SEEKONK, Mass. – The plan was simple, though a massive gamble nonetheless.
Chase Dowling was going to make everyone else on the track at Seekonk Speedway chase him all day.
The gamble paid off huge for the Roxbury racer.
Starting on the pole, Dowling made a decision before the race that he wasn’t going to pit. He stuck to the plan and led from green to checkered to win the 100-lap Tri-Track Open Modified Series Haunted Hundred Saturday at Seekonk Speedway.
“We were in the pits and I was sitting there and I said to the guys ‘I know what happens when you lead these races.’” Dowling said. “I don’t like being in that position because if you’re leading the second guy or all the guys behind you go and peel off [to the pits] and leave you stranded. We thought about it. There were about 10 guys in the trailer. … I said let’s put our tires on right now. So we put a change tire on right from the beginning and we were not planning on pitting at all unless that car was that bad.”
Ron Silk of Norwalk, who pitted with many of the leaders around the halfway point, ended up second. Seekonk Speedway regular Jake Johnson of Rehoboth, Mass. was third.
Dowling held off the charges of Silk on three restarts over the final 24 laps.
“It’s Ron Silk, you know it’s not going to be easy to beat him,” Dowling said. “He had a really really good restart that. I don’t want to do anyone dirty, but I definitely used what I needed to make sure I cleared him and passed him and then obviously ran a line where he couldn’t cross me over and get underneath me. I think that was probably one of the smartest races we’ve run as a team. Very big gamble. It all played out right.”
Silk gave up third place to pit on lap 51.
“We were kind of a little bit off all day,” Silk said. “We were never right where we wanted to be. We pitted and took a tire there around halfway because I knew we didn’t have anything for him in the beginning. And we still missed a little bit with the tire, but we were better with it and able to get back up there to second.”
Doug Coby ran second to Dowling for much of the event, and like Dowling, seemed ready to skip out on the pit stop. But a lap after a lap 75 restart Anthony Nocella made contact with Coby in turn two, sending him spinning out of second place. Things only got worse for Coby when the car of Les Hinckley III drove over the top of him in the melee. Nocella was penalized to the rear of the field but opted to leave the race.
Johnson proved the biggest surprise of the day, battling over the closing laps with Ronnie Williams to second third place.
“If I was optimistic enough, yeah maybe,” Johnson said when asked if he thought he could finish on the podium. “But I wasn’t going to sleep on it thinking I would be here. It’s just an absolute honor to be up here with all these good drivers and be at my home track and be on the podium.”
Williams ended up fourth and Matt Hirschman was fifth. Hirschman needed only to take the green to secure the series title.
“We had a good car, but I don’t know if we had anything for [Dowling],” Hirschman said. “At the end we were certainly looking around a little bit. … There was a couple times I wanted to make something happen, but I also didn’t want to look stupid either. We’ll settle for that today.
“We had a great year. Won the two biggest races and the championship. That’s kind of the cherry on top. I’ve always said these races are more lucrative to win than the championship, but if you get that in the end it’s a nice accomplishment for the team and shows that we we had a good year. We were good at all three tracks and that’s what you need to be.”
Excellent Racing !!! Excellent CROWD…. Best one in a very long time … They had to extend the pits with portable fencing because the pits were Bursting with Race Cars … Couldn’t be more Happy for Seekonk . It was a GRANDSLAM in every way ….. Nocella got a bad deal … Coby was on the outside groove on restart in the outside lane then Coby came down and chopped across Nocella’s nose and created the contact.. Coby came down and Nocella was already there.. Nocella came from the rear to front with a Super Fast #92 Modified. He was put to the rear ,,, which was HORRIBLE call by the race director… Coby caused the Contact, Nocella was in the bottom lane and Coby turned left … Nocella just parked it after the terrible call. The # 15 of Jake Johnson did a great job to finish in the 3rd spot, With limited experience in a Mod , but with local track knowledge really impressed… Johnny Clark pulled off last lap heroics to get his 2nd Win at Seekonk in PASS this year.. Ben Rowe Won a thriller and battle for Championship in a bare knuckle brawl in the last 5 laps in the ACT Feature ,.. WOW what a Fantastic Crowd … Fantastic Weather …. Met quite a few fans that were visiting Seekonk for the FIRST TIME… A group from Turner Maine, another from Long Island , they really liked the 2 grooves and wide track that Seekonk provided.. This will be an Annual Event on the Calendar along with the Open Wheel Wednesday & DAV Classic Races… !!!
