Breakthrough: Tim Jordan Scores First SK Modified Victory At New London-Waterford Speedbowl

Tim Jordan celebrates his first career SK Modified feature victory Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl.

Tim Jordan celebrates his first career SK Modified feature victory Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl.

WATERFORD – In 2011 Tim Jordan left behind an extremely successful Late Model short track program to make the jump to running a Modified.

Of late, the Plainfield driver has wondered plenty if he made the wrong decision. Four years plus chasing a win was making him his biggest doubter.

Jordan was a Late Model champion at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl in 2006 and 2010 and had 22 victories in the divison over five seasons.

“We’ve poured a lot of effort and money into this Modified deal and sometimes I wondered if maybe I shouldn’t drive a Modified because I haven’t had much success,” said Jordan, who also had five Mini Stock division wins at Waterford in 2004. “Sometimes you start to doubt yourself as a driver. Like ‘Can I do it.’ I can give you the polished interview, but I’ll give you the honest one, and that’s sometimes you wonder if you’re not cut out to be behind the wheel, and it was starting to get that way. … Sometimes I was thinking, ‘Am I wasting my time? Am I wasting my dad’s money?’”

Saturday night at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, Jordan finally got to experience the fruits of the efforts of he and his father Pat.

Jordan held off the charges of Ted Christopher and Rob Janovic Jr. over the closing laps to win the 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. It was his first victory behind the wheel of a Modified.

“It’s so hard to win one of these damn things,” Jordan said “I was starting to wonder if I’d ever win a race again. … We’ve been working really hard to try to get here and we’ve had nights where we should have been here and we’ve had nights when we don’t deserve to be here. We’ve been working hard on this car. … This is for my father. He works his butt off on this thing like you wouldn’t believe. We’re just two regular guys racing against big teams out here. … We put every last dime we have into racing.”

As if the victory didn’t have enough emotional substance for Jordan and his father, it came on Mother’s Day weekend. Jordan’s mother Debra passed away from cancer in 2009.

“So, this is a big win for that,” Jordan said. “It couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s awesome. Really awesome.”

Janovic, of Waterford, was second and Christopher, of Plainville, third.

Jordan started second and went to the lead at the start past Adam Gada. By lap 17 Christopher was hounding Jordan on the outside.

On a lap 32 restart, contact between Jordan and Christopher sent Christopher up the track and allowed Janovic to move into second place.

“I hate winning races like that,” Jordan said. “I had to play some defense. … I said ‘Screw it, I’m doing what I have to do.’ I’ve seen great drivers like Keith Rocco, I’ve seen the [track] general manager Shawn Monahan do what it takes to win. I’ve seen everybody do what they need to do to get to victory lane here.

“I thought back to Thompson [Speedway], 2012, Ted beat me in a [Valenti Modified Racing Series] race at Thompson and I said ‘There’s no way I’m going to let this one get away.’”

Said Christopher: “The outside was a little bit tight for us and there just wasn’t enough room there. But it was fun racing.”

It was the first SK Modified division victory ever at any track for a driver in an LFR Chassis. The new chassis company, owned by NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour team owner and driver Rob Fuller, began in 2014. Jordan is in his first season with the new car. 

“It feels like [the win] should have happened last year at some point,” Jordan said. “But its tough down here with the handicapping system. Usually last year we were very consistent so we would start toward the rear of the pack and I would just always find myself behind [Keith Rocco] with three laps to go. That was our season last year.”

After winning the 30-lap Late Model feature earlier in the evening, Rocco had the opportunity to become the track’s all-time winningest driver in the SK Modified feature, but finished fourth, rallying after a first lap spin near the rear of the pack.

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Comments

  1. It was a good show tonite, features took 2 hrs, the only complaint is the laps per division. 30 laps for 9 late models and 10 sk lites. I suggest 2 laps per cars entered. 9 cars = 18 laps.

  2. Congrats to Tim and his Dad for a well deserved and way overdue win

  3. Doug DiPisa says

    Any word on the 51 car in tech ? Tire on car not in inventory.

  4. Doug,
    I did hear there was an inventory issue in tech. I’m still waiting to get the final word on how it will be handled.

  5. Doug DiPisa says

    Ok. Ty Shawn.

  6. If it turns out that the #51 had mistakenly used a non-inventory tire in competition there really is only two ways to deal with it. One is to DQ the car from the event and award zero points or move the car to the last place and award last place points. Anything short of that is not fair to the rest of the field that were compliant with the rulebook.

