Beaulieu On Late Season Charge, Wins National Qualifier at Beech Ridge

Story by Evan Beaulieu

The Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour rolled into their eighteenth race of the season this past weekend at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. This race was one of the biggest events of the season for many reasons. Not only was it one of the last of the season, but it was a 50 lap National Qualifier for the Legends Nationals at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia, and also was a part of the biggest weekend of Pro Stock racing in New England, the PASS 400. With a tight point’s battle and plenty on the line, this had the makings of being a great race.

For the first heat race, it was the 70 of Tylar Braunschweig on the pole with the 1 of Aaron Lewis on the outside. At the start, Braunschweig was able to get out to the early lead, but the 48 of Kendall Curit, who was up most of the night before replacing the motor in his car after an engine failure during practice on Friday, grabbed the lead. He never looked back and took the heat win. Braunschweig was able to hang on to finish second, with Lewis finishing third.

In the second heat, the 88 of David Garbo Jr. was alongside the most recent winner on the tour, Evan Beaulieu in the 56 car. As the green flew, the two drivers drove side by side for many laps, but Garbo was able to make the inside line work. After a late race charge by the 29 of Tyler Jordan, Garbo was able to hold him off and take the heat win. Jordan finished second, with the 5 of Gary Modugno finishing third.

50 laps of Legends Car racing was next up, the 22 car Legends field took to the track with Garbo on the pole and Braunschweig on the outside after a rear end issue left original pole sitter Curit in the pits. At the green flag, Garbo got to the lead but Jordan wasted no time and made his move early to take the race lead. Coming from their seventh and ninth place starting spots, the 20 of Max Zachem and Beaulieu made quick work of traffic and found themselves first and second after just four laps and began to pull away from the pack. The field was clean and green until lap 17, when Braunschweig went for a spin in turn two.

The field got lined back up, and went green with Zachem once again getting the jump with Beaulieu and Jordan right behind. As the two leaders pulled away once again the 17 of Terry Kirk and the 31 of Bobby Timmons worked their way through the field and found themselves in third and fourth with a huge pack of cars behind them. The next yellow would come at lap 25 for a spin by the 49 of Pete Cannell in turn three.

At the next green flag, Zachem once again was able to jump out to the lead with Beaulieu getting in line in second with Kirk in third. This time however, Beaulieu was able to get his car underneath Zachem and take over the race lead on lap 33. The very next lap, Cannell and Jordan made contact mid pack, collecting the 10 of Ed Getty and the 33 of Alan Smith bringing out the third caution of the race.

For the next restart, it was Beaulieu on the inside with Zachem on the outside. Beaulieu got to the lead with Timmons being able to put his car in second with Zachem and Weymouth third and fourth. For the final laps, the four ran bumper to bumper, each just waiting for the right time to make their move. With two laps to go, going into turn one Timmons and Zachem made contact, with Timmons going for a spin. The green flag stayed out, and Beaulieu was able to get the win, his third win in the last four Nelcar races. Weymouth cleared through the dust and finished second, with the 71 of Reggie Leeman sneaking his way to third, Chris Sargent in the 21 fourth, and Gary Modugno rounding out the top five on a wild day of racing!

With the win, Beaulieu solidified his spot in the Legends Nationals in Virginia. The point’s race is only getting closer as well, with just nine points now separating first place Weymouth and Beaulieu for the championship with just one points race left to go. Next weekend, the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour will be racing the new Legends Oval at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 19^th, the morning of the Nascar Sprint Cup Series race. Racing starts at 10 AM and is a non Nelcar point’s race. For more news, info and how you could get in a Legends Car, visit Nelcar.net.