(Press Release from Tri-Track Open Modified Series)
The second race of the 2018 Tri-Track Open Modified Series (TTOMS) season is set for Wednesday, June 27 at Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, MA.
Open Wheel Wednesday is one of the most prominent races on the annual short track racing schedule in New England. The $10,000 to win tour-type modified event for the Tri-Track Open Modified Series continues to attract a variety of different drivers and a host of fans. The evening also includes the prestigious Boston Louie Seymour Memorial event for the Northeastern Midget Association.
Open Wheel Wednesday features 100 laps of green flag racing for the tour-type Modifieds with the winner earning $10,000. Both the NEMA Midgets and the NEMA Lights go 29 laps in honor of Boston Louis Seymour. Grandstands open at 4pm. Fans are invited to participate in an autograph session on the midway at 5:30pm with all drivers in competition on Wednesday night.
Qualifying gets underway at 6:30pm with heat races for all divisions followed by a pair of Modified b-mains (if necessary). Feature racing will commence immediately following qualifying. General admission is $27 and pit admission is $37. A rain date has been set for Thursday, June 28.
A host of previous Open Wheel Wednesday winners have filed entries for this year’s event including multi-time winner Matt Hirschman, Kirk Alexander, Tommy Barrett, Richard Savary and hometown favorite Todd Annarummo. Barrett would like to parlay his recent victory in open Modified series competition at Stafford into victory; joining Hirschman and Doug Coby as the only multi-time winners.
In the Seekonk 150 back on June 2, Anthony Nocella was running inside the top-five when misfortune found him; ending his bid at a win. The young driver looks to turn disappointment into triumph and possibly $10,000 during Open Wheel Wednesday.
“[That race] definitely gave me more confidence,” said Nocellla. “Between the run we had in October in the Tri-Track races and that race, it definitely gives us some momentum and confidence going back to Seekonk again. Hopefully we have another strong run.”
Also, at the race back in October 2017, Russ Hersey looked like he may have had the best chance to beat Matt Hirschman before a spin while running second ended his bid at a win. He, too, is among the over 40 drivers who have preregistered for the event.
Four of the top-five finishers in the Seekonk 150, Chase Dowling, Hirschman, Rowan Pennink, and Ron Silk, will also be looking to follow-up their strong performances with victory. Other notables looking for the big payday include Ryan Preece, Derek Ramstrom, Woody Pitkat, Les Hinckley, Stephen Masse and more.
Tickets are available online by visiting SeekonkSpeedway.com or by calling the Speedway office at 508.336.9959 Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. To learn more about the Tri-Track Modified Series, visit tritrackmods.com.
Nocella is due at Seekonk. Done everything but win there these last two seasons. Should be another epic night of racing. The field is as stout as you will see for an open event. Coby announced somewhere recently that he is bringing the modified to go along with his already announced midget deal. Gonna be a fun one.
dareal wrote on 6/4/18 “Just look at where the rubber is on the track in the turns at Seekonk… one place: low. The rubber is there because that is where the cars are running. NH Mark, if the high groove is slow, it isn’t a racing groove, it’s slow. Why run high where it’s slow? So the low groove, and only racing groove………”
Sounds like a boring race if Seekonk is a one groove track according to dareal and we all know he is ALWAYS correct, right NH? Just could not resist stirring the pot……….
Well, going by the recent tour type open race:
Number of competitive outside passes: ZERO
Number of competitive inside passes from the bottom: ALL
Talk about building a brand just read the comments over the years of people that have attended TTOMS events They just have done a great job and that 10 grand deal to win is just spectacular. I don’t get it being at Seekonk with the circle and all. The mods as just too fast and the outside lane in the corners is just a minefield for those that try. But success is success and if they get the cars, the people come which they do that’s all that counts. Hope Stafford can build it’s Open show brand over time as well. The July show will be critical to see if they are making progress or if people are losing interest.Clearly at this stage the only advantage they have is the under card that is great but they have to earn the extra 11 plus smackers.
