Craig Lutz celebrates his first career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win at Stafford Motor Speedway. (Omar Rawlings/NASCAR)
By KYLE SOUZA NASCAR.COM SEPTEMBER 29, 2019
STAFFORD, Conn. — For the second straight year, the NAPA Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway produced a first-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour winner.
Craig Lutz took the lead from Doug Coby on a restart with 33 laps to go, and drove away from Coby, and defending series champion Justin Bonsignore, to earn his first career checkered flag in his 66th series start.
Prior to Sunday, Lutz had finished inside the top five in four of his 12 Stafford starts, including the last three. He had also finished inside the top five in eight of the 14 races in 2019.
For the first time, the Miller Place, New York, driver was able to celebrate a trophy.
66 career starts.
And now Craig Lutz can say he’s a #NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race winner.
“The first win is always special,” Lutz said. “Everyone kept on asking me when it was coming. To finally knock one off, it’s an amazing feeling.”
Lutz started ninth and rode inside the top 10 for the duration of the race, but shined when it mattered most. Chris Pasteryak earned his first career Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole award in qualifying, and led the first six laps, before Coby took control.
Bonsignore took the lead from Coby just before halfway, and paced the field until a caution just after lap 100, when leaders pitted multiple times for tires. It would be the only caution of the day that Coby, Bonsignore and Lutz entered pit road.
Pasteryak would lead eight more laps after cycling back to the lead, but couldn’t hold the top spot, as Coby slid by, then a restart gave Lutz his opportunity. Lutz passed Coby and never looked back, minding a gap back to Bonsignore for the final 10 laps.
“I just didn’t look in my mirror,” Lutz said. “I have an awesome spotter, who has a lot of experience, and he kept telling me to stay smooth and hit my marks. That’s what I kept doing.”
Bonsignore would finish second, while Coby settled for third. Chuck Hossfeld, who missed practice and qualifying on Saturday, charged from the rear of the field to finish fourth. Matt Swanson was fifth.
Ron Silk finished sixth, followed by Bobby Santos III, Woody Pitkat, Chase Dowling and Patrick Emerling.
Coby leads Bonsignore by 19 points with one championship points race remaining in search of his sixth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship.
The NAPA Fall Final 150 will air on NBCSN on Friday, October 4, at 7 p.m.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the track for the annual Sunoco World Series at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, the final race of the season, on Sunday, October 13.
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Motor Speedway concluded its 2019 NASCAR racing season with feature events for the SK Modified®, Late Model, and SK Light Modified divisions as part of its NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final Weekend. Taking down feature wins were Todd Owen in the SK Modified® feature, Wayne Coury, Jr. in the Late Model feature, and Teddy Hodgdon in the SK Ligh feature. Owen’s win meant he ended the season tied with Ronnie Williams in the points standings, but Williams had 5 wins this season to Owen’s 4 to make him the champion for the second consecutive season. Hodgdon came into the NAPA Fall Final as the SK Light points leader and he won his first Stafford championship in grand style by winning the race.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Marcello Rufrano took the lead at the green with Joey Cipriano second and Tyler Hines in third. Andrew Molleur took fourth with Michael Gervais, Jr. in fifth. Behind Gervais was a side by side duel between Keith Rocco and Todd Owen for sixth. The caution came out with 10 laps complete for a spin by Shawn Thibeault in the middle of turns 1+2.
Rufrano took the lead on the restart with Owen all over his back bumper in second. Rocco came up to third with Michael Christopher, Jr. and Cipriano side by side for fourth. Stephen Kopcik was up to fifth with Gervais behind him in sixth. Owen took the lead from Rufrano on lap-12 and Rocco followed him through to take second and drop Rufrano back to third in line. Kopcik was now fourth with Gervais fifth and Cipriano sixth. The caution came back out with 20 laps complete for Curt Brainard, who came to a stop in the middle of turns 3+4 with smoke pouring from his car.
