Rudolph who is my crew chief is awesome.
What makes this so special that it was a total team effort. “ The amazing
part of Hossfeld’s win was that he raced a 1992 Troyer chassis that had to
be brought out of storage four months ago. At that time Chuck who was racing
the DeLange Racing entry split from that team and hooked up with Jerry Gradl
Racing. “ This is a 1992 car, when DeLange and I parted we pulled this car
out of the moth balls and it just won the Race of Champions “ said the proud
driver. “ We had all of ducks in a row to have a bang up season with DeLange.
The crew was all my guys anyhow but we really had that car fine tuned as we
could have really dominated with that car. To get this car out of mouth balls
and do what we had to do to it, it wasn’t easy. “ Chuck continued on what
he had to do to get the 1992 car ready for racing. “ Normally you do all of
the preparing stuff during the winter as that is when you have the time. I
won’t say this was a half assed effort in getting this car ready but we didn’t
have the proper amount of time to get the car ready. I worked one full week
straight on this car to get the bugs out of it and early on while I was running
it the parts were falling off from it. Now we got the bugs worked out it and
it feels great. “ “ Chuck pitted at the same time we did and we finish first
and second so I guess pitting early worked out for both of us “ said second
place finisher Lee Sherwood of Hillcrest, NY. “ I really expected the pits
to be full on the first caution after lap 50. I thought everybody would come
in as it has worked in the past for a lot of people. With the weather being
threatening I thought everybody would be coming into the pits. “ Sherwood
who started 20th stayed just about where he started until the yellow came
out on lap 48 and when the pits were opened ducked into the pits on lap 51.
After pitting Lee drove like the patient veteran driver he is as he took his
time wisely coming back up through the pack. When all of the leaders who needed
to pit did so on lap 133 Lee ended up in second behind new leader Chuck Hossfeld.
Lee tried to reel in the high flying Hossfeld but to no avail and settled
for second. “ We’re happy with second but we wished it was first “ said Lee
on his finish. “ We had a good car here the last three races and we felt we
should have won one of them for sure, we had a good shot in the other two
and didn’t get the job done. That’s a little bit disappointing but overall
we’re happy. “ Just like he did two weeks earlier here Earl Paules showed
how to run the outside groove at Oswego. After a sub par heat race performance
Earl used a provisional to gain entrance into the feature. Once the feature
got started Earl was the only driver who used the high side with any consistency
all night long. Paules, a former racer on dirt opened many eyes with a rim
riding exhibition to take the lead on lap 123 and on used tires to boot. Paules
led until he pitted under yellow on lap 133 for fresh tires and gasoline.
With a majority of the field pitting on lap 133 Paules and others had a hard
time getting back up through the field. This led to some rather hairy three
wide moves taking place but finally Paules worked his way back into fifth
on lap 190. With three yellows in the late stages of the race the extra laps
allowed Paules to move into fourth on lap 195 and finally into third on lap
209.
“ Yea it’s a little frustrating “ said Earl about not having enough laps to
challenge for the lead. “ But coming from 41st up to third, we really had
a good car. It’s a shame we couldn’t get up there to race Hossfeld cause I
think I had something for him. I needed more time, just ran out of time. “
Earl who ran the same car he won with back here on September 2nd spoke about
this car. “ Same car but different motor as Morgantini had a better motor
for me so I changed it and it was the right decision for sure. “ Earl concluded
by saying, “ It was a good night for us as we finished third, a little disappointed
with third but there were a lot of people who went home without racing in
a feature. But it would have been nice to win this thing. “
1 Chuck Hossfeld
2 Lee Sherwood
3 Earl Paulus
4 J.R. Kent
5 Eric Beers
6 Jan Leaty
7 Todd Burley
8 Tony Hanbury
9 George Kent
10 Daren Scherer
11 Rusty Smith
12 Bobby Holmes
13 Zane Zeiner
14 MAtt Hershman
15 John Mackovic
16 Billy Putney
17 Dave Wollabler
18 Tommy Cloce
19 TJ Potrzbowski
20 Ben Renolds
21 Dean DeMarree
22 Pete Brittian
23 Chaz Surman
24 John DeMinck
25 Buck Catalano
26 Joe Gosek
27 Todd Smith
28 LW Miller
29 Terry Cheetham
30 Don Hartzel
31 Tim Mangus
32 Tyler Haydt
33 Sege Fidanza
34 Jeff Dobler
35 Mike Leaty
36 Wes Swartout
37 Matt Parsons
38 Bill Mislin
39 Rick Zacharias
40 JR Swansborough
41 Patsy Catalano
42 Bill Hebing
September
16- New Hamphire Speedway - Start 3rd-
Finish 9th
As has been the case in the past few year during the September event at new
Hamshire, qualifying got rained out. Die to owners points Eric started 3rd.
The car OK , but it seemed during the entire race Eric was in the wrong lane
at teh wrong time on restarts. Also the last late caution screwed everything
up. Eric had a fast car but he took what he cold get and brought the car home
in one piece. Read further a couple stories from spped 51 to get another feel
of the race. I think you will find it very interesting.
OUTSIDE LANE NOT GOOD FOR BEERS’ RESTART
Eric
Beers took home ninth at New Hampshire. It wasn’t a bad finish, but it wasn’t
what he was capable of either.“We had a lot better car than that,” said Beers.
“ We pitted there and had a good stop. We came out right behind Teddy and
almost beat him out of the pits. He was on the outside for the restart and
I was on the inside and within one lap, he was eighth cars ahead of me. I
would just get caught in the wrong lanes on the restarts and that was a killer.
Three restarts in a row, we lost spots and then we would have to get them
back. We had a good racecar. We cleared the #66,[John Blewett, III], the #4
[Jerry Marquis] and the #5 [Charlie Pasteryak] there and then just drove away
from them.”Those slick moves might have worn out the tires on Beers’ #3 car
though. Beers had a great battle with the #77 of Doug Coby and the #18 of
Donny Lia at the end, but his wished that his rubber wasn’t used up at that
point.“Once we caught the #77[and the #18, [it was a little different]. I
could get under the #18 going in, but it must have killed the right rear tire
catching those guys. I was sideways and hanging on for dear life when I was
on the bottom. It was alright when I was on the top, but when I was on the
bottom, I had to turn the wheels right just to get through the turns. It was
kind of scary for a little while.
THE COBY - LIA WAR RAGES ON
After
their run-in at Thompson, all eyes were on Donny Lia and Doug Coby as they
battled for position late in the Sylvania 100 at New Hampshire. The two young
drivers raced hard for the seventh spot, with Coby eventually getting the
position. There was a little bit of blocking, a little bit of swerving and
a tiny bit of bumping, but all-in-all, the battle was trouble-free. That didn’t
mean that the two drivers liked racing each other though.
“It’s Loudon and you can’t screw with people here,”
said Coby. “We bump drafted because we had to. We were trying to catch the
#48 [Sixth-place finishing Tony Hirschman] and at one point we thought that
we could catch him, but then we realized that wasn’t going to happen so it
became a race for seventh.”The two drivers were well aware of who they were
racing against though, and what the consequences of that might beYou can’t
look at him as just another driver after what happened,” said Lia. “If that
had happened to me, I’d be looking to wreck the other guy every week. I’ve
got to look at him with some apprehension now. I’m going to race him clean
for awhile, but if he continues to race me how he did at Thompson and today,
he’s eventually going to get junked. I was wrong and I apologized (for what
happened at Thompson). If that’s not good enough for him to race me clean,
I’m eventually going to turn around and really junk him.” The two drivers
did not work out their differences in person during the weekend either.“I
haven’t talked to him [in person],” said Lia. “I was on the radio and I did
a press release because I really felt bad for what happened."And when
Coby finished one position ahead of Lia, it was a victory of sorts for him.“I
was going to finish in front of that car,” said Coby. “That is something that
I had decided. I was trying to help Eric [Beers] get by him too. I’m not going
to draft with somebody who wrecks me under caution. He probably could have
gotten a few better runs on me or maybe could have been in front of Eric longer,
but I kept pulling down in front of him and let Eric by too because that’s
the way it goes now. I ended up with the spot and I also ended up with the
spot last week too, so that’s two weeks in a row [of beating Lia].”
1. (7) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet, 100, 92.267 mph, $13,950
2. (17) Mike Stefanik, Coventry R.I., Chevrolet, 100, $10,400
3. (23) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 100, $8,400
4. (34) Mike Ewanitsko, West Hempstead N.Y., Dodge, 100, $6,200
5. (27) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $4,500
6. (5) Tony Hirschman, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $4,700
7. (1) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Pontiac, 100, $3,600
8. (19) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 100, $3,500
9. (10) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $3,300
10. (3) John Blewett, III, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 100, $3,100
11. (12) Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $2,900
12. (18) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 100, $3,000
13. (15) Tommy Cloce, Canton N.Y., Chevrolet, 100, $2,400
14. (22) Nevin George, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $2,700
15. (38) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale N.J., Dodge, 100, $2,600
16. (35) Anthony Sesley, Matawan N.J., Chevrolet, 100, $2,100
17. (39) Jeff Malave, Manchester Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $2,000
18. (9) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $2,375
19. (30) Jimmy Storace, Kingston N.H., Chevrolet, 99, $2,350
20. (11) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 99, $2,325
21. (25) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 99, $2,300
22. (16) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 97, $2,275
23. (31) Wade Cole, Riverton Conn., Chevrolet, 95, $2,250
24. (32) Jake Marosz, Middletown Conn., Chevrolet, 91, Handling, $1,825
25. (21) Jimmy Blewett, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 73, Black Flag, $1,800
26. (8) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 73, Black Flag, $2,275
27. (6) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 68, Transmission, $2,225
28. (26) Todd Bodine, Chemung N.Y., Chevrolet, 64, Accident, $1,700
29. (28) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 62, Handling, $2,078
30. (20) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 58, Electrical, $2,150
31. (14) Ken Bouchard, Fitchburg Mass., Chevrolet, 46, Rear End, $1,645
32. (13) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 21, Accident, $2,000
33. (29) Kevin Konopka, Meriden Conn., Dodge, 17, Electrical, $2,000
34. (37) Ryan Seaman, Toms River N.J., Chevrolet, 10, Suspension, $1,600
35. (36) Rob Summers, Manchester Conn., Ford, 10, Handling, $1,600
36. (24) Mike Molleur, Shelton Conn., Chevrolet, 9, Engine, $1,600
37. (40) Eddie MacDonald, Rowley Mass., Chevrolet, 6, Ignition, $1,600
38. (2) Reggie Ruggiero, Rocky Hill Conn., Chevrolet, 5, Accident, $1,600
39. (33) Don Wagner, Dover N.J., Chevrolet, 1, Suspension, $1,600
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 8 mins, 48 secs
Average Speed: 92.267 mph
Margin of Victory: 0.207 Seconds Caution Flags: Laps 1-4; 44-48; 49-53; 55-57;
59-62; 65-68. 6 for 25 laps. Lap Leaders: Ted Christopher 1-13, Doug Coby
14, Ted Christopher 15-17, Mike Stefanik 18-25, Ted Christopher 26-30, Mike
Stefanik 31, Doug Coby 32-41, Mike Stefanik 42-45, Mike Ewanitsko 46-57, Eddie
Flemke 58-64, Ted Christopher 65-85, Mike Stefanik 86, Ted Christopher 87-100.
September
11 -Thompson Speedway - 10th
Lets start out by saying how proud the team and fans
are of Eric to finish 0th at THompson. Time trials were amazing when you looked
at the sheet. Other than the top two who were in the 18.9's the rest of the
field was seperated by 100ths of a second. Eric timed 15th. Eric stayed out
of Trouble and even lead from laps 200 to 278. The team took a chance that
a late caution would come out and put Eric back in contention to get the win
but it did not work out that way. Rad the story from 51 Speed and it will
give you the feel of the race for Eric.
Eric Beers led most of the final 100 laps, but with
30 to go his tires gave up their grip and it was like flipping a switch. He
dropped out of the lead and back through the field when that happened.
The fact that Beers ran for so long on that set of tires was not something
that he planned. His team has hoped for a caution to put on fresh rubber to
get him through the late stages of the race, but when the race had a long
green run, his plan instantly soured. “We
gambled there trying to pit late,” said Beers. “The caution didn’t come out
and I was thinking that we might be in pretty good shape. We lost the lead
with about 20 something to go and if it had been the Thompson 270, we’d have
been all set. The tires could only go 90 or 100 laps and we went 148.” Beers
found out just how good new tires were when he
pitted with only 11 laps to go – and he passed enough cars before the end
of the race to end up finishing 10th. We restarted 15th or 16th and within
a few laps, we were up to 10th,” said Beers.
Sunoco 300
NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR
Thompson International Speedway September 11, 2005
1. (10) Ted Christopher, Plainville
Conn., Chevrolet, 301, 88.553 mph, $13,300
2. (8) Tony Hirschman, Northampton PA., Chevrolet, 301, $9,800
3. (19) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 301, $6,230
4. (4) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 301, $5,040
5. (3) Mike Stefanik, Coventry R.I., Chevrolet, 301, $4,500
6. (9) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 301, $800
7. (13) Anthony Ferrante, Jr, Franklin Square, Chevrolet, 301, $2,700
8. (18) Bob Polverari, W. Springfield Mass., Pontiac, 301, $2,500
9. (27) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Ford, 301, $3,000
10. (15) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 301, $2,800
11. (29) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 301, $2,600
12. (34) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 301, $3,100
13. (12) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 301, $2,500
14. (23) Ken Barry, Griswold Conn., Chevrolet, 301, $2,000
15. (28) Ken Bouchard, Fitchburg Mass., Chevrolet, 300, $1,550
16. (20) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 300, $2,200
17. (1) Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Pontiac, 300, $1,450
18. (5) John Blewett, III, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 298, $1,400
19. (21) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Pontiac, 295, Accident, $2,050
20. (6) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 295, $2,100
21. (26) Kevin Konopka, Meriden Conn., Dodge, 289, $1,650
22. (7) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 286, Ignition, $2,025
23. (2) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale N.J., Dodge, 284, $1,900
24. (24) Mike Molleur, Shelton Conn., Chevrolet, 282, $1,150
25. (35) Jake Marosz, Middletown Conn., Chevrolet, 282, $1,150
26. (11) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 254, Ignition, $1,850
27. (14) Tommy Cravenho, Jr, Raynham Mass., Chevrolet, 214, Accident, $1,450
28. (33) Wade Cole, Riverton Conn., Chevrolet, 180, Overheating, $1,550
29. (22) Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Chevrolet, 169, Suspension, $1,150
30. (16) Thomas Bolles, Ellington Conn, Chevrolet, 147, Accident, $1,150
31. (25) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 143, Ignition, $1,950
32. (32) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point N.Y., Pontiac, 128, Overheating, $1,850
33. (17) Jimmy Blewett, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 71, Engine, $1,150
34. (31) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 53, Overheating, $1,550
35. (36) Roy Seidell, Jr, Easthampton Mass., Chevrolet, 48, Rear End, $1,150
36. (30) Jimmy Storace, Kingston N.H., Chevrolet, 30, Engine, $1,550
37. (37) Brian Crammer, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 20, Suspension, $1,150
Time of Race: 2 hrs., 7 mins,
28 secs Average Speed: 88.553 mph Margin of Victory: .296 Seconds
BUD POLE AWARD: Tony Hirschman, 48 Kamco Supply Corporation Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Eddie Flemke, 10 Red Line Oil/Ron
Bouchard Auto Chevrolet
POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Tyler Haydt *, 28 Ramar-Hall Chevrolet
TOMMY BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Tony Hirschman, 48 Kamco Supply Corporation
Chevrolet Caution
Flags: Laps 85-91; 107-112; 145-150; 198-204; 216-220; 288-293; 295-299. 7
for 42 laps. Lap Leaders: Steve Whitt 1-3, Jerry Marquis 4-90, Donny Lia 91-94,
Tony Hirschman 95-111, Donny Lia 112-116, Tony Hirschman 117-149, Zach Sylvester
150, Tony Hirschman 151-200, Eric Beers 201-273, Ted Christopher 274-301.
Total Laps Led: Tony Hirschman 100, Jerry Marquis 87, Eric Beers 73, Ted Christopher
28, Donny Lia 9, Steve Whitt 3, Zach Sylvester 1. 9 changes involving 7 drivers
September
3 -Martinsville Speedway - 250
-
Time 4th - Start 6th - Finish 4
The weekend was pretty good for the BRE Team. The team
was concerned with a smoking motor during the week in the shop when they had
it running. Michael was so concerned that he had a motor shipped to Martinsville
and the team was prepared to change it if necessary. However after practice
everything seemed to be OK. Also during practice Eric was one of the top three
fastest cars. During time trial Eric put in a great first lap and was trying
to go for it all when he drove the third turn tooooo hard and got sideways
and lost a little time. So even with one good lap Eric timed 2nd fast. Eric
redrew 6th and within a few laps was up to 4th . Ed Flemke got under Eric
on a restart and was running there and Eric was
working him over to get around him. During that time Eric radioed in that
there was something wrong with Ed's left rear wheel, it was shaking. They
did not bring the car in and Eric got around him before the wheel broke causing
accidents behind him. The race within the race was on the restarts. It is
so hard to pass at Martinsville that you have to take advantage of the starts
to hold your spot and try to pick up some. Eric worked hard and was running
third for a long time as they waited for the the half way brake. On lap 150
ish Eric brought the cat in for gas and tires and the team did an awesome
job to get Eric out where he came in. From there it was the Teddy C show as
he had a fast car and drove it to the Grandfather clock. to quote Ruby: "That
kid drove a great race and drove the car to the best ability of that car.
he left nothing out there and its coming home in one piece and well get ready
for the 300."
