Anthony Nocella On Top Again In Valenti Modified Racing Series Action At Beech Ridge

Anthony Nocella has long proved himself a master of the patience game when it comes to Valenti Modified Racing Series action at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Me.

Saturday night the Woburn, Mass. driver showed once again he knows how to save to win at the one-third mile oval.

Nocalla got his fourth Valenti Modified Racing Series victory of the season in the 75-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series event Saturday at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.

Troy Talman of Oxford, Mass. was second and Tony Ricci of Westbrook, Me. was third.

Comments

  1. Just another case of too many touring divisions hurting us fans with short car counts and the race tracks as well. Sure glad I decided to spend the night watching the Bristol Taxi Cab race. We pay good money to see full fields and 15 or 18 cars IMO should be a consi or B-main race. I’m sure the tracks will be much more careful in scheduling next year. My bet is that “IF” there are still two (MRS & VMRS) basically the same Mod Touring Series going head to head against each other they may pass on both of them. As a fan I am surely not going to pay $30 +/- to see a 15 or 18 feature/ consi/ heat race regardless who is in the race unless its Tony Stewart or someone else that is guaranteed to put on a show worth watching.

  2. Crazy in NY says

    Only somebody famous can put on a show eh? So if Smoke was in the Beech Ridge show it would then be worth 30? Reaaallly…

  3. Fast Eddie says

    Larry, please take a look at my comment under the MTS race. I don’t know about Beech Ridge, but Monadnock was definitely worth the $25! I would also bet the VMRS race was pretty good as well. I’ve been there a couple of times before for the VMRS and both had 18 – 19 cars, but they still put on a good show.
    I’m in full agreement with you on scheduling, though. These series can’t compete on the same date; it hurts the car count as well as the fan count. I wanted to go to Beech Ridge as I like the track, but there was more Modified racing at Monadnock.

  4. Congrats Anthony

  5. On Saturday, I kept debating Monadnock or Beech Ridge and ultimately chose Beech Ridge. It’s just one of my favorite tracks.

    Tix were $25. I had also gone to BR the week before for the ACT race. I think the crowd may have been a little better for the MRS, even though Maine is full-fender country.

    Unfortunately… the modifieds just didn’t put on a very good show. The MTS at Monadnock had fewer cars, but much higher quality. Any one of 10 drivers could’ve won at Monadnock and it probably wouldn’t have registered as a surprise. At BR, that number was — to be generous — three. And, honestly, it was gonna be a shock if anyone besides Nocella won, which he did.

    There were guys on the track that were just skating around… looked like a bunch of rookies. There was one driver — touted on Speed51 for making his first start of 2017 — who caused at least 3 wrecks before calling it a night. The last wreck destroyed another competitor’s car on the front stretch.

    I’ll be much happier if we’re down to two Mod tours next year (NASCAR and one other). With most of the heavy hitters seeming to have chosen the MTS over the MRS this year, I kinda find myself wishing that PASS’s Tom Mayberry would buy the MRS before it completely destroys whatever value that series still has. Mayberry seems to run a no-BS series in PASS.

  6. wmass01013 says

    Unfortunately I don’t forsee either Knight or Bateman giving in anytime soon, but you are so right!!!

  7. Why is everyone so down on the MRS? For one, if they were dead as proposed by so many here at the beginning of the year, how come they have outdrawn the MTS every where they go? The promoter claims to be making Modified racing better but yet he can’t bring in more cars that the series everyone hates? Heck his marque drivers even passed on the show. Because they had more important things to do. Apparently Ryan doesn’t need another championship and Jon prefers Supermods over being the inaugural champion to another touring series.