Well look at you two agreeing on something. Made my day. Your both completely, 100% incorrect on this matter though. I know Dareal attends a lot of the Seekonk races so part of me thinks he just wants to stir the pot to stir the pot by saying Seekonk doesn’t have a second groove. Otherwise he wouldn’t attend. I don’t have the energy for this topic anymore because almost everyone knows the outside groove is the way to the front there. Has been for decades. If it wasn’t a fun two groove track they wouldn’t get the car counts they get for these shows. Just ask the drivers.
Doug if Stafford wants to upgrade the open comp show to SEEKONK level they have to UP the payday to 10K to win and not a 24K total purse, that’s one of the reasons I knew after seeing that PURSE structure they posted if would NOT get a good field, I know this is new to them but the Arute’s have been running Stafford for decades, I know they are in the Business to make $ BUT if Mark thought this purse was gonna draw TOP teams he better stop dreaming!
NH, watched Wayne Dion do it more than a few times on Saturday nights and he could wheel a pro stock. But what do we know…….
No driver chooses to drive the inside grove when he or she is alone. Racing is about reducing the deepest arcs so the fastest way around a track is inside in the corners and outside on the straight. At Stafford the outside groove is about 12% greater then the inside. The only reason side by side racing is possible is because the inside car loses its optimal entry and exit arc and has to reduce speed. Being a flatish track with corners that have different characteristic helps as well. It’s not uncommon for the SK leaders at Stafford to go 5 and 10 laps side by side the most notable being TC’s last race. All due to physics, geometry, reducing friction blah, blah, blah.
At Seekonk the fastest way around is also the inside in the corners and outside on the itsy bitsy straight aways. I don’t know how much further as a percent the outside lane is compared to the inside but it must be 30% plus since it’s all corner. That’s a lot of extra distance to cover to pass on the outside. It’s not uncommon for the car outside to lose a car length and a half on the starts in one lap.
Is there passing on the outside at Seekonk? Sure. Faster cars can always pass slower ones there. Is it possible for two equal cars like say Coby and Preece to race side by side by side for any meaningful length of time-no. Those duels involve who can stick it lower with perhaps a little bumper tag in the mix.
It’s a bull ring. Slower speeds and bump and grind. What’s not to like. But equal cars racing side by side generally doesn’t happen I’m pretty sure after studying the tape of the TTOMS and NWMT races.
All great points wmass but do they really have to do what the TTOMS does to make money? Would they want to compete on that level. Actually now that I think of it how do the crowds compare in total. I have a question for you. Stafford has had the VMRS for quite some time. My unofficial view of the crowd for the Open was that it was similar to the VMRS. Maybe a hair better. Do you think this may be a deal where Stafford wants to basically replace the VMRS so they don’t have to split the take. Not that I know what the take is but it just seemed strange that the rules were so VMRSish.
Come on humphry come back to me. It’s not passing vs no passing. It’s passing frequency and opportunity.
I’m with you Humphry. Wayne Dion was my guy growing up. Once he got up top he made his run to the front. Fun memories.
Blanket statements about certain tracks and there “line” I attribute to some of you with the Staffford/Thompson/ WMT only mentality. While it’s generally a truism that the bottom is the preferred way around any bullring, some (seekonk included) , can and has produced good racing with passing on both the inside and outside. It’s all about set up and how much rubber may or may not be out there.
Holds true for some bigger tracks as well. Oswego…. You can go outside in and around 1 and 2 to get a good drive off but in 3 the inside is the preferred line. I consider bullrings real driver tracks because set up and corner entry play a huge role in passing ability yet 1and 2 at Stafford races much the same. Tire compound and the number you get also plays huge into the equation.
Seekonk produces good side by side racing where as Lee not so much. TTOM at the Konk is worth the effort to get there.
