Matt White celebrates in Victory Lane after claiming Late Model feature victory at Barre’s Thunder Road. (Alan Ward photo)
Barre, VT – Matt White of Northfield grabbed the lead halfway through the race, then held off a late-race challenge from Eric Badore of Milton to claim the 50-lap Late Model feature on North Country Federal Union Night at Thunder Road.
White overhauled pole-sitter Jason Allen of Barre on lap 25. Allen started on the outside of the front row beside White after the only caution of the event on lap 29, but couldn’t reclaim the lead. Badore, last week’s feature winner, pulled into second place in the closing stages, but couldn’t find the speed or the line to get around White. Trampas Demers of South Burlington caught up to the leaders in the final 10 laps, but had to settle for third place
Allen finished in fourth position in the Late Model main event. Nick Sweet of Barre, Eric Chase of Milton, Cody Blake of Barre, Phil Scott of Middlesex, Scott Dragon of Milton, and John Donahue of Graniteville rounded out the top ten.
Eddie MacDonald will team up again with Super Late Model owner Dave Lemieux in the PASS 150 at Lee USA Speedway on Friday night, June 24. The pair joined forces to win the first ever SLM race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last year and hope to repeat that performance at the very familiar surroundings of Lee.
“I am very excited to race Dave’s car at my family’s track,” said Eddie Mac. “A win would be extra special since it would help celebrate my parent’s thirtieth year of operation at Lee. I have raced there since I was a kid in high school and my parents have been my greatest supporters in my racing career. We have been working hard in the shop so hopefully we will be very competitive even though this will be our first race in this car this season. Bobby Cabral built the car and will be our crew chief for the race and I am looking forward to working with him.”
NAPLES, ME (June 21) – After a few weeks off due to rain, the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) North Super Late Models will be back on track Friday night at Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire. Coming in to this weekend’s action, nine drivers are in striking distance for the championship, including Tamworth, NH’s Jeremy Davis. While Davis sits ninth in points, the Granite State favorite is not happy with his results, scoring only one top 10 finish so far this season.
“My season so far has had ups-and-downs,” says Davis. “We’ve had some bad luck with mechanical issues taking us out of a bunch of races this season. Lots of big races we were in contention for the win, just bad luck has taken us out. Like our last race at Lee, we lost the motor fighting for the lead late in the race.”
Last year, Davis finished third to DJ Shaw and Derek Ramstrom for his third straight top five finish. Coming back to Lee USA Speedway this weekend with PASS North, Davis believes all the ingredients are there to challenge for a win, if luck is on his side. And it is special, since Davis began attending races there when he was just a week old. (more…)
The Twin State 100 saw some new drivers on the roster adding to the variety seen in all of the GSPSS races started this year. George Bessette of Danbury, CT., Tommy O’Sullivan, of Wilbraham, MA., and local racer Jimmy Zullo of Claremont, NH all added their names to the list of already competitive list of drivers running.
Last years winner Derek Griffith and newcomer to Claremont, DJ Shaw set the pace early in the day, both attaining 13.9 lap times in practice. Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA. and Bill Ahern of Bellerica, MA. started on the front row. Guy Caron of Lempster, NH took an early lead, showing his knowledge of the track. Griffith, Shaw, and Davis quickly made their way through the pack to the top five in the early laps of the race. Caron led for twenty-five laps until the first caution flew for Glenn Martel as he spun in turn two.
On the restart, Shaw took advantage of his position near the front, and captured the lead which he would hold for a total of sixty-six laps of the race. On lap forty-seven, hometown racer Jimmy Zullo found himself in the pit for the first time in the feature after he hit the front stretch wall in practice. He continued to battle the car throughout the night. On lap fifty-five Cory Casagrande of Stafford Springs, CT and George Bessette of Danbury, CT made contact in turn four.