Owen took the lead back under green with Rocco in second. Rufrano and Kopcik were side by side for third with Gervais and Christopher side by side for fifth. Rufrano got clear to third on lap-25 with Gervais and Kopcik now side by side for fourth with Owen still leading Rocco out front. The caution came back out with 25 laps complete for spins in turn 1 by Matt Vassar and Thibeault.
The caution came right back out on the restart as Chase Dowling nearly spun and came to a stop at the pit road exit in turn 2. Owen took the lead on the next restart with Rocco still in second. Rufrano was third with Gervais and Kopcik side by side for fourth. Cipriano spun and collected the car of Andrew Molleur to bring the caution back out with 26 laps complete.
Owen took the lead with Rocco and Kopcik behind him on the restart. Rufrano slid back to fourth while Gervais and Dan Avery were side by side for fifth with Ronnie Williams up to seventh. Mike Christopher spun coming out of turn 2 to bring the caution back out with 28 laps complete.
Troy Talman, Tyler Leary, and Tyler Hines all spun on the backstretch to bring the yellow right back out on the restart. Owen again took the lead on the restart while Kopcik was able to take second from Rocco. Rocco was third in line with Gervais and Rufrano side by side for fourth and Williams in sixth. Williams took fifth on lap-31 as Rufrano slid back to sixth. With 8 laps to go, the order was Owen, Kopcik, Rocco, Gervais, and Williams. With Owen in the lead, Williams needed to be at least fourth to win the SK Modified® championship.
Williams was able to get to the inside of Gervais on lap-37 to take fourth and put himself in a championship clinching position. Owen led Kopcik to the checkered flag to pick up his fourth win of the 2019 season. Rocco finished third with Williams fourth and Gervais fifth. Williams fourth place finish saw him tied with Owen in points but Williams had 5 wins to Owen’s 4 this season, which made him the 2019 SK Modified® track champion.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature, Michael Bennett took the lead from polesitter Paul Varricchio, Jr. and Al Saunders moved into second with Varricchio falling back to third, just ahead of Paul Arute in fourth. Ed Ricard spun in turn 4 to bring the caution out with 1 lap complete.
Bennett took the lead with Saunders in second on the restart. Ryan Fearn moved around Varricchio to take third with Varricchio slotting into fourth and Arute in fifth. Ryan Fearn went by Saunders on lap-5 to move into second and began to try to close down the gap to Bennett, who had pulled away from the field in the opening laps. Andy Marchese spun in the middle of turns 1+2 to bring the caution back out with 7 laps complete.
Ryan Fearn ran Bennett down and made a pass for the lead but just as he made his move the caution came out with 12 laps complete for spins in turn 1 by Rob Dow and R.J. Surdell.
Bennett took the lead back under green with Wayne Coury, Jr. coming up to second. Al Saunders was third in line with Ryan Fearn back to fourth and Rom Fearn was fifth. Ryan Fearn got back by Saunders for third on lap-18 and Tom Fearn followed him through to drop Saunders back to fifth and the caution came back out with 18 laps complete for a spin in turn 4 by Scott Bouley.
The field completed one lap with Bennett still holding the race lead before the caution came back out for a spin in turn 2 by Ryan Fearn.
On the restart, Scott Bouley came to a stop with fluid leading from his car and Tom Fearn got collected and had damage to his front bumper to bring the caution right back out. The next restart saw Bennett again take the lead with Coury second. Darrell Keane and Al Saunders were side by side for third with Michael Wray in fifth. Saunders got loose on lap-20, which allowed Keane to take third and dropped Saunders back into a side by side fight with Wray for fourth place.
Coury was working Bennett over for the race lead and the two cars touched coming out of turn 4 on lap-24. The two cars touched again on lap-25 in turn 2 with Bennett maintaining the lead. Coury came back to Bennett’s inside on lap-27 to take the lead. Coury was heading towards the checkered flag when R.J. Surdell brought the caution out with a spin in the middle of turns 3+4 to set up a green white checkered finish.