1. (1) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet, 250, 55.773 mph, $9,750
2. (21) Mike Stefanik, Coventry R.I., Chevrolet, 250, $4,200
3. (6) John Blewett, III, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 250, $3,900
4. (4) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 250, $3,400
5. (3) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Pontiac, 250, $3,100
6. (15) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 250, $2,600
7. (7) Tony Hirschman, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 250, $3,250
8. (10) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 250, $2,600
9. (18) Steve Whitt, Forked River N.J., Dodge, 250, $2,450
10. (13) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield Conn., Chevrolet, 250, $1,700
11. (14) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 250, $2,450
12. (12) Brian Loftin, Lexington N.C., Chevrolet, 250, $2,300
13. (31) Jay Foley, Stuart Va., Chevrolet, 250, $1,575
14. (17) Junior Miller, Pine Hall N.C., Dodge, 250, $1,550
15. (11) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 250, $2,025
16. (30) Anthony Sesley, Matawan N.J., Chevrolet, 250, $1,500
17. (28) Tim Brown, Cana Va., Chevrolet, 250, $1,475
18. (2) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 249, $3,700
19. (19) Jay Hedgecock, High Point N.C., Dodge, 249, $1,825
20. (42) Randy Butner, Pfafftown N.C., Chevrolet, 248, $1,900
21. (38) Richard Coy, Ringwood N.J., Chevrolet, 245, $1,375
22. (24) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 245, $2,050
23. (36) Alex Hoag, Hornell N.Y., Chevrolet, 244, $1,325
24. (9) Zach Sylvester, Lebanaon Conn., Chevrolet, 243, $2,100
25. (40) Gene Pack, N. Myrtle Beach S.C., Chevrolet, 233, $1,275
26. (41) Daren Scherer, Binghamton N.Y., Chevrolet, 228, Black Flag, $1,225
27. (23) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point N.Y., 221, Overheating, $1,200
28. (20) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 221, $1,900
29. (8) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 220, $2,000
30. (25) Kevin Konopka, Meriden Conn., Dodge, 211, Overheating, $1,900
31. (34) Bobby Hutchens, Lexington N.C., Chevrolet, 211, Handling, $1,200
32. (5) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 197, $1,900
33. (35) Frank Fleming, Mt Airy N.C., Pontiac, 190, $1,200
34. (26) Burt Myers, Walnut Grove N.C., Chevrolet, 183, $1,500
35. (22) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 158, Rear End, $1,500
36. (29) Reggie Ruggiero, Rocky Hill Conn., Chevrolet, 157, Accident, $1,200
37. (16) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 157, Accident, $1,900
38. (37) Danny Knoll, Buffalo N.Y., Chevrolet, 129, Engine, $1,200
39. (33) Brian Pack, Walkertown N.C., Chevrolet, 120, Engine, $1,200
40. (43) Wade Cole, Riverton Conn., Chevrolet, 97, Oil Line, $1,600
41. (27) Michael Clifton, Walkertown N.C., Chevrolet, 39, Accident, $1,200
42. (39) Jamie Tomaino, Jr., Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 32, Overheating, $1,200
43. (32) Brian Crammer, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 32, Accident, $1,200
Failed to Qualify:
(3) Jimmy Storace (#47), Jake Marosz (#9), Kevin Powell (#04).
Time of Race: 2 hrs., 21 mins, 28 secs Average Speed: 55.773 mph Margin of
Victory:
BUD POLE AWARD: Chuck Hossfeld, 50 Creative Racing Products Ford
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER: John Blewett, III, 66 Blewett Motorsports/John
Blewett, Inc. Chevrolet POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Randy Butner,
5 Ram Fabrication/Angel Clean Chevrolet TOMMY BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Ted
Christopher, 13 AWD,DWD,TSI,JAT Chevrolet
Caution Flags: Laps 2-7; 16-19; 20-24; 55-59; 60-64; 68-74; 96-102; 126-131;
138-146; 147-152; 158-161; 170-175; 203-208; 222-226. 14 for 81 laps. Lap
Leaders: Ted Christopher 1-18, Chuck Hossfeld 19, Ted Christopher 20-141,
Chuck Hossfeld 142-145, Mike Stefanik 146, Chuck Hossfeld 147-156, Mike Stefanik
157-167, Jay Hedgecock 168, Mike Stefanik 169-226, Ted Christopher 227-250.
Total Laps Led: Ted Christopher 164, Mike Stefanik 70, Chuck Hossfeld 15,
Jay Hedgecock 1
9 changes involving 4 drivers.
August
28 - LAST RACE EVER - Tioga Speedway - RoC 200
-17th
Eric and the team set up the car perfect and Eric went out in time trials
and set a new track record for time. However it was discovered that the car
was 22 pounds light at the scale so that time was diallowed. Eric started
last in his heat race and came out on top and started the race in 14th. Eric
wored his way up to 3rd and could have passed the top two guys but said -
why bother pushing it right now because we all have to pit yet. On lap 130
ish Eric and the top two came in and pitted. On tthe pit stop one of the stubs
on the left rear pushed in so when they were done with the stop and Eric pulled
away it broke the radius aram and pulled the brake caliper off. Ericwho was
a few tenths faster than the rest of the field even on old tires was done
for the night.
FEATURE (started)
1. 6 Jan Leaty (3rd)
2. 34 Rusty Smith (13th)
3. 71 Tony Hanbury (2nd)
4. 76 Zane Zeiner (8th)
5. 72 T.j. Potrzebowski (4th)
6. 69 Tommy Cloce (9th)
7. 52 Matt Hirschman (5th)
8. 95 Lee Sherwood (1st)
9. 84 Larry Jackson (20th)
10. 88 Billy Putney (10th)
11. 09 Bobby Osgood (17th)
12. 20 Chuck Hossfeld (11th)
13. 4 Josh Nichols (28th)
14. 17r Ben Reynolds (16th)
15. 17 Kan Canestrari (25th)
16. 5 Todd Smith (29th)
17. 95m John Markovic (27th)
18. 11 Terry Cheetham (26th)
19. 8 Earl Paules (31st)
20. 33 Chez Chernam (18th)
21. 53 Brian Defebo (23rd)
22. 26 George Kent (7th)
23. 9 Eric Beers (14th)
24. 25s Wes Swartout (24th)
25. 27 Bill Chandler (6th)
26. 3 Tommy Kinsella (32nd)
27. 99 Pete Brittian (12th)
28. 1 Rick Zacharias (19th)
29. 18 Mike Marollo (22nd)
30. 2 Dan Kurzejewski (15th)
31. 0 Jr. Swansbrough (21st)
32. 75 Joe Morello (30th)
August 27 - Waterford Speedbowl - Whelen 150
- Time 2 Redraw 8 - Finish 7th
by
Polly Reid
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Big Y 150 at Waterford Speedbowl did what short track racing is famous for- tight, close racing, some lead swapping and of course, a wreck or two.
And when the Big Y 150 was all said and done, people we have a great points battle going on.
Sorting out the events of the evening would pretty much take up pages of details, so here’s the short of it. Tony Hirschman, first in points, Chuck Hossfeld third in points, both had tough nights finishing 21st and 20th respectively, which is shy of a miracle considering the night they had.Meanwhile, Ted Christopher second in points and Jerry Marquis fourth in points, were able to capitalize on the misfortune of the other two and gain big time in the numbers. The bottom line is, the points alignment among the top four remains the same, but just got a whole lot closer. With six events remaining on the schedule, only 86 points separate Hirschman in first to Marquis in fourth.But the night belonged to the man who crossed the stripe for the checkers- Jerry Marquis of Broad Brook, CT in the Mystic Missile, Bob Garbarino owned Dodge held off a hard charging Doug Coby and Donny Lia to take down his second win of the season.“It feels good to pass these guys under race conditions that we got and have such a good car like we did tonight,” said Marquis. “The car, the team has come around full circle knowing what I need for it, things have worked out real, real well. I real happy with the race team and real, real happy with the win here tonight.”“It was a very awesome race, Jerry hardly said two words the whole race, the car was so good,” said winning crew chief Greg Schroder. “Once we got some green flag runs, the tires came in again and we could do whatever we needed to do on the track, the car was that good. There is something real good about Waterford for our team and our car. I don’t know if it’s the history of the car being here, but the car always performs extremely well here. It’s a good gauge for us for other tracks. We’ve got an excellent short track season going here which is bolstering us to move forward. We’ve got a new mix with our team this year and we’ve worked very hard to gel as a team, I think it’s showing. As we learn to work with Jerry and Jerry with us and the car, it’s really coming together, at the right time.”While of course happy with the win, car owner Bob Garbarino was even more he could share the win with a special person. “There was a woman here tonight, Dick Watson’s wife, Linda” said Garbarino. “Dick drove for me for almost ten years, this is going to be the final page in her scrapbook for Dick- so I got her out in victory lane (for a picture with the winning team) and I was so happy to be able to do that, it was really a special, special win. I kept thinking as the race was coming down, I really wanted this to happen. That made it special.”
Tony Hirschman took down his sixth Bud Pole of the season but started seventh on the grid after the top eight drew for position.Justin Gaydosh brought the 29 car field to green with Matt Hirschman on the outside followed by John Blewett III, Marquis, Zach Sylvester, Lia, Hirschman, Eric Beers, Chuck Hossfeld and Doug Coby the top ten. Gaydosh appeared to not come up to speed and by turn one and two Matt Hirschman, Marquis, Lia and Blewett blew by Gaydosh already dropping to fifth by the first yellow on the first lap.
Hometown track favorite Dennis Gada in the Bear Motorsports Dodge was stalled in turns three and four slowing the field for the first of eight cautions on the night.As Matt Hirschman led the first ten circuits before Blewett took over the front spot on lap eleven.However, Blewett’s run up front was short lived when the black flag was unfurled- Blewett was forced to resign the lead seven circuits later, the official reason for a fuel leak.Marquis inherited the lead and as Marquis worked to put some distance between himself and Matt Hirschman, the field settled quickly into single file all around.Running fifth and sixth, contact between Coby and Christopher sent the Mystique Motorsports Chevrolet through the front stretch kicking up a dust storm, no caution, the 13 was able to collect up and continue on. Just a few laps later however, a yellow was needed for Kevin Goodale who spun and stalled in turns three and four on lap 31.Marquis, Matt Hirschman, Beers, Gaydosh and Lia led the way to the green on lap 37. Contact sent Chuck Hossfeld for a spin in turns one and two, and while no caution was needed and Hossfeld continued, a yellow was needed one circuit later when two cars went around.
Christopher, running 24th after his spin, pitted along with his brother Mike and Gaydosh. Up front, it was still Marquis leading the parade with Beers, Lia, Coby and Matt Hirschman the top five.The next yellow came on lap 48 when contact again sent Hossfeld around in turn two.
While Marquis, Lia, Coby, Matt and Tony Hirschman led the double file restart, on lap 55 a red flag was brought out for several cars who were collected up on the backstretch including Gaydosh, Steve Whitt, Mike Christopher, Wade Cole, Renee Dupuis, Kevin Goodale and Mike Molleur. The big one also found Hossfeld in an interesting spot. As Hossfeld was checking up for the clogged backstretch, a hit from behind pushed Hossfeld forward enough to catch a wheel on Steve Whitt, Hossfeld going airborne landing on top of Whitt’s Greenfield Dodge. Gaydosh and Hossfeld were towed to the pits, Whitt drove away and Mike Christopher pitted on the next yellow a few laps later that became the turning point of the race for Hirschman.Marquis, Lia, Coby, Tony Hirschman and Rick Fuller brought the remaining 22 cars to green on lap 61 when another caution was needed after the restart when up front, several cars went around in turn two. Getting caught up in the chain reaction was both Tony and Matt Hirschman, Rick Fuller, Zach Sylvester and Robbie Summers.It turned into lengthy repairs for Tony Hirschman whose Kamco Supply Chevrolet team had to change a bent rear end.Up front, Marquis still leading, had his mirror full of one Doug Coby who put the pressure on and working Marquis low, made a bid for the pass taking over the lead on lap 67.“When we stopped on the backstretch, the tires were real cold, there was a lot of sand on the race track and we just couldn’t get any grip on the car,: explained Marquis and Coby’s pass for the lead. “It took like 10, 15 laps for the car to come around, than I was able to chase Doug back down and be able to get by him.”
Just past the half way flags, it was Coby , Marquis and Lia setting the pace with Flemke and Tyler Haydt the top five. But Marquis, bidding his time, picked the right moment to make the move on Coby and by the lap 84, did. Using a high, low maneuver Marquis was able take back the lead. “I was just staying with him,” said Marquis, “I noticed Doug was better coming off of two and I was better coming off of four. I tried a couple of runs off of two, and basically I set him up and got a good, good bite coming off of four and drove underneath him and passed him for the lead.”A green run was in order with Marquis, Coby and Lia pulling nearly ½ a straight from the rest of the field easily working any lap traffic they encountered.A yellow on lap 106 for Greg Shivers spun in turn two opened up the gates bringing Hossfeld and Fuller back in from the pits, both several laps down.Again the top three, Marquis, Coby and Lia pulled away from the field but was closed up once more after a yellow on lap 139 was needed for Mike Christopher who had come to a stop high in turn four with a very flat right front.Under this caution, Tony Hirschman and Zach Sylvester where able to rejoin the field for the closing circuits.Making the final dash to the checkers, Marquis, Coby and Lia under a blanket crossed for the podium spots with Flemke in the Teto owned, Red Line, Ron Bouchard Auto sponsored Chevrolet fourth and Rookie of the Year Contender Tyler Haydt fifth.Ted Christopher who was spun through the infield earlier recovered to finish sixth while point leader Tony Hirschman ended his night 21st.Following the Big Y 150, Hirschman was discussing the incident with his team and son Matt, still trying to figure out what happened in turn two. “One car bobbled and whatever happened, slammed into the side of me, I don’t know I couldn’t see, I’m trying to find out from somebody else,” Hirschman adding after much back and forth, “Well, we’ve got next week.”“I’m happy, you know it’s tough when you’re leading and you get passed,“ said Coby whose sponsor, Mansfield Paper was on hand for the event. “But I put it in perspective, the reason I got into the lead was because of Jerry’s mistake, not because our car was better at that point in time. It was nice to lead and I know I was holding him up but I was like maybe he’ll use his tires up trying to pass me because I was trying to protect the bottom, but we had too long a run there and he just got back by me. I stayed with him, but on that last caution, I took my one shot on the restart, but I just spun the right rear tire all the way down the back stretch. I think I over heated it and had to hang on the last four or five laps, yeah I was close but I was more maintaining by then. I want to win, there’s a lot of good cars out there, we ran with Jerry, we ran with the 18, it was a good night, that’s all you can really say. The car’s in one piece and anytime you can leave Waterford Speedbowl in one piece that’s a blessing.”“It’s a good finish for us,” said Lia. “This car has always worked good for me. The car we’ve been running, the one we’ve been struggling with, just does not work. Until we go test and figure it out, I’m not going to run that thing again. It’s a tough race, there’s no top groove here, it’s just a matter of hanging in there, get spots when you can, get a good line on the restarts, on the bottom.”
In the Tour‘s last visit to Waterford, Lia dominated all 150 circuits. “I would have liked to have won it,” continued Lia. “We weren’t that far off of what we had last time we were here. What made us so good the last time we were here, we started out front and we got great restarts, I was able to run my own pace the whole race long, I never, ever once had to abuse the car so at the end of the race, we looked ten times better than the rest of the field but we were probably only a tick better, but it magnified because I was able to save the race car. We slipped back here, I pretty much had to drive it hard and fill any hole I could, for what we had, third is a great run for us. And I’m not real focused on it, but I think we gained some ground on points, that’s good.” Lia stands fifth in points only 137 out of first, indeed part of the mix for the championship chase.“That was the name of the game tonight,” said Haydt about surviving the Big Y 150 and taking home a career best fifth for the Rookie of the Year Contender. “There was a lot of big wrecks in front of us and we just happened to carve our way through them, we were all right, picked up some good track position and we were able to hold on. We’ve struggled the last couple of weeks, but everything fell together tonight, we really needed something like this. It’s good for the whole team, for Don (King, car owner) and Jay (Barker, crew chief), I’m really happy.” Haydt’s top five finish comes on the heels of a dismal finish at Thompson just over one week ago where contact from Ted Christopher ended both of their nights early. My notes are far from scoring documents or anything, but I had Haydt and Christopher running fifth and sixth, nose to tail the final 36 circuits, asking him about that. “I was disappointed last week and I was worried with him behind me this week, but he ran me clean,” said Haydt. “I kind of expected it because I think everyone is kind of watching him.” With that now history, Haydt continued, “We’re looking forward to Martinsville, we’ve got the momentum going, it’s good to go there on a high, maybe we can do something good there.“So much happens at a short track so quickly,” said Marquis “but I was brought up on those tracks. That’s where I cut my teeth. It taught me to be patient and get your car to really turn for you and be able to step on the throttle when you need it. It’s just schooling for the last 33 years.”Pack you’re bags, we’re going to the much anticipated Martinsville event. I’ll leave you with a couple of final words from Bob Garbarino, “Martinsville, nobody’s been there lately, it’s open season on that win there.”
