Meitzler Teams with Stankiewicz

After a few trial-runs at the end of the 2010 season, rising star Addison Meitzler will take over driving duties of the Rich Stankiewicz Motorsports #2 358 modified for weekly competition at Grandview Speedway. The team released Keith Brightbill towards the end of the 2010 racing season and ran a few drivers in the final shows of the year on the Pennsylvania circuit.

Cow Patty Nation is reporting the Ryan Godown will return to the seat of the JR Motorsports R1 in 2011. We expect an announcement on Godown's plans soon.

I have updated the silly season chart and the driver chart for 2011.

Going Away Until After Christmas...

Just letting you guys know that there will be no posts here until after Christmas. As always, the chat box is open! I won't be around at all to answer e-mails or anything until then either. Have a great holiday season everyone!

Heotzler in with Grasso 19 Racing

Jeff Heotzler will take over the Grasso 19 Racing modified seat that was vacated by Ronnie Johnson for the 2011 season. Heotzler announced on his website that he will take over driving duties for weekly competition at Accord Speedway in 2011 with the team.

Higbie/Petruska Racing Part Ways

Jerry Higbie will not return to the seat of the Mike Petruska Racing #66 modified team in 2011 after all. Jerry Higbie posted on his Facebook page that he will not return to the seat of the Petruska Racing team after winning 4 track championships, and two 5-figure victories (Eastern States 200 in 2009, and the Hard Clay Challenge in 2010). We'll see what else we can dig up, but right now all we know is Jerry Higbie will not be back with the team next year.

EDIT: Look at T W's post in the chat box to the right for what Jerry posted on his Facebook.

Thursday Tidbits

All rumors are pointing towards Jeff Strunk taking over the Norm Hansell 357 in 2011. It was previously noted on here, posted a few times on South Jersey Dirt Racing, Area Auto Racing News mentioned it looking that way, and even it was mentioned in our chat box (thanks strunk fan). There's still no announcement, but don't be surprised when the announcement states Jeff Strunk as the new driver.

South Jersey Dirt Racing reported about a month ago that Jimmy Blewett was moving up to big block modifieds in 2011. I'm way behind but I can confirm that Blewett will be moving up to run big block modifieds at New Egypt Speedway. He'll continue to race asphalt, so he won't be at New Egypt every weekend. Expect to see him hit the road a little bit too with his dirt modifieds.

Cow Patty Nation reports that Beer City Racing is selling out, and Jason Hamilton is now without a ride due to a lack of help.

Danny Varin to Masagarus Racing

Danny Varin will take over driving duties of the Masagarus Racing #93 big block modified for weekly competition at Fonda Speedway in 2011. Varin was let go by Dover Brakes Racing at the conclusion of the 2010 season (which was the first official piece of silly season we received this off-season) as the team could no longer afford to run 2 cars every week. Varin and Masagarus teamed up in this year's Outlaw 200 at Fulton Speedway and had a solid run, and the duo ran together in the past as well. Brian Weaver, who took over for Mark Kislowski early in 2010 season with the Masagarus Racing big block modified for competition at Utica Rome Speedway, will remain with the Randy Decker Racing team for weekly competition at Five Mile Point Speedway and other specials with the team, and will also run for the Ron Dieffenbach/Chris Weaver owned team in specials as well. As previously reported, Danny Varin will start the season off driving a second Kenny Saya owned car at Volusia in February.

Volusia Update

There are just 2 month until the big block modifieds take to the speedway for the first time in 2011 at Volusia Speedway. Not much yet, but already there are a few drivers that have announced they're going to the Florida Dirt Car Nationals. Matt Sheppard, Jeff Brownell, Brett Hearn, Willy Decker, and running as teammates; Bobby and Danny Varin have all announced their plans to race at Volusia in February.

I'll be making my first trip down to Volusia as well, so I hope to see some of you guys there!

Driver Chart Updated

I added Scott Duell, Michael Weinert (thank you Brad Keitsock), and Zach Aubertine to the 2011 driver chart page. Also remember to keep checking out the silly-season chart to keep track of everything going on over the off-season.

Kormann Going Big Block Racing

Randy Kane reports and confirms that Eric Kormann will be moving up to go big block modified racing in 2011. Kormann was one of the top crate drivers at Bridgeport Speedway over the past few seasons. Frank DiAntino will be the owner of Kormann's car in the future. The team will run weekly at Delaware International Speedway with Bridgeport Speedway not running big blocks weekly next season. Kormann will also travel with the team to races at Grandview, Selinsgrove, Hagerstown, Georgetown and possibly other tracks next season. The team will also have a crate motor and a small block at their disposal to race throughout the season as well.

Godown/Hansell Part Ways

Off-season news continues to pile up as Area Auto Racing News reports that Ryan Godown and Norm Hansell Motorsports have parted ways. Godown still does not have any plans confirmed yet, but his name is being mentioned with the JR Motorsports ride, which is believed to be open (although not confirmed) after a below average season with Rick Laubach behind the wheel of the car. As for Norm Hansell Motorsports, it appears that Jeff Strunk may be the leading candidate for the ride. Hansell and Strunk partnered up in the past for a Thunder on the Hill Series race late in the season a few years ago. Stay tuned for updates on both Godown and Hansell for 2011.

Gular Signs with JSG Motorsports

Area Auto Racing News confirmed via Brett Deyo's article that the 2010 Penn Can Speedway big block modified track champion, Mike Gular, will take over driving duties for the JSG Motorsports #3g small block modified. Gular will pilot the car in special shows only throughout Pennsylvania and New York, starting with Selinsgrove Speedway in March. Gular will continue to drive his self-owned #53 weekly at Penn Can and Grandview Speedway. Kerry Kratz drove for JSG Motorsports the last time they ran a full season, which was 2009. The team ran a few races with Kratz this past season, and also had Gular run a race late in the season.

Keith Hoffman Staying Put

Keith Hoffman, despite losing his ride and thinking about sitting out in 2011, will be racing next season. Hoffman will run weekly at Big Diamond Raceway in his own equipment. Expect Hoffman to focus solely on Big Diamond Raceway and not do much traveling at all.

Herrington Staying in Mods; Varin Update

Despite what I posted yesterday, Bobby Herrington has confirmed that the young star will stay in 358 modifieds in 2011. There's still a chance he could do some open wheel stuff later in the year.

Danny Varin still doesn't have a ride for the 2011 season, but he does have a ride for Volusia Speedway in mid-February. Danny Varin will drive as a teammate to his dad in the Kenny Saya owned #10 big block modified.

Marburger Selling Out

Cow Patty Nation has reported and confirmed that Grandview Speedway regular, Todd Marburger, is selling all his equipment and getting out of racing. Marburger was a fan favorite at Grandview Speedway aboard his self owned #18 small block modified. We wish Todd the best in regards to his future, and hope to see him at the track as a fan throughout the season.

Tidbits

As I've had posted on the silly season chart for a little while now, it looks almost certain that Glenn Strunk will take over the Gagliardo Motorsports 41 in 2011. Jeff Strunk is currently a free agent. As you can see in the chat box, strunk fan posted that he's heard that Jeff will reunite with a former owner. Honestly, I haven't heard anything about that, but I'll see what I can try to dig up.

JSG Motorsports has announced it's 2011 driver. Look for the announcement in Brett Deyo's column in this week's issue of Area Auto Racing News.

South Jersey Dirt Racing and Cow Patty Nation have both had posts in some way claiming that it looks like Ryan Godown and Norm Hansell have parted ways. I haven't heard anything on this, but once again, I'll try to see what I can dig up.

Dan Hineline's plans are posted on the driver chart. He's currently the only driver on the driver chart. With all the question marks going on in the racing world, don't expect a whole lot of guys on the driver chart until some schedules start coming out.

It looks like young Canadian rising star Bobby Herrington will be moving to 360 sprint cars in 2011. He doesn't plan on doing any modified racing.

Finally, I know I haven't done the best job to this point this off-season at getting news for you guys. Finals are next week, after that, I'll be able to put a lot more effort into trying to gather news for you guys. Thanks for being patient with me!

Paul Klager to Modifieds

Mod-lite Merrittville Speedway champion Paul Klager will make the move from mod-lites to 358 modified in 2011. The announcement came from OntarioOval.com. Klager will drive for Brian Simms and the duo will run weekly at Merrittville Speedway, and hopes to run Humberstone Speedway, as long as the track continues to run 358 modifieds weekly. An interview with Klager is available on Ontario Oval's website.

Also, as I'm sure you all know, I forgot to mention the new stuff with the Glenn Donnelly track. In an interview with Area Auto Racing News's Lenny Sammons, the track will cost an estimated $25 million. The track's main focus will be the dirt track, but they'll have other forms of entertainment available as well. Ground will break on the track in June of this year. There's some more exciting news coming out about Glenn, hopefully fairly soon, that I'm not at liberty to tell yet. Stay tuned to DIRT's website, Gater Racing News, and Area Auto Racing News.

Race Track Tidbits

I try not to post a whole lot of race track stuff, just because it's easier for me to just to driver stuff, but it's been a slow off-season to this point, so, here's a rundown of stuff.

As I said in my last post, Devils Bowl Speedway and Albany-Saratoga Speedway have dropped modifieds from their headline class. Crate sportsman will be the new headline division at the track. No word on if the modifieds might run a special or two there at some point in the season.

Dirt Track Digest has reported a bunch of Humberstone Speedway rumors. It appears that they will not run 358 modifieds every other week like they did last year, but that's not confirmed. There's also a rumor that the track, which operates on Sunday nights, may run on Friday nights. Both of those are just rumors, but the second one seems very unlikely.

Brett Deyo has announced a 4-race series that will run 3 races at Penn Can Speedway and 1 race at Five Mile Point Speedway. It looks like some of his races will also be RoC Dirt Tour races. The season will be highlighted by an $8,000 to win race at Penn Can in June.

Look for the RoC Tour to add at least 1 more track to the schedule, a Pennsylvania track, but don't be surprised if that add another race or track to the schedule in New York as well to cancel out the travel for teams.

South Jersey Dirt Racing broke the news that Bridgeport Speedway will not run modifieds every week in 2011. It looks like they won't run any kind of set schedule (modifieds), and will have crate sportsman be the headline class every week. Modifieds will still run special shows during the year. There's also the possibility that they could run the modifieds on a once-a-month basis, or even every other week, but those scenarios seem unlikely.

Dirt Track Digest reported a while ago that Capital City Speedway is thinking about going switching from asphalt to dirt with 358 modified driver Eric Gauvreau being one of the people involved in the purchase. The track would run Thursday nights. This would give the Quebec drivers another place to run on a weekend, to make up for Autodrome Edelweiss closing (which was reported on here towards the end of the season).

Finally, since the majority of people wanted more races in the poll for the 2011 Club Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League, all the races that pay $8,000 or more to win will now be on the schedule. Thanks for the support everyone!

Modifieds Gone from Albany and Devil's Bowl

Budget sportsman will take over as the new headline division at CVRA tracks Devils Bowl Speedway and Albany-Saratoga Speedway in 2011. The small-block modified divisions will be scrapped. 2010 was the first season in a long time that the tracks ran with an asphalt surface. Kenny Tremont won both track championships. Look for Airborne to gain a lot of cars from this announcement, and also look for a few of the teams to get out of modified racing.

Higbie Staying Put

Looks like Jerry Higbie will remain with the Petruska Racing 66. As I said earlier, the rumors were hard to believe, but the longer they went on, the more I decided to look into it. Luckily, I didn't have to do much research as Jerry posted on South Jersey Dirt Racing that he will remain with the team in 2011.

