By Lou Modestino

Brad Babb held off a hard charging Jeremy Davis in a caution-riddled event to pick up his second win of the season in the Fadden General Store 100 at White Mountain Motorsports Park (WMMP).

The largest field of the year saw 32 cars fight to get into the inaugural Fadden General Store 100. Bobby Nadeau and Barry Gray led the field to green at the head of the 24 car pack to begin the race. Gray passed Nadeau and led the first few laps before the first of 12 cautions came out for Nadeau, as the Buxton, Maine driver spun on lap 15.

That would pit the veteran against young-blood as Gray saw Babb on his outside on the restart. Babb took the lead on lap 16 and fended off Gray’s multiple challenges on restarts, including a hard hit by 2012 champion Bobby Cabral head-on into the wall as Jeremy Davis nabbed the second spot,

All that set up a fierce battle between two feature winners on the 2014 season. Davis and Babb had the cars to beat as on every restart the two would rocket in front of the rest of the field,  At one point the duo enjoyed a 10 car-length lead over the rest of the pack.

The championship standings changed when Matt Frahm and Quinny Welch tangled in turn one at the mid-point of the race. The incident left both cars disabled and Frahm’s point lead evaporated.

Babb and Davis engaged in battle on every restart as Davis fought hard multiple times on the outside groove. Then fell back in line each time.  He was trying to save his car and tires for the end of the race. Then  the field scattered on lap 73 when Barry Gray spun in turn one.. All that sent the field in multiple directions with George Bessette and Larry Gelinas suffering damage along with George Helliwell ending up perpendicular to the wall.

The race began to heat up on the restart as Babb and Davis made contact in turn one sending Davis into the third groove and eventually back to the 8th position. Davis turned up the heat passing multiple cars. He used an incident between Richie Dearborn and Michael Lavoie, who were running third and fourth at the time.  That set up a 6 lap shootout between Babb and Davis. Babb proved to be very strong as he motored to the win and in the process became the first repeat winner in the 2014 season.

“This was a race I was really looking forward to,” an excited Babb said after the race. “I knew we were going to have a good shot at the win tonight. There was a lot of outsiders that showed up. I knew it was going to be tough. But it feels great to win at one of my favorite tracks.” Babb also apologized to Davis in victory lane for the incident on the track. Babb was glad Davis fought his way back up to challenge him for the lead just one more time.

On becoming the first repeat winner in the 2014 season in the Granite State Pro Stock Series, Babb isn’t settling for just two wins on the season. “It’s great but it will be really cool to win (the World Series) at Thompson.”

Davis, who settled for the second spot, was disappointed with the result. “I had been saving my assets behind Brad (Babb) and trying to have something left to take him at the end. But I had to use it up coming back up through the field,” Davis explained. “I got a good jump on him on the restart. I didn’t cut down and  he got into the left rear and I barely kept it off the backstretch wall. I just tried to keep it going.”

Davis was on fire moving up through the field after the incident to challenge Babb one more time. “I just had to use everything I had saved up during the entire race. I still had a little bit left. But by the time I got back up to him, I had nothing left. I wasn’t going to wreck him, I’m better than that.”

Dillon Moltz laid back and was rewarded with a third place finish, even with mechanical troubles. “We had no power steering since lap 2. We had a good car all day long, But, we got a bad draw in the heat and then just carefully picked our way through to the front in the feature,”

Moltz remarked. “Once my spotter told me Frahm wrecked, I ust had to be smart and use my head. We did have a good car and I didn’’t know if we had anything for the 4 (Babb), and the 09 (Davis)  who was fast too. We just wanted to make it a solid night for us.”

