THOMPSON – How high is the confidence meter riding at Thompson Speedway for reigning NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore?
Wednesday he let the self-assurance fly brazenly and started calling his shots at the track.
Bonsignore raced to his sixth consecutive Whelen Modified Tour victory at Thompson Speedway in the Thompson 125 Wednesday at Thompson Speedway.
In victory lane after the race Bonsignore had a message for fans in anticipation of the division’s next visit to Thompson for the Budweiser King of Beers 150 on Aug. 14.
“We’ll see you in August for seven,” said Bonsignore, of Holtsville, N.Y.
Five-time Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby of Milford was second and Craig Lutz of Miller Place, N.Y. third. NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series driver and former Whelen Modified Tour champion Ryan Preece was 14thin his first series start of 2019.
The podium matched Saturday’s Whelen Modified Tour event at Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway, just with first and second reversed. Coby got his third victory of the season at Seekonk with Bonsignore second and Lutz third.
Bonsignore swept all four Whelen Modified Tour events at Thompson in 2018, a season that saw him win eight of 16 series events and his first series title. He won the Icebreaker 150 on April 7 at Thompson.
The win extended the record for consecutive Whelen Modified Tour victories at Thompson that Bonsignore set with his win in the Icebreaker in April.
“At this point, even last year we won the four and you just think ‘Who’s going to come out next year and have better cars than us?’” Bonsignore said. “You have to just manage expectations and I think we’ve been doing a good job of that. You know you’re not going to win all these races in a row, but if you just put yourself in a position to have a shot that’s all you can ask for. At some point the streak will come to an end.”
Eleven of Bonsignore’s 22 Whelen Modified Tour victories have come at Thompson Speedway. Bonsignore compares his feeling on the .625-mile high banked oval at Thompson as similar to what he feels at his home track, the quarter-mile Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway.
“It’s huge,” Bonsignore said of his confidence each time the series visits Thompson. “It’s become like a home track. When I go to Riverhead [Raceway] within one or two laps of practice I know if we’ve got it right or not and what we need to do and it’s become that here. Especially with [crew chief Ryan Stone], he understands what I’m looking for.”
Said Coby: “Sometimes you just find a track that you can click at and you can tell your team what adjustments to make and they’re certainly giving him a good car. … He’s just naturally good here.”
Burt Myers of Walnut Cove, N.C. was fourth filling in for injured driver Dave Sapienza. Ron Silk of Norwalk was fifth.
Caution flew on lap 100 with Bonsignore leading, Lutz in second and Myers in third.
Jon McKennedy led the leaders off of pit road during the caution with Bonsignore second and Lutz fourth. Coby went to pit road 10thand came off fifth.
On the lap 107 restart Bonsignore made quick work of McKennedy out front.
“Our car was unbelievable on the long run tonight. I did not want to see that yellow,” Bonsignore said. “I don’t know if [McKennedy] took two or three [tires on the pit stop], but he was real tight when we got into [turn] one. I had to get in there as hard as I could. Just from there our car fired off really good and I built a big gap.”
He thanked Fury and then LFR in victory lane…..what’s everyone got to say about that?
Way to go Burt and the Sapienza racing team. Great run!
No question that Thompson is the good luck charm for Justin. Had the yellow came out a lap earlier Doug would have won on a restart there is no question about that. Great modified tour show last night and was worth the 2 hour ride.
That’s smart. LFR put Ryan Stone on that team, paid Ryan Stone to make up a gap not covered by the race team, brought the cars to Eddy Flemke for updates, brought cars to LFR for assembly, housed the cars at LFR for 4 months while they set up a shop in CT, and assembled them for free. Then Fury shows up after 2 seasons and watches a race. Why wouldn’t you thank Fury and take photos with them???? WOW!!!!! Fuller I hope you heard that in victory lane man. Maybe Fury wrote Massa a check for 65,0000 to make up for what LFR has invested. That part of this sport is pathetic. No loyalty. If Fuller didn’t chase Massa and Justin they would be still running 12th every week. Facts. Justin even said that in his championship speech at the banquet. Now he’s thanking Fury? Character defining moment.
LFR is not just a designer for Massa he WAS a sponsor. Between the discount he gave Massa, paying Stone, assembling cars for free, housing there cars for free and btw Ryan lived at Fuller’s house when he moved back. Massa has some set of kahoonas to remove decals and disrespect Fuller and LFR like that. I’m going to call Rob and suggest that a invoice get sent for sponsorship reimbursement from Massa. Actually from what I hear about Massa I’m not surprised this happened. I just hope Fuller learns from this and makes better decisions on who he invests in going forward. What a shame.
Doesn’t Draco sponsor the 51 car? Who owns Draco again? Hmmmmmm.
Hey Bill, that’s all FAKE NEWS!!!!! 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
Anyways, it was a good race. There was one wreck, few yellow/reds. That said, the wreck was pretty nasty. I didn’t see it happen, but the 07 & 92 crumpled their cars in T1. You could see the skid marks go right into the wall. Emerling was not happy.
Good news, wicked bad luck did not strike the 64.
Good crowd, especially given the dicey weather. Folks were constantly checking radar. Turned out to be quite okay. Rain happened on the way home, finally washed the pollen off the car.
The field came in at the lap 100 yellow flag, and after tires and adjustments, that set up a 20 lap sprint race. The 51 has the secret set up for this track. The whole lead lap field came in on this stop, it was pretty impressive. Good race, good event, great night out in New England.
I dont know a lot about this whole chassis thing, except what i see here in comments. But there surely appears there is a divide among those who “know”. Now i’m sure this means nothing, but i sat at the exit of turn 4 last night. Right across from where the 01 pits. And i was kind of surprised, or never noticed it before, that emblazoned on the right rear quarter panel, was the word “FURY”. Hmmmmm.
Like i said, no dog in this fight, don’t know enough about it, i just like modified racing. I just found the timing a bit odd, unless it was there before, and did not notice it at Seekonk.