Coury took the lead on the restart with Bennett giving chase in second. Bennett couldn’t get close enough to Coury as Coury took down his first career win at Stafford. Kevin Gambacorta finished third with Al Saunders and Wray rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, a multicar incident in turn 3 involving Fred Nees, Jr., Alina Bryden, Brett Gonyaw, and Chris Viens brought the caution out before a lap could be completed.
Norm Sears took the early lead but Joey Ferrigno took the lead from Sears on lap-2. Noah Korner was third with Mark Bakaj and Sami Anderson side by side for fourth. Bakaj was starting to charge in the outside lane and he took second from Sears on lap-8 with Ferrigno still out front. Sears was still third in line with Anderson fourth. Teddy Hodgdon, who came into the race as the SK Light points leader, narrowly avoided disaster on lap-8 as Bob Charland spun and nearly collected Hodgdon to bring the caution out.
Ferrigno took the lead back under green with Bakaj on his outside in second. Anderson was third in line with Sears and Korner side by side for fourth. Hodgdon powered his way around Korner to move up to fourth on lap-11 and Bryan Narducci took fifth on lap-13 as Ferrigno continued to lead Bakaj. Hodgdon got by Anderson to move into third place on lap-14 and he pulled alongside Bakaj for second place on lap-15. The caution came out with 15 laps complete for a spin in turn 2 by Steven Chapman and Noah Korner with Alina Bryden’s car also coming to a stop at the entrance to turn 1.
Ferrigno took the lead on the restart with Hodgdon and Bakaj side by side for second. Narducci was fourth with Anderson and Alexander Pearl lined up behind him. The caution cmae back out with 16 laps complete for Bobby Jones, who came to a stop on the backstretch infield.
Ferrigno again took the lead with Bakaj and Hodgdon side by side for second. Hodgdon cleared Bakaj and pulled to the outside of Ferrigno for the lead on lap-18. Amanda West came to a stop against the turn 4 wall to bring the caution back out with 18 laps complete to set up a green white checkered finish.
Ferrigno took the lead at the green but going into turn 3 Hodgdon dove to the inside of Ferrigno to take the lead. Ferrigno and several other cars spun in turn 4 coming to the checkered flag, allowing Hodgdon to cruise to the checkered flag. The win was Hodgdon’s second consecutive win and fifth win of the 2019 season and clinched the 2019 SK Light championship. Pearl came home in second with Nick Anglace, Brian Sullivan, and Chapman rounding out the top-5. Bryan Narducci was penalized by NASCAR Officials to the rear of the field for causing the last lap contact and since he was on probation from earlier this season, he was disqualified from the finishing order.
SK MODIFIED® (40)
1) Todd Owen, Somers
2) Stephen Kopcik, Newtown
3) Keith Rocco, Berlin
4) Ronnie Williams, Tolland
5) Michael Gervais, Jr., Wolcott
6) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, MA
7) Dan Avery, Somers
8) Marcello Rufrano, North Haven
9) Timmy Jordan, Brooklyn
10) Michael Christopher, Jr., Wolcott
11) Cory DiMatteo, Farmington
12) Anthony Flannery, East Hampton
13) Tony Membrino, Jr., Berlin
14) David Arute, Stafford Springs
15) Chase Dowling, Midland, NC
16) Ed Spiers, Beacon Falls
17) Mike Christopher, Plainville
18) Mikey Flynn, Hampden, MA
19) Tyler Leary, Hatfield, MA
20) Tyler Hines, North Haven
21) Troy Talman, Oxford, MA
22) Shawn Thibeault, Plainville
23) Joey Ternullo, Jr., Middletown
24) Joey Cipriano, III, Waterbury
25) Andrew Molleur, Shelton
26) Matt Vassar, Plantsville
27) Curt Brainard, Canton
LATE MODEL (30)
1) Wayne Coury, Jr., Fairfield
2) Michael Bennett, Willington
3) Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington
4) Al Saunders, Stafford
5) Michael Wray, Northford
6) Darrell Keane, Enfield
7) Tyler Leary, Hatfield, MA
