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Sam's Towing & Recovery
(845) 791-4717
Route 17, Liberty, NY 12754
March 7, 2009 - The latest rules were posted today. Small changes were made to the ProStock, Modified, and 4 cylinder classes. See the lastet rules on the Rules Page. If you have any questions you can fill out the simple Rules Question Form or call us.
We continue to make changes to our website. We have added a classified section. This is a free service. If you want to list any items please email legendstockny@yahoo.com and we will list your item(s).
The Bethel Motor Speedway T-Shirts are in. See them on the Store page. We will have them available at the Motorsports Expo in Syracuse and The Middletown Motor Sports Show. Alternatively you can email us with your order.
click photo to view John Condit’s MotorSports Expo Blog
Bethel Motor Speedway Announces 2009 Schedule
Opening Day April 18
Today Bethel Motor Speedway promoters Dave and Joanne Rocket announced the 2009 Schedule. Opening Day will be April 18. The Gates will open at 1pm for an extended practice with racing to begin at 7pm.
All of the exciting racing divisions are set to return. A new racing division and several traveling series were added to the schedule. A Dirt Sportsman division will be running each week. This division is sure to become a fan favorite. The Dirt Sportsman were added to the card of Bethel Motor Madness in October 2008 and put on an exciting show. Fans can look forward to more of this excitement each week. The All Star Truck Series, Vintage Dirt Modified, and ATQMRA Midgets will all race Bethel Motor Speedway this summer.
LegendStock will also be returning to Bethel Motor Speedway on August 15. LegendStock is the most exciting and highest paying Legends Car race in the Northeast. In 2008 Bethel Motor Speedway hosted the first LegendStock. Drivers from all over the country showed up for this race. These drivers put on an unbelievable show that was enjoyed by a capacity crowd.
2009 is shaping up to be an exciting season for Bethel Motor Speedway. The driver roster will have many new faces and all the fan favorites from 2008. Dave and Joanne Rocket will also be Promoting Afton Motor Speedway in Afton, New York. This is a dirt track that will host races on Friday Nights.
By Ralph Smith
Hawley’s Gary VanOrden earned yet another individual championship this season on the local racing circuit. VanOrden capped the Street Stock crown at Bethel Motor Speedway. Gary now has 32 race wins on his impressive career resume.
Bethel, NY -
When an early summer rumor that Sullivan County, New York’s only speedway, was set to re-open its gates...well, no one in Wayne County could have been more enthusiastic as Hawley’s Gary VanOrden.
The speedway had been shuttered for nearly a season and a half.
When new ownership of the property and former promoters David and Joanne Rocket took control, they re-opened and re-named the oval Bethel Motor Speedway in late summer and raced an abbreviated season into November.
VanOrden, a past champion and perennial feature winner at the quarter mile asphalt oval, had only a few cobwebs to knock off his race car, and he was back to business as usual.
With local sponsors Southerton Automotive, Teeple Auto Salvage, Shanty Hill Productions, and Saaf Speed, VanOrden became a threat for another championship right out of the box.
By season’s end Gary Van Orden won the Bethel Motor Speedway Street Stock Championship, three feature wins, and the big season ending crown as Bethel Motor Madness Weekend Street Stock Champion.
The season championship came down to the final race of the season, as he finished just nine points ahead of rival Jim Anzalone.
When the speedway was closed early in 2006, VanOrden felt he had some unfinished business in the feature win department.
“I had 29 feature wins and felt quite proud of that fact,” said VanOrden. “But, 30 seemed like a nice number. As most racers, I’m a little superstitious. I thought I’d never get the chance to improve on my personal record.”
Whether it was superstition or just sounding better to have 30 or more wins, VanOrden put the package together for a career 32 feature wins.
If the championship run wasn’t enough to worry about during the 2008 season, Van Orden had two more reasons for concern on Saturday nights.
Having grown up around their father’s racing, Gary Jr. and daughter Amber put in many years in the grandstand, pit area, and press box where their mother Tonya tapes the races as part of her Shanty Hill Productions.
In 2008, the pair of Wallenpaupack School District students both were old enough to ask mom and dad if they could drive in the Four Cylinder Junior Division at the speedway.
Sixteen-year-old Gary Jr. and 14-year-old Amber each had their own stock car in the junior division, after having a short stint in go-karts in the time between ownerships at Bethel. Both did quite well in their freshman season with Gary Jr. finishing in fourth place and Amber not far behind in eleventh when the final points were tallied at the end of the season.
“I really have to thank my pit crew Chuck Newell Jr., Chuck Newell Sr., Mike Southerton, Ralph Davis, Mike Avisatto, Shelby Benese, and my family - Tonya, Gary Jr. and Amber,” said VanOrden. “Without their help, none of this would have been possible..”
The 2009 racing season at Bethel Motor Speedway is set for an early spring start next year with a practice day in late April and racing beginning weekly the first Saturday in May. The VanOrden family is already making plans on a full racing season with three cars ready to go in 2009.
Bethel Motor Speedway Announces 2009 Legends & Bandolero Schedule
New York Racing Action
By Tracy Chirico
LN Contributor
This past week, the 2009 schedule for Legends and Bandoleros at Bethel Motor Speedway was officially released. The schedule consists of 13 races, including LegendStock 2009 slated to be held on August 15th.
