Instead of hunting Easter eggs, NASCAR Cup Series competitor hunted for a victory with the SMART Modified Tour at South Boston Speedway Saturday. The JTG Daugherty Racing driver took full advantage of his off weekend, scoring the win in the 99-lap event. (more…)
HICKORY, NC (April 3) –Derek Griffith of Hudson, NH withstood a race-long battle with his cross-town rival Joey Polewarcyzk to take the win for the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Models Saturday night in the 16th Annual Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway. With his win, Griffith swept the weekend twins to become the first driver since Preston Peltier to score back-to-back Easter Bunny 150 wins. (more…)
Hickory, NC — Dover, NH’s Wayne Helliwell Jr. pulled a clean sweep of the first American-Canadian Tour (ACT) trip to North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway by winning the Easter Bunny 125 on Saturday, April 3. Helliwell took the lead from New Salem, MA’s Tom Carey III in lapped traffic on the 44th circuit and was unstoppable down the stretch to double up after his victory in the Hickory 125 the night before. (more…)
Hickory, NC — Dover, NH’s Wayne Helliwell Jr. added another accomplishment to his long racing résumé by winning the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Hickory 125 on Friday, April 2. The three-time ACT champion led all but two laps and survived multiple challenges from Herman, ME’s Mike Hopkins to win the series’ first event at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway. (more…)
When the Limited Late Model field takes to the track at Stafford Speedway in 3 weeks, 23 year old Matt Scappini will kick off his first season of weekly competition at the Connecticut half-mile facility. (more…)
LEBANON, Tenn. (April 2, 2021) – Nashville Superspeedway officials have announced that Ford will be the official pace car provider for its June 18-20 NASCAR tripleheader weekend, including the inaugural “Ally 400” NASCAR Cup Series race on Father’s Day – Sunday, June 20.
The announcement was made during last week’s Goodyear Tire Test at Nashville Superspeedway. Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing, was one of three NASCAR Cup Series stars to participate in the test.
“It’s cool that they’re on board here at Nashville and for them to start this track off as a Ford-branded track,” said Briscoe, a contender for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year honor. “It’s cool whenever we go to a Ford track. The pace car is a Ford and there’s Ford signage everywhere and it feels like you’re more at home.”
The June 18-20 NASCAR tripleheader weekend also includes the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday, June 19 (2:30 p.m. CT, NBCSN) and the “Rackley Roofing 200” NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Friday, June 18 (7 p.m. CT, FS1).
“It’s an honor to be linked with such an iconic company as Ford as we continue to build toward our June race weekend,” said Nashville Superspeedway president Erik Moses. “Ford has a tremendous motorsports history and is a brand that connects with our fanbase here in Middle Tennessee. We can’t wait to see a Ford lead America’s best drivers to the green flag at Nashville Superspeedway on Father’s Day weekend!”
Ford will also be the official pace car provider at Nashville Superspeedway’s sister track Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Ford earned its 17th NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer championship, and second in the last three seasons, after winning 18 races in 2020 while Austin Cindric captured the regular season and playoff championship in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
“It’s great to have Nashville Superspeedway back in NASCAR and we’re excited to serve as its official pace car,” said Jeannee Kirkaldy, Ford Performance’s motorsports marketing manager. “We have a wonderful partnership with Dover Motorsports and we’re ready to continue to play an integral role in their race weekends at Nashville and Dover. We have several exciting new vehicles in our Ford lineup and we’re looking forward to showcasing them at the track.”
Tickets are still available for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday, June 19 and the “Rackley Roofing 200” NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Friday, June 18. Call 866-RACE-TIX for more information.
Keep track of Nashville Superspeedway’s latest news and updates at NashvilleSuperSpeedway.com via social media at Facebook.com/NashvilleSuperspeedway, on Twitter at @nashvillesupers and Instagram @nashvillesuperspeedway. For questions about media relations, employment, or other inquiries, interested parties are encouraged to email info@nashvillesuperspeedway.com.
Hickory, NC — The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) got its first taste of the “Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars” on Thursday, April 1. Twenty-nine teams made the trip to North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway a day early for an open practice session prior to the Hickory 125 on Friday, April 2 and the Easter Bunny 125 on Saturday, April 3. (more…)
Waterbury, VT & Naples, ME — Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park is just over a week away from the annual Icebreaker. The 82nd season opener on Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11 is headlined by the Icebreaker 125 for the new Outlaw Open Modified Series, pitting the region’s Tour-type Modified stars in a $10,000-to-win showdown. (more…)
The DIRTcar Northeast VP Racing Fuels “East Region Series” for the DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds is set to invade the Ridge on Saturday May 15th, for the second event of the five-race series. (more…)
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Like many racers at all levels of racing, Stafford Speedway Street Stock competitor Marvin Minkler always had a dream to one day become a racecar driver. Where Minkler differs from many racers of today was the path he took.