8) Ed Ricard, Stafford Springs
9) Cliff Saunders, Stafford
10) Dave Wray, Durham
11) Tom Butler, Stafford Springs
12) John Blake, North Haven
13) Ryan Fearn, East Longmeadow, MA
14) Tom Fearn, East Longmeadow, MA
15) Robert Surdell, Willington
16) Richard Ciriello, Reading, MA
17) Greg DeMone, Ludlow, MA
18) Gary Theriault, Enfield
19) Rob Dow, Stafford Springs
20) Jacob Perry, Stonington
21) Andy Marchese, Tolland
22) Mike Mordino, Southington
23) Paul Arute, Northridge, MA
24) Eric Finkbein, Jr., Vernon
25) Scott Bouley, Thomaston
26) Paul Varricchio, Jr., Berlin
SK LIGHT (20)
1) Teddy Hodgdon, Danbury
2) Alexander Pearl, Salem
3) Nick Anglace, Oxford
4) Brian Sullivan, South Windsor
5) Steven Chapman, Ellington
6) Chris Bagnall, Winsted
7) Mark Bakaj, Lebanon
8) Norm Sears, Andover
9) Ethan Durocher, Canterbury
10) Robert Bloxsom, III, Stratford
11) George Bessette, Jr., Danbury
12) Alina Bryden, West Springfield, MA
13) Joey Ferrigno, East Hartford
14) Sami Anderson, Wolcott
15) Amanda West, Colchester
16) Bobby Jones, Palmerton, PA
17) Noah Korner, Canton
18) David Webb, Nashville, TN
19) Wesley Prucker, Stafford
20) Glenn Griswold, Vernon
21) Bob Charland, Stafford
22) Chris Matthews, Stafford
23) Jonathan Puleo, Branford
24) Brett Gonyaw, Vernon
25) Chris Viens, Putnam
26) Fred Nees, Jr., New Milford
Source: Scott Running/Stafford Speedway PR
Note: If your track, tour or event is not posted on this blog send your press releases and flyers to: Lmodestino@hotmail.com
: Hinesburg’s Bobby Therrien plants a kiss Ayris, aka Miss Vermont Milk Bowl 2019, after winning the 57th edition of the historic event. (Alan Ward photo)
Barre, VT – Hinesburg’s Bobby Therrien was nearly unstoppable on his way to victory in the 57th Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank at Barre’s Thunder Road on Sunday, September 29. The 2017 “King of the Road” bounced back from a heartbreaking runner-up finish in the 2018 edition of the historic event by winning it from the pole with an overall score of eight points.
One year after losing the overall win on the final corner, Therrien left no doubt all weekend that he was the man to beat. The veteran got his Sunday started out on the right foot by going wire-to-wire to win the first segment from the pole. Therrien then found the luck every Milk Bowl winner needs when he evaded a six-car pile-up on the opening corner of the second segment that swept up contenders Scott Payea and Patrick Laperle among others.
With the field thinned out considerably thanks to the crash, plus several more cautions that followed, Therrien sliced through the pack to finish runner-up in the second segment while Plainfield, NH’s Rich Dubeau ran away with the win. The result gave Therrien a subtotal of three points entering the final segment – six ahead of former Milk Bowl winner Joey Polewarczyk of Hudson, NH and ten up on Fayston’s Brooks Clark.
Therrien started the final segment three spots behind Polewarczyk on the grid. However, he needed only three laps to get underneath “Joey Pole”, further cementing his status as the frontrunner. As Polewarczyk remained hung up in traffic, Therrien coolly drove his way up through the field once again. He broke into the top-five of the caution-free segment on lap 40, which was more than enough to put him in a clinching position. Although Clark gave it his best effort and captured the runner-up spot in the final segment, Therrien’s edge was too much to overcome.
The result made Therrien the second consecutive driver to win the Milk Bowl with a single-digit score after the Milk Bowl had previously gone 20 years without such a feat. It also landed him more than $12,000 in unofficial total prize money, an entry on the Milk Bowl granite monument – and perhaps most importantly, a kiss with genuine Vermont beauty Ayris (a 10-year-old Ayrshire dairy cow) in Victory Lane.