Anyway, i was hoping for a better run from preece in the “new” car. From my vantage point, he could get into the turns very well, but then could never keep momentum middle-off. Too bad. Great runs by the 36,46, and the 3. Hopefully ole blue crew has put bad luck behind them.
Would this race draw a bigger crowd on a sat night like the 15th when the KNN race was scheduled, I still say you could do the THROWBACK theme with mods, I think would be fun night to see old ;paint schemes from days gone by DO IT THOMPSON
Didn’t racedayct run a few articles about how Stone became crew chief? I seem to recall a different scenario than what is being painted here. I could be wrong though.
Did Coby win 4 in a row there shortly before the 51 went on this roll? Either way, the field needs to step up. Myers gets closer with each race. He is gonna win one soon if he is in the right car. I don’t think he has a northern ride right now though.
Bob, I was watching the 6 too… it had good top end speed, but did not have very good exit acceleration. Also, after the pit stop, the 6 was very tight, he ended up drifting up high in the turns while slowing, wheels turned to the infield. At one point, he drifted up high into the marbles, slowed quite a bit and was passed by most of the field. It had a few moments of good performance. A bit more time to get it dialed in and perhaps it would be a top car. It showed signs of good performance, but that needs to happen every lap to be in contention.
Brand loyalty is fine but don’t forget the car owners are the customers. From what I’ve read most are being very diplomatic about this dust up. Gotta believe in the end they believe they are the reason for their own success. They wouldn’t be wrong would they?
Observations:
-predictable result but strangely not predictable.
-Preece in plain white signifying a work in progress. Paint scheme with traditional Troyer accents from New Smyrna gone. All is now right with the world. What’s next for this intriguing CD car?
-Was rooting hard for Preece to make more waves at the front. Hoping the pit stops would produce a surprise but it wasn’t meant to be. The guys contending are the best and hoping the 6 could crash the party with a unproven car just finished at the last minute was a pipe dream.
-No offense to Sapienza but Dave admits he does not qualify well and Myers qualified very well. It proved to be a terrific one race partnership. Hope they team up again.
-Dave complained he was in a lot of pain. I fear he’s not letting others do the work on his car.
-Leap frog of the night…….Goodale plus 14 spots with few cautions to help
-disappointment of the night the 7NY. Spec or built engine?
Doug: agree on the 7ny. I’ve stated before, i thought that jon and tom would be a force to be reckoned with. It looked like maybe it would, when they first started together. Then, at least to me, it just seems like they find a way to disappoint. Kind of started when they ran out of fuel back last year while up front. I don’t know why i expect more from this pairing, as that’s not fair, but i do. Seems to me jon has had much better luck running supers, and when he fields the blue and white 29 in the “other” series. But im just a spectator.
Congrats to Justin and the #51 team for the win. Six consecutive races must be a record. Great job
Rob P.
Yes, it extended the record that he set at the Icebreaker.
You expect good things Bob because they started last year at New Smyrna and won. Followed that up with a win at Myrtle and ended with a second at the World Series. And it’s Tommy Baldwin after all and huge tradition.
how about a “shout out” to Craig Lutz and the 46 team!!
3rd top 5 on the season and now they are up to 5th in the point standings?
Maybe fury has the only jigs to repair the lfr cars and fury told the owners you wreck I will not repair your cars that’s why the lfr stickers were removed
I agree, 46 is knocking on the door. They will get a win in 2019.
I also like the idea of a Saturday night at Thompson in June. However, Nascar doesn’t like two sanctioned tracks close by running against one another.The other being Seekonk. Lot of graduations and weddings in June too. All things to consider when selling tickets.
Bob, I second that emotion. Although the 7NY looks all snazzy with the graphics, the mechanicals are not up to snuff, and there have been glaring mistakes. It’s no longer exciting to see the 7NY on the roster, I have no expectations for that car any longer.
Dareal, I wonder if Nocella lost his brakes. The lap before coming out of turn #2 there looked like a little haze from the right front. He ended up a little wide in that corner as well, so it might has been just tire smoke. Then going into one it looked like he just couldn’t slow down and plowed into Emerling. And Nocella is not one to drive like that, so I’m thinking he had some kind of mechanical issue. Good race overall, great job by Thompson changing the schedule to beat the rain. Despite one of the favorites winning, more teams are showing they can hang with the 2 & 51..
Hey, did anybody else hear over the PA that Coby does his tires himself now? Yeah, that’s right. Remember, I told you the #2 team lost the tire guy.
For quite a few laps, it looked like Lutz was going to walk away with this one. I think the red flag hurt him, plus when you get a shootout at the end, it seems Bonsignore, and Coby end up at the front. But great job by Craig and the 46 team, I think a win is just around the corner. Whatever magic LFR does, all the LFR cars were stout.
Ryan Preece. That’s a “glass half full” scenario. Yes he won the Sunoco mods in the Monitz #31, great job. His tour outing didn’t go as planned, but remember this was another new car, not the one he ran in Florida. With very little time to get the car right, he probably used last night to figure out as much as he could, in preparation for New Hampshire.
Wow, kinda harsh. I think the 7NY is fighting new car blues. It seems the teams running the TA-3 are struggling to find speed and consistency. Look at the #16 car 5 wins in 2017, none last year and now a new car to learn. Although the 16 has offered some rays of hope lately. Give it some time, and see what happens.
