Dennis Gada and Ted Christopher battle it out during the 2004 Budweiser Modified Nationals
EVENT HISTORY
The origins of the Speedbowl Triple Crown go back to the early days of Terry Eames as a track promoter. In 1996 when “The Finale” became the season-ending 2-day event. Then in following 1997 season, “The Modified Nationals” featuring the $5,000 to win SK Modified race, debuted as the new season opener. 1998 had the inaugural mid-season “Pepsi 300” which was a double-point, extra-distance event for all 4 weekly divisions (SK Modifieds, Late Models, Sportsman & Mini Stocks) in which everyone qualified via time trials instead of heats. The Speedbowl Triple Crown refers to the 12 seasons from 1998-2009, when these were the only extra-distance events for the weekly Saturday point divisions.
The “Speedbowl Triple Crown” was not a termed initially used by the Speedbowl management or media. It was created by us here at speedbowlhistory.com when we first started researching historical stats of the ‘bowl and publishing the track program (2007-2014). It was subsequently referenced by Speedbowl media & announcers during it’s existence on the track schedule.
The race formats changed a bit over the first 10 seasons. The Modified Nationals was originally a 200-lap SK Modified event. In 2000, the race was called official after 101 laps due to rain. Beginning the following season in 2001, the distance was shortened to 150. Late Models ran 50 laps, while Street Stocks and Mini Stocks ran 30 lap features. The format for both the Pepsi 300 and Finale were nearly identical – 100 lap features for the SK Modifieds & Late Models and 50 lap features for the Sportsman & Mini Stocks – the only difference being the time trial qualifying for the Pepsi 300, which was also originally a double point event for all divisions from 1998-2000.
When Speedbowl management released the 2010 season schedule, the annual Modified Nationals SK 150 was moved to the Finale event (then the following year to Labor Day weekend), which effectively ended the Triple Crown era where all weekly divisions had their extra-distance events in a 3-race format throughout the year. By 2015, all these events were discontinued, although “Finale” has been used for the last event of the season occasionally, yet under a different format. Below are the results for all 4 divisions from 1998-2009.
SK MODIFIED WINNERS
| YEAR | MOD NATIONALS | PEPSI 300 | THE FINALE |
| 1998 | Bert Marvin | Ted Christopher | Eric Berndt |
| 1999 | Ted Christopher | Bert Marvin | Ron Yuhas Jr |
| 2000 | Mark Lajeunesse | Tucker Reynolds Jr | Ron Yuhas Jr |
| 2001 | Eric Berndt | Ronnie Silk | Ron Yuhas Jr |
| 2002 | Eric Berndt | Ron Yuhas Jr | Dennis Gada |
| 2003 | Dennis Gada | Ted Christopher | Dennis Gada |
| 2004 | James Civali | Ted Christopher | Dennis Charette |
| 2005 | Tom Fox | Ron Yuhas Jr | Chris Pasteryak |
| 2006 | Frank Ruocco | Tom Fox | Rob Janovic Jr |
| 2007 | Jeff Pearl | Jeff Pearl | Dennis Gada |
| 2008 | Dennis Gada | Jeffery Paul | Keith Rocco |
| 2009 | Ron Yuhas Jr | Keith Rocco | Jeffrey Paul |
LATE MODEL WINNERS
| YEAR | MOD NATIONALS | PEPSI 300 | THE FINALE |
| 1998 | Allen Coates | Allen Coates | Allen Coates |
| 1999 | Jay Stuart | Jay Stuart | Jay Stuart |
| 2000 | Jay Stuart | Chris Douton | Chris Douton |
| 2001 | Mark St. Hiliare | Phil Rondeau | Larry Goss |
| 2002 | Corey Hutchings | Paul Heard | Mark St. Hiliare |
| 2003 | Allen Coates | Corey Hutchings | Mark St. Hiliare |
| 2004 | Corey Hutchings | Phil Rondeau | Corey Hutchings |
| 2005 | Bruce Thomas Jr | Corey Hutchings | Charles Bailey III |
| 2006 | Corey Hutchings | Allen Coates | Allen Coates |
| 2007 | Bruce Thomas Jr | Dennis Botticello | Bruce Thomas Jr |
| 2008 | Bruce Thomas Jr | Bruce Thomas Jr | Bruce Thomas Jr |
| 2009 | Marc Curtis Jr | Bruce Thomas Jr | Timmy Jordan |
SPORTSMAN WINNERS
| YEAR | MOD NATIONALS | PEPSI 300 | THE FINALE |
| 1998 | Corey Hutchings | Joe Mancini Jr | John Beetham |
| 1999 | Chris Douton | Corey Hutchings | Corey Hutchings |
| 2000 | Joe Mancini Jr | Shawn Monahan | Chris Douton |
| 2001 | Diego Monahan | Shawn Monahan | Ed Gertsch Jr |
| 2002 | Chris Douton | Ed Gertsch Jr | Tommy Silva |
| 2003 | Ed Gertsch Jr | Jay Lozyniak | Chuck Rogers |
| 2004 | Keith Rocco | Keith Rocco | Roger Perry |
| 2005 | Bill Gertsch Jr | Norm Root Jr | Joe Curioso III |
| 2006 | Dwayne Dorr | Dwayne Dorr | Dwayne Dorr |
| 2007 | Bill Gertsch Jr | Bill Gertsch Jr | Al Stone III |
| 2008 | Al Stone III | Al Stone III | Brandon Plemons |
| 2009 | Josh Galvin | Walt Hovey Jr | Ronnie Oldham Jr |
MINI STOCK WINNERS
| YEAR | MOD NATIONALS | PEPSI 300 | THE FINALE |
| 1998 | Billy Guyette | Billy Guyette | Jeff Miller |
| 1999 | Jeff Miller | Jeff Miller | Jeff Diegielewski |
| 2000 | Roger Perry | Jeff Miller | Bruce Thomas |
| 2001 | Phil Evans | Tommy Silva | Bruce Thomas Jr |
| 2002 | Jeff Miller | Dan Darnstaedt | Phil Evans |
| 2003 | Richard Brooks | Phil Evans | Chris Burton |
| 2004 | Timmy Jordan | Glenn Colvin | Richard Brooks |
| 2005 | Ken Cassidy Jr | Danny Field | Ken Cassidy Jr |
| 2006 | Dave Sylvia | Joe Godbout III | Ken Cassidy Jr |
| 2007 | Joe Godbout III | Ken Cassidy Jr | Ken Cassidy Jr |
| 2008 | Randy Churchill Jr | Danny Field | Ken Cassidy Jr |
| 2009 | Ken Cassidy Jr | Danny Field | Louie Bellisle III |
drivers in BOLD completed Career Triple Crown
drivers in RED completed Season Triple Crown sweep
MISC STATS
- Jeff Pearl (SK) and Billy Guyette (MS) both won features during the 1997 Finale. These would have otherwise given them the Career Triple Crown.
- Ken Cassidy Jr won a record 4-straight Finale events (2005-2008)
- Corey Hutchings is the only driver with the Career Triple Crown in two divisions (Sportsman & Late Models)
- Bruce Thomas Jr (LM) and Ken Cassidy Jr (MS) both won 7 Speedbowl Triple Crown events, the most with any division
- 21 different drivers won Speedbowl Triple Crown races in the Sportsman division – the most in any division