  7. Youhavenoidea says

    Which means an automatic dq

  8. just wondering says

    I like rob. We race against him in the late model days. But the rules are rules and if Waterford wants to have integrity and a growing car count the need to walk the line and put rob to the end of the field. Just like last week where it was the wrong gas by mistake

  9. Great sk race and good to see Jordan finally get a win. Pretty good night but I agree with Steve, the LM race was horrible and when you only have 8 cars in a feature something needs to be changed. Either lessen the amount of laps or move them to last in the running order. Nobody can even come close to catching K. Rocco so I have a feeling that that division is going to be a joke this year. There have been some good races every now and then over the years but it’s not looking good so far. Also, why did the 44 sk get dq’d?

  10. true racer says

    pretty boy had a illegal tire isn’t that cute……was his intake tumbled last week as well and they mistake TCs for his in the tech shack… speaking of the tech shack.. is Stevie Wonder still head of tech

  11. Freddie Facts says

    Funny how stafford and thompson have had the tire scanning tech for a few years now and no one has ever “wrote down the wrong number before” and got caught. Waterford has the scanner one night and they catch someone. In the course of a season, getting away with one tire a few times is a huge advantage. I assume this is an automatic dq.

    I’ve been hearing how bad Rocco cheats down there, but a lot of other guys seem to be getting caught.

  12. I don’t get why racers are not running both stafford an waterford. Back in the day we ran all three tracks on a way smaller budget than these guys do today. Sell the enclosed haulers (better yet don’t allow them in the pits) and then maybe these guys can afford to race twice a week. How many drivers run both tracks? Two? And they are different cars. Drop a few divisions and u will get more cars, start paying the top divisions what it cost to run. We don’t need two or three late model divisions, combine them, give points for each division like riverside did with the modifieds, they had mods and sportsman (302 CI or less). Stafford used to pay bonus to the first smallblock a cross the line.

  13. Not a Grub says

    True racer- only at Waterford would a fifty year old racer be called a pretty boy because he has a habit of running a comb through his hair once a day and has a full mouth of teeth that aren’t varying shades of yellow, green and black. You sir, are despicable.

  14. Chris D. says

    I too would like to see less divisions, but it will never happen because the tracks make their money at the back gate. Stafford has 2 sk divisions and 2 late model divisions… I wish they could be combined and have one of each with more cars for the heats and features. Stafford’s extra distance late model race still only drew 16 cars. There are some sk lite teams that look like they are better than some of the sk backmarkers. What might be a better show for the fans probably is not better for the track$.

  15. Doug DiPisa says

    Well I was told last Monday on the phone that if anyone, or any official shows any favoritism toward a competitor, they would be fired on the spot. It’s the way Beemer wants it…. HMMM

    As for the car count theory, I’ll give you a scenario from an owners prospective..

    Car owner races one track for years and years. His friend, sponsor or whatever he is, says ” Let’s go run another track” This track he has in mind has been toxic for many years because the certain owner did not care about the competition and only cared about the regional point system for the Nascar paycheck. They go on excuse certain competitors with rules to obtain it, and the list goes on. Now you tell me, would you want to go race at a place to finish second nearly every week ?

    And to prove my point, This competitor was caught over 5 times being illegal and when the decision came to the last owner it was said” let him go, I have a business to run”. So I ask you, would you want to bring a car to a track that does things like this ? You had the accusing official step down, or be pushed out because he could not take it anymore…

    You can call me a sucker because I have and been doing this for years. Reason being, I like racing, It gives me something to do. My friends and family have fun doing it and Saturdays are the only time I have the chance to race with my businesses.. I’m here this year to see change and change I hope I see. This will be the test.

  16. Youhavenoidea says

    I agree with Doug completely but the thing I find funny here is it’s a known fact if the tire is not in your inventory it can’t be used , it’s illegal and you get disqualified. What I am trying to figure out here is that last week when TC had a illegal intake by midnight there was a article how he got dq’ed and how bad of a person he was but if Doug had not brought up the tire situation no one would have known and so far I don’t hear that #51 has been removed from his spot. Could it be that unlike prestige who spends money on their own car and not the track or Internet news sites etc isn’t doing that and so that certain team will get the just don’t do it next week treatment it almost seems worth it to sponsor the track if that’s the case because you chance of winning greatly increases it seems and nothing has changed since last year except the new faces must have taken the instruction manual from the old ones.

  17. Doug, I’ll bite. Which competitor was caught 5 times cheating and which racetrack owner said “let him go I have a business to run”? Or maybe he/she should have said I have a business to RUIN as inconsistency in rules enforcement is surely a major complaint of racers that are not on the list as being favorites of the management. IMO this could be one of the reasons some tracks struggle with car counts.

  18. Youhavenoidea,
    The disqualification you speak of last week was confirmed to me by track officials when the story was printed concerning it on Sunday. There was NO STORY before midnight on the night of the event and there was NOTHING in that story characterizing anybody about “how bad of a person” they were. Quit with the moronic rhetoric and untrue information. I have been in touch with track officials on this situation and I am waiting for confirmation of their resolution of the matter. Nothing is being hidden here for anybody.