Pratt Ends the Year 4 for 4

Richie Pratt officially closed out the 2010 racing season with a sweep at Wall Speedway's Turkey Derby. Patrick Dupree set fast time both nights, but it was Richie Pratt who came away with the wins both nights. Richie Pratt won the last 4 dirt modified races of the 2010 racing season, as he won at Bridgeport Speedway and Georgetown Speedway the previous 2 weeks before sweeping the weekend at Wall Speedway.

There have been many reports that Jerry Higbie and the Petruska Racing team have parted ways. I'll try to get an answer for you guys, but from what I've been told lately, he'll still be in the car in 2011. Danny Johnson ran the car at Bridgeport Speedway last weekend because Higbie had prior committments. Danny Johnson, Clinton Mills, and Michael Storms have all been linked as replacements for Higbie in the #66 modified team.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

It's very late I know, but Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope everyone has a great day!

Chuck Hossfeld Going Dirt Racing

Asphalt modified star Chuck Hossfeld has purchased a new Troyer dirt modified and a 358 motor to go small block modified racing, at least part-time, in 2011. Hossfeld announced in an interview on DougsDirtDiary.com that along with running his asphalt stuff, he'll also run a partial dirt schedule next year. He announced that the track he'll frequent the most is Ransomville Speedway on Friday nights.

Pratt Wins Final Dirt Race of the Year

Richie Pratt got around Danny Johnson on the final lap to pick up the final modified race on dirt for 2010. This race was also the final Tri-Track Series race, and even though he clinched it with his second place finish last week at Georgetown Speedway, Rick Laubach has won his third consecutive Tri-Track Series title.

Danny Johnson was in the Petruska 66, Jimmy Horton was in the Michaels Brothers 51m, and Duane Howard was in the Dieter Schmidt 5 yesterday. Don't look into any of those pairings being together in 2011.

The final dirt modified race will take place next weekend at Wall Speedway's Turkey Derby, and they'll have two $500 to win features, and the overall winner after both days will receive $3,000.

Also, the Parts Peddler was this weekend. There are photos of 2011 paint schemes for Billy Decker, Ted Lamb, and Jimmy Phelps posted on Doug's Dirt Diary website. Also, Matt Harrell has the 2011 paint scheme for the Harvey Motorsports #43 posted on his website. Harrell took over that ride mid-season this past season.

Howard/BPG Split?

Rumors have been swirling around for a few weeks that Duane Howard and BPG Racing may be parting ways. Honestly, I didn't believe the rumors at all, however, I know have some of my reliable sources telling me the same thing. Chad Sinon tells us that we can expect to hear an announcement (my guess would be via a Ernie Saxton press release on SouthJerseyDirtRacing.com) within the next few weeks. Expect people to be shocked by the announcement.

Remember, Howard will be in the Dieter Schmidt #5 this weekend at Bridgeport Speedway, but that shouldn't be looked into too much since the BPG Racing team had planned on being done by this time regardless.

Originally posted on SJDR but now confirmed via AARN, Frank Cozze will be running 410 sprints in 2011. I'm trying to find out whether or not he'll continue to run specials with his modified. Stay tuned.

Chad James wil drive for Jake Marine in 2011 in special shows. James will continue to drive the J&J Racing 27 weekly at Bridgeport Speedway. James ran a few end of the year shows with Marine, and Marine was happy with the performance seen by Chad James. Expect to see H.J. Bunting continue to run the car on a weekly basis at Delaware International Speedway, although that has not been confirmed.

Jeremy Wilder Moving to Big Blocks

Up and comer Jeremy Wilder, who's spent the past 2 seasons running his 358 modified on the 358 Series trail and weekly at Fonda and Glen Ridge, will make the move up to big blocks in 2011. While Wilder hasn't announced his 2011 plans yet, my guess if he'd continue to run Glen Ridge and Fonda regularly, since both tracks run big blocks weekly (he was running his 358 against the big blocks at both tracks). Expect Wilder to travel quite a bit next season.

Pratt Wins Georgetown

As the season continues to come to a close, Georgetown Speedway hosted the Tri-Track Series 2nd last event on the year. Richie Pratt, after suffering tough luck throughout most of the year, was able to pick up the $3,000 victory over Rick Laubach, who continued to extend his points lead in his dominating season on the Tri-Track Series circuit.

Duane Howard's BPG Racing team has called it a year, but according to 4fan in the chat box, Duane Howard will be racing at Bridgeport this weekend in the Dieter Schmidt #5. Huge thanks for 4fan for the info.

I added Dan Mazy and Kevin Bates to the driver website links on the side. Over the off-season I'll go through and clean out some of the sites that have gone off-line. If you see any big or small block drivers I'm missing, let me know and I'll post them up right away!

I Screwed Up! Sheeler didn't win!

My mistake, Roy Sheeler was not the winner of the Fantasy League. Thank goodness he's a good sport. You can't get much closer than the final standings are! I can't thank you guys enough for playing, and I can't thank Zach Aubertine, Area Auto Racing News, and Mike Feltenberger/Stapped In Magazine enough for all their help. I hope you all had a good time, be sure to vote on the poll so I can improve the fantasy league to however you want it to be for 2011! Thanks again guys!

Here's the link, http://jw4.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=295

Sheppard Champ: McCreadie and Phelps Win; Sheeler Wins Fantasy League

Sorry guys, I've been busy. As I'm sure you guys know (or watched in person or on TV) the World Finals were this past weekend. They featured the final two races for the Super Dirt Series.

Friday night was a wash, so both races were run on Saturday. In the early race, Jimmy Phelps pitted for tires on lap 15, and then watched the rest of the field blow tires on the rubbered up surface. He sat second to Tim Fuller until the final lap, when Fuller's right rear went flat allowed Jimmy Phelps to pick up the win and move closer to Matt Sheppard for the Super Dirt Series championship.

The Saturday night race saw Matt Sheppard lead 3/4 of the race in dominating fashion until a late race restart allowed Tim McCreadie to go around the outside and pick up another win in the Vinnie Salerno #4. Sheppard's second place finish was enough for him to pick up his first career Super Dirt Series championship!

Despite what some people think, the racing season didn't end with the World Finals. Bridgeport Speedway, Georgetown Speedway, and Wall Speedway all have shows for dirt modifieds over the next few weeks.

Roy Sheeler won the Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League, which pockets him a free pass for the 2011 season to the track of his choice, and a free 6-month subscription to Area Auto Racing News. I apologize for falling behind, but I haven't tallied up the official final scores, however, Sheeler had picked Hearn (4th) and Sheppard (2nd) to give him a total of 6 points for the weekend, and he had a 7 point lead going into the finale, so its impossible for him to be overtaken. The final standings will be posted before the end of the week. Remember, the 8th place finisher receives all three 2010 issues of Strapped In Magazine!

Bill Torissi has announced that he will retire from modified racing. After only running a partial schedule this season, the long-time Ransomville small block modified regular will call it a career. We wish Bill the best of luck in the future, and we'll certainly miss seeing that 7NY out on the track. Thanks to "person" for giving me the info!

Off-season Plans

Hey guys, just letting you know what's going to go on during the off-season on here. Nothing too exciting. Where I currently post the links to the Club Wago Fantasy League standings I'm going to add 2 new links there. I'm going to do a driver chart again this year (to see what I'm talking about, view last year's chart herewhich I will update all throughout the off-season and will post driver's 2011 plans when they become available.

I'm also going to post a silly-season chart, which I will probably have started in the next day or two. The only thing that I'll post on there will be things that are official, so for instance, if I'd have it ready I'd have on there that Doug Manmiller left the Breitenstein Racing team, Ryan Susice and Chris Raabe are moving up to small blocks, and that Michael Storms is out of the Vinnie Salerno car, because those are all things that are official. Even though it looks likely that it'll happen, since it's not official, the Rick Laubach and Johnny Rea news won't be on the chart until it is official. I'll update each of those entries on there as updates come in as well.

If you guys have anything else you'd like me to post or get on here over the off-season shoot me an e-mail at Jman97531@aol.com or just post in the chat box or comment on this post. Thank you guys for supporting me all year again!

World Finals Entry List

1 Billy Pauch Frenchtown, NJ
3D Matt Delorenzo Cropesville, NY
5H Chris Hile Spencer, NY
7 Rick Laubach Hellertown, PA
8 Rich Scagliotta Bound Brook, NJ
9s Matt Sheppard Geneva, NY
10 Kyle Stickler Mooresville, NC
10V Bobby Varin Sharon Springs, NY
16 Lance Willix Theresa, NY
19H Chris Higgins Raleigh, NC
20 Brett Hearn Sussex, NJ
21K Randy Chrysler Lewiston, NY
21M Bob McGannon Garnerville, NY
T21 Roger Chrysler Lewiston, NY
23 Billy VanInwegen Sparrow Bush, NY
24 Chris Shultz Pawling, NY
27J Danny Johnson Rochester, NY
29 Jeff Brownell Geneva, NY
29E Erik Martin Evan City, PA
32C Vic Coffey Caledonia, NY
33 Mike Mahaney King Ferry, NY
37MD Jeremiah Shingledecker Polk, PA
39 Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY
42P Pat Ward Genoa, NY
43 Keith Flach Ravena, NY
44 Frank Cozze Wind Gap, PA
48too Dave Rauscher Waterloo, NY
49 Billy Dunn Watertown, NY
56 Vinnie Vitale Phoenix, NY
57 Donnie Corellis Averill Park, NY
62S Tom Sears Clay, NY
65 Rex King Bristolville, OH
71 David VanHorn Harmony, NJ
71B Don Brown Butler, PA
74 Tim Fuller Watertown, NY
88C Billy Pauch Jr. Frenchtown, NJ
91 Billy Decker Franklin, NY
98H Jimmy Phelps Baldwinsville, NY
99 Larry Wight Phoenix, NY
99 Ryan Phelps Fulton, NY
115 Kenny Tremont West Sand Lake, NY
165 Rex King Jr. Bristolville, OH

As I posted earlier on here, this list is not official. We know that Jimmy Horton, Alan Johnson, Gary Tomkins, and Stewart Friesen will all be in attendance for the event even though they aren't entered. Michel Chicoine also informed me that he will be going to the World Finals, however, he told me that the week before Syracuse and I haven't talked to him since, so his plans may have changed. Ryan and Mark Forte Jr. are two more drivers that will be racing despite not being on the initial entry list. Jerry Higbie and Dave Murdick are two drivers that were planning on racing at the World Finals but have scrapped their plans due to certain situations.

Wago Fantasy League Updated!

http://jw4.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=293

There's the link to the Club Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League standings presented by Area Auto Racing News and Zach Aubertine Motorsports which have been updated after Hagerstown. Also special thanks to Strapped In Magazine! There are only two races left, and both are this coming weekend at Charlotte. There are a ton of people that are still mathematically alive in the league!

Hearn Wins again at Octoberfest; Doctor takes Five Mile Point but Friesen takes RoC Title

Two big races highlighted the weekend for modified racing fans. First, on Saturday night, the RoC Dirt Tour came to a conclusion at Five Mile Point Speedway. Danny Johnson, Stewart Friesen, and Pat Ward went into the night all with a good chance to take home the RoC title. Danny Johnson did all he could to win the title as he picked up the $5,555 feature win, but Stewart Friesen's second place finish was enough to eclipse Johnson by a single point and claim his first ever RoC title.

Then, Octoberfest at Hagerstown Speedway had the big block modifieds racing for $10,000, Brett Hearn dominated the race and went on to collect the win. In the small block race, which was knocked down to only $5,000 to win because of having a low car count (even though they had the second highest car count of the week.) Tim McCreadie dominated and picked up his second consecutive small block win in the event.

Dirt Track Digest has the entry list for the World Finals which includes the big block modifieds. Note that there are a few drivers we know are going that aren't entered, such as Jimmy Horton and Stewart Friesen.

Laubach and Rea Parting Ways?

