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Steve Torrence won in Top Fuel, Ron Capps won in Funny Car, and LE Tonglet won in Pro Stock Motorcycle at the Fallen Patriots NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by K&N Filters. Skillman became the ninth different driver in Pro Stock to win in 13 events this season. Skillman won his first event of the season, defeating two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders in the final. It was Skillman’s fourth career NHRA victory. “Pro Stock’s so close right now,” Skillman said after the races. “That’s how it used to be. That’s how it should be. We’re all in the group now. Some cars just pick up for no reason. We’ve been pretty steady. We finally got what we deserved.”
Skillman is in eighth place in the Pro Stock standings after winning at Route 66 Raceway. Enders is sixth after her runner-up performance.
It was an emotional weekend at Route 66 Raceway because of the passing of Terry Chandler. She was a longtime supporter of NHRA drag racing and funded a two-car Funny Car team. One of the cars, which carries the Make-A-Wish Foundation driven by Tommy Johnson Jr., reached the final in Funny Car at Route 66 Raceway.
“This weekend was just a bizarre weekend for us,” Capps said. “We didn’t qualify in the top half. And that was because we couldn’t keep the car in a groove Friday night and then the second run on Saturday. We saw a lot of people having problems, dragsters as well. It’s not an easy track to drive. It demands a lot out of you. There’s a lot of crosswind. A side wind will blow you over 10 or 15 feet.” Capps has a 200-point lead over Matt Hagan in second, and Jack Beckman is third in the Funny Car standings.
Tonglet leads the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings. Eddie Krawiec, who reached the semifinals, is second in the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings, followed by Arana in third. “It’s a lot more serious,” Tonglet said. “Qualifying you have one goal and that’s to make a perfect run, be low ET. On Sunday, the one goal is just to get win lights. It’s a different mindset and you got to stay calm and stay focused on what’s going on.” The next NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event is at Bandimere Speedway in Colorado. | |||||
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Burton, who finished in sixth place at Berlin Raceway in Michigan a week earlier, battled Todd Gilliland to the checkered flag at Thompson Speedway. “It was awesome. I was pretty focused,” Burton said. “I didn’t really think about having fun. But it was fun. Looking back at it, we would kind of make a run in the middle and it wouldn’t work and I’d fall back had to slowly chip away at the 16 (Gilliland). And it finally felt right. “I kind of just drove it in and it stuck pretty well. Got to his door and from there it was just side by side for a few laps. That was really fun. It was pretty intense. I don’t think I breathed through it.” Gilliland, the reigning K&N Pro Series West champion, won the East Series race at Berlin Raceway. Gilliland is second in the K&N Pro Series East standings. He wrecked in practice before the race and his team had to repair the car. Gilliland said repairing the car took a lot of work, but it paid off in the race. “I wrecked in practice on Friday. I was having a lot of fun before that,” Gilliland said. “To rebuild our car, it was tough on our whole team. I really hate it for them. It ended up being a lot of fun in the race. I hope I get to come back here.”
“The battle was huge there,” Gilliland said. “I knew it was going to be for the win. I went too hard before that just to try and stay in front of the 12 (Burton). That’s how it works in these K&N races. Once you get out front you really have to try and stay out there. I was trying everything I could. We were right on the edge all night. We ended up being a little too free there at the end there.” K&N Pro Series rookie Chase Purdy won the pole and led the first 16 laps of the race. Gilliland took the lead from Purdy on lap 17 and was out front for a race-high 58 laps. The K&N Pro Series East brought NASCAR back to Thompson Speedway for the first time since 2009. The track was a regular stop for the old NASCAR Busch Series. Burton joined an impressive list of race winners at Thompson Speedway. NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Trevor Bayne, former Cup Series driver Ricky Craven and NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Mike Stefanik have won races at Thompson Speedway. Joey Kourafas, who won the inaugural Busch North Series championship in 1987, presented Burton the trophy for winning the race at Thompson Speedway. “The Burtons, we’re kind of like a team,” Burton said. “Everyone roots for each other even if we're racing each other It’s cool that we’re kind of branching out a little bit and trying some new race tracks. It’s cool to add the Burton name to someplace else.”