1. (4) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook
Conn., Dodge, 150, 58.408 mph, $7,250
2. (10) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Pontiac, 150, $3,500
3. (6) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $2,600
4. (11) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $2,700
5. (14) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $2,400
6. (12) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $2,300
7. (8) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $2,200
8. (26) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Ford, 150, $2,500
9. (20) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,900
10. (19) Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,100
11. (25) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $1,400
12. (28) Kevin Konopka, Meriden Conn., Dodge, 150, $1,370
13. (30) Mike Molleur, Shelton Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $960
14. (21) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale N.J., Dodge, 150, $1,650
15. (17) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 149, $1,640
16. (13) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 147, $1,730
17. (27) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 107, $1,610
18. (15) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point N.Y., Pontiac, 105, $1,580
19. (18) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 103, $1,670
20. (9) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 97, $1,660
21. (7) Tony Hirschman, Northampton PA., Chevrolet, 74, $2,700
22. (2) Matt Hirschman, Northampton Pa., Dodge, 71, Handling, $1,240
23. (5) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 65, Handling, $1,630
24. (23) Wade Cole, Riverton Conn., Chevrolet, 64, Handling, $1,210
25. (16) Rob Summers, Manchester Conn., Chevrolet, 62, Accident, $1,100
26. (1) Justin Gaydosh, Newtown Conn., Chevrolet, 54, Accident, $800
27. (22) Jimmy Storace, Kingston N.H., Chevrolet, 24, Rear End, $1,200
28. (3) John Blewett, III, Howell N.J., Dodge, 19, Fuel Leak, $1,500
29. (24) Dennis Gada, Salem Conn., Dodge, 1, Ignition, $800
30. (29) Jake Marosz, Middletown Conn., Chevrolet, 0, Engine, $1,200
• Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year
Contender Time of Race: 0 hrs., 57 mins, 47 secs Average Speed: 58.408 mph
Margin of Victory: .31 SecondsBUD
POLE AWARD: Tony Hirschman, 48 Kamco Supply Corporation Chevrolet FEATHERLITE
MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Eddie Flemke, 10 Red Line Oil/Ron Bouchard Auto
Chevrolet POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Jamie Tomaino, 99 Perth Amboy Spring
Ford
TOMMY BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Jerry Marquis, 4 Reynolds Auto Wrecking DodgeCaution
Flags: Laps 1-5; 32-36; 39-43; 48-51; 56-60; 61-65; 107-113; 139-143. 8 for
41 laps. Lap Leaders: Matt Hirschman 1-10, John Blewett, III 11-20, Jerry
Marquis 21-66, Doug Coby 67-83, Jerry Marquis 84-150. Total Laps Led: Jerry
Marquis 113, Doug Coby 17, Matt Hirschman 10, John Blewett, III 10. 4 changes
involving 4 drivers.
August
21 - Mountain Speedway - Big Dog 100
- win
Eric Beers Snaps at Mountain ‘Big Dog' Modified Field
August 21, 2005
by Gene Ostrowski
ST. JOHNS, PA -- Northampton, PA's Eric Beers stormed up through the lead
pack in the star studded modified field on multiple occasions enroot to his
$3000 victory in the ‘Big Dog 100' Sunday at Mountain Speedway. Earlier
in the afternoon, Donny Hartzell (who married his longtime girlfriend, Lindsey
the previous day), Pete Brittian and Eric Beers picked up heat wins. Later
in the day, Leny Fischer picked up the consi victory. On the redraw for starting
positions, Earl Paules drew the number one starting spot for the 100-lap feature
event. When the green
flag waved Earl Paules leapt out front in his All Trade Construction #8 over
John Markovic, Donny Hartzell and Eddie Brunnhoelzl III. Though 100 laps were
on the card for the show, drivers were determined to make their way into the
lead pack early on. While
hanging onto second, it seemed that Markovic slowed for a moment on the backstretch,
just before entering turn three. As the drivers in toe got on the binders,
the field bunched up and collided. This first caution period on lap six ended
up taking contenders out of the race early. A total of nine machines were
involved including Markovic, Hartzell, Brunnhoelzl, Eric Beers, Pete Brittian,
Ryan Russo, Brian Defebo, Steven Reed, Larry Fisher and Andy Szapacs. Many
drivers headed pit side for repairs. Fisher's machine headed back to the pits
on a roll back. Markovic and Szapacs were also done for the day. Paules
wasted no time jumping back out front on the restart, but had his hands full
when Zane Zeiner applied pressure for the top spot after starting sixth. Zeiner
motored by Paules and into the lead on lap fifteen. The
stalled machine of Leny Fischer brought out a lap twenty-three yellow. At
the same moment, Zeiner experienced problems with his ride and was assisted
into the pits. Zeiner's day was done, as he did not return to the speedway.With
the lead back in hand, Paules jumped out front on the restart, but had to
worry about the Sophie's Tiki Lounge #53 of Brian Defebo, who had worked his
way into second after starting thirteenth. Only one lap ticked off since the
restart and Defebo found himself atop the pack over the likes of Rusty Smith,
Tyler Haydt, Eddie Brunnhoelzl and Eric Beers. Each driver in the top five
was ready, willing and able to take advantage of another's misfortune, as
the battle raged from second on back. The
field was slowed again on lap twenty-nine when Ernie Dengler spun, making
very hard head-on contact with the front stretch wall. Although uninjured,
Dengler's day was finished. An extended caution was necessary for corrective
repairs to the front stretch retaining fence. Defebo
continued out front over several restarts and looked like he has the machine
to beat, but Brunnhoelzl, driving the Blue Point Auto Body #8x was closing
in on the leader in a hurry. Another
extended caution flew on lap sixty-seven for a Billy Swartz spin in turn two.
Swartz was shaken after the spin. He was alert and escorted to the pits by
ambulance. During the caution period, Beers hit the pits for fresh tires and
rejoined the tail of the field. Defebo
continued out front when the green flew, but Brunnhoelzl was a man on a mission.
He, along with Paules, Steven Reed and others mounted a terrific charge on
Defebo, but a cut tire struck Brunnhoelzl in turn three on lap eighty-three.The
top spot was still held by Defebo, whose car wasn't working as well as the
beginning of the event. Beers seemed to appear out of nowhere, and made the
outside pass for the lead stick on lap eighty-six.Over
the remaining laps Defebo tried to hold off Beers, ‘Pistol Pete' Brittain
and Paules, but had to settle for a fourth place finish.When
the Checkers flew, it was the Mountain ‘Big Dog', Eric Beers, pioloting his
#9 Horwith Freightliner/Koehler Brothers Collision modified to the win over
Pete Brittain, Brian Defebo and Tyler Haydt (who was the previous night's
winner in the RoC race at Mahoning Valley Speedway). “I
just have to thank the guys on our team. We started the race on some older
left side tires and saved the new ones for the end of the race. It was great
running with these guys up front for the win, they're all clean racers,” exclaimed
Beers in victory lane
Modified (100-laps)
1. ERIC BEERS, Northampton, PA
2. Pete Brittian,
Allentown, NJ
3. Earl Paules, Kunkletown,
PA
4. Brian Defebo, Berwick,
PA
5. Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown,
PA
6. Donny Hartzell,
Hunlocks Creek, PA
7. Eddie Brunnhoelzl
III, Levittown, NY
8. Steven Reed, Howell,
NJ
9. Kory Rabenold,
Slatington, PA
10. Matt Clemmens,
Salisbury, PA
11. Marisa Niederauer,
Levittown, NY
12. Ken Vogel Jr.,
Ronkkonkoma, NY
13. Ryan Preece, Berlin,
CT
14. Kevin Kromer,
Walnetport, PA
15. Rusty Smith, Oxford,
NY
16. Billy Swartz,
Lehighton, PA
17.Ryan Russo, Lonaka
Harbor, NJ
18. Ernie Dengler,
Kempton, PA
19. Leny Fischer,
Medford, NY
20. Zane Zeiner, Bath,
PA
21. John Markovic,
Bethlehem, PA
22.Andy Szapacs, Slatington,
PA
23. Larry Fisher,
Fern Glen, PA
DNS: Tim Santee, Palmerton,
PA
Lap Leaders: 1-14
Paules, 15-22 Zeiner, 23-37 Paules, 38-85 Defebo, 86-100 Beers
Hard Charger(s): Kory
Rabenold and Marisa Niederauer, 13 positions
Fast Lap: Eric Beers,
lap 88 (13.727)
August
20 - Mahoning Speedway - RoC 75 Lap - 17th
Even
after receiving a concussion 48 hours earlier Tyler Haydt knew he was going
to race on Saturday night and did he ever race. Tyler who started tenth inherited
the lead on lap 58 when leader Rick Kirkendall spun after making contact with
Haydt entering turn one. Tyler then led the final 17 laps with ease to capture
the 75 lap Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Tour Central Region race at
the Mahoning Valley Speedway. The win marked the third RoC win out of the
last four RoC races at the track for Haydt.Last
place starting CJ Jones drove a patient race to finish a distant second with
Earl Paules running another consistent RoC race to finish third. Zane Zeiner
who was forced to run the Ryan Russo entry in the feature started 27th and
finished fourth virtually locking up the Central Region point crown with one
race to go. Dave Wallace who pitted three times ended up fifth after starting
24th .“
I’m lucky I even got to race today “ said the sore winner. “ I had a bad accident
at Thompson ( in a Whelen Modified Series race ) on Thursday, I got knocked
out. I got a concussion, hurt my leg. I went to the doctors yesterday and
my Mom said you got to go to the doctor if you want to race on Saturday. I
went yesterday ( Friday ) and the doctor said if you feel better tomorrow
morning then you can go ahead and do anything you want. I was going to come
here and race anyway no matter if I saw the doctor or not. ““
It ( the car ) wasn’t perfect but we were all right “ said the race winner.
“ I got lucky to be on the bottom line at times when I needed to be, everything
just kind of fell together. “Tyler
started tenth and took his time in getting to the front as he didn’t enter
the top five until lap 32. Tyler spoke about his race strategy. “ The car
wasn’t that good and I didn’t want to abuse it getting to the front as I wanted
to have something left for the end of the race. So that is why I took my time
in getting to the front. The car was loose right from the beginning bit it
didn’t get worse the longer the race went, it just stayed the same. It was
free as I had to watch myself and do nothing crazy with throttle. “Once
Tyler entered second on lap 39 he applied pressure to the leading car of Rick
Kirkendall. Tyler lost second to Rusty Smith on lap 43 but gained the spot
back for good one lap later. Tyler then started to apply heavier pressure
for the lead as he stuck his nose under the Kirkendall car several times.
Then came the fateful 57th lap entering turn one.“
I had a front row seat actually for everything that happened “ stated Tyler.
“ I thought I was underneath him, I wasn’t up to his door or anything like
that. I didn’t run up and into him, I thought he got loose going into turn
one and came across me. I felt it and I didn’t see it ( the contact ) afterwards.
I think it was just racing hard. “
RoC officials made the decision that it was a racing incident and that allowed
Haydt to keep the lead he never gave back up. Once in front Tyler survived
four more restarts to go on to the victory.Tyler
who has won two track championships here previously spoke about his success
in the RoC races at Mahoning. “ I really don’t know “ said Tyler. “ I know
we had a really good car back here in June and I got taken out. I guess you
just have to stick it out and it helps with a little luck thrown in too. “CJ
Jones from Ottsville, Pa. elected to start last and came out of the race with
a hard earned second place finish. “ I was real happy finishing second as
it was a strong second “ said CJ. “ Couple more laps I wished I could have
caught Tyler and finished closer to him. Not saying we had anything for him
but at least close up the gap on him. Everybody raced us clean tonight and
it was a good exciting race for the fans to watch. I hope all of the RoC and
Mahoning fans enjoyed it. “CJ
stayed clear of most of the incidents in front of him and this enabled him
to enter the top five on lap 60. CJ got tied up with a spinning lap car and
third place Chaz Surman with five laps to go. The contact left mostly cosmetic
body damage to the front of the Jones machine.“
To be honest with you I’m used to starting in the back as I start there all
the time by the way the points work here “ said CJ. “ We’re accustomed to
starting in the back, it doesn’t bother me that much, and it allows us to
put a good show on for our fans.“
It was survival, I’m glad I got a third out of it “ said Kunkletown, Pa. driver
Earl Paules who started second. “ It’s hard getting out of this place without
getting banged up a little bit. I’m happy with a third as it moved us up to
second in RoC region points with one race to go. “Qualifying
for the 36 Modifieds in action saw heat races won by Pete Brittain, Haydt,
Paules, and Eric Beers while the twin B Mains were captured by Tommy Flanagan,
III and CJ Jones.
NOTES; Another interesting evening of racing kept the fans and teams on their toes all night long. Eric Beers ran the Terry Zacharias owned 00 car on the night. Lee Sherwood in his first ever visit to Mahoning had a difficult time adjusting to the track and used a provisional to get into the feature ended up with a tenth. Good to see Jason Trinchere lead some laps in the feature in more than likely his last driving appearance of the year. Jason is the Head Engineer of the David Starr Craftsman Truck Series team and was up for the weekend only. Modified hot laps were offered before the feature and it was a blessing in disguise for Zane Zeiner. As he blew the rear end in his car and without any laps drove the Ryan Russo car in the feature. Daren Scherer didn’t even make a lap in the feature as his front end became mangled during a brake check prior to the green flag. Scott Lesher blew the engine in the final hot lap session before the heat races. Roger Heffelfinger, Jr. vacated his fourth place starting spot in the feature due to transmission troubles. Brian DeFebo who won here the week prior had an awful night as he had not one but two flat right rear tires in the B Main. Don Wagner who won the first RoC race here this year just about destroyed his car in a heat race accident. While battling for the last transfer spot Don almost spun the car coming out of the fourth turn. Don got the car straightened back out only to see the car snap back violently to the right leading him to hit the turn one wall full bore. The impact was so severe that parts of the concrete wall broke apart and the car is a write off. Even the motor was moved upwards close to six inches due to the impact. Nice runs in feature by Don Dreher and Rusty Smith as both drivers got spun out of the top five to come back to finish sixth and seventh respectively. Tough break for Chaz Surman who was third with five laps to go suffered a left front flat after contact with CJ Jones and a spinning car. DNQ’S; Ryan Russo, Andy Szapacs, Dave Correll, Jarred Nace, Don Wagner, Brian DeFebo, Tom Shupp, Scott Lesher.
CENTRAL REGION RACE # 5 FINISH;
Tyler Haydt, CJ Jones, Earl Paules, Zane Zeiner, Dave Wallace, Don Dreher,
Rusty Smith, Lou Strohl, Korey Rabenold, Lee Sherwood, Rod Synder, Jr., Kevin
Graver, Jr., Matt Hirschman, Glen Correll, Bobby Jones, Chaz Surman, Jason
Trinchere, TJ Potrzebowski, Eric Beers, Rick Kirkendall, John Markovic, Brian
Labar, John Bennett, Tommy Flanagan, III, Wesley Swartout, Pete Brittain,
Roger Heffelfinger, Jr., Daren Scherer.
August 18 - Thompson Speedway - Whelen 150 Lap - TIme 19th - 3rd
What a day. The car was good in the 1st practice but during the scuff session
the motor skipped a little so the team changed the wires and the spark plugs
hoping that was the problem. During Eric's 2 laps of time as he went into
the gas into the 2nd turn the car bogged down and Eric could not get into
the gas because it felt like the motor was going to stall. In spite of all
that , Eric said the car felt as good as any car he ever had at Thompson and
felt he was going to have a 2-5th place time. So it is pretty incredible that
even with the problem he timed 19th. The team felt the only chance they had
was to change the carburetor. After consulting with the NASCAR officials,
because this was an impound race, it was decided that the team could change
the carb but would have to start in the rear of the field. Remember the team
still did not know if the Carb was the true extent of the problem. The race
started and Eric tested the car and guess what - The car was working GREAT.
Starting the rear Eric just kind of hung out and made moves without getting
in the way of the action (accidents) happening around him. He worked his way
up to 13th when they pitted with the leaders and came out 9th. As the race
went along Eric was still around 9th when he went low under Stefanik and Tomaino
making it 3 wide on the backstretch, just as this was happening Jimmy Blewett
got into the right rear of Tony H getting him squirely, as he was correcting
this he went up the track and slowed down the outside lane, making everyone
check up. As this happened Eric went from 9th to third in a matter of a half
a lap. From there Eric held his spot and felt his car was a little better
than Fuller and Tony on the long run because when they went green for a little
he was catching them. HOWEVER, the cautions kept falling at the end and Eric
needed a few laps to get his tires warmed up to get going. But the team is
proud of their 3rd place finish considering the circumstances before the race
even started.
1. (7) Tony Hirschman, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 150, 66.112 mph,
$7,850
2. (18) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 150, $4,300
3. (19) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $3,300
4. (20) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 150, $2,800
5. (14) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 150, $2,550
6. (12) John Blewett, III, Howell N.J., 150, $2,050
7. (24) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 150, $2,800
8. (10) Thomas Bolles, Ellington Conn, Chevrolet, 150, $1,800
9. (11) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $2,100
10. (17) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,900
11. (15) Anthony Ferrante, Jr, Franklin Square, Chevrolet, 150, $1,175
12. (6) Jimmy Blewett, Howell N.J., Dodge, 150, $1,125
13. (26) Anthony Sesley, Matawan N.J., Chevrolet, 150, $1,100
14. (1) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Pontiac, 150, $2,225
15. (32) Wade Cole, Riverton Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,425
16. (29) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Ford, 150, $1,675
17. (31) Jimmy Storace, Kingston N.H., Chevrolet, 150, $1,350
18. (2) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 149, $1,725
19. (22) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 144, $1,600
20. (9) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet, 143, $1,675
21. (13) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale N.J., Dodge, 142, Handling, $1,550
22. (4) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 136, Accident, $1,525
23. (5) Mike Stefanik, Coventry R.I., Chevrolet, 112, Accident, $1,490
24. (27) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 105, Accident, $1,560
25. (28) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point N.Y., Pontiac, 104, Suspension, $1,450
26. (16) Zane Zeiner, Bath Pa., Chevrolet, 95, Accident, $750
27. (3) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 93, Accident, $1,450
28. (8) Matt Hirschman, Northampton Pa., Dodge, 92, Accident, $750
29. (21) Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Chevrolet, 92, Accident, $750
30. (33) Jake Marosz, Middletown Conn., Chevrolet, 82, $750
31. (25) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 39, Accident, $1,150
32. (30) Kevin Konopka, Meriden Conn., Dodge, 39, Accident, $1,450
33. (23) Mike Molleur, Shelton Conn., Chevrolet, 25, Accident, $750
* Denotes Rookie of the Year Contender
Failed to Qualify: (4) Carl Pasteryak (#75), Joseph Hartmann (#05), Kelly
McDougall * (#19), Roy Seidell, Jr (#27).