Reports have indicated the Rick Laubach will not return to the Johnny Rea owned JR Motorsports #R1 small block modified this year. Laubach has a respectable season with Rea, but the team was expected to be a heavy championship contender at Big Diamond Raceway and weren't quite able to have that type of season. With the questions surrounding Big Diamond Raceway, no word on what either plans to do on Friday night. Laubach will remain with the Dieter Schmidt and Hermann Motorsports teams for special shows, and also has his self-owned #20 car for weekly big block action.

Look for Rea to possibly hire a young up-and-coming driver for the 2011 season if Laubach isn't in the seat.

Fantasy League Updated After Orange County; Hagerstown Entry List Up!

http://jw4.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=290

There's the link to the Club Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League after Orange County Fair Speedway. There are only 4 races left in the fantasy league. Specials thanks to Zach Aubertine Motorsports, Area Auto Racing News, and Strapped In Magazine! Clickable link is where it always is, right below the chat box.

The Hagerstown Speedway entry list is posted over on at HagerstownSpeedway.com for their Octoberfest races.

Crazy Weekend Wrap Up: Plenty of 2011 Tidbits

Well, it was a big racing weekend, and it turned out to be a crazy one. Eastern States Weekend highlighted the weekend that included the Delaware State Championships and the Steal City Stampede Weekend at Lernerville.

On Friday the weekend kicked off with Billy Pauch cruising to an easy $5,000 win in the small block modified portion of DE State Championships at Delaware International Speedway. He backed up that performance by going around Matt Jester in the middle stages of the big block race on Saturday night at Delaware to complete the sweep on the weekend and collect another $6,500. At Lernerville Speedway arguably the race of the year took place, as Brian Weaver led as the field took the white flag, then had Rex King and Chad Homan split him going down the backstretch, the top 2 made contact coming to the line and Homan picked up his first career big block modified win in the BRP Series finale by just .019 seconds. King's second place finish clinched the BRP Modified Tour title to the #65 team. Brett Hearn dominated the small block race at Orange County Fair Speedway's Eastern States Weekend and picked up $7,500 for the win. Then, on Sunday, the $20,000 to win Eastern States 200 looked like it was going to be Stewart Friesen's to lose until a questionable call by the officials placed Friesen behind Tim McCreadie for a late race restart, Friesen proceeded to have a meltdown and was DQed (eventually he was allowed to rejoin the field) which allowed McCreadie to survive a few late race restarts and win the $20,000 feature. This was a fantasy league race, and I'll have the standings updated by Tuesday.

Also, Brett Deyo reports that Doug Manmiller has parted ways with the Breitenstein Motorsports team, which is the team he ran weekly with at Grandview Speedway. The team ran the last race of the year with Kenny Gilmore driving the team's second car, but Manmiller ran it weekly at Grandview throughout the season. Rumors have swirled since the early summer that the team would be shutting down at the conclusion of the season, but Deyo's articles quotes the owners as claiming they'd like to continue racing but are looking for sponsorship. Manmiller will run for Josh Biever, whom he won the Big Diamond championship with this year, at Grandview next year.

Deyo also informed me that you can expect to see the return of Donny Radd to competition in 2011. Right now he's working on an engine program that will see the driver return to weekly competition aboard his self-owned 15R, most likely at Delaware International Speedway.

Keith Hoffman has parted ways with the Moose Eisenhard Racing team. Hoffman ran weekly with Eisenhard at New Egypt Speedway, but the team also traveled to select shows throughout the year. Hoffman finished in the top 5 in points at New Egypt. Eisenhard will sell his big block equipment in favor of crate sportsman equipment for his grandson, Jordan Henn, who's raced slingshots for the past handful of seasons. Keith Hoffman currently has nothing lined up for 2011, and if he doesn't find a ride he won't be racing in 2011. Hoffman ran for Jonathan Kumernitsky for a few shows at Big Diamond Raceway at the end of the year and also ran for Blue Hen Racing at the Delaware State Championships, but don't expect him to run for those teams full-time next season.

Friesen Teaming with Lamb for ESW

RaceProWeekly.com has posted on their live coverage of ESW that Stewart Friesen will drive in the small block portion of Eastern States Weekend for Ted Lamb.

McCreadie to Run ESW

For those of you wondering, Tim McCreadie will be the driving of the Vinnie Salerno owned #4 car for Eastern States Weekend, and McCreadie and Salerno also plan to enter the World Finals together. Still no word on if the team will hire another drive to run the bulk of the races in 2011, or if Salerno will scale down to a part-time schedule with McCreadie.

Wednesday Tidbits

New Egypt Speedway regular Dom Buffalino will take over driving duties aboard the Michael Brothers 51m for the rest of the season, beginning at Delaware International Speedway this weekend. No word on what other races the team will enter with Buffalino, but my guess is at least Bridgeport and Georgetown for the final 2 Tri-Track Series races. The Michaels Brothers entered races this year with Wade Hendrickson and John McClelland, and ran a specials-only schedule for the most part.

The winner of this year's sportsman race at Super Dirt Week, Ryan Susice, will make the move up to 358 modifieds full-time in 2010, competing weekly at Ransomville Speedway. Saturday and Sunday plans will be finalized much closer to the 2011 season openers, but the young star also plans on following the 358 Dirt Series.

Chris Raabe is another sportsman superstar that will be making the move up to 358 modifieds in 2011. Raabe will drive for Perry Francis again in 2011, but the team will make the move up to 358 modifieds. The team will finalize plans later in the off-season, but right now it looks like Raabe will run weekly at Autodrome Drummond and also follow the 358 Dirt Series, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Danny Johnson Has Huge Weekend; Weekend Wrap Up

Danny Johnson has a huge weekend at Brockville Ontario Speedway. On Saturday the 358 Dirt Series had their season finale where Johnson was running 2nd in points to Danny O'Brien heading into the event. Johnson started deep in the field but climbed up to second place, behind feature winner Billy Decker, to secure to the 358 Dirt Series championship. On Sunday, the Super Dirt Series was in action, and Danny Johnson was able to run down and pass Matt Sheppard with less than 5 laps to go and went on to collect the feature win.

Also on Saturday, Meme DeSantis ended the Thunder on the Hill Series with a victory in the 358 modified race, Billy Pauch continued to increase his win count at New Egypt Speedway with a win in the Tri-Track Series race, Danny Tyler picked up his first career modified victory with a win at Accord Speedway's Run Whatcha-Brung Show.

On Sunday, the King of the Can was in action at Penn Can Speedway, and Kevin Bates was able to go and collect the $4,000 win.

Lots of Racing Today and Tomorrow!

Well race fans, we're approaching the end of a fantastic 2010 racing season, but it's not over yet! A full weekend of racing is planned for tonight (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday). This weekend is highlighted the the Global Warranty Fall Northeast Nationals at Brockville-Ontario Speedway, which will crown the 358 Dirt Series champion tonight (looks like a 3-person battle between Danny O'Brien, Danny Johnson, and Pete Bicknell; others still have a chance but need a miracle), and tomorrow they'll have the Super Dirt Series run their second last race of the year. The Tri-Track Big Block Series will also be in action tonight for Rocktoberfest at New Egypt Speedway. Grandview Speedway will run the 5-25s tonight which is highlighted by a 25-lapper for the 358 modifieds (Shawn Reimert and Billy Pauch Jr. will start on the front row for that feature), and Accord Speedway has their popular Run Whatcha Brung show scheduled for tonight. Tomorrow is Penn Can Speedway's big race, the King of the Can which will pay $4,000 to the winner. Check back here to see who won where on Monday!

Danny Varin a Free Agent

Danny Varin will not return to the Dover Brakes Racing #18 big block modified team in 2011. Varin's father, Bobby Varin, will continue to drive for the team in their #00 car (there have been many rumors about the team shutting down completely), but the team cannot afford to run 2 cars next season. Danny Varin is currently searching for a ride for 2011, the most likely scenario for Varin would be for him to return in the Masagarus Racing #93, which Danny drove in the Outlaw 200 this year. Brian Weaver ended the season in the car, no word if he'll return to the seat next season. We'll keep you posted.

Storms to Driver for Heard at ESW

Michael Storms will drive for Brett Hearn at Eastern States Weekend according to Race Pro Weekly. Hearn will still obviously still drive his own equipment as well. No word on anymore plans for Storms for the rest of this year or for 2011.

Salerno/Storms Split; Dirt Mods at the Turkey Derby

Michael Storms has parted ways with the Vinnie Salerno Motorsports #4 big block modified according to what he posted on his Facebook page. Storms will announce a team he will drive for at Eastern States Weekend in a day or two, according to the post. Don't be surprised to see Salerno run a part-time only schedule in the future with his now only current driver, Tim McCreadie. We'll keep you posted on what we hear or find out.

Dirt modifieds will be racing at Wall Speedway for the Turkey Derby in late November. It appears that New Egypt Speedway promotor Danny Serrano is in charge of the event, and the race will be twin 40 lap features that pay $1,500 per race, and $150 to start per race.

Wago Fantasy League Updated!

http://jw4.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=289

There's the link to the Fantasy League standings presented by Area Auto Racing News and Zach Aubertine Motorsports after Super Dirt Week! Thanks again to AARN, Zach Aubertine, and Strapped In Magazine!

Clickable link where it always is!

Big Wheel Race Winners!

Congratulations to Heather Thompson and Steve Sharadin for winning the second Super Dirt Week Adult Big Wheel Race feature event. For winning, they received a trophy donated by Weaknecht Archery, and also a large replica check and $100 cash from Zach Aubertine Motorsports. The 1/2 bonus went to a mystery team (sorry guys, I lost your names) that had a red trike and were fast all night long, they received $60 from Lance Willix Racing. The Steve Hough Motorsports fast time award was worth $50 and went to the team of Daryl Herman and Ryan Watt with a time of 7.33 seconds.

The race was actually pretty good, there were a lot of nice creations. Ryan Phelps and Casey Tiderman ended up 3rd, the mystery team was second, and Brad Brightbill and Kenny Hammond were DQed even though they ended up second for switching pushers at half way. Daryl Herman and Ryan Watt were fast most of the night along with the mystery team and it seemed like one of the two of them would win, but both teams got into a wreck along with Bert and Jason Hamilton, who were the top 3, and Heather and Steve went around the outside and passed the mystery team on the inside (they got out of the wreck still in the lead). Thanks to everyone that participated, we had 20 entries and started 13 in the feature!

Bash on the Backstretch

Well, another SDW is over. So, now it's time for those of us from Club Wago to thank everyone that helped us to put the Bash on the Backstretch together.

First, I want to thank Valken Wheels, Grandview Speedway, New Egypt Speedway, Orange County Fair Speedway, Brett Deyo Motorsports Media, Willix 16w Racing, Zach Aubertine Motorsports, CowPattyNation.com, Steve Hough Motors, Best LIne, and anyone else that helped out by giving prizes for us to give away throughout the night, I truly appreciate it!

Also, thank you to Adam Ross for letting us sell the shirts at the DTD stand on Sunday.

Also I want to thank everyone that participated in the big wheel race, our DJ DeRue, and everyone that came out. I hope everyone had a good time.

Now, time for some apologies, I'm sorry for all the headaches with the big wheel race, that was a lot harder to score than we thought, and I messed up by starting too many big wheels in the main event. I know we didn't mess up the top 3 in the feature, but if I screwed you out of any spots at 1/2 way I apologize.

I also would like to apologize for the music shutting off twice, the first time we had a wire problem and the second time we had a plug get pulled.

I know of one fight and heard about other instances that almost led to fights, I sincerely apologize for anyone involved in this. I don't drink at all on Friday in an attempt to help prevent anything out of hand happening at the Bash on the Backstretch, so I'm sorry that I didn't do my job there.

The Wago Donation Jar went to Lance Willix, which means that anyone that put the donation in there are the real sponsors of Lance. Lance received it this year because he ran Club Wago stickers all year long and also helped us many ways throughout SDW, thank you very much to Lance and everyone on his race team.