Awesome event; tremendous fields in all 3 divisions, a couple of last lap passes for the lead, lots of side by side racing, little down time, and great weather. The best $30 I spent at a track this year. Also, congratulations on your award Shawn; well deserved.
Amazing night. 92 needs to give more room in my opinion. That shouldn’t have happened the way it did with two very talented drivers. Maybe 15 to go but not with 10.
I mean 25 to go.
Does it get any better than that? I will answer it for you. No, it doesn’t. You may think something is better but no you would be wrong. I was shocked when I got there 20 minutes before the the start and I had to circle the front lot for 10 minutes trying to find a parking spot. Finally someone took pity on me and directed me to an open spot way down by the pits. There was one open spot. Probably the best non thrill show crowd I have seen at the Konk ever. Maybe the first Whelen tour race back in 06 or so might be in contention. Man did they deserve it after last year. PASS great ending. ACT great ending. Mods at Konk with half the field on different tire strategies, hell yeah. Full fields of top tier divisions, equals full grand stands on a nice day. Thank you Seekonk, PASS, ACT and Tri Track for putting on a great event. I am already looking forward to next years. Hey why dont you do the same event in the Spring bookend your race season with two great events. I stand corrected it could be better.
That was a Jim dandy for sure. Three premier divisions and clicking them off about as efficiently as anyone could expect. A mix of announcers too that was kind of different. The guy calling the ACT race is the Thunder Road announcer isn’t he? He’s terrific and rapid fire he almost sounds like an auctioneer calling the race.
Loved the ACT race. Don’t love the idea of the 9 starting in front, allowed to conserve while others are racing and never needing to pit ala the MRS model. Was the 9 the best car…..probably. Did the 9 have to fend off cars that took on new rubber on restarts……of course. It just would have been nice to see them work a little harder to get the win.
Best strategic racing in my view was the 25 and 60. Way back for most of the race then the charge later then ideal was exciting. Jake Johnson who?? Whoa, didn’t see that one coming at all and he raced like a battle hardened veteran. Credit Hirschman for deciding not to “make something happen” and allow the the kid to have his moment in the sun.
Not so sure Nocella is blameless on the call that was made but it was a tough situation all around with the 10 taken off on a stretcher.
On to the Islip 300.
Can’t agree about how good the race was, thought it boring. If it was anyone bot Coby Nocella would not have been penalized. Great crowd
Ditto to suitcase Jack.. He hit the nail on the head no question about that with best crowd and absolutely the best racing and great fields of cars. What a beautiful racing day for Seekonk and very happy for them. There is nothing like a show at Seekonk and yesterday proved that. I am looking forward to next year’s race .Thank you Seekonk and PASS, ACT, and TRI TRACK racing divisions and making Seekonk a great racing day in New England. All features were fantastic and racing day I will never forget for sure.
Racing teams, drivers, racing officials, seekonk officials a BIG THANK YOU !!!!
Amazing day,Both PASS and ACT travel very well.Great officiating.Have to give credit to the PASS and ACT regulars as they were highly competetive against the KONK regulars..
It sounds like Serkonk did a great job with yesterday’s racing card. But, was that the 2nd Tri-Track race this season with zero passes for the lead?
What an awesome day at the cement palace. The weather was great, the racing was great, the crowd was great, Don’t have enough superlatives to pass around. PASS race congrats to Johnny Clark, what a way to bookend his season. A wily veteran who definitely got his A game back this year. ACT race was filled with action. It came down to 2 of the best duking it out for the win and ACT championship. Rowe with power move sneaks by Shaw and grabs the checkered and title. Kudos to DJ for saying all the right things after what I’m sure was a bitter loss to take. Truly handled it like a pro. As for the Modifieds the #9 was stout all day. You wondered if his tires would hold out knowing just about all those behind him took on their tire change while he continued riding out front. He held them all off to grab the 🏁. Tip of the hat to Money Matt on grabbing his 6th tri track title. What a great day of racing to close out our season up here in Northeast, Couldn’t ask for more. 3 thumbs up 👍👍👍.