    I also find it funny how you say the quality is better, but yet the winner of the MTS race stated in his victory lane speech ““Everyone was driving aggressive tonight and we got turned around a couple of times.” That doesn’t sound like quality to me, that sounds like guys who need to learn to driver cleaner. Even the highlight video shows the leaders crashing each other. Sorry, but you didn’t see the lower quality race leaders at Beech Ridge wrecking each other. Yes as you pointed out a rookie made a mistake, but isn’t that what rookies do? Looks to me like the ego racers have moved to the MTS and those who enjoy racing for racing may have stayed with the MRS.

  8. Bill Realist says

    “Mayberry seems to run a no-BS series in PASS.”

    That right there is some funny sheet!

  9. To Racer1:

    1. You’re confusing quantity with quality. More cars in no way guarantees a better show.

    2. I think you’re seeing more teams run the MRS races because they see the exodus of top teams as an opportunity to grab top 10s (or top 5s) that wouldn’t have been possible before this season.

    3. I think McK has said more than once in print that the supermodifieds are where his heart is. Of course that championship would mean more to him.

    4. I watched the Monadnock vid, too. I saw a bunch of hard racers racing each other. At Beech Ridge, I watched a whole bunch of guys drive like they were hanging on for dear life and just trying not to wreck. In fact, there wasn’t much “racing” at all. There were a couple vastly superior cars dodging and weaving around a bunch of outclassed competitors.

    5. Didn’t say I watched a rookie caused wrecks. I said Speed51 characterized the guy (in his 60s, I believe) as making his first start of the year. Beyond the wrecks he caused — including one that demolished the #55 — I saw him cause problem after problem on the track. Rookie. Veteran. Whatever. He didn’t belong out there. He was a menace and he should’nt have been racing. Given the short field, he qualified.

    6. Compare the top10 in points in the MRS vs the MTS. The top 10 in MTS points is filled with 9 marquee names. The MRS top 10 has one. There’s gotta be a reason so many top drivers gave up on the MRS.

    7. Maybe Nocella’s running the MRS bc he knows it’s easy money. Maybe he has loyalty to Bateman. I have no idea. But for a young driver, I think he’d learn a lot more racing against the guys in the MTS than the drivers of the MRS.

    8. I don’t have anything against the MRS. I’ve enjoyed that series for years. But, for whatever reason, the stars aren’t committed to that series now. The result is an on-track product that is inconsistent and just isn’t very good this year.

  10. knucklesmahoney says

    Mike86: Well at least the people running the MRS didn’t openly go around and ask drivers to switch there numbers to 29 or 6 so McKennedy and Preece would get championship points, while not even being there. Yup, that’s what the series director did at Monadnock, if that isn’t the most screwed up thing i have ever heard. Nobody bit on the 6 , but Hersey bit and ran the number 29. The MTS is a joke.

  11. That was a great exchange on the MTS vs the MRS. The MTS does have a better lineup at the top for sure and I could have sworn it was the opposite. Takes a little steam out of my interest for the September 1 VMRS show at Stafford. Maybe they’ll be some surprise additions with more name recognition.

  12. Knuckles:
    That may be “screwed up.” But so what? Was anyone FORCED to change their number?

    I honestly couldn’t care less about this. It has zero effect on whether a race is enjoyable to watch. And *that’s* what I pay to see.

    If the series is letting someone soak their tires, or run under-weight, or run a big motor … THOSE are things I would care care about. Because those things affect competition. Renumbering a car…? Meh!

  13. Muddbus461 says

    Maybe the MTS is paying some of the boys to come and play?

  14. I am in agreement with the Knuckles thought on the management of the MTS physically asking teams to switch numbers just so they can manipulate the championship point standings IF this actually happened. Most likely its just another negative fake news story being the russian conspiracy in helping Trump win the election over princess hillary. Should anyone have REAL facts please post the who what where and when and call a spade a spade if needed.

  15. Ray Skoglund says

    You can bet if Hirschman changed his number, he got something for doing it!

  16. Doug: I’ll probably go to the MRS show at Stafford. The roster grows when the MRS hits Thompson, Stafford or Waterford. It gets thinner at some of the tracks outside the heart of Modified country.

