There have been many questions raised in the Modified racing community over the past week or so. Some of these questions only seem to lead to more questions with little resolution on the horizon. Read along as I try to detail some of the occurrences of this week past and give everyone a glimpse of what happened on the road to Beech Ridge.

Upon my return from Loudon I opened the bountiful treasure that is my email box. Contained therein among the nearly one hundred and fifty junk emails was a notification from a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour representative that there would be a press conference at Whelen Engineering in Chester, CT. I was already aware of the press conference and although I was intrigued of what the pending announcement might reveal, I had pretty much decided not to attend.

As I related in last week’s missive, “a bird whispered in our ears”. I really didn’t know what was going to be announced but, hey I have to work too. I can’t just take an extra day and a half off to hear something that might be best read in a press release. I even tried to press Don Hawk for what this announcement might be as we walked back towards the Media Center last Friday but, mum was the word.

Although I hadn’t planned on attending, I related my excitement of the pending Labor Day event on the RaceRap message board. Bob and Tammy Barney have posted links to most of my articles on their fan-friendly site for several years and I have been trying to generate enthusiasm about the race at Martinsville to their large and loyal RaceRap ratpackers, many of whom live in Virginia. This precipitated ensuing emails from various outlets inquiring of my intentions of attending said media event.

After working my tail off Monday through Wednesday to try to catch up with what had fallen through the cracks while I had been in Loudon last week, I decided that it was probably best to attend the press conference. After all, Whelen is the title sponsor for the Tour, I had received a notification from a Tour representative and Phil Kurze has been really good to us. I made my hotel and ferry reservations and shot up there on Thursday.

For the actual details of what happened at the press conference, please read the article I wrote titled “Made In America Whelen 300, It’s a Natural Fit”. It is far from the normal type of article that I would write. It is about 80% transcribed from a recording of the press conference. It is all the news that is fit to print and then some.

I am proud to say that I was probably at least in the top-three as far as ability goes if you were to compare the literary skills of the media in attendance. That’s because the media in attendance only appeared to include, Shawn Courchesne, of the Hartford Courant and two Internet parasites, Dave Meredith and Yours Truly. Noticeably absent at this “monumental” press conference was any official representation from the sanctioning body. The little bird didn’t even show up.

I think the Martinsville race is going to be awesome. I could have written something really clever about the press event above and people would have laughed or scowled. I chose to just report on it. I really respect those who were involved and I didn’t want anyone who was there to feel that I had misgivings about the press conference or the race.

Why wasn’t a NASCAR representative present? Is this the way that NASCAR wants us to think that they treat a company like Whelen? Whelen Engineering is a company that has invested tons of money into NASCAR racing over the past several years. Whelen and Phil Kurze have worked towards becoming a marketing partner for our beloved Tour. If this is how Whelen is treated, how is anyone supposed to think that NASCAR will treat any other company or any of us?

Maybe it is all just a miscommunication? Maybe no NASCAR representative was invited? Maybe some of the folks on International Speedway Boulevard might try talking to one another every once in a while? Maybe there wasn’t a NASCAR presence because of the pending Kentucky Speedway litigation as an ISC representative was present? I just thought it was pretty (expletive deleted) to hear that a NASCAR representative that probably should have been there, leisurely played a game of golf on Long Island where I probably should have remained to work Thursday.

After the press conference, I hung out with Shawn and Dave. Shawn related how much he enjoyed the True Value Modified Series race at Seekonk; apparently it had been a very good race. Donny Lia had taken down the win and the accompanying $10,000.00 first place prize.

Courchesne related to us his opinion that the Modified competitors like to listen to themselves whine and that he was surprised that more of the regular Tour competitors didn’t show up for this BIG event. The fact of the matter is that the only thing BIG about this race was the winner’s share of the purse. Despite the bellyaching of what the WMT purses reflect versus those of big races of the past, a top-ten finish doesn’t pay that poorly on the Tour.

I am sure that the TVMS competitors put on a good show wherever they go. I refuse to cast aspersions of the abilities or the talents of that Series or any other series versus the competitors who grace our beloved Tour. The TVMS and the Race of Champions Tour may have made inroads and may have eroded the car counts of the WMT.

The bottom line is this. The teams that support the WMT, who have supported it for years, have worked during that time to maintain and expand the purses and the benefits of participation on the WMT. Participation in races that are offered to promoters at a discount, directly discount both the Modified Tour’s ability to compete in the marketplace and the value of the purses that will be contested in the future for all of Modified racing. Why do we shoot ourselves in the foot so often? More on this later.

I spent most of the balance of day Thursday and Friday morning putting together the transcription of the press conference. Friday at noon, I headed out to the death trap and drove to Stafford Springs. Although it would have been nice to watch the races at SMS, I was really there to do an interview for a future article.

I arrived to find that a number of teams had rented the track to test. Of note were the Bryon Chew Busch North team and the team of occasional WMT competitor, Roy Seidell. Bryon’s team’s efforts might have helped catapult them to a fine runner-up finish at Waterford Saturday night. Seidell sadly encountered engine troubles during the test and that team will be forced to further curtail their participation on the Tour.

