The 10th Annual Busch Sport Scene Snowmobile Ride for Charity will
take place on Saturday, January 31st, at the Club House Restaurant in
Rangeley, Maine. There will be many NASCAR Camping World Series
drivers and team members joining the ride again this year, as well as
PASS, ACT and local track racers. The ride is open to everyone: teams,
fans and all, so make your plans to ride with the best racers in the
northeast!
The day will start with an optional 10:30 a.m. drivers meeting at the
Club House – which was formerly the People's Choice (for those of you
that attended in the past). Ride credentials can be purchased for $15
at the Club House starting at 9 a.m. You can ride with the 11 a.m.
group or ride with your own group at any time during the day. You can
even purchase more than one ride credential, allowing better odds of
holding the winning hand!
The $15 ride credential also gets you admission into the full night of
entertainment at the Club House that evening. There will be dinner
specials and drink specials exclusively for those with a ride
credential. The proceeds from the ride will all go to several great
charities including the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Maine Special
Olympics, Travis Roy Foundation, Rangeley Snowmobile Club, Busch Sport
Scene Scholarship Fund and the Camping World Series Women's Auxiliary
and their various charities.
What is a poker run? Once you get a ride credential, you ride to five
separate checkpoints, getting your credential stamped at each
checkpoint. At the end of the ride, you get one card dealt for each
stamp on your card. The person with the best five-card poker hand will
be the winner! For example, if the five cards you drew were two jacks,
two aces and a two of hearts that would be your hand for the event.
The winner will be awarded a full prize package that will include some
great snowmobile gear, gift certificates and more. There will be
prizes for second and third best hand as well.
The ride by snow machine can be as quick as less than two hours or as
long as you like if you take longer trail routes. Poker Run stops will
be announced soon. Participants will meet back at the Club House at 6
PM. The cards will be dealt to see who has the best hand, which is
announced at 7 PM.
"The event is held rain or shine, snow or not. Many of the
participants at the event don't even ride snow machines," event
organizer and Busch Sport Scene Publisher George Campbell said. "If
anyone is concerned about the weather, or does not ride snowmobiles,
each check point is accessible by car as well as snow machine, making
it possible for those that do not ride snowmobiles to participate
equally."
Much of the fun takes place inside the Club House during the evening
festivities, which are capped of by a comedy show featuring nationally
known comedians Larry Myles and Rob Steen. Rob is a favorite of this
event, having performed at this event several times in the past. His
resume includes several appearances on the David Letterman Show as
well as performances on MTV and the Comedy Channel.
There will be 100's of raffle prizes and great auction items at the
event. Some of the auction items will include great sports items
including race tickets and signed memorabilia. Among the items
included in the auction are several Patriots items including an NFL
football signed by Teddy Bruschi as well as several Red Sox signed
items including one of Jonathan Papelbon. There will be plenty of
great NASCAR items including signed Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and
Martin Truex items.
There will be lots of great non-sports items as well. Comedian Larry
Myles will also serve as a guest auctioneer! Larry has performed in
front of audiences from Los Angeles and Las Vegas to New York and
Boston. He has also been featured on MTV and appeared on the hit TV
show Law & Order. Raffle tickets for the 100+ raffle items will be
just $1 each or $10 for a dozen!
Steve Perry, host of the popular Mainely Motorsports television show,
will be at the annual event with his crew riding & taping for a future
episode. Mainely Motorsports airs on Time Warner Cable channels weekly
through out northern New England.
"This is the tenth year I have been involved in this event," Campbell
said. "We are closing in on $100,000 raised over those years. We have
some great plans for this year's event, including several specials
guests and many terrific auction items. If you are a race fan or a
sports fan, you do not want to miss this year's event. Even if your
not, it will be a great time for everyone and all the proceeds go
directly to some great charities."
Credentials for the event can be purchased for $10 in advance either
at the Club House, the Rangeley Chamber or from Busch Sport Scene. The
tickets will be $15 the day of the event. Busch Sport Scene is a New
England based sports magazine. Current Busch Sport Scene subscribers
will receive a $5 discount on the day of the event, as will NASCAR;
PASS & ACT team members that present their licenses.