Let’s remember one thing, the car on the
outside can also pinch the inside car down taking away that arking exit, bogging the engine down giving the outside car the advantage with a cleaner run off the turns. Can’t begin to tell you how many races we won from the outside launch off the turns.
Good ? Doug, My Guess, Stafford used to have 4 WMT races a yr with the Memorial Day Friday race always seemed to be hampered by weather and smaller crowds with people going away for the Holiday so they tried to lower the laps and purse 1 yr and then finally scrapped the 4th race when the VMRS 2 races were added, now add that car counts in the SK were not super high and the SK lites were not here yet Last year brought the MTS for 2 races and with that going bye bye Stafford obviously was wanting MODIFIED events to add but NOT TOURING series cost. Now what M ark Arute was thinking only he knows, I assume you are correct with the rules package being like VMRS, maybe he thought it being Stafford OPEN comp races would have lots of teams flocking to race, maybe they are happy with the results they had, I mean Look at Riverhead ISLIP 300 paying 7k to win and only PREECE, Carrol and Williams were outsiders to show up!
Yep NH, my guy as well. He could also wheel an SK modified winning races at Thompson and Stafford along with a championship at one or both tracks.
Chase Dowling destroying the notion you can’t pass on the outside at Seekonk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oujocIyMGT0
Hey crazy good luck @ OOW @seekonk.Talk to you soon
Doug, so you are cherry picking videos that make you sound like you know what you are talking about. Maybe find a video of a driver who has raced there more than twice too. They were three and almost four wide during the late model race on June 2nd. Go find that on youtube. The last 5 laps of the Haunted 100 last Oct was side by side too with the guy on the outside winning. Russ made Matt go to the outside. Every track has a preferred line. Usually the guy in front of you is in it so you go around. That’s racing. You are swimming against the current on this topic.
Dion was the 86 SK champion at Stafford. I don’t need to look that one up.
Watch the video again. If anything it proved your point.
NH, think he won one as well at Thompson in the 80s maybe in the 66 car.
Doug has me all confused. He argued it was a one groove track on Saturday and a two groove track on Sunday. I like his Sunday stance better so we will go with it.
Dion won the Stafford title in the #66. I think the Thompson title was back in his own #16.
I don’t suppose wmass I could convince you to come to the July Stafford Open show could I? Observing that no one knows what Mark Arutes thinking process is……….like ever……like on anything……..agreed. Why no ticket discount for geezers, why the Streets run 2 barrels and have 3 and a half gears that exclude pretty much every other track. Why no ACT for Late Models and why they have an Open price higher then the TTOMS killer shows that everyone loves. The answer I guess is they know their fan base and market. And they have ultra winners in the Sk’s and SK Lights.
I’m loving the Open format wmass. You aren’t sold clearly and I suspect for good reason. My question is this. You were so negative on the first one do you predict a better or worse result for the second? No hedging now, better or worse? Car count and crowd.
Very fair observation Mr. Machunis. So if I get this straight on Sunday Mr NH accused me of cherry picking what I thought was an interesting clip that ironically supported his observations that now you accuse me of not being consistent on. Man am I confused. How about this. Racing is so complicated it’s interesting.
d, as I stated previously, LOVE MODIFIEDS, LOVE STAFFORD, LOVE OPEN COMP FORMAT, I have no fav driver but love modified races so when Stafford announced this format I was excited, then we saw the purse, uggggggggggg, I checked almost daily to see the entry list and saw the trend for VMRS and Sk teams entering with a few additions, now I do admit I have never been to Stafford for a regular weekly show since TOUR TYPE mods stopped running weekly, I love the excitement that SK AND SK LITE divisions have brought the track the last couple yrs BUT not willing to pay 30$ to see them and what I thought was a VMRS light race, I am happy for all who went and enjoyed the racing on the 8th, will I be there on the 13th? its still 50/50, I don’t see the entry list being much different and weather always plays a part so I think BOTH crowd and count wont change I predict both might be down!
