See You at Bridgeport

Hope to see everyone at Bridgeport Saturday, March 30th. We'll be there bright and early and will be doing some tailgating, so everyone is invited to stop by! Again, hope to see everyone there!

Volusia Update

36 modifieds showed up for Tuesday night's practice session at Volusia Speedway Park. Danny Johnson was the quickest in the first practice session about the Mike Payne/Doug Dulen owned #27J, while Andy Bachetti set quick time in the final 2 practice sessions aboard the Steve Hough owned #34. The season officially kicks off on Wednesday night with the first of 4 nights of racing from Volusia. Here's a list of drivers that signed in for practice...

01 Brett Ballard
1 Darwin Greene
3 Justin Haers
5 Jimmy Horton
5* Tyler Siri
6m Mat Williamson
7 Rick Laubach
8 Rich Scagliotta
8R Rob Bellinger
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Billy VanInwegen
10J Alan Johnson
20 Brett Hearn
21A Peter Britten
21K Randy Chrysler
22c Mario Clair
27J Danny Johnson
29 Chris Ostrowsky
30 Jamie Mills
34 Steve Hough
34B Andy Bachetti
42B Kevin Bates
48too Dave Rauscher
49 Francois Bernier
66w Dexter Stacey
74 Tim Fuller
79 Jeremy Markle
85 Dan Vauter
85 H.J. Bunting
85 Stewart Friesen
88 Dave Allen
94 Daniel Nadeau
97 Michel Chicoine
99 Bruno Lepage
323 Neal Williams
518 Kyle Sheldon
901 Eric Kormann

New Ride for Planck and Pauch Jr, Volusia Update

Dale Planck has joined the Rood Racing team to pilot the #77x big-block modified at Brewerton, Fulton, and Utica Rome in 2013. Jason Rood will run as a teammate to Planck at Utica Rome Speedway. Look for Rez-X Racing to scale back to only fielding a car for Carey Terrance in 2013.

Billy Pauch Jr has landed a ride for specials at Big Diamond and Grandview in 2013. Pauch Jr will partner up with veteran driver Mike Nicholas to pilot the popular #3 small block modified.

Quite a few names have added their names to the big-block Volusia roster. Here's and updated look at some of the contenders...

01 Brett Ballard
1 Darwin Greene
3 Justin Haers
5 Jimmy Horton
5* Tyler Siri
6m Mat Williamson
7 Rick Laubach
8 Rich Scagliotta
8R Rob Bellinger
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Billy VanInwegen
20 Brett Hearn
21A Peter Britten
22c Mario Clair
27J Danny Johnson
42B Kevin Bates
49 Francois Bernier
74 Tim Fuller
79 Jeremy Markle
85 Dan Vauter
85 H.J. Bunting
85 Stewart Friesen
88 Dave Allen
94 Daniel Nadeau
97 Michel Chicoine
99 Bruno Lepage
323 Neal Williams
901 Eric Kormann

Gleason, Dissinger, Anderson, Volusia, and Schedule updates

Fonda sportsman star Brian Gleason will be moving up to the big-block division in 2013. Gleason will run weekly at Albany-Saratoga and Fonda, and expects to run some special shows throughout the season.

Veteran Dave Dissinger will be moving up to the big-block division to run weekly at Bridgeport Speedway in 2013.

Howard Huepfel has started a new big-block team that will run weekly at Bridgeport Speedway in 2013. Huepfel has hired Corey Anderson, who won the first modified event on the Bridgeport 1/4 mile in 2012, to drive for the team. Thanks to our friend Mike Wisniewski for breaking the news.

H.J. Bunting and Kevin Bates are the latest 2 drivers to announce that they will be running at Volusia.

Mercer, Glen Ridge, Utica Rome, RPM, Penn Can, Humberstone, and Airborne have all released their 2013 schedules, and all of them have been updated on the 2013 big/small block master schedule (link to the left.)

Strunk Partners with Salerno

Just a few short weeks ago Jeff Strunk was let go by one of the top teams on the PA/NJ circuit, if not in all of modified racing. However, he managed to upgrade for 2013.