Ronnie Bassett Jr. was third in the K&N Pro Series East race at Thompson Speedway. Rookie Doug Coby was fourth, followed by Dillon Bassett in fifth. “We managed our tires,” Ronnie Bassett said. “The two leaders got out front for a pretty good distance. We managed our rear tires in case we had a late-race restart. We would have a little bit to maybe battle with them.” The next K&N Pro Series East race is at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. | |||
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“Oh, boy, here we go. Cole, what are we going to do?” Truex Jr said. “And he's like, ahh, we've got to stay out, so we stayed out. And then I was like, oh man, everybody pitted, we're going to be fine, don't worry, we're going to be fine. That was really the whole entire caution right there. There's all the insider info.” Truex was dominant all night, making the right moves at the right time. Truex swept the night, winning both the first and second stages and reaching the checkered flag for his third win of the season. This win was Truex’s first win at Kentucky Speedway and his 10th win of his career. He led for a race high, five times for 152 laps. "It’s just...this is completely unbelievable," said Truex, who is tied with Johnson for the Cup Series lead in victories this season. "I’m so excited to win here. It felt like we had a shot last year and it got away from us on fuel mileage and just wanted to win here so, so bad after that. This is sweet redemption.” Cole Pearn, Truex’s crew chief, had a tough decision to make at the end of the race. Keeping Truex on the track put him in position to win the race. But Pearn didn’t know how long Truex’s tires would last in the waning laps of the race. “Going all the way back to our win at Kansas, we have been on a really good stretch of contending for wins each week,” Cole Pearn said on the #78 car and how dominant it has been. “Sherry got sick and was battling cancer and he said, if you need to go and be with her for a couple of weeks, this car will be here when you get back. This is your car and this is your team. That is where we got going and turned things around,” Truex said of his owner, Barney Visser. Truex’s girlfriend, Sherry Pollex was battling Ovarian cancer in 2014. Visser said to Truex that he could take time off if needed, which really helped Truex turn it around and start his dominant start.
"Yeah, I don’t know what we could have done to beat him," said Larson on Truex. "He was obviously pretty fast with the lead there. It would have been fun to get to race him because I felt like I had the second-best car today, and it would have been interesting to get a restart with him earlier and get to hang with him that last run there. Chase Elliott finished in third place and moved up to fifth place in the point standings.
“Yeah, we had a solid night. I would say it wasn't perfect, it wasn't phenomenal, but it was a well-executed night on pit road and on that last restart, I thought, so that was nice and came home with a solid top 5,” Elliott said. Kyle Larson continues to lead the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Standings with 710 points and 13 playoff points. Martin Truex Jr. currently sits in second place, one point back of Larson with 709 points and 28 playoff points. Kyle Busch is in third place with 609 points and 4 playoff points. The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be the Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. | |||
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Ted Marsh has been involved in a plethora of car racing series since the 1960s when he built modified race cars for racers. He worked for the U.S. Navy as a civilian serving as an engineer while also owning an auto parts store. He was interested in racing as he constructed the cars and did what he could to assist racers including volunteering to participate in crews. “At one point, I wanted to build a new race car for a guy who I was helping,” explained Marsh. “The guy wanted the car, but he didn’t want to own it. So I started a racing team so the guy had a car to run.” It was 1965 and Marsh Racing was born. His dive into team ownership started with a full staff of volunteers. “There was no full-time help,” he said. “We did everything at night after work and on the weekends. At most I probably had three or four volunteers, who were all from New England and we concentrated in racing in New England. As time progressed, we started to branch out into other states and competed in events in Martinsville, Virginia; Trenton, New Jersey; and in the Poconos. We raced on oval tracks and we also ran some road courses including Lime Rock and Watkins Glen.” The team first concentrated on racing modifieds. However, it wasn’t long before it branched out into road racing using other cars including Busch racing cars. In 1986, NASCAR became a full touring series for modifieds and Marsh Racing expanded into it, noted Marsh. However, over time it became difficult to continue. “It was difficult to get funding to run modifieds after a while. There was very little advertising space on the car. So we had a difficult time finding sponsors with enough money behind them to support us. So we gradually moved into racing full body cars. There is more room on the cars for the ads and for the most part ran in televised events, which among other things made us more sellable,” said Marsh. By the mid 1990s, Marsh Racing sropped running modifieds. Instead, the team transitioned into Busch Grand National North and Busch Grand National South. It was also involved in two other separate series. In 2000, the team made another transition.
About that time, the team’s main sponsor, Whelen Engineering owner Sonny Whelen, who was an accomplished driver in his own right, wanted to concentrate on road racing cars primarily. “We transitioned again and began building and running road race cars,” Marsh said. “We started with a Dodge Viper with Mr. Whelen in the early 2000s and we ran that along with the Busch Grand National cars. By then, I could afford a full-time staff.” Marsh Racing started competing in the NARRA Sports Car Series and eventually, in the SCCA World Challenge Series driving Corvettes. It was involved there for about four to five years, noted Marsh. It then moved on to Grand Am, which was a NASCAR series, and ran there until 2013. “That’s when Grand Am ended and transitioned into IMSA (International Motor Sports Association),” continued Marsh. “We ran a Daytona prototype in that series in 2014. Simultaneously, we decided we would build cars for the K&N Racing series both East and West. We started doing that in 2015.” The team is now concentrating on the K&N Racing Series. However, it continues to own two Corvettes that are fully ready to go any time Sonny Whelen wants to race them. Marsh volunteered that Whelen is now suffering from Parkinson’s disease. “We continue to support him with the cars and we go with him to certain day track events,” he said. Marsh guesses that through the years more than 30 racecar drivers have been associated with Marsh Racing. “Some are still active,” he said. “We had some of the greats race for us including Kenny Bouchard, Jerry Dostie, Steve Park, and Teddy Christopher. They were people with a lot of history behind them.