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 25 mins, 5
secs Average Speed: 66.112 mph Margin of Victory: 1.12 seconds BUD POLE AWARD:
Tony Hirschman, 48 Kamco Supply Corporation Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Rick Fuller, 1 Polar Beverages/Red
Oak Const. Pontiac POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Jerry Marquis, 4 Reynolds
Auto Wrecking Dodge TOMMY BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Doug Coby, 77 Mansfield
Paper Co./ Red Line Oil Pontiac Caution Flags: Laps 29-34; 35-38; 40-45; 78-83;
93-97; 106-112; 113-117; 118-124; 137-140. 9 for 50 laps. Lap Leaders: Doug
Coby 1-80, Jimmy Blewett 81-90, Ted Christopher 91-95, Jimmy Blewett 96-97,
Tony Hirschman 98-150. Total Laps Led: Doug Coby 80, Tony Hirschman 53, Jimmy
Blewett 12, Ted Christopher 5. 4 changes involving 4 drivers.
August 12 - Stafford Speedway- Whelen 150 lap
- TIme 16 - Finish 6th
Car was tight all day. Race went along and the car came in. On pit stop took
two tires at end of race after rain delay - car too loose. Was running 4th
with only a few to go when he tried to pass a lap car and got too high because
too loose and lost two spots. Good Day all i all to pick up 10 spots.
August 6 - Riverhead Raceway - Riverhead, NY - Whelen 200 lap- 5th
Sunoco Race Fuels Driver Eric Beers and the BRE Team worked hard to capture
a 5th place finish at Riverhead Raceway on Saturday, August 6. The car was
tight in practice until Eric got a few laps on the tires. The team was hoping
that the tires came in for Time Trials like they did the last visit to Riverhead.
Well, Eric went out for time and the tires never came in and the car was real
tight and Eric qualified 21st. Thats OK they took 26 from time and many a
good car went home. Riverhead has to be one of the toughest places to qualify.
Come race time you never know what's going to happen when you are in the back
of the pack. You can almost guarantee that you are going to be in some kind
of wreck. Well it did not take too long. Some cars got together and sure enough
some cars from behind got into to eric. Not too bad if you consider losing
your clutch pedal not bad. Eric had to run the rest of the race without a
clutch. They run a Jerico transmission so you can slammed the gears but you
have to be smart about it and get it into high gear as fast as possible. Come
lap 59 Eric ole buddy Teddy C chopped down on Eric on the backstretch and
flatten Eric's right front. Caution comes out and Eric gets in the pits to
change the tire. After they changed the tire the guys had to push the car
- because remember there is no clutch pedal. The BRE Team got eric to the
break off point in the pits before the cars on the track got the the break
off point, therefore they had to let Eric come out even though he entered
the track just in front the field as they were about to go green. The car
was good at this point but Eric had to run it harder than he wanted to before
the next caution came out to stay in front of the leaders. He did the job
and had to work lapped traffic as well. Caution came out and Eric got to go
to the back of the field for the restart. From here Eric ran his own race
working the field inside and out just picking off one car at a time and staying
out of trouble. Eric was 8th with 6 to go when the 15 and the 79 got together,
got up the track going into the turn so Eric seized the opportunity and hung
a hard left went over the rumble strips and went under them. A couple laps
later the 50 and the 16 were battling for position when they got together
with the 16 hitting the wall and getting a flat tire so Eric was now in fifth.
Eric and the team finished fifth when after the first part of the race they
were not sure if they would be able to finish at all. Hats off to the crew.
. (1) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 200, 48.636 mph, $7,500
2. (8) Tony Hirschman, Northampton PA., Chevrolet, 200, $4,200
3. (9) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 200, $3,000
4. (12) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 200, $2,500
5. (21) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 200, $2,200
6. (26) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 200, $2,600
7. (27) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 200, $2,050
8. (15) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 200, $1,900
9. (5) Mike Stefanik, Coventry R.I., Chevrolet, 200, $1,800
10. (18) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet, 199, $1,800
11. (13) Bill Park, Manorville N.Y., Chevrolet, 199, $975
12. (3) Howie Brode, Bayshore N.Y., Chevrolet, 198, $950
13. (24) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 198, $1,725
14. (23) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale N.J., Dodge, 187, Steering, $1,875
15. (7) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 134, $1,550
16. (20) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 126, Handling, $1,525
17. (22) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 115, Handling, $1,500
18. (14) Jimmy Blewett, Howell N.J., Dodge, 115, $775
19. (19) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point N.Y., Pontiac, 103, $1,450
20. (10) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 96, $1,425
21. (28) Wayne Anderson, Yaphank N.Y., Chevrolet, 79, Overheating, $725
22. (25) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Chevrolet, 75, $1,425
23. (2) John Fortin, Holtsville N.Y., Chevrolet, 39, Transmission, $725
24. (17) Nevin George, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 32, Accident, $1,425
25. (16) Chuck Steuer, Bohemia N.Y., Chevrolet, 31, Rocker Arm, $725
26. (11) Frank Vigliarolo, Jr, Mt. Sinai N.Y., Dodge, 28, Radiator, $725
27. (6) John Blewett, III, Howell N.J., Dodge, 17, Accident, $1,875
28. (4) Tony Ferrante, Jr, Franklin Square, Chevrolet, 5, Accident, $1,125
Failed to Qualify: (9) Kevin Konopka (#51), Chris Young (#49),
Renee Dupuis (#90), Thomas Rogers (#6), Jamie Tomaino (#99), Jimmy Storace
(#47), Wade Cole (#33), Jake Marosz (#9), Larry Altholtz (#35).
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 1 mins, 41 secs Average Speed: 48.636
mph Margin of Victory: .37 Seconds
BUD POLE AWARD: John Blewett, III, 00 G. Lopes Construction/Sherm's Dodge
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Steve Whitt, 06 Greenfield Dodge Dodge
POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Zach Sylvester, 15 TAS Country Homes Chevrolet
TOMMY BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Donny Lia, 18 Huntington Honda Chevrolet
Caution Flags: Laps 5-12; 18-24; 27-31; 33-39; 47-54; 59-63; 130-134; 190-197.
8 for 53 laps.
Lap Leaders: John Fortin 1-38, Donny Lia 39-200.
Total Laps Led: Donny Lia 162, John Fortin 38. 1 changes involving 2 drivers.
Story from www.nascartouring.com
Donny Lia of Jericho, N.Y. led the final 162 laps of the Riverhead 200 NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour race at Riverhead Raceway to record his second win of
the season. It was the third career victory for Lia at Riverhead and his fourth
series win overall. He was the defending champion of this event. “We’ve struggled
the last couple races," said Lia. “But it always seems we can turn things
around when we race here at Riverhead. The team needed the win tonight. Hopefully
the momentum will carry over to the next race.”
Lia led the most laps of the race in his Huntington Honda Chevrolet and earned
the Tommy Baldwin Memorial Award. He was pressured through most of the event
by defending series champion Tony Hirschman of Northampton, Pa. who finished
just .37 seconds behind
Hirschman’s runner-up placement was his fifth consecutive Top-5 finish in
the Kamco Supply Chevrolet. He sits second in the standings and now trails
leader Ted Christopher of Plainville, Conn. by just 24 points. Christopher
finished 10th.
Jerry Marquis finished third in the Reynolds Auto Wrecking Dodge to earn his
third consecutive Top-3 finish. Marquis is fourth in the standings, 141 points
behind Christopher, and just one marker head of Lia.
Chuck Hossfeld of Buffalo, N.Y. finished fourth in the Creative Racing Products
Ford. Hossfeld, currently third in the championship battle, closed to 54 points
behind Christopher. Last week’s winner Eric Beers rounded out the Top-5 in
the Roby’s Propane/Reynolds Auto Chevrolet.
John Blewett, III set fast time in qualifying to earn the Bud Pole. The Top-6
qualifiers drew for their starting position. Blewett picked the sixth starting
position. Lia drew the pole and was joined on the front row by John Fortin.
At the opening green Fortin jumped out front and led the first 38 laps. His
chance at victory ended on lap 39 restart when he broke the transmission.
Lia took over the top spot and never relinquished the lead
July
30 - Seekonk SPeedway - BRE Racing- WIN
After racing for 20 years - Eric reached the pinacle of his career by winning
a NASCAR Whelen Tour Event at Seekonk Speedway on July 30. Eric was blazing
fast in TIme Trials and won the pole and redrew 6th. For the first 20 laps
he worked his was through the top 4 to catch up to leader Ted Christopher.
After working on Teddy for several laps Eric made the pass on lap 29 to grab
the lead on the outside. Form there Eric had to hold up on the restarts and
hold off his old racing buddy from Flemington Speedway, John Blewett III by
keeping the car on the bottom. THe packed house went nuts as Eric worked his
way around Teddy. Take a look at the crew picture and you see alot of smiling
faces in the 30 crew photo.
BEERS TAKES "OLE' BLUE" TO VICTORY LANE AT SEEKONK by Mike Twist
SPEED 51
#3 RETURNS TO MOD TOUR VICTORY
LANE WITH FIRST TIME WINNER
There’s an age-old question in racing. When somebody wins a race is it because
of the driver or the car?Well, Saturday night at Seekonk Speedway (MA), it
had to be a near 50/50 mix when Eric Beers took the #3 car to victory lane
in the 150-lap NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour feature.On one hand, Beers won
with a team that is probably the most storied operation in Modified racing
today, maybe even of all-time. The #3 cars have been owned by the Boehler
family for nearly 50 years. Bugsy Stevens, Fred DeSarro, Ron Bouchard, Tony
Hirschman and Jerry Marquis are just a few of the Hall-of-Fame caliber drivers
who have driven the “Ole’ Blue” #3 throughout the years.On the other hand,
Eric Beers is a hard-nosed, old-fashioned racer. He races hard, he races clean,
and he races as often he possible. Beers enjoyed his battles with both Christopher
and Blewett. Beating those particular drivers only made his win more meaningful.“I’ve
raced with Ted awhile,” said Beers. “We’ve raced together at New Smyrna every
year since ’94 or so. We’ve followed him in some races and kept it clean with
him. Tonight, he kept it clean with us. You appreciate things like that and
the next time that he races with me, he’ll get the same respect back “With
John, we’ve raced together since the Flemington days when he raced the #14
and I raced my own stuff. That was in the mid 90’s. So we’ve been racing together
for a long time and never had a problem.” Beers’ two rivals had very different
nights at Seekonk. Christopher led early, faded a little bit later and then
got booted around on the front stretch to lose a ton of track position near
the end of the event. That incident led to TC being very agitated (we’ll have
his reaction later this week in Modified Leftovers right here at Speed51.com)
and dropped him to a finish of 17th. “When they threw the checkered, I was
looking and was looking to see if it really was the checkered. Michael told
me that was it and I knew then that I won.”The weight of winning with “Ole’
Blue” was not lost on Beers. The victory came at the team’s home track and
in front of a grandstand audience who got the opportunity to view a restored
#3 Coupe that was on display in the grandstand area.
“Today the coupe was here and they
were taking Eric Beers hoists his new hardware.
And at Seekonk, he had to beat two of the hardest chargers in Modified racing
to get the victory. Beers took the lead from Ted Christopher early in the
race and he held off a hungry John Blewett, III to hold on to the top spot
at the finish.“We had a good racecar,” said Beers. “We were good in the beginning
and flew by some cars there. We worked our way past Ted before the tires got
greasy.” The Mods played before a packed house at Seekonk Speedway (MA) on
Saturday. That car won so many races. Just to see a car like that, it’s like
'Man!'. Sure, there’s pressure. There’s a lot of pressure getting into a car
that been a top three car forever. It’s always been the car to beat no matter
where you go.”And whether it was 1975, 1985, 1995 or 2005, some things in
the Modified world never change. “You can go to a race track and look around
in the pits and you’ll point out cars and say ‘That one I need to beat, that
one I need to beat and that one I need to beat,’ and this car is always on
that list.”That meant Beers had some big shoes to fill when he took the #3
ride this year.“If you raced that car for a year and don’t win a race, you’d
look pretty bad. It’s July and we’ve won here. Hopefully, we’ll keep this
ball rolling right along. We have two thirds [place finishes] and a win in
the last three tour races. If we can keep that going, we’ll be good.”As excited
as Beers was to win, the close-knit Boehler family team was equally thrilled.
“They were really excited. We did a Polish victory lap for their mother and
a lot of other people who are probably smiling down on us from upstairs tonight.”
Beers Wheels Boehler’s “Ol’ Blue” To Seekonk Modified Win - From yankeeracer.com
Seekonk, MA -- Northampton, PA’s Eric Beers passed Ted Christopher on lap 31 and held off a hard-charging John Blewett III in the final stages of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Viveiros Insurance 150 to score his first career win in the series at Seekonk Speedway on Saturday, July 30. Driving the Roby’s Propane-Reynolds Auto Wrecking #3 Chevrolet, Beers bested 30 other competitors from six states to capture the Bud Pole award in pre-race time trials with a lap of 12.001 seconds, an average of 99.892 MPH.
The top ten redrew for starting positions, with Beers rolling off sixth. Outside polesitter Ted Christopher blasted into the lead at the drop of the green, with Dave Berghman second and Donny Lia third. Using the outside lane, Beers took second on lap 13, two circuits before the first of eight cautions waved for a minor spin.
Eric moved to the inside of Christopher on lap 27 and charged off into first four laps later. Tommy Cravenho had worked his way to second by the time the next yellow waved on lap 36, but had to pit to solve a fluid leak problem during the slowdown. Matt Hirschman took second on the restart before handling woes sent him back into the clutches of Christopher.
At the halfway point, Beers and Christopher were again running first and second, with Blewett third, Jerry Marquis fourth, and Zach Sylvester fifth. Christopher gave it all he had on a lap 104 restart, battling with Beers and Blewett at the head of the class before spinning coming off turn four on lap 117. John looked high and low during the final 16-lap green flag run, but was unable to find a way around Beers, who brought the familiar Boehler Racing Enterprises blue #3 back to Seekonk’s Victory Lane for the first time in 23 years. “This is their home track,” Beers explained, referring to his East Freetown, MA-based team. “It’s a short ride for them, and they’ve won so many races here over the years. I know it’s been a while for them here, and I was so happy to be able to get it for them tonight. I knew John was behind us, and so I just kept it on the bottom and tried not to make any mistakes. I had to run a perfect line.”
1. (6) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 150, 61.477 mph, $7,700
2. (9) John Blewett, III, Howell N.J., Dodge, 150, $3,700
3. (16) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 150, $3,400
4. (13) Tony Hirschman, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $3,600
5. (17) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Pontiac, 150, $2,500
6. (15) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 150, $2,300
7. (8) Tommy Cravenho Jr, Raynham Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $1,400
8. (12) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $2,100
9. (19) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 150, $2,050
10. (4) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $2,000
11. (1) Dave Berghman, Rehoboth Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $1,475
12. (7) Eric Berndt, Rocky Hill Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,550
13. (28) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,975
14. (21) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $1,450
15. (5) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 150, $1,725
16. (26) Chris Kopec, Palmer Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $1,700
17. (2) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,775
18. (30) Jimmy Storace, Kingston N.H., Chevrolet, 150, $1,350
19. (24) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point N.Y., Pontiac, 150, $1,625
20. (11) Ken Barry, Griswold Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,800
21. (27) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Ford, 150, $1,675
22. (14) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $1,250
23. (22) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 149, $1,525
24. (10) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale N.J., Dodge, 148, $1,500
25. (29) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 147, $1,175
26. (23) Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Pontiac, 142, $750
27. (3) Matt Hirschman, Northampton Pa., Dodge, 117, Handling, $750
28. (20) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 92, $1,450
29. (18) Kevin Konopka, Meriden Conn., Dodge, 72, Rear End, $1,450
30. (25) Wade Cole, Riverton Conn., Chevrolet, 21, Oil Leak, $1,150
FAILED
TO QUALIFY: Jake Marosz (#9).
TIME OF RACE: 48 minutes, 45 seconds.
AVERAGE SPEED: 61.477 mph.
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.26 second.
BUD POLE AWARD: Eric Beers, 3 Roby's Propane/Reynolds Auto Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: John Blewett, III, 00 G. Lopes Construction/Sherm's
Dodge
POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Dave Etheridge, 54 A & A Office System
Chevrolet
TOMMY BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Eric Beers, 3 Roby's Propane/Reynolds Auto Chevrolet
CAUTION FLAGS: Laps 15-19; 36-44; 48-52; 68-73; 90-95; 99-103; 118-121; 131-134.
8 for 44 laps.
LAP LEADERS: Ted Christopher 1-30, Eric Beers 31-150.
TOTAL LAPS LED: Eric Beers 120, Ted Christopher 30. 1 changes involving 2
drivers.
July
24 - Tioga Speedway - Horwith Racing - 9th
Eric went out in his heat 9th and finsihed 4th - in the redraw Eric picked
4th and off the start there was an accident that he was caught up in. For
the rest of the race Eric was in and out of the pits and finished 9th. Not
bad considering the circumstances.
FEATURE (started)
1. 76 Zane Zeiner (10th)
2. 27 Bill Chandler (14th)
3. 34 Rusty Smith (5th)
4. 72 T.j. Potrzebowski (12th)
5. 95 Lee Sherwood (6th)
6. 52 Matt Hirschman (7th)
7. 2 Jeff Frisbee (11th)
8. 09 Bobby Osgood (16th)
9. 9 Eric Beers (4th)
10. 8 Earl Paules (17th)
11. 11 Jim Willis (2nd)
12. 3 Daren Scherer (13th)
13. 1 Bobby Jones (25th)
14. 53 Ryan Russo (24th)
15. 17r Ben Reynolds (22nd)
16. 21 Andy Walko (20th)
17. 71 Pete Brittian (8th)
18. 10 Daryl Lewis (21st)
19. 12 Scott Lesher (26th)
20. 25 Wes Swartout (23rd)
21. 58 Brian Defebo (1st)
22. 0 Tommy Kinsella (15th)
23. 95m John Markovic (3rd)
24. 00 Tony Hanbury (7th)
25. 38 Justin Ely (18th)
26. 17 Ken Canestrari (19th)
27. 34x Gordie Smith (27th
July
23 - Beech Ridge Speedway - BRE Racing - 3rd
Eric was not happy with the car and they changed everything twice and timed
2nd and he still was not happy with the way te car felt. For the race they
went back to the original set up and ran in the top 5 the entire race finsihing
3rd for the 2nd week in a row.
