Story by Matt Grant
Hermon, ME – The Amsoil NELCAR Legends Tour paid a visit to the northernmost track on the 2015 schedule, Speedway 95, for the second event of the season. A field of 10 cars were on hand, and despite the low attendance, a spectacular race was seen by the fans in what was one of the most evenly matched field of cars anywhere!
Terry Kirk in the 17 and Buckshot Brackett in the 00 paced the field for heat number one. The wiley veteran Kirk put his familiar white and blue coupe on point, while Brackett pursued in his Troiano Waste sedan. 13 year-old Braden Langille, who traveled down from the Canadian province of Nova Scotia to make his first start with NELCAR, caught and battled Kirk for several laps around the halfway point, and pulled away to pick up the win in the caution-less heat. Kirk finished 2nd, and Brackett took 3rd.
Heat two had a pair of Masters on the front row, Ed Getty in the 10 on the pole and Alan Smith in the 33 to his outside. Smith used the preferred high line to make his way past Getty, and into the lead. Mathew Bourgoine in the 38 started 4th and followed Smith through to 2nd, and wasted no time in making the pass for the top spot. Like the first heat, there was an absence of a yellow flag, and Bourgoine was able to cruise to the win. Smith came home second, and Matt Grant in the 84 finished 3rd after making a late race pass on last week’s winner, Kevin Girard Jr. in the 19.
Smith and Getty started on the front row for the feature, as the top 3 finishers from the previous race (Girard, Bourgoine and Grant) were sent to the rear due to the new lineup procedure. Smith got off to the early lead from the inside line, and was hotly contested for the first half of the race by Langille, who started 3rd. While those two battled, Grant led a charge from the rear, quickly closed the gap to the leaders, and just like that, 5 cars were under a blanket racing wheel to wheel for position. Bourgoine started in the 8th spot and picked his moves wisely, eventually overtaking Smith for the race lead around the halfway point, however, the three time champ did not pull away. The field settled in and ran single file in the latter part of the race, until Girard slipped in turn 3 with a couple laps to go in his G.O. Motorsports ride, but gathered it up without causing the race’s first yellow flag, but lost a couple positions in the process.
The race finished clean and green, as Mathew Bourgoine flexed his muscle by pulling off the win at Speedway 95 once again! Alan Smith kept the pressure on Bourgoine the entire time, and brought his Fastco coupe home P2 at his home track. Matt Grant claimed a hard earned 3rd place finish in the Gore Moving & Storage #84, Braden Langille had an impressive first run with NELCAR, taking the Young Lions victory en route to a 4th place finish, and Kevin Girard Jr. was able to manage a 5th place finish after his slide in the closing laps.
The great fans of Speedway 95 witnessed one of the more competitive legends events seen in recent years, at a track that is known for providing a great show! Next Saturday night, the Amsoil NELCAR Legends Tour will head back to Wiscasset Speedway, for the longest race of the season, the 50-lap National Qualifier!
How can YOU get into legends? Find out all you need to know by visiting www.NELCAR.net, “Like” NELCAR on Facebook, and see us at a track near you!
Feature Finish
1-38 Mathew Bourgoine – Newport – P
2-33 Alan Smith – Lincoln – M
3-84 Matt Grant – Windham – P
4-51 Braden Langille – Shubenacadie, NS – Y
5-19 Kevin Girard Jr. – Old Orchard Beach – S
6-10 Ed Getty – Gray – M
7-17 Terry Kirk – Durham – M
8-00 Philip Brackett III – South Portland – S
9-88 Pete Cannell – S. Berwick – M
10-29 Austin Teras* – Windham – Y
Heat 1 Finish
1-51 Langille
2-17 Kirk
3-00 Brackett III
4-88 Cannell
5-29 Teras*
Heat 2 Finish
1-38 Bourgoine
2-33 Smith
3-84 Grant
4-19 Girard Jr.
5-10 Getty
* denotes rookie