RPW Exclusive: The Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series Enjoyed Great Success In 2018; More On The Way

Column By: LAURIE FALLIS / RPW – GLOVERSVILLE, NY – What a year the Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series (MVVDMS) had in its fourth season of existence!

2018 was a year of great strides for the series. It has seen a change in the leadership, as Buck Gasner stepped back from the helm and handed handed the keys over to me. I took over the promotional duties for the series and was looking to take it to new heights.

It was a year with some exceptional sponsors coming aboard, large car counts at each event. 2018 also saw NYSSCA acknowledging the vintage drivers, who are members of the association on Safety night, Along with being honored at their prestigious banquet.

2018 saw MVVDMS have a bunch of great drivers that understood how important it is to keep our past alive and represent it. It certainly was a fun entertaining season to say the least with a lot of amazing drivers putting on some spectacular shows for the fans.

The series had four races scheduled in 2018, but one was unfortunately taken by Mother Nature as she claimed the victory at Devils Bowl Speedway.

The season started off at the “Track of Champions,” the Fonda Speedway, with 16 cars signing in at the back gate. Before racing commenced for the vintage racers a special acknowledgement was given to John Constantino, Doug Mathewson and Frank Blanchard. These three gentleman have been dedicated to the sport of racing, as drivers for over 40 years each. “Quiet an accomplishment to say the least,” they were commended on such an achievement.. And we thanked them!

Vintage drivers were given a 15-lap feature to voyage around the famed oval at the “Vintage Royale.” It would be “Rockin Robbie Sanford who hails out of Florida, NY pull off the win in the vintage Modified class, and overall feature win. Floyd Billington would capture the vintage Sportsman victory after Doug Mathewson detonated his motor on lap 11 ending his run while leading the Sportsman’s Division and running second overall, handing the win over to Billington. John Constantino was third while Bryon Seyfried and Dan Wood came from deep in the field coming in fourth and fifth.

Malcum Warner would outduel John Roese for the Late Model win.

The next event had the series back at the prestigious track in Fonda were it would be the popular “Hall Of Fame” race. Many of the cars from yesteryear were brought for display in front of the speedway’s museum. This event was also the day that Fonda icons are inducted into the exclusive Hall of Fame. “Pre race activities are certainly something special to be a part of.”

With display time over, it was time to hit the track for some vintage racing. There was a total of 24 cars that were ready to get it on “vintage style” on the “Track Of Champions” The racers would run a 20 lap feature, and run they did as there was racing throughout the entire field from front to back.

There was a battle between the top five of Jay Lais, Daryl Hulbert, Bryon Sefried, Dan Wood and Floyd Billington, while Mike Houghtaling and John Constantino were lurking in the shadows.

After fading back to fifth, Hulbert would maneuver his way back up to the top spot and go on to claim the the overall checkers and vintage modified division win. Hot on his tail was Seyfried in his 12a Jack Johnson replica, but came up short and finished second overall, but captured the vintage Sportsman victory.

Third and fourth positions would be settled in the closing laps between Floyd Billington and Dan Wood, It would be Wood from Watervelit, NY who would finally get the opening he needed in the closing lap to make the pass on the inside and come home in third spot. Billington and Rod Sanford would round out the top five respectively.

Bill Liese would bring his #51 home seventh overall giving him the victory in the Latemodel division. Our Hall Of Fame race was one for the record books! It was one very entertaining race for the FANS and all.

MVVDMS sponsor and driver Doug Mathewson traveled to Weedsport for their Hall Of Fame race. He represented the Series and Fonda Speedway very well as he brought home the victory.

Our final race was also at the Fonda Speedway. It was MVVDMS “Vintage River Rage Finale and it was also NYSSCA Safety Night. The series was excited to have them on board…not because of the prize money, but for acknowledging the drivers and series, all of who are dedicated in keeping our past alive.

The series had another great turn out of 21 cars making their way to the “River Rage Finale.” The 20-lap feature had Perth, NY driver John Constantino lead the early stages of the race with Kavin Winton trying every trick in the book to find his way around the “Dancing Bear.”

