Lee USA hosts the Ollie Silva Memorial 75-lap Summer Classic for ISMA Supermodifieds Friday night with an earlier-than-usual 6:30 p.m. post. The Benson Lumber Small Block Supers, Hobby Stocks, Classic Lites and NEMA Lites are also scheduled.

The 800-plus open-wheel rockets are back in New England after a road swing to Ohio and Ontario. Tim Jedrzejek of Independence, Ohio, currently on a hot streak, is expected to compete. A five-time Midwest Supermodified Association champion, Jedrzejek beat point leader Mike Lichty of Innerkip, Ont., out of the fourth turn on the last lap to win a 75-lap feature by less than a tenth of a second at Delaware Speedway Saturday.

A week earlier, Jedrzejek wired the field from the outside pole to win the Hy-Miler 100 at Sandusky Speedway. Lichty was second in that one, too, with Dave Shulick Jr. third, Johnny Benson fourth and former Lee Small Block Supermodified champion Eddie Witkum of Westford, Mass., fifth.

Witkum drives Howie Lane’s No. 97 with sponsorship support from Essex Seafood (Howie’s place near the Gloucester line on Route 133), Harrington Paving of Chelmsford, Mass., and Vinal Excavating.

Witkum has turned a gazillion laps at Lee and could pull off an upset, especially if he lands a front row seat. There’s been a tendency for up-front starters to dominate, but on the other hand, as Lane points out, “we had six different winners in the first six races.”

Top contenders include Pennsylvanian Lou Cicconi, Rob Summers, who has the Vic Miller No.11 ride vacated by the newly retired Chris Perley, former NEMA Midget ace Ben Seitz and Granite Staters Mike Ordway and Jeff Locke.

Witkum led the first 50 laps at Delaware Saturday, (Ryan Coniam of Laguna Beach, Calif., won Friday’s 35-lap ISMA feature after leading the entire race, passing polesitter Benson on the opening lap), before yielding to Lichty and Jedrzejek. “Eddie had a great night,” Lane said. “They just got him, that’s all. They’re two of the best.”

ISMA records lap times during practice and the top 18 cars are locked into the heats. The top four finishers in each heat redraw for spots in the feature. Jedrzejek, by rule, can’t start better than 12th as the most recent winner.

Witkum admits to being hungry for his first big-block win and for having ISMA title aspirations. “The biggest differences between the small blocks and big blocks are that you have longer races and much more rear weight, “he said. “The small blocks give you good experience though. Having them weekly at Lee is a good deal.”

Hudson Speedway is where Witkum got his start “in a V-6 super for Everett Crotty, son of the late Bud Crotty of Billerica, Mass., who used to race against Ollie Silva.

Silva, who died in 2004, was one of 16 children born to Portuguese immigrants. He started racing at Dracut Speedway in 1949. His ability to win races from Canada to Florida to California — in cars that didn’t cost nearly as much as those of his most competitive rivals — was legendary. He was a fixture at The Pines, Hudson and Star, a multi-time winner of Star Speedway’s International Classic, and a Modified and Supermodified champion who won an estimated 500 features in 12 states.

Legendary car builder Jim Belfiore is the Haffner’s Gasoline and Fuels Ollie Silva Memorial Grand Marshal. Belfiore considered Silva a personal friend. In a Lee USA press release, he described his selection as, “a great honor.” His son, Justin Belfiore, a past winner of the Star Classic, will compete Friday night.

Both the ISMA Supermodifieds and the Valenti Modified Series will be in action Saturday at Waterford Speedbowl as a part of the “Wings & Wheels” race card. Doug Coby of Milford, Conn., winner of the Whelen Modified Tour race at Stafford last weekend, is expected to join in.

The Granite State Pro Stock Series John Hoyt 100 was rained out at Monadnock. The make-up date is Saturday, Sept. 8.

Chris Jacobson of Seabrook won last Friday’s 50-lap Hobby Stock feature, which went flag-to-flag green, at Lee. Late Model driver Bernie Lantagne of McIndoe Falls, Vt., had a triple-crown night at White Mountain. This weekend, White Mountain races both Saturday and Sunday (PASS 150 — Sunday, 2 p.m.) Joe Squeglia came out on top at Star in the Late Model feature. Chris Kingsley picked up his first Strictly Stock win.

Kevin Chaffee of Fairlee, Vt., was a Sprint Cars of New England (SCoNE) winner Sunday at Legion Speedway. Chaffee has had earlier wins there in a Modified and a Midget. The Outlaws return Sunday to Hudson Speedway.

Tom Herzig writes a weekly motor sports column for the New Hampshire Union Leader.