Tony & Rick, LFR did a great job in getting the top talent to use its product in order to make the product look good. This is Marketing 101. Give it away. But it appears that Massa and others are seeing the reality behind the sourcing. Remember the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz? Anybody else think that Ed Partridge was offered a pile of LFR chassis and parts as sponsorship? The value of Preece driving a LFR would be a windfall. 💰 💵 Massa has this figured out. Just wait until you see what happens next. LFR supplying all the parts, services, storage, etc. was a ploy, an investment to get a top TALENTED teams to use the LFR brand to get some credibility. That is nothing more than the price a company in the position LFR is in to get its product out there and hopefully get some credibility. It was pure marketing. Credibility by association. Maybe the deal included ginsu knives and a bamboo steamer. 😂 You need to be reminded that when LFR ran its own house car early on, it sucked. This went on for a couple years. The LFR house car was only successful when it was run recently by Dowling and Kopcik. Things changed when Phil Moran got the Fury/LFR running with the #2 team. The #2 team Moran tuned Fury/LFR was tops for years, and far better than any other Fury/LFR in the field, including the LFR house car, that never came close to the #2. It was the talent on the teams, not the tubes. So as long as LFR keeps pouring sponsorship into the top talented teams, LFR will look good because of those teams. But the ham & egg teams that run the LFR don’t run as well. Common denominator is the chassis, but the differentiating factor is the talent on the teams. Same SPEC engines too. Same tires. 🤔 Same roof panels.
I dissected a worm and piglet in high school biology. That does not qualify me to be a 🧠 surgeon or 🚀 scientist 🥼. All the subsequent years of intensive post high school education did. All the math and more math, and then calculus and other things. Things that are needed to not just know of, but actually understand technology. Vehicle technology IS math, high level math. Memory recall and understanding are two completely different things. I don’t even bother getting into conversations about technology or chassis tuning unless the person has the appropriate training. It’s all math, and that math is not available until later college classes, and gets really useful in grad school math. In the absence of knowing the math, it becomes track rental and running thousands and thousands of test laps, and trial and error. Understanding the science reduces track test time to validation and minor tweaking for tolerances.
Per published marketing information, Rob went to work right out of high school. A person does not learn by On-The-Job-Training what post high school education provides. That is why post high school education exists and is so important. You want your heart-lung transplant performed by the meatpacking house butcher? Want our space program rockets designed by folks with only toy water rocket experience? You want Trump to run your casinos and economy? Trump thought it would be easy to source product, put his name on it and make money. Nah, he failed on the grandest, bigly-est scale and couldn’t even resell existing, successful product. These were all YUGE implosions.
Hey, what’s the latest with the LFR driver development program? Remember that? It was started just a couple years ago. List of names and graduates? Where are they now?
Fast Eddie, I was suspecting a stuck throttle. It looked like fresh skid marks heading into the wall where they rested. But like I said earlier, I didn’t see it happen, just the result.
Dareal, that’s allot to digest. Yes successfully designing a race car takes mad math skills, more than H.S. algebra. Yes, I do believe Rob giving a successful team a car, which goes on to win many races, and championships is a stroke of genius, if that’s what happened. But I think he stopped giving a set of ginsu knives and a bamboo steamer, and now gives a TAC light Hy Bell& Howell. Whatever he’s been doing, it’s worked. Before 2018, basically Coby was the only successful full time LFR team. At the start of 2018 only a few LFR cars, including the “house” car, which probably would not have run full time without the $$$ that Dowling brought on board. Toward the end of the season half a dozen teams bought LFR cars, and for the most part all are doing pretty good right now. Craig Lutz was a factor in last night’s race, and up till the red flag looked as though he was gonna win. Meyers looked good in the 36, in his first outing in the car, and Pastryak was running well. So whatever Rob’s doing, seems to be working well for all involved.
As a big dirt racing fan, I hope all the chassis talk doesn’t get bigger than the racing talk. On the dirt forums, folks spend hours talking about why a Rocket is better than a Longhorn, a BRWC, a Capital, etc., to the point they pull for a chassis, not a driver or team. I have almost stopped visiting forums because of it. Most of the folks typing have no clue about the chassis, and have only seen it from the stands, but yet they know all about it. Now that is not aimed at anyone here, because you may be in the know. My point is, I hope with the mods, we stick with pulling for drivers and teams, and for good racing, rather than being too concerned about what type of chassis a guy drives. I am a Myers fan and a Preece fan, and I could not care less what brand they drive, as long as it works for them. Just my opinion, intending to offend no one.
Rob p, put all the current LFR teams in Troyer and the results won’t change, the standings won’t change. The teams and talent will be the same, and the teams and talent will end up in the same order. The same 10-15 teams that are the cream of the crop, the contenders, will still be the same teams. Lap times are the same, no new lap records are being set. It’s been a very long time since a lap record was set, and they are very infrequent.
Rob p, just because someone worked at a job does not mean they should have. I knew a guy that worked as an engineer and his only credential was a Coast Guard certificate for operating a ship with three propellers. None of the real engineers, with real BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees displayed their degrees or credentials in the office. This guy with the Coast Guard 3-propeller cert displayed his certificate. He was not a good engineer at all. You wouldn’t want him designing replacement heart valves. More baffling was this was an aerospace company, nothing to do with marine products.
It’s stunning how people have been gaslighted into thinking that the chassis is the be all and end all in performance, when it isn’t. And that there are many teams running the subject chassis and they still are not contenders. All the teams that are good now were just as good before they ran it.
It’s talent, folks.
Dareal,
Did you catch your wife in Fuller’s motorhome at some point?
Facts are facts. Fuller is dominating in everyone’s eyes and in paper so you might need to just get over it. RnD is part of a house car program. That’s how you learn. Just go find a new old lady and continue on with your pathetic life.
What seems apparent is that the guys that don’t have advanced educations in “math” are building the cars that win and the “stable genius” among us that has an advanced education in “math” is not.
Those that can build modifieds, those that can’t write comments.
I guess I have to remind Dareal again ,your comments after Myrtle Beach last year ,Troyer 1-2-3 , I guess that was when the chassis was everything, and also those guys that would do just as well in a Troyer were in troyers and a Spafco before switching to LFR and not doing as well !!
The 51 knows what’s up. Fury has the resources and technology to keep this going. That’s why lfr joined with troyer so they could really have their own thing.
Question. The Fluidyne, Draco, And Bassett sponsor decals on the 51…..are they LFR Fuller sponsors or actual 51 car sponsors? Asking for a friend. Sounds like Massa has more decals to peel off that car. Hope Fury plans on cutting a check to make up for all this stuff.