Clark’s second-place finish in the final segment also gave him second place in the overall with 15 points. Danville’s Tyler Cahoon took third overall thanks in part to a third-segment win. Polewarczyk’s struggles in the final segment dropped him to fourth overall. Newly-crowned “King of the Road” Jason Corliss finished finish in his bid for a third straight Milk Bowl crown. Marcel J. Gravel, Scott Dragon, Jimmy Hebert, Dubeau, and Matthew Smith rounded out the top-10.
Waterbury Center’s Jason Woodard put the cap on a dream season by taking the victory in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger “Mini Milk Bowl”. Woodard won the first segment from the pole on Saturday, and on Sunday, he charged up to sixth in the caution-free 40-lap second segment.
His total of seven points gave him the overall win by two markers over Barre’s Jason Pelkey, who finished fourth and fifth in the two stanzas. It was Woodard’s fourth win of the year in a campaign where he also won the Thunder Road track championship, Myers Container Services Triple Crown Series championship, and White Mountain Motorsports Park Flying Tiger Triple Crown Series title.
Waitsfield’s Kyle Streeter completed the podium with a total of 10 points. Cooper Bouchard, Kelsea Woodard, Mike Billado, Tyler Austin, Mike Martin, Brad Bushey, and Stephen Martin completed the overall top-10. Waitsfield’s Kevin Streeter won the second segment.
Groveton, NH’s Jason Kenison took advantage of a crazy final lap to win the Allen Lumber Street Stock Mini Milk Bowl. Kenison opened the day with a victory in a first segment that included the whole division getting a mid-race “time out” for rough driving.
In the second segment, Kenison entered the final lap in the ninth position, putting him in a tie for the provisional overall with St. Johnsbury’s Kasey Beattie – but with Beattie having the tiebreaker advantage by leading the pack they were racing in. However, a lapped car drifted up the track into Beattie’s path exiting turn two, creating a mad scramble. Kenison saw a hole down low and filled it, gaining two spots to take the overall with a score of eight points.
Beattie settled for second with 10 total points after finishing fourth and sixth in the two segments. Williamstown’s Tommy “Thunder” Smith came in third overall. Barre’s Justin Blakely topped a three-way tie for fourth after Ryan Ware was disqualified for being too low. J.T. Blanchard, Kyle MacAskill, Segment 2 winner Brandon Gray, Keegan Lamson, Tom Campbell, and Darren Newland finished fifth through 10th.
E. Corinth’s Brian Putney inherited his third win of the season in the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior Mini Milk Bowl. Putney came in second overall on the track after finishing third in the first segment on Saturday and fifth in the second segment on Sunday. He then was awarded the first-place trophy after Luke Marcheski was disqualified for tire and air intake violations.
Segment 1 winner Eric “Pork” Chase of Berlin became the new second-place overall finisher while fellow Berliner Dan Garrett Jr. inherited third. James Dopp, Josh Vilbrin, Fred Fleurly, Paige Whittemore, Mike Mitchell, Frank Putney, and Anthony Campbell also earned top-10 finishes.
Waterford’s Andy Hill pulled a clean sweep in the 7-Eleven Dwarf Cars by winning both segments of their Mini Milk Bowl. Hill, this year’s White Mountain Motorsports Park Champion, got around the outside of Easton, NH’s Jason Wyman with two laps to go to win the first 20-lap segment. He then came from shotgun on the field in the second segment to run down Dunbarton, NH’s Norman Forest in the closing laps.
Forest finished runner-up in the second segment and the overall. St. Johnsbury’s Colby Bourgeois using a pair of fourth-places in the two segments to take third in the final rundown. He was followed by Chad Dufour, Jeff Ainsworth, Cody Wyman, Jason Wyman, Dave Gyger, Kevin Wyman, and Tom Harwood.
The 2019 Thunder Road season is now complete. The Thunder Road Banquet of Champions will be held Saturday, November 16 at the Elks Club of Barre, VT. Reservation forms will be released in the near future.
