Local racers to make trip to Eastern States
The excitement is building for the 58th Annual Eastern States Weekend, October 25-27, 2019, a perfect ending for the Centennial Season of racing at the historic Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York.
Many local talents are expected to make the trip to challenge many of the best talents. While Eastern States celebrates all of Orange County’s racing divisions, the weekend’s headline race remains the Eastern States 200, the oldest consecutively-run championship event for dirt track Modified stock cars in the country.
Again this year, Eastern States has been enhanced with outstanding purses for the Bigand Small-Block Modified races,
adding to the excitement of the entire weekend.
Legendary driver Frankie Schneider won the first Eastern States race on October 28, 1962. Since that inaugural event, many of greatest drivers in dirt track Modified racing history have seen their names etched on Eastern States 200 trophies.
Orange County’s alltime winning driver, Brett Hearn, is also the all-time Eastern States 200 winner with 12 victories in this fall classic race. Stewart Friesen won the 2018 race and will return, looking to win the classic event in back-toback years.
Beginning early on Friday, October 25, Eastern States is three days and evenings of non-stop racing action featuring the ground-pounding Big-Block Modifieds, Small-Block Modifieds, Sportsman, and Street Stocks in qualifying time trials and heat races that set the fields for each division’s Eastern States Championship feature race.
All this leads to the Sunday, October 27 finale, the 58th Annual Eastern States 200 Championship Race for Modifieds. A true 200lap race, the Eastern States 200 is the one race trophy every dirt track Modified driver wants on his mantle.
Advance tickets are available from Ticketmaster or at the Speedway Office during regular business hours, or credit card sales (Visa and MasterCard) by calling 845-3422573. Additional information, a full weekend schedule, and online ticket sales can be found at the official Orange County Fair Speedway website, www.orangecountyfairspeedway.net.
PHOENIXVILLE’S MONTIETH EARNS BIG HONOR >> Williams Grove Speedway has closed its 2019 racing season with the running of the 57th annual National Open for sprint cars on October 5 and division champions have been announced along with special award winners.
In the Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint car division, Gettysburg’s Danny Dietrich has won his first-ever Williams Grove Speedway track title.
The title is also a firstever for No. 48 car owner Gary Kauffman, who said on Saturday night that both he and Dietrich will return for another try at a title in 2020.
Dietrich scored five wins during his run to the 2019 track crown along with four runner-up finishes and a pair of thirds.
In total, Dietrich had 14 top-five feature finishes on the year, taking the title by 480 points over runner-up Freddie Rahmer.
Dietrich’s mechanic, Jake Sgrignoli was awarded Mechanic Of The Year laurels.
Jeff Halligan earned Rookie Of The Year in the 410 sprints while Sportsmanship went to Brian Montieth and Most Improved Driver was awarded to Anthony Macri.
Montieth of Phoenixville earned the 2019 Hoosier Diamond Series title over Dietrich.
It was Montieth’s first Diamond Series title in the 21-year history of the series at the track.
Driving for Jerry Parrish, Montieth earned one win in the 2019 series.
Doug Hammaker earned the 2019 HJ Towing and Recovery 358 sprint car title at Williams Grove Speedway.
Hammaker picked up three oval wins on his run to the title that was the
first of his career at Williams Grove.
Matt Findley finished second in the point standings.
Special awards in the 358 sprint division went to Dylan Norris who took Rookie Of The Year and to Chris Frank, named the Sportsmanship winner.
Keep up to date on all the latest speedway news and information by visiting the oval’s official website at www.williamsgrove.com or by visiting the oval on Facebook or via Twitter.
••• NASCAR and ARCA announced a new championship format for 2020 that will see the continuation of three historic regional championship series and the coronation of a new fourth champion, all under the ARCA Menards Series banner.
The series provide an integral development step for young drivers who aspire to move up to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series or NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series; as well as a highly-competitive professional level for short-track veterans.
They will also provide continuity to three of the longest running high-level regional stock car series in the United States.
The four championships will be: ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West will continue the traditions established by the Busch North Series (founded in 1987) and Pacific Coast Late Model Series/Winston West (1954) and currently competing as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West. The series will feature an annual schedule of six to eight races and crowning of separate regional champions.
• ARCA Menards Series
– The 20-race ARCA Menards Series, founded in 1953, a mix of national-series combination events at venues such as Daytona International Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as short tracks like Madison International Speedway in Wisconsin and the Illinois and DuQuoin State Fairgrounds mile dirt tracks.
• ARCA Racing Series Showdown – Ten races within the larger ARCA Menards Series championship will feature the best of the three series coming together to crown a Showdown champion.
“We cannot be more excited about 2020,” said Brandon Thompson, Managing Director, NASCAR Touring Series. “Both NASCAR and ARCA have worked extremely hard over the last year to provide a rules package and schedule that will serve as the foundation for the preeminent series for racing at this level. It was important for us to move the series forward while creating an environment inclusive for both the current longterm owners and drivers in the series as well as aspiring competitors.”
“What first started as a friendship between Bill France Sr. and John Marcum nearly 70 years ago took a momentous step forward today,” said ARCA President Ron Drager. “The amount of history and tradition these series are bringing together to form four elite championships for drivers is an amazing testament to the strength of this sport.”
NASCAR also announced if an East, West or current ARCA Menards Series car owner has a car that meets the 2019 rulebook, there will be a rules package that will allow them to compete in 2020.