Come on Ken. Have more class than that. Did you really peel the LFR decals off? Please don’t be another unappreciative owner. Sounds like you got MORE support from LFR than anyone. Don’t be that guy dude. Make Long Island proud! We don’t need any more drama out here!
Hank, the teams that are doing well now with LFR would be doing just as well with Troyer, SPAFCO, Fury or another brand. It is the talent, not the chassis. Phil Moran can make a Freightliner competitive. If the LFR was that good, then the teams that are running it and are still not competitive, should have gotten better. The top teams are still tops, the rest are also still what they were. I’m not surprised. I’m not seeing any team performance elevated to a next level. 🤔
The Modified market has excess manufacturing capacity. Between SPAFCO, Troyer, RaceWorks, CD, etc., and the secondary market, there’s more than enough. For another entity to join the fray as a non-producer supplier that sources its product from elsewhere is interesting. But we’ll have to see if there are enough actual customers that are paying the full price so the top tier TALENTED teams can still receive the marketing sponsorship and make the product look good, to entice wannabes to buy at full price. This is Marketing 101, classic celebrity endorsement.
If you were a top talented team, spending that kind of plan and not winning 1P every week to cover the expenses or reduce losses, you’d listen too if an option for a subsidized chassis sponsorship came along. You know you have the talent that can make anything run.
Can anyone explain in detail, exactly what added value LFR brings?
No Dareal. We didn’t hear anything over the PA because we are actually in the pits with everyone else that has a clue! Still waiting on the stats of the 51 team before LFR. Also while your at it throw the 2 car stats out there for me. Hey… how’s the 75 car running these days. Didn’t they make a change too? You must have worn a helmet to school. It wasn’t because your bus was fast pal. Sorry.
Dareal, again I’ve go to agree with you to a point. Yes, I do believe that it’s the talent of a team that determines it’s performance. I’ve seen many cases, in various divisions where a team has had the best of the best equipment, but showed no results. Also have seen some talented teams and drivers win with less than stellar equipment. But on the NWMT I do believe Rob Fuller has found something to give the teams running LFR cars an advantage, because even some of the lesser teams seem to have gained performance. As far as engineers go, I’m not going to comment for fear of offending people. I would like to see some front running team that currently runs a Fury/ LFR car, switch to a Troyer/LFR car, just because…
John, I worked on a race car for close to 25 years. Durring that time, I helped build multiple cars most of which won races, and 1 that won 2 championships back to back. Now when I go to the races, I sit in the stands. Does this make me clueless?
So what;s the view look like over on social media.
Fury seems to be doing a fantastic job needling LFR with posts staking a claim to the 51’s success. It seems to be getting to Fuller so far. His responses are measured but it’s clearly on his mind. Meanwhile good old steady Troyer is not mentioning any of it. They are posting about their dirt successes and Williams and Rocco’s successes in TA3’s. Also referring to improved design changes in the works under the new joint venture.
I guess it’s natural for Fuller to feel a bit besieged. However racing away from the emotion at the track is about business. Fury’s prospects for future sales in this region are bleak to say the least. The Troyer/LFR/NE Racing consolidation is the future. Regionally it combines all the strongest elements for modifieds in one boat with everyone rowing together. Fuller dominates the NWMT and Troyer is killing it with the SK’s. It will be interesting to see if and when LFR’s presence makes it’s self known in the SK’s.
All racing is local. Fury isn’t local anymore and all the stickers in the world aren’t going to change what they have lost in the Northeast.
Rob P no sir. You do not pretend to know everything though. I will say staying current is important though. There is no such thing as a Fury LFR car OR a Troyer LFR car. LFR Troyer are on the tour. Burt’s new design Fury is down south. Maybe he will bring it up here to run. Until then Fury doesn’t have a dog in the fight.
John, that “new design” Fury is a Fuller design too. He sent them that design for manufacturing and when they shipped it to the shop in MA it had Fury on it. Read Area Auto article this week plus I saw it at LFR! That’s when Fuller decided to buy Troyer.
This whole LFR. FURY thing is starting to get childish. Fury keeps posting stuff, because it gets,a reaction from Fuller. Both Grala and Fuller should grow up. What’s done is done, man up and move on. And yes, the 51 is an LFR car built using a Fury chassis.
Steve wrote: “That’s when Fuller decided to buy Troyer.”
Did fuller actually buy Troyer or just *decided* to buy Troyer?
John, the 51 changed Crew Chiefs more often than their underwear. The 51 has been doing much better since they obtained the current Crew Chief *AND* the tire guy from the #2 team. The 51 performance has correlated with the changing of the crew chiefs. Didn’t they have a CC that didn’t make it a season before they cut him loose? And the 51 is doing much better since they obtained the tire guy from the #2 team. The #2 stumbled last year with the loss of that tire guy, the 51 did better with the acquisition of that tire guy. Coby is now doing his own tires because the #2 team lost *THE* tire guy to the 51 team. Talent, some people have it, most don’t.
When you are dead, you don’t know that you are dead. It is only difficult for the others. It is the same when you are stupid. -unknown
John, just look at the standings for the stats. Same look, same overall pecking order that is commensurate (use a dictionary) with TALENT (again, use a dictionary).
John, staying current is way overrated. A couple years ago, there was a chassis on the Tour that was old, very old, maybe 10 years old, and it was a top tier contender. There are usually several pretty old chassis that are contenders running the Tour. It was a car to beat, and was expected to be a top 5 finisher, and I believe finished that season a top 3 car. This car completely destroyed the myth that new pipes are better. Pretty much finished a top 5 car for years and years. And this car was on the Tour for years and years. It was run by a team of great talent. John, there’s nothing going on to make keeping current relevant. Lap times are flat lined. There is nothing new with lead, shocks and springs. Those that know what lead, shocks and springs do understand there is nothing new. Those that are bewildered by snake oil salesmen think there is new and better lead, coil springs advance every week, and shocks are pure magic. Only new things are the carnival barkers and snake oil salesmen. John, Modified racing is one of the most brutally primitive forms of motorsports. Look at the cars over the years and they really haven’t changed much. Four big tires, low CG, big V8 power. BOOM! Look at Indy, F1 and other series and those cars have changed dramatically. The Modifieds are brutally primitive, which is what makes them the best, and have not changed significantly. The more they “changed” the more they stayed the same. That’s what makes them the best.
