Mark Cooper, team owner for 2012 Waterford Speedbowl Late Model champion Dillon Moltz, said Sunday that, as it stands now, his team will not return to the track to race for the remainder of the 2013 season.
Dillon Moltz
Cooper said the only way his team would return to Waterford is if track owner Terry Eames agrees to reverse a penalty that was given to Moltz following Saturday’s 30-lap Late Model feature at the Speedbowl.
Moltz finished fourth on the track Saturday but was penalized after the race to the last spot on the lead lap, giving him a 12th place finish. Moltz was penalized for making contact with Bruce Thomas Jr. on the final lap of the event.
Moltz came into the night 14 points behind division leader Keith Rocco, who won Saturday’s event. After the penalty he found himself 41 points behind Rocco.
“Coming to the checkered [flag], he didn’t get put in the wall,” Cooper said of the incident with Thomas. “It was good hard racing, [Thomas] was blocking. … Dillon did a peck, he did a peck and Bruce chopped him down and Bruce spun around and came to a complete stop on purpose. Coming to the checkered it’s all or nothing.”
Said Eames: “The entire [officiating] team, including me, participated in the call. It was clear to us that it was overaggressive driving in nature. It wasn’t a close call in our minds.”
Thomas, a three-time track champion with 51 career Late Model victories at Waterford, is running a part-time schedule this year, though it seems most weeks when he’s run there’s eventually been some aggressive racing taking place between himself and Moltz. Thomas has even made light of the regular bumping and banging between the two in multiple post race interviews.
Though, at no point during the season has Thomas been penalized for initiating any contact between himself and Moltz.
“Bruce was supposed to run a partial schedule this year, that’s what he told everybody,” Cooper said. “My biggest problem is that he’s been there six or seven times now and three times out of that he’s wrecked us.
“One time he destroyed the entire nose on the car. There was another time he moved us out of the way for a spot. The most recent one he destroyed the right rear wheel hub, rim, axel tube and everything. Dillon had such good car control in that that he didn’t spin. But no penalties have come down on that stuff.
“It just seems like with [Thomas], it’s anything to keep us out of the points battle. I’m not trying to cry about anything, but I’m tired of beating a dead horse. In this economy, it’s hard to ask people to come to the track and give up their days to do this, and for the track to turn a blind eye again and again and again, it’s ridiculous.
“If they’re not willing to turn around the penalty from Saturday night and give us back our finishing spot, we will not be returning to the ‘Bowl. We’re going to Seekonk [Speedway in Seekonk, Mass.] next Saturday and if that doesn’t work out, we’ll be going elsewhere. That is 100 percent.”
Said Eames: “We welcome the chance to meet with him.”
Cooper also said that he and a member of his race team have been assaulted multiple times in the pits over the last two seasons at the track by Bruce Thomas’ brother, crewmember Nate Thomas.
“I have been assaulted by Nate Thomas twice in the last year,” Cooper said. “And nothing has been done about it. I had a conversation with [Eames] in regards to how he was going to handle that and he personally said to me that he has a deep connection with the Thomas’ and that he tries to help them out whenever he can. So I said ‘Basically you’re telling me nothing is going to be done about it?’ He basically walked away and said he would get back to me.”
Said Eames: “That’s not what I said at all. I’m waiting to hear back from a police officer who we’re told witnessed something last Saturday night and I guess the guy has been off duty all week and hasn’t returned my call yet. Knowing the police officer took notes about this, I want to talk to him before I do anything.
“And my comments to him about the fact that I go back a ways with the Thomas family wasn’t to indicate that I have any problem doing anything. We’ve had no difficulty over the years penalizing various Thomas’ for things that they do wrong. We’ve specifically expelled Nate Thomas a couple of different times. He shouldn’t have taken what I said as being reluctant to do anything.”
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I’m just wondering if Terry saw the contact from the RD stand or from the golf cart he’s always tooling around in? This season just keeps giving and giving to certain drivers and so begins the exdous from the speedbowl.
The officials only see what they want to see . The track owner sees nothing nor does he hand out harder penalties until someone gets hurt . Lots of favoritism at the bowl that’s for sure and most of that is because of sponsorship. For the track. Rules. R rules and they need to. Be followed no matter. Who u r. That’s why we have a rule book and NASCAR rules in black and white writing Follow THEM and see how much could chg
Eh, doesn’t matter. at this point. My bet is the Speedbowl is going to be history after this season, so no surprise the long-time associates of Eames are getting the benefit of the calls that are actually made….which have been very few and far between this season…ask ANY driver.