Mark Machunis, some posters are so confused, untrustworthy, etc. that they use NUMEROUS screen names. Doug is now known as Insipid Sybil, after the famous movie with the lead character named Sybil, and her numerous personalities. What a nut job.
wmass010113 brings up a great point… what will happen with the July 13 Open event at Stafford? Since it turned out to be an outlaw VMRS event, will fans show up? Will it be worth it for the fans? Was it worth it for the teams? Stay tuned…
Crazy in NY wrote: “Blanket statements about certain tracks and there “line” I attribute to some of you with the Staffford/Thompson/ WMT only mentality.”
WOW!!!! The cognitive ability that can put those items together and reach that conclusion must be amazing. That a human can survive so far in life with so little brain function is remarkable.
Let’s recall that this recent open race at Seekonk produced nothing on the outside. Nothing competitive happened from the outside. Barrett and Hirschman went side by side numerous times, but the outside car never prevailed. The bottom line turned out to be THE racing groove. You guys are fixated on racing from the 80s, pro stock at that, as your evidence. Tires, cars, tracks and racing has changed dramatically since then. Get over it, and enjoy it. When a car like Hirschman passes a car like the NWMT 01 on the outside, it wasn’t an outside groove that made it possible.
Look at Thompson… racing at that track has changed dramatically over the last 10 years or so, specifically turns 3 & 4.
WOW!!!! The cognitive ability that can put those items together and reach that conclusion must be amazing. That a human can survive so far in life with so little brain function is remarkable.
Come up out of the basement now and continue with what Crazy also wrote’
“While it’s generally a truism that the bottom is the preferred way around any bullring, some (seekonk included) , can and has produced good racing with passing on both the inside and outside.”
someone already made mention of Chase Dowling getting it done on the outside at the Tour race but hard evidence and keen observation are foreign to you. Nice try though.
Have to say Diaper Dareal you hurt RickyinMass. He never agreed with you on Trump but thought you were some kind of racing genius. And there hath no furry greater then a Ricky scorned. So he asked me to remind you of the time he snookered you into talking about wearing diapers and hoses and freeze plugs relieving yourself on your 10 hour trips to Bristol. Always the bottom feeder aren’t you. Welding wonders on the other hand is just a blue color guy and said he lost interest in you when you talked about cars “coasting” in the corners and claiming to be an engineer. He preferred to ignore you but you could no more be ignored then a screaming child. I just think you’re a insecure bottom feeder trying to start trouble. And a bit pathological based on the recurring themes you beat to death. What do you have like 10 or 15 themes and the rest is trolling, self congratulation, taunts and trouble making. On the insipid thing insipid is as insipid does. I think the guy that used geographical stereotypes to mock the guy in NY and children in New Hampshire qualifies. And you couldn’t even get that right you’re such a screw up. You start trouble and I’m happy to oblige.
You’re correct Mark Machuni it would appear I’m contradicting myself with the video I posted. I was looking at video, it was interesting so I passed it on regardless what it showed Marks cherry picking accusation notwithstanding.
Again it’s not about always as Diaper Dareal would have you believe, it’s about frequency. Each track is unique with it’s own length, banking, configuration, surface quality etc. Seekonk is unique for it’s circular configuration among other things. Partly negating the disadvantage the inside car has by reducing it’s angle of entry and exit in the corner in relationship to the outside car. More ovalish tracks like the old Riverside Park and Riverhead force the inside car to slow more to navigate the sharp corner arc giving the outside car more opportunity to use it’s momentum advantage while navigating the greater distance.
The fastest way around pretty much any track is not, nor has ever been the inside lane for the overwhelming majority of asphalt tracks. It’s the inside lane in the corners and outside of the straights. My only point is that at Seekonk the opportunities for outside groove success are challenging compared to a lot of other tracks. And the faster and better handling the car like modifieds the more it shows up on the video. Does it make it an always thing……..obviously not.