Consider the Tinio campaign. They unknowingly bought a Tour car thinking they were going SK racing. That was a sign of the lack of talent right there. All they needed to do was read the rules. Didn’t even know the difference, so they ended up going Tour racing. They weren’t any good. Very inconsistent. Won a couple races, finished back with the red lanterns many times too. Chassis didn’t help. Changed crew chiefs too. Did better when the elder Mr. Santos acted as Crew Chief. Here’s a team that had the same parts as the contenders, a great driver, but low on overall talent.
How is the LFR driver development program doing? What is the product objective of this program? Who are the staff of LFR expert drivers that are going to coach and advise the new drivers? Is there a list?
Where is that all important LFR house car? According to previous reports it is crucial to run a house car. Where is it? I don’t understand why Szegedy doesn’t drive it anymore. A veteran Modified driver, a Tour Champion. Not good enough for the LFR house car? Or get Lia, he’s got to be itching to get back in a car. Again, another veteran Tour driver and Champion. These guys can attract sponsorship for the house car. Where is the LFR house car, that crucial all-important house car? Can’t do R&D without running the house car. What’s the schedule for the LFR house car?
“Fixed fortifications are monuments to man’s stupidity. If mountain ranges and oceans can be overcome, anything made by man can be overcome.”
– Gen. George S. Patton
Now you drag the Tinio team into your adverse reality. They haven’t even raced this season. Why are you belittling these teams? We’re you neglected as a child? On and on and on with no particular meaning in sight. WTF… Get a life man.
dareal,
How many people and times do you need to be reminded that the #51 did not get a tire guy from the #2 (even Justin told you) Yes the #2 tire guy is no longer working for #2, he went part time so he could spend time with his family.
Yes, Fuller did buy Troyer and is keeping the existing dealers and added Brad a couple of weeks ago.
As far as the house car, from what I was told, it’s on hold because Rob is spending so much time traveling back and forth to and from Boylston and Rochester.
Dareal, from this point in time going forward I dub you ” MR MODIFIED” after all, you know everything about modified racing, from chassis construction, to setup, hell you even know how to crew the car. It’s amazingly amusing. I have to ask why haven’t you built a car, and approached a ” top tier” driver I’d be willing to bet you’d win every race you entered, after all, you know everything about modified racing. Any day now SHR, or GIBBS should be beating down your door trying to get you to step up to the big leagues. Best of luck MR MODIFIED.
Just Me, Really??? Fuller *BOUGHT* Troyer? That’s not what the other announcements said. So Fuller owns Troyer outright now? That’s news, I hadn’t seen it explained that way before.
I’m sorry Dareal, saying the Santos/Tinio team is low on talent is like saying Mike Stefanik and TC were only fair drivers! Let’s see, who else besides #44 won three NHMS races in a row… Oh, I know, I know!… NOBODY!! Yes, in the beginning there was a learning curve. And yes, it took them a little longer to sort out the LFR car. And don’t say Bobby’s ability to run that low line was all his driving. You need the car set up to be able to run that line for any length of time without trashing the tires. Regardless of whether they are running full or part time, they are a definite contender when they show up anywhere. I can’t wait to see them working with the Sapienza team! They will win at least one race, maybe more!
Rob p, the Tinio crew bought a Tour car thinking it was a SK car. *THEY* BOUGHT THE WRONG DAMN CAR!!!!! If you can’t tell the difference between a Tour car and an SK car, then all the parts in the world weren’t going to help. First, they needed to be able to tell the difference between a Tour car and an SK car. If you aren’t going to put the effort into knowing the basic rules to identify a Tour car or SK car, you have no chance at developing the talent to get a car to run. C’mon, the LFR chassis didn’t help them. Where was the talent? Just look at the stats. Yeah, they won a couple races, and much of the time they were irrelevant. A true contending team is consistent and rarely misses a setup.
I’m gonna go buy some fillet knives and open a fish store. Oops, I bought scalpels, guess I’ll go do brain surgery instead. Oh well.
Steve wrote: “John, that “new design” Fury is a Fuller design too. He sent them that design for manufacturing and when they shipped it to the shop in MA it had Fury on it. Read Area Auto article this week plus I saw it at LFR! That’s when Fuller decided to buy Troyer.”
Steve, please tell us what is so special about these designs. Early reports were that they were nothing more than collections of some of the better features of the existing chassis manufacturers. Anything? I’ve been asking about theses designs that get mentioned for some time now and there has been no response at all.
Can you say where it says Fuller bought Troyer?
Fuller bought Troyer? I’ll bet that’s news to Billy Colton. I suggest reading the two articles Shawn published last week. MR MODIFIED, the Troyer car that the #50 Skowyra owned SK ran a few years ago with Woody driving came through with the mounts for the dry sump tank and others. Last knew, at the time Tinio purchased the car LFR was not building an SK specific Car, so the mounts you speak of would have been there.
Here is the news of Fuller buying Troyer:
June 7th, 2019, 7:25 AM
Steve wrote; “John, that “new design” Fury is a Fuller design too. He sent them that design for manufacturing and when they shipped it to the shop in MA it had Fury on it. Read Area Auto article this week plus I saw it at LFR! That’s when Fuller decided to buy Troyer.”
Me thinks Steve is a LFR/Fuller shill.
Shawn, are you investigating this ground shaking late breaking industry disrupting tip?
Doug wrote: “Can you say where it says Fuller bought Troyer?”
Doug, you are clearly not making an effort to inform yourself. Better keep your head low. This was mentioned more than once, and on another thread. It is ground shaking or massive 🐂-💩. Do you have any idea how to use the search function?