Meanwhile making their way to the front was the “Flying Horseman” Doug Mathewson along with Rob Sanford in his #62.

The battle was heating up also between Dan Woods, Mike Houghtaling and Stanley Wetmore as they were settling in on the famed 1/2 mile.

It was setting up to be a barn burner of a race all threw the pack. Midway through the race it was Constantino still shown as your leader.

After a caution, the restart had Doug Mathewson relining on the outside of “The Bear.” Mathewson would take the lead on the outside heading into turn one and set his sights on maneuvering lap traffic. Sanford would fall into second as the duo’s sliced and diced threw traffic, in which was all the way around the track. With the fans on the edge of their seats, the top two cars would at times go three wide while in traffic, but Mathewson would have the slight edge.

In the closing laps of the race, Mathewson and Sanford were dueling as they were about to encounter a lap car. The leaders were going into turns three and four. Mathewson would go low as Sanford went high splitting the car of Mike Cole. As the defining move of the race, Mathewson would prevail and would remain the leader.

Sanford, however, was still prowling. One more move was needed, as on the last lap, in three and four, the leader would have to take a chance and go three wide to make the daring move. Sanford was ready for a mistake, but the crafty veteran from Broadablin, NY completed the pass up high and went on to win the 20 lap main event. He would be the overall and Sportsman division winner.

Sanford would have to settle for second, But would claim the Modified win and claim the 2018 MVVDMS Vintage Modified Championship. Dan Wood would not be far out of the mix finishing in a solid third place finish. John Constantino would get a fourth place finish, giving him enough points to capture the MVVDMS Vintage Sportsman Championship. Mike Houghtaling would round out your top five. Long time Modified campaigner Stanley Wetmore drove to a sixth place finish after a two year hiatus from being behind the wheel.

Bill Lease would drive to a seventh place finish, being the first Late Model to cross the checkers for the win. Malcum Warner lost the battle, but won the war being named 2018 MVVDMS Late Model Champion.

NYSSCA Safety Award winners were Doug Mathewson, Rob Sanford and Mike Cole. It was a successful night with NYSSCA and they are looking to grow even bigger in the organization in 2019.

MVVDMS handed out 21 cash prizes that were sponsored by NESCOT. Each race a lump sum was split up. Then each name of driver that signed in at the back gate had his name put in a hat. One name was drawn after each event and awarded the cash prize “POT LUCK.”

As the promoter, I could not have asked for more of an exciting 2018 season and was thankful for the professionalism that the great bunch of drivers showed. The fans certainly can go home saying that the Vintage racers put on one hell of a show!!!

We must not go without mentioning our sponsors, because we would not have had the success without them. They include:

• NESCOT
• GLOVE CITY TAXI
• JOHN’S AUTO SERVICE CENTER INC.
• CUSTOM BY BOB (signs and designs)
• MATHEWSON’S FARM
• BOYD’S MOTORWORKS
• BUANNO’S CUSTOM BODY SHOP
• GALLUP AUTO

We had thirty two drivers that made the dedication in making it to our events.

• Charlie Scofield
• Rob Sanford
• Floyd Billington
• Jay Lais
• Mike Houghtaling
• Stanley Wetmore
• Doug Atkins
• Jon Atkins
• Tex Gordan
• Darryl Hulburt
• Bob Haless
• Steve Tanner
• Joe Millington
• John Constantino
• Dan Wood
• Doug Mathewson
• Bryon Seyfried
• Frank Blanchard
• Wayde Seaburg
• Matt Larravee
• Kavin Winton
• Ed Lawrence
• Chip Gautheir
• Tony Kamburelus
• Mike Cole
• Buck Gasner
• Dave Charczuk
• Mike Gray
• Malcum Warner
• John Roese
• Bill Liese
• Ferguson

Last, but not least, 2018 had the organization reach new heights and things are defiantly looking to be bigger and better for the 2019 Vintage season. MVVDMS will be adding a new class for the older cars along with our other divisions.

I would personally like to thank the drivers, owenrs, crews, track staff and promoters for their involvement last season. With out all of you, the MVVDMS would not be able to preserve our history.

Look out racing world. The 2019 Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series is ready to go!