NEW ENGLAND MOTORSPORTS NORTH

NEW ENGLAND MOTORSPORTS NORTH
By Lou Modestino (for 4/11-4/13/08)

Howie Lane of Essex, MA, the head of the ISMA Super Modified Tour,
plans to take his touring series to 13-point events in six different
states plus Canada. Scratched from the ISMA schedule this year are
events at M40 Speedway in Michigan and a Friday event at Mansfield,
OH. Also a Saturday night date at the Oxford Plains Speedway in July.
Lane feels that with the current economic situation it's going to be a
difficult season. "We had to cut out some of the long distance shows
because of travel expenses and everything involved," he said.

Lane was successful, though, at booking an event at the famed Oswego
Speedway on Lake Ontario in central NY State. Usually, ISMA would
double up with another event to make it a full weekend. But, this time
an event up at Cayuga, Ont. was scratched. Lane was busy all winter
working on a flexible set of rules that would not rule out any team.
On drivers in the series he boasts of Bobby Santos, III of Franklin,
MA is the Soule entry, Robby Summers of Conn. in the Lane car, Chris
Perley of Amesbury, MA plus Mike Ordway, Jr. of NH. "Russ Wood
(Tyngsboro, MA) is also making a come back and he's got a lot of fans
everywhere especially in NH. It's going to be a very tough year for
the tracks plus the fans have to cut back and will probably do things
to entertain themselves that don't cost much money," Lane said.

We can agree with Howie's strategy. We expected that the regional
tours would be impacted in New England and elsewhere. Tracks across
the country, as well as the six state New England area, are sticking
pretty much with inexpensive programs in order to keep a cap on ticket
prices.

Closer to home it's the same story. We ran into Bob Watson,
Marketing Manager for the Lee USA Speedway at the recent Icebreaker
event in Thompson, Conn. Watson is very busy with a number of
promotions. "We're selling tickets to churches for fund raisers. Last
year we worked with veterans organizations and it also worked out
well. We have also dropped out ticket prices by $1 for non-special
events. Our upcoming Governors Cup event later this month, with the
ACT and True Value Modified Tours is going to be a bargain event for
$20. Our biggest ticket price of the season will be $25 for the ISMA
Super-Modifieds. Our concession prices are the same as last year. We
are also absorbing the price increases for tires and fuel that we sell
for the competitors," revealed Watson.

GRASSROOTS MOTORSPORTS recently featured the New England Hill
Climbing Assn.(NEHA) and their event at Mt. Washington in Gorham, NH.
NEHA doesn't get much in the way of exposure from the media and the
rank and file couldn't be more pleased. We do, however, list them in
our New England Motorsports Schedule and give the club some space when
we find out about their events at the various timed events up the
mountains of NH and Vermont. Hill climbing is a cult sport with events
held around the northeast and southeast in the spring, summer and
fall.

Fadden Racing of N. Haverhill, NH and Max Dumarey have not been
sitting idle during the off-season. After competing in the ARCA season
opener at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year, the Gent,
Belgium native has been aggressively testing in preparation for the
2008 season. His schedule includes the full NASCAR Camping World
Series East division, five ARCA RE/MAX Series events, and two NASCAR
Camping World Series West races – including this week's event at
Phoenix International Raceway. Dumarey is hoping all the extra seat
time will pay off big.

"We've tested at Phoenix, South Boston, Greenville, and Kansas in
the last month," Dumarey explained. "We were at Phoenix Monday and
Tuesday and we were really pleased with the results. The track has a
lot of grip and we were running extremely competitive times." The
Jimmie Johnson Foundation 150 will mark Dumarey's debut in the NASCAR
Camping World Series West, and the 19-year-old driver is looking
forward to the challenge.

"We're optimistic that we'll run well at Phoenix. As always you have
to hope that you'll keep out of trouble and that we can keep the car
consistent throughout the race. Our test session earlier this week was
promising and gives us a lot of confidence going into the race," he
said. Dumarey will be drawing on his experience in the NASCAR Camping
World Series East to maneuver around Phoenix's characteristic flat
surface.

"We have some experience on flat one mile's – particularly NHMS – but
that's where the similarity really ends. It'll be important that I get
a feel for the car and find a good line. Turns one and two are very
different from three and four, and I think it'll be key to find a
rhythm to maneuver this track. Our goal is to go there, start up
front, and stay up front." The Jimmie Johnson 150 at Phoenix
International Raceway will take the green flag on Thursday, April 10th
at approximately 7 p.m. It will be broadcast live on HDNet. This
report came from Fadden Racing PR.

Sources in northern New England feel that a lot of tracks in the
three state area may not be able to open up on schedule dates this
month due to the heavy snowfall this winter. Last weekend there was
still a 18 inches of snow on the ground in N. Conway, NH. A report in
the Boston Globe told 200 inches of snow expected for the year end
total in Caribou, Maine. That comes out to over 15.5 feet when you do
the math! It's going to be a long thaw up there with the natives
stating that there could still be patches of snow on the ground in
July. All white stuff impacted the reopened Caribou Speedway which
offered SnowX events most of the winter.

