Canton racer notches

a 7th-place finish in N.H.

By Justin A. Rice July 2, 2009

Moonlighting as a race car driver, Richard Savary likes to think of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway as his own Daytona International Speedway.

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“It’s the biggest track in New England and we get the most publicity’’ there, said the 44-year-old Canton resident, who placed seventh in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s New England 100 at Loudon, N.H., on Saturday afternoon.

His best previous finish at NHMS was an 11th-place effort in June 2007.

“It felt good to have our luck change, for sure,’’ said Savary, who works construction for a Braintree company by day and races for Pine Hill Auto in Holbrook by night and on the weekends.

Prior to Saturday, his best finish was 24th in the tour’s first three races of the season. He started the race 26th on the 38-car grid.

Pine Hill owner Chet West, who has sponsored Savary for the past 20 years, was glad to see his driver break through.

“He was pretty pumped up, too, because he’s seen us up there go fast and run toward the front and not have any results,’’ said Savary, who was unable to afford to race at Loudon until three years ago.

Savary was not the only South Shore connection in the field. Bobby Grigas III of Marshfield finished 11th after starting the race in the 10th spot.

Driving a car owned and prepared by Joe and Linda Brady of Stoughton, John McKennedy of Chelmsford finished 35th. But McKennedy finished only 57 laps since an accident forced him out of the race in which he started in the 28th position.

Hingham golfer advances; tourney benefits Braintree

With her 76-74-150 finish in stroke play, Hingham’s Sarah Whitney advanced to the first round of match play at last week’s US Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at Red Tail Golf Club in Devens before falling to Leanne Bowditch of Australia.

“She missed her Tour card by a stroke and I’m still in college, so we’ll see what happens,’’ the College of William & Mary junior-to-be said of Bowditch. “She’s very good.’’

Playing in the tournament for the first time, the 2007 Hingham High grad felt that she played pretty consistent golf. “Unfortunately, I made too many bogeys and not enough birdies,’’ she said. “She had three or four birdies. She didn’t make any mistakes, so once I missed par putts I had to make a lot of birdies, too, and I didn’t.’’

Whitney will tee off in the New England Amateur tournament Tuesday at Metacomet Country Club in East Providence, R.I. . . .

The 10th annual Braintree Athletic Association golf tournament will be July 13 at Braintree Municipal Golf Course.

Entry fees are $125 per golfer with proceeds going to support the Braintree High athletic community. Registration is at 7 a.m. and golfing starts an hour later. Individuals, families, and businesses can also sponsor a hole for $100.

“The proceeds go back to the athletic community, their programs and renovations and upkeep of athletic facilities,’’ said Braintree athletic director Michael Denise.

The tourney netted $7,000 last year, and Denise hopes the event will raise $15,000 this year. As of Monday, about half of the 144 spots were available. For more information, contact Denise at 781-848-4000, ext. 2124.

Norwood boys’ U-14 soccer wins state title

The Norwood Sporting Boys U-14 Soccer team won the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions’ second division title on Sunday with a 6-0 win over Weymouth in Lancaster. The Norwood squad won five games on a busy weekend, outscoring foes 23-2.

Assistant coach Pat Payne said the team led its opponents for about 95 percent of the tournament. “They got the early goals and that was pretty much it,’’ he said. Robert Schallmo and Tyler Goncalves led the way with six goals apiece in five games.

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