 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
|||
 |
News Racing in the Northeast has begun June 2010
Racing is finally underway here in the Northeast as the points programs at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire have started. Boucher’s would like to congratulate some of their customers that are off to a hot start. Ray Knight seemed to pick up where he left off last year as he has claimed two victories in the New England Dragway Hot Rod program. Driving his 346 cubic inch powered mustang, his first win came on April 25th and the second came on May 22nd. Paul Lorenti with his Big Block Chevy powered Camaro was the runner up to Knight on the 22nd. Boucher’s congratulates both drivers as it is always great to see an all Boucher powered final round. In the Top Eliminator ranks, Mark Rodrigues also found himself in the winners circle on May 22nd using his newly built 540. On the weekend of May 15th and 16th, Brenda Mason claimed runner up finishes in the back to back races for the Dan Page Top Dragster program.
On the NHRA circuit, Vic Santos brought home the Super Stock GT/HA class Wally after traveling down to Englishtown, NJ for the NHRA SuperNationals. Santos ran a best of 10.21 at over 130 mph for the class win in his 1985 Firebird powered with a 400 cu. in. Pontiac. A few weeks earlier at the NHRA Division 1 race at Maple Grove Raceway, Todd Logan put in a great effort as he was the event runner-up in Super Gas losing a very close final round. Logan continues to be a consistent threat of going the distance at any race he enters. Congratulations to Santos and Logan, as well as all the Boucher’s customers that have gotten their race seasons underway.
Racers head south for some exciting class racing March 2010
With the highly popular Cajun Sportsnationals taking place at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, LA, some of Boucher’s customers retreated from the cold to take part in the event. In the extremely tough class of A stick, Dave Casey drove his 1969 Chevrolet Corvette to the class win running 10.07 at over 132 mph. Casey definitely has the 427 tri-power corvette running well and should dip into the 9’s in no time.
The following weekend, racers made their way to Concord, N.C. to participate in the inaugural NHRA Four Wide Nationals. With class eliminations being held, Boucher’s power took home three Wallys in Stock Eliminator. Sam Murray won J/S driving his 1972 Olds Cutlass to an elapsed time of 11.35 seconds at over 116 mph. That strong pass also put him in the #10 qualified position at -0.991 under the index. Jim Roberts drove his 350 powered, 1969 Camaro Convertible to the G/S class win and Billy Harper brought home the F/SA in his 1969 Nova. Bouchers congratulations each driver on their class win. Harper, along with Dave Casey, also had solid appearances in the eliminator as they wheeled their way to fourth round finishes. These racers will return home and be ready for more racing as the Northeast’s season opener is next month.
2009 Year in Review February 2010
The end of the 2009 season came and went so quickly that we did not have the opportunity to maintain the monthly update of race results. Boucher’s apologizes for this and with a slight lull in the action, we would like to take a moment to recognize the accomplishments that Boucher’s customers achieved in the 2009 season. It is becoming quite common to find the Sawyer family at the top of standings at the end of each year. This year, Mike Sawyer put together an extraordinary year in Super Gas and finished #3 in the NHRA Lucas Oil National Standings and was able to claim the #1 spot in the northeast division. Father Ray Sawyer was not too far behind as he finished #5 in Division 1. As always, Boucher’s would like to congratulate the Sawyers on their success. Another notable standout in the New England area was Ray Knight. Knight was able to claim the New England Dragway Top Eliminator season championship as well as the local Hot Rod series championship. Along with those two tremendous accomplishments, Ray won the IHRA North American Nationals in Hot Rod which qualifies him for the Race of Champions (still to be held). There is not a whole lot more that a racer can achieve in a single season, so with that said, Boucher’s congratulates Ray Knight and his family and wish him luck at the Race of Champions. Other drivers deserving recognition include Tony Fillipone and Arnie Martel Jr. for finishing in the top ten in the always competitive All Star Racing Association. Fillipone drove his 66 Chevy II to the #9 spot while Martel finished #6 with his 98 Firebird. In the Top Dragster Series held at New England Dragway, Debby DiGenova , Val DiGenova, and Warren Heaps finished #7, #8, and #9 respectively. Bob Bacon drove his beautiful corvette to a #9 finish in the Top Sportsman series and Mark Rodrigues wheeled his way to a solid #3 finish in the Top Eliminator point’s standings. Last but not least, Todd Logan finished 7th in the Division 1 Super Gas points standings. Boucher’s is proud to recognize these individuals on their accomplishments in the 2009 season. Before closing out the 2009 season, recognition is due for those racers that had strong performances in the second half of the year. Reading PA - August At the NHRA National Event held in Reading, PA, Mike Sawyer was able to post a solid quarter final finish in Super Gas.
US Nationals - September Sam Murray made the long trip out to Indiana well worth it as he brought home a class win in J/S with his 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass.
Charlotte NC - September Later In the month, Jim Roberts accomplished the same feat after traveling to Charlotte, NC and drove his 69 Camaro convertible to the G/S class win.
North American Nationals - September The month of September proved to be very busy as New England Dragway hosted the IHRA North American nationals as well as a pair of divisional points meets. At the national event, Warren Heaps qualified #5 in Top Dragster while Tom Boucher and Vic Santos were at the top of the Super Stock sheets in the #5 and #9 positions. On race day, Santos made it to the quarter finals with his GT/HA Firebird. In Hot Rod, Ray Knight set the bar high as he qualified #1 and then went on to win the race. Other notables from the weekend include Elroy Dame with a semifinal finish in Stock Eliminator, Paul Lorenti with a quarterfinal finish in Hot Rod, and Val DiGenova who was the runner up in Top Dragster.
Pro-Am Events at NED - September The weekend following the nationals, a pair of points meets was held. In the first race, Vic Santos qualified #4 is Super Stock. Jeff Coyne slammed gears to a #8 qualifying position with his I/S Camaro and Charles Sousa landed the #10 spot with his I/SA 1969 Chevelle. When racing was completed, Paul Lorenti was the runner-up in Hot Rod, Bob Moran Jr. made it to the semi-finals of Stock, and Tony Fillipone bowed out in the Semi-finals of Super Stock. In the second race, Boucher’s power held 4 of the top 9 spots in stock qualifying as Dennis Martens (#3, J/SA 305 Firebird), Jeff Coyne (#6, I/S 305 Camaro), Charles Sousa (#7, I/SA 350 Chevelle), and Bob Moran Jr. (#9, B/SA 396 Camaro) all had their cars running strong. In Super Stock, Vic Santos qualified #6 and TJ Boucher qualified #9 with his GT/CA Camaro. When the day was completed, TJ Boucher found himself in the winner’s circle for super stock. Tony Fillipone had another good effort with a quarterfinal finish. In Quick Rod, Jim Ditucci made it to the Quarterfinals. For the second week in a row, Val DiGenova reached the Top Dragster Final and walked away with a runner up finish.
Atco NJ – October Two Division 1 LODRS were held in the first weekend of October as a regularly scheduled event was completed along with a rain out. Mike Sawyer was very productive over the weekend as he had a semifinal and quarterfinal finish in the two races. Not to be outdone by his son, Ray Sawyer was able to claim the Super Gas win in the second event of the weekend. Warren Heaps and Charles Sousa had strong qualifying efforts as Heaps was #5 in Top Dragster and Sousa was #7 in Stock.
Las Vegas, NV – November On a west coast swing, Mike Sawyer was runner up at a Division 7 LODRS. Due to a large turnout of competitors, the final round was the 8th round of competition. The 7 round wins Sawyer tallied vaulted him up the national point standings as well as clinched him the Division 1 Super Gas title.
Archives: |
|
||