So go through this thread and read carefully, it’s up there.
Fast Eddie, when the Tinio team started with those Troyers, they were pretty good. Then something happened suddenly and they were never consistent or predictable. We used to talk about it in the shop and figured they bent a chassis and couldn’t get it right after that. They struggled with the Troyer and then went all in with LFR. They were never close to being the top of the Tour. Never, not even close. They won a couple and got in the top 5 and 10 once in a while, but they were never in the league of the cream of the crop. They were never consistent high performers. And BSIII is one of my favorite drivers, when he’s on the entry list, I’m there. There’s only so much he can do with wonky equipment and set ups. The Tinio team was another example of multiple crew chiefs.
I’m honored. To think DGF took the time to condescend and mock me and no Sybil.
Here’s the thing. When you do that though it’s better to say specifically why I’m out of touch not just make some vague reference. A person educated in the preciseness of “math” would know that. On the other hand I know you’ve be very busy with the undermining Fuller over and over and over again so perhaps you didn’t have time to be more then vague.
Just me said Fuller bought Troyer and my question to him that was mistimed because of moderation was where does it say that anywhere. Steve also said Fuller bought Troyer.
So I’ll ask again. Where does it say anywhere that Fuller and LFR purchased Troyer in any communication from any established media source or the companies themselves.
NYS Department of State
Division of Corporations
https://appext20.dos.ny.gov/corp_public/corpsearch.entity_search_entry then type in TROYER MANUFACTURING LLC
Search the database of the NYS Department of State Division of Corporations
Selected Entity Name: TROYER MANUFACTURING LLC
Selected Entity Status Information
Current Entity Name: TROYER MANUFACTURING LLC
DOS ID #: 5551559
Initial DOS Filing Date: MAY 13, 2019
County: WESTCHESTER
Jurisdiction: NEW YORK
Entity Type: DOMESTIC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
Current Entity Status: ACTIVE
Selected Entity Address Information
DOS Process (Address to which DOS will mail process if accepted on behalf of the entity)
ROBERT J. FULLER
99 HARTWELL STREET
WEST BOYLSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 01583
Shawn, are you going to explore Steve’s assertion that Fuller outright bought Troyer, or is it just too much 💩 to bother with?
So anyways, back on topic… Congratulations to the 51 team and the loaded talent. They played the 125 lap distance perfectly, with the right tire strategy. They made the gamble waiting for the later caution, along with the rest of the field. As good as the 51 is at Thompson, the 2 had a somewhat off night, losing ground on that long run. The talent of the 2 team is usually marvelous at tire strategy and management, and getting the most high performance laps out of a tire.
Congrats to the 64 team for finally running a mar free event. Bad luck couldn’t touch you. And Lutz, clearly another team loaded with talent. Good run by Zachem too, a small team making big 🌊.
I thought it was pretty frikkin hilarious that both JBon and Colby refused to comment on the Fury/LFR brouhaha. BBBWWWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!!! The silence was very informative.
Oh no !! What are you going to do now dareal ?? He can’t even weld , I’m thinking he might be good at math
Thank you Just me. That’s indeed puts an exclamation point on your post and makes the point there are some pretty smart and informed people here at the same time.
I’ll admit being so interested in the actual corporate relationship is really no fans business. They have given the big picture to the fan base and that’s all that we have a right to. But I persist.
Having read everything printed I could find and viewing the Troyer video it’s confusing. Two LLC’s have been established. One Troyer Dirt that keeps the Troyer dirt business completely separate from the new venture. The other LLC I’m seeing not as a Fuller purchase but Fuller being named with the New York Department of State as a principle in the new asphalt modified LLC. A financial stake in the asphalt modified LLC only the extent of which we have no right to know. LFR continues as as an LLC as part of the Rob Fuller business universe that has many interests with Troyer having no stake in any of it.
Now lets see how wrong I can be on that little bit of speculation. Hey, it’s sports talk.
OK back to the topic. Errrrrrrrrr……….what exactly was that anyway?
Hey Dareal remember when you made the comment, Fuller probably thinks Brad works for him! Turns out you were right ,I think that makes twice now your comments were correct
Just Me, does that confirm ownership?
Does the citing you posted confirm ownership and who owns what entities?
If Colton did sell out to Fuller, why not do a public release that says so? I would expect the announcement to state so. They announced a merger, not a buyout.
Shawn, are you going to investigate this and get to the facts? Enquiring minds want to know. Was it a merger or a buyout? What elements of Troyer are now owned by LFR/Fuller?
If the Troyer customer base finds out they are now LFR customers, they might want to look into Fury or other chassis options.
I thought I was reading the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post, where Trump is bloviating that his administration is the most open and transparent in the history of civilization, in the beginning of the sentence, and closes the sentence with pronouncing that he will not allow any information about his administration to be released.
So are we looking at a merger, sell out, nothing burger? Good find there Steve/Just Me, whoever. This is getting better and better. Just don’t look behind the curtain.
There is no equivalency between transparency in American politics in the public domain and and a private LLC. We absolutely have no right to know the details other then the stickers on the car at the track. That being the case there is nothing more to formally report.
What folks that know stuff may contribute as comments is another matter.
Rob Fuller DID NOT buy TROYER RACE CARS. He simply formed an LLC known as TROYER MANUFACTURING most likely a division of TROYER RACE CARS. and most likely done for tax, and identity purposes.
I like your pluck Rob p in knowing what ROB FULLER and TROYER RACE CARS did with such confidence you can shout it from the roof tops with CAPITAL LETTERS. New LLC’s were in play but I feel fairly confident in speculating that he didn’t “SIMPLY” do anything.The tax and identity observation mostly relevant to accounting……..likely.