Again, I hope that most people had a good time, if not, we had another great crowd on hand and had 20 big wheel entries with money given out for the fast time award, 1/2 bonus, and the feature winners. We also did an invert draw after the heat races. Like I said earlier everything went smoothly until the 1/2 point in the feature when we pulled off all the lapped trikes and restarted the race. Thank you to the woman the showed me a video that showed us who the top 3 at 1/2 were, I have no idea who you were but I owe you a beer or dinner or something.

I hope you guys all enjoyed yourself, please give me some feedback so if we do it again next year we can make sure everything goes a lot smoother. Thank you!

Off to Syracuse!

Welp, it's finally that time of the year. All of us Wago guys are loading up the truck and heading north to the mile. Since I'll be gone until Sunday night, I won't be doing anymore updates until then. Be sure to check out RaceProWeekly.com, DirtTrackDigest.com, SouthJerseyDirtRacing.com, DougsDirtDiary.com, SuperDirtWeekOnline.com, and Syracuse.com/motorsports as all of them are doing an incredible job with their Syracuse coverage. See everyone there, and I can't wait to see you all on Friday night at the Bash!

Fantasy League Updated After Fulton!

http://jw4.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=287&page=1

There's the link to the fantasy league standings after race #11. Getting close to the end, 2 races at Syracuse, 2 races at Hagerstown, 2 races at Charlotte, and a race at Orange County is all that's left. Thanks again to everyone for playing, and to Zach Aubertine Motorsports and Area Auto Racing News for sponsoring the league! The clickable link is where it always is, to the right, below the question/comment box.

Also, a special thank you to Mike Feltenberger who will give all 3 2010 issues of Strapped In Magazine to the 8th place finisher in the Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League in honor of the 8th anniversary of the magazine.

More SDW Photos

Race Pro Weekly has more photos up, and now Doug's Dirt Diary, Dirt Track Digest, and Syacuse.com/motorsports all have photos up from today's inspection.

Early SDW Photos

RaceProWeekly.com has won the first race of the weekend, as they're the first site to have shots up from inspection. They seem to be posting pictures every 2-3 minutes, so check back often. Go onto the tidbits page and click the link to the photos there, or just click the photo gallery link in the media tab at the top of the page.

Hearn Finally Wins Outlaw 200; Howard Dominant at Diamond; Thomas Takes Mahoning Title

Brett Hearn has won almost everything there is to win in modified racing. The one thing missing was Fulton Speedway's Outlaw 200 (formally Victoria 200), until Saturday night. Hearn was forced to qualify through the consolation and started outside of the top 30 in the starting field and used patience and some daring moves to pick up the $20,000 after sneaking passed Billy Decker not long after the half way point for the lead. From there, it was all Hearn, as he used his small block power to dominate and lapped 4th place finisher Justin Haers with just a few laps remaining, leaving 2nd place finisher Billy Decker and 3rd place finisher Stewart Friesen as the only cars on the lead lap. This race was a Club Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League race, the standings will be updated by Tuesday night.

At Big Diamond, Duane Howard swept both days of competition at Big Diamond Raceway, winning the small block race on Saturday night, and using his small block to beat the big blocks on Sunday.

Mahoning Valley Speedway saw their defending modified track champion, Randy Thomas, pick up his second championship in as many years.

Dan Pompey invaded Woodhull Raceway's 50 lap season finale and went on to pick up the popular victory.

Accroding to Pete in our chatbox, Mike Ricci will take over driving duties for Ronnie Johnson aboard the Joe Grasso Racing #19 modified for competition at Accord Speedway. Area Auto Racing News reports that Johnson and the team had a dispute at the King of the Catskills race last weekend, which resulted in Johnson scratching from the starting field. No word what this means for the Mastrocola Racing team, as Ricci has spent the last few seasons with them. Jeff Richardson drives the teams second car.

Rick Laubach will run for Cliff Krause in the 358 race at Syracuse. It will be the first time that the #27 car has hit the track this season.

Race Pro Weekly, Dirt Track Digest, South Jersey Dirt Racing, and Dougs Dirt Diary should all have plenty of photos up from Syracuse early inspection tomorrow. Be sure to check out their sites and support the work they're doing!

Wago Bash on the Backstretch Big Wheel Race Update!

Well, it looks like we may end up having a much better turn out than I expected. We have my 4 big wheels, which are being given away to different people (one of which will be raffled off when we give away the door prizes), Zach Aubertine has 1, Kelly Boyer has 1 and possibly 2, Cow Patty Nation is coming with a 2-trike assault, Dom Buffalino/Kenny Hammond have put one together, Kenny Brightbill has built one, plus I've been told there are quite a few others that are getting built. Should be exciting!

Also, we know for sure that the winner of the feature event will receive at least $100, we hope to see that number go up soon!

Sheppard with Cullen for SDW? Kratz Returns

Tom Cullen Motorsports had a great season with Stewart Friesen, claiming the Utica Rome Speedway track championship. However, at Super Dirt Week, he will put the guy that drove his car in 2009 into his car. Dirt Track Digest released the news (and pictures of the car) on their forum that Matt Sheppard will drive for Tom Cullen at Super Dirt Week in the 358 race on the mile. Friesen, will run the 358 race in Buzz Chew's #99 358 that he won the Alex Friesen Summer Nationals with back in August.

Kerry Kratz will be making his first start of the year at Five Mile Point Speedway's Short Track Super Nationals on October 9th. His former team, JSG Motorsports, will also return to racing that night and own the #3G car that Kratz will be running.

Wednesday Tidbits

Craig Mitchell is the latest driver to confirm his entry into this year's big block race at Syracuse. Mitchell will be there representing Orange County Fair Speedway where he finished 4th in points and will run his self-owned 93x big block modified. Mitchell has experienced some success on the mile, he won the big block Future's race in 2007, and was the small block modified rookie of the race that same year, and last year picked up the big block modified rookie of the race award.

Danny Varin will drive the Ed Monger owned Masagarus Racing #93 modified in this weekend's Outlaw 200 at Fulton Speedway. Both Danny and his father Bobby Varin have driven the car in the passed. This year Mark Kislowski started off the year in the car, and Brian Weaver took over mid-season and finished out the year.

Friesen Continues Huge Year; Weekend Wrap up

Stewart Friesen picked up another huge win on Sunday as he picked up the $9,500 victory in Fonda Speedway's McDonalds 100. Friesen snuck around Bobby Varin late in the race to go on to picking up the win, and by winning he was also able to claim the Thunder Series points championship which pocketed him another $8,000.

In other racing news from the weekend, Jimmy Phelps picked up the win at Rolling Wheels Raceway, Jimmy Holden won the big 358 modified finale at Mercer Raceway Park during the Little Guy Nationals after Jeremiah Shingledecker won the big block portion on Saturday, Pete Bicknell won the Applefest Shooutout at Brighton Speedway, Matt DeLorenzo kicked off McDonald's Weekend at Fonda with a $4,000 victory, Howard O'Neal won the finale at Delaware International Speedway but Kenny Brightbill did what he need to do to pick up the points championship, Billy Pauch sweeped twin features at New Egypt Speedway but it wasn't enough as Rick Laubach claimed the New Egypt victory, open competition races were won by Leon Gonyo at Airborne, Wade Hendrickson at Bridgeport, and Glenn Strunk at Grandview.

Willy Decker is the latest driver to confirm he'll race at Syracuse, but just with a 358 this year.

Johnson RoCs at Accord; Brownell to Return?

Well here's a rare Saturday update. Danny Johnson took the lead early in a caution-plagued night at Accord Speedway and dominated to pick up the $7,000 RoC Dirt Tour win after holding off Andy Bachetti on a couple of restarts. Duane Howard and Pat Ward had tough nights, and Friesen collected another top 5 finish, so he looks to be in good shape to win the RoC title with just one race remaining.

I-88 saw Justin Holland cruise to his 1st career modified victory in just his 3rd career start as he held off Joey Grammes in the feature event.

AARN reported that Jeff Brownell may return to racing for the first time since Volusia tonight at Rolling Wheels, no word on whether or not he'll do anymore racing between now and the 2nd of the year.

Mike Perrotte is the latest driver to confirm his plans to run in the SEF 200 at Super Dirt Week. Sportsman star Chris Raabe will run in the 358 race, along with the sportsman race.

Now for some World Finals news, some drivers plans are coming together, Dave Murdick, Michel Chicoine, Chris Higgins, Bobby Varin, Matt DeLorenzo, Donnie Corellis, Jerry Higbie, and Billy Pauch Jr are just a few guys that have informed me they'll be heading south in November.

Look for Kerry Kratz to return for his first start of 2010 at the Short Track Super Nationals.

Fulton Speedway's Outlaw 200 (FultonSpeedway.com), and Five Mile Point's Short Track SuperNationals (BDMotorsportsMedia.com) have been updated fairly recently if you want to check them out.

Yeley To Run Bridgeport

J.J. Yeley will return to the seat of a big block modified this Saturday as he'll drive the Will Brown Racing owned 1w at Bridgeport Speedway. Yeley has quite a bit of experience in a modified, previously making starts at Syracuse, Bridgeport, and Canandaigua.

Fantasy League Update!

http://jw4.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=286

There's the link to the updated standings for the 2010 Club Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League presented by Area Auto Racing News and Zach Aubertine Motorsports following the Freedom 76er at Grandview Speedway. Just 8 races remain in the season, next up is the October 2nd Outlaw 200 from Fulton Speedway.

Clickable link is located where it always is.

Changes to Syracuse 200

The competitor's notes on the Super Dirt Series website have some interesting changes listed for the 2010 SEF 200 which will highlight this year's edition of Super Dirt Week.

First, the mandatory pit stop after lap 100 is no more. The only mandatory pit stop is you have to pit after lap 50, however, that shouldn't be a problem since nobody will be able to run 150 laps on a tank of fuel. Also, double file restarts will be in affect until lap 190 of the 200 which should make restarts a whole lot more exciting, and lapped cars will be forced to restart behind the lead lap cars. During some yellow flags a water truck and a sweeper will clean off the outside in hopes of keeping the track 2 grooves throughout the race. Finally, over the last 50 laps of the 200, big block teams are allowed to run a normal DIRT Hard tire, which is softer than DIRT's Syracuse tire, on the right rear, the tires sidewall must be painted purple so the fans will know who decided to took the gamble with the softer tire.

We'll have to see how it plays out, but DIRT continues to try to make the racing better at the mile.

DeSantis takes $20,000; Rougeux, Bolland, Sheppard take over wins

Meme DeSantis held off a the BPG Racing teammates of Duane Howard and Stewart Friesen to collect his second consecutive Freedom 76er at Grandview Speedway which paid $20,000 to win. In other racing this weekend, Del Rougeux held off Kevin Bolland to collect the BRP Tour race at Pittsburgh Motor Speedway, and Kevin Bolland went on to win the BRP Tour race the following night at Sharon Speedway. At Mohawk International Speedway it was Matt Sheppard that sweeped the 358 Dirt Series race and Super Dirt Series race on Friday and Saturday at Mohawk.

The Wago fantasy league standings will be updated by Tuesday night.

Chris Raabe will run at Syracuse in the 358 Dirt Series race on Saturday October 9th, he made his small and big block debut at Mohawk this weekend and had respectable runs.

The big races of the fall continue next weekend, as the RoC Tour runs for $7,000 to win at Accord Speedway for the King of the Catskills on Friday night, Rolling Wheels has the big block modifieds highlight World Series Weekend with a 30 lap feature, the Little Guy Nationals are at the helm at Mercer Raceway Park with big block modifieds running on Friday night and the small block modifieds highlighting the card on Saturday night, and Fonda Speedway has McDonalds Weekend which will crown the Thunder Series champion and features big block modifieds on Saturday running for $4,000 to win, and the modifieds running on Sunday for 100 laps and $9,500 to win.

