story by Chris Roy
13 year old TJ Bleau, of Troy, NH has made a late season charge in the MOAT Mountain Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS). Scoring 2 top 3 finishes this past weekend at NHMS, TJ has moved into the top 10 in points with 2 races left in the season. “It was amazing. We put a new engine in the car last week and the car is really fast and Kenny my Crew Chief has the car handling perfectly. We had some bad luck at the beginning of the season so it feels great to have a successful weekend. I hope it continues for the last weekend of the season.”
The road course race on Sunday was an interesting as Mother Nature decide to watch the race and brought the rain. “It was a little scary at first, my dad told me to race safe but if I wanted a good finish I would have to race on the edge. That’s what I did. The longer the race went on the more comfortable I got and was able to get 2nd.”
So what has been the highlight of TJ’s, legend racing season so far. “No doubt this past weekend with a 3rd on Saturday and the 2nd on Sunday. I’m still reeling from it.”
NHMS has to different race tracks for the ¼ mile mini oval and the 1.4 mile road course so which one is TJ’s favorite to race on? “The road course now. At first I didn’t like it, I think only because I had never raced a road course before but now that I’ve race on it from the beginning of the season I really like it.”
Though TJ, has been double duty this season racing the legend cars at NHMS and racing in the Star Modified Series at Star Speedway. TJ just clinched his 2nd straight championship in the modified series. “Yes that’s two in a row! I won 8 times at Star this year. The car was really fast and I could drive it anywhere it needed to go.”
Racing in different series this season TJ has had a lot of set time and turned a lot of laps so what is the most memorable moment of TJ’s race season. “The back to back Championships were great but I think the highlight was being invited to run with the Pro 4’s at Monadnock Speedway at the end of the season. I started last in the 17 car field and was up to 2nd place in the limited division and 7th overall when my car started to overheat. I didn’t finish the race but it was really cool running with those guys.”
The Moat Mountain Legends finish up their season with a double header weekend at NHMS, Oct. 19-20. So what is in store for TJ in the post season? “We hope to purchase a Sportsman Modified and prepare it for the upcoming season.”
TJ would like to thank his sponsors for all there help this season. –Cheshire Fire Protection Services, Inc. Toy Box Kustoms, The Fastener Mill