Another move on The Tour… Bryon Chew retires to spend more time at the family car dealership. They picked up Woody Pitkat to drive the car for this season. Again, they should be at Daytona, no word on NSS.
Glad to see my buds Coby and Pitkat with solid rides for 2014. Doug should be unstoppable in the always fast 2 mod. Won a championship and followed that with a runner up in the 52 which was pretty much a field filler before he took the wheel. Kinda dissapointed that things didn’t pan out for Woody with the Hillbilly gang. Thought they had a good thing going there. Glad he fell into the 88 ride. I know Woody, he’ll wheel it for all its worth!
After Roger Hill died, his wife kept funding the team for another year, but decided they couldn’t really afford it anymore. And were to shut down completely, but Cole Powell came up with additional funds to keep it going.
It had nothing at all to do with Woody, just finances. I’m not crazy about rich kid ride buyers, but in this case, he didn’t buy the seat as much as saved the team from folding up.
Wow Jerry, you have the inside scoop on that deal. Last time I talked to Woody everybody was working together well and old Riverside Park Mod veteran Chris Kopec was on board helping too. Didn’t know that Roger had passed on. It’s definitely better to keep that team together than to have it disbanded. Woody will do fine in the Chew ride. The Buzz Chew Crew never seemed to be short on quality equipment in the Mod Series or the old Busch North Series (K & N East Series)!
For Woody, I see it as a parallel move. And good for the Hills and Powell.
Pitkat isn’t ‘settling for less’, and Powell kept a team on the Tour. This could be good for everyone in the long run.
Steve Laking from Ontario is entered at NSS in the Pro Lates. He did a few nights last year in Kirk Hookers car. Hooker himself has been at the World Series for probably 15 years in a row now.
Former Long Island resident, turned Carolinian, JR Bertuccio is once again coming to NSS with the Gershow Recycling 2 Modified.
All the way from the Province of Alberta Canada, Erica Thiering has a pretty good resume’. 5 Track/Province titles isn’t bad in anyone’s book.
Looking forward to seeing her at NSS… for obvious reasons…!
Chris Koslek is bringing his Super LM from Grand Rapids Mich… IF he can get out OF Michigan by then.
Defending Champ in the Whelen Modified Tour, Ryan Preece is entered at NSS in the family owned #40. I suspect he’ll be in his Tour car at Daytona, the East-West Marine 16. I also believe he will will run the ARCA 200 in a number 8 car.
From Riverhead, Long Island, Eric Goodale is a Mod Tour regular, and NSS annual visitor. He won the Richie Evans Memorial in 2012, which he counts as his biggest win to date. I’m sure he will also do Daytona as he did last year.
Here’s an interesting one… California Off-Road Truck racer Sheldon Creed is entered at NSS in the Tim Russell rent-a-ride in the Pro Late division.
The last West Coast racer in Russell’s ride did pretty good for himself since then… Kyle Larson.
Jimmy Horton has accomplished just about all you can in Dirt Modifieds. He was also an ARCA whiz on the big tracks, and was once hand picked by Darrell Waltrip to replace himself when Darrell got injured and needed to sit out a few weeks.
Unfortunately, I don’t know much about Eldon Payne… but I do know he’s planning a Florida trip in Feb.
Back in the day, we used to race with Denny Planck. He passed away several years ago, but he would’ve been damn proud of his son Dale Planck. Hes been a front runner for many years now, and even won the title in the nationwide NASCAR short track standings, much like our own David Rogers has done.
Don’t know much about Steve Hough either, but he must be good enough to have a ‘national’ sponsor in Waste Management.
For about the 132nd time, The Doctor, Danny Johnson will be down here. Instead of the familiar 27J, he will be in Randy Chrysler’s 21 car.
I was there the night Danny ran his first ever race… and the lucky bastard has never had a “real” job yet. 38 years of listing “Race Driver” as his occupation…!
A few more Mods for Daytona…
Rob Fuller has Daytona on his list. NSS wasn’t mentioned in the article I saw, but he’s been there in the past.
Bowman-Gray regular Chris Fleming has committed for Daytona.