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57TH VERMONT MILK BOWL PRESENTED BY NORTHFIELD SAVINGS BANK
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
MAPLEWOOD/IRVING OIL LATE MODELS
VERMONT MILK BOWL
Pos., Start Pos., Car #, Driver, Hometown, Segment #1, Segment #2, Segment #3, TOTAL
Despite a constant threat of rain that eventually temporarily delayed the Race of Champions 250, “Big Money” Matt Hirschman wouldn’t let it rain on his parade, scoring his seventh Race of Champions 250 win at Lake Erie Speedway Saturday.
Hirschman set the pace from the start, managing his tires while leading the field from the drop of the green flag. His red 60 modified would go on to lead through the fuel stop, before finally pitting for tires during a caution on lap 157. George Skora III would inherit the lead during the pit cycle, taking the lead just in time for a quick lake effect rain shower to douse the Erie, PA facility on lap 171. Despite Skora III’s prayers for the event to end, a valiant effort by track officials was able to dry the track through spitting precipitation and fog that had rolled in off the track’s namesake lake.
Skora led briefly following the rain delay, but Hirschman had no problem cutting through the field with fresh tires. Hirschman fell to tenth on the pit cycle, but returned to the lead just 15 laps later. Despite late charges by Skora III and Eric Beers, Hirschman never looked back, leading the last 60 laps to score his fifth straight Race of Champions 250 win, adding to his wins at Oswego and Chemung.
Hirschman was fully aware of his accomplishment in victory lane.
“It’s incredible, taking a moment just to think about it,” said Hirschman. “There are races that are run every year and I know there are some that I’ve gone back-to-back, sometimes three in a row. Never a race to win five straight years in a row, at different tracks. Records are made to be broken, but that one’s going to be a tough one to beat. There are so many things that have to align, regardless if you have a car that’s fast enough to win, a pit crew that’s fast enough to get you out of the pits, so many stars need to align to win a race like this.”
Hirschman was grateful of the effort put in by the track crew to get the track ready for racing after the rain moved through on lap 171.
“When we went back green the track was as good if not better than it was earlier in the race. The outside was actually cleaner from the marbles and things when we went back green. It was the right thing to do to wait it out and get the race in. Had another shot of rain come through, it probably would have been over. I would have shaken the 65’s (Skora III) hand, can’t control the weather. If he had been the winner because of that, hey, go down in history, can’t take that away from him. I would have been deflated; I knew we had a car certainly better than where we were.”
Hirschman was not the only winner following the Race of Champions 250, as the Race of Champions Modified Series handed their 2019 championship trophy to Patrick Emerling for the second time. Emerling missed the first race of the season due to schedule conflicts, but managed to string together a series of consistently good finishes throughout the remaining campaign. Andy Jankowiak entered the race with the championship lead, but fell out early with mechanical issues, handing the championship to Emerling.
Emerling was excited to have prevailed in the championship but was cognizant of the effort made to come from behind and win the championship. “There’s awesome competition in this series. Skipping the first race, we were 100 points down right off the bat, was going to be really tough for us to come back. We just had really solid runs week in and week out, we’d show up to the track and be in contention to win. I think pretty much every race was a podium finish for us. I think my team, we earned it. It just comes to show what we can do. We’re going to continue to get better here.”
The Race of Champions Modified Series will now look to the 2020 tour after a successful 2019 season. Highlights from the weekend, plus interviews with Race of Champions 250 competitors, will be available exclusively to 51 Network subscribers this week.