Brightbill Teaming with Wink for 76er

Kenny Brightbill will be running in the Freedom 76er on Saturday night in a second Troy Wink car. Wink will run the primary car. Brightbill was hoping to run his own #19 car in the $20,000 to win event, but is saving the car to use as a back up in Delaware's finale since he's currently leading the points championship with just one week remaining.

Shultz to SDW; Big Weekend Coming

Chris Shultz is the latest driver to confirm that he will be at Super Dirt Week, he'll be running with both a big block and a small block.

This coming weekend is a huge weekend in racing, arguably the biggest race for small block modifieds takes place at Grandview Speedway as the stars to battle for 76 laps with the winner getting $20,000 on Saturday night. There are always lots of teams that unload back up cars and run them, we already know that Glenn Strunk will drive a second Gagliardo Motorsports car and Tom Mayberry will drive Michael Weinert's car. Also this weekend Mohawk International Speedway hosts the 358 Super Dirt Series on Friday night and the Super Dirt Series (which will be the last tour race before Super Dirt Week) will be in action on Saturday night at Mohawk. To top it off, the BRP Modified Tour has a double-header weekend with Pittsburgh Speedway running on Friday night, and Sharon Speedway running on Saturday night, whoever is highest in points in the series and plans on running at Syracuse will receive a guaranteed starting spot for the SEL 200 at Super Dirt Week.

Also, Fulton Speedway has an entry list page for the "Outlaw" 200 coming up the first week of October. The site only lists Brett Hearn right now, but the website in the past is only updated every week or so.

Wago Fantasy League Updated!

http://jw4.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=285

There's the link to the Wago Fantasy League standings after the Granby ESN 150, Drummondville Race Fest 150, and Utica Rome New Yorker 100. I also posted the standings after each one of those races on the main message board where the standings get posted if you want to see them.

Thanks to Zach Aubertine Motorsports and Area Auto Racing News for all their help with this thing! Next race is the 76er.

As always, the clickable link is to the right underneath the questions/comments box.

Varin and Hearn Win Big

Two more big races are in the books, as the New Yorker 100 at Utica Rome Speedway, and the Race Fest 150 at Autodrome Drummond, both of which paid $10,000 to win were run on Saturday night.

At Utica Rome Bobby Varin dominated, leading every lap and going on to collect the $10,000 pay day. Drummondville wasn't as easy, as a battle between Dale Planck and Brett Hearn took place, with Hearn taking the lead after lap 100, and collecting his first 5-digit pay day of the season.

Three races of the fantasy league took place this past weekend, I'll have the standings up by tomorrow night.

Tim Hindley will be going to Syracuse with his big block modified, and according to Race Pro Weekly, J.R. Heffner will also be there with a big block. Look for Steve Paine to make his return to the mile, with a legitimate attempt to win the 200.

Bernard Wins ESP 150 at Granby... Kind of; More Champions crowned

Steve Bernard held off David Hebert to pick up the biggest win of his career, as he picked up the $10,000 358 modified Dirt Series ESP 150 at Autodrome Granby; then, he crossed the scales. Bernard came up 6 pounds light, and under DIRT's rules, he still is credited with the win. However, due to new rules, Bernard had to hand in all $10,000 he won just minutes earlier. So, even though Bernard is credited with the win, he actually has won nothing for the win. Should be interesting to see what fans think of this.

Accord Speedway, Albany-Saratoga Speedway, and Penn Can Speedway crowned their champions last night. Jerry Higbie just had to start the feature at Accord Speedway to claim his 2nd consecutive Accord title. Penn Can Speedway saw Mike Gular, Kevin Hartnett, and Brett Tonkin in a points battle, but in the end Mike Gular picked up a second place finish to secure his 2nd career Penn Can Speedway championship. Albany-Saratoga Speedway saw Mike Bruno, Marc Johnson, and Kenny Tremont in a fight for the title, after an accident that involved Johnson and Bruno and a confrontation, it was Kenny Tremont who snuck ahead to win the championship.

Perrotte and Dupree Teaming for SDW

Mike Perrotte and 2010 Airborne Speedway champion Patrick Dupree will be teammates in this year's running of the Salute to the Troops 150 small block race at Syracuse. Perrotte will drive a second 24 car during the week. Perrotte drove one of Dupree's cars at Syracuse in the 358 race in the past as well. Last season Jessica Zemken ended up in the second car, but her week was over after damaging the car during practice on Thursday. Perrotte may still run a big block at Syracuse as well.

Fantasy League Updated!

Completely forgot to do Fantasy League standings after last week, sorry guys! Here's the link, the clickable link is on the right where it always is!

http://jw4.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=282

Updated Big Block/Small Block Syracuse Lists

Here's my updated Syracuse list, let me know if you know anything that I don't!

100% Planning On Racing the 200
1 David Hebert
usa1 Richie Tobias
3 Justin Haers
7 Rick Laubach
8 Rich Scagliotta
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Bobby Varin
12A Ronnie Johnson
13 Tony Steiner
14J Alan Johnson
16 Lance Willix
20 Brett Hearn
21m Bob McGannon
26 Ryan Godown
27J Danny Johnson
32c Vic Coffey
34 Andy Bachetti
39 Tim McCreadie
42p Pat Ward
43 Keith Flach
44 Stewart Friesen
45 Wayne Jelley
48too Dave Rauscher
49 Billy Dunn
56 Vinnie Vitale
57 Donnie Corellis
62s Tommy Sears
74 Tim Fuller
77x Dale Planck
L85 Ted Lamb
91 Billy Decker
98 Eddie Marshall
98h Jimmy Phelps
99 Ryan Phelps
99L Larry Wight
111 Shane Donath
115 Kenny Tremont

Undecided/Haven't Heard From or Talked To
Holbrook 35?
Gary Tomkins?
Willy Decker?
Duane Howard?
02 Roy Bresnahan
1 Darwin Greene
1H Tim Hindley
4 Michael Storms
4R Mike Ruggerio
7x Steve Paine
8R Rob Bellinger
10 Tim Currier
10 Randy Sherlock
14 Jimmy Horton
14s Brian Swarthout
19H Chris Higgins
22c Mario Clair
24 Chris Shultz
28P Eldon Payne
29 Jeff Brownell
35 Mike Perrotte
m40 Mark Forte Jr.
R40 Ryan Forte
41 Jeff Strunk
61 Dave Murdick
66 Jerry Higbie
74 J.R. Heffner
93x Craig Mitchell
97 Michel Chicoine
99B Chuck Bower

NOT GOING (But would go if offered a ride)
1c Craig Von Dohren
2 Jeff Trombley
3 Chad Brachmann
6n Grant Hilfiger
12a Jack Johnson
14m Doug Manmiller
16 Mike Bowman
19 Kenny Brightbill
22 Mike Bruno
36 Brett Graham
37MD Jeremiah Shingledecker
37x Tommy Scheetz
42 Matt Pupello
44 Frank Cozze
49er Jeff Heotzler
51m Wade Hendrickson
77F Mark Flach
83 Brian Swartzlander
87x Paul Gilardi
90 Martin Roy
95 D.J. Faulkner
777 Kevin Bolland

Guarenteed Starters
9s Matt Sheppard
91 Billy Decker
20 Brett Hearn
98H Jimmy Phelps
42p Pat Ward
49 Billy Dunn
39 Tim McCreadie
1c Craig Von Dohren
77x Dale Planck
27J Danny Johnson
7x Steve Paine
62s Tommy Sears
90 Martin Roy
1 Stewart Friesen
74 J.R. Heffner
99L Larry Wight

SMALL BLOCKS
1x Todd Stone
4 Andy Bachetti
4 Tim McCreadie
7G Lance Willix
8 Rich Scagliotta
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Bobby Varin
13 Tony Steiner
19 Joey Williams
20 Brett Hearn
22J Jeremy Wilder
26 Ryan Godown
27J Danny Johnson
42 Pete Bicknell
42p Pat Ward
45 Wayne Jelley
72 Tommy Flannigan
76a Ronnie Johnson
L85 Ted Lamb
91 Billy Decker
98H Erick Rudolph
99 Stewart Friesen
115 Kenny Tremont

Howard and Wight win big; More champions Crowned

Duane Howard survived a crazy night at Big Diamond Raceway to collect the $10,000 Coalcracker 100. The race capped off a big weekend for Howard, on Saturday night, Howard picked up a win at Grandview Speedway which ended up being worth another extra $10,000, as the win clinched him the American Racer Cup championship. Howard has also clinched Grandview Speedway's small block modified championship, and won $10,000 at Grandview's Forrest Rogers Memorial this year. With some more big races coming up, Howard's certainly having another year to remember.

Larry Wight became the youngest ever Super Dirt Series winner as he got around Alan Johnson early in the event and cruised to a $6,000 win at Cayuga County Fair Speedway on Sunday night.

Big congratulations goes to Steve Paine, with his win Friday night at Can Am, he now has 300 career modified wins. Congratulations to The Hurricane!

Other champions were crowned this past weekend, Mohawk International Speedway crowned Carey Terrance champion, and they also crowned Todd Stone American Revolution Mini-Series champion. Five Mile Point crowned Stewart Friesen champion, Orange County crowned Jerry Higbie champion, Brett Hearn won Lebanon Valley's big and small block championships, Jimmy Phelps picked up the Brewerton Speedway track championship, Billy Dunn repeats at Can Am Motorsports Park champion, JaMike Sowle wins the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park championship. Chad Cook won the championship at the newly re-opened I-88 Speedway, at Fulton Speedway Jimmy Phelps won his 2nd championship of the year, Steve Paine added another Canandaigua Speedway championship to his resume, Yan Bussiere won the Drummondville title, Rex King claimed the Sharon Speedway championship, Patrick Dupree reclaimed the Airborne Speedway track title, Stewart Friesen continued his amazing season by claiming the Utica Rome Speedway championship, Mike Bowman won the Humberstone Speedway championship by just 1 point for his first career small block title, Pete Bicknell continued his dominant career with another Merrittville title, Todd Burley continued his streak of Ransomville Speedway championships, and Matt Sheppard picked up the Cayuga County Fair Speedway championship.

Granby, Albany Saratoga, Accord, Penn Can, Mercer, Delaware, New Egypt, Bridgeport, Sportsmans, and Mahoning Valley will crown their champions over the next few weeks.

Also, per Dirt Track Digest, Brian Stevens announced at Humberstone Speedway that he ran his last race last night. Stevens has been one of the top drivers in northern New York/southern Canada over the last 35 years. We'll miss seeing the #44 modified on the track, and we wish Brian the best in his future!

Pauch Wins New Egypt; Fantasy League Standings Updated

http://jw4.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=281 There's the link to the updated Wago Fantasy League standings after Lebanon Valley last week. The clickable link is on the right hand side, below the question/comment chat box.

Billy Pauch dominated last night's Tri-Track Series race at New Egypt Speedway, but Rick Laubach still holds a large points lead on the rest of the field.

I'm Still Here...

Hey guys, I'm behind a little bit right now with updating, school's starting back up, so between that and work I fell a little behind. I'll get all caught up and be back to updating pretty frequently again in a few days.

I'll have the Fantasy League standings updated (after Lebanon Valley's Mr. Dirt Track USA) by tonight.

Also, I won't be doing the weekend recaps anymore, instead, I'll just highlight some of the big races over the weekend. Tonight, New Egypt Speedway has the Tri-Track Series in action.

Now, for some Super Dirt Week news, Rick Laubach has confirmed he will be running at Super Dirt Week. He'll run the Herman Motorsports #7 big block modified in the 200, and he also hopes to have his self-owned #20 in the small block race, but that is not yet for sure. Shane Donath is the latest driver to confirm his Super Dirt Week plans, the 360 sprint car star will run the #111 big block that his brother Shawn ran to a strong finish in last year's 200.

