SpeedReading

A Hollywood scriptwriter couldn’t have done it better.

Sunday’s 40^{th Annual “New England Dodge Dealers Milk Bowl” at Thunder Road has all the ingredients to become an instant classic, with more story lines than an afternoon soap opera. Sharing the front row for Sunday’s first of three 50-lap segments will be youngster Trampas Demers -- who stunned the railbirds with a sizzling pole lap of 13.326 seconds in his first-ever time trial effort -- and wily veteran Pete Fecteau, who clocked in just a heartbeat slower at 13.377.}

“I haven’t slept all week,” said Demers. “As if starting on the pole for the Milk Bowl isn’t big enough, I’ve got Fecteau right alongside me. He’s one of the hardest chargers out there, and I know he’s going to give it everything he’s got to try and beat me into turn one.”

For Demers, a Milk Bowl win would provide an outstanding finish to what has been both a thrilling and frustrating season of racing at Thunder Road. The second-generation Shelburne driver - son of former ACT and NASCAR Busch North Series star Dennis Demers - has flirted with Victory Lane a handful of times this season, and has been one of the fastest cars on the track most nights. A combination of inexperience and plain bad luck have combined to keep him winless, however, and he comes into Sunday’s ACT Dodge Tour finale hoping to end his year on a high note.

“The car’s been good all season, but I’ve made a couple of mistakes to cost us wins, and I’ve also gotten caught-up in some other people’s mistakes,” he said. “We’ve run real well, and that’s good, but it’s also a little frustrating not to have won a race.”

Demers said he will take things “one segment at a time” Sunday, hoping the consistency he has displayed all season will finally pay off.

Row two for Sunday’s Milk Bowl features two drivers embroiled in a torrid battle for the 2003 ACT Dodge Tour championship. Middlebury’s Todd Stone rolls off third Sunday, with Milton driver Jean Paul Cyr alongside in fourth. Cyr owns a tenuous, 10-point lead over Stone in the ACT Dodge Tour standings -- a difference of just five positions over the course of Sunday’s three segments - and both men know they cannot afford to stumble.

Stone has struggled at Thunder Road in the past (13th and 9th in ACT action there this season), but he comes into Sunday’s Milk Bowl on an amazing hot streak. The Middlebury driver has strung together six consecutive top-five finishes, including wins at Monadnock and Seekonk, and has finished no worse than seventh since July 5th at the Waterford (CT) Speedbowl.

“Jean has a better record at Thunder Road,” admitted Stone this week, “but we’re coming in ready to run hard for 150 laps. Thunder Road has never been especially good to us, but we spent some time at midseason working on our setups there, and we hope to have it pay off Sunday.”

Cyr, meanwhile, is no stranger to Milk Bowl championship pressure. In 1996, he came into the monza-style event in an identical situation, needing a top finish to clinch the American-Canadian Tour championship. He won both the race and the title that day, and he comes to Thunder Road Sunday with top-five finishes in six of the last seven races, including wins at Riverside and Airborne.

Row three is jam-packed with champions, as newly crowned Late Model “King of the Road” Jamie Fisher starts alongside the man whose crown he assumed, Phil Scott. Since clinching the 2003 Thunder Road championship on August 30, Fisher has fallen into a bit of a late-season funk, finishing 16th, 17th and 18th in his last three Dodge Tour starts. A return to the Barre highbanks should help right the ship, though, and Fisher ranks as a major threat to kiss the cow when it’s all over Sunday night.

Unlike Fisher, Scott is mathematically still alive for the ACT title, trailing Cyr by 50 points. His only hope is to win the Milk Bowl while both Cyr and Stone struggle, and you can bet that the Racing Senator from Washington County will have his Ford Taurus set on “kill” Sunday in an effort to defend his Dodge Tour title.

Other highlights on Sunday’s starting grid include 2001 winner Dwayne Lanphear, who will start Scott Carpenter’s Pontiac from the twelfth row in only his second ACT start of the season. “The Thunder Road Bad Boy” drove brother Mark’s Chevrolet to a 14th-place finish on Memorial Day weekend, but proved that he hadn’t lost his edge by qualifying through the last-chance B-Feature Saturday.

Living legend Stub Fadden starts alongside Lanphear Sunday, in the Ford Taurus driven this season by his grandson, Mike Olsen. The 70-year young Fadden got the call late to fill Olsen’s shoes, then sent the T-Road grandstands into orbit with a hard-fought qualifying run that saw him battle nose-to-nose with “20-somethings” Patrick Laperle and Scott Dragon. Make no mistake about it, Sunday’s Triple-50s format is perfect for the North Haverhill, NH, veteran, and three consistent finishes could easily make him a player for the overall title.

For the record, if Fadden wins Sunday, I’ll be calling in sick for at least the next two weeks.

Mix-in a proven group of former champions like Tracie Bellerose, Brad Leighton, Cris Michaud, and defending Milk Bowl king Dave Pembroke, hungry newcomers like Demers, Roger Brown, Jay Laquerre, and Sam Caron, and the final races of the year for Thunder Road’s Flying Tiger/Sportsman and Street Stock divisions, you’ve got all the makings for a terrific season-ender.