If you read all the articles on all the publications, and social media post, Fuller and Colton formed a business merger. The LLC that Fuller filed is for Troyer Manufacturing, not Troyer Race Cars. In New York State there are huge tax incentives to start a business, and since Troyer will now be building chassis for LFR, it makes perfect sense to file an LLC. If Fuller had outright bought Troyer it would have been front page news in all the racing publications. This is just the move of a smart businessman, covering his ass
Based on what I’ve read, Colton will run manufacturing for both dirt and asphalt chassis, and dirt customer service. It appears that Colton will build conventional Troyer and “LFR” (built to Fuller’s specifications) asphalt mods, and Fuller will handle asphalt customer service (with the support of dealers like Brad and Hirschman). How the dollars will flow is unclear (and probably won’t be disclosed).
Rafter’s simple capsule is probably the best so far. We’ll never know the details but it would be nice not hearing LFR bought Troyer any more.
On Friday, a regular Friday night show at Stafford 27 cars took the green in the SK feature. The division seems to be fairly healthy. Troyer mostly has been selling KRR, Skowyra and others new equipment. In short there’s a market there to be serviced. Or is there?
In the past Fuller has said he did not have the time or resources to expand into the SK’s in a big way. I would wonder if this new relationship makes it more likely that we see more from LFR in the SK’s. Or does it mean he has more responsibility in the NWMT arena and therefore less time to branch out. Is there any need to branch out since Troyer is strong in the SK’s already and now the two companies are one with an asterisk*. One in some respects but still with separate brands and identities whatever that means. Is KRR already the Troyer/LFR presence in the SK’s? Will we see LFR more active with non NWMT modifieds..
We now know that when LFR sells a car it will be a Troyer chassis instead of Fury. My question would be other then that, what will we see at the tracks that has changed? Has anything really changed as far as track presence is concerned?
My speculation is this. All this FURY about chassis manufacturing, positioning, press releases and such could possibly be more about accounting and profit centers. At the races in the stands and in the pits we’ll see few is any substantive changes.
Rafter, what has been released in the various media outlets did say that Colton would run Troyer Manufacturing and Troyer Dirt. But the NYS manufacturing and dirt filings cited above have Fuller’s name associated with them. That was strange and contradicted the press releases. Per all the news releases, Fuller was only going to be involved in asphalt, not dirt or manufacturing. That Fuller is using the “Troyer” namesake in the NYS Manufacturing and Dirt filings is very interesting.
In the various releases, Colton said he was going to do this “merger” arrangement for 5 years, and that the staff in Rochester is staying. Those things go along with a sale, like Troyer was indeed sold to another entity.
Another interesting tidbit I read/heard/saw along the way is that it was agreed to leave the manufacturing in Rochester *for now*.
Rob p, you are right in that if word got out that LFR/Fuller outright bought Troyer, it would be huge news. News that would not be very welcome at all by a significant portion of the racing community. Troyer has been THE preeminent MANUFACTURER of Modified chassis for decades, located in the heart of Modified country. But some aspects of this does appear that indeed an ownership transfer has happened or is pending, and that it is not being fully publicized. Fuller needed a source for chassis, he could have just established an agreement to buy hardware and services, and not do the merger. But then, the sourcing did not look good at all. Like this is supposed to look genuine now as compared to sourcing.
I would not be surprised if Fury is getting increased calls and inquiries for chassis now.
I don’t understand why Ed Partridge is working with CD to develop new chassis/car, the car Preece has been running recently. Partridge has been a Troyer guy seemingly forever, Preece gets the Troyer cars running like no other. CD hasn’t had much luck on the Tour. Yeah, it has been a while and things could change. Or maybe Partridge has been aware of the Troyer deal and no longer wants anything to do with Troyer.
-I can find no reference to “for now” regarding the manufacturing staying at Troyer
-I can find no reference to “5 years”
-if Partridge got wind of an LFR buyout as presented he would have needed a time machine because the CD car was started last year. My understanding is Preece and Mike Paquette have a very close relationship and that Partridge is only interested in what Preece is interested in.
-Troyer Machine Inc and Troyer Inc are in the data base. They are corporations, not LLC’s. They have stock and officers and are still active. I don’t know if that means anything
-If there was a conspiracy to hide the true nature of a buyout to mute short term negative reactions it would mean a lot of people said a lot of misleading things that have no long term upside.
-Occam’s razor is a thing and most often applies.
Dareal, don’t forget Preece won so e SK championships driving a CD car. As far as the Partridge car, I think maybe they got the urge to try something different. They’ve only got 1 race on this car, and if anyone can figure it out, Ryan can.
Two races. It was at New Smyrna.
Doug:
On the may 30th article of racedayct, the following was quoted:
“The car he will compete in for the Whelen Modified Tour race will be brand new for him on the track. He’s been working on the car down south to prepare it for action.”
So maybe it’s the same car he ran at N.S., and was new to the track at Thompson. I took that statement to be, it was the first time he raced the car. Anywhere. While paint schemes change, the one he ran at N.S. was a beauty, black, troyer orange type highlights. And that car ran well after a mechanical issue. (Won as I remember)
So was that white 6 he ran at Thompson the second time he ran the car? I would have thought if that was the case, it would have been dialed in a little better than it showed last Wednesday night. I assumed that Thompson was the first competition for that particular car.
Rickyinmass, that you can’t find anything means nothing, other than you suck at using common search engines, and you probably don’t make an effort. And you don’t understand and/or comprehend what you are reading. It’s out there, keep looking at what you already saw. Maybe it will poke you in the eye.
I don’t think Troyer Machine is a part of this. It is owned by some other guy, it used to be jointly owned by Maynard Troyer and this other guy (not Colton).
Rob p, Yeah, I hear ya. It just seems weird that when you already have a very good piece, that you go and do what they are doing. It’s not like Preece has all the time in the world to run the car often and frequently, which is needed when doing something like this. Running the car every few weeks or months will make it very hard to figure out, and find what works. I agree with you, if anyone can make it work, or at least find out what the limit is, it is Preece.
The way I heard the announcement was that the car was new to Thompson as you refer to Bob.
I mentioned the fact it was the traditional Troyer paint scheme on a CD car at NS that at the time no one seemed to care about at all. I would have thought it would be a thing. White is more symbolic of a work in progress was more appropriate.