    If both tours continue, I really hope they’ll just cooperate and not step on each others’ schedules. There are only so many race-able weekends, though.

  17. knucklesmahoney says

    Larry D: It happened, 100% factual.

  18. Fast Eddie says

    At least some of the top MTS teams have had past issues with officiating from the VMRS. That and some of them are part of the driver’s council set up by the MTS. I think the priority for the Nocella 92 became the VMRS due to his early success this year and leading in the points all season. I would bet McKennedy and Savory will be at Stafford. One thing I noticed about the cars at VMRS races a while back. Most will run the small tracks, but some won’t run Stafford or Thompson. Others run the bigger tracks but not many small ones. I don’t know if that is driver preference or budget related, but many of the VMRS cars don’t run all of the events.

  19. I hear you Mike86 and I’m on board as well. A lot of the Stafford regular SK drivers will have rides in the VMRS feature. Going right to the features for the low car divisions is always good as far as I’m concerned so it should be a solid program from beginning to end plus fireworks for mom, dad and the kids.

  20. Ok Knuckles, spill the beans with details, which MTS officials were involved? Otherwise its just rumor or fake news with unnamed sources IMO.

  21. Crazy in NY says

    You can bet if Hirschman changed his number, he got something for doing it!

    How did he get dragged into this? The 60 doesn’t run either the VMRS or the MTS.

  22. Hey guys and gals, the 60 is on the entry list for Seekonk tomorrow night. Should be interesting.

  23. No columns on anything. Not even press releases. You OK Shawn? Decided you’ve had enough? Vacation?
    Shawn, where are you?

  24. My comment approved but not responded to. The plot thickens. No I’m serious. The normal very prolific Shawn Courchesne is MIA. Time to be concerned? Not about our comments but the big guy. So what’s the deal whoever is filling in.

  25. Coby takes out Hirschman to win Seekonk! Nocella finishes second after a late race charge.

  26. That late race charge involved nearly spinning Preece out of second to finish second I would be real proud of that .

  27. Yea, and you think Coby’s winning move with Hirschman was not a bush league move Jim? Preece was never a factor to win all race. I don’t care for Coby but he was in a zip code of his own. Nocella was the only car at the end that had shot to take the win from Coby.

  28. Shawn,I am worried about you.I/we hope all is well.

  29. Of the two, I’m probably a little bit more of a Hirshman fan than a Coby fan (only because I was a big fan of Tony Hirshman).
    That being said, the 60 was living dangerously with the line he was running, and Doug was pretty patient considering he appeared significantly quicker than the 60.
    I believe the race was over 50 laps in when the 60 went around.
    Far be it from me to tell somebody how to race, but there’s no way Hirshman could’ve expected to continue cutting down on a 4 time Champion (with no wins a faster car) for an entire 150 lap race.
    Congrats to Coby, ain’t nobody was beating him last night.

  30. To all those asking,
    Had to take a little time off. We will be back in business Monday. Thank you all for the concern.

  31. I guess if it’s your driver doing the dirty deed then anything goes and it’s ok . I don’t care how fast you are you don’t spin a guy and cause others to be wrecked to get a win . That little twit (coby) is a menace as far as I’m Concerned . His car was faster than him . He gets the win mckennedy and solomito get junked and that’s ok because he was the faster car ? Nocello was fast but anyone can put a bumper on a guy on a restart and move him out of the way that’s not what I pay to see . So no humpee I don’t think it was a good move it was amateur at best

  32. I really don’t care how dangerous he was with his line, Coby just packed it in, did not even have position and took him out. That is BS. Now if he gave him the bump and run without taking him out then I might feel a little different. Oswego is next and I am hoping Hirschman is there in his sandbox and pays the favor back. As far as I am concerned NASCAR did not call it because Coby is their boy and Hirschman is not a regular. If the shoe was on the other foot, they would have penalized Hirschman.