Now, if Mother Nature will just play along.

rrrr

…Steve Park is out as driver of the Richard Childress Racing #30 AOL Chevrolet at the end of the 2003 season. Park joined RCR in May if this year, after an unusual “driver swap” saw him swap rides with Jeff Green. He had previously driven the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Pennzoil Chevrolet since 1996. His Winston Cup resume includes 174 career starts, with two wins and four Bud Poles since 1998. He has never managed a top-10 point finish in his Winston Cup career.

"I want to thank Steve for stepping in and helping us with the #30 team. But this is a performance-driven business, and the team's performance has not been up to our expectations, so we decided to make a change for next season," said Childress. "We're announcing this decision now so Steve will have time to find another ride for 2004, and we will have time to find a driver for next season.”

“I’ve had a great experience with RCR, and Richard has been very supportive throughout our relationship,” said Park this week. “I greatly appreciate him giving me the opportunity to drive for his organization this season. I
feel that I am in the best physical shape I have ever been, and I know that I still have a lot to look forward to as a winning driver.”

…The announcement that Kodak will move its Winston Cup Series sponsorship from Morgan-McClure Motorsports to a second team fielded by Ricky Craven’s car owner, Cal Wells, did not happen last weekend, as expected. However, sources close to the team say the deal is almost completed, and should be announced soon. As reported here last week, Wells is looking to put together a second entry for veteran driver Joe Nemechek next season, if adequate sponsorship can be found. Wells confirmed that he is “close” to signing a sponsor for a second team, but would not give any specifics.

…Look for Scott Riggs to move to the Winston Cup circuit next season. The Busch Series star has offers on the table from both Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and Ray Evernham Motorsports, and his decision will likely determine whether Jeremy Mayfield remains with Evernham or goes elsewhere in 2004. Shane Hmiel had been second in line
-- behind Riggs -- for the DEI ride, but his recent drug-related suspension by NASCAR has taken him completely off the radar screen with potential car owners.

…And you thought NASCAR was heavy handed? Get a load of what media members go through in an attempt to cover the annual Formula One race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Only one television outlet - Speed Channel - is allowed on-site, having purchased the rights to televise F1 racing in the United States. Everyone else - ESPN, NBC, CBS - is denied credentials to cover the race. Newspapers are allowed in, but only after agreeing to run at least a half-page of event coverage on Friday and Saturday, full pages on Sunday (race day) and Monday, and another half page on Tuesday.

…Bobby Hamilton, Jr., will attempt to qualify for this weekend’s Banquet 400 Winston Cup race at Kansas Speedway. Hamilton’s Team Rensi Motorsports team has been red-hot on the NASCAR Busch Series of late, collecting two wins, seven top-fives and 10 top-10 finishes in their last 14 starts. This will be their first attempt at Winston Cup racing.

…Inclement weather at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway Sunday forced the postponement of the “Carquest Fall Final 150” NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch North Series race until this Saturday afternoon. Since qualifying was completed before the rains came, Saturday’s feature events will begin at 1:45 p.m., with the Stafford Late Models, followed by the Featherlite Modified Series, Busch North Series, and SK Modified features. Joey McCarthy starts on the Bud Pole Saturday, alongside defending race winner Mike Johnson. Andy Santerre, who can wrap up his second straight Busch North Series title, qualified sixth while his nearest rival, Mike Stefanik, will start from 18th position.

White Mountain Motorsports Park will try again to close out their season Saturday, with their annual Fall Foliage Open Competition event. Over 125 racecars representing 12 northeast racetracks will be back in town to square off against the top WMMP regulars, with the Late Models, Super Streets, Strictly Streets and Strictly Minis all on the card, beginning at noon.

At the Canaan Fair (NH) Speedway, the “Grand Slam of Racing” presented by Clear Channel Communications tries again Sunday, beginning at 1:00 p.m. The Pro Stocks will go 100 laps, along with 75 laps for the asphalt modifieds, plus Late Models, Super Streets, Mini Stocks, Legends, Dwarf Cars, four-cylinder Enduros, and a full size Enduro. Saturday at the Fair, Sabil & Sons presents “The Canaan Cup,” with racing on both the 1/3 asphalt and ¼ dirt ovals. The 358 Modifieds, Sportsman Coupes, Street Stocks, and Fast Fours will start the day on the asphalt track at 1 p.m., before moving to the clay oval for another round of events. The New England Sprint Cars and Granite State Mini Sprints are also on the card, along with Mechanics Races, Powder Puffs, Chain Racing, Spectator Drags, Enduro racing and Demolition Derbies.

Riverside (NH) Speedway closes out its 2003 season Sunday with the Third Annual “North Country Blowout” for four cylinder cars. The winner of the long-distance marathon will receive $3,000, and approximately 100 entries are expected. The pits open at 8 a.m., and all drivers must be registered by 11:30 a.m. Starting positions will be determined by a blind draw, and the program will get underway at 1 p.m. sharp.