I saw my old friend, Jeff Malave in the pits at Stafford. Jeff led the National Point Standings earlier this year and has been having a pretty good season with his SK at Stafford and his Sunoco Modified at Thompson. This is a talent that should be racing with us on the Tour.

I recalled that Malave had done pretty well at Seekonk in the WMT event last season and inquired whether he had gone up for the TVMS race Wednesday. He told me that his Tour car hadn’t been ready to be raced anywhere at for a while. I told him of the Tour event at Seekonk and the Tom Baldwin Memorial 77 at Riverhead that are scheduled to be run opposite each other next weekend and that he should choose one of them and participate. I think he would be a great addition for either show.

Up in the press box, I joined my fellow media vermin in banter and continued to put effort into a future article that I hope all of you will find amusing. Apparently, Goetze’s Caramel Creams are the official candy of the Connecticut Motorsports Press Association. I like those things too but they were being consumed at an alarming rate by my esteemed colleagues at Stafford Friday night.

The weather soon became a concern. I said my goodbyes, headed for the death trap, loaded up and left. When I was last at the grandstand the race was on lap twenty. I figure I probably got out of there about three minutes before the deluge started and the race was halted after somewhere around thirty-four circuits.

My early departure put me ahead of the weather. The rains didn’t catch me until I made it to the hotel in Haverhill, MA. Thursday night, I had stayed at the place that you were supposed to be smarter for staying there. Friday night I stayed at the world’s largest hotel chain.

Someone is going to have to explain to me why a room that is half the size of one I occupied for eighty dollars is worth twice the price. Maybe these guys have to pay Michael Waltrip too much? This place has been around for a while…and it smells like it too.

I continued my efforts to write something funny Friday night and Saturday morning. I had turned on one of the bedside lights by which to work. This light irritated the heck out of me, it kept flickering. It was one of those energy efficient lights, the funny looking fluorescent ones that screw into an incandescent fixture. I was in a non-smoking room and had to sign a document when I checked in that if smoking was detected in the room, there would be a one hundred dollar cleaning charge. The flickering light continued to irritate me. Then I smelled something…it smelled like something electronic was burning. Then I noticed the smoke billowing out of the light fixture. Some of the later flickering may have been flames. I turned it off and no I didn’t wind up paying the extra hundred bucks.

I headed out to Beech Ridge at about ten thirty. I have never traveled the I-95 corridor to Maine on a Saturday during the middle of the day. I’d say if half of those folks wound up at the track, NHIS’s stands wouldn’t have been able to hold them. From where did all of these people come? I had estimated that it would take me a little over an hour to get to the track. Almost three hours later, I finally arrived.

The hot topic of discussion was an announcement that had been made at the driver’s meeting. Being that I wasn’t there for the driver’s meeting, I will quote (Gino D.) ThE sHaDoW from his post on the MSS Message Forum. “Announced at the drivers meeting in Beech Ridge, Seekonk will NOT honor the long standing gentlemen agreement of allowing teams to presign [pre-sign] up to 10 crew members at a discounted rate of $25.00 per driver. Ed Cox (tour director) was called last Thursday by Seekonk mgmt to let the teams know it would be $40.00 per person. This did not go over well with the teams. There was a petition signed by all drivers/owners at Beech Ridge and handed to NASCAR, if the sign-in is not honored (10 crew @ $25.00) there would be no race. Last thing I heard was the teams would get an answer by Tuesday of this week. All of the above is fact, nothing is rumor.”

Remember when I mentioned ‘more on this later’? Perhaps because Seekonk packed their facility on Wednesday, they feel that they don’t need the Tour race or feel that it is the perfect time to put a squeeze on NASCAR or the WMT competitors. If racetracks can pack their grandstands, the names on the roofs of the cars or the types of cars probably doesn’t really make a difference to them. Despite the possibility that cooler heads may prevail and the WMT race may go off as scheduled, I am certain that this action has left a foul taste in the mouths of the competitors. Some might even think that those in question might change their minds on Saturday were there to be an agreement Tuesday.

I’ve seen Beech Ridge from the other side now and I am very impressed with that place. The only thing’s I had remembered about that track were the negatives from the past. I remembered that the pits were incredibly dusty despite constant attempts to keep the paddock area damp with water trucks. I remember it being a muddy mess and leaving with my lungs full of silica dust.

Beech Ridge runs a first class show. They know how to keep their fans entertained. The PA announcers really did a great job of making a race that was not quite as exciting as the others entertaining. The bunny mascot drove the kids crazy. The food was better than average and everything on the menu had a racing style name.

So I grabbed a Yellow Flag Burger and an order of French Fried Wires and got ready for the show. Tony Hirschman took down the pole. Is there anyplace that this guy doesn’t have the fastest car? Tony says that he doesn’t do too well at Riverhead. Get your cars ready for August 6th guys, it might be the last chance to gain ground or put distance on Hirschman in the standings.

