Tony began attending the races on a weekly basis at Waterford Speedbowl in 1992. Wanting to get more involved, Tony became employed by the Speedbowl in 1994 and remained employed there until 1997 handling such jobs as TV Crew, Spotter, Assistant Pit Steward, Scoreboard Operator, assistant Scorer and more. Tony wanted to become more involved with the cars and drivers and being involved in the family business, American Sign, was the perfect way to start. In 1997 Tony began to sponsor several cars at the Bowl by doing their graphics. In 1998 Tony and American Sign continued to sponsor several teams and also started getting more involved in the pits and at the race shops by helping out with car prep and set-ups and maintenance. Late in the 1998 season Tony had the opportunity to take out a “Sportsman” car in a practice session and the rest as they say is History. Tony purchased an old Enduro car and brought it up to the old Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam Mass and raced in two figure eight Enduro events. A blown motor and wrecked car ended that experience but the seed had been planted and Tony knew what he wanted to do.

During the off-season between 1998 and 1999 Tony began putting the pieces together to form American Sign Motorsports. A brand new Chassis and a back-up chassis were purchased as well as 2 Larry’s Auto Machine Motors and an enclosed trailer. Most of the year 1999 was spent putting a team together and buying equipment while getting the feel for the car on the track. In his Rookie season Tony qualified all but 1 week and even won a few heats and a consi along the way.

In 2000, Tony teamed up with “Sportsman” division standout Ed Gertsch Jr. who drove our back up car while helping us get up to speed. Due to the hard work and devotion of Tony’s father Dave and a little help from the Gertsch crew along the way, Tony cruised to seven heat wins and two feature wins and closed out the season 15th in points.

In 2001 Tony continued racing at Waterford Speedbowl, adding several more heat wins and another feature win. By the end of 2001 everyone on the crew was tired and longing to try something different. The entire team including all of the cars and equipment was sold and American Sign Motorsports was temporarily sidelined.

In 2002 Tony and the crew began attending the weekly races at Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday nights. The entire team really enjoyed and was impressed by the racing at Stafford. It quickly became obvious that sitting in the stands wasn’t our thing and by the end of the 2002 season, A used Stafford Late Model was purchased and the team started
all over again buying equipment and getting ready for a new Experience.

In 2003 the American Sign Motorsports team had a great rookie season at Stafford, finishing 3rd in Rookie points out of nine rookies, 20th in overall points and having won 2 heats and a “Late Model” 16 Feature. The team qualified every week and learned a lot.

In 2004 Tony continued to run the Late Model at Stafford, having teamed up with “Billy the Kid” Performance Engines to supply our power. Things never really went our way in 2004 and after a long season and a 21st place finish in the points for the year, everyone was ready to regroup and look ahead to 2005.

In 2005 things didn’t start much better as we blew a motor on opening day, and then blew another 6 weeks later. After several hard wrecks and some mechanical failures, 2005 seemed to be Tony’s worst season yet. At the end of the season several key things were found wrong with the chassis and a complete re-build was in order for 2006. The car was re-clipped and completely rebuilt as was the engine, tranny and almost every other part. The team is looking to turn things around in 2006 and get some top finishes and hopefully even a win.

2006 has started out with mixed results although things are looking positive. Opening practice saw Tony post 7th fastest time at the end of the day and a 4th place heat finish assured us of a good start for the 2006 Spring Sizzler. Unfortunately before the first lap was completed, an impatient driver behind Tony tried to go 3 wide and turned him into the wall. After a long week getting the car back together, Tony came back and finished 2nd in his heat and 12th in the feature on opening Friday night. That was Tonys best feature finish since 2003. Stay tuned to this website as we will post weekly news and update on the main page and we will be adding new pictures and other information throughout the season. We hope to see you in Victory Lane soon!