The cars and stars of the DIRTcar Modified Series will return to the one-third mile Grandview Speedway on Thursday night for the 19th running of the Traffic Jam. This event is part of the NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series and presented by Pioneer Pole Buildings (PPB). Defending Traffic Jam race winner Matt Sheppard of Waterloo, N.Y., stood in victory lane and said, “Now I know why they call this race the Traffic Jam.”
Gates will open at 5 p.m. with race time set for 7:30 p.m. Race fans are invited to join the pre-race Meet & Greet presented by the Low, Down & Dirty radio show which will take place at the front gate earlier in the evening. Of special interest, legendary modified drivers, the “Shillington Slingshot” Kenny Brightbill and the “Everett Express” Gerald Chamberlain will be the guests of honor for the 19th annual Traffic Jam. Brightbill and Chamberlain will be part of the Meet & Greet and will be interviewed throughout the night.
The Thursday night, July 14 Traffic Jam will be joined by the Sportsman competing in a series of qualifying events leading up to their $1,200 to win the 25 lap feature. For the DIRTcar Modifieds, group time trials will open the show followed by heat race qualifying, a consolation and the 60 lap Traffic Jam feature that will pay $7,000 to the winner, $1,000 for tenth and $500 to start the thirty car field.
For Sheppard, it was his first ever Grandview Speedway victory and there is no doubt that he’ll be looking to make it two in a row. DIRTcar contenders expected include Brett Hearn (five-time Thunder winner), Billy Decker (two-time Thunder winner), Danny Johnson (2012 Traffic Jam winner), Stewart Friesen, and Tyler Dippel. Locals expected to mix-it-up with the DirtCar clan include the Thunder on the Hill winningest driver Jeff Strunk with 12 Thunder wins, eight-time Thunder winner Duane Howard, five-time Thunder winner Craig VonDohren, drivers with two Thunder victories Jimmy Horton and Frank Cozze, Rick Laubach, Ryan Godown, Ryan Watt, Tom Sheetz and Dominick Buffalino just to name a few.
Timed warm-ups will offer every driver a chance to establish a new one lap track record for the modifieds. Craig VonDohren holds the one lap mark of 14.298 established on 6/16/2015.
And on Saturday, July 16th, 7:30 p.m. the TP Trailers NASCAR 358 Modifieds, BRC Late Models and Sportsman stock cars are in action at Grandview. At least 12 events of racing being offered with the Chapman Auto sponsored Firecracker 40 for Late Models, rained out last Saturday, topping the show. Adult admission is $20.
* * *Maple Grove Raceway, the drag racing facility located in Mohnton, has long been home to some of the most outstanding drag racing fans will get to see.
Track organizers hoped to add even more interest to the Rumble at the Grove event on Aug. 27 by enlisting members of the hugely-successful Discovery Channel’s Street Outlaws.
“We made the initial contact in January and over a period of six months we were faced with numerous challenges to finalize an agreement,” track VP Lex Dudas state in a press release. “Unfortunately due to conflicts on dates and other issues we were unable to get the agreement completed. This is in no way a reflection on who we were negotiating with, it just was impossible to make it work for 2016 due to many issues and will have to wait until the 2017 season.”
The Rumble at the Grove will feature a 16 car qualified field of Outlaw Pro Mods from the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association. Local pro mod racer Tyler Hard (Nitrous Camaro) will be out to defend his 2015 NEOPMA title and he’ll be joined by Kevin McCurdy (Supercharged Camaro), the number two finisher in the 2016 points chase. Joining them will be other 2015 top ten finishers, Freddie Scriba (Nitrous Corvette), Tommy Gray (Supercharged Corvette), Steve Assenmacher (Nitrous Probe), Steve Drummand (Turbocharged Mustang), Robert Patrick (Nitrous GT500 Mustang), Matt Deitsch (Nitrous Camaro) and Craig Pio (Turbocharged Corvette) as well as many other top teams on the 2016 NEOPMA.
Also on the card for the Rumble will be the EFI Source Northeast Index Series. The Rumble marks race number five on the six race series for 2016. The East Coast Stock – Super Stock Association also joins the Rumble for the first time. Many of the area’s top cars and drivers will be in attendance.
* * *Unfortunately I know of a few local IndyCar fans that bought advance tickets. Stepping into the breach left by promoter Boston Grand Prix – when it failed to fully refund ticket purchasers after the cancellation of its planned race and just recently filed bankruptcy. INDYCAR announced today it would contribute $925,000 to help make fans whole.
In May of last year, INDYCAR entered into an agreement with race organizer Boston Grand Prix for races to be run in Boston annually from 2016 through 2020. But on April 29, BGP unilaterally canceled the race scheduled for Labor Day weekend and its plans to stage races in Boston in the future.
The Attorney General announced earlier that her office has filed suit against Boston Grand Prix and its CEO John Casey to pursue the remainder of refunds owed to ticket purchasers.
“We enjoy some of the most loyal and devoted fans in all of sports, and so we are pleased to work with the Attorney General and contribute in her efforts to protect ticket buyers,” said Mark Miles, CEO of Hulman & Co., the parent of INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Ticket purchasers that are owed a refund should contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at (617) 727-8400.
Readers can reach Ernie Saxton at Esaxton144@aol.com.