I think the new heat race format was a failure.
Slotcar,
Why?
Shawn,what did it really determine? Fast cars still started up front in the feature
Muddbus,
It was never about making sure fast cars didn’t start up front.
The changes were made so that it was no longer a random blind draw to set the starting order for qualifying heats.
Anyone who did not like this event needs to find a new hobby! Liked the new heat format, makes things fair for all I think. 10 heats, 4consis, 3 100 lap features, great racing for all three categories! Dowling looked like he took restart lessons from Hirschman, green and he had 1-1/2 car lengths. My one suggestion, let the spectators see Modified practice too!
It’s now a couple days after the race and my question is has any of the glow that enveloped the tour modified race worn off yet? Rafter Fan opened the door and he’s right. At the Open Wheeled Wednesday event Hirschman dominated having to deal only with lapped traffic and a troublesome Chase Dowling at the end. This race a carbon copy with Dowling dominating and Silk playing the roll of potential spoiler. Two races, no competitive passes for the lead. The packed house and paddock, near perfect late season weather and I’m betting the food was delicious and the beer ice cold as well. You can find value and good racing in any race and there was good racing for sure deeper in the field. However that was not one of the best races of the season nor were either Tri Track race at Seekonk this year in the top 10 of tour mod events. In fact of the several dozen tour mod events run in 2021 the two at Seekonk may challenge for the bottom 10 in terms of drama.
What it was, was one of the best events of the year. Not unlike the year end Tri Track race at Stafford last year that was crash filled but with off the charts cars counts and energy. Seekonk is full bodied country and the full bodied cars put on the show complete with season ending points battles. and that’s the way it should be. Maybe these events that end up being special are organic and impossible to design. However that model of three premier divisions run by three of the best sanctioning groups in the Northeast pulled off efficiently, ending early with a leisurely trip home is one they should try again next year.
Whether you were there in person or virtually that was one of the best single day events of the year. Not because of the tour modified race but in this case in spite of the tour modified race.
Doug,
I have to respectfully disagree with you about the Open Wheel Wednesday race being a bottom 10 race. Dowling on fresh tires running down Hirschman and actually nosing ahead of him at one point in the final laps was drama filled. Hirschman pinning him behind Barney to barely hold on had everyone around me on their feet. I left Seekonk that night with the same grin I did on Saturday.
The Dowling team took a shot and it worked out.
Congratulations!!!!
Doug , We were robbed of a late race Battle, when Coby chopped down trying to get to the bottom lane after the restart, Nocella was on a tear coming thru the field after starting in the REAR , We watched the # 92 Nocella come Strongly to the Front, Nocella would have Won the race if given the chance. One advantage of being there is your not limited by what the Video feed is showing, You can see the leaders and see who is making a charge to the Front. Oh by the way that ENGINE in the #92 had a SOUND all it’s own., Sounded like a John FORCE Funny Car CAMSHAFT with a super HIGH & FAST pulse.. Those in the stands TOOK NOTICE of the # 92’s BARK…. Like a DRAG RACING CAM sound…. Anyway we would have had Nocella take the lead late if not for the BAD CALL… He was up to 3rd on lap 75 with 25 to go to reach the lead. He ran His Fastest lap on lap 65 12.329 , But Dowling was Just as fast or faster late in the race so it wasn’t a sure thing by any means but would have been a closer finish with Nocella putting the heat on the # 9 at the end … But any way Seekonk provides a great view of Our Beloved Modifieds and the races seemed to go rapid fire with minimal down time between races, Ben Dodge would have been pleased with the flow and pace of how things flowed, Even with 3 completely different series running their last Heats , Consis, and Feature Events of the YEAR… !!!! Doug , Thank you for doing a GREAT JOB with the POINTS tally each PICK’EM we had this Year !!! Thanks Doug !!!!!!! Looking Forward to Next Year !!!
Not pitting at Seekonk seems to be the Winning Formula, It’s always been a tough place to get thru traffic late in the race…. CSG,,, don’t forget there is a ton of parking out back and seperate ticket Booths out Back of the Cement Palace that backs right up to route 195 ….