Strunk will take over weekly driving duties of the Vinnie Salerno owned #4 for weekly competition at Grandview and Big Diamond. This deal is a partnership effort with Matt Hearn and Teo. While Strunk will run the car at Grandview and Big Diamond, Tim McCreadie will still run the car in part-time big and small block action.

Time to Catch Up

Let's see what we missed since my last post...

Fonda sportsman champion Cody Bleau will replace Danny Varin aboard the John Kollar owned #10% modified. Look for the team to run weekly at Glen Ridge while running a few bigger races at Fonda.

Bridgeport sportsman champion Ryan Anderson has announced that he will move up and run weekly with the big-block division in 2013 at Bridgeport.

Bobby Hackel IV, who's won championships and lots of races in the sportsman divisions at Albany and Lebanon Valley in recent years, is moving up to run with the big-blocks weekly at Lebanon Valley Speedway in 2013.

Rick Laubach and Dan Vauter have added their names to the list of drivers that will be running Volusia in a few weeks.

Lernerville, Grandview, Sharon, Mahoning Valley, and the BRP Modified tour have had their schedules released. Look for them to be added to the 2013 big/small block schedule tonight.

Grasso chooses Tyler, Beamer is Back, Volusia & Hagerstown Tidbits

Joe Grasso Racing has chosen his new driver for the 2013 season. Danny Tyler will take over driving duties of the #19J small block modified for weekly competition at Accord Speedway. Tyler will also have his family-owned #97T modified for part-time competition at Five Mile Point Speedway and select other shows. Grasso's 2012 driver, Mike Ricci, who left the team prior to the end of last season, will return to the Kawalchuk owned #20T at Accord.

Thornton Racing will field a teammate to their veteran driver Steve Durand in the big-block ranks at Bridgeport in 2013. Tommy Beamer, who's had success in the modified division at Bridgeport in the past and ran weekly for the team in the sportsman division last season, will run the team's second car in Bridgeport's weekly modified division.

Hagerstown Speedway has released their schedule, and then only appearance for the modifieds will be the Brawl in the Fall feature event, rescheduled from October. They have announced that they will run a last-chance race for any drivers that want to show up that were not in attendance for the original date of the race. Matt Sheppard and Brett Hearn will share the front row for the 50-lap $7,500 to win feature.

Add a few more guys to the Volusia entry list; Brett Ballard, Jimmy Horton, and Jeremy Markle have confirmed their intentions on running the DIRTcar Nationals. Here's an early look at guys planning on running Volusia...

01 Brett Ballard
1 Darwin Greene
3 Justin Haers
5 Jimmy Horton
5* Tyler Siri
6m Mat Williamson
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Billy VanInwegen
20 Brett Hearn
22c Mario Clair
27J Danny Johnson
49 Francois Bernier
74 Tim Fuller
97 Michel Chicoine
99B Bruno Lepage
901 Eric Kormann

Cozze and Richer Tidbits

SpeedSTR star Gabriel Richer will be moving up to the small block modified division for weekly competition at Cornwall Motor Speedway in 2013.

In news that everyone has already heard, Frank Cozze has been announced the new driver of the Norm Hansell 357. The team will run weekly at Big Diamond and Grandview despite there being rumors saying they'll run elsewhere.

Jeff Strunk still does not have a ride lined up for 2013, but don't be surprised to see him team up with a well known name in the world of DIRT modified racing.

Mike Nicholas has signed someone to drive his #3 small block modified on a part-time basis in 2013. Look for an announcement coming soon.

I'll have a new link to the beginning stages of the 2013 big/small block schedule tomorrow. We'll have the RoC Dirt Tour, Bridgeport, Merrittville, New Egypt, Brockville, Rolling Wheels, Ohsweken, Big Diamond, Georgetown, Drummond, and Canandaigua's schedules all posted.