Jerry Marquis of Broad Brook, Conn. collected his first NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour victory of the season in the New England Dodge Dealers 150 at Beech Ridge
Motor Speedway.
Marquis, driving the Reynolds Auto Wrecking Dodge, passed Nevin George of Kunkletown, Pa. on lap 8 and then held off challenges from defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Tony Hirschman of Northampton, Pa. over the second half of the race.
“I was really just holding on at the end,” said Marquis. “Tony had a strong car but we had enough for the win.”
It was the first series win for Marquis, the 2000 series champion, at Beech Ridge and the 17th of his career. He now sits alone in 8th on the all time series win list. Marquis led the most laps and earned the Tommy Baldwin Memorial Award.
Hirschman’s second place finish in the Kamco Supply Chevrolet moved him into second in the series standings. He trails leader Ted Christopher by 108 points. Hirschman also set fast time in qualifying to win the Bud Pole Award for the third time this season.
Eric Beers earned his second consecutive
Top-3 finish in the Roby’s Propane Reynolds Auto Chevrolet. Steve Whitt scored
his second consecutive Top-5 finish by placing fourth in the Greenfield Dodge
Dodge. Ted Christopher rounded out the Top-5 in the Mystique Motorsports Chevrolet
1.
(3) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 150, 48.157 mph, $7,250
2. (4) Tony Hirschman, Northampton PA., Chevrolet, 150, $4,650
3. (5) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $3,000
4. (6) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale N.J., Dodge, 150, $2,200
5. (16) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $2,400
6. (12) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Ford, 150, $2,500
7. (14) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $1,700
8. (8) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 150, $1,900
9. (26) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,550
10. (28) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $2,400
11. (11) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $1,850
12. (25) Chris Kopec, Palmer Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $1,700
13. (2) Kevin Konopka, Meriden Conn., Dodge, 150, $1,675
14. (15) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Pontiac, 150, $1,650
15. (10) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 149, $1,275
16. (17) Tommy Cloce, Canton N.Y., Chevrolet, 148, $1,525
17. (19) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point N.Y., Pontiac, 148, $1,500
18. (22) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 148, $1,480
19. (23) Wade Cole, Riverton Conn., Chevrolet, 147, $775
20. (7) John Blewett, III, Howell N.J., Dodge, 147, $1,070
21. (18) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 146, $1,165
22. (27) Jake Marosz, Middletown Conn., Chevrolet, 145, $765
23. (9) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 135, Suspension, $1,565
24. (24) Jimmy Storace, Kingston N.H., Chevrolet, 122, Suspension, $1,165
25. (1) Nevin George, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 114, Transmission, $1,465
26. (13) Ken Barry, Griswold Conn., Chevrolet, 82, Accident, $1,665
27. (20) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 53, Water leak, $1,565
28. (21) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 25, Oil Line, $1,465
Time
of Race: 1 hrs., 2 mins, 14 secs Average Speed:48.157 mph Margin of Victory:
.47 Seconds
BUD POLE AWARD: Tony Hirschman, 48 Kamco Supply Corporation Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Jamie Tomaino, 99 Perth Amboy Spring
Ford
POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Zach Sylvester, 15 TAS Country Homes Chevrolet
TOMMY BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Jerry Marquis, 4 Reynolds Auto Wrecking Dodge
Caution
Flags: Laps 10-13; 15-19; 25-35; 41-44; 67-71; 73-76; 83-90; 92-94; 100-103;
133-136. 10 for 52 laps.
Lap Leaders: Nevin George 1-7, Jerry Marquis 8-150.
Total Laps Led: Jerry Marquis 143, Nevin George 7. 1 changes involving 2 drivers.
July 21- Lehigh Township County Fair - Eric signing autographs, Car Display
- TSHIRTS AVAILABLE
July
20 - Seekonk Speedway - $10,000 to win
- 3rd
Eeric had the fastest car all day. Eric won his heat and started the race
in second. Within a few laps Eric led and half almost a half a track lead
at times. With 22 to go as the leaders were going through lapped traffic,
some cars got together and checked up. Eric hit the Bateman car and at the
same time came down on the 2nd place car of Alexander. As they got together
Alexander wnet over Eric tire - casuing Eric to have flat and bent tie rod.
Overall disappointing because Eric could have won but good to finish 3rd and
know they have a good set up for the Tour race in two weeks.
July
16 - Holland Speedway - RoC - Major Motion Modified
_Rain OUT
July 15 - New Hamshire Speedway - 3rd
Eric and the BRE Racing Team was 6th fastest in practice and was set to go
out 19th in qualifying. Mother Nature came through Loudon with a vengeance
and put a large amount of water on the track and qualifying was canceled.
The lineup was set through owners points with Eric starting 4th. The race
went off on schedule at 1:30. Eric had a loose race car from the start and
slipped back to the 6th position where he was running when a caution came
out on lap 24. The team had no choice but to pit now and tighten the car up.
At this point about a third of the 40 car field pitted. Good pit stop got
Eric out in good shape. Eric was running picking his way through the field.
On a lap 49 caution the other 2/3 of the field pitted, leaving Eric running
third. Eric led laps 56-58 and was putting on a show with Jimmy Blewett as
he, Blewett and Doug Coby swapped the lead about four times over the next
40 laps. While this was going on in the front the cars that pitted on lap
49 were now in the top 10. A late caution did not help Eric as he was leading
with 10 to go. THis gave Coby the chance he need to get by Eric was was now
getting tight. Teddy and Hirschman tagged teamed Coby to take the top two
spots and Eric followed these two past to bring home a podium finish. THis
by far was the largest media gathering Eric has had to be in front of. THe
Winston Cup Media and local media were at least 100 strong in the interview
session in the Media Center following the race.
1. (1) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet,
100, $15,550.
2. (3) Tony Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $12,000.
3. (4) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $8,300.
4. (8) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Pontiac, 100, $6,300.
5. (25) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale, N.J., Dodge, 100, $4,000.
6. (5) Rick Fuller, Auburn, Mass., Pontiac, 100, $3,800.
7. (2) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo, N.Y., Ford, 100, $3,600.
8. (10) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Dodge, 100, $3,300.
9. (13) Mike Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Pontiac, 100, $3,100.
10. (14) Nevin George, Kunkletown, Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $3,000.
11. (15) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Dodge, 100, $2,600.
12. (36) Brian Loftin, Lexington, N.C., Chevrolet, 100, $2,600.
13. (22) Kevin Konopka, Meriden, Conn., Dodge, 100, $2,700.
14. (6) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Chevrolet, 100, $2,775.
15. (27) Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $1,950.
16. (9) Eddie Flemke, Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $2,625.
17. (7) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $2,700.
18. (19) Tommy Cloce, Canton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 100, $2,575.
19. (37) Rob Summers, Manchester, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $1,850.
20. (12) Chris Kopec, Palmer, Mass., Chevrolet, 100, $2,645.
21. (17) Ken Barry, Griswold, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $2,700.
22. (26) Dave Etheridge, Portland, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $2,175.
23. (28) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, Mass., Chevrolet, 100, $1,750.
24. (18) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point, N.Y., Pontiac, 100, $2,428.
25. (20) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown, Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $2,400.
26. (29) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 99, $1,700.
27. (32) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 98, $1,700.
28. (33) Mike Molleur, Shelton, Conn., Chevrolet, 93, $1,700.
29. (24) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 86, accident, $2,100.
30. (30) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 77, engine, $1,700.
31. (11) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Ford, 61, accident, $2,500.
32. (16) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 58, accident, $2,400.
33. (23) Jimmy Storace, Kingston, N.H., Chevrolet, 58, engine, $2,100.
34. (34) Ken Bouchard, Fitchburg, Mass., Chevrolet, 53, engine, $1,700.
35. (21) Reggie Ruggiero, Rocky Hill, Conn., Chevrolet, 47, engine, $1,700.
36. (38) Alex Hoag, Bath, N.Y., Chevrolet, 36, oil leak, $1,700.
37. (35) Fred Vordermeier, Bayside, N.Y., Chevrolet, 30, oil leak, $1,700.
38. (31) Darrin Stevens, W. Boylston, Mass., Chevrolet, 19, engine, $1,700.
39. (40) Ryan Seaman, Toms River, N.J., Chevrolet, 9, handling, $1,700.
40. (39) John Blewett III, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 6, handling, $1,700.
TIME OF
RACE: 1 hour, 20 minutes, 17 seconds. AVERAGE SPEED: 79.070 mph.
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.017 second. FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: T.
Christopher.
POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Loftin. TOMMY BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: T.
Christopher. CAUTION FLAGS: 6 for 36 laps.
LAP LEADERS: T. Christopher 1-26, Fuller 27-49, Whitt 50-55, Beers 56-58,
Jimmy Blewett 59-70, Beers 71-76, Coby 77-86, Beers 87-91, Coby 92-96, T.
Christopher 97-100.
LEAD CHANGES: 9 among 6 drivers.
TOP 20 DRIVER POINTS: Ted Christopher 1139, Chuck Hossfeld 1078, Tony Hirschman
1016, Rick Fuller 986, Donny Lia 954, Doug Coby 927, Zach Sylvester 907, Jerry
Marquis 889, Eddie Flemke 867, Eric Beers 843, Mike Christopher 843, Chris
Kopec 841, Jamie Tomaino 813, Nevin George 774, Ken Barry 719, Renee Dupuis
694, Gregg Shivers 685, Kevin Konopka 679, Tommy Cloce 679, Steve Whitt 678.
July
9 - Jennerstown Speedway - "This is a great place
for a race" - Whelean Tour
14th
Eric and the team qualified 6th - started pole and led the first 23 laps.
From there things went downhill - which doesnt happen to this team often.
Eric was pushing bad int othe turns and could not keep the car down on the
bottom of the track. Eric went one lap down and brought the car home in one
piece. Short Story but Tony H dominated the event as we had over 100 green
flag laps.
1 6 48 TONY HIRSCHMAN, JR ROBERT KEHLEY 150 $8,600 Running
2 7 50 CHUCK HOSSFELD DON BARKER 150 $3,600 Running
3 10 10 ED FLEMKE, JR GARY TETO 150 $2,900 Running
4 2 4 JERRY MARQUIS JOAN GARBARINO 150 $2,700 Running
5 14 99 JAMIE TOMAINO JOSEPH VENEZIAN 150 $2,300 Running
6 24 1 RICK FULLER WILLIAM FRASCO 149 $2,700 Running
7 3 15 ZACK SYLVESTER THOMAS SYLVESTER 149 $2,150 Running
8 16 16 CHRIS KOPEC ERIC SANDERSON 149 $2,100 Running
9 8 23 GREGG SHIVERS CARLENE SHIVERS 149 $1,900 Running
10 21 59 MATT HIRSCHMAN EDMUND BENNETT, III 149 $1,100 Running
11 4 21 KEN BARRY ARTHUR BARRY 149 $1,900 Running
12 9 77 DOUG COBY, III CURTIS CHASE 149 $1,675 Running
13 11 18 DONNY LIA DON LIA 149 $1,750 Running
14 1 3 ERIC BEERS JANICE BOEHLER 148 $1,600 Running
15 18 79 MIKE CHRISTOPHER ROGER HILL 148 $1,550 Running
16 17 58 KEVIN GOODALE EDGAR GOODALE 148 $1,225 Running
17 12 69 TOMMY CLOCE ED CLOCE 147 $1,500 Running
18 13 06 STEVE WHITT RICHARD GREENFIELD 147 $1,175 Running
19 22 3-3 DAREN SCHERER DAREN SCHERER 147 $750 Running
20 26 33 WADE COLE BETH COLE 146 $1,125 Running
21 25 88 RICHIE COY JEAN BARABARO 143 $725 Running
22 23 47 JIMMY STORACE JOHN HOFFMANN 139 $400 Running
23 15 13 TED CHRISTOPHER JAMES GALANTE 125 $1,525 Running
24 5 0 NEVIN GEORGE RALPH SOLHEM 96 $1,425 Handling
25 19 51 KEVIN KONOPKA RAY KONOPKA 36 $1,425 Accident
26 20 44 DARRIN STEVENS MARK STEVENS 28 $1,125 Clutch
27 27 90 RENEE DUPUIS WILLIAM WOODMAN 21 $1,425 Overheating
28 28 9 JAKE MAROSZ LINDA RODENBAUGH 19 $725 Accident
29 29 28 TYLER HAYDT DON KING 0 $1,425 DNS
July
3 - Stafford Speedway - Rescheduled - Start Pole
- Finish 7th
Eric Started pole and led the first 23
laps before the fastest car on the track of Doug Coby passed Eric. Eric gave
the faster car plenty of room and Doug passed him cleanly. Remember that because
that was one of the few times during this race that one driver gave another
driver room to maneuver. This race was a wreck fest. No one seemed be giving
and only taking. Eric ran 2nd until he pitted for tires. As he was leaving
his pit stall. Nevin George - who had a really rough afternoon- caught the
right front tire of Eric and the tire rolled into turn two. Eric had to come
around and get a new tire and then came in again to try to straighten the
tow. From there it was survival mode and get as close to the front as possible.
It did not seem like Eric's tires came in until the end when he was really
fast. It did not help that he had Sk driver James Civalllei bashing and banging
Eric as Eric was trying to pass him. Eric was passing JC on the outside between
turns one and two and JC sent it in so hard he locked up the brakes and slid
up again into the side of Eric. THis was after JC was pushing Eric up the
track out of Four. Just before passing JC Eric had to deal with TC on fresh
tires. Teddy made a the patented and awesome move under Eric which was amazing
because Eric was actually running on the inside yellow line. Just before that
TC was trying to get around Eric and NASCAR had to remind TC had there was
actually a car in front of him and he had to get around him and not through
him. So all in all it was a victory if you could roll your car onto the trailer
with out the help of a wrecker on this day. So a good run for Eric who moved
from 18th in points to 13ths with his 7th place finish. See ya at Jennerstown
- a great place to see a Modified Race.
Haynes 150
NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR
Stafford Motor Speedway July 3, 2005
1. (12) Ted Christopher, Plainville
Conn., Chevrolet, 150, 54.967 mph, $6,800
2. (8) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 150, $3,900
3. (6) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $3,750
4. (9) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Ford, 150, $3,200
5. (13) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 150, $2,600
6. (11) Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,900
7. (1) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $1,800
8. (21) James Civali, Meriden Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,300
9. (15) Reggie Ruggiero, Rocky Hill Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,250
10. (7) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $2,450
11. (20) Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Pontiac, 150, $1,175
12. (10) Anthony Ferrante, Jr, Franklin Square, Chevrolet, 150, $1,550
13. (26) Thomas Bolles, Ellington Conn, Chevrolet, 149, $1,475
14. (5) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 147, $1,850
15. (30) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 147, $2,025
16. (25) Jimmy Storace, Kingston N.H., Chevrolet, 147, $1,300
17. (2) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 139, $1,275
18. (14) Mike Stefanik, Coventry R.I., Dodge, 128, Overheating, $1,650
19. (23) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 123, $925
20. (22) Eric Berndt, Rocky Hill Conn., Chevrolet, 122, $900
21. (3) Nevin George, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 120, Accident, $1,575
22. (31) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 98, $1,550
23. (16) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 97, $1,625
24. (4) Tony Hirschman, Northampton PA., Chevrolet, 76, Rear End, $2,200
25. (17) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 59, $1,475
26. (27) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 55, Accident, $1,550
27. (18) Chris Kopec, Palmer Mass., Chevrolet, 47, Accident, $1,050
28. (24) Frank Ruocco, Cheshire Conn., Chevrolet, 34, Accident, $750
29. (19) Ken Barry, Griswold Conn., Chevrolet, 31, Accident, $1,750
30. (29) Tommy Cloce, Canton N.Y., Chevrolet, 15, Accident, $1,450
31. (28) Bo Gunning, Bethlehem Conn., Dodge, 2, Accident, $1,050
Failed to Qualify: (10) Tyler Haydt
* (#28), Kevin Konopka (#51), Darrin Stevens * (#44), Steve Whitt (#06), Mike
Molleur (#35), Daniel Knoll (#70), Wade Cole (#33), Kelly McDougall * (#19),
Roy Seidell, Jr (#27), Jake Marosz (#9).
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 21 mins, 52 secs Average Speed: 54.967 mph Margin of
Victory: .28 Seconds
BUD POLE AWARD: Donny Lia, 18 Huntington Honda Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Renee Dupuis, 90 Space Fitters/RAMCO
Chevrolet
POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Jamie Tomaino, 99 Perth Amboy Spring Ford
TOMMY BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Doug Coby, 77 Red Line Oil Chevrolet
Caution Flags: Laps 3-13; 16-24; 27-30;
32-37; 57-62; 65-69; 72-76; 124-129; 135-139. 9 for 57 laps.
Lap Leaders: Eric Beers 1-23, Doug Coby 24-143, Chuck Hossfeld 144-146, Ted
Christopher 147-150.
Total Laps Led: Doug Coby 120, Eric Beers 23, Ted Christopher 4, Chuck Hossfeld
3. 3 changes involving 4 drivers.