WHAT A SHAME THAT THIS IS GOING ON,BRUCE IS A GREAT DRIVER DILLON IS A GREAT DRIVER,DURING A RACE THEY SOMETMES RUN AFOUL OF ONEANOTHER.IT’S CALLED RACING!WHAT ONE CREW SEES IT AS
MALICIOUS THE OTHER CREW SEES AN ACCIDENTAL HAPPENING.
The place has become.. oh wait.. will always be a joke!!
Williams is a joke too. Who is the race director??? Wait… It seemed to me that everyone is the race director. Make your own calls, not listen to crew members.#puppets
Awaiting moderation??? That just means… Will the puppet Corchesne allow it on his website?? #Pinocchio
Patrick, I apologize for not waiting intently for your comment to appear this evening so I could approve it immediately the moment you hit send. My bad. You can calm down now, it’s been posted.
“One should be gentle with the ignorant, for they are the chosen of God.” — Mark Twain
im not sure but to call the speedbowl a joke is funny..if it was such a joke how come they have had a good not great but better than others car count ? it sounds like racing to me but i was not there so i don’t know. But he was the camp last year and bruce and rocco were both there so whats any different?
@Shawn The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity and there’s plenty of the latter in a lot of your columns.
What Waterford needs is an impartial Race Director who makes calls based on WHAT happens and not WHO was involved. And pays attention instead of saying “Oops, we missed it.”
You only get so many chances before drivers will say I can get treated fairer elsewhere.
Woodchick, wow, nice. You should look up the word “column”. Another Keyboard Courage Cowboy. Is Woodchuck your legal name or just what you came up with because you’re afraid to use a real name? See how my name is on what I publish? That’s what people with spines do, they put their names behind what they say instead of using fake names because they don’t have enough courage to stand behind their words. Pathetic.
My name is Andrew or Andy. Want my blood type next? So back to people with no spines..it’s about time Terry expells Nate for life at the bowl. How many chances will someone give to a person that just doesn’t get it? I know why because he would miss out on another “ass in the seat” $$ So Shawn what’s your opinion on this?
I agree with pat the place is a joke,i always said it should be the Thomas bowl,the rules are different for them,they even have keys to the place,nate is the first to the tire truck each week and if he don’t get to look through the tires first,he throws a temper tantrum,becomes verbally abusive,just as low class as they come,ive seen bruce try to run down a crew member in the pits and he was put to the back of the pack,he should have been arrested…good job tapley and fox,i raced there from 1991 to 2004 when I was thrown out for winning to many races and can you believe the second place guy was Karen Kowalski from 97.7’s brother ,that’s why my family,friends and fans do not go anymore a average of thirty people a week nice job terry…….I want to thank sid because it saves a lot of time and money for my family and I. I haven’t been there since 2009,keep up the good work terry the place is a ghost town,you should be proud of yourself,good luck at Seekonk Dillon theres no favoritism there ask Charlie beal im sure you wont miss bruce or rocco . jeff walsh 38 r.i.
^^ Hahahahaha, I just got my fix of comedy for the day. That was funny Jeff.
Shawn, here’s a good quote I came across in the Boston Globe. I know I’ll be using it often: “Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.”
Mark Twain
Thompson is done for good and becoming a road course they don’t want circle track where have you been
It’s true that there seems to be a lot of race directors at the bowl. No one knows how to make the calls. So because the directors want to have favoritism their going to loose a great driver and others as well if this crap keeps up. Going to miss you D man but sure u will be treated better else where and won’t have the stupid nonsense on the track while trying to race like a real race car driver . Instead of racing with idiots at the speedbowl and won’t have to deal with the many directors that r up there that never see anything. Best of luck to u and the team!!!!
I never liked the Waterford Speedbowl since 2009. Terry Eames is a moron doesn’t know how to run a track. Take a page from Thompson, now that’s a track. Anyone who
disagree about Thompson shut up.
As someone who has no connection to either team it looked intentional to me. However I can also say that I have seen some serious favoritism at the bowl. I have seen Thomas aggressively drive and spin people without any punishment handed down. I have seen it with several other drivers as well. We all know the bowl has its favorites. However I will also say you have it at EVERY track. No matter which track you race at it’s there it’s just whether or not you are involved with a favorite as to if you see it or not. Seekonk has serious favoritism as well and @jeff Charles Beal will tell you that. As a matter of fact they are not so shy about showing it as the bowl is in all honesty. Just this past Saturday at Seekonk a car spun and they put another car to the rear for the assist. Hell the car that spun told the officials the car they put to the rear had nothing to do with it. That it was his own fault for spinning. They didn’t care. In my honest opinion it’s either you deal with it or you don’t. If you don’t want to then you just have to go somewhere else. However it’s only a matter of time before you see it there as well. I am not a fan of the RD at either track. The only track I really have no experience with is Stafford. However if you want to race at that track then you just have to put up with it. I am not saying just ignore it, but everyone acts as if it’s something new. My team has had issues at both tracks and no matter how much you fight back you have to remember you don’t own it or run it. At the end of the day it’s there call. We can make as big of a fuss as we want but how many times has that actually worked in getting you what you want?