  19. Youhavenoidea says

    Shawn
    First of it was a example of saying the quickness In getting dq’ed so yes that part although untrue it’s just showing how quick they are to jump when someone doesn’t put money into things gets posted online, I respect you as a person and as a sports writer however some things do get left out and as for people being the leader in ct for things who can’t even get out of their own garage and should buy stock in elastic bands and in Chinese shipping containers there are some things I don’t agree are right and shouldn’t be spotlighted but like you have that’s just my opinion.

  20. Youhavenoidea,
    Your name fits you to a tee. I wrote about the disqualification of Ted Christopher when it was confirmed to me by the track general manager the day after an event. Simple as that. No resolution of this particular matter from Saturday night has been confirmed to me as of 9:30 am this morning. How quickly something is reported has NOTHING to do with anybody putting any money into anything. Have you seen it reported yet in the Norwich Bulletin or on Speed51? I mean, if it’s already done and confirmed and I’m just ignoring that – like you seem to be saying here – then surely those other outlets would have already published stories concerning it correct? You’re seriously so far off on this it’s absolutely ridiculous.

  21. Doug DiPisa says

    I don’t really care for the drama part. Any one can have their opinion on us if that’s their prerogative. I do say to them, I’m sorry we speak the truth and don’t beat around the bush or back-stab. If you cant handle those 2 things about us then so be it, move on and don’t judge without meeting or knowing us. I’m not going to beg you to change it. But if you try to use your power over me, then there’s an issue.

    As for the car#, it was the 88. Everett Marvin left from being fed up with the whole scenario. The story had to be written as sweet as pie to make it look like it was Everett’s decision. But it was the total opposite.

  22. Youhavenoidea says

    I don’t believe that you are getting my point it may not be you i understand this but it is the track that point blank in your rules that is how it is written if they don’t do anything about it I don’t feel the need to inventory anything and any team can run what ever they want it’s only fair it’s funny to me how quick the tech shack is to jump for people who don’t pay but sponsor the track and boom you get a get out of jail pass

  23. Doug DiPisa says

    Oh and the reason I’m venting now is that I’ve waited the same time frame as I did to hear if we were disqualified last week and that moment has passed. At this time I was on the phone with Shawn Monahan. So here I am 🙂 … And this my friends is why we are called the bad guys…

  24. Doug, now I see where you are coming from regarding the past years tech person and tracks favorite teams. All you had to do was follow some facebook accounts to see who was in bed with who. Since the new GM is an actual racer I sure he will side with consistency in penalties for the #51. His only option is to DQ the car and award ZERO points just like they did to your and Galvins teams on opening night. I’m not so sure it matters how much money a teams sponsor puts into the racetrack as Galvin had all his points taken away for his fuel issue and I doubt any teams sponsor puts more money into the Speedbowl than Mr. Rooter. The new management had already set the standard opening night so now its up to them to follow it or risk loosing their credibility. I agree and don’t know why they have to wait to announce the #51 penalty. The rule infraction is not in a gray area. Illegal is Illegal!

  25. pitgatelady says

    Um GM should not have any say in the racing part . he is a GM NOT a race director. He should stay out of it friends or no friends !

  26. My guess is that the 51 is going to be DQ’d, but the announcement wil not be made until tomorrow so that they can establish the pattern of penalties coming out on Tuesdays from here on out, nothing more than that.

    I see no way the 51 cannot be DQ’d. No.Way. And i like Rob, and I like the 13 team, and a bunch of the others too. But have to play by the rules, and the Race Director ALSO has to play by the rules.

    I have to say, as far as divisions, yes, I would like to see them have some type of rule. 2 laps per car for the feature is a good one, I like that. I also would like to see the SK Lights race with the SKs in the feature if the SK car count is less than 20. Yes, it helps the track with the National point system but also i just think it is good experience for the SK light drivers, myself.

    Stafford is doing fine with the SK lights and SKs as seperate divisions, BUT i agree, they should consider the same thing with the Late Models and Ltd Late Models. Less than 20 Late Models, let the LTDs run with them.

    Surprisingly, the DARE stocks hae had the weakest car counts at Stafford this year in the early going.

  27. I was trying to figure out why doug is so negitive. Then I realized he has never won an sk race, or any race since riverside park. Your team is a career killer. You have had all the best drivers in New England and never won anything. You’re a complete toolbox. I hope you win, I really do because I’m embarrassed for you. I get that uncomfortable feeling every time your car is on the track, you know what I mean? Like a person who goes to the movies by himself. That kind of feeling. The jealousy you display on this site towards Keith Rocco is unbelievable. Like a jelouse ex girlfriend, week after week. You hate on him so much. It seems like you’re in love with him. So far you are the only cheater they caught. You’re the same guy selling traction control on eBay. I hope you win somthing soon, I really do. I can’t stand the embarrassment anymore and I know u can’t either.