Bethel Motor Speedway itself is scheduled to open the last weekend in April. After opening the track - which had been closed for roughly a season and a half - for a shortened season beginning in August of 2008, 2009 will be the track’s official “Grand Re-Opening” season. Dave and Joanne Rocket will continue to act as promoters and oversee the operations at the track.
According to the new track owners, “The most important thing is that the track has been positioned for long term success. No uncertainty about promoters, no uncertainty about property development, no uncertainty about outrageous lease payments undermining the long term success of this facility.”
For the 2009 season, the track expects to add practice sessions prior to Saturday night racing. Current plans call for practice to be held from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. on race days, at a cost of $10 per car.
The Legends and Bandolero schedule kicks off on May 23rd, and includes races on June 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th; July 18th; August 1st, 8th, and 15th; and September 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th.
One goal of the track management in 2009 is to build a youth program. In an effort to do this, it has been announced that the entry fee for Bandolero drivers racing at Bethel will be waived during the season.
“We believe that the development of a strong youth program will ultimately contribute to the future of short-track racing,” the new track owners said. “We are looking forward to getting such a program underway.”
McGraw Moving & Storage has signed on as a division sponsor. It has been announced that the Legends purse will be the same as the Street Stock purse.
The most prestigious and highest-paying race on the schedule is undoubtedly LegendStock 2009. When the track hosted LegendStock 2008, the response was very positive. In 2008, Michael Gervais Jr. was the overall winner, capturing the honors for the Pro division. Mike Alcaro was the Semi-Pro winner, while Tom Brockhouse took home the honors in the Masters division.
Several sponsors have already committed themselves to LegendStock 2009, including McGraw Moving & Storage, United Financial Bank of Florida, Universal Pool Maintenance and Services, and Power Battery Company. The advertised purse is currently $3,000., with $1,500. going to the winner and $50. being awarded to any car that takes the green for the A Main. If more sponsors are acquired, the purse will grow. More details will be made available as the race date nears.
For full information on Bethel Motor Speedway, visit www.bethelmotorapeedway.com, or go to www.legendstock2009.com for further information about the LegendStock 2009 event.
Sports
Racing comes back to Bethel Motor Speedway on Aug. 2
By Ken Mcmillan
Times Herald-Record
July 18, 2008 6:00 AM
The race car engines will roar back to life at Bethel Motor Speedway on Aug. 2.
Joanne Rocket, who promotes the track with her husband, Dave, said it would have been too soon to start up operations this weekend or next, following a two-year layoff.
"We're anxious to get it open and get going again, but we want to do it right," Joanne Rocket said.
The asphalt track was still in good shape, but the lighting needed to be upgraded and there was a lot of site work that had to be done, including mowing, painting and making the bathrooms functional.
"It's a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that they (the public) don't see," Joanne Rocket said.
The season will run nine weeks, from Aug. 2-Sept. 27, and there will be a points championship.
The phones have been ringing non-stop, Joanne Rocket said, and the track's Web site, bethelmotorspeedway.com, has received a few thousand visits, but she said she won't know what the car counts will look like until the drivers show up.
In 2004, the last season on the Rockets' seven-year previous watch, there were 18 cars in the modified division, 23 in pro stocks, 24 in street stocks, 15 in four-cylinder senior and 20 in four-cylinder junior — many of those drivers either gave up the sport or shifted to other tracks, such as Accord Speedway or Orange County Fair Speedway.
The 2004 champs were Jeff Richardson of Goshen (IMCA modified), Tom DeMarmels of Grahamsville (pro stock), Gary Van Orden of Hawley, Pa., (street stock), Mike Houghtaling of White Sulphur Springs (four cylinder), Dan Curry of Harris (four cylinder junior) and Paul Dodorico of Miller Place (legends).
The track will feature a $5 gate admission and low-cost concessions. "We're trying to make it affordable for a family," Joanne Rocket said.
The INEX Legends will run on Aug. 16. The Northeast Vintage Dirt Modified Racing Club will compete on Aug. 23 and Sept. 20. The Rockets are awaiting word from the North East Enduro Tour Series (NEETS).
Since when?
A number of lengthy winless streaks have come to an end in recent weeks at OCFS.
Joe Conklin's sportsman triumph on July 5 was his first since Sept. 19, 1998 — only Eddie Redner has a longer drought, dating back to July 29, 1995.
Richie Coons won his first sportsman race in three years on June 7. Chris Shultz's victory in big blocks on June 21 was his first since July 9, 2005. Jerry Higbie Jr. snapped a 26-month drought in small blocks with his win on June 7.
6/6/08
Sullivan asphalt track to resume operations in july
The asphalt race track in Bethel will resume racing operations as early as next month under the name Bethel Motor Speedway. Former race car owner and driver A member of the Graf family is the new owner, and former promoters Dave and Joanne Rocket will run operations, as they did previously for seven years (1998-2004).
Joanne said the facility will need some cleaning up, and she is hopeful of starting up in the third week of July, but only if the facility is clean and ready to go.
An information meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. on June 15 at Hilton Garden Inn in Newburgh.
A temporary website has been set up at bethelmotorspeedway.com.
The track has operated under the names Kauneonga Speedway, Catskill Mountain Speedway and White Lake Speedway in recent seasons. The 2006 season, under former promoter Michelle Gannon, came to a halt before the mid-point, and a spotty schedule was resumed later in the season. The track was dormant in 2007.