Saying that it’s not possible to see what cars are making the most significant moves with the Speed51 feed is not entirely correct. Having the race on the big screen and race monitor allows we at home to follow the big moves through the entire field. For me that was locking onto Williams and Hirschman. In fact they happen on race monitor first and with the streaming feed delay you get a heads up before they appear on the screen. I can’t be the only one that gets a thrill using the two feeds to be totally immersed with everything that’s happening in a race.
It’s nice reading the follow up comments and I do not disagree with any. My only real wish is that they’d have a tire compound of number of laps that make the one pit stop a necessity for everyone. What we saw this year from Tri Track on occasion were those wonderful chess matches of who pits early or late and the charge at the end. This leader stuff not pitting then hoping something happens at the end is too much like an MRS race in my view.
Just saying.
Tire compound, or adding laps to the race. We heard about maybe laps should be added after the oww events past. I’d be a fan of that. While I like the gamble and strategy dowling took, like hirschman has done in the past, I think I would favor a venue where all could not make it without at least 1 stop. It’s a personal preference, as I’ve always loved to see crews play that out. However, still a great race, on a great day, at a fun bullring. Good stuff.
I agree , Race Monitor is always in one hand checking lap times etc.. Great buy $ 5.00 a year . Get it at the App store. You get racing all around the Country. Live & race results info after the races with practice times heat races and features etc etc… Great app to have so you can see whos getting faster and or slower… do a search at App store for Race Monitor and download to your phone and your done… Best $ 5 bucks you can spend….
Don’t need another tire compound, just change the number of laps or make it a mandatory pitstop race. It’s not only the amount of laps. Running the outside grove at Seekonk is brutal on the RS tires. The longer you run that groove, the quicker you wear them out. In some of the aces, you can see even with a newer RR, it’s still challenging to pass on the outside. I say, make it a 150 laps race and allow 2 tires to change
Moving to 125 or 150 laps for the TTOM events at Seekonk would make sense.
I agree the drama in the heats was not as interesting as years past. Starting the faster cars up front there really wasnt much in the way of excitement seeing good cars with a bad draw trying to get to a qualifying spot in a short period of time. The change is not really fan friendly but I guess you have to take care of your star drivers. What I would be concerned about is the car count dropping based on the changes. I think in the past, some of the less competitive modified teams may be more likely to support a Tri Track show knowing that if they get a good draw they may have a good chance of getting into the show. With this change they dont have as good a chance of making the Tri Track show. Some of these less competitive teams will probably have to go Whelen tour racing which ensures you make the race if you show up these days. Then again the cost to run the tour may be prohibitive so they may have to stay running these local shows. I know they did an spin the wheel invert but a 4 was drawn which put a heat winner on the pole. A fast car started on the pole and lead every lap. Not the greatest race for the win in this one. They all cant be great. Its one event using these changes. I am willing to give it a couple events before saying I dont like the change but that is certainly the way I am leaning. Maybe tweak the process a little going forward if this happens more frequently. I wouldnt mind seeing a draw for the top 2 or 3 finishers in heat races for starting spots. They do this frequently in dirt races, it gets the drivers in front of the crowd for a quick interview and has the potential to makes some fans. Adding laps to ensure a tire change is an interesting idea. As a fan I like the idea but it does increase the cost for the teams. Not sure that is where they want to go. What makes tri track special is the overall economics of the series. Overall I will still take a tri track show over anything else out there right now. They just announced a Tri Track race at Thunder road Memorial day weekend 2022. So they are expanding their geographic spread a little bit. I hope they dont get too travel happy. I hope they stick to a mostly bullring schedule which this Barre VT race fits in just fine.
Haunted Hundred and a Half has a nice ring to it!
We’re almost in the off season with the exception of the Islip 300 and North South Shoot Out so I’m wondering about something. What exactly does packed stands mean these days?
I know what it means at Stafford or at least what it did mean.. The SRX race would be pretty close. In the NY Times story about Cookman going into the stands they referred to a crowd of 10,000. I doubt it was that but it wasn’t that far off. In those days that was pretty routine. A time when it was butt to butt and Ben Dodge is telling those seated to waive over folks just arriving if they have space to squeeze them in. Really did anyone ever actually do that? You get there around starting time and you end up in the fourth turn bleachers if you’re lucky. I’m probably embellishing that a bit but not all that much.
