What are you doing next year? That is a question that has bounced around for weeks. I posed that question more than a few times during the pit party at the North-South Shootout™ and have included some responses to the same from email, telephone and other conversations to try to satisfy the burning desire of our rumor happy community.

People had been telling me that the Ole Blue #3 is going away. Michael Boehler shot me an email to clear the air. Here is Michael’s statement:

“Just to let you know of BRE Racing intentions going forward: I spoke with Eric [Beers] before Stafford and let him know we would need a BIG sponsor for us to keep racing together for 2007. Eric is a great family man, racer and all around person and [we] hope things work out for him in racing in the future. I figured I owed it to him that he could possibly find a good ride the sooner he started looking instead of later.”

“The same thing happened two years ago when we decided to let Jerry Marquis do the same. We remain friends with Jerry and Karen Marquis and their family and hope to do the same with Eric and his family. The season we had of course did not help. We had a lot of bad luck, bad finishes and beat up and wore down equipment. To rebuild and run another year is going to be really tough.”

“Bottom line: We need to find a big sponsor. This has not happened in the past forty-nine years so I don’t expect it to happen this year. Or we might find a driver that can bring a big sponsor to rebuild our race team and get us headed in good shape for 2007. If this does not happen then maybe we will run just a limited schedule or maybe we will not race at all. Next season would be the 50th Anniversary of BRE Racing, so I hope it will work out to be able to race.”

Mike Stefanik and the Flamingo team will be back to defend their 2006 title. Mike told me at the Fall Final, “We’re going to build a new car for next year.” He also told me that Barry Kuhnel would be playing a bigger role with the team. The last time Stefanik and Kuhnel combined to put new cars together was for the Beal & Bacon team back in ’97 & ’98. Does anyone remember how dominant those #x6 cars were?

John Blewett, III told me, “You’ll see us back again with the #66 car in 2007. Right now we’re planning on running the whole [Whelen Modified] Tour. The way things went this year, we started out so poorly we kind of had to go in another direction, just because of the way things were going. We’re building a new car and building another new engine so we can start the season out with four motors and two cars. We’re really looking forward to next season.”

Andy Seuss said, “I’m waiting on schedules because my brother is getting married and I was told I have to be at that one no matter what, even though I skipped all of the weddings this summer. I don’t know whether we’re going to chase anything for points. We’re going to bounce around and go to the races we want to and just run more tracks that we haven’t been able to run because of being tied down to one schedule.”

Todd Szegedy related, “We still got to figure out what we’re going to do for next year. We’ve got to have a crew chief.” Mike Smeriglio Racing lost their crew chief, Phil Moran to Bill Davis Racing this week.

When I asked Pete Brittain about his 2007 plans he told me, “We don’t know yet. We haven’t even discussed next year yet. I ended up finishing second in the RoC points this year. I don’t know what we’re going to do yet. We haven’t decided.”

Tony Hanbury says, “We’ll probably do what they call SK cars up at Chemung, NY. Maybe with this car we can do some RoC races on and off.”

Woody Pitkat said, “Hopefully to run the [Whelen Modified] Tour. I think it’s time to move up and I think I’ve done good enough to move up and accomplished enough stuff. We have to see what options are out there, what I can bring. If not I’ll just do what I do right now. I’ve got three awesome rides that I don’t pay for. I could possibly run a True Value car for a guy. If I was to run the two [True Value and the Whelen Modified Tour] I would probably have to get rid of one of the nights that I race. If that was to happen and I ran the True Value that would be four divisions, more seat time and even worse at some times. Either way it would be alright but I would like to move up to something, either the Tour or the Busch. Nothing is set in stone yet.”

Earl Paules told me, “I don’t know yet. There might be an opportunity on the Whelen [Modified Tour]. I could possibly pick up a ride there. It would be in a Raceworks chassis. Eddie [Flemke] and Reggie Ruggiero, Eddie really helped me out a lot. This is only my fourth year in a Modified and we’re learning their chassis. We’ve got five of these cars and they really work well for me.”