“Yawns.”
Give it a rest guys. Watch Sids Vault. The call was accurate. Once again, lots of opinions without facts.
I only saw it on video, in turn 1& 2Bruce was right on Jeff Smith’s bumper when Dilion bump Bruce the first time in 3& 4 there was a big gap between Jeff and Bruce when Bruce got spun. So if Jeff’s last lao time was the same as the lap before then Bruce either slowed or didn’t get the grip he got before, either way Dilion had nowhere to go .if the rules is when one spins when being touched by an other car they both go to the rear then that needs to be all the time, like the MRS dose. That has not been a consitanant call so Dillion’s team should be mad. Its either has to be all the time or not at all.
Not only does this favoritism take place on Saturday’s. On Wednesday’s there has been favoritism for years. Example is the x-car division. A few years back a “Thomas” was a tech official for the division. The following year a Nissan 240 sx was taken off the banned car list for the division, and to a surprise a “Thomas” was driving this car. Guess who won the championship in the x car division that year?
thanks glenn im glad you liked my opinion especially the keys,classic pinkham right there I miss you cant wait to see you again,now go work on that Nissan I built, you need to pickup a few tenths, terry don’t run the tour so you will have to work for it like the rest of us,good luck see you soon,keep it at a 5 slump 38 r.i.
I’m still waiting for input from the RD or Shawn on the matter..
That’s funny. Anonymous troll, too scared to use a real name, comes here calling people names like a 6-year old then demands a response? Yeah, doesn’t work that way here. You going to throw a tantrum on the floor next Troll?
A few facts, the 240 was never on banned list during the last 8 years AND a Thomas has never won an X-Car championship. Very intelligent post
Just some absolute Internet gold with some of these comments. I really hope they keep coming as I am having a blast reading them.
The first Patriots preseason game is Friday
“Coming to the checkered flag, it’s all or nothing.” Really dude? For 4th place? It’s hard to believe a championship is of so much importance when aggressive driving like this shows an apparent lack of concern of the possible consequences.
From a completely non-biased point of view, and disregarding whatever may or may have not happened in the previous weeks, I’m curious if those who aggressively voiced their opinions about the penalty under discussion being a “bad call” feel slightly less intelligent after watching Sid’s View…
I just had my eyes checked (still 20/20), from what I can see: the #28 was in the left quarter panel and turning the #35 sideways out of turn two, all the way down the backstretch, and into turn three until the #35 spun in the middle of turns three and four.
IMO, the call was more than justified. If that penalty wasn’t issued, I’d think something was seriously with this picture. Fortunately, it’s just the usual pissing contest and another episode of the trending “I’m never coming back” threat that Waterford has become infamous for in 2013.
Dillon Moltz can move on. Ask him why after a succesfull run at Stafford he left and has to run for someone at another track. NO MONEY A Richard Petty wanna be. Practiced Ted Marsh’s Busch Car, but not good enough. Why leave a winning track, suck it up and race. The Speedbowl will be as it is and as it has been handed down from elders to youngers,,,,,just a bunch of uneducated farmers that have no knowledge of being a true racers. The real racers are gone and replaced by no brainers.
So Michael, the speedbowl should take some pointers from Thompson? Build a road course, have low car counts in your premier division, small crowds, cancel the races first thing in the morning if you think it’s gonna rain, and have high ticket prices. Yeah that sounds like a brilliant idea…..
I think all these drivers should quit whinning, its called racing not passing. The only way anyone knows how to pass these days is hit the guy in front and take his spot. Not that it wasn’t going on before but it’s common place now….
All the racing at the bowl has gotten out of control. The calls (when actually made) are so inconsistent and only benefit certain drivers. The racing has come to just surviving the wrecks which has lead to lower car counts each and every week. Minis finish with 7 cars on the track after several good cars wrecked and no calls made at all and mods finish with half the cars they start with and takes 1 1/2 hours to run race. And don’t even get me started with tech…….or lack there of
So Thomas got dq’d Saturday night. The good ol Thomas bowl…….