Youngster Derek Griffith survived to finish fourth after scattering to avoid race cars on lap 73 accident. Tommy O’Sullivan picked up his best finish of the year by taking the fifth spot. Zig Geno and Larry Gelinas, who started in the back row, finished 6th and 7th, respectively. Craig Weinstein of Walpole, Mike Parks, and George Bessette rounded out the top 10. Trevor Sanborn, who qualified the number 37 for Gelinas as the Buxton, Maine driver competed in the Bond Auto ACT Invitational at NHMS earlier in the day, Weinstein, Parks and Dearborn picked up heat wins. Tommy O’Sullivan picked up the win in the consi.

Gelinas, by finishing seventh and Frahm unable to finish the race, picked up the win in the Granite State Pro Stock Series Tournament Challenge presented by Victory Lane Radio and 360 Design Lab. With the win, Gelinas picked up $500 with Frahm taking $200 for the runner-up spot.

The Granite State Pro Stock Series will conclude the 2014 season at the World Series at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on October 18-19.  That’s when champion will be crowned at the most prestigious race of the year.

Fadden General Store 100 results

9/20/14

POS (Start) Driver Hometown

1. (3) Brad Babb Windham, ME

2. (5) Jeremy Davis Tamworth, NH

3. (18) Dillon Moltz Waterford, CT

4. (12) Derek Griffith Hudson, NH

5. (19) Tommy O’Sullivan Wilbraham, MA

6. (23) Zig Geno Canterbury, NH

7. (24) Larry Gelinas Buxton, ME

8. (8) Craig Weinstein East Walpole, MA

9. (7) Mike Parks Walpole, NH

10. (21) George Bessette Danbury, CT

11. (11) Michael Lavoie Chicoutimi, PQ

12. (6) Richie Dearborn Hollis Center, ME

13. (1) Bobby Nadeau Buxton, ME

14. (13) Mike O’Sullivan Springfield, MA

15. (2) Barry Gray Belchertown, MA

16. (15) George Helliwell Derry, NH

17. (9) Cory Robert Canaan, NH

18. (4) Dennis Maxfield Fitchburg, MA

19. (22) Joey Squeglia, JR Derry, NH

20. (10) Matt Frahm Hampstead, NH

21. (17) Quinny Welch Lancaster, NH

22. (16) Bobby Cabral Kingston, NH

23. (20) Billy Ryder Sundown, NH

24. (14) Adam Norton Ludlow, MA

DNQ (88) Kyle Desouza Fair Haven, MA

DNQ (21) Josh King Vernon, VT

DNQ (31) Donnie Lashua Canaan, NH

DNQ (92) Billy Brady Marstons Mills, MA

DNQ (38) Babe Branscombe Nottingham, NH

DNQ (55) Jesse Smith Herman, ME

DNQ (2) Keith Caruso Millbury, MA

DNQ (40) Mike Mitchell Cumberland, RI

CONTINGENCY AWARDS Winner

AR Bodies (Hard Luck) Matt Frahm

Bond Auto Parts (Last car on lead lap) George Bessette

Crazy Ed’s Powersports (Hard Charger) Larry Gelinas

Draco Springs Award (Most positions gained) Larry Gelinas

Five Star Stock Car Bodies (5th place finisher) Tommy O’Sullivan

MacLellan Metal Finishing (Heat #1 Winner) Trevor Sanborn

MacLellan Metal Finishing (Heat #2 Winner) Craig Weinstein

MacLellan Metal Finishing (Heat #3 Winner) Mike Parks

MacLellan Metal Finishing (Heat #4 Winner) Richie Dearborn

Racer’s Depot (Random drawing) Dennis Maxfield

RB Performance (4th place finisher) Derek Griffith

RB Performance (7th place finisher) Larry Gelinas

Sherwood Wheels (10th place finisher) George Bessette

Sunoco Race Fuels (Heat #1 Winner) Trevor Sanborn

Sunoco Race Fuels (Heat #2 Winner) Craig Weinstein

Sunoco Race Fuels (Heat #3 Winner) Mike Parks

Sunoco Race Fuels (Heat #4 Winner) Richie Dearborn