Jamie Tomaino has a big move planned in his future. Jamie said, “Walt, one time, for a fact, I just can’t say. I’m still kind of waiting for NASCAR to tell us something here between the Southern Tour and the Northern Tour. There’s a lot of gossip going on that they’ll do some kind of combination deal, something similar to the Hooters Cup tour was doing. If something like that does come along and they do, do a combination deal, it’s going to actually make my move down south a lot easier.”

“If it doesn’t happen this year, more than likely I will run the [Whelen Modified] Tour positively for one more year. My daughter graduates in June. That would be right in the middle of racing season. Once I start something, I finish what I started. More than likely, that’s what’s going to happen.”

“I sure hope they don’t have a lot of conflicting shows, South [Whelen Southern Modified Tour] versus the North [Whelen Modified Tour] if something doesn’t protrude so I can run a lot of races down south.” I said, “So your plans are to move down south and open JT Motorsports down here?” Jamie responded, “Positively by 2008, 2007 is a fifty-fifty shot.”

Kirk Alexander said, “I don’t know yet. Honestly, I do not know. Maybe run a handful of shows somewhere, depending on what I can get for sponsorship. I don’t plan on running full-time on the True Value Series; I mean I’ll run a few shows. I’ll see where it takes me I guess.”

Daren Scherer told me, “We’ll probably try the RoC Tour again. We’ve got to get the car to handle better on most of the tracks before we try to go anywhere. We want to do more NASCAR races like Loudon or Martinsville, some of the big tracks again. See how we do.”

I asked Junior Miller about is 2007 plans. He said, “Same thing we done this year. I’m going to drive for David Riggs, Advance car next year on the Tour and my own car at the Stadium.”

Gene Pack told me, “We’re pretty sure we’re going to run all of the [Whelen Southern Modified] Tour races. We’re going to run some ASA races also. Then we’ll run the weekly show over at Bowman-Gray in a Sportsman probably. That’s what we’re looking at.”

David Latour, Jr. is a northerner whose parents made the move south in August to expand his racing options. I knew the fifteen year old driver as one of the competitors at the Little T Speedway over at Thompson. This season he won the Junior Half in Quarter Midget Grand Nationals at Wall Township Speedway and has been running a 600 Micro Sprint at Lanco Speedway in Pennsylvania. David turns sixteen in December and his 2007 plans include driving weekly at Hickory Motor Speedway. Latour will race a Late Model purchased from Billy Hess.

Chuck Hossfeld will be staying put at Hillbilly Racing. Roger and David Hill couldn’t be happier to have Chuck in their Modifieds and Hossfeld seems like he has found a comfortable home. If this team finds any luck along the way, they could be a team to be reckoned with.

Matt Hirschman will be back to compete on the Whelen Modified Tour in 2007. He will also race on the RoC Tour. Matt is the “real deal” as evidenced by his performances last weekend in the North-South Shootout™ and in the Sunoco 200 Race of Champions event at Oswego.

Typically, the silly season revolves around the drivers with the best talent and ability that are available. This season, it would appear that it will be the drivers with the best physical assets and financial resources available could be the ones that hold the key for the future. I believe that Zach Sylvester could pretty much choose where he wants to go.

Don’t get me wrong, Zach is a very talented driver and he has demonstrated that he is ready for a top-shelf ride. Meanwhile, two of the Whelen Modified Tour’s drivers high on the career victories list, Ted Christopher and Rick Fuller appear to be on the outside looking in. It would be a shame to not have either Ted or Rick as a part of the full Tour next season. Once Sylvester makes the decision where he will go, the driver roster for the Tour should start to take shape quickly.

If I haven’t mentioned you or your favorite driver or your team, don’t fret. If anyone has future plans that I haven’t mentioned, feel free to email me at wnewcomb@optonline.net with all of the news. I will be sure to pass your information along. We will certainly have more news about 2007 plans after the banquet on December 16th at Mohegan Sun.