Top 20 Driver Points: Ted Christopher 865, Chuck Hossfeld 762, Donny Lia 709,
Rick Fuller 686, Tony Hirschman 666, Zach Sylvester 649, Doug Coby 640, Chris
Kopec 596, Jamie Tomaino 588, Jerry Marquis 587, Eddie Flemke 587, Mike Christopher
587, Eric Beers 557, Nevin George 549, Renee Dupuis 545, Ken Barry 489, Mike
Stefanik 488, Tyler Haydt * 485, Dave Etheridge 477, Kevin Konopka 467
June 30 - Lancaster Speedway - Race of Champions Tour Event
-7th
Eric and the Major Motion #19 qualified the car well
and Eric pulled the number 2 pill to start outside pole. In the beginning
of the race, Chuck Hossfeld led while fighting off Eric. In a caution filled
event, about every mod went in the pits at least once. Sege was one of the
first drivers to go in the pits. Billy Putney and other drivers followed.
On about lap 32, Chuck and Eric Beers went in the pits. As Chuck was trying
to get to the front, he spun after a car slowed in front of him. Tom McGrath
hit Chuck and McGrath was not able to return. Chuck came back out after Tony
Hanburys car and Earl Paules cars got stuck together. It had to be the longest
caution ever people still don't know why they didn't throw the red flag. Fidanza
won with Pistol Pete following him. Putney came in 3rd, Matt Hirschman 4th
and Hossfeld rounded out the top 5. Eric was on his way to a very very good
finish as he made his way to the field but then had to hold on for 7th as
the rubber piece that holds the end of the torque arm came apart.
Firecracker 75 - SEGE FIDANZA, Pete Brittain, Billy Putney, Matt Hirschman,
Chuck Hossfeld, Rusty Smith, Eric Beers, Larry Jackson, Todd Burley, TJ Potrzebowski,
Daren Scherer, Tony Hanbury, Jan Leaty, Kenny Troyer, Lee Sherwood, John Markovic,
Ben Reynolds, Earl Paules, Tommy Kinsella, Bill Mislin, Tom McGrath, Todd
Smith, Ron Williams, Danny Knoll Jr., Zane Zeiner, Karl Hehr, Dave Wollaber
June
25- Waterford Speedbowl- New Loundon, CT - 3rd
Eric and the #3 Boehler Racing Crew had a great car
set up for Waterford. Eric went out and qualified 6th and redrew 6th. Eric
ran 5th for the first 30 laps of the race and then ran fourth until he moved
into 3rd by lap 60. Many caution up to lap 110 kept everyone from really getting
into a groove. The top three of Donny Lia, Teddy and Eric Held the top three
positions the remaniner of the way as cautions again kept everyone from getting
into a rhythm and Donny Lia had a dominate car tonight pulling away by ten
car lengths at times. The way it sounds Donny Lia blew his Motor on the last
lap and went in for the win?
1. (1) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, 56.691 mph, $6,800
2. (7) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $3,600
3. (6) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $2,500
4. (4) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 150, $2,500
5. (3) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale N.J., Dodge, 150, $2,000
6. (8) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 150, $2,300
7. (2) Tommy Cravenho, Jr, Raynham Mass., Dodge, 150, $1,700
8. (12) Matt Hirschman, Northampton Pa., Dodge, 150, $1,300
9. (9) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point N.Y., Pontiac, 150, $1,900
10. (25) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Pontiac, 150, $1,800
11. (18) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 150, $1,700
12. (5) Tony Hirschman, Northampton PA., Chevrolet, 150, $2,370
13. (27) Chris Kopec, Palmer Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $1,760
14. (26) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 150, $1,750
15. (14) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,740
16. (20) James Civali, Meriden Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $930
17. (22) Kevin Konopka, Meriden Conn., Dodge, 150, $1,610
18. (21) Dennis Gada, Salem Conn., Dodge, 150, $880
19. (10) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $1,570
20. (11) Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $860
21. (24) Eric Berndt, Rocky Hill Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,250
22. (23) Justin Gaydosh, Newtown Conn., Chevrolet, 149, $840
23. (17) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 134, $1,630
24. (16) Tommy Cloce, Canton N.Y., Chevrolet, 109, Black Flag, $1,510
25. (30) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 92, Accident, $1,500
26. (28) Nevin George, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 73, Accident, $1,600
27. (19) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Ford, 69, Accident, $1,300
28. (15) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 37, Accident, $1,200
29. (13) Jimmy Storace, Kingston N.H., Chevrolet, 30, Accident, $1,200
30. (29) Ken Barry, Griswold Conn., Chevrolet, 18, Accident, $1,800
Failed to Qualify: (6) Kevin Goodale (#58), Dick Houlihan (#46), Darrin Stevens * (#44), Mike Molleur (#35), Jake Marosz (#9), Wade Cole (#33).
Time of Race: 0 hrs., 59 mins, 32 secs Average
Speed: 56.691 mph Margin of Victory: under caution
BUD POLE AWARD: Tony Hirschman, 48 Kamco Supply Corporation Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Gregg Shivers, 23 Kleet Lumber Pontiac
POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Doug Coby, 77 Angellinos Italian Restaurant
Pontiac
SUNOCO RACE FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Tyler Haydt *, 28 Ramar-Hall Chevrolet
TOMMY BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Donny Lia, 18 Huntington Honda Chevrolet
Caution Flags: Laps 19-24; 32-36; 39-47; 69-73; 88-91; 93-97; 113-116. 7 for
38 laps.
Lap Leaders: Donny Lia 1-150. Total Laps Led: Donny Lia 150. 0 changes involving
1 drivers.
Top 20 Driver Points: Ted Christopher
685, Chuck Hossfeld 592, Donny Lia 575, Tony Hirschman 575, Zach Sylvester
555, Rick Fuller 531, Chris Kopec 514, Jerry Marquis 502, Doug Coby 475, Mike
Christopher 475, Eddie Flemke 466, Gregg Shivers 456, Nevin George 449, Jamie
Tomaino 428, Renee Dupuis 427, Tyler Haydt * 418, Ken Barry 413, Eric Beers
411, Kevin Konopka 403, Tommy Cloce 385
Next Race: Stafford Springs, Conn
June
19- Wyoming County- Perry, NY- RoC Tour
- Heat Win - 5th
By Dave Buchanan
The Sunoco Race of Champions Modified Tour returned to the
Wyoming County International Speedway for a special Father’s Day appearance.
Twenty-nine of the top Modified teams from New York, Pennsylvania, and beyond
jammed the pits for what turned out to be one of the most action packed Modified
races in recent history at WCIS. Eric
Beers and Rick Kluth would get lucky in the redraw for the top 12 starting
spots, as they drew the top two starting spots and would lead the field of
28 to the green flag for the 75-lap event. Beers would get the jump from the
pole position on the start and bring along Tom McGrath into second after starting
directly behind Beers. The top two pulled away from the field until the race’s
first caution on lap 13 after Matt Parsons spun in turn two. Following the
double-file restart, McGrath took the lead from Beers on lap 15. The yellow
flag would come out again on laps 16 and 17. During the caution on lap 16,
Jan Leaty retired from the race after a piece of asphalt from the racing surface
knocked a hole in his radiator. On lap 17, Todd Smith would lose the handle
of his car going down the backstretch and spin out just moments after passing
Zane Zeiner for third. Racing resumed on lap 18 with McGrath and Beers still
in front, but behind them there was plenty of passing going on. Both Pete
Brittain and George Kent would start to surface into the top five as they
were running third and fourth by lap 30. Brittain, however, would start to
slip back around the halfway point as some of the cars that started deep in
the field were pressing their way to the front. Earl Paules and Tony Hanbury
started 18th and 20th respectively but made large strides to land in the top
five by the halfway mark. On lap 40, Pete Brittian would spin out on the front
stretch and head to the pits with a flat tire. Matt Hirschman of Northampton,
PA pitted during that yellow flag period as well. With 25 laps to go, Paules
would get by Beers for second while Hanbury would take third place on the
following lap. The yellow flag would fly for a seventh time on lap 53 after
Bobby Osgood got out of shape on the front stretch and tagged the wall. Bill
Putney also suffered front-end damage in the incident but would drive to the
pits and return several laps later. Beers and Kent would take advantage of
the situation and head to the pits as both cars were starting to fade backwards
through the pack. Beers came out with a brand new right rear tire. Following
the restart, Hanbury would pass Paules for the second spot but McGrath continued
to lead. With about 20 laps to go, several drivers who pitted earlier in the
race were beginning to make their presence felt at the front of the field.
Some of those drivers included, Lee Sherwood, Rusty Smith, and Matt Hirschman.
Pete Brittain would bring out another caution with just six laps to go. On
the ensuing restart, Hanbury made a challenge on McGrath for the lead. Hanbury
went to the outside of McGrath heading into turn three on lap 71, but he would
slip out of the groove and spin. There may have been some contact made, but
it wasn't enough for McGrath to face any kind of reprimand from officials.So
there would be one final restart, as McGrath led with Sherwood, Smith, John
Markovic, and Matt Hirschman running behind him. When the green flag waved
again, Sherwood tried to get underneath McGrath, but he wouldn’t budge. On
the final lap, Matt Hirschman came flying on the outside groove and got by
McGrath coming off of turn two. Hirschman took off down the backstretch with
the lead and drove to his second career RoC Tour victory. It was an extra
special win as his father, NASCAR Modified star and former Race of Champions
winner Tony Hirschman, was at the race helping spot for him over the radio.
Tom McGrath would hang on for second in the end after leading 60 laps. Lee
Sherwood, Rusty Smith, and Eric Beers would complete the top five. RESULTS
SUNOCO RACE OF CHAMPIONS MODIFIED
TOUR
Heat Winners – Eric Beers, Tom McGrath, Zane Zeiner
B-Main Winner – Matt Parsons
RoC Tour 75-lap Feature Finish:
1. MATT HIRSCHMAN
2. Tom McGrath
3. Lee Sherwood
4. Rusty Smith
5. Eric Beers
6. John Markovic
7. Todd Smith
8. Rick Kluth
9. Ben Reynolds
10. Wes Swartout
11. Daren Scherer
12. Tony Hanbury
13. Brian DeFebo
14. Mark Tychoniewicz
15. Mike Leaty
16. Earl Paules, Jr.
17. Larry Jackson
18. T.J. Potrzebowski
19. George Kent
20. Pete Brittain
21. Zane Zeiner
22. Bill Chandler
23. Billy Putney
24. Bobby Osgood
25. Ryan Russo
26. Tommy Flanagan
27. Jan Leaty
28. Matt Parsons
June
18- Mahoning Speedway - Regular
30 lap Feature- WIN
Eric took the Major Motion #19 out in the heat race and finished 4th knowing
that he could save his tires because the top five finishers in the three heat
races were redrawing for starting position. Eric redrew the 2nd starting postion
starting outside Bobby Jones. Bobby took off in the begriming of the race
and was wicked fast. So fast in fact that they caught up to lapped traffic
which let Eric get close to Bobby. As this long green flag run continued you
could see that the crews set up was coming in as Eric was able to get in the
turn and out really smooth. FOr several laps Eric ran a half a groove up from
the bottom testing the waters on the outside of Jones. Finally Eric committed
to the outside and in two laps finally made the move on Bobby jones who seemed
to be getting a little loose. From there Eric had to wait through two caution
period and hold on to bring the #19 Major Motion NASCAR Modified into victory
lane. As always when Eric is at his "HOME TRACK" Mahoning a large
contingent of family, friends, crew and supporters joined Eric in victory
for the Winning Photo Session. This was Eric's 19th career win at Mahoning.
BY THE ONE AND ONLY- DINO
First Visit to Mahoning Nets First Place for Eric Beers
By Dino Oberto
Northampton’s Eric Beers made his first ’05 visit to Mahoning Valley Speedway well worth the trip as the former track champion laid claim to his 19th career Modified victory. Beers was on hand to compete in the make-up 75-lap Race of Champions event but stuck around for the regular 30-lap Mod feature held later that evening. By luck of the draw he picked the outside front row starting slot, joining pole sitter Bobby Jones for the outset. Once the race got underway it was Jones who dashed to the early lead and then set out on a blistering pace as the first 27 laps were reeled off caution free. As the laps continued to click away, Jones looked very strong and appeared destined for the checkered flag. Beers, however, began to utilize his many years of successful experience at the fast-paced quarter mile and had crept up on Jones by lap-15. Soon after the pair went into a side-by-side dual. As they crossed the stripe to complete lap 20, Beers had the momentum going his way from the outside and eased into the lead.Afterwards all Jones could do was keep track from second as Beers was unstoppable from there on.“It was great coming here. We didn’t fair so well in the RoC race but we figured we stay around and see what we could do in this one,” said Beers who does all of his racing now on the NASCAR Modified and RoC Tours.“Bobby (Jones) was killing me in the beginning. He was just driving away. I said, ‘Man if he keeps going like that then I’m never going to catch him.’ We caught some lapped traffic, it held him up a little and it seemed like his tires started going away. I’d say he needed a caution there to cool them off. Ours came on the rest was history.’Beers noted that he always looks for an opportunity to race his ‘home track.’“This will always be my home track no matter where I end up. It’s great to come back here in front of all the hometown fans and see a lot of people that I grew up with. It’s just awesome.“We have a good race car and hopefully we can come back a couple more times this year.”Jones’ runner up capped off a fine evening of racing after coming home third during the RoC 75. “I didn’t really take notice of him (Beers) until he passed me. I had just focused on winning the race and that’s what I went out for. He was stronger then I was on the outside. I was giving everything I could,” said Jones.“We’ll take it. The crew had finished putting the clutch in so we’re happy. My crew did a heck of a job. I may have made them work but I give them all there credit. I tried to win for them but we’ll try next time.”Glenn Correll raced steady and notched a solid third while Roger Heffelfinger and Tom Shupp completed the top five.
Heat winners included Don Wagner,
CJ Jones and Anthony Sesely with John Bennett taking the consi.
Feature (30): 1.Eric
Beers 2.Bobby Jones 3.Glenn Correll 4.Roger Heffelfinger, Jr. 5.Tom Shupp
6.Lou Strohl 7.Tom Flanagan 8.CJ Jones 9.John Bennett 10.Rick Kirkendall 11.Kevin
Graver, Jr. 12.Kory Rabenold 13.Don Wagner 14.Brian Labar 15.Brian DeFebo
16.Anthony Sesely 17.Dean Ficarro 18.Billy Swartz 19.Bob Wagner 20.Larry Fisher
DNQ: Jarred Nace, Dave Correll, Pete Brittian, Dave Wallace, Troy Bollinger,
Billy Swartz
June
18- Mahoning Speedway- Race
of Champions Tour - 75 laps - 16th place finish
Eric was driving the Powerful, Major Motion, Sunoco Race Fuels, United Cash
Checking #19 NASCAR Modified fro CT car owner George Bierce. THis was the
debut of this beautifully prepared white #19 for the 2005 season. Eric went
out in practice as he had to prepare to run the last chance qualifying race
that was taking the top two to transfer into the 75 lap RoC Feature which
was set on May 20. He
said the car was good and the team would be in good shape for the night. Eric
started 5th in the Last chance race and waited for the 15 lap race to come
to him. He had to follow as the 26 car of Wes and the 95 of Markovic battled
side by side for several laps. On an ensuing restart Eric got to second and
was on the 26's bumper. Eric was hugging the inside land and as they went
down the back stretch the 26 moved all the way to the bottom which opened
up the outside lane and ERic was off to the win.
Eric started the RoC Race in 28th position and was just taking his time working
his way up through the field as the car was really good. Then the car started
to overheat and when Eric came in Glenn took the hood off and the radiator
cap popped off and it looked the 19 had a geyser blow. The crew came in several
time to correct the problem and had not lost any laps on the first two trips
into the pits but on the third trip in Eric lost two laps. From this point
on Eric was just making sure the car was good for the Regular feature to come
later. ERic picked his way through the field and was looking good when a spindle
broke finishing his RoC run for the night. THis might not have been a bad
thing because there was some strange things happening out on the track that
left officials shaking their heads. The car was in one piece and ready for
the heats. Eric ended up in the 16th finishing position. Congratulations to
Don Wagner and Matt Balliet for winning the RoC Feature as Don worked very
hard to hold off Zeiner and Booby Jones.