The Club Wago Winter Bash is this Saturday, January 26th at the Kutztown Fairgrounds in Beltzners Hall. Tickets are $20 and all proceeds will go back into the racing community, full amount of money given out will be posted after the event. We'll supply the beer, soda, Wago Juice, and food, and you're more than welcome to bring your own liquor. Here's a quick look at the things we'll be giving away via chinese auction and door prizes on Saturday night... and we're working on getting more!

2 tickets to Super DIRT Week XLII at the NY State Fairgrounds
2 tickets to the RoC Dirt Tour Traffic Jam 60 at Grandview Speedway July 30th
2 tickets to the 5-25s (modifieds, ARDC midgets, URC sprints, sportsman, and legends) at Grandview Speedway on October 19th
2 tickets to any Big Diamond Speedway weekly event
2 tickets to any Lebanon Valley Speedway weekly event
2 tickets to any Grandview Speedway weekly event
Zemco Racing #1 410 sprint car side wing
Kenny Brightbill #19 "Gold Rush" Super DIRT Week car side panel
Kyle Weiss #21K hood and nose piece
15 8x11 framed photos from Boris Rudzinski (DirtModJunkie Photos)
$20 Gift Card to Spectator's Bar and Grille
2-$25 Gift Card to Hooters
$25 Gift Card to Outback Steak House

Multiple t-shirts/hats/sweatshits from the following people...
Kenny Brightbill, Chad Brachmann, Wayne Jelley, Jerry Higbie, Craig Von Dohren, Richie Tobias, Mike Mammana, Michael Weinert, Ron Kline, Chuck Schutz, Doug Manmiller, Brett Deyo Motorsports Media, Four Star Lettering, Penske Shocks, Bulldog Rear Ends, Weaknecht Archery, Landshark, Budweiser, Samuel Adams, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi.

Contact me at Jman97531@aol.com or call 610-349-4931 if you have any questions, or would like to purchase a ticket.

Minor Updates

Canandaigua and New Egypt have released their schedules. Look for the schedule tab to be updated by tomorrow. Also, I forgot to mention that Ohsweken Speedway will have a 358 modified race at their beautiful facility this summer.

Katelyn Kane will be moving up to the big-block ranks full-time after the sportsman star ran select 358 races towards the end of 2012. Kane will focus on weekly action at Fulton Speedway.

Matt Billings has purchased a big-block and hopes to run the Super DIRTcar Series this year. Mat Williamson announced earlier in the off-season that he's purchased his first big-block and hopes to do a similar schedule to Billings (although Williamson plans on running weekly at Lernerville.) If both are able to follow the tour, it could be the best Rookie of the Year class in recent memory. Billings has not picked out a home track yet. Obviously, he will still have his 358 equipment to run local shows.

Bobby Varin has landed another new ride for 2013. Varin will jump aboard the Erik Nelson owned #85 for weekly competition at Glen Ridge. No word on what has happened to the Andy Romano owned #97.

And We're Back

Let's jump right back into it.

Big Diamond and Georgetown have both released their schedules. Expect a ton of schedule releases within the next week.

Grandview Speedway has announced the Freedom 76er will pay $25,000 in 2013, an increase of $5,000 from the winner's purse before the 50th anniversary special.

Norm Hansell and Jeff Strunk have officially parted ways. Both sides claim that they do not have anything lined up for 2013, but expect Hansell to hire a driver that is not currently racing modifieds, and don't be surprised to see Strunk run Bridgeport

Canadian sportsman stars Daniel Nadeau and Ryan Arbuthnot will be moving up to modifieds in 2013. Nadeau has purchased a big-block and a small block and will do some traveling alone with running weekly at Granby. Arbuthnot will run weekly at Cornwall.

Nadeau will kick his season off at Volusia. Mario Clair has also announced he'll once again head south in February.

Mike Mahaney has partnered up with Deek Decker's DEUCE ride for competition at Fulton in 2013. Decker has had a wide variety of drivers in his car over the past few seasons.

Mahaney will also run I-88 Speedway in 2013 as opposed to Brewerton.