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All-Stars Shine Bright In South Windsor

South Windsor’s 11-12 girls’ softball all-stars take a victory lap after defeating rival Ellington 4-2 to win the District 8 title last month. The girls were one of four South Windsor teams to capture postseason championships. The 11-12 boys baseball team won the District 8 and Sectional championships, the 9-10 boys’ baseball team won the District 8 title. The Babe Ruth all-stars finished runner-up at the state level. 

Father and Son Two Of The Many Faces Of Ellington Racing

By Erin Quinlan
The Sports Department

For father and son duo Vince and Kevin Gambacorta of Ellington, racing is in the blood.

"I first started when we were first married when I was 23, 33 years ago," Vince said. "I ran for a year or two and then we decided to have a house and kids and that was the end of that. As Kevin got older and became a teenager, he began to develop an interested in it and I told him all along, if we're going to do it, you're going to get your hands dirty and you're going to be part of it. And he kind of resisted that and then he saved up enough money and bought his first Dare Stock. In between I've done Figure Eights at Riverside and some Enduro racing and things over the years. I just didn't stay in it continuously over the whole time. I think when we were doing Enduro and the Figure Eights - he was a kid I think that's what got him interested was watching me out there and everything."

Kevin confirms that watching his father was what got him interested in racing.

"He did the Enduros and I was always into it," he said. "I wanted to drive. And then when I was in high school, I worked on a pro stock team at Stafford for a year and then when I turned 18, I'd been working since I was like 14 saving my money. When I turned 18 I think it was, I bought my first car. It was a Dare Stock. It wasn't a very good one but at the time I had no idea what I was doing anyway. I ran that for two years before I realized I needed something better."

For a while, Vince was just involved with his sons racing, and then decided to get back into racing for himself.

"I think it was Kevin's second year of Dare Stock and he got tired of me telling him what to do and told me to go buy my own car," Vince said.

Last year, the Gambacortas were in the same division - the Limited Late Model division. This year, Vince is back in Dare Stock and Kevin is still in the Limited Late Model division.

"He had his old car here and I ran it and it just got to be too expensive," Vince said. "So I went back to my Dare Stock car. They consider it their entry level division - the cheap division so you can decide if you want to go further. None of them are cheap anymore, though. I'm satisfied right now, as long as I get to race. As long as I've got to go up there with him every weekend. I don't like to sit and watch. This gives me something to do. The Limiteds you have to be a little more serious and have a lot more money."

Kevin is driving a Chevy chassis with a Dodge Charger body on it. Vince drives a Monte Carlo that he says has been around for a long time.

"It's the same one Kevin won the track championship in the Dare division with," he said.

While father and son race, the wives are also a very big part of the equation.

"It's a family thing," Vince said. "His wife is into it, my wife is. They come up to the track and they cook hamburgers in the trailer and help us get ready and suited up and harnessed in. The four of us go up every Friday night. My wife is Right Image Signs so she's the one that decorates and letters up the cars."

Kevin appreciates the support the wives provide at the track.

"They're there to help us out and take care of us," he said. "My wife is actually pregnant this year but up until this year, she would come to the garage like Thursday nights before we go to the track. We have computer scales that we put the cars up on for setup and stuff and she would come sit in the car for me so I could do what I need to do and she would help me load up."

While it is a family thing and father and son do share the common bond of racing, they have different ideas of what to do.

"We tend to have a difference of opinions on how to do things so I kind of just do my own thing and if I need help I'll ask him and the same way back and forth," Kevin said. "But as far as during the week, I kind of just do my own thing on my car by myself and do my own setup thing and he does his thing. At the track, we're there together, if we need to help each other we do."

This season, Kevin is in a battle with another guy from Ellington - Dan Flannery.

"We were ahead of him, we had the points lead," he said. "We had a night where someone took us out and it destroyed the car. That night, I was ready to take a break and sit out. But there were so many people over there helping me and working to get it back together that I said, 'I can't quit now.' So I took the week off and we fixed the car and we came back and won the next week. That one night got us behind and we haven't been able to catch back up to them."

It's a friendly rivalry between Kevin and Flannery though.

"I like Dan," Kevin said. "He and I always race together. There are some guys when you're near them you don't know what they're going to do, you can't trust them. I'm always comfortable around Dan. I know he's not going to take me out or anything and I would never do that to him. He's a good kid. And he's got the same deal too, he's there with his family."

