Lee USA Speedway 8/19/16 Race Report

photo by Rich Hayes

photo by Rich Hayes

Lee, NH – The New England Pro-4 Modifieds were the added attraction at Lee USA Speedway on Friday night, making for another full night of racing action at “New Hampshire’s Center of Speed”, along with the weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing action.

Robin Berghman, acknowledged as the country’s first female driver to claim a touring series championship, once again rose to the top, outrunning the field to take down the win. Berghman is the daughter-in-law of the legendary Bugsy Stevens, a longtime standout on the NASCAR Modified tour back in the in the 1960’s and ‘70‘s.

Family traditions carried on for the rest of the podium finishers, as second-generation racer Norm Wren III claimed second place honors, with third-generation racer Brett Meservey taking home third place honors.

Wrenn’s father Norm was a standout Pro Stock racer at Lee for years, claiming the biggest win of his career in the Lee USA Downeast Drilling Pro Stock Nationals, while Brett’s grandfather Dan, Sr. first found his way to victory lane on the old Tri-Oval Lee Raceway back in the mid-1970’s in NEMMA (the predecessor to today‘s Pro-4‘s) action.

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Lee USA Speedway 8/12/16 Race Report

photo by Rich Hayes

photo by Rich Hayes

Lee, NH – The Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Models invaded Lee USA Speedway for their second appearance of the 2016 season at “New Hampshire’s Center of Speed”, with Granite Stater Derek Griffith of Hudson collecting his first career series win in the 150-lap main event.

Griffith out dueled series veteran Derek Ramstrom of West Boylston, MA, after chasing the early-race leader over the first third of the event, then swapping the lead back and forth several times in the late stages of the race before finally moving ahead for good.

At the checkers, it was Griffith in for his first career PASS win, with all of the biggest names in Super Late Model racing following him across the stripe. Ramstrom finished second, with Johnny Clark, Travis Benjamin, Jeremy Davis, DJ Shaw, Ben Rowe, Mike Hopkins, Joey Pole, and ageless veteran Mike Rowe rounding out the top ten.
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PASS Super Late Model rookie Derek Griffith triumphant in 150-lapper at Lee USA Speedway

photo by Norm Narx

photo by Norm Marx

First win for 19-year-old is final series race before 43rd HP Hood Oxford 250 August 28

 

Lee, New Hampshire – Pro All Stars Series rookie Derek Griffith of Hudson nailed down his first victory on the region’s premier Super Late Model circuit, scoring near home in Friday night’s 150-lap race at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, New Hampshire.

 

Griffith was impressive aboard the Louie Mechalides-prepared racecar, chasing former Thompson Speedway Super Late Model champ Derek Ramstrom for the first 50-plus laps, swapping the lead with the West Boylston, Massachusetts native for most of the remaining laps before pulling away from his rivals during the final handful of laps.

 

Ramstrom claimed runner-up honors after an entertaining, late-race battle with six-time PASS champion Johnny Clark of Farmingdale, Maine.  Clark started the race in tenth position and crossed the finish line third behind Griffith and Ramstrom, remaining a serious threat to claim his seventh series title.

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Lee, South Boston On Tap For Busy PASS Weekend Of Action

photo by Norm Marx

photo by Norm Marx

NAPLES, ME (August 11) – Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Model racers up and down the East Coast will be busy at two of the premier circuits on the schedule this weekend.  New England’s best will go head-to-head on Friday night at Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire, while the PASS South stars will end their Summer break and return to action at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway on Saturday night.

The Granite State will be the host for the PASS North Super Late Models and PASS Modifieds on Friday night at Lee USA Speedway in their final test prior to the 43rd Annual HP Hood Oxford 250 at the end of the month.  Granite State favorite, DJ Shaw, comes to Lee as the defending race winner and with a 50-point advantage over his nearest competitor for the championship, Mike Hopkins.  Fellow New Hampshire driver Jeremy Davis, who finished third at Lee last year, will be seeking his first win this season, along with former series champions, Johnny Clark and Mike Rowe.  Former HP Hood Oxford 250 winners, Ben Rowe and Travis Benjamin, will each be seeking their second wins of the season, while Todd Stone, Derek Griffith, and last year’s runner-up, Derek Ramstrom, have also filed entries.

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Lee USA Speedway 8/5/16 Race Report

photo by Rich Hayes

photo by Rich Hayes

Lee, NH – North Ridgeville, Ohio’s Dave Shullick, Jr. scored his second straight win in Lee USA Speedway’s “Ollie Silva Memorial Classic” for the high-powered machines of the International Supermodified Association (ISMA), as the open-wheelers put on a tremendous show in front of a packed house at “New Hampshire’s Center of Speed”.

Former Lee champion Dan Bowes of Byfield, MA and Mike McVetta of Wellington, OH led the field to the green flag, with McVetta out quickly to set the pace. McVetta remained at the head of the field through the halfway mark, collecting a cool $1,000 bonus from longtime Supermodified supporter Ed Shea of Shea Concrete Products.

As the 75-lapper wore on, Canadian ace Mike Lichty got the better of McVetta on lap 49, but he could only hang on until lap 55, when Shullick completed his charge to the front after starting the race in the tenth spot. It was smooth sailing from there, as “Shoe II” went on to lead them under the checkers for his third overall Ollie Silva Memorial win.
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