Also, Keith Brightbill has been released from the Stankewicz Racing #2 small block modified. A few drivers have tried the car out, no word on a long-term replacement yet.

LaFrance, Manmiller, Bolland Claim Titles

Three champions were crowned last night at their respective speedways. All Stephane LaFrance had to do was show up last night at the Canadian Series race at Autodrome Edelweiss to collect his track championship. David Hebert won the race at Edelweiss last night.

Kevin Bolland was in a tight points race with 2 of the best in Western Pennsylvania big block modified racing, as he battle Brian Swartzlander and defending champion Jeremiah Shingledecker all season long at Lernerville Speedway. Bolland picked up the win last night, which led to another Lernerville championship for Bolland.

Doug Manmiller used consistency to pick up his first career championship. After what seemed like a dominating season by Craig Von Dohren, Manmiller's consistency ended up giving him his first career Big Diamond championship after finishing in 6th place last night. Kevin Albert picked up the feature win.

Also, congratulations to Eric Gauvreau who picked up the BRL Edelweiss Mini Series championship, and Tim O'Brien who won Can Am's SUNY Cantun 358 Series championship.

Heffner Wins $17,500 Mr. Dirt Track USA

J.R. Heffner nursed his car to victory, picking up arguably the biggest win of his career with a win at Lebanon Valley Speedway's Mr. Dirt Track USA. The race started off with a bang as Billy Decker, the pole sitter, blew his motor causing Matt Sheppard and Larry Wight to tangle in an accident. Wayne Jelley inherited the lead until J.R. Heffner snuck by early in the race and never looked back. He held off a strong challenge from Brett Hearn before Hearn suffered mechanical issues and dropped out of the race going for the lead. Heffner survived a few restarts and opened up a lead over Andy Bachetti, until 2 laps to go when smoke began to pour out of the #74 modified. Heffner went on to hold on and collect the $17,500 pay day. Here's the top 5...

Lebanon Valley Speedway ($17,500 to win- Super Dirt Series)
1st 74 J.R. Heffner
2nd 34 Andy Bachetti
3rd 45 Wayne Jelley
4th 4 Michael Storms
5th 98H Jimmy Phelps

Ted Christopher to Super Dirt Week?

Race Pro Weekly is reporting that asphalt modified superstar Ted Christopher is interested in running in this year's Rite-Aid 200. Christopher picked up a dirt modified win back in June at New Jersey Motorsports Park, the win was worth $7,000. Don't be surprised to see Christopher team up with Bobby Hearn for an assault on the mile. Hearn didn't ask Ronnie Johnson to return to the seat of the Teo House Car for this year's Super Dirt Week event, and Christopher was driving a car listed under Bartemy Racing for the New Jersey Motorsports Park race, but the motor was the only thing owned by that team, the car was Bobby Hearn's and he was the one who got Christopher in touch with the Bartemy team. We'll have to wait and see.

Also, Stewart Friesen will be running for Buzz Chew in this year's 358 race at the Syracuse mile. Friesen will be the only driver attempting to run both the 358 race at Syracuse and the Short Track Super Nationals that night at Five Mile Point Speedway. Friesen has a guarenteed spot in the Five Mile Point feature, so if he missed his heat, it isn't a major loss. Thanks to Brett Deyo for the information.

Wago Fantasy League Updated, FINALLY!

http://jw4.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=280&page=1

Sorry it took so long, the link is at the right where it always is. Next race is tommorrow, thanks again to everyone who's playing!

Alan Johnson teaming with Brian Swarthout Racing for Rite-Aid 200 Assault

Brian Swarthout Racing announced on DirtVision's chatroom tonight that they will field a car for Alan Johnson in this year's Rite-Aid 200. Swarthout, a regular at Canandaigua Speedway, competed on the mile last year with a big block and a small block, and was thinking about going to Syracuse this year with a big block, small block, and a sportsman. No word on whether or not Swarthout will run Syracuse at all this year, or just field a car for Johnson.

Alan Johnson started the year off with a car self-owned between himself and Wallace Stacey, when that car was finished off, Jake Spraker returned to the sport as a car owner and fielder a car for Johnson. Johnson stated in a recent article in Gater Racing News that if Alan didn't find a ride, he would not attend Super Dirt Week at all. Johnson start and parked at Syracuse in 2007 and 2008, and ran his own equipment in last year's addition of the fall classic, but struggled to find speed all week and eventually dropped out with engine problems. No word on whether or not Johnson will also be entered with the team for the Salute to the Troops 150.

Also, Todd Stone and Tommy Flannigan have confirmed that they will be racing at Syracuse in the small block division this year. Expect a sportsman star to make their 358 debut on the mile at Syracuse this year as well, stay tuned.

Trombley Lands Ride; More SDW News

Jeff Trombley drove the #2 big block modified usually driven by rookie Kale Groff at Lebanon Valley Speedway last night. According to reports, Trombley will drive the car for the rest of the season, which includes this Thursday's $17,500 to win Mr. Dirt Track USA race. No word on what races the team and Trombley will run after Thursday.

Also, Donnie Corellis will once again be at Syracuse with a big block modified this year. He will be in the Rifenburg Construction Racing 57 car once again. Tony Steiner, who had a very good run in the 358 race at Syracuse last year, will once again have his self-owned #13 in the small block race at Syracuse. This year, Steiner will also be racing a big block modified in hopes of qualifying for his first ever Rite-Aid 200.

I've posted what I've come up with for a Super Dirt Week entry list (nothing too exciting so far) on Dirt Track Digest, Green 2 Checkers, and Syracuse.com. I have problems posting lists on South Jersey Dirt Racing, it all gets mixed together, so, if anyone out there doesn't have that problem on SJDR when posting links, please post the list from those sites onto SJDR for me. Thanks!

Big Diamond Champions To Be Decided This Friday

The 2010 racing season is flying on by us, QUICKLY...And this Friday night at BDR the 2010 championships will be decided....All three of the weekly divisions have close battles going on for the top spots, and all three can have changes happen in them in a blink of an eye.

Last Friday night it was a HUGE night for the top guys in the SBM and SPTS divisions, as the point leaders in both were NOT in the top spots when the racing action was over this past Friday night.

Craig Von Dohren (all time leading feature winner at BDR, but never won a championship)has basically been the point leader all year long....But a guy with the nickname 'The Handler' has been keeping CVD and his #1C in sight all year long....Doug Manmiller hasn't picked up a win this year yet, but week in and week out he's a finishing 'machine' in the Josh Biever owned #14.

Two out of the last three weeks have been disasterous for CVD and his title hopes, with seeing him head pitside before a lap in the feature race had been completed, and this past Friday was one of those weeks....When it was all said and done, CVD was credited with a 25th place finish, and Manmiller came home a strong 5th....Which now has Manmiller the NEW point leader going into the final points race this Friday night, with 1844 points and CVD behind in second, 30 pts behind with 1814....John 'The Ultimate Underdog' Willman looking for a career best third place finish in the standings with his own #74W, Rick 'The Quaker Shaker' Laubach holds down the fourth spot right now in the Johnny Rea owned #R1, and Jeff 'The X-Factor' Strunk sits in the fifth spot going into the final points race in the Gagliardo #41.

This past Friday night it was no different for the SPTS mod gusy either....As former track champ Brad 'Pap Pap' Brightbill was holding down the top spots for much of the summer months of racing....But like CVD in the SBM's, two out of the last three weeks have been disasterous also for Brightbill and his #19....Two weeks ago he was penalized for speeding in the pits (which has been discussed in the racing circles as being a questionable call at least) after making a quick stop and trying to rejoin the field....Last Friday night Brightbill was running in the top 10, but a mechanical issue sent him pitside once again ending his night....Enter racers Mike 'The FBI' Mamanna' and Craig 'Hook' Whitmoyer.

Both Mamanna and Whitmoyer have won SPTS races the past two weeks at BDR....Both have been hanging around the top 5 in points for weeks now....Both moved past Brightbill after this past Fridays action was in the books....Mamanna has his #71 in the top spot going into this Friday with 1625 points, Whitmoyer is second only three points behind the leader with 1622....Brightbill sits in the third spot with 1593, 32points behind and definitely not out of it....Last years champ Kevin Beach Jr and Mike Loney both sit tied for the fourth in the standings with 1566 points each.

In the always exciting Road Runner division at BDR, Elvin Brennan and his 'Forestville Mafia' #555 team sits on top of the standings....It's onle been recently that he has been able to take over the top spot from Ryan Olenick and his #45....Right now Brennan has 1869 points and Olenick has 1839 points, which means only 30 points seperate these two going into the final points showdown....Last years champ, Ryans' brother Kevin, sits in the third spot with his blue #450 and having accumulated 1801 points, 68 behind the leader and not totally out of it by any means.

So it's going to be a VERY entertaining night for the fans next Friday night, but for many of the race teams the word STRESSFUL will probably be the word they'll choose to use....And oh by the way, early forecast has it nothin' but sunny and nice next Friday night, so it looks like the championships will absolutely be decided on the race track, where they should be.

Friesen to run 76er for Sinon

Stewart Friesen, in the midst of the greatest season of his career, has landed another top quality ride for arguably the biggest small block race in modified racing. Friesen will be driving for Chad Sinon's BPG Racing team in next month's Freedom 76er at Grandview Speedway, which pays $20,000 to the winner. The news was announced at Grandview last night during the racing action.

Friesen has run in 2 previous Freedmo 76ers, including last year when he drove a second Norm Hansell 357 car, in which Friesen was involved in a accident and DNFed in the feature event. Friesen picked up his first career Grandview Speedway victory when the RoC Dirt Tour invaded back in July.

Sinon, who has won the 76er in the past with Craig Von Dohren and Jeff Strunk, will have Friesen team up with current driver (and current Grandview points leader) Duane Howard. Sinon has made it a tradition to put a driver in a second car for a one-off ride over the past few seasons. Brett Hearn picked up a one-off ride in the past at a Grandview season opener, in Coalcracker competition Keith Hoffman and Bobby Trapper are some of the drivers to pick up one-off rides recently for Sinon, and Doug Hoffman, Kenny Gilmore, and Shawn Reimert are a few of the drivers who recently picked up one-off rides in the Freedom 76er.

Unrelated, but 2 more drivers who raced big blocks at Super Dirt Week last year will also not be going to Syracse this year. Lebanon Valley driver Paul Gilardi and Airborne/Granby star Martin Roy will sit out this year's fall classic. Roy had a guarenteed starting spot for this year's 200, but will turn down the offer.

Cozze Not Going to Super Dirt Week

Frank Cozze, the 2007 winner of the Rite-Aid 200, will be sitting out of this year's events during Super Dirt Week. Cozze, who runs weekly at New Egypt Speedway, finished in the top 5 last year.

Also, Brett Graham, who ran the Club Wago car in the 358 portion of Super Dirt Week last year, will be sitting out of the festivities at the mile.

It looks like the big block car count could be down for the first time in quite a few years. Hopefully I'm wrong though.

I'll have the fantasy league standings updated tomorrow.

I'm Back: Howard wins $10,000; Varin wins Fonda Title

After being away for a week, I'm back! I know I'm behind with everything, and I've got to work tomorrow, so this is going to be short and sweet.

Duane Howard picked up the Forrest Rogers Memorial victory at Grandview Speedway which was worth $10,000 to the winner. It was Howard's first career win in the Forrest Rogers Memorial, and he had to earn it after a battle with Craig Von Dohren.

