Wells Conquers NEMST for First Career Championship
Texas Roadhouse North East Mini Stock Tour Presented by Twisted Tea
THOMPSON, CT (October 21, 2014) — For the first in the Texas Roadhouse North East Mini Stock Tour history the regular season closed out at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park’s World Series. Thirty-Two tour style mini stocks showed up for the Inaugural event. Two time champion Emerson Cayer entered the event 72 points behind friend and point leader Toby Wells. The closest battle within the points happened to be for the 3rd spot and Rookie of the Year. Nick Anderson and Justin Larsen were only separated by a mere 3 points.
On Friday evening teams lined up and ran their heat races with an impressive showing from Justin King moving from last to first in only 3 laps to win his heat. Larsen and Wells would also win their respective heat races in dominating fashion. The 4th year driver, King, drew an invert of 2 rows for the feature to be held on Saturday. According to NEMST procedures no current season feature winners may start in the top 10, Wells and Larsen would start 10th and 11th.
On the front row it would be Nick Maniatis and Justin King to lead the field to the green flag. After a long, long day with multiple rain showers the NEMST feature rolled onto the speedway at about 10:45 PM. The field thundered down the front stretch with tight 2,3, and 4 wide action all throughout the 32 car field. King broke out to the early lead but was in a dog fight with Maniatis that would soon include Thomas, Sonnhalter, and Larsen.
Wells had clinched the NEMST Championship presented by Twisted Tea after his heat race win but would still battle for is victory in the Thirty Racewear CT Triple Crown. Thirty Racewear owner Mark Caise announced early in the season that a brand new custom firesuit would be given to any driver that could win all 3 Triple Crown events. Wells had previously won Stafford and Waterford entering the Thompson event.
After a lap 7 caution for the stopped car of Eric Pelletier in turn 4 the field fired away once again. Maniatis would take the advantage this time with King, Thomas, and Wells battling hard behind him. Twisted Tea sponsored Desmond Skillings continued his tough luck on lap 14 as an engine grenade collecting Doug Curry into the turn 3 wall.
The field struggled to get under way with 4 cautions in the next 2 laps taking its toll on many top 5 competitors including a spin for Justin King, the wall for Beth Adams and Nick Maniatis, and a penalty to the rear for Justin Larsen. Mitch Bombard also made hard contact with the turn 3 wall.
The field finally got restarted on lap 16 with Toby Wells breaking out to the lead being followed by Thomas, Pete Zaikarite, Justin King, and Nick Anderson to round out the top 5. Wells had an emotional victory lane celebration for his first ever championship in decades of racing everything from Enduros to Pro Stocks.
Nick Anderson would up as Rookie of the Year by 1 point over a hard charging Justin Larsen over the final 4 laps. The top 10 in NEMST points and champions in both Triple Crowns will be honored at the yearend banquet being held on November 22 in Nashua, NH. For additional NEMST information please visit www.northeastministocktour.com or check us out on Facebook!