  28. Doug DiPisa says

    Wow. I must have hit a nerve. You and the jamokes take all day to think that up.
    Priceless, like a little school girl getting her prom date taken away the night before.

  29. Youhavenoidea says

    Tc fan it’s far from a career killer it’s actually amazing equipment but unfortunately when everyone is against you and certain people are able to get away with certain things you have no choice but to get aggravated, for instance when u get sent to the back for over aggressive driving or blocking but yet you get slammed in the wall or the person in front of you is driving 3 different lanes and get away with it not much you can do. So therefore I highly would say career killer just get the wrong end of the stick

  30. Tell us doug. Tell us the five times Rocco was caught cheating. Everyone is dying to know. That’s all everyone on this site says. No one can ever back it up though.
    So far your the only one who got caught with a major rule violation in years, at any track in ct. If your talking about wheel tethers the you sound dumb. Especially after you get caught with a big intake.
    By the way. No one thinks you are “bad guys”. Most just consider you morons who couldn’t win a pinewood derby race.

  31. The above post is a shoe in for post of the year. Absolutely nailed it on the head. Mr. DiPisa should liquidate his “team” immediately and take a vacation. Perhaps a world wide tour to celebrate his widely acclaimed, recently awarded national title as the worlds tallest midget. Hope he’s not cheating by putting lifts in those hi heeled work boots.

  32. Doug DiPisa says

    I was just reporting the story no-one heard or will ever hear about. Remember, were the bad guys for speaking up about things :).
    Like my return response to your Twitter rambling about me. Free rides are over, and it seems like it’s fair game for everyone, not just the team your on. Didn’t you use your last speel on another post and know one cared as I do ? What class shall they put you in, Sosa, Bonds, A-Rod ?

    Still can’t ballz it up with your real name, huh. Figures.

    Love you

  33. Doug DiPisa says

    Ha. Funny stuff. I’m at comedy clubs quite a lot. I have to admit, some of this stuff is very funny. So tell me, which screen name is Woods, Rocco, Fearn? Oh and by the way, I don’t own a pair of work boots. really don’t need to work.

  34. Youhavenoidea says

    I have to agree and side with Doug not to mention u don’t get caught when ur car owner is the primary sponsor of the track and the track gets incentives from nascar for having the national champ and with a person like terry running the joint I would say it was far from being by the books in tech and yes Rocco is still a great driver but he has been dq at Stafford and Thompson in the past but then again in all honesty all the front runners aren’t legal it’s how u do it and how u hide it

  35. Dipisa fan says

    Wish we could read ur Twitter but it’s blocked

  36. <>

  37. Doug DiPisa says

    It’s a capital P there buddy. Must not be too much of a DiPisa fan. As for my Twitter, not much to read there. Only respond when mentioned by @KidRocRacing. Personally I don’t think it’s a rooter thing. Just a Terry thing.

    I can tell you one thing. I’ve gained respect for 2 people this year so far. One being Scott Tapley for willing to talk and listen during the first week controversy. Truthfully I don’t think I would have been as nice in the past as were known for screaming and yelling, but hey we’re Italians, that’s what we do. But then again, screaming, yelling and calling officials names was able to get a late model his fish back.

    And Mr Beemer himself. I commend him for coming into my trailer and introducing himself and sit down and talk for awhile.
    And after the conversation I had with him it shows me he’s a true businessman.

    Case in point. Last year we had a food sponsor whom was willing to advertise on my car and at track on top of having a vending cart there.

    I asked Terry if he would be interested in having such a thing. Without hesitation the answer was, no I can’t do that. I run the concessions and would eat into my profit. This is even telling him he will get a percentage of the sales. Didn’t matter.

    On the other hand, last Saturday. The same question was asked to Mr Beemer. You know what his answer was? Sure I would love to talk about it. Now that my friends is a businessman.

    So 2 out of the many is a start. There is one thing I want to see for the bowl, and that is for it to succed and surpass other tracks in Connecticut. And to tell you the truth, I want to help to be a part of it.

    I give the track kudos for teching cars the way they are this year. I just hope they stay consistent. I think something they should do is work on finding a new area for tech or switch what they are teching for each division.

    You kind of giving it away to the guys parked next to tech area a heads up on what your checking. So if there is something they have being illegal and the already know what tech is they can just finish 4th and grab the points. Maybe tech the top 5 also.

  38. For someone that’s such a fan of the new track owner, one would think he would show this man the respect he deserves by learning how to properly spell his last name.
    It’s Bemer, not Beemer. You sir, are the pinnicle of poor taste and unintelligible drivel.

  39. Chris D. says

    Doug, what kind of food is your sponsor gonna sell? I noticed there is no pizza available in the pits this year.

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