Bridgeport Motorsports Park

A New Day Dawns:  Inaugural STSS South Region Kicks Off At Bridgeport Speedway Sunday, April 19

By BRETT DEYO

I’ve heard it from fans and racers in this area for years: “When are you going to start having races close to home?”

The answer is now! After concentrating many of my past promotions, and last year’s inaugural Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Hi-Tek, in the northern tier of Pennsylvania and New York, a new era will kick off with the ‘South Jersey Shootout’ at Bridgeport Speedway Sunday, April 19 (rain date: April 26).

Bridgeport will make history as our first Pioneer Pole Buildings Inc. South Region presented by Scotty’s Speed & Diesel event. Our five-race STSS South Region, designed with PA/NJ/DE racers in mind, boasts a point fund of approximately $20,000, with $7,500 for the champion and $750 reserved for 10^th-place in the standings. Drivers missing the top-10 with perfect attendance will receive $250.

Each race in the STSS South region will be lucrative, too, with a minimum of $5,000 to win, $1,000 for 10^th and $400 to take the green flag.

Contingency sponsors have posted bonuses and product certificates not only for each race, but the year-end Awards Banquet, as well.

Along with our opener at Bridgeport, the STSS South Region will visit Big Diamond, New Egypt, Georgetown and Delaware International speedways.

The ‘South Jersey Shootout’ at Bridgeport has already attracted attention from across the Northeast. As of this writing, we have Modified entries on file from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Massachusetts.

The STSS South Region will be unique in that some of our North Region drivers, competitors such as Anthony Perrego, Danny Creeden, Mike Mahaney, defending STSS champion Andy Bachetti, will venture south to compete against the best Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware have to offer.

The development of the STSS South Region has attracted plenty of attention from the First State of Delaware, with Delaware International’s defending champion Jordan Watson leading a strong contingent north to include Matt Jester, Jamie Mills, Shawn Ward, Scott Van Gorder, Howard O’Neal, the Hawkins (Matt and Dale), Howard O’Neal, Michael White and more.

Of course, the Delaware gang will have to battle Bridgeport’s tough field of weekly big-block racers, New Egypt Speedway invaders and PA drivers crossing the bridge to do battle in the Garden State. It’s shaping up to present PA/NJ/DE battles reminiscent of the MODCAR organization in the 1980s.

You won’t want to miss out on being part of history on Sunday, April 19 at Bridgeport when it all gets underway.

As an added bonus, both the five-eighths-mile track and the inner quarter-mile will be in action on the same day! The touring XCel 600 Modifieds will make their first appearance at Bridgeport on the inner oval in conjunction with the STSS visit.

See you at the track!

To learn more: www.shorttracksuperseries.com

Facebook: Short Track Super Series
Twitter: @ShortTrackSS

[blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [vc_column_text pb_margin_bottom=”no” pb_border_bottom=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]

[dropcap1]D[/dropcap1]o you want my opinion?  Not coming from a Doug Hoffman fan, but rather my honest opinion?  Doug Hoffman was GREAT, AWESOME, IMPRESSIVE, and about 20 more similar synonyms.  In fact, I truly believe Doug was vastly underrated as impossible as that may seem.  His records are tremendous and his focus was intense and they don’t make many like him anymore, not many at all.

When you see Allentown, Pennsylvania you ONLY think of one person if you are part of the dirt racing world. D-O-U-G  H-O-F-F-M-A-N!  A man synonymous with race tracks such as Nazareth, Bridgeport, Flemington, and East Windsor (notice that only one of them remain today).    Doug emphatically made a visit to Victory Lane 482 different times in his storied career.  482 times!!!

Now, I understand the naysayers will point out Brett Hearn’s 800 plus or Billy Pauch’s 700 plus wins and that’s fine.  Let’s keep in mind that both these phenomenal racers got their feet wet several years before Hoffman and have also been adding to their win totals the past 8 seasons as to where Doug hadn’t raced.  What I’m trying to say is, is that Doug Hoffman has every right to be mentioned in the same sentence as these two icons.

Let’s look at the stats:  Wins at 38 different race tracks!  Two track in Texas as well as Florida.  Three in Canada!  Bullrings like Five Mile Point and Penn Can to monsters like Syracuse and Nazareth National.  Neutral locations such as Charlotte, Port Royal, Hagerstown, and Williams Grove to enemy territories where the outsider never wins like Lebanon Valley, Weedsport, Fonda, Orange County, and Canandaigua.    His versatility was tested on the pavement ovals such as Thompson, Flemington, Evergreen, Mahoning, and Dorney Park.  Don’t forget about the countless wins and championships at his home stomping grounds of East Windsor, Bridgeport, and Big Diamond.

What about wins?  Try this on for size – The Freedom 76er, The Coal Cracker, Hagerstown’s Octoberfest, The Delaware State Championships, Eastern States 200, Fonda 200 (three times), Lebanon Valley 200 (twice), Flemington 200 both in a D/A modified as well as an asphalt Tour-Type Modified, Bridgeport 200, Nazareth 200, and of course the ULTIMATE victory Syracuse during Super Dirt Week.  Back to back 40 win seasons in 1983 and 1984:  The man won two 100-lappers in one day at two different tracks – Nazareth National and Penn National with a victory the very night before at Bridgeport.  In 1994 Doug raced to a 100-lap win at East Windsor on Friday night, and then drove to the winner’s circle two days later at Flemington in an asphalt modified 100-lapper.  Two different tracks in two totally different type of cars…all in one weekend!

Doug Hoffman could win anytime, anywhere, on any surface.  Not many people realize this, but Doug is the ONLY driver to win a Mr. DIRT Championship not racing at a New York based track.  The series is designed to focus on NY tracks ultimately favoring NY drivers as they race on their home turfs.  Although Brett Hearn is from New Jersey, he’s always raced in New York on a weekly basis thus making him a “NY” driver.  Doug’s also the ONLY driver to have ever won a Mr. DIRT Title (1991) along with a NASCAR Regional Championship (2004).

If you think about it, Doug Hoffman was the last man to arrive to the modified scene in our area.  Guys like Hearn, Horton, Cozze, Pauch, and Brightbill were already established race car drivers and they each had their own fan base.  When Doug entered the dirt modified world people didn’t know who the hell he was and where he really came from…they just knew that some guy from Pennsylvania was sure winning a lot.   I think he was always viewed as the ‘villain’ when it came to PA and NJ tracks.  I believe Doug was more appreciated and respected at the NY tracks…I could be wrong but that’s the way it seemed to me.

I guess the ‘Winter Blues’ have me thinking about some of the good ‘ol days.  But not to get too sentimental and melancholy because there’s still a great season around the corner at Bridgeport Speedway which ironically opens up with the ‘60over Special – Doug Hoffman Memorial’ on Saturday, March 28!

[/vc_column_text] [vc_single_image image_size=”full” frame=”noframe” full_width=”no” lightbox=”yes” link_target=”_self” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]