WAGNER USES HOME TRACK EXPERIENCE TO WIN A WILD ROUGH AND TUMBLE MAHONING VALLEY RoC CHECKER
BY JR KENNERUP
(6-18-05) On a night where patience was a key, Don Wagner of Dover, NJ used his experience of racing at the Mahoning Valley Speedway to claim the 75 lap Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Tour feature on Saturday night. Wagner, who started tenth, took the lead with an outside turns three and four pass of Brian DeFebo on lap 38. After getting the lead Wagner had to hold off the relentless challenges of Zane Zeiner and Bobby Jones over the final 20 laps to claim the win.In a three car blanket finish Wagner won by a half a car length over Zeiner who was challenging on the outside for the win. Jones who started 14th got loose on the final set of turns in making his final charge to the checkers and settled for third. Last place (28th) starter John Markovic drove a smart race to come on strong at the end to end up fourth. New father Rusty Smith continuing a strong season with a fifth place finish after starting 15th and pitting once during the feature.“I could almost call myself a regular racer here as when I don’t run with the Busch North Series I’m here racing on Saturday nights,” said the happy winner. “I’ve got a few laps here this year and that is a big advantage. Because Mahoning Valley is not a horsepower track, it’s all about handling you know. I certainly wasn’t the fastest car as Zane (Zeiner) was all over me. “Bobby Jones put some pressure on. A couple of good cars got crashed out and they could have put pressure on me, but the fastest car doesn’t always win.”Don started tenth and never entered the top five until lap 19. You could assume that he took his time in getting into the top five, but Don has another version of how you have to race at Mahoning Valley. “A lot of cautions and I was kind of glad that they went to single file starts when they did. It’s a tight little track and when they put 28 cars out here things are bound to happen. There is really no taking your time to get to the front here. You’ve got a lot of good cars and you don’t want to have to pass the good cars, you want to get to the front first. You got to be patient, pick your holes, and try to anticipate a caution so you don’t end up in an even number which means you’re in the outside row on a restart. The outside groove here is fast only when the field strings out in single file. “Thanks to some problems to the cars in front of him, Wagner moved from fifth on lap 19 to second just eight laps later. For the next ten laps he measured leader Brian DeFebo whose car was beginning to encounter a severe push condition. Finally Wagner got a good enough run on the outside to make the pass for the lead on lap 38.Asked if this was his biggest career feature win he answered, “Possibly. I won a really good open competition race at Evergreen Speedway a few years ago. I beat Tony Siscone and I started last in that race, I always considered that to be my greatest win. For the next 20 years of my career this win is my greatest.”He was also asked his opinion of the race and all of the shenanigans that took place? “Generally the RoC guys are very clean and they give and take more than the guys who race only on Saturday nights,” summed up Don. “Mainly because the RoC guys run 75 lap races all the time and we run 25 to 30 lap races weekly and you can’t be patient in those races. Circumstances tonight early on, I really don’t know why guys were racing that hard.” “Yea it was survival,” said second place finisher Zane Zeiner of Bath, Pa. “There at the start of the race I was getting boxed in, get a couple of spots, and then lose them back. I wasn’t getting too worried at that time as I was trying to avoid the wrecks.”Zane started seventh and hung back at the start of the race as he knew ahead of time what was going to happen. “To stay smooth and calm underneath the helmet,” said Zeiner. “I knew that something was going to start flying soon like it always does here.”Zane, after watching plenty of crashing and banging take place in front of him, moved into the top five for the first time on lap 31. Running primarily the bottom groove he moved into fourth on lap 32 and into third on lap 48. He then zipped under Jones for second in turn two on lap 57 and during the final 18 laps pulled along side Wagner for the lead several times but was unable to get around him.“I was just hoping for some long green flag segments, finally there at the end we did get the long green flag runs and the car was starting to come on then,” commented Zane. “I did have something there on the outside at the end. But he (Wagner) drove a good race, he has lots of laps here. I tried to take advantage when I snuck underneath him (lap 64) but I didn’t think I was quite enough there so I backed out of it.”“If we didn’t have to race tomorrow we would have probably stuck in there a little bit harder than we did,” answered Zane to why he did back off. “Second’s good and we’ll take it.”
Qualifying heats back on May 14th before the rain hit were won by Wagner, Roger Heffelfinger, Jr., Matt Hirschman, and Troy Bollinger. Tonight’s twin B-Mains were won by Anthony Sesley and Dave Wallace, while Eric Beers won the Non-Qualifiers race.
NOTES; Three news cars (Beers, Jared Nace, and Dean Ficarro) showed up on this night after 37 cars showed on the original date. Several cars who were slated for B-Main action failed to return and Mahoning Valley management decided to add a Non-Qualifiers race to any drivers who wanted to attempt to qualify that were not here back on May 14th.
Fifth place feature starter Andy Szapacs failed to show tonight as possibly his motor was not ready after blowing it at Chemung one month ago.
The two bubble cars from the B-Mains drew to see who was going to be added to the feature and CJ Jones drew the lucky pill. Pete Brittain drove the #98 car on this evening. Frustration and heated exchanges were the story of the feature which was slowed by 13 caution flag periods. Tempers boiled over twice during the feature with the Eric Kocher / Tyler Haydt on track incident continuing in the pit area.
While the Pete Britain / Matt Wentz on track incident saw their respective crews do battle in the pit area.
RoC officials are investigating both ugly incidents and are considering suspensions and fines to the individuals who were involved. Maybe all who were involved could have watched Matt Hirschman and what he did after being spun out while running fourth. Matt obviously upset restarted at the rear instead of acting childish and ended up finishing seventh.
RoC CENTRAL REGION RACE # 3 FINISH; Don Wagner, Zane Zeiner, Bobby Jones, John Markovic, Rusty Smith, Brian DeFebo, Matt Hirschman, CJ Jones, Anthony Sesley, Glenn Correll, Earl Paules, Brian Labar, Troy Bollinger, Dave Wallace, Pete Brittain, Matt Wentz, Kevin Graver, Jr., Eric Beers, Tommy Flanagan, Scott Lesher, Roger Heffelfinger, Jr., Lou Strohl, Rick Kirkendall, Tyler Haydt, Eric Kocher, Tom Shupp, John Bennett, Daren Scherer.
June
12 - Thompson Speedway - Whelen Tour-
Rescheduled
On this very hot June afternoon- Eric and the team had
a top five car in practice but never got the chance to qualify as it started
to rain half way through qualifying. Waiting on the new date for this race.
June
10 - Mountain Speedway - 40 Laps - $3000 to win-
3rd
Eric and Defebo put on a show in the heats with Eric inching Eric by a nose.
Due to handicapping Eric started 15th. Just ran out of time at the end and
many a car were running side by side for many laps and Mountain Speedway does
not have a third lane. Brought home a great 3rd place finish
June 9 - Tommy Baldwin Memorial Golf Outing
Great time- Great Cause- Cant wait until next year- Met many new friends that
all had a common cause which was to honor out late friend and fellow competitor-
My friend- Tiger Tom
June
4 - Riverhead
Raceway - 200 Laps - Whelan Tour-
Pole - 2nd
GREAT
RUN AT 'HEAD
Eric was practicing at Riverhead Raceway on Saturday,
June 4 and was keeping th car on the bottom on th ewhite line and yes he was
fast. Car owner Michael Boehler was spotting for Eric ans suggested that Eric
move up half a grove and try that out. Well folks, Eric went out and time
trialed pole and missed the Track record by 11/1000 of a second. Eric redrew
5th and was up to 3rd by 20 laps. The race went green for a little and while
the 00 was getting nto the back of the 14 Eric went by and ran second the
remaninder of the event. It was not for lack of trying that Eric ran second.
He tried the outside groove on winner TC to get by but as TC moved up Eric
ran out of real estte to get by. All in all a great night for BRE Racing to
finish 2nd and bring the car home in one piece. Read the story below from
51 sports.com on the battle between TC and Eric Beers.
STORY FROM BOB DILLNAR 51 SPorts.com
And now with three-top-fives in three races, with two victories to boot, Christopher
is the Mod Tour point leader heading into this weekend’s event at Thompson
Speedway in CT, where coincidently his first victory of the season came. Yet
the win at Riverhead symbolized that much more.“This place is the place
that you judge for your championship possibilities,” TC suggests. “Everybody
always says, ‘If you can get through Riverhead and finish in the top-five
then you got a shot at the title.’ Now we got a couple wins going in
three races and we’ll see what happens.”Does this mean the ever-tough
TC-monster is thinking points this early in the season? “I was just
trying to stay to the bottom and if he could get there (to the outside) he
would get there,” explains Teddy. “He was getting probably to
the right rear which wasn’t real close, but eh, what are you going to
do? When you are in second you are able to do whatever you want to do. The
guy leading is going to try to run a safe line; you don’t want to do
anything stupid.”But
at the end of the race, it’s the leader who has the secret weapon…
his mirror.“I might have used a little extra real estate,” Christopher
admits. “My spotter was pretty good.”
His car was wide, real
wide, the whole race,” says Beers, who wound up second. “I went
up, I went down; I tried everything to get by him. We were definitely a little
better than him getting through the turn and getting up off, but he was pinching
the car coming up off so I couldn’t get to the bottom.
TC TAMES ‘EM IN WILD RIVERHEAD SHOW by Bob Dillner
Beers Returns with Strong
Second in Whelen Mod Tour Battle
Picture this. It’s Victor Frankenstein’s lab just moments before
the monster on the table awakens for the very first time. The wind is blowing
outside, the thunder clatters and the voltage is flowing through the room
in every direction. It’s a crazy-scary-electric atmosphere and the same
feeling you had this past weekend at Riverhead Raceway if you witnessed the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour unleash its fury on the tight quarter mile oval
on Long Island.
The monsters in this battle did not scars on their forehead like Frankenstein,
but their rage was much the same; Ted Christopher vs. Eric Beers, Jerry Marquis
vs. Donny Lia, Rick Fuller vs. Chuck Hossfeld, Ed Flemke vs. Chuck Steur,
Frank Vigliarolo vs. Jimmy Blewett and six-time champ Mike Stefanik vs. the
world.
“Five laps a minute; where else can you do that?” says Stefanik as he explains the chaotic nature of the 150-lap event. “It takes them five minutes to go a lap these days in some of the bigger series. You can pass and you might bump and grind, but that’s what short track racing is all about. I hope I didn’t get anybody too mad at me (he did and we’ll have more on that in leftovers in days to come), but it does say speedway out there, so it is time to go. I always have a good time here, win lose or draw.”
“Everybody was
pushing the envelope tonight,” describes defending race winner Jerry
Marquis. “It just seemed like that was the only way you were going to
be able to get up to the front. I never played bumper tag this hard anywhere,
not even Riverside Park (where Marquis is a former track champ). Here it was
just phenomenal how hard we all beat each other.”
“Passing Frank Vigliarolo at Riverhead, on the outside, was a tough
deal. I knew he was real tight in the middle so I knew the only chance I really
had was if I could run side-by-side with him on the restart. I worked for
me and then it was on cruise control for a while.”
Cruise control until
Eric Beers, making his return to the Modified Tour since suffering multiple
injuries in a wreck at the season-opening event nearly two months ago, came
alive at the end of the race and began to hunt down Christopher for the lead.
“I tried to get next to him with a couple laps to go and I got right
up next to him and he just drove me up to the fence. What are you going to
do?”
That’s exactly Christopher’s point as well.
“Screw that, I’m not giving up a win with just a couple of laps to go. I’m protecting it for all I’ve got.
“I got into him
a few times, but I didn’t want to end up wrecking both of us,”
continues Beers. “He’s been around a long time; he knows where
to park the car in the turn so you can’t get next to him. The one time
we did get the big run up off of four there the track needed to be about four
feet wider for me to be able to fit.”
TC was king of this Monster's Ball. (Howie Hodge Photo)
And if you are going to have a rough and tumble evening with plenty of thrills
to wake even the souls from years gone by, one might expect Ted Christopher
to be involved. The go-for-broke racer passed Vigliarolo on the outside during
a restart and then held off a hard-charging Eric Beers to pull down his second
victory of what has been a very short season (only three races) and his second
victory at the electrifying Riverhead Raceway.This place is so difficult because
your concentration level is so high,” says TC. “You try not to
screw up and you’re bound to a couple times in a 150-lap race, but usually
here, it’s the guy who makes the least amount of mistakes and gets to
the front early that’s going to win and that’s what we did tonight.
But if the roles were reversed, would Beers’ car become as wide as Christopher’s
was late in the race?I don’t know. It’s hard to say. Late in the
race you have to protect, but he could have given me a little bit of a lane,”
Beers says. “Maybe if the roles are reversed the next time he’ll
give me the same courtesy and run me clean. I’m going to store this
one in the ol’ memory bank. “No, no. I’m not that type of
racer. You watched me race for years and you know I race to win and I get
real upset when I don’t.”And when he doesn’t win, look out,
because that’s when the monster inside of Ted Christopher is unleashed.
. (3) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet,
150, 43.591 mph, $7,500
2. (5) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $3,950
3. (11) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $3,000
4. (16) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 150, $2,500
5. (8) Mike Stefanik, Coventry R.I., Dodge, 150, $2,400
6. (6) Chuck Steuer, Bohemia N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $1,300
7. (9) Rick Fuller, Auburn Mass., Pontiac, 150, $2,050
8. (12) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $2,000
9. (15) Tony Hirschman, Northampton PA., Chevrolet, 150, $2,500
10. (26) Ken Barry, Griswold Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $2,500
11. (13) Anthony Ferrante, Jr, Franklin Square, Chevrolet, 150, $1,375
12. (7) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Ford, 149, $1,750
13. (24) Mike Christopher, Plainville Conn., Pontiac, 149, $1,225|
14. (22) Zack Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 149, $1,675
15. (25) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Ford, 148, $1,350
16. (17) Tyler Haydt, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 145, $825
17. (19) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Chevrolet, 143, $1,500
18. (28) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 138, $1,475
19. (4) Chris Kopec, Palmer Mass., Chevrolet, 124, Accident, $1,050
20. (2) Jimmy Blewett, Howell N.J., Dodge, 124, Accident, $1,025
21. (10) Gregg Shivers, Rocky Point N.Y., Pontiac, 121, Accident, $1,425
22. (1) Frank Vigliarolo, Jr, Mt. Sinai N.Y., Dodge, 112, Steering, $725
23. (23) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 103, Handling, $725
24. (14) Nevin George, Kunkletown Pa., Chevrolet, 102, $1,425
25. (27) Tommy Cloce, Canton N.Y., Chevrolet, 40, $1,125
26. (18) Kevin Konopka, Meriden Conn., Dodge, 22, Accident, $1,425
27. (20) Chris Young, Calverton N.Y., Chevrolet, 21, Accident, $725
28. (21) Wayne Anderson, Yaphank N.Y., Chevrolet, 17, Overheating, $725
Failed to Qualify: (13) Bill Park (#20), Howie Brode (#96), Joseph Hartmann
(#05), Thomas Rogers (#6), Dave Etheridge (#54), Dan Jivanelli (#72), Jimmy
Storace (#47), Kevin Goodale (#58), Steve Whitt (#06), Fred Vordermeier (#04),
Wade Cole (#33), Jake Marosz (#9), Darrin Stevens * (#44).
Time of Race: 51 mins, 37 secs Average Speed: 43.591 mph Margin of Victory: .32 SecondsBUD POLE AWARD: Eric Beers, 3 Roby's Propane/Reynolds Auto ChevroletFEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Mike Stefanik, 00 G. Lopes Construction DodgePOWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Ken Barry, 21 Lombardi Inside Out ChevroletTOMMY BALDWIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Ted Christopher, 13 AWD/DWD/JAT/TSI ChevroletCaution Flags: Laps 12-19; 22-32; 35-43; 74-82; 126-133; 134-140. 6 for 52 laps.Lap Leaders: Frank Vigliarolo, Jr 1-33, Ted Christopher 34-150.Total Laps Led: Ted Christopher 117, Frank Vigliarolo, Jr 33. 1 changes involving 2 drivers.
Stafford Speedway - May 27 • Oswego Speedway - May 28 • Tioga Speedway - May
29
HE'S BACK
Eric went to Stafford on Friday and qualified the Boehler #3 in the 5th position
and redrew pole. The event was rescheduled due to rain to July 3rd. The team
then left Stafford Friday night and made their way to Oswego for the 100 lap
RoC Tour Event. Eric won his heat race and redrew pole. He led every lap of
green flags (100 laps + the 78 run under caution. At the end he gave it everything
he had to hold off Zane Zeiner to bring home the victory. On Sunday the team
left for Tioga for the 61 lap Richie Evans Memorial RoC Tour Event. Eric was
going for the lead in his heat when he was hit from behind by the 34ish car
of Rusty Smith. This sent Eric into a nice spin and was sitting by himself
in the turn four grass when another competitor coming out of three locked
his brakes up and spun it into the Eric. The team worked hard to get Eric
ready for the feature. Eric started 28th and finished a respectable 5th.
ROAD TO RECOVERY CAN'T BE SHORT ENOUGH FOR BEERS by Mike Twist
Hardcore
Racer Doesn't Want to Be on The Shelf, He Wants to Be Racing a Modified Again
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour fans were given a pretty good scare on Sunday
afternoon during the Icebreaker at Thompson International Speedway (CT). Eric
Beers spun into the frontstretch wall coming out of turn four and hit it flush
with the left side of his famous Boehler #3 Modified. With the angle that
he hit at, all of the energy from the wreck was absorbed by the car and the
driver sitting inside of it. And there was a lot of energy to be absorbed,
Beers had just started accelerating out of the turn when he turned around.
When the window net on “Ole’ Blue” didn’t go down,
fans got concerned. When rescue crew came over and cut the roof off the car,
fans got even more concerned. Some movement was seen from inside the car and
when Beers was loaded onto the stretcher, he moved his legs. This helped ease
the fears of the fans, but we still didn’t know just how injured that
Beers was or wasn’t until the race was over and done with.
As it turns out, Beers needed to be cut out of the car because although his
injuries weren’t traumatic, they were very painful. Beers suffered a
broken collarbone and a few broken ribs. Both injuries will hurt pretty badly
for awhile and keep him out of his racecar for a little bit, but are also
expected to heal fully.
This week, Beers has been resting up at his home in Pennsylvania, already
looking forward to his recovery.
“I’m doing pretty well,” said Beers. “I’m healing
up pretty fast. I’ve got a broken collarbone and a couple of ribs, but
other than that, everything else is good. My neck feels good and so does my
back. My head’s clear, I never blacked out or got dizzy.”
In fact, Beers can recall the entire wreck just like if he had just walked
out of the car and over to the PA announcer.“I remember everything,”
said Beers. “We had that restart there and we got going. We were a little
bit loose up off the turn all day. The guys did a good job tightened it up.
I lost radio contact with the guys after one of the wrecks. I don’t
know if it jarred one of the radio wires loose or what. We went back green
and I got under a few of those guys on the bottom there. I wanted to get by
Howie [Brode] in the #96 and I got under him getting in the middle of turns
three and four.”
Then all hell broke loose.
“I was driving up out of turn four and there was some speedy dry down
there,” said Beers. “I caught the speedy dry in the right spot
and when I went to save the car, Howie was right where I needed to be to save
it. I just caught his left front and it turned me around the other way.”
Once the car stopped, Beers tried to get out just like normal, but he knew
right away that things weren’t normal.
“I’ve seen pictures of it on the Internet and that’s it,”
said Beers. “It took a hard hit. They were waiting to get all of the
panels off it to tell, but pretty much they are going to have to rebuild the
whole thing if they are going to run this car ever again.”
The parts of the car that needed to hold up in the crash did though. Beers is very glad that his safety gear did its job.
“It was definitely
the hardest hit that I’ve had and everything did its job,” said
Beers. “The seat that Randy LaJoie and his guys built down there [in
North
If you look closely at both photos, you can see how well the driver's compartment
held up in the crash.
