Episode 17 of Unmuffled was packed with highlight comments from all four guests this week.
New London-Waterford Speedbowl driver Timmy Jordan had plenty to say about this past weekend’s postponement of the SK Modified feature at the shoreline oval and also the state of the track and management in general.
It was confirmed Tuesday that the track will allow additional competitors to be added to the field for Saturday’s makeup date for the event. Eleven teams qualified for the event on Saturday for Sunday’s originally scheduled running of the event.
Before it was official that new teams would be allowed to be added to the field, Jordan said this about that topic on Monday:
“We all kind of went and we all dedicated to the event and went and signed in and did the deal and did what they asked. If it’s a brand new event it doesn’t really make sense. It should be a continuation of this weekend’s and kind of whoever was signed in to race the race on Sunday afternoon should probably be the one’s to take the green flag. It’s logic to me. You can’t just have a guy show up and add to the race because it’s convenient to them. … If Dover got rained out [Sunday] and somebody showed up Monday, they probably wouldn’t let them race. … It’s a good test, it’s a good test of me going back to the race track as a full-time competitor to see what they do, if that side of stuff has improved and they make the right decision I guess.”
On the state of operation at the facility Jordan had this to say:
“They’re in a tough boat. I think with everything going on lately, they’ve got a lot of work to do. They’ve got a lot of reputation building to do. … It’s just not the same Speedbowl unfortunately even if the people involved right now are trying their best. You can agree or disagree with the track. They’re trying. The gates opened and stuff like that, that doesn’t necessarily mean they get a free pass on everything. I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s still not a volunteer place. It’s still a business. … That’s the only thing as a racer that bothers me about the track a little bit. … It could be any track anywhere. It’s still a business so you have to treat it professionally and you’ve got to do your best. Right now I think they’re trying and they’ve got a lot of room to improve. Hopefully they do.”
Jordan had plenty more to say about both topics.
Speedbowl X-Car and Super X-Car division competitor Mitch Bombard was also a guest on Episode 17 and had this to say about things at the track:
“It’s tough. It’s really conflicting because I consider it my home track and it’s pretty hard to watch, pretty much almost a controlled chaos has happened as it’s happening. I’m really glad it’s open, I’m really glad I still have the opportunity to race there because in my opinion it’s my favorite track in Connecticut. I really hope it succeeds, but it’s just tough.”
During Episode 17, Stafford Speedway Limited Late Model driver Alexandra Fearn broke the news that she won’t be racing for a championship at the track this year.
Fearn said: “I will be taking seven weeks off. It’s my choice. … I’m currently a junior at RPI, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute. I’m studying mechanical engineering and I will be working an internship at Snap-On Tools, which is awesome. But unfortunately Snap-On is in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I’ll be going there for seven weeks. … I’ve never taken that amount of extended time off from racing before. It’s definitely going to be different. … I will be a little sad because spending time with my team on Friday nights and at the shop, that’s some of my favorite things to do. Now I’ve kind of got to switch gears and go do adult things for a bit.”
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Dave Sapienza talked about turning around a bad string of luck in the last two events for him after a sixth place finish to open the season.
Said Sapienza: “I don’t know what it is with us in the beginning of the year. We’ve just ran into a string of bad luck and I just have a hard time shaking it off. It just seems to follow me.”
And there was plenty more said by all four guests on the latest episode of Unmuffled.
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I agree with what Timmy Jordan is saying, he would have a better chance of winning the $3000+ if no additional team were allowed to run. In looking at the 11 teams that qualified, I’d say he is one of 6 capable of winning (Jordan, Izzo, James, Galko, Janovic and Owen). However, I can’t blame the track either. and as a fan I’d much rather see features with a full field versus 11 cars.
27 VMT mods were there and only 11 sks , Waterford speed bowl is a great SK mod track . What if only two more cars show up for the SK feature those 11 drivers will be upset . Give those 11 cars their race . But put that in the rule book , must have Mandatory 12 cars to run a feature . What if another 8 cars show up than what ,then you have 19 car field .take a vote with the 11 drivers , tough situation to be in . Caught between a rock and a hard place…….always next week ;
I see how it would not seem right to let others enter the race but I know for a fact that the speedbowl and Thompson have always allowed cars to start the races that wer postponed or qualified on a previous day as long as there was not a full field already. So why would that all of a sudden change?
