eighth win of the season in the 25-lap E Keys 4 Cars-sponsored feature
event.
Helliwell’s impressive eight-win season aboard the Bruce Bernhardt Ford
locked up the title with another week still remaining on the schedule, and
marks the second consecutive Late Model championship for the team.
Bryan Kruczek and Pat Floyd had put on a tremendous battle for the lead
early in the race, but when contact between the two sent Floyd for a spin
and Kruczek to the rear, veterans Steve Knowlton and Helliwell moved to the
head of the field.
When racing resumed, Helliwell ran the outside past Knowlton for the lead,
and he went the distance to pick up the win and the 2010 championship.
Knowlton took home his best finish of the year in the second spot, with
Jeremy Harclerode, Miles Chipman, and Moe Lattime rounding out the top five.
The Prime Storage Late Model Sportsmen ran their biggest race of the year,
with a strong field of competitors on hand for the annual running of the
Lance Davis Memorial, held in memory of the longtime LMS competitor who
passed away in 2003.
Grant Aither locked up consecutive championship with a win in the first
segment of the race and a second place finish in the finale, but it was
another former champion, Boe Green, who took down top honors in this year’s
edition of the Lance Davis Memorial.
Aither, Ron Bolduc, J.R. Baril, Bill Ahern, Michele Fushpanski, Tony
Kawejsza, Jimmy Russell, Peter Cook, Ryan Green, and Boe Green were the top
ten if the first segment, with Boe Green, Aither, Cook, Bolduc, Sparky
MacIver, Kawejsza, Ryan Green, Ahern, Kayla Cazares, and Patrick Stewart
leading them across the stripe in the second
Mike Netishen picked up his second win of the season in the PB Chopper Shop
and Rods Small Block Super feature, holding off a late-race challenge from
former two-time champ Eddie Witkum, Jr. to make the trip to victory lane.
An incident on the start sent Steve Dickey, Jr. into the frontstretch wall,
and ten laps later, Tony Carroll also found himself hard in the concrete,
but all that action was behind Netishen, who led the field under the
checkers to collect the win.
Witkum’s charge fell short by a couple of car lengths, leaving him second in
the final tally, with Billy Osborne, Dan Bowes, George Perreault, Jr., Butch
Valley, Jr., Mike Spurling, “Super Dave” Sanborn, Tommy Tombarello, Jr., and
Dan Martineau, Jr. rounding out the top ten.
Brian Thompson had a strong run going in the Picnic Table Factory Hobby
Stock main event after taking the lead from rookie Niko Manyati on an
early-race restart, but he broke with just five laps remaining and dropped
out of the race.
Bobby Glass had been glued to his bumper, and when Thompson slowed, Glass
got caught up, with Ron Washburn slipping past both to take command.
Washburn led the final five circuits to take down the win, followed by
Glass, Todd Bregy, Manyati, Zack Davis, Patrick Tanguay, Randy Carmichael,
Jim Piaseczny, Stephen Dubois, and Doug Dawkins.
Jack Victoria locked up the 2010 championship with his fifth win of the
season in the American Auto parts Ironman main event, taking over the lead
from Jason Hodgdon on lap eight and holding off a late-race challenge from
Sean Martin to score the win.
Martin rebounded from a bout with the frontstretch wall in the previous race
to finish runner-up, with Hodgdon, Glen Billings, Jeff Nadeau, Kevin Emery,
Matt Bakutis, Cody Harvey, and Kyle Roy rounding out the top ten.
Lance Barthelemy made quick work of the David’s Race Cars and Components
Roadrunner feature, slicing through the field to knock early leader Torrey
Kovalesky off the point. Barthelemy went on to score his first win of the
year, with Shaun Waites, Kovalesky, Lloyd Chapin, and Steve Nichols the rest
of the top five.