  33. If Coby was so much faster then go around the outside, its not like Hirschman did not give it to him.

  34. Jim, I think you and I are on the same page here. Like I said I am not a fan of Coby or Preece for that matter. The Coby wreck took out cars that did not deserve what they got. And yes Nocella put the bumper to Preece for second but at least he did not wreck him along with others. I am not a fan of the chrome horn either, if you can’t pass them clean then make the car better so you can.

    There was some great racing in the pack and how about Swanson from 19th to 4th. The 36, 51, 20 all did a great job and raced hard all night. I am a Bonsignore fan by the way and after going laps down got them back and finished 6th I believe. To bad Hershey could not have got back to the front, might have been interesting!

  35. Hump you don’t get it the 60s spotter told him the 2 is coming inside chop him off it worked 15 other times he took himself out

  36. Hump so you don’t go in to a cardiac arrest Phill Smith who has been a famous racing journalist saw the video was there said watch the 2 cars line the 60 blocked and paid the price so blame the 60 car for taking ever one out and a few on the way up when he was a lap car.

  37. Totally lost interest in this one after Coby put out Hirschman and NASCAR let it go. Good cars got wrecked in that the ensuing mess. Too bad. Could have been a much more interesting race.

  38. darealgoodfella says

    Well, DC is the new TC. Colbee took out what ever was in his way. The 2 had the super flux capacitor installed for sure. No racing, just take them out. Colbee is desperate and will be a major hazard the rest of the season.

  39. Crazy in NY says

    Nothing but crickets from the 60 is cheating club this morning. How convenient. Pee Dee was teched
    believe me and NASCAR even “randomly” put their magic MSC checker on guess who’s car?
    Coby?…. In a series where the faster car has a “right” to your spot by any means, nothing he does surprises me. Unlike Thompson where the slide job rules the day at Seekonk the bottom is valuable real estate so it’s not surprising. I mean if it were 10 to go you could see it but lap 63? Come on.
    3 straight seconds and a Coby win really tightens the race so NASCAR wasn’t going to do a thing.
    Pee Dee came back from 15th after the going down a lap but with the yellow flag dominating the last
    30 laps a 7th is pretty damned good I think. No Matt is not in the pay back business either so don’t hold your breath.

  40. Fast Eddie says

    Although I’m not partial to either driver, I watched Coby give Hirschman the chrome horn for a lot of laps while Hirschman was using a lane-and-a-half trying to block him. It was easy to tell that sooner or later Coby would decide he’d had enough if Hirschman didn’t get out of the way. If Hirschman wasn’t blocking he would have been on the bottom through the corners and Coby could have tried to work the outside lane. The only other option would have been a “pass in the grass” move like Solomito did last year, but it was way too early in the race for that.

  41. Bristol Speedway. The date, sometime in the later part of the 20 century. Ernie Irvin leading in the closing laps and tagged by none other then Dale Earnhart as Earnhart goes on to win. The penalty? There was no penalty.
    Isn’t it bumper tag until it isn’t and you spin the guy. What do you think, there’s a bump-o-meter on cars a a switch you turn from let him know I’m here to take him out. Isn’t Hirshman the modified, high purse raider that blows in to big dollar events to win and take the money and who cares about points or supporting the series? Meanwhile Coby plugs along being a winner and many of you all hate the guy. Was his sin really that great?

  42. NH Mod Fan says

    Remove the mirrors. One way communication with the series, no spotters. Works for the supers. Much harder to block if you don’t see them coming. Now you would have to get up to the door to pass. Instead we have OH I got 6 inches to 1 foot inside your rear tire so I now own the spot. I’m not a fan of turning someone. Lack of judgment and accidents will happen. Coby should have Joined Hirschman to the rear for his part. Would have made the race more interesting too! Way to go Nascar.

