Lee, NH – The last Friday night race of the weekly NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series championship season saw Wayne Helliwell, Jr. of Dracut,
MA score his sixth E Keys 4 Cars-sponsored feature win of the year to lock
down the title for car owner Bruce Bernhardt.
After a side-by-side battle with J.R. Baril in his qualifying heat ended
with a photo-finish win for Helliwell, it was second-place points man Bryan
Kruczek lined up alongside at feature time, looking to close out the season
with a win.
But Kruczek found trouble right on the start, as he got out of shape and
climbed the frontstretch wall, nearly flipping over as he ended his second
straight race with a trip into the concrete.
Helliwell took command of the race on the restart, and he went on the
collect the checkers, with Baril, Jeffrey Labrecque, Jr., Pat Floyd, Tom
Fuller, Wayne Helliwell, Sr., A.J. Begin, Jeremy Harclerode, Ricky Wolf, and
Mike Ordway, Jr. the rest of the top ten.
The NEMA Midgets and NEMA Lites joined the action once again last Friday,
and it was 64-year old Jeff Horn of Ashland, MA picking up the win in the
Midgets, while Paul Luggelle scored his career-first in the Lites.
The Prime Storage Late Model Sportsmen ran a pair of feature events, with
2009 champion Grant Aither of nearby Exeter coming out on top of both races
to clinch the championship in style.
Aither outran Bill Ahern to capture the feature event that had been
postponed on August 21, with rookie contender Ryan Green, Pete Evans,
Michele Fushpanski, Frankie Eldredge, Bobby Melvin, Brian Grantz, Jesse
Bousquet, and Timmy Johnson third through tenth.
In the nightcap, Aither ran flag-to-flag, leading every lap on the way to
his 11th win of the year. Ron Bolduc battled his way up through to finish
in the second spot, with Ahern, Evans, Melvin, Evans, Green, Eldredge, Gary
Beauregard, Fushpanski, and John DiBurro next across the stripe.
Dan Bowes claimed his first career championship in the PB Chopper Shop and
Rods Small Block Supers, knocking defending two-time champ Eddie Witkum, Jr.
off his throne after a breakout season.
As has become his style, Bowes ran the high line on the way to the feature
win, holding off the late-closing P.J. Stergios. Witkum took third, with
Billy Osborne, Tommy Tombarello, Mike Spurling, Michael Dube, Jr., Scott
Keddy, and "Super Dave" Sanborn next.
Defending champion Jimmy Russell Scored his fourth feature win of the year
in the Planet Aid Hobby Stocks after a slam-bang race, but it was Jim Shorey
who wound up taking the coveted championship title home.
Rookie Chris Kingsley had a solid run to checker second, with Mark
Parenteau, Bill Fiske, Eric Hoffman, Shorey, Jimmy Ryder, Jr., Chuck
Roberto, Kenny Scott, and Pete Evans rounding out the top ten.
The David's Race cars and Components Roadrunners headed into the night with
the closest battle at the track, as rookie Niko Manyati was holding a slim
one-point lead over veteran campaigner Jim Piasecnzy.
Although both drivers took a turn out front early in the championship event,
Tim Boyle got past in the late stages of the race to take the win. Manyati
took second to secure the championship, with Piaseczny, Shaun Waites, Jr.,
Lance Barthelemy, Ben Brown, Justin King, Torrey Kovalesky, James
Fitzgerald, and Steve Nichols third through tenth.
Kevin Emery closed out the 2009 Ironman season with another trip to victory
lane, but this was his first with the new car he built to replace the one
that got destroyed just a few weeks back.
Second-generation racer Tom Harton took second spot in the main, and that
was more than enough to land him the 2009 Ironman championship. Crystal
Brown, Matt Bakutis, and Matt Lambert finished up the top five.