I guess it could be a different car. Two cars for two races with no real plans to produce the design in numbers as has been said in another thread seems unlikely. Not being dialed in? It was the NWMT after all with cars that have extensive experience on the track and that have all the bugs worked out this far into the season. Then there is the fact they kind of put it all together on the fly from Fla to Ct and it is not Preece’s day job.
Should be interesting to see how it performs at Riverhead.
Thanks Doug. That all makes sense. I got tripped up on my understanding of the paragraph I guess. Hope they get it dialed in. I don’t know about you, but when he’s in the field, it adds a whole other element, even though he is not running for points. Thats the part of modified racing I love. Best competition out there in my opinion.
Well you can call me RickinMass or you can call me Sybil, or you can call me Welding Wonders or you can call be Doug. Remember the ‘you can call me Ray” bit from long ago? It was William Saluga a comedian that is still alive at 81 believe it or not.
Look DGF you’re the one that was taking credit for your advanced education and knowledge of “math” and I’m sure you wouldn’t say something that isn’t true. That implies the you are highly skilled at precision. That was the entire point of that particular comment you wrote wasn’t it? A precise person normally attributes the source when making points. Absent attribution it can be a fact or a DGW/Trumpian hyperbolic flourish. Implying I’m stupid for not being able to find something I tried to find but couldn’t doesn’t seem very nice at all. Maybe someone else can site where “for now” or “5 years” appeared.
Troyer Machine not connected? Makes sense. That leaves Troyer, Inc.
I’m feeling deja vu coming on all over again. This is the Speedbowl 2017 where everything I thought was perfectly logical turned out to be wrong so I’ll leave it up to the really smart people like you DGF to figure this all out.
Or like the Speedbowl all will be revealed in time.
Totally on the same waive length Bob. Whatever “it” is, Preece has got it in my book.
RickyinMass, check this out:
https://speedsport.com/stock-cars/asphalt-modifieds/lfr-troyer-race-cars-merging-operations/
From the above link:
“This will be a big change for me,” said Colton, “but I am looking forward to my new role in the organization. I will be managing the manufacturing facility as well as Troyer Dirt for the next five years.
“In order to ensure that the dedicated Troyer staff would not be affected in this merger, it was very important to me that the manufacturing stay in Rochester, and at this point I am proud to say that the entire staff will be joining Troyer Manufacturing.”
DGF:
“Another interesting tidbitI READ/HEARD/SAW along the way is that it was agreed to leave the manufacturing in Rochester *for now*.”
Mr. Courchesne commenting on an observation made in the recent Speedbowl thread:
” I know it’s the way of the world today, but one of the most aggravating comments used generally these days by people is: “I read somewhere”.
You may be pig headed DGF but you do come around on occasion. Thank you for digging our the source.
If Shawn’s the pro it shouldn’t be too much to ask for all of us to try to emulate his example to the extent we can and sighting the source. Especially when making really opinionated comments.
Dareal, the same article was on Raceday CT on May 23,2019.
I’ve read, and re- read the articles regarding this merger. Depending how it’s read, it appears that Colton will stay involved in the asphalt modified side of things for up to 5 years. But it looks like indeed Rob Fuller will in the end own Troyer MFG as far as asphalt stuff goes. This can go a bunch of different ways. There are allot of people who respect Rob, but don’t like him. The question is, will they put their dislike aside, and buy his product, or go somewhere else? Personally, I’ve never met Rob, but he’s got 5 NWMT championships under him, so if I were buying a car, I’d be calling him, like him or not. Don’t forget Maynard Troyer was not very popular, but sold allot of cars. The most important thing is that Rob loves the sport, and is taking steps to ensure it’s future.
Not exactly the same articles Rob p. Speed Sport had more Colton quotes including this one.
“In order to ensure that the dedicated Troyer staff would not be affected in this merger, it was very important to me that the manufacturing stay in Rochester, and at this point I am proud to say that the entire staff will be joining Troyer Manufacturing.”
That’s the elephant in the room in my view. The entire staff joining the new company and now working for Rob Fuller it would appear under the management of Colton and his subordinates. Managing the dirt operation as well but make no mistake, Fuller owns that as well.
OK it’s taking a while but I’m finally getting it. That article with the Colton quotes DGF sighted changes my perspective entirely. I pretty much agree with the consensus this is a buy out and that an entirely new hierarchy has been established in modified race car production that is a complete game changer.
My question is this. Why are they going out of their way to make it sound like nothing has changed. This isn’t a joint venture or a commune where everyone works for the common good for that matter. They can call it a merger if they like and it is in the strictest sense but there’s a new sheriff in town and he’s the one with the gun that will be calling the shots. They can say the two brands will remain distinct but isn’t that more for public consumption? Since when does one company compete with itself? They’re not Heinz and Kraft merging with different products they make the same thing.
I don’t want to believe DGF sinister view of this entire episode or the manipulation it implies. But it sure appears that it is the case. In fact I don’t think DGF went big enough on what this means to the modified landscape in the long run.
What it sounds more and more like is what businesses do to manage anxiety of employees and customers when a major acquisition takes place. They want to make it sound like nothing has changed but everything has changed.
Forget the customers. They can buy Spafco or Fury or whatever chassis if they hate Fuller so much. If there is this new state of the art facility being completed in Mass and this is indeed a buy out then the employees in Rochester may not want to be buying that new house they’ve had their eye on just yet. This first step isn’t that last step in consolidation and reducing overhead.
I have to say in this thread DGF won the battle hands down from all appearances if there is a battle to be son. But dude, if you have such loyalty to Troyer, if your enjoyment of the sport in part hinges on seeing Troyer cars compete and win then there is a reality you’re going to have to deal with. It’s over. You won the battle but the war is lost.
Sure do miss the good ole days when racing was a freindly sport.
Y’all need to carefully go through this, dig into all the pages:
https://www.robfullermotorsports.com