Kevin knows that while it may be difficult to overcome Flannery's points lead it can be done.

"We have time," he said. "We could do it but we're just going to need a little bit of luck, some help. It's definitely possible."

The Gambacorta's aren't the only Ellington family making waves on the track.

Most kids don't learn how to drive until they're 16 years old. Cole "Shake-N-Bake" Hurlburt however, learned how to drive at age six.

Cole, 7, from Ellington, drives in the CERIC Kart Series at Stafford Motor Speedway - against kids much older than he is.

Cole says his father, Greg, asked him if he wanted to race and he said yes. The rest is history.

In his Tiger B class, there are 25 drivers between the ages of seven and 11 and he is gaining confidence every week.

"He's matured as a driver a lot," Greg said. "Racing older kids, they do bump and bang and are very competitive. The younger kids get a little intimidated. In the last few weeks, Cole has been very competitive and we've finished second. It was just awesome. He showed that he can race with the big kids. In the class that he was in last year, Tiger Cubs, everyone gets a trophy. This year, only the top three get a trophy. He's already got three trophies."

Last season, Cole went to New Hampshire to race in the Triple Crown, on tracks he, nor his father, had ever seen or studied before.

"He won the first night we were there," Greg said. "The second day he finished sixth and we finished third in the Triple Crown. It was quite the accomplishment for him."

Racing is in the Hurlburt blood. Cole's great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and extended family has either raced before or worked or work on race cars.

"He's always been into the racing, his dad has been into the racing, and they have friends up there that kind of told them about it a little bit and then that's how they got into it," Cole's mother, Debbie, said.

Greg added, "My dad and myself have worked with various NASCAR teams through the years so we kinda have an idea how to make cars go
fast."

When Cole races on Monday nights, the whole family is there to see it.
"It's 100 percent family," Greg said. "That's the reason why we're doing this. I love to work on race cars and being gone all the time with NASCAR is tough when you have four kids. With Cole interested in racing, it's made it really nice. It's made it a family thing. It keeps me at the race track but the best part about it is that my four-year old twins can come into the pits with us, be with us, help us push the kart. My daughter Grace, she's nine, has friends there. It's a whole big family atmosphere. One of the neat things was this year, when he did win a race, his cousin Christopher MacVarish, was there. He was leaving for Afghanistan. He won, got a picture with him - it was nice. It's a huge family of racing."

That's not as far as the family connections go.

"His grandfather is a huge support for us - Clifford Hurlburt," Greg said. "He's the biggest support. He helps us a lot. Cole's number 22 came from his mother's number in high school from playing soccer and softball."

The Tiger B class is based on age and skill level. Cole could move up when he gets older, based on his age, or he could also move up if he wins three races in a year. People who know the sport have been impressed with how Cole has been performing.

"That made us feel good, and him too," Greg said. "He's a very quiet kid and he's always asking how he does. As long as Cole wants to drive, he can move up. If Cole wants to do something else, play baseball or whatever, and doesn't want to do this anymore, we'll sell everything. As long as he wants to drive, we'll keep going. We'll move right up through. If he wants to drive at Stafford in the big cars, then we'll do that someday too."

Cole has many sponsors and they make it possible for him to do what he does.

"Environmental Services, Barber Utilities, Summit Consulting Group, Hinckley Construction, VMS Construction, Red Technologies, Tolland NAPA, Snap-on Tools, H&D Welding, ABCO Welding Supply, Bolles Motors, Midford Kart Shop, and Frederick's Autoworks," Greg said. "It's the only way we could do it. With the economy the way it is and stuff. They were very pleasantly surprised with his performance last year. They come and support us. It's a lot of fun. They're the ones that actually volunteered to be our sponsors. They volunteered because he's seven years old and started at six. They think it's great that it's a little kid."

What is Cole's favorite part of racing?

"I like hanging out with my family and friends and finishing in the top three," he said.
 

Tolland Athletics To Take Big Hit After Budget Decrease

By Steve Smith

The Sports Department

In order to fall in line with the town’s budget number that passed after the second referendum, the Tolland Board of Education voted to eliminate junior varsity and freshman sports at Tolland High School and middle school sports, along with cutting 11 teaching positions and world language programs.

(For full story, see Tolland High School Athletics Page)