“I would say Kenny Bouchard was the second most successful of our stable of drivers. He raced NASCAR modifieds for us back in the 80s. “I guess then comes Teddy Christopher, who probably won a half dozen races or more in the Busch North Series.” Marsh has been finding drivers for his team for more than 50 years. He’s discovered over those years that the best drivers are those who have resources of their own that they can contribute to the team. “It’s hard to find drivers who can bring those resources,” said Marsh. “Now a days it is a big problem. When I select a driver the first thing I look for is a guy with a great personality. They have to be someone you can talk to, work with, and have fun with. If the guy is too intense and he doesn’t want to talk much, well I’m not as interested in guys like that. It is the personality of the driver that’s going to help our sponsors. Although performance on the race track is important, it is how the driver interacts with people he sees all the time that is paramount.” According to Marsh, “Driving ability is extremely important. Their record, where they come from and their history in the sport is definitely a factor when I am selecting drivers. We actually have done some driver development for NASCAR teams,” he said. Marsh observed that promotion is one of the most important parts of the business of racing. However, his focus is on promoting his sponsors. So he participates in trade shows including the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) and the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA). They also do many car shows at various sponsor events. “I’ve exhibited cars at SEMA and PRI on several occasions and I have had cars in the NASCAR booths many different years,” he said. He’s proud of the fact that he has developed strong personal relationships with his sponsors through the years. Of course, as previously mentioned, Whelen Engineering Company has been his major sponsor through the years. He landed Whelen as a sponsor after doing some R&D work for them.
He noted that he still helps certify products for the company whenever needed. K&N is another sponsor of the team. Although the company has been sponsoring Marsh Racing since it first started racing in the K&N Pro Series, Marsh said that he has been using its products since the mid-1990s when he became aware of them. “We use their air filters, oil filters, and their breather filters,” said Marsh. Based in Old Lyme, Connecticut, Marsh Racing has three full-time crew members. He volunteered that this is the smallest crew he has had in many years. His drivers include Ryan Preece, Chase Dowling, Sonny Whelen, George W. Whelen V, Matt Bowling, and he also expects to have Andy Seuss. Born on October 25, 1990 in Kensington, Connecticut, Ryan Preece last competed full time in the NASCAR XFINITY Series driving the No 01 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports. In 2013, he won the Whelen Modified Tour Championship after being runner up in 2009 and 2012. Chase Dowling was born on January 15, 1998 in Roxbury, Connecticut. In 2015, he became the youngest Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the Whelen Modified Tour at the age of 17. He has raced competitively in the SK Light Modified Division, SK Modifieds, Legend Cars, and the World Karting Association (WKA). Sonny Whelen was born on June 2, 1953, and now resides in Old Lyme, Connecticut. He is also the owner of Whelen Engineering, a company that manufactures light and siren products for police, fire departments and rescue squads, the Department of Transportation, and more. He started racing Vipers in the Michelin Challenge Series in 2001 and was the Eastern Division Champion. He raced Vipers until 2004 and recorded 19 wins and 35 podium finishes. From 2005 to 2008 he raced in the SCCA World Challenge Pro Racing Series and consistently finished in the top 10 to 15. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when he was 53 years old, but continued to race for six more years. He occasionally competes in track day events running a Corvette. He is currently raising money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation (Team Fox), who created Racing for a Cure. Born on August 14, 1985, George W. Whelen V resides in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The son of Sonny Whelen, he is CEO at Whelen Engineering. He has competed in the NARRA Series and has achieved a number of wins.
Part time employees include Terry Briggs, who is responsible for fabricating and the electrical systems; Jared Materas and Tom Bates, who are mechanics and tire changers; Lee Roy, who is a tire specialist; Nicholas Sowa and Josh Cappello, who are the team assistants; and Scott Taylor, who is the Public Relations Representative. Truck Drivers are Moe Hage and Eddie Hedge, who keep the team moving to and from events; and Dar Velozo, who handles all the driver credentialing processes. “The part time employees also work full time for other businesses,” said Marsh. “For example, one truck driver is a full-time employee with the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the other is employed by a city in Connecticut,” said Marsh. The skills of the personnel of Marsh Racing are an essential reason why it has been successful. The team actually has several cars that have been designed and built for different size oval or road tracks. When the team schedules a race, a car particularly engineered for that track is selected and scheduled to race. Once a car is selected, it is torn down to just a bare frame and body and all parts are checked. If a part is damaged or timed out, it is replaced. Once all components have been checked and new parts are substituted for damaged or timed out parts, the car is put back together. According to Marsh, two cars are taken to a racing event if possible. One is the primary car and the other is a back up should something happen to the first car. Although there is a period of time on the calendar at the end of a year when there are no races, the personnel of Marsh Racing is very, very busy. “When the racing season ends, it is a busy time for us because all the cars are updated and get fresh parts and paint and are rebuilt if necessary for the next year of races,” said Marsh. He noted that the team starts preparing for the following year in October. He also pointed out that the team’s following racing season starts as early as February in Florida. “There is a lot of pressure getting things ready on time,” commented Marsh.
“We pick and choose races we run based on our budget, which is based on our revenue from our sponsors,” said Marsh. He noted that in 2015, the team raced the entire schedule of the K&N Pro Series because it had the budget to do it. The team has had to run a more limited schedule in 2016 and 2017. | ||||||
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