Bobby Varin picked up yet another Fonda Speedway big block modified track championship, as he picked up a 3rd and a 4th, which was enough to hold off Matt DeLorenzo and claim his 3rd consecutive and 6th overall Fonda championship. Ryan Odasz and A.J. Romano were the winners in the final points night of racing at Fonda. Here's the final top 5 in points from Fonda...
1st 00 Bobby Varin
2nd 3D Matt DeLorenzo
3rd 26 Dave Camara
4th 2 Ronnie Johnson
5th 41 Jimmy Davis

Also, the BRP Modified race scheduled for Mercer Raceway Park last week was rained out and rescheduled to September 11th.

Ronnie Johnson has confirmed his plans to race at Super Dirt Week with both a big and a small block modified. In the small block division, he'll once again pilot the Alton Palmer owned #76a small block modified. In the big blocks, he will not be piloting the Teo House Car this year, instead, he will drive the car that his father, Jack Johnson, piloted the last time Jack ran the mile, in 2008. Ronnie will run his dad's famous colors and number in the big block portion of Super Dirt Week.

Like I said, I work tomorrow, so the fantasy league will probably not be updated until sometime on Sunday. There's a possibility that I could have the standings updated by tomorrow, but Sunday seems more likely at this point.

McGannon Super Dirt Week Bound; Site Going Idle for a Week

The latest driver to confirm that he will participate in this year's big block portion of Super Dirt Week is Bob McGannon. McGannon, an Orange County Fair Speedway regular, has ran at Syracuse the past 3 years, qualifying for the event in 2008. McGannon, a former top-runner in the pro stock division, will run the same car he ran at Syracuse last year, which he has also ran a few weeks at Orange County.

Remember, this week is the Forrest Rogers Memorial, which pays $10,000 to win for the 358 modifieds. The race will be race #4 in the Club Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League, however, I will be on vacation so this site and the fantasy league will not be updated until at the earliest next Saturday. Thanks guys!

Friesen Wins Thriller at Penn Can

Stewart Friesen picked up his 20th win of the season in a thrilling battle with Al Rudalavage, Duane Howard, and Bobby Varin. Rudalavage led most of the event, and held off multiple challenges my Bobby Varin, before Duane Howard and Stewart Friesen snuck passed Varin with just a few laps to go. Brian Decker slowed to bring out the caution on lap 57, which bunched up the field. Rudalavage, Howard, and Friesen went three wide down multiple times over the final to laps, but Friesen used the high side to win by just a few feet over Rudalavage and Howard. Here was the top 5 finish in the RoC Dirt Tour event.

Penn Can Speedway (RoC Dirt Tour $5,000 to win)
1st 1 Stewart Friesen
2nd 145 Al Rudalavage
3rd 4 Duane Howard
4th 10 Bobby Varin
5th 5J Joey Grammes

Howard and Friesen tied for the Summer Shootout Mini-Series title, so both received half of the $1,000 prize. The top 4 in RoC Dirt Tour points were seperated by just 27 points heading into the event, Danny Johnson, who came in as the points leader dropped out with engine problems while running 2nd in the latter stages of the race. Pat Ward, who came into the event 2nd in RoC points was involved in multiple crashes and with a 10th place. The top 4 drivers in the standings have tightened the battle for the championship even more. Here's (what should be, according to my calculation) the new top 5 in the standings.

1st 1 Stewart Friesen 309
2nd 42p Pat Ward 294
3rd 4 Duane Howard 290
4th 27J Danny Johnson 288
5th 10 Bobby Varin 228

Just 2 races remain on the RoC Dirt Tour schedule, the top 5 are the only drivers with a mathematical shot at the championship, and Varin needs a lot of help to not be eliminated by the conclusion of the next RoC Race, which will be run at Accord Speedway. Duane Howard missed the race RoC race at Utica Rome Speedway, had he started that race and received last place points he'd be just 3 points out of the points lead. Had he showed up, and only received points for not qualifying, he'd still be in front of Pat Ward in the standings.

Rich Ricci to drive for Gable

Rich Ricci will run the Mr. Dirt Track USA Super Dirt Series race at Lebanon Valley Speedway in late August for Jody Gable Motorsports. Gable returns to the sport after sitting out all of 2009, current plans are for this to be a one-race deal, but Gable hopes to go to Syracuse with either Ricci or Bobby Varin (Varin has tentative plans to run at Syracuse with the Kenny Saya #10 car, but Gable will have better equipment, so those plans could change).

Ricci and Gable had lots of success at Lebanon Valley in the late 90s and early 2000s. The Mr. Dirt Track USA race will pay $17,500 to the winner.

Friesen and Higbie Collect $10,000 Wins

First, let me apologize, there won't be a weekend roundup this week and I'm having some computer issues. However, there were 2 huge races this past weekend that saw two drivers collect $10,000 wins!

On Thursday, the 1st ever Hard Clay Challenge was on hand at Orange County Fair Speedway, and it was Jerry Higbie who went on to pick up the small block modified feature win after passing Bobby Varin late in the race to go on and collect the win. Andy Bachetti snuck passed Varin for 2nd, Varin was 3rd, and rounding out the top 5 were Brett Hearn and Matt DeLorenzo. Special thanks to Suitcase Sanchelli for all he did for Club Wago at this event, and thanks to everyone that stopped by! We had a great time with all of you!

On Friday, the Alex Friesen Summer Nationals were on hand at Ransomville Speedway. Stewart Friesen honored his popular late uncle with the $10,000 victory. Friesen held off Hearn and Danny Johnson in a late race duel through lap traffic. Hearn and Johnson finished 2nd and 3rd, while Rick Richner and Scott Kerwin rounded out the top 5.

Here's a look back at who's won the big modified races thus far this season.

Victoria 200 (big blocks $10,000 to win)- Tim McCreadie
All-Star 50 (big blocks $10,000 to win)- Matt Sheppard
Friends of Mike 100 (big blocks $15,000 to win)- Willie Osmun
Hard Clay Challenge 40 (small blocks $10,000 to win)- Jerry Higbie
Alex Friesen Summer Nationals 100 (small blocks $10,000 to win)- Stewart Friesen

The big shows are just now approaching, this weekend the Forrest Rogers Memorial 50 is on hand for the small block modifieds at Grandview Speedway to battle it out for $10,000.

In other news, the New Yorker 200 will now be the New Yorker 100. The race will run all-green flag laps with a break at lap 50 and will still pay $10,000 to win and $1,000 to start.

Keith Flach and Vinnie Vitale will be at Super Dirt Week with big block modifieds. John Willman will run at Super Dirt Week with a small block.

Also, Wade Hendrickson fans, don't worry that John McClelland has been running the Michaels Brothers Racing 51m big block as of late. The team is currently running with McClelland's motor in the car, when the team's own motor returns, Hendrickson will return to the drivers seat.

Remember, the RoC Dirt Tour is in action tomorrow (Tuesday) night at Penn Can Speedway. The race will also determine the champion of Brett Deyo's "Summer Shootout Series" which will award a bonus $1,000 to the winner.

Finally, the next Club Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League race is this Saturday (Forrest Rogers Memorial, however, I'll be leaving for the beach that day and won't be back until next week, so the fantasy league standings will be late being posted. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Fonda Rained Out

Fonda's Thunder Series race scheduled for Tuesday night was post-poned due to weather. I haven't heard when the race will be ran. Tonight (Wednesday), Five Mile Point has a mid-week special which included a 30-lap feature for the big block modifieds.

Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League Standings Updated after Race #3- Friends of Mike

Here's the link to the updated Fantasy League Standings. http://jw4.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=279

The next race is at Grandview Speedway on August 14th (my apologies to Ransomville and orange County, both have Crown Jewel races coming up but weren't included in the fantasy league). Thanks again to everyone for playing.

Also, you can click on the fantasy league link on the right side of the page (beneath the chat box), as that link has been updated as well.

Sheppard Wins on SDS Again

Matt Sheppard extended his points lead on the Super Dirt Series, as he picked up the Series win on Monday night at Merrittville Speedway. Sheppard snuck around Stewart Friesen with less than 30 laps to go to go on and collect his fifth Super Dirt Series win of 2010. Here was the top 5...

Merrittville Speedway (Super Dirt Series)
1st 9s Matt Sheppard
2nd 1 Stewart Friesen
3rd 77x Dale Planck
4th 27J Danny Johnson
5th 20 Brett Hearn

Osmun Stuns Field for $15,000; Hearn Wins Again North of the Border

It was a big weekend in modified racing, as the fastest growing modified race of the year, the Friends of Mike race at New Egypt Speedway was on hand. Willie Osmun came from 8th starting spot, snuck around names like Pauch, Cozze, Hoffman, and many others of the best in the business, and held off late race charges by Danny Johnson to win his first career modified feature, which ended up being worth $15,000. Brett Hearn went on to win a caution-free 125 lap feature at Cornwall Motor Speedway, part of the Canadian Nationals Series. Here are the rest of this past weekends results...

Friday

Big Blocks

Accord Speedway ($3,000 to win)
1st 16R Richie Smith
2nd z69 Robbie Green
3rd 10 Danny Johnson
4th 4 Andy Bachetti
5th 307 Sean Gunther

Glen Ridge Motorsports Park
Race #1
1st 711 JaMike Sowle
2nd 85 Erik Nelson
3rd 7 Mike Ronca
4th 8 John Lutes
5th 21p Pep Corradi

Race #2
1st 85 Erik Nelson
2nd 21p Pep Corradi
3rd 20c Craig Hanson
4th 53 Bobby Vedder
5th 8 John Lutes

Albany-Saratoga Speedway
1st 11VT Don Scarborough
2nd 19 Joe Williams
3rd 22 Mike Bruno
4th 3J Marc Johnson
5th 1R Rich Ronca

Brewerton Speedway (check out all the 9s in this top 5)
1st 99 Ryan Phelps
2nd 99B Chuck Bower
3rd 9s Matt Sheppard
4th 99L Larry Wight
5th 99J Jimmy Phelps

I-88 Speedway
1st 406R Rich Ricci
2nd 2J Chad Cook
3rd 77 Bob Hamm
4th 1w Wade Decker
5th 71 Russ Zimmerman

Lernerville Speedway
1st 61 Dave Murdick
2nd 20D Del Rougeux
3rd 37MD Jeremiah Shingledecker
4th 777 Kevin Bolland
5th 83 Brian Swartzlander

Penn Can Speedway
1st 15 Brett Tonkin
2nd 9D Brian Decker
3rd 5J Joey Grammes
4th 53 Mike Gular
5th 176 Garth Tonkin

Can Am Motorsports Park
1st 8R Rob Bellinger
2nd 7x Steve Paine
3rd 49 Billy Dunn
4th 88 Tim O’Brien
5th 74 Matt Billings

Small Blocks

Autodrome Granby (Canadian National Series)
1st 46 Kayle Robidoux
2nd 54 Steve Bernard
3rd 1 David Hebert
4th 21 Yan Bussiere
5th 22c Mario Clair

Big Diamond Raceway ($3,000 to win)
1st 4 Duane Howard
2nd 1c Craig Von Dohren
3rd T102 Billy Pauch Jr
4th 14D A.J. DeSantis
5th 42 Kyle Follweiler

Mohawk International Raceway (50 laps)
1st 7* Danny O’Brien
2nd 66x Carey Terrance
3rd 6 Pat O’Brien
4th 16 Gage Morin
5th 19 John Lazore

Autodrome Edelweiss (Syracuse qualifier)
1st 115 Stephane LaFrance
2nd 22 Eric Gauvreau
3rd 72 Dennis Gauvreau
4th 38 Luke Whitteker
5th 00 Ryan Foley

Ransomville Speedway
1st 72 Tommy Flannigan
2nd 3 Chad Brachmann
3rd 7 Scott Kerwin
4th 42 Pete Bicknell
5th 89B Todd Burley

SATURDAY

Big Blocks

New Egypt Speedway ($15,000 to win)
1st 14 Willie Osmun
2nd 10 Danny Johnson
3rd 77 Keith Hoffman
4th 1c Craig Von Dohren
5th 20 Rick Laubach