Skip Barber, a five-time national champion sports car racer and the
present owner/operator of Lime Rock Park, heads up an impressive list
of presenters at the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame Induction
Banquet Sunday Jan. 25 at LaRenaissance Banquet Hall in East Windsor,
CT.
A one-time Formula 1 competitor, Barber is the perfect choice to
induct Northeast Connecticut neighbor John Fitch. A racer of
international acclaim, Fitch's accomplishments also include design
work on the original Lime Rock.
Harvard educated, Barbers resume includes success in Formula Ford,
Formula 5000 and GT cars. His driver's school is among the best in the
world.
Other inductors include John McCarthy (Bob Bahre), George Summers (Art
Barry), Bones Boucier (Rollie Lindblad), Dave Moody (Tom Curley), Lew
Boyd (Paul Richardson), Cho Lee (Bobby Dragon) and Tommy Elliman (the
late Jim McConnell).
McCarthy and Summers are Hall of Famers. The Bahre-McCarthy
association began when both were car owners in the Northeastern Midget
Association. McCarthy went on to serve as NEMA president and later was
a consultant at Bahre's New Hampshire International Speedway
Summers won his final start, one of a hundred-plus victories, in a
Barry car. He is one of many Hall of Famers to drive for Barry.
Moody, an award winning writer and announcer and a nationally known
radio personality, has a long history with Curley as well. Moody is
the announcer at Curley's much heralded Thunder Road Speedway in
Barre, VT.
Boucier is arguably the premier auto-racing writer in the country, his
walls filled with awards. The long-time contributor to Stock Car and
Speedway Illustrated is well versed on Lindblad's revolutionary
affects on New England racing.
Like Bourcier, Boyd is no stranger to induction speeches. A writer and
publisher (Coastal 181), Boyd, a long-time competitor, brings a unique
view to the sport. He and Richardson are Northern Massachusetts
neighbors and close friends.
Lee, an accomplished historian and researcher, and Elliman, a
long-time announcer at Beech Ridge Speedway, have long been strong
supporters for their respective areas. They are appropriate choices
for Maine's McConnell and Vermont's Bobby Dragon.
The late Bert Brooks, the late Bertha Small and Hanaford will be
inducted as well, the latter three choices of the Veterans Committee.
SpeedwayEXPO and Williams Distributing, of Chicopee, MA, have
announced that Budweiser will be the presenting sponsor of the
Riverside Park Speedway Reunion, which will take place at XPO. Those
who attend the Reunion's opening, on Friday night, February 27, will
have a chance to go home with great gifts from Budweiser, including
racing jackets, shirts and other racing-related prizes. The grand
prize will be a Budweiser Mini Chopper worth more than $1,000, which
will be won that night by a lucky individual at the Reunion.
Budweiser has long been associated with racing. The brand's
sponsorship of Daytona's Bud Shootout begins each year's stock car
racing season and the Budweiser brand has long been part of some of
racing's more colorful teams. Bud currently sponsors Kasey Kahne, who
races out of the Gillette-Evernham stable in NASCAR's Sprint Cup
series. Budweiser has been around New England racing for a long time,
too. Ten years ago Williams Distributing, which sells Budweiser in the
region, was honored as "sponsor of the year" at Riverside Park
Speedway. Sadly, 1999 turned out to be the final year for both the
amusement park and its popular racetrack.
In 2009 SpeedwayEXPO is honoring Riverside Speedway with this Reunion,
and Budweiser is pleased to once again be associated with the
memorable track. Anthony Frasco, Director of Sales & Marketing at
Williams, said, "It will be a thrill for us to be associated with this
greatly anticipated reunion. The Great American Lager will have the
opportunity to be reunited with thousands of fans and drivers at the
2009 SpeedwayEXPO."
The Reunion will run all three days of the show--February 27 and 28,
March 1. Admission to the Reunion is free with paid admission XPO.
Tickets for SpeedwayEXPO can purchased in advance to save nearly
one-third of the price at the gate. These money-saving tickets are
available at 978-465-9099 x 103 (ask for Barbara) or online at
SpeedwayEXPO.com.