Let's check to see what's happening in the North Country with the
2008 racing season about to start. Way up in Presque Isle, Maine at
the Aroostook Center there's a Racing Preview from Friday though
Sunday. At Lee USA in southern NH it's Test and Tune for all racecars
with a Sunday rain date. Beech Ridge in Scarborough, Maine has a
practice session all day Sunday.(END)

NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED
SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.

NEW ENGLAND MOTORSPORTS NORTH
By Lou Modestino(for 4/11-4/13/08)

Howie Lane of Essex, MA, the head of the ISMA Super Modified Tour,
plans to take his touring series to 13 point events in in six
different states plus Canada. Scratched from the ISMA schedule this
year are events at M40 Speedway in Michigan and a Friday event at
Mansfield, OH. Also a Saturday night date at the Oxford Plains
Speedway in July. Lane feels that with the current economic situation
that it's going to be a difficult season. "We had to cut out some of
the long distance shows becuase of travel expenses and everything
involved," he said.

Lane was successful, though, at booking an event at the famed Oswego
Speedway on Lake Ontario in central NY State. Usually, ISMA would
double up with another event to make it a full weekend. But, this time
an event up at Cayuga, Ont. was scratched. Lane was busy all winter
working on a flexable set of rules that would not rule out any team.
On drivers he boasts Bobby Santos, III of Franklin, MA is the Soule
entry, Robby Summers of Conn. in the Lane car, Chris Perley of
Amesbury, MA, Mike Ordway, Jr. of NH. "And Russ Wood (Tyngsboro, MA)
is coming back and he's got a lot of fans everywhere especially in NH.
It's going to be a tough year for the tracks plus the fans have to
cut back and will probaly do things to entertain themselves that don't
cost much money," Lane said.

We can agree with Howie's strategy. We expected that the regional
tours would be impacted in New England and elsewhere. Tracks across
the country, as well as the six state New England area, are sticking
pretty much with inexpensive programs in order to keep a cap on ticket
prices.

GRASSROOTS MOTORSPORTS recently featured the New England Hill
Climbing Assn.(NEHA) and their event at Mt. Washington in Gorham, NH.
NEHA doesen't get much in the way of exposure from the midia and the
rank and file couldn't be more pleased. We do, however, list them in
our New England Motorsports Schedule and give the club some space when
we find out about their events at the various timed events up the
mountains of NH and Vermont. Hillclimbing is a cult sport with events
held around the northeast and southeast in the spring, summer and
fall.

Fadden Racing of N. Haverhill, NH and Max Dumarey have not been
sitting idle during the offseason. After competing in the ARCA season
opener at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year, the Gent,
Belgium native has been aggressively testing in preparation for the
2008 season. His schedule includes the full NASCAR Camping World
Series East division, five ARCA RE/MAX Series events, and two NASCAR
Camping World Series West races – including this week's event at
Phoenix International Raceway. Dumarey is hoping all the extra seat
time will pay off big.

"We've tested at Phoenix, South Boston, Greenville, and Kansas in
the last month," Dumarey explained. "We were at Phoenix Monday and
Tuesday and we were really pleased with the results. The track has a
lot of grip and we were running extremely competitive times." The
Jimmie Johnson Foundation 150 will mark Dumarey's debut in the NASCAR
Camping World Series West, and the 19-year-old driver is looking
forward to the challenge.

"We're optimistic that we'll run well at Phoenix. As always you have
to hope that you'll keep out of trouble and that we can keep the car
consistent throughout the race. Our test session earlier this week was
promising and gives us a lot of confidence going into the race," he
said.
Dumarey will be drawing on his experience in the NASCAR Camping World
Series East to maneuver around Phoenix's characteristic flat surface.

"We have some experience on flat one mile's – particularly NHMS – but
that's where the similarity really ends. It'll be important that I get
a feel for the car and find a good line. Turns one and two are very
different from three and four, and I think it'll be key to find a
rhythm to maneuver this track. Our goal is to go there, start up
front, and stay up front." The Jimmie Johnson 150 at Phoenix
International Raceway will take the green flag on Thursday, April 10th
at approximately 7 p.m. It will be broadcast live on HDNet.

We ran into Bob Watson, Marketing Manager for the Lee USA Speedway at
the recent Icebreaker event in Thompson, Conn. Watson is very busy
with a number of promotions. "We're selling rickets to churches for
fund raisers. Last year we worked with veterans organizations and it
also worked out well. We have also dropped out ticket prices by $1 for
non-special events. Our upcoming Governors Cup event later this month,
with the ACT and True Value Modified Tours is going to be a bargain
event for $20. Our biggest ticket price of the season will be $25 for
the ISMA Super-Modifieds. Our concession prices are the same as last
year. We are also absorbing the price increases for tires and fuel
that we sell for the competitors," revealed Watson.

My sources in northern New England tell me that a lot of tracks in
the three state area may not be able to open up on schedule dates this
month due to the heavy snowfall this winter.

Let's check to see what's happening in the north-country with the
2008 racing season about to start. Way up in Presque Isle, Maine at
the Aroostook Center there's a Racing Preview from Friday though
Sunday. At Lee USA in southern NH it's Test and Tune for all race cars
with a Sunday rain date. Beech Ridge in Scarborough, Maine has a
practice session all day Sunday.