Last year with crowd restrictions attendees hating limitations would crow that the stands were packed even though there was no way they could be. Every time people in this forum make observations about crowd size there are usually as many different estimates as the people making them.
If anyone is old enough exactly what did a packed house mean at Seekonk last century at it’s peak? What is capacity at Seekonk? Has anyone ever seen most of the seats filled at Seekonk?
Just before the Tri Track race Shawn observed “packed house”. Different in that I can’t recall him making observations on the crowd size very often. Mr. Courchesne is not effervescently effusive very often so I’m going to take his observation as the new standard. It’s pretty clear the place objectively speaking was not packed at all so I’m thinking that these days packed house has a different meaning. More figurative in relationship to the times then literal in comparison to the actual capacity.
I’m going to suggest it’s this. A packed house is any crowd that is around 50% of capacity or above. These days the capacity crowd is thinner visually because it just makes more sense to spread out considering the virus that won’t go away completely. A crowd with good energy, lines at the concessions and good car counts. If you see seats empty let’s just say that in the age of streaming the house is packed factoring those of us viewing at home.
Now don’t be getting your dander up I’m not trying to undermine what was clearly one of the most successful events of 2021. Just trying have some fun seeing if it’s even possible to agree on the meaning of packed house. I’ll bet there are some out there that were present at venues that were truly near capacity in decades past that can share their memories.
Doug,
You’re absolutely right about about the reference to a “packed house” being more of a figurative use of the term than a literal statement. I think the capacity at Seekonk is about 15,000 and obviously it wasn’t close to that. I guess my use of the term packed house was that it was probably the biggest crowd, or close to the biggest crowd, I’ve personally witnessed at an event at Seekonk.
Interesting conversation re: attendance. What’s an estimate of fan (vs. race team) attendance at a typical Friday night show at Stafford? 2,500?
Also, how many subscriptions do you think FfoRacing sold as a result of their Stafford coverage?
That Haunted 100 ‘ s Show was the Biggest crowd since the First Modified Tour Race after many years away … The pits were FULL and expanded to accommodate the overflow of Cars… The front and back parking lot were Full… Items of food were taped over as the day went on and food items ran out.. The beer was flowing full speed ahead with lines all day long.. I would say 9000 to 10500 people with pits and grandstands combined… The guy in front of me got the last Pretzel in the Hot Box.. I have been down at the konk since 1970. The used to regularly bang out 10,000 people in the late 70’s 80’s & 90’s but after that the cars dropped off along with the fans in the 2000’s … Many times on Saturday nights it was very very low attendance in recent years. Car counts were low teens for late models. high teens for Pro Stocks. Sportsman were the strongest division in car count, Trucks were low teens, This year all the divisions saw an increase in cars, post Covid saw good number of Late Models close to 20 , Pro Stocks near 18 to 21 most weeks .. Trucks also saw a boost in high teens, Sportsman again lead the way with close to 24 or more each week .. Hopefully the resurgence in cars and competition will continue. The thrill shows are the most heavily attended shows each year , Four or more of those thrill shows each year kept the Track in Business the last 20 years. Without those shows and the Sunday Flea Market the track would be History and a Shopping mall would be in place on rt 6 instead of the racetrack…. True Facts….
Shawn, just saw that I you asked why I called the heat races a ‘fail’. Maybe fail was to aggressive a word, but my sentiments very much paralleled the thoughts that csg expressed so I won’t say much more. I’ll only add that as a result of the top heavy heats, the consolation races lacked the excitement that has often happened in Tri-track races in years past. Good to see a discussion ensued.
Thanks for the open and fun forum here and congratulations on a well deserved award coming you way.
I think the heat line up change was good, the fastest cars made the show. CSG I agree the smaller teams will get tired of not making races and choose another place to run. My biggest concern is the amount of tires that are being purchased now, 9 tires will be the standard plus 4 on day before race test. 9 is not required on raceday but with new line up procedure its a must.
