returned to his winning ways at Lee USA Speedway on Friday night, picking up
his fourth victory of the year in the 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American
Series event for the E Keys 4 Cars Late Models.
A series of early-race incidents sent several cars to the pits for repairs;
with Bryan Kruczek picking up the point on a lap five restart. Kruczek
maintained the lead point when they reached the crossed flags, but Helliwell
was coming, and in a hurry.
On lap 19, Helliwell took over the top spot, and it was his race from there.
The veteran pulled away to score the win, with Kruczek taking second over
J.R. Baril, Steve Johnson, Tom Fuller, Pat Floyd, Travis Canney, Katrina
Canney, Jeremy Harclerode, and Moe Lattime.
Making their first appearances of the year, strong fields of NEMA Lites and
NEMA Midgets joined Lee’s weekly divisions on the program, with the PB
Chopper Shop and Rods Small Block Supers making it a tripleheader night of
open-wheeled action.
After an fast-paced main event with two and three-wide racing all the way,
Eddie LeClerc grabbed the win in the Lites, while Adam Cantor ran down Barry
Kittredge to score the win in the Midget main.
When Lee’s open-wheelers hit the track, it was once again without five-time
winner Justin Belfiore, who was knocked out of action in a hard wreck during
practice. When the green flew for the feature, George Perreault, Jr. moved
out from his outside pole start to the grab the early lead.
Tommy Tombarello, Jr. was quickly on the move however, and he worked his way
through the field to challenge Perreault for the lead on lap 10. Tombarello
slipped past Perreault and pulled away to the comfortable lead, and he was
never seriously challenged after that.
At the checkers, it was Tombarello in to score his first-ever Lee USA win,
easily outdistancing runner-up Perreault and the second consecutive podium
finish for third place Mike Spurling.
P.J. Stergios finished fourth, followed by “Super Dave” Sanborn in the Howdy
Clapp entry, Mike Netishen, Eddie Witkum, Jr., Billy Osborne, Butch Valley,
Jr., and Tony Carroll aboard the Paul Brown-owned Full Throttle Racing
machine.
Jesse Bousquet jumped out from the pole in the Prime Storage Late Model
Sportsman main, leading the first eight laps before losing out to rookie
contender Jimmy Russell, who took over from there.
Trouble nearing the halfway mark saw points leader Grant Aither going for a
spin after a couple of cars got stacked up coming off turn four.
Second-generation racer Ryan Green was up to second for the restart, but he
couldn’t do anything with Russell, who went on to score his second win of
the year.
Green took home his best finish of the season with a strong runner-up
effort, followed by Bill Ahern, Aither, Ron Bolduc, Michele Fushpanski, Tony
Kawejsza, Timmy Johnson, Bousquet, and Neil Evans, Jr.
The Picnic Table Factory Hobby Stocks ran another action-packed feature
event, with a multi-car incident mixing things up just two laps into the
race. Jim Piaseczny was in front of all the action setting the early pace,
with Ron Washburn following in his tire tracks.
Todd Bregy quickly joined in to make it a three-way battle for the lead, and
just after Washburn made his move on Piaseczny to take the lead away from
Piaseczny, Bregy looked to the inside and made a move of his own.
The two got tangled up fighting for the same piece of real estate, and
Piaseczny moved back past them to regain the lead. Bregy had to regroup and
start his charge to the front all over, and that’s just what he did.
The division win leader made it back to the front, and added number four to
his 2010 total. Brian Thompson was forced to settle for runner-up honors
for the third straight week, with Piaseczny holding on third.
Fourth spot went to Chris Kingsley, followed by Randy Carmichael, Niko
Manyati, Patrick Tanguay, Washburn, Doug Dawkins, and Stephen Dubois.
Another new face showed up in American Auto Parts Ironman victory lane, as
Chris Martel bounced back from a couple of tough races to score the first
win of his rookie campaign. Sean Martin collected runner-up honors, with
Jack Victoria, Kevin Emery, and Jason Hodgdon rounding out the top five.
Tim Boyle was top man in the David’s Race Cars and Components Roadrunner
feature event, running down early leader Lloyd Chapin to get to the front.
Boyle went on to score the win over Troy Washburn, Chapin, Torrey Kovalesky,
and Dylan Bilodeau.