North East Mini Stock Tour
2014 Oval Track Points Standings As of 10/18/2014
North East Mini Stock Tour
Pos Car No Driver Hometown Points
1 2NH Toby Wells Dublin, NH 802
2 88NH Emerson Cayer Contoocook, NH 656
3 55 Nicholas Anderson Oxford, MA 642
4 18ME Justin Larsen Peru, ME 641
5 24 Joe Baxter Pascoag, RI 509
6 85 Michael Viens Seekonk, MA 507
7 48 Justin King Derry, NH 470
8 33 Matt Sonnhalter E. Thetford, VT 463
9 10CT Mitchell Bombard Willimantic, CT 444
10 18NH Jacob Rheaume Rochester, NH 373
11 07 Pete Zakarite Niantic, CT 337
12 4 Nik Coates Turner, ME 331
13 21 Chad Baxter Pascoag, RI 320
14 90 Desmond Skillings Antrim, NH 309
15 34ME Justin Trombley Winter Harbor, ME 277
16 21MA Darren Jacobs Springfield, MA 239
17 69 Louis Maher North Brookfield, MA 228
18 63 Nick Maniatis Hooksett, NH 225
19 34 Roger Ducharme Foster, RI 219
20 25 Nic Skillings Warner, NH 217
21 18X Tim Collins Windsor, ME 209
22 41 Loren Smith Allenstown, NH 207
23 12 Jim Windrow Concord, VT 182
24 43 Dana Shepard Putney, VT 158
25 52NH Ricky Labrecque Antrim, NH 158
26 51CT Mark Panaroni Ivoryton, CT 130
27 53 Glen Thomas New London, CT 113
28 97 Dave Trudeau Mansfield, CT 102
29 38 Cristofer King Derry, NH 101
30 9 George Fortin Greene, ME 90
31 20 Shawn Kimball Augusta, me 86
32 22MA Dave Helliiwell Pelham, NH 86
33 3RI Ian Brew Wood River Junction , RI 86
34 67 Timothy Martin White River Jct, VT 84
35 19 Zach Audet Skowhegan, ME 83
36 25CT Charles Canfield New Haven, CT 80
37 12 Darrell Moore Oxford, ME 72
38 87 Beth Adams Winchendon, NH 68
39 29 Max Dolliver Londonderry, NH 67
40 42 Loren Smith Jr Bow, NH 65
41 7 Eric Pelletier Coventry, RI 63
42 11 Taylor Morse Waterbury, VT 62
43 13MA Cameron Sontag Sterling, MA 61
44 47 Jef James Dracut, MA 53
45 88VT Mike Metcalf Westminster, VT 53
46 54 Chris Garside Waterford, CT 51
47 19 Natalie Perrault Woonsocket, RI 50
48 13 Jenna Randall Stark, NH 49
49 22NH Shaun Waites Raymond, NH 49
50 22 Alicia Thatcher Blackstone, MA 48
51 13 Nate Tribbet Richmond, ME 44
52 62 Joe Kendall Whehendon, MA 42
53 88NY Gene Purvis Lowman, NY 36
54 99 David Banville Somerset, MA 36
55 51 Mike Mason Skowhegan, ME 35
56 53 Richard Walski Norwich, CT 35
57 28 Mike Parker Bradford, VT 29
58 01 Chuck Mcdonald Grotom, CT 25
59 79 josh dunn enfield, NH 25
60 8VT Jacob Noble Benson, VT 25
61 1 Jimmy Childs Leeds, ME 24
62 23 John Bowes II Willington, CT 24
63 55NH Billy Osborne Plaistow, NH 24
64 19RI Nick Matera Warwick, ri 23
65 2CT Doug Curry Groton, CT 20
66 26 Jeff Moffat Smithfield, RI 12
67 52X Jeremy Carter E Andover, NH 12
68 2ME Butch Keene Turner, ME 9
69 06 Ryan Glover Mexico, ME 8
70 95 Bruce Knowles Dover, NH 7
71 97PA Matthew Westover E Stroudsburg, PA 7
72 2 Rob Greenleaf West Bath, ME 6
73 3 Jordan Hadley Quaker Hill, CT 5
74 01NH Erica Page Durham, NH 3
Northern Triple Crown Points
North East Mini Stock Tour
Final Points as of 9/14/14
Pos Car No Driver Hometown Points
1 88NH Emerson Cayer Contoocook, NH 202
2 18ME Justin Larsen Peru, ME 184
3 55 Nicholas Anderson Oxford, MA 167
4 33 Matt Sonnhalter E. Thetford, VT 156