The live updates went pretty well. It was difficult for Shopgirl to hear me over the sounds in the nursery. A spotter, who shall remain nameless, whipped open the door and hollered at us for not throwing the caution flag earlier for an accident that had just occurred in turn three. Apparently he was upset that his driver had lost a lap and felt he would not have if the yellow had been thrown right away. For the record, the press has no control over the way that a race is conducted. We may influence future events but not the one’s we are writing about. I hadn’t seen the incident before it went yellow either. Had I been the race director, I likely would have left the race green for at least two laps to see if those involved could get their cars going again, which they all did. Beech Ridge has no walls on either end. Cars that get in trouble often end up in the dirt. The cars that were involved were out of the racing groove and with as many caution periods we had had to that point, I would have made them sit there and watch their share of the purse and points dwindle.

Jerry Marquis took the lead on the eighth trip around the track and was never headed. The aforementioned Tony Hirschman was all over the back of the Mystic Missile for most of the race with no answer for Marquis. Jerry might have used the old Fred Harbach line. The outside groove never seemed to come in. So Marquis kept it low and slow…but it was the perfect strategy to pull off the victory.

It wasn’t slow as in he was holding up the competition. It was slow as in he kept his car under control and left no opportunity for anyone to get inside of the #4 car. Marquis was excited to get a victory in the State of his birthplace.

In Victory Lane, Marquis told the crowd, “I’ve got to thank Bob Garbarino for giving me the ride, Reynolds Auto Wrecking for supporting us this year and these guys here for working with me. We’ve had a tough beginning of the year. It’s nice to come back to Maine where I come from and win one up here.”

When asked, were you happy with the car today, the victor responded, “Yeah, we were tight at the end there, which is really unusual for this place but, I knew if I held the bottom that he’d (Hirschman) have to work the outside. I just did what I had to do. I am glad to finally get one for Bob (Garbarino).” “We’d been pretty good all day long. We were really good in practice on the outside and I was hoping it would stay that way but it just got too tight.” Jerry continued, “It’s a shame to have that many caution laps for the fans, that’s the biggest thing…I think we did show them a pretty good race. I’m sure they’ll come back and watch us some more.”

Tony Hirschman recounted his efforts saying, “It was a little hairy there for a while there, the track wasn’t very good on the outside tonight, it was a little dirty. I started fourth, was up to second, was looking good and then I went from second back to sixth, taking care of the car, I didn’t want to get it torn up. I worked my way back up, a couple of good restarts, got up to second and I thought I had something for the (number) four car there and he just blocked the bottom up, he knew what he had to do there wasn’t an outside. I couldn’t send it in on the outside I just would have pushed up way too high. I worked and worked the bottom and I tore my right front tire up too. I couldn’t do much with him (Marquis) the last couple laps but, we were right there. We’ll take it, I mean I’m not that hungry to throw second place away. I’d have liked to win, we were close last week and a first and two seconds keeps the string going. Some other guys had some problems tonight…so we’re gaining. That’s what it’s all about. We’ve been good.”

The defending champion also addressed the issue concerning the petition by the owners. Tony said, “There’s been some owners talking, so I don’t know what’s going on there for Seekonk next week whether we’re racing there or not. There’s some unhappy people. We know that starts there it’s just going to go to every track again and all of the stuff for over all of the years, it’s not right. So twenty five’s ($25) not enough? We pay enough of our own freight for everything we do in this series; car owners, drivers, everything else and to take that away from us, well we’ll see.”

Eric Beers told me, “We weren’t that good from the beginning of the race to the end of the race but I guess we were good enough to keep those guys right in front of us. There were other cars that were fast in the beginning but they backed up. I think we went the same speed at the end as we did in the beginning. I was real happy with the car all night, I mean I wasn’t happy with it, we were loose in and tight in the middle and then pushing up off as the race went but this is a tough little place to race around. I’m just happy to get a third. Getting out of these little tracks with top-fives every race if we can and the wins are coming. We’ve got to get better starting spots. I’ve got to start drawing better numbers (referring to the redraws). I pulled the pole at Stafford but that’s a pit stop race so that doesn’t matter there. It’s coming, we’re getting better together.” When I pointed out that he had to make up for missing a race due to injury Beers responded, “We gave them a head start.” Beers has been marching up the point standings since he missed the Spring Sizzler. He now is up to ninth spot less than three hundred markers off of point leader, Ted Christopher.

Christopher wound up finishing fifth, so Marquis, Hirschman and Beers made little headway in the points. Steve Whitt continues to impress in the #06 car. He stayed out of trouble and ran a race similar to Beers.

On my way out of the track I tried to find Harry to no avail. Where are you Harry?! Six and a half hours later, I found myself at home. Look for the next interview article. This will be a good one. Amie will be taking care of the live updates from Seekonk. Will there be a race from Seekonk? I will be at Riverhead and look forward to seeing everyone there in two weeks. One more question; what happened to all of my ice?