By Rich Hayes 

sports@seacoastonline.net  

It looks like 2005 could be a breakout year for the True Value Modified Series. After an inaugural season last year that can only be described as surprisingly successful, I’d be putting my money on this one turning into the best thing we’ve seen around here in years.

Most of the guys who made up the series when it started last year were familiar names to anybody who paid attention to the racing scene in the western part of the state, but not much beyond that. And most of them have been running Modifieds for the past 20 years or more.

Guys like Dwight Jarvis, Kirby Monteith, Dennis Albro, Bruce Batchelder and Rusty Ball. Whether the racing was at Monadnock or Claremont, the same names always seemed to show up in the trade papers over the years, and they were the ones.

Jack Bateman, a veteran racer of 30-plus years, founded the series and ran the first few races, but he very wisely gave up the driving duties in his car to former Canaan Pro Stock champion Donnie Lashua part way through the season to concentrate on managing the series. Between the two, they still had enough points to crack the top 10 for the season.

And Lashua’s only one of the champion drivers on the tour, trust me when I tell you, this is probably the deepest roster you’ve ever seen. A ton of new teams signed on for 2005, and all of a sudden it seems that roster is starting to have as many drivers from around here as out west. In fact, at this point, the 2005 roster is nearly 50 strong.

Dave Berube, the 1996 champion at the historic Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Mass., is among the regulars on the series, and it’s rumored that 60-something-year-old Riverside legend Bob Polverari will make more than a few appearances this year.

Despite Riverside Park’s demise several years ago, western Massachusetts is still home to several Modified teams, with Springfield drivers Paul Suprenant and Patrick Townsend joining the list of nine or 10 Connecticut-based teams that are heading north and joining in for 2005.

Former NASCAR Weekly Series national champion Peter Daniels now calls the tour home, and with five Pro Stock and three Modified championships already on his resume, there’s little doubt he’d like to improve his 2004 finish by a spot and replace Kirk Alexander as top dog once again.

Dwight Jarvis, who finished third behind Alexander and Daniels last year, is probably the most prolific titlist in the bunch, with 13 Claremont Speedway and four Monadnock Speedway championship trophies on his mantle.

But it doesn’t stop there. Gary Casella has a Pro-4 Modified championship among his accomplishments, and I know Jim Boniface has at least one Pro Stock title at Maddog. Boniface runs well in this neck of the woods, his only wins in 2004 came at Lee and Star.

Les Hinckley Jr., 2003 Monadnock champ, pilots the same Chuck Montville entry that Ted Christopher wheeled to an Oktoberfest victory a couple of years ago, joining two-time Monadnock Pro Stock champ Rob Goodenough, who just missed the series’ top 10 last year.

Hampstead driver Andy Seuss, who celebrated his 18th birthday just last month, will be looking for big things after his Rookie of the Year run in 2004. Seuss struggled in his Lee Late Model efforts, but he was 14th best of the 30-some odd teams that ran the Modified tour last year.

Two-time Lee Late Model champ Wayne Helliwell Jr. is supposed to be running the full season, and he looks to be among the top threats from around here to be a contender. If I heard it right, there’s a chance that Wayne Sr. might get in on the action as well.

Lee’s reigning 350 Super championship team will be moving on to the TVMRS ranks as well, as Marco Turcotte picked up an Ed Cloce-chassied machine over the winter, and Louie Mechalides will be looking to back up his 2005 New Smyrna (Fla.) Super Late Model title with the same result in the Modifieds.

Lee Hobby Stocker Mike Douglas and his crew chief/father Mike Sr. are planning to run the series, and multi-time Star Street Stock winner Karl Fredrickson told me that he’ll likely not run the full season, but certainly should make all the local shows.

For the Southern Region of NH there are six local shows for the True Value Modified Series coming our way in 2005, with three at Lee (May 1, June 3 and July 8) and three at Star (June 18, July 23 and Aug. 13), giving local fans plenty of opportunity to catch them in action.

The Series will start their sophomore season on April 16, 2005 at Monadnock Speedway with a 100 lap opener.   

Rich Hayes is a longtime observer of New Hampshire motorsports. He can be reached at sports@seacoastonline.com.