  43. Crazy in NY says

    In NASCAR the only sin is passing the leader before the line when the green drops. Past that there
    are no sins on the Tour. Beep beep with Horn’ is the norm. Yeah…Matt was going to”block” Coby for 150 laps..gimme a break. Remember is was NO tire stops and of course your going to sweep the corners some to save the rubber and yes Coby could have worked him harder and got a nose under
    or move him up but no…dump job is what Coby does because NASCAR allows it. The constant red& yellow flags after lap 120 assured he’d score the win.

  44. Doug, sorry but the sin was the 00 & 16 getting wrecked because of Coby’s stupidity maybe causing the 16 the ’17 championship. You want to pull the pin and throw it in that’s fine but don’t wreck someone else’s equipment 63 laps into a 150 lap event to prove a point.

    As far as Phil Smith goes, he watched a video he was not where I was standing right over the exit tunnel between 3&4 with a birds eye view of the whole thing. Hirschman lifted, Coby did not, drove it in, end of story. But that is NASCAR’s boy, no harm, no foul.

  45. darealgoodfella says

    When Colbee was raced and he wrecked, he complained about how NASCAR lets top place cars get raced. When you are a top place car, everyone else is supposed to get out of your way.

  46. Good point Humphry. Collateral damage. Wrong place, wrong time. No where to go. My only point is bumper tag is not a finite science. Mistakes are made. Should Coby have been put in the back? Probably yes. But you know life isn’t fair. If the series wants to protect a regular participant seeing as how Hirshman is the high purse raider he is then that comes with the territory. As far as I know Hirshman has pretty much accepted it. Maybe he even knows he backed out a little too fast to protect the bottom. That’s a thing isn’t it? Kind of a mistake in judgment perhaps. You tell me.

  47. Liz Cherokee says

    Hi boys! Did you see where my Melissa finished at Seekonk? It sure babe me a tingle to say the least!

  48. darealgoodfella says

    da Long Giland boyz will take care of Colbee and make things nice for the 16. You wait and see.

  49. darealgoodfella says

    Liz, put down the sangria already. Trump makes more sense than you.

    Liz said: ” It sure babe me a tingle to say the least!”

    Huh?

  50. wmass01013 says

    When Coby spun Hirschman he asked on the radio How many times is he going to chop me and was responded by crew chief, u did nothing wrong!
    Lotta complaints by teams when pitting being told to get to tunnel and go on track at drivers meeting but were stopped by official going lap down during race, I will again say should be no caution laps counted when no infield pitting, this is not Charlotte or Vegas, this is Mods on a 1/3 mile track!!!!

  51. Liz Cherokee says

    Wow! That was a darealdoozy of a typo! I meant to say that it sure GAVEa me a tingle to say the least!

    Now I’m wondering if the Long Island boys are eating colby jack cheese in preparation for giving Doug a taste…

  52. OK I’ll bite. If Melissa Fifield finished 7 laps down and was the second to last car running at the end beating 1 time series driver Manny Dias is that considered a good finish? She does have a lot of mechanical issues to maybe so. You go girl!

  53. I don’t care what his crew chief said or what Coby’s excuse was for driving through Hirschman. As they say “you can put lipstick on a pig and it is still a pig”!

  54. crazylarry says

    STOP , HISICHMANS BEST FINISH ON THE TOUR 7 AN 17 TH !! MAYBE TECH HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT , TWO RACES THAT IT FOR SOMEONE THAT IS SUPPOSEDLY THAT GOOD . SOUNDS A LITTLE FUNNY TO ME ?? THE TOUR THE BEST RACE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  55. darealgoodfella says

    Liz, “I meant to say that it sure GAVEa me a tingle to say the least!” is such a YUGE improvement.

  56. cray – zee Larry your name fits you like a glove .

  57. Liz Cherokee says

    Oh no! I slipped an extra “a” in there… My hands were
    still slippery from preparing all that fruit for yet some more of my famous sangria! Don’t worry though, I never slip with my my hot red lipstick! Maybe soon I can land a job on a WMT team as a tire marking queen 👑.

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