Produced by Speedway Illustrated Magazine and sponsored by Sunoco,
SpeedwayEXPO will be at the Big E, in West Springfield, MA, Feb. 27 -
March 1, 2009. It is the largest event for drivers, teams, tracks,
and racing vendors in the Northeast. SpeedwayEXPO will launch the 2009
racing season with more than 200 new racecars and old favorites, and
hundreds of exhibits for drivers, crews, and fans from a dozen states
and Canada. Thousands of enthusiasts pack more than 130,000 square
feet of exhibit space to take part in seminars and demonstrations; see
retailers of racing gear and memorabilia; and meet today's and
yesterday's racing celebrities.
After a successful 21-year run that brought some of the biggest names
in auto racing to central Maine, promoter Tim Attaya is turning over
the reigns of his Northeast Motorsports Expo & Trade Show. Held at the
Augusta Civic Center every January since 1989, the Northeast
Motorsports Expo has become a tradition among northern New England's
racing enthusiasts. Effective at the conclusion of this year's 21st
annual show, the event will be managed and run by well-known and
respected motorsports personality Steve Perry.
Perry, of Windham, Maine, is best known as the host of "Mainely
Motorsports," a weekly television show on Time Warner Cable that
showcases all forms of motorsports action. Racing insiders also know
Perry from his days as half of the famed SP2 Motorsports team, for
which Maine racing legend Mike Rowe drove with great success on the
Pro All Stars Series.
Attaya and wife Cathy have been synonymous with the Augusta show since
they founded it over two decades ago. Unlike other racing-related
shows, Attaya chose to include all forms of racing vehicles in his
event, bringing in everything from vintage and current stocks cars,
pulling tractors, motocross bikes, drag cars, snowmobiles and
go-karts. If it had an engine and raced within Maine, New Hampshire or
even Vermont, Attaya welcomed it to the show.
At the official announcement, Attaya spoke with passion about his
"baby," and how much he enjoyed the show despite the countless hours
of work involved to put it on. He talked about his choice for a
successor and what it meant to host the unofficial kickoff to each new
year of short track excitement. "I had three possible buyers for the
show," explained Attaya. "I chose Steve because I felt he would do the
most with it. He's ambitious, has good ideas and has a good working
knowledge of the sport. I had 21 great years, thanks to a lot of help
from a host of dedicated sponsors, staff and fans. I wish Steve all
the best in the future and feel confident he will take the show to new
heights." Attaya says planning for each year's show was
time-consuming, but also led to many lasting friendships from people
involved in the sport. The show became a big part of his life, but he
will cherish the memories from those many weekends in the Civic
Center.
"It was very rewarding for me see the reactions from fans when meeting
big-name drivers. We were lucky to have had some of the sport's
biggest heroes come up here to Maine. Fans loved it, and I enjoyed
seeing them smile when getting an autograph or taking a photo." Perry
has been a life-long race fan and has years of experience in various
aspects of the sport. Just prior to the announcement of this venture,
he spoke about the vision he has for the show and how he hopes to
rejuvenate this once-prestigious annual gathering.
"I was honored when Tim approached me to see if I was interested in
taking over the show," Perry said. "I know what he put into it for 21
years, and he didn't want just anybody at the helm. I'm excited about
this opportunity to not only continue a great motorsports tradition,
but to bring back the excitement this show once had by making it
attractive to national racers, their sponsors and of course more
fans." Perry says Attaya's philosophy of including all forms of racing
vehicles and displays is similar to that of his television show. That
philosophy will not change under the direction of SP2 Promotions.
"I feel the inclusion of all types of racing into the show has always
worked. It keeps it interesting for fans and racers from all those
groups. Our goals for the first couple of years are to enhance the
displays, add new vendors and try to bring in a national star people
will want to come see. It will take time and money to achieve these
goals, but with hard work to attract new sponsors and build momentum,
I believe we can bring this show back to where it was during its
heyday." The dates for the 22nd annual Northeast Motorsports Expo &
Trade Show were also announced here Friday. The show will be held on
Jan. 8-10, 2009.
Let's see what's happening in northern New England this weekend. SCCNH
has their Awards Banquet at the Windmill Restaurant in Concord, NH on
Friday night at 5 p.m. Sunday will see stockcar racing on the ice at
Berry and Lee Ponds in Moultonborough, NH, Lake Contocook in Jaffery,
NH and the Mi-Te-Jo Campgound in Milton, NH. Those events get the
green flag at 1 p.m.
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