@Bob, actually the adding of cars issue is already addressed in the Speedbowl’s rulebook on their website. The adding of cars is entirely permitted under the Promoters Option so no one including Timmy Jordan really has a right to complain. For us fans it can only mean good things.
The actual text from the posted rulebook is below:
1.13 Promoters Option
A. The New London-Waterford Speedbowl reserves the right to add competitors as a
“Promoters Option” to any starting lineup at their sole discretion with the following exceptions:
B. The New London-Waterford Speedbowl WILL NOT add cars to the rear of the starting field
of any rescheduled race once the starting line-up has been set when the rescheduled race creates a
second feature in the same division being run on the same day.
I agree with Timmy Jordan the race should be considered a continuation, and the 11 cars that showed up should be the ones racing. If others wanted to race they should have shown up originally.
A compromise is in order. Any show up cars should start 12 on back. If you don’t want to run a qualifier for them do it ( starting position) by pill draw or some other random way. Comparing what Dover does to Waterford is foolish . Short track racing needs all the help it can get and crapping on a track struggling to stay open is foolish.
For a track that’s been on life support, turning cars away is a great way to pull the plug.
@Crazy, this is actually what the Speedbowl has done.
Below is a post from the Speedbowls facebook page and website a couple of days ago. More cars to be added. Take a look at the bottom for the events procedures. Lets see if Kid Rock makes a surprise appearance to make things interesting.
YOU CAN STILL ENTER THE 80 LAP MODIFIED FEATURE!
Guaranteed $4050 To Win!!!
P2: $1800 + $250 bonus= $2050
P3: $1200 + $150 bonus= $1350
P4: $900
P5: $650
P6: $600
P7: $550 + $50 bonus= $600
P8: $500
P9: $450
P10: $400
P11: $370
P12: $340
P13: $310 + $25 bonus= $335
P14: $280
P15: $260
P16: $250
P17: $250
P18: $250
P19: $250
P20: $250
P21: $250
P22: $250
P23: $250 + $100 bonus*= $350
P24: $250 + $100 bonus*= $350
P25: $250 + $100 bonus*= $350
(* $100 bonus is for 3rd to last-last BEFORE tech)
Lap bonuses:
Leader lap 12 $100
Leader lap 13 $100
Leader lap 35 $100
Leader lap 51 $100
Leader lap 79 $50
P13 Lap 13 $100
Last place Lap 35 $100
P6 Lap 57 $100
P5 Lap 78 $100
Hard Charger Award $100
$3125 in total bonus money!
-The top 11 has been set
-Any cars that arrive will be allowed 8 tires
-The 11 original cars will get 2 tires (per inventory)
-All cars will run normally scheduled rounds of practice
-All cars that did not originally qualify will run a separate 10 lap group qualifier. You must run those tires in the feature. Your laps will be timed to prevent “sandbagging” any car deemed to be “sandbagging” will not be qualified to run the feature. Acceptable “race speed” is at the track officials discretion.
-Positions 12 thru 25 (or less) will be determined by the 10 lap qualifier
-No Impound
FOR ALL CARS:
– No Pitting for tires. You can only take tires if you pit for a flat.
– First 3 caution laps of each caution period will be counted.
– We will stop counting 3 caution laps once we get to 10 laps to go.
Please contact Chris Forster or Chris Austill with any additional questions. All cars must be NLW Speedbowl legal. Visit http://www.speedbowlct.com to view our rules.
timmy who?? LOL..you do stand a better chance with 11 cars ..you can then say you got a top ten finish timmy … a first for you in a long time . stop embarrassing yourself
Pretty Sure the 11 car field Included Rocco. He was signed in for the SK race last weekend and his tires were in the tire truck with 88’s on them……I imagine he is what all the complaining will be about.
Dougdacheater,
The 11-car field did not include Keith Rocco. While he registered a number for the 2018 season last week, he did not enter the Blastoff event, he did not qualify on Saturday and he was not at the track on Sunday. And somebody taking a chalk marker to write 88 on four tires was having fun getting people’s attention and getting them talking.
There’s more than one modified running the #88 at the Speedbowl.
So is there anything stopping some SK Lite guys starting the big money race to fill the field?
Nice job Rocco why are you not moving up?