Bobby Baillargeon Picks Up Hudson Hugger 100 victory
HUDSON, NH — Kingston NH’s Bobby Baillargeon led all but lap 2 on his way to his second consecutive Hudson Hugger win. Hudson’s Derek Griffith and Baillargeon brought the 21 field car down to the green, and the pair raced wheel to wheel for the first few laps, swapping the lead back and forth, before Bobby was able to close the door for the top spot. Barry Gray, Jimmy Renfrew and Mike O’Sullivan rounded out the top five on the opening laps.
The first caution came out on the 21st circuit when Eric Sands spun in the fourth corner. Austin Brehio made slight contact, but went to the pits for repairs. It was three laps later when the second yellow flew when the points leader Jeremy Davis, Jake Vanada and Mike O’Sullivan got together in turn three.
Once back under way, Baillargeon set sail at the top of the field, opening up a few car length advantage over Griffith, but the action behind the leaders was hot. Barry Gray continued to run third until just shy of the halfway point before starting to lose the handles. Frahm and Renfrew slid by on the 42nd lap.
At the halfway point, the top five remained the same, but the man on the move was Wayne Helliwell Jr. He started in the final starting position, and had moved into the top eight. By lap 75, the defending ACT champion moved into fifth. By this point, Frahm had closed in on the leader, and started to put heavy pressure on Baillargeon, almost getting underneath him before the caution came out on lap 79 when Tom O’Sullivan spun in turn two.
The field struggled to get through lap 79, with three restarts on that lap with a few spins on the restarts. Once through that, Griffith slid under Frahm for second, and was able to keep him behind. Heliwell fell out with mechanical problems and fell out on lap 84, moving Mike Parks and Jay Sands into the top five.
Over the final laps, Griffith tried to keep up with the leader, but there was no denying Baillargeon on his second win.
For more information, check out our website at gspss.net, or find us on Facebook under Granite State Pro Stock Series.
1) Bobby Baillargeon
2) Derek Griffith
3) Matt Frahm
4) Mike Parks
5) Jay Sands
6) Mike O’Sullivan
7) Tom O’Sullivan
8) Keith Caruso
9) Larry Gelinas
10) Barry Gray
11) Jimmy Renfrew
12) Jeremy Davis
13) Josh King
14) Wayne Helliwell
15) Phil Meany
16) Eric Sands
17) Fran Colson
18) Jason Ryan
19) Jake Vanaa
20) Austin Brehio
21) Ron Smith
Sunoco Fuel Heat Winners: Derek Griffith, Jimmy Renfrew, Larry Gelinas
Performance Unlimited Performance of NH ½ way leader bonus: Bobby Baillargeon
AR Bodies Hard Luck Award: Phil Meany
Bond Auto Parts award, given to the last driver on the lead lap: Jermy Davis
Sherwood Wheel $50.00 gift certificate 5th place finish Award: Jay Sands
Ricky’s Real Racer award, given to the driver who picks up the most positions in the race: Jay Sands
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Granite State Pro Stock Series PR