The bullring is still the great equalizer, making handling more important then speed. The tire factor might affect some of the low-buck teams, but although everyone wants to win, you might need 9 tires for a victory but not to be a part of the race. I’m sure some teams consider it a good day to make the main event and finish shiny side up. You can’t predict what mechanical problems or racing incidents may happen that ultimately improve the finish for some of the budget teams not running at the front when the race starts. I really enjoy seeing a low-buck team get a top 15 or top 10 finish. I always root for the “little guys”; they are out there racing because they love it, doing their best with what they have. Look at the bottom 10 finishers at Seekonk; 6 have either won TriTrack events or are consistent front runners. Who could have predicted that? That’s a move up for 6 other teams. I’ve seen enough races when guys in the back that didn’t look like they had a chance end up with a win or a top 5 at the end. You make the main, you have a chance!
Anyone know why McKennedy wasnt there? I dont remember seeing him. I think I probably had him in the pick em pool. It sounds like something I would do. I find it interesting that by all accounts the two most well attended local racing events of the year were SRX at Stafford and Tri Track at Seekonk. These races were 2 and 3 division shows of top tier divisions. Makes me wonder why a lot of these tracks run 5 to 7 division regular shows. It seems the winning formula is less is more when it comes to crowd count.
Rich I had no idea these changes would require such a heavy tire investment. If that is in fact the case then I would be really against the change. They are definitely going to lose the lesser teams with this change. I am not sure I am following why the change would require so many tires. Werent they required to start the practice/scuff and heat on the same tires? Are they allowed new tires for the feature? I am honestly going to have to revisit the rules change. I was thinking 4 used tires for practice. Then bolt on the fresh tires for last timed practice/scuff heat and start feature. one tire for pit stop unless you start on the pole and named Chase Dowling. 5 total new tires for event for most cars/drivers, 4 for Chase. I think they required Hirschman or someone to run some laps before a feature last year so he wouldnt have as much of a tire advantage over the guys who qualified through heats and consi. Makes me think they start the feature on the qualifier tires. Interesting.
Rafter I posted this on another thread. I watched a dirt race on flo last week. The announcer said they had 32k viewing the stream. I dont know know many specifically signed up for Stafford but we are talking some substantial numbers when it comes to viewership on Flo. I had no idea it was that significant.
Suitcase. I was upset when they moved the thrill shows to Saturday cancelling a weekly race show once a month. I was told by someone who was affiliated with the track that the thrill shows basically keep the place open. They kind of subsidize the Saturday racing. I shut up and stopped complaining, If anyone asks I tell them I love the thrill shows at the Konk.
Fast Eddie I agree the Tri track has to stay to their roots and race the bullrings. It is a great equalzer. I hope they continue to run primarily on the 1/4 to 1/3 mile tracks of New England.
great discussion.
Tire Type – Hoosier 1320 Left, Hoosier 1330 right
1. Teams will be allowed to buy a maximum of 9 tires at all series race tracks. All teams
are required to purchase 4 to 5 in order to compete. The other 4 tires for practice and
inventory are optional (5 tires for race and 4 for practice) All tires will be recorded. You
don’t have to buy 9 tires.
2. A total of five tires will be allowed in qualifying heats and feature (four plus one for
change).
CSG the reason for the Tires is now in practice you need to work on qualifying speed, your not gonna get that on old tires, that’s why if you look at race monitor most of the practice times are pretty close to the time trial times, 90 % of teams were on stickers in practice. Considering how import the heats are to make the feature and stay out of the consi its a huge disadvantage to be practicing on junk. Kinda controlled by your competition, if they have you need too kinda deal. Also why these guys are practicing the day before to dial in the cars to gain any type of advantage they can. No concern about cost’s is the biggest advantage anyone can have. You are correct that the heat/time session are both on same set of 4 tires and in feature allowed 1 tire for change
What are they getting for a Hoosier modified tire these days? Has it gone up this year with the shortage. If most teams are going with 9 tires per event the car count is going to be in trouble eventually. The economics of running tri track isnt going to be what it was. I am surprised they would make this change during a reported tire shortage. It sounds like this change they are definitely using more tires then the previous rules.
How many tires are the Whelen mod teams buying for an event? I thought the tri track series greatly benefitted its teams in cost to compete v nascar tour. I am not so sure that is still going to be as great a benefit going forward. Biggest difference will be travel costs and licensing.
Thanks for the information
Both the WMT and Tri-Track tires are around $165.00 each.
Depending on the race the WMT allotment is 8 – 12 tires a race