“I knew that my collarbone was hurt because I couldn’t get my
window net down,” said Beers. “I reached over with my right hand
and felt my left collarbone and felt the break in it. The biggest thing was
that I couldn’t catch my breath because my ribs were cracked. Just moving
and trying to get out of the car was really bad. Once that I found out that
I had cracked ribs and nothing else was wrong, it was pretty easy. I knew
not to move around much.”
Beers hasn’t seen
the car yet, but he knows from phone conversations with the crew and photos
that he has viewed online that the damage to it is pretty extensive.
“It was bad on Sunday when I was in the trauma room,” said Beers.
“I had a lot of time to think lying there. I was pretty upset with myself
getting a good ride like that and getting into a wreck like that. I was thinking
that the whole season was gone and that I blew my big chance. Then Michael
[Boehler] came in and talked to me. He was one of the first people in there
and he told me that it wasn’t going to be so bad. We’d only miss
one race and we’ll get it back. It should work out good. I should be
back for the next Stafford race and we’ll just keep plugging away.”
The plan that Boehler
came up with includes a pretty
The #3 car didn't look pretty after the race, but it did it's job. NASCAR
impounded the car and looked it over thoroughly before releasing it to the
team and they apparantly agreed that all of the safety equipment worked just
as intended. Beers was all smiles before Sunday's race. worked. Who knows
what would have happened if I had a cheaper seat in there?”
Beers is known in the Modified community as being quite the racer. He’ll race on the Whelen Modified Tour, he was at Florida Speedweeks, he runs as many open shows and Race of Champions Modified events as he possibly can. So when he had his 2005 season interrupted in his debut race aboard the Boehler #3, the pain of missing races might have outweighed the physical pain that he was in after the crash.. 2003 NASCAR Modified champion Todd Szegedy will drive the #3 in the Spring Sizzler at Stafford.
“It’s great that Michael got Todd lined up to drive the car,” said Beers. “It’s great for the whole team to keep the owner’s points up. I know that he will do a great job.”
With nearly a month’s
break before the next Tour race, that might be the only race that Beers will
need to miss. Then again, Beers admits to trying to figure out a race to race
at the Spring Sizzler anyways.
“If this race had been three weeks away instead of two, I would have
tried to at least run part of it,” said Beers. “But it was too
close. Three weeks, maybe. But two weeks, I don’t think that the bones
would have mended enough to get me in and out of the car quick enough. If
I got stuck and one of the guys tried to help get me out, it might pull a
bone apart or something.”
Because of his injuries,
Beers spent a night in a Massachusetts hospital. It was most a precaution
though. “They were thinking about releasing me on Sunday night,”
said Beers. “I told the nurse that I had a five hour Beers looks forward
to getting back behind te wheel.
Even while Beers was lying on his back, he was thinking about his racing plans.
ride home and it was already nine at night, so they thought about it and talked
to the doctor. Then they decided to keep me there and run a few more tests
on me Monday morning. I think that it would have been a tough ride if I had
gone home Sunday night.”
When Beers got home, he was greeted with dozens of phone calls and messages from concerned competitors and friends.
“I just can’t believe it the number or people calling me to see if I’m alright,” said Beers. “They’ve also been calling Michael [Boehler] up at the shop and asking about me. The outpouring of people who want to know that you are OK is amazing.”
Although Beers is still healing up, he knows exactly where he’ll be next weekend. He won’t be able to drive his car at Stafford, but he’ll be at the track with his team nevertheless.
“I’ll be up there for the weekend and help out as much as I can,” said Beers.
And that is definitely the sign of a man who really loves his job.
Eric Beers Home and On the Road to Recovery
Northampton, PA. . . During the running of the IceBreaker event at Thompson
Speedway, the inaugural event for the the 2005 Whelen NASCAR Modified Tour
and Eric's first race for the legandary BRE Racing team, Eric was involved
in a violent crash on the front straight away on lap 53. Due the violent nature
of the crash, and that NASCAR takes all the necessary precautions, the roof
was removed and Eric taken to the local hospital on a backboard with a neck
immobilizer . The BRE Racing #3 NASCAR Modified Driver was then transported
via a Med i-Vac helicopter to UMASS Hospital in Worchester, where he underwent
a battery of tests to determine the extent of injuries. It was determined
that Eric broke his collar bone and has a a hairline fracture in two ribs.
The hospital parking lot looked like the camping area of the Thompson Speedway
as the crew of the BRE Racing team and Eric's friends and supporters made
the trip to UMASS General to be on hand to offer support in any way needed.
BRE Racing owner Michael Boehler was one of the first people on hand and stayed
with Eric until the extent of Eric's condition was determined. NASCAR Officials
Ed Cox and Don Hawk made the trip to the hospital to check on one of their
drivers before flying back to NASCAR Headquarters.
Eric stayed at UMASS General on Sunday night in ICU and after a few more tests
and visits by the Physical Therapy team Eric was released Monday afternoon
and made the drive back to Pennsylvania. The Trauma Team checked on Eric on
Monday Morning and they remarked to Eric that it was the safety built into
the NASCAR Modified that saved his life. By Monday night Eric was home and
playing catch with his son Austin. When asked what happened Eric Replied;
"I'm not sure. I drove into Turn four and as I turned the wheel the car
didn't turn and just that quick the car spun around and went into the wall.
All I know is my La Joie of Seating Seat, Hans Device and a solid car built
by the BRE Racing Crew did its job. I want to thank the safety crew for their
prompt response and care they gave me to get me to the hospital, making me
as comfortable as possible. I am also overwhelmed by the response from the
racing community. I am lucky to have so many friends and strong family support.
I am going to work hard in rehab with my first goal of being at Stafford."
April
10 - Thompson Speedway - 125 Laps
- 29th
April 9 - Thompson Speedway - Qualifying Day - Timed 22
The team is working to get the car even better. Eric was the 2nd car out on
a green race track. The team expects good things to come together during the
race on Sunday.
April 8th- The Begining of a New Team begins
Hello Everyone - As the dawn of a new era is upon us, the BRE Racing Team
has the legendary #3 Whelan Modified ready to bring to the track and get teched.
The team has spent many an hour the past few weeks getting Ole Blue ready
for new driver Eric Beers.
By adding Eric Beers to the list of drivers who has driven the #3 they are
adding their 2nd Race of Champions winner to the list. Fred DeSarro and Len
Boehler won the 1974
Race of Champions at Trenton Speedway and 20 years later Eric won the Race
of Champions at Oswego Speedway. This team and driver combination is expected
to be smooth as both are race ready and have years of experience under their
belts. Both know what it takes to win and expect to do just that and will
accept nothing less.
The final pieces came together over the week, putting in the custom fitted
LaJoie of Seating Car Seat and the Performace Technology Power plant in the
#3.
Well
its off to the track to begin the 2005 Season
DEFENDING CHAMP BEERS IFFY ON SPEEDWEEKS RUN - From
www.51sportsracing.com
Eric Beers came into Speedweeks
with a lot of momentum on his side. The ROC Mod and NASCAR Mod Tour regular
came into Speedweeks as the defending champ and was recently named the driver
of the famous Boehler owned #3 on the NASCAR Tour. But with all of that positive
energy around him, Beers couldn't find victory lane at Speedweeks .
“The week didn’t go as good as we wanted it to go," said Beers. “We were the defending champion of Speedweeks and we wanted to defend out title. I think we ended up third in the points. I wanted to win that 100-lapper but I got wrecked coming up through the field on that one. It was a successful week, but not up to our standards. So that means we’ll have to come back next year even stronger.”
Sat, February 19, New Smyrna Speedway • 25 Laps
Time 6 - Finish 3rd
Last night. The team worked hard all day to get the body back on the #9 after
it was crunched during the 100 lapper the night before. The car was OK and
Eric brought home the car in third to finish the week 3rd in points behind
Speedweeks Champion Teddddy Christopher and 2nd place finsiher Chuck Hossfield.
Fri, February 18, New Smyrna Speedway • 100 Laps- Time
4th - Finish 9th
It was bound to happen. Eric and the team timed 4th and started 4th. After
lap 2 Eric was into 3rd and ran there til lap 70. Eric came in and took four
stickers. Came back out and was on the way to the front and while running
7th the cars in front schecked up and of course Teddy never checked up and
plowed into Eric along with the 66 and caused Eric to wreck the back end and
cause the back bumper to hang off for several laps. Finally Eric came in and
the crew took off the hanging bumper Eric came out to finish 9th.
Thur, February 17, New Smyrna Speedway • 25 Laps - Time 7th - Finish 3rd
The team worked hard all day and changed the motor after they discovered a
blown head gasket. Eric never got a chance to take warmups and went out and
timed 7th. Carol redrew 3rd. The first lap saw the leader Zach Sylvester hit
the apron and spin causing the the first and only caution of the night. From
there the 58 of goooodale held off Teddy Christopher and Eric Beers for the
win. THe race went green from lap 1 on.
Wed, February 16, New Smyrna Speedway • 50 Laps - Time
5th - Finish 3rd
Tonights 50 lapper was dominated by Teddy, Chuck, Eric and Charlie P. Early
on several cars ran into trouble. The 58 spun, the 14 blew up , the 18 lost
an oil line, the 15 had something go bad. From there on it was who could go
fast and save enough tires at the end. Well Eric ran third third from lap
10 on and was closing in on the leaders at the end when the left front baracket
that holds the radiatoer in place was found to be three inched too far back
so the radiater shifted too close to the fan and poked a hole that with three
laps to go let the water start flying. Eric held on and finished in the third
position.
Tues, February 15, New Smyrna Speedway • 25 Laps - Time 3 -
Finish 4
Wacky night at the races. Eric Timed 3rd and redrew 7th. At New Smyrna that
is a tough night ahead of you. One lap one Charlie P brought the cars to the
green - in between turns one and two Eric got together with the 17 of Malave
and brought him into the pits to change a tire. When the 9 came back out he
was flying - Eric was back in the teens and worked him way up to the top ten
by lap 15. THrough attrition and good driving Eric worked his way into the
top 5 by around lap 20. He followed the 15 of Slyvester and finished a solid
4th after a tough start to the race.
Eric also jumped into the 71 Zacharias SK Modified and started in the rear
was in a lap one accident and ended up finishing 5th
Mon, February 14, New Smyrna Speedway • 25 Laps -Time
-Pole - Finish 5
Eric and the team had fast time tomight. "Even in time trials the car
felt a little loose like one of the tires was a little funny." Eric Said
after the race. Well the the race started and from the start Eric was loose
and could not stick it on the outside. For the first ten laps Eric ran 4th
until Eric got under Charlie to take 3rd. On a restart on lap 11 the loose
problem so its ugly head and Eric dropped back to 6th. Eric got back under
Charlie on the next lap and held his position along with everyone else for
the nest 10 laps. Cars in one piece and the crew will work tomorrow to get
the car working better during the feature.
Sat, February 12, New Smyrna Speedway • 25 Laps- Tine 2 - Finish
2
Earl we miss you - you will be missing the team meeting on Sunday night. Eric
and the team set up another great car and had the fastest car in time trials
of all the cars that were running 12 to 1 motors. Eric redrew 5th. Eric had
a great start and was in 3rd place by lap two. By lap 6 Hossfield was by the
66 car and Eric followed him through and was in second for the next 10 laps.
Following a caution they went double file on a restart and the 58 car of Kevin
Gooooddale got under Eric and between turns 3 and 4 the 58 car could not hold
his car to the bottom and ran up into to Eric who made a great save by hitting
the brakes and the gas hard at the same time otherwise it would have been
a bad wreck and Eric would have lost alot of positions. ERic then ran third
for many a lap tryingto get by the 58. On another lap near the end of the
race the 58 got loose coming out of 4 and Eric was on his bumper - as Eric
checked up Teddy got into Eric just a bit and pushed Eric into the 58 which
dented the the nose piece and rear bumper of Erics car and wrecked the left
back part of the 58 car. Once Eric and Teddy got by the Keevin Good car they
did not have a chance to catch the 22 car of Hossfield who had a really really
fast car and captured his first win of the 2005 season. Off til Monday night.
Fri,
February 11, New Smyrna Speedway • 25 Laps- TIme 2 - Finish 2
Eric and the
team set up a great car and missed the pole behind Donny Lia by 4 one hundreths
of a second. Eric redrew 6th. When the race started Eric was held up by traffic
in front of him and went back a far as 10th. As the race went green Eric picked
off positions one by one and was up to third late in the race. One an ensuing
restart the leader Lia held a slow slow slow slow start and when he took off
the 2nd place car of Hossfield did not go the 4th and 5th place cars got by.
Then Eric worked his way back up into fourth when the 22 of Hossfield got
into the wall and had to come into the pits for adjudments and the leader
Lia ran out of gas. Eric chased leader Teddy Christopher to the finish line
for a well fought and well deserved 2nd place finish.
February 11-19- New Smyrna Speedway - Speedweeks
Northampton PA, NASCAR Modified Driver Eric Beers and the Horwith Racing Team
#9 Modified are ready to head to Florida to defend the teams 2004 MODIFIED
CHAMPIONSHIP at the high banked, lightening fast Asphalt Oval, situated about
20 Mile south of Daytona. The team has stout power in the motor provided by
RPM Engines in Lehighton and the fuel to feed the motor from Sunoco Race Fuels.
Castle Products has stepped up this year to provide the team the needed supplies
to get the Race Car in the Championship hunt.
The Races at New Smyrna are the prelude to the season that sees Eric Beers
jump into a legendary NASCAR Modified Ride. ERic is joining forces with Boehler
Racing from MA. Boehler Racing has won six Modified Championships including
two with hometown legend Tony Hirschman. The #3 Ole Blue NASCAR Modified Car
finished the 2004 NASCAR Campaign third in points.
“It
is hard to step into a new ride, especially the seat of such a legendary modified,”
said Beers, who is more than up for the task. “I follow in the footsteps of
many great drivers. I am honored to have the opportunity to drive this car
for this championship-caliber team and I will do my best to continue the winning
tradition.”
JANUARY 29- THe annual ERIC BEERS RACING PARTY
Thank You for all that attended the Annual Eric Beers Racing Party. It was
a great time had by all.
ERIC BEERS SIGNS WITH THE #3 NASCAR MOdified for the 2005 Season
Beers Reaches Agreement with BRE for 2005
By: Dale Wolbrink
January 17, 2005
It was announced earlier this week that Eric Beers of Northampton, Pa., would
take over the reigns of the famed #3 for Boehler Racing Enterprises for the
2005 season of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Beers bring several years
of Modified racing experience to the legendary team. With the rich history
of BRE and Beers’ driving ability, the teaming should see immediate results.
The move comes after the amiable departure of former Tour champion Jerry Marquis
of Broadbrook, CT.
“Just a few weeks ago, we were unsure if we were going to be able to run the full schedule,” said car owner Michael Boehler. “Now we have signed an excellent new driver and we have gained a bunch of enthusiastic new crew members. We have a new outlook for the 2005 season.”
The decision to go with Beers stemmed from his enthusiasm for racing and his tremendous potential on the Whelen Modified Tour. Beers has experienced modest success on the Tour in the past. He finished 15th in the final points standings last season; posting two top-five finishes and five top-ten finishes in 18 starts. In 2003, Beers finished 11th in the final Tour point standings with three Bud Pole awards. The BRE team in their own right scored some impressive stats with Marquis in ’04 including two wins, nine top-five finishes and 12 top-ten finishes in 19 starts. The combination of BRE and their new driver will allow Beers to showcase his talents and capitalize with top-finishes aboard “Ole Blue”.
“It is hard to step into a new ride, especially the seat of such a legendary modified,” said Beers, who is more than up for the task. “I follow in the footsteps of many great drivers. I am honored to have the opportunity to drive this car for this championship-caliber team and I will do my best to continue the winning tradition.”
The Pennsylvania driver has found much success in the Race of Champions Tour as well as at the local short tracks. His prowess has come on the short tracks having recorded Modified track championships at Pocono Mountain, Evergreen and Mahoning Valley Speedways. He has racked up an impressive list of accolades throughout his short-track racing career.
In 2004, Beers took his career to the next level adding some impressive feats to his racing resume. He kicked off the year with a championship in the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing in New Smyrna (FL) last February, earned a win in the prestigious Race of Champions in September, and capped off the year with a second-place finish in the ultra-competitive North-South Shootout™ in Concord, NC in November. Other highlights during the season included a 4th place finish in the final Race of Champions (Central Division) point standings, a RoC victory at Tioga Speedway and a victory in the “King of the Mountain” event at Mountain Speedway.
Beers asserts that his crew played a major role in his success in 2004. The Boehler team will enjoy the benefits of the manpower in 2005. The talent-laden Beers Motorsports crew will come intact, as long-time team members will join the ranks of BRE as well.
With Michael Boehler firmly at the helm, it appears that a youthful enthusiasm has permeated the BRE camp. The relative youth of Beers is something different for the team who has employed notable veterans like Marquis, Tony Hirschman and others who helped to earn Lenny Boehler six NASCAR National Modified championships (1967-1969 and 1994-1996). Managed with the same principles instilled by the legendary Lenny Boehler, BRE has a fresh outlook for the 2005 season.
“I am very excited,” continued Beers. “The season could start tomorrow and I would be ready.”
The union of Beers and Boehler will wait until the Whelen Modified Tour opener at Thompson on April 9, 2005. Each team had prior plans to participate at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida during race weeks. The Boehler entry will be driven in Florida by youngster John McKennedy, a Limited Supermodified driver out of New Hampshire, while Beers will campaign his family-owned car in an effort to defend his Speedweeks title.
For
more information on Eric Beers visit www.ericbeers.com. The NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour opens with the Icebreaker at Thompson International Speedway
on April 9&10, 2005. For more information log on to www.thompsonspeedway.com.
The full Modified Tour schedule has yet to be released.