-Story by: Patrick Hahe – Speed51.com Great Lakes Editor
-Photo credit: Speed51.com photo
Race of Champions 250 Results
1 – Matt Hirschman 2 – Eric Beers 3 – George Skora III 4 – Scott Wylie 5 – Austin Beers 6 – Chuck Hossfeld 7 – Patrick Emerling 8 – Daren Scherer 9 – Mike Leaty 10 – Randall Richard 11 – Kyle Ebersole 12 – Daryl Lewis Jr. 13 – Chris Risdale 14 – Chris Finnachario 15 – Dan Majchrzak 16 – Jack Ely 17 – Andy Jankowiak 18 – Jimmy Zacharias 19 – David Kozlowski 20 – Jeff Szafreniec 21 – Kevin Timmerman 22 – Kevin Miller 23 – Jake Wylie 24 – Mike Ramos 25 – Ricky Knapp
Note: if your track is not posted on this blog send your press releases and flyers to: lmodestino@hotmail.com
Angelo Belsito defended his home track in dominant fashion going three for three in the 2019 D.A.V. Fall Classic. On a perfect day for racing, the Auburn MA driver was virtually just that in scoring his first D.A.V. as well as his first GSPSS victory.
The afternoon’s competition kicked off with the Crazy Horse Racing race for the pole and It was Belsito going out in the last group and jumping to the top of the board. Belsitos time of 12.377 seconds would give him the pole for the first of three heat races.
Heat race competition was fierce as drivers tried to avoid being relegated to the consolation race. While the racing at the front of the heats was good, from about fifth on back the battles were intense. In the end it was Belsito with leg two of the GSPSS trifecta along with Dave Darling and Reid Lanpher, all winning their respective heat races.
Unfortunately, several competitors suffered mechanical difficulties either during practice or in their respective heat races and were unable to make the call for the consi. With twenty seven cars signed in and three scratches, the consi was canceled and the unqualified cars tagged onto the end of the starting lineup.
After the GSPSS redraw, Manchester Maine’s Reid Lanpher wound start the 100 lap D.A.V. Fall Classic from the pole position. Starting to his outside would be a former Seekonk regular, Craig Weinstein.
As the feature event rolled onto the track, no one would have guessed that the first two thirds of the race would only see one caution but that was the exactly what happened. A quick caution for the spinning Jake Matheson was the only stoppage before lap sixty five.
As the laps wound down there would be several stoppages as the competition grew more and more intense. At the front of the field, Belsito would show the way jumping out to a comfortable lead after each restart. Behind him, there were five cars who seemed to have the speed to challenge for the lead but spent most of their time battling each other. In Victory lane Belsito credited his father and crew chief. “This setup was a collaboration between my dad and my crew chief”, said Belsito. “The car was on rails all day long” he added. When asked about charging to the front so early in the race he said, “I’ve seen these races go to the point where its too late to go. The car was good so I decided to go up and take the lead”.
Eventual second place finisher Ryan Vanasse would best the group of cars battling behind Belsito. In Victory lane he talked about the battle for second. “I really think we had a fast enough car to challenge Angelo but we just couldn’t ever get in the right lane. My guys worked really hard, I just wish we could have gotten in a position to race for the win.”
Reid Lanpher would emerge in third with a car that just got too loose at the end. GSPSS point leader Joey Doiron would finish fourth with 2019 Seekonk Pro Stock champion, Dave Darling in fifth.
Just outside the top five Eddie Macdonald’s team battled a malfunctioning clutch to give him a car he could drive to a sixth place finish. Ryan Kuhn not only finished seventh in his pro stock but won the late model feature. Joe Squelia battled his new car all day to a seventh place finish while Seekonk regular Mike Brightman and former regular Bobby Pelland rounded out the top ten.
Next up for the Granite State Pro Stock Series is the annual Oktoberfest at Lee USA Speedway in Lee NH. This two day event is one of the most anticipated motor sports events of the year with over twenty divisions competing. For 2019 The Granite State Pro Stock Series will compete on Sunday October sixth with all practice and racing taking place in one day.
For more, follow the GSPSS on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as at www.gspss.net. for event information Check out leeusaspeedway.com as well as the tracks social media outlets.
Granite State Pro Stock Series contingency awards:
ARB Hard Luck Award: $100.00 00 Jimmy Renfrew
O’Reilly Auto Parts last car on the lead lap: $75.00 16 Austin Blais
O’Reilly Auto Parts 7th place finisher: $ 75.00 72 Ryan Kuhn