Fonda Speedway
Race #1
1st 00 Bobby Varin
2nd 3D Matt DeLorenzo
3rd 14R Ryan Odasz
4th 3 Mark Kislowski
5th 21J Jeff Trombley

Race #2
1st 41 Jimmy Davis
2nd 24L Rob Langevin
3rd 16 A.J. Romano
4th 21J Jeff Trombley
5th 17 Elmo Reckner

Fulton Speedway
1st 99J Jimmy Phelps
2nd 9s Matt Sheppard
3rd 42p Pat Ward
4th 91 Billy Decker
5th 16 Mike Bowman

Five Mile Point Speedway
1st 41P Brian Puckett
2nd 1 Stewart Friesen
3rd 12e Eric Palmer
4th 42B Kevin Bates
5th 6H J.R. Hurlburt

Lebanon Valley Speedway
1st 55 Mike King
2nd 87 Neil Stratton
3rd 94 Ray Howard
4th 77F Mark Flach
5th 20 Brett Hearn

Sharon Speedway
1st 20D Del Rouguex
2nd 777 Kevin Bolland
3rd 65 Rex King
4th 11R Brad Rapp
5th 69 Tommy Mattocks

Delaware International Speedway
1st 30 Jamie Mills
2nd 09 Howard O’Neal
3rd 33 Brad Trice
4th 62 Matt Jester
5th 888 Robert Dutton

Mahoning Valley Speedway
1st 24 Randy Thomas
2nd x15 Billy Briggs
3rd 134 Mike Brannigar
4th 26 Joe Stangle
5th 58 Jeff Parker

Small Blocks

Merrittville Speedway
1st 37s Boyd MacTavish
2nd 52 James Michael Friesen
3rd 6 Mat Williamson
4th 3 Chad Brachmann
5th 38 Scott Wood

Brockville-Ontario Speedway
1st 16 Gage Morin
2nd 74 Matt Billings
3rd 6 Pat O’Brien
4th 25 Bobby Herrington
5th 60 Bill Gill

Orange County Fair Speedway
1st 33 1/3 Tommy Meier
2nd J17 Jeff Heotzler
3rd 66 Jerry Higbie
4th 51 Mike Ricci
5th 10 Richie Eurich

Autodrome Drummond
1st 21 Yan Bussiere
2nd 1 David Hebert
3rd 22c Mario Clair
4th 46 Kayle Robidoux
5th 54 Steve Bernard

Airborne Speedway
1st 24 Patrick Dupree
2nd 26 Todd Ormsby
3rd 17 Jason Durgan
4th C02 Craig Reyell
5th 28 Bryant Trim

Woodhull Raceway
1st 2 Billy Van Pelt
2nd 31 Frank Dunning
3rd 78 Grant Hilfiger
4th 6x Dave DuBois
5th 81 Steve Hartman

SUNDAY

Big Blocks

Cayuga County Fair Speedway
1st 27J Danny Johnson
2nd 9s Matt Sheppard
3rd 1J Alan Johnson
4th 99J Jimmy Phelps
5th 37c Eric Fisher

Devils Bowl Speedway
1st 11VT Don Scarborough
2nd 4 Leon Gonyo
3rd 115 Kenny Tremont
4th 3J Marc Johnson
5th 115x Seth Roberts

Utica Rome Speedway
1st 1 Stewart Friesen
2nd 42p Pat Ward
3rd 2 Ronnie Johnson
4th 00 Bobby Varin
5th 1x Casey Williams

Tri City Speedway
1st 61 Dave Murdick
2nd 37MD Jeremiah Shingledecker
3rd 35H Chris Haines
4th 41 Andy Priest
5th 165 Rex King Jr

Small Blocks

Cornwall Motor Speedway ($5,000 to win)
1st 20 Brett Hearn
2nd 6 Pat O’Brien
3rd 77x Dale Planck
4th 66x Carey Terrance
5th 39 Clement Therrien

A big week and weekend of racing are approaching, Matt Sheppard, Tim McCreadie, and Willie Osmun have already collected 5-figured wins this season, two more races are scheduled for this week. On Monday (tonight) the Super Dirt Series rolls into Merrittville Speedway for the next race on their schedule. Then, on Thursday, the Hard Clay Challenge worth $10,000 to the winner is on hand at Orange County Fair Speedway. The following night, at Ransomville Speedway, the small blocks will once again race for $10,000, this time in the Alex Friesen Summernationals.

Decker Takes Thunder Series Race at Utica Rome

Billy Decker cruised to pick up the $5,000 big block modified feature win at Utica Rome Speedway's Thunder Series race. It was Decker's first win in a few years at Utica Rome. Here was last night's top 5...

Utica Rome Speedway
1st 91 Billy Decker
2nd 2 Ronnie Johnson
3rd 1 Stewart Friesen
4th 99J Jimmy Phelps
5th 19k Paul Kinney

Remember, Saturday is the 3rd race of the Club Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League, and also the 3rd big money event of the year, as Friends of Mike Night highlights the weekend with a 100-lap, $15,000 to win event for the big block modifieds.

Gable Returning? Lamb Going to SDW

Look for Jody Gable to return to the ownership role by Mr. Dirt Track USA sources report. No word on who the driver will be. The team has ran in the past with drivers such as Bobby Varin, Rich Ricci, Andy Bachetti, Brett Hearn, Tim Dwyer, and J.R. Heffner, and also had connections with Kevin Bolland as Bolland and Gable attempted to put together a deal for last year's Rite-Aid 200. With Gable being out of racing for over a year, expect a former driver to run for Gable. With Bachetti and Hearn with solid rides for weekly competition at Lebanon Valley Speedway, and with Tim Dwyer not racing for 2 years now, expect either J.R. Heffner, Rich Ricci, or Bobby Varin to land in the Gable ride for the race, Heffner and Ricci seem the most likely, as Varin will more than likely run the race with the Saya #10 Race Team, and both Ricci and Heffner are running self-owned equipment.

Ted Lamb has confirmed on Doug's Dirt Diary that he will compete in both the big block and small block portion of Super Dirt Week on the moody mile. Lamb will be eligible for the Futures Race in both divisions.

Friesen Wins Fonda Thunder Race

Stewart Friesen held off a mid-race challenge from Bobby Varin and cruised to any easy $5,000 win in the Fonda Speedway Thunder on the Thruway season. Friesen now has wins on the year at Fonda, Utica Rome, Ransomville, Five Mile Point, Grandview, Volusia, and Cayuga County, which puts only a handful of drivers ahead of him in different tracks won at for this season. Here was the top 5...

Fonda Speedway (Thunder Series)
1st 1 Stewart Friesen
2nd 00 Bobby Varin
3rd 91 Billy Decker
4th 14R Ryan Odasz
5th 1x Willy Decker

Bernard Wins Big; Weekend Results

Sorry for posting these a day or two late, I was in Atlantic City over the weekend and am now playing catch up. I'll have Fonda Speedway results from last night posted later today. Remember, next week is race #3 of the Club Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League, as the Friends of Mike big block modified race at New Egypt Speedway, which pays $15,000 to win, will count towards those standings. Here at this weekends top 5 finishers!

FRIDAY

Big Block Modifieds
1st 37MD Jeremiah Shingledecker
2nd 11R Brad Rapp
3rd 20D Del Rougeux
4th 28 Tom Winkle
5th 777 Kevin Bolland

Small Block Modifieds

Ransomville Speedway
1st 27J Danny Johnson
2nd 37s Boyd MacTavish
3rd 26 Rick Richner
4th 89B Todd Burley
5th 42 Pete Bicknell

SATURDAY

Big Block Modifieds

New Egypt Speedway (Friend of Mike Qualifier)
1st 02 Brian Truppi
2nd 1 Billy Pauch
3rd 14 Willie Osmun
4th 6 John Stangle
5th 77 Keith Hoffman

Delaware International Speedway (30 lap race mixed with late models)
1st 30 Jamie Mills
2nd 85 H.J. Bunting
3rd H2O Chad Clark
4th 17 Scott Van Gorder
5th 80 David Pettyjohn (late model)

Orange County Fair Speedway
1st 43 Clinton Mills
2nd 6x Jackie Brown
3rd 79x Dave Werber
4th 53 Ric Hill
5th 244 Chris Whitehead

Lebanon Valley Speedway
1st 34 Andy Bachetti
2nd 87 Hector Stratton
3rd 60 Brian Berger
4th 57 Donnie Corellis
5th 98 Eddie Marshall

Mahoning Valley Speedway
1st 24 Randy Thomas
2nd x15 Billy Briggs
3rd 26 Joe Stangle
4th 134 Scott Hulmes
5th 58 Jeff Parker

Small Block Modifieds

Autodrome Drummondville (Canadian Challenge Series)
1st 54 Steve Bernard
2nd 39 Clement Therrien
3rd 22J Gino Clair
4th 63 Dominic Dufault
5th 46 Kayle Robidoux

Merrittville Speedway (50 laps)
1st 42 Pete Bicknell
2nd 12 Chad Chevalier
3rd 6 Mat Williamson
4th 71 Mike Bowman
5th 38 Scott Wood

Grandview Speedway
1st 1c Craig Von Dohren
2nd 4 Duane Howard
3rd 14D A.J. DeSantis
4th 53 Mike Gular
5th 357 Ryan Godown

Airborne Speedway
1st 18 Chris Cayea
2nd 28 Bryant Trim
3rd 17 Jason Durgan
4th 24 Patrick Dupree
5th C02 Craig Reyell

Woodhull Raceway
1st 2 Billy Van Pelt
2nd 3 Joe Dgien
3rd 31 Frank Dunning
4th 9x Dale Welty
5th 13 Kevin Chilson

SUNDAY

Big Block Modifieds

Utica Rome Speedway
1st 00 Bobby Varin
2nd 42p Pat Ward
3rd 18 Danny Varin
4th 1 Stewart Friesen
5th 93 Brian Weaver

Devils Bowl Speedway
1st 60 Jimmy Ryan
2nd 115x Seth Roberts
3rd 10 Don Mattison
4th 115 Kenny Tremont
5th 22 Mike Bruno

Small Block Modifieds

Humberstone Speedway (Syracuse qualifer)
1st 52 James Michael Friesen
2nd 20 Jeff McGinnis
3rd 96 Fred Carleton
4th 38 Scott Wood
5th 6 Mat Williamson

Lebanon Valley Speedway (Syracuse qualifier)
1st 4 Andy Bachetti
2nd 20 Brett Hearn
3rd 5 J.R. Heffner
4th 45 Wayne Jelley
5th 68 Art Collins

Cornwall Motor Speedway
1st 38 Luke Whitteker
2nd 66x Carey Terrance
3rd 88 Tim O'Brien
4th 96 Kyle Dingwall
5th 23 Laurent Ladouceur

Van Pelt Continues Woodhull Domination

Billy Van Pelt won his 8th race of the season at Woodhull Raceway on Wednesday night in the special mid-week program. Van Pelt is making a serious run at the American Racer Cup Championship, and is seems destined for an intense battle with Stewart Friesen, Kenny Brightbill, Wade Hendrickson, Bobby Varin, and Craig Von Dohren for the American Cup title!

Woodhull Raceway
1st 2 Billy Van Pelt
2nd 3 Joe Dgien
3rd 31 Frank Dunning
4th 9x Dale Welty
5th 13 Kevin Chilson

Also, defending Airborne Speedway champion Martin Roy will reportedly skip the 2010 addition of Super Dirt Week despite a strong run in the Rite-Aid 200 last year before mechanical problems took him out of the feature event. There is a chance that plans could change, as Roy recently picked up a guarenteed starting spot for the 200 with a strong 7th place finish in the Super Dirt Series race at Drummondville.