2002

Record Setting Season

Gada ties Dick Dunn with 4^th straight SK Modified crown; 

Coates wins 3^rd LM title; named NASCAR Regional Champ

NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series

Wild N Wacky Wednesday Series

• For the 4th consecutive year, SK Modified hot shoe Dennis Gada would lead his division in both championship points and total wins.  This season he earned the championship by a slim 6 points over rival Ed Reed Jr, winning 6 times including the season ending Town Fair Tire 100.  His 4 titles in a row equaled the record set by Modified legend Dick Dunn in the Gaudreau #3 during the mid 1970's.  2-time former Late Model Champion Tom Fox won 5 times, Ron Yuhas Jr won the 100 lap LM portion of the Pepsi 300 and the season began with young gun Eric Berndt winning the Budwieser Modified Nationals SK 150 for the second consecutive year.  His 2002 winner's purse was over $8,000 - at the time, the single highest payout in SK Modified history.

• Allen Coates won NASCAR's Exide Shortrack New England Region championship en route to his 3rd Late Model track title and 4th overall point championship at the Speedbowl.  At the time, only Bob Potter (6), Phil Rondeau (6) and George "Moose" Hewitt had more overall Waterford Speedbowl track championships.  Corey Hutchings, who tied Coates for most wins with 6, finished 18 points behind in the final point standings.  Hutchings also won the season opening 50 lapper.  Veteran Paul Heard won the 100 lap LM portion of the Pepsi 300 and Mark St. Hiliare won the season ending Town Fair Tire 100.

• For the 3rd consecutive year, the NASCAR Modified track lap record was broken - this time by Tony Hirschman Jr's 13.654 qualifying effort for the Waterford 150.  Dave Berghman and 1992 SK Modified Champion Ted Christopher won the NASCAR Modifieds 150 lappers.  Future Nextel Cup Series star Martin Truex Jr set the Waterford Speedbowl NASCAR Busch East (then North) lap time record when he set fast time at 14.980 qualifying for the Waterford 150 in July.  The race was won by series standout Kelly Moore.

• Chris "Moose" Douton became the Sportsman's all-time career win leader when his division leading five victories gave him 17 overall - one better than previous record holder Ken Cassidy Sr.  Douton's victories included the season opening 30-lapper.  Ed Gertsch Jr won 4 times, including the 50-lap Sportsman portion of the Pepsi 300, while Tommy Silva won the season-ending Finale 50.  In all, there were 14 different winners in the division during the season.  After the final point tally, it was relative unknown Adam Smith who won the 2002 Sportsman championship by 8 points over Joe Mancini Jr.  Smith won 3 races over 2 seasons (2001-02) and then quietly disappeared from any weekly competition after his 2002 title.

• Mini Stock champion Brandon Plemons dominated the division with 8 feature wins - the 2nd most ever in the division for a single season behind Dan Darnstaedt's record 11 in 1995.  Plemons finished 150 points ahead of runner-up Darnstaedt in the final point standings.  Dave Trudeau, who won 3 times, finished 3rd in the final point standings.  2-time Champion Jeff Miller won the 30 lapper during opening weekend - giving him 5 career Triple Crown feature wins during his career.  Darnstaedt won the 50 lap portion of the Pepsi 300 and young gun Phil Evans won the Finale 50.

• Legend Car ace Chris Pasteryak won the Overall Legend Car Championship, which combined points from the Saturday and Wednesday series.  He beat Len Beebe Jr by a single point in the only year a combined point Overall Champion was crowned.  Pasteryak earned the Saturday title as well while Beebe took the Wednesday crown.  Pasteryak's 8 overall victories tied him with Brandon Plemons for the most at the track during the season.  Beebe won a total of 7 times while Shaun Buffington won 6 times overall, including the National Qualifier in July.  

• Michael Richards Jr won his first ever track title when he was crowned the 2002 Super X-car Champion from the Wild N' Wacky Wednesday series.  He won 2 features during the season as well.  Kenny Jones and Ken Holbrook finished tied atop the final X-car standings, but Jones was declared champion via the wins tie-breaker (5-3).  Other than the back-to-back features won by John Cafazzo in the middle of the season, Jones and Holbrook won all the features in the 4-cylinder enduro-type division.

• Bobby Santos III won the Boston Louie Memorial NEMA event in August after Randy Cabral was disqualified for being too wide.  The NEMA midgets, Pro4 Modifieds and All-Star Race Trucks accounted for 11 of the touring series events (including all 3 at the season opening Budweiser Modified Nationals event and season ending Town Fair Tire Finale weekend) producing 11 different feature winners.  Ryan Possoco seemed to have captured back-to-back ARTS features, but he was stripped of his win in the September race when he failed post-race technical inspection, giving the victory to Chris Hammond.

• For the second time in 3 years, former Modified ace Dick Watson won the Heroes of the Bowl race during Nostalgia Weekend - this season behind Joe Mancini Jr's #74 machine..  The exhibition, which pitted former Speedbowl greats behind the wheel of current Sportsman cars, was widely popular with the fans.  The 2002 edition turned out to be the last one of it's kind however:  although scheduled for 2003, Nostalgia Weekend was cancelled due to rain.  By 2004, the annual Saturday night exhibition moved to late September and pitted pastors from local churches behind 4-cylinder X-cars for the equally popular Faster Pastor Race.