photo by Rich Hayes
The 2016 Champion Barry Gray of Belchertown, MA, returned to Lee as did Rookie of the Year, Mike Mitchell of Cumberland, RI. The GSPSS Opener also saw rookies Luke Hinkley of Claremont, NH and Kyle Casagrande of Stafford Springs, CT throw their hats into the ring. Practice sessions on Saturday and Sunday saw Joe Squeglia of Derry, NH, David Darling of Seekonk, MA, and Luke Hinkley post the fast times.
Sunday’s race started with a shower making the surface slick and causing two cautions at the start of the race, and collecting a few cars in the process. However, when the green flew again, it was all Davis as he quickly took the lead from Devin O’Connell of Madison, CT.
Bryan Kruczek of Newmarket, NH started fifth on the grid and worked his way up to a second place finish. Joe Squeglia made the most of his speed in his practice sessions, and managed to stay out of trouble during the race. He started in the thirteenth position and worked his way up to a very respectable third place finish.
On lap 84 the caution flag few for Kruczek as he ended up in the turn two wall, leading to the end of the race due to rain again. GSPSS officials determined that the track conditions played a role in Kruczek’s accident and awarded him the second position at the finish.
Luke Hinkley used his knowledge of the track from his ACT Tour experience to stay among the leaders for much of the race. Hinkley also posted the fastest lap of the race, which helped him to secure a fifth place finish his first time out with the series. For all this effort, Davis dominated the race lapping much of the field.
Unofficial Finish
1 09 Jeremy Davis
2 00 Bryan Kruczek
3 03 Joe Squeglia
4 52 David Darling
5 31NH Luke Hinkley
6 1X Todd Stone
7 43 Devin O’Connell
8 44 Rusty Poland
9 40 Mike Mitchell
10 23 Glenn Martel
11 72 Scott MacMichael
12 39 Nick Lascuola
13 18 Mike Scorzelli
14 53 Tyler Fiscus
15 2 Chola Shay
16 08 Mike O’Sullivan
17 7 Cory Casagrande
18 99M James Miller
19 18F Jeff Fagan
20 93 Ryan Green
21 05 Phil Richardson
22 21 Josh King
23 99 Billy Joerres
24 29 Barry Gray
25 1 Kyle Casagrande
Track—Lee USA Speedway, 0.375 mile Lee, NH.
Race—Granite State Pro Stock 100
Time of Race— 1:09:06.8
Cautions—(5)—laps 1, 18, 84
Margin of Victory— 2.679
Lap Leaders—(1 ) Jeremy Davis