As a child, Minkler attended races at Danbury Arena and had plans on racing there but the track’s closure put his dream on a back burner. The racing dream was further put on hold as Minkler’s life took some turns serving in the Army as part of the 3rd Infantry, “The Old Guard” stationed in Washington D.C. and beating cancer in 2013. What led him back to racing was a surprise gift from the youth hockey team he coached, a night behind the wheel of one of Gary Spinnato, Jr. and Paul Varricchio, Jr.’s Rent A Racecar machines in Stafford’s Street Stock division in 2017.
“I used to go to Danbury with my grandfather every Saturday and my cousin Bob Furano raced there,” said Minkler. “The thought process was when I was old enough I was going to get in the car and go driving, so that was always my childhood dream. Once Danbury closed down, that dream kind of died but my love for racing never stopped. I went to races all the time and when I was in the military, I was always dragging guys to Manassas Speedway in Virginia. In 2013 I was going to go racing but I was diagnosed with cancer. Every day when I would go for radiation and chemotherapy it was in the back of my mind that I was going to try to race once I got better. One year the hockey team that I coached got me a ride with Rent A Racecar as an end of season gift. I ran that one race and I wanted to race again.”
Minkler finished his first race 14th out of 16 cars, but despite that the racing bug had set in and Minkler was determined to continue on. He followed up his first outing in 2017 with three more starts in Rent A Racecar machines in 2018, including his very first top-10 finish. Then the 2019 season found Minkler bringing his dream to fruition.
“After racing with Rent A Racecar a couple of times, I was talking with Paul and Gary about getting a car and Greg DeMone was selling his car,” said Minkler. “I purchased his car and we put the car together in about 8 weeks and after that I was off to the races in 2019. I knew how to change the oil or change the tires on the car, but I knew nothing about building a racecar. Paul, Gary, and Butch from Rent A Racecar were all great helping me out putting the car together and I’ve learned a lot from them.”
Now that Minkler has achieved his dream of getting behind the wheel of a racecar, he has no plans to stop racing any time soon.
“I think Red Farmer is about 90 now and he’s still racing so I’m going to keep on racing until I can’t anymore,” said Minkler. “I enjoy going to the shop and learning things about the car and that has been just as equally rewarding for me as the driving part. I teach skating and I can help kids become better skaters but I can’t teach them balance. I understand where to hit the brakes and where to get back on the gas but I’m still learning the balance between that. I’m envious of the young kids who come in having already started racing go karts at 5 years old because that’s the equivalent of me teaching a 5 year old how to skate.”
After a 2020 season that was plagued by mechanical issues for Minkler and his #71 car, he is aiming to be a consistent presence in the top-10 during the 2021 season.
“Hopefully we’ve fixed all the problems we had last year,” said MInkler. “Last year was all mechanical issues for us. In 2019 we didn’t have one DNF so I came into 2020 with some confidence. The very first practice I broke something on the car and we ended up chasing that gremlin for the next 8 weeks. I think we went through 3 driveshafts and a transmission so I didn’t get the laps I was looking for and that was frustrating. Hopefully we’ve got everything fixed and I’d like to be a top-10 car on a consistent basis this season, which I think we can get done. Once we can achieve some top-10 finishes, we’ll start to look at getting into the top-5. I don’t want to jump too far ahead and be unrealistic and have delusions of grandeur.”
In addition to getting his car fixed up for the 2021 season, Minkler will also welcome a new sponsor, Riko’s Pizza of Stamford, CT. The new sponsor-driver combination will allow any fans who can’t get to the track in person to watch Minkler and Stafford’s other 4 weekly divisions race every Friday at any Riko’s Pizza location.
“Riko’s Pizza came on board with us this season and they’re a small town pizzeria that has grown and branched out with some franchises in Florida,” said Minkler. “They’ve been great to work with so far and they’re working with FloRacing to be able show the Stafford live stream at all their locations every Friday night. They’re pretty aggressive with their marketing so we might have some tee-shirts and hats to give away during the season. We also have Platoon22.org on the car, which is a charity that works with veterans. I encourage everyone to support their veterans and being a veteran myself, that’s something that is near and dear to my heart.”
Despite his late start into racing at age 49 and still going strong this season at age 53, Minkler says that if you have a dream to go racing, it’s all about taking that first step to go ahead and make that dream become a reality.
“You can’t get any better in life by sitting on the couch,” said Minkler. “It can be the biggest thing or the smallest thing but the greatest journeys in life always start with the first step. I would say the first step would be to see Gary and Paul at Rent A Racecar and see what you think about going racing. If you have an itch to do something then you have to scratch that itch.”
Minkler will kick off his 2021 season on Saturday, April 24 as part of NAPA Opening Day. General Admission tickets for the April 24 NAPA Auto Parts Opening Day are now available online at StaffordSpeedway.com/
For more information, visit www.staffordspeedway.com
Source: Scott Running/Stafford PR