5 2NH Toby Wells Dublin, NH 150
6 24 Joe Baxter Pascoag, RI 137
7 10CT Mitchell Bombard Willimantic, CT 119
8 18NH Jacob Rheaume Rochester, NH 117
9 63 Nick Maniatis Hooksett, NH 114
10 85 Michael Viens Seekonk, MA 106
11 48 Justin King Derry, NH 102
12 22MA Dave Helliwell Pelham, NH 86
13 4 Nik Coates Turner, ME 77
14 18X Tim Collins Windsor, ME 77
15 41 Loren Smith Allenstown, NH 76
16 34ME Justin Trombley Winter Harbor, ME 74
17 90 Desmond Skillings Antrim, NH 71
18 29 Max Dolliver Londonderry, NH 67
19 52NH Ricky Labrecque Antrim, NH 66
20 25 Nic Skillings Warner, NH 62
21 07 Pete Zakarite Niantic, CT 57
22 69 Louis Maher North Brookfield, MA 57
23 47 Jef James Dracut, MA 53
24 43 Dana Shepard Putney, VT 43
25 21MA Darren Jacobs Springfield, MA 42
26 34 Roger Ducharme Foster, RI 39
27 42 Loren Smith Jr Bow, NH 39
28 12 Jim Windrow Concord, VT 36
29 99 David Banville Somerset, MA 36
30 19 Natalie Perrault Woonsocket, RI 30
31 79 Josh Dunn Enfield, NH 25
32 11 Taylor Morse Waterbury, VT 25
33 8VT Jacob Noble Benson, VT 25
34 55NH Billy Osborne Plaistow, NH 24
Points as of 10/19/14
North East Mini Stock Tour Thirty Racewear CT Triple Crown
Pos Car No Driver Hometown
1 2NH Toby Wells Dublin, NH 289
2 55 Nicholas Anderson Oxford, MA 240
3 48 Justin King Derry, NH 231
4 07 Pete Zakarite Niantic, CT 220
5 85` Michael Viens Seekonk, MA 197
6 88NH Emerson Cayer Contoocook, NH 195
7 18ME Justin Larsen Peru, ME 161
8 24 Joe Baxter Pascoag, RI 160
9 33 Matt Sonnhalter E. Thetford, VT 152
10 51CT Mark Panaroni Ivoryton, CT 130
11 10CT Mitchell Bombard Willimantic, CT 129
12 21 Chad Baxter Pascoag, RI 128
13 34 Roger Ducharme Foster, RI 128
14 53 Glen Thomas New London, CT 113
15 04 Shawn Swallow Stark, NH 103
16 18NH Jacob Rheaume Rochester, NH 103
17 97 Dave Trudeau Mansfield, CT 102
18 12 Jim Windrow Concord, VT 102
19 4 Nik Coates Turner, ME 101
20 38 Cristofer King Derry, NH 98
21 52NH Ricky Labrecque Antrim, NH 92
22 8RI Ian Brew Wood River Junction , RI 86
23 25CT Charles Canfield New Haven, CT 80
24 69 Louis Maher North Brookfield, MA 77
25 22 Alicia Thatcher Blackstone, ME 71
26 13MA Cameron Sontag Sterling, MA 61
27 4NH Jamie Swallow Stark, nh 60
28 21MA Darren Jacobs Springfiled, MA 59
29 43 Dana Shepard Putney, VT 56
30 88VT Mike Metcalf Westminster, VT 53
31 41 Loren Smith Allenstown, NH 42
32 87 Beth Adams Winchendon, NH 41
33 63 Nick Maniatis Hooksett, NH 39
34 11 Taylor Morse Waterbury, VT 37
35 53 Richard Walski Norwich, CT 35
36 90 Desmond Skillings Antrim, NH 34
37 28 Mike Parker Bradford, VT 29
38 1 Chuck Mcdonald Groton, CT 25
39 25 Nic Skillings Warner, NH 24
40 34ME Justin Trombley Winter Harbor, ME 24
41 23 John Bowes II Willington, CT 24
42 19RI Nick Matera Warwick, ri 23
43 2CT Doug Curry Groton, CT 20
44 19 Natalie Perrault Woonsocket, RI 17
45 7 Eric Pelletier Coventry, RI 12
46 26 Jeff Moffat Smithfield, RI 12
47 11 Aaron Poulin Berlin, NH 11
48 42 Loren Smith Jr Bow, NH 8
49 97PA Matthe Westover E. Stroudsburg, PA 7
50 3 Jordan Hadley Quaker Hill, CT 5
51 95 Bruce Knowles Dover,NH 4
52 99 Garrett Denton Hope Valley, RI 4
Sources: Bob Guptill/NEMST PR