Sprague and Robidoux get redemption; Logan picks up Allison Legacy North win; Rolando and Donovan win SYRA Mains
On August 12th, the ”Fast Friday” program returned to the Seekonk Speedway for an action packed night of entry level racing. The Seekonk Youth Racing Association 600 and 750 classes, the Sport Four division, the Allison Legacy North Series, and Pure Stocks, took to the “Action Track of the East,” and Curtis Rolando, Kaitlyn Donovan, Rich Sprague, James Logan, and John Robidoux notched the victories.
In the SYRA 600s feature, Taylor Bowser sat on the pole and led the sixteen laps of the race. However, with four laps to go, while racing Chase Belcher for the lead, contact was made, sending Chase around, putting Bowser to the rear of the field on the restart, setting up a four lap sprint to the finish between Curtis Rolando and Austin Blais. Rolando held on to his ground on the inside line, and despite the rookie’s best efforts to surpass the points leader on the outside, Rolando obtained the victory by .050 seconds, less than a half car length.
Most of the SYRA 750 feature was run caution free, although there was plenty of action. In the opening laps, Branden Dion and Adam Swift each advanced their positions to second and third behind leader Kaitlyn Donovan. Swift passed Dion for second on lap seventeen. While battling for third, Dion and Lascuola made contact in turn one and spun, bringing out the yellow flag and setting up a green-white-checkered finish. On the restart, Donovan fended off Swift and Willy Sanchez to pick up her first win of the season.
Rich Sprague stole the show once again in the Sport Four feature. Off the heels of a post-race disqualification last week, Sprague wasted no time marching to the front of the field once again. Kyle Pacheco took the lead early and led most of the race, but on lap sixteen, Sprague secured the top spot after a furious battle with the fellow rookie. After completing the pass, Sprague pulled away and gained his third victory of the year. Kyle Pacheco, Dave Westgate Jr., Chris Bissell and Ed Gould rounded out the top five.
Pete Portante led the opening two laps of the Allison Legacy feature from the pole position, but local favorite James Logan swiped the top spot on lap three. On the eighth lap, Danielle Bibeault spun in front of the leaders, bringing out the caution immediately. Logan widened the gap on the ensuing laps, and Emily Packard passed Portante for second with ten laps to go. On the twenty fifth and final lap, the #43 of Devin O’Connell spun on the back stretch, but the race stayed green and James Logan picked up the win.
The Pure Stock feature got off to a rocky start. After only two laps, Mark Boisvert and Chris Lima made contact on the front stretch which sent the #47 of Boisvert spinning into the grass. Keri Lynn Manfredo spun on the restart in turn two but the race stayed under green flag conditions. A multi-car spin brought out the caution for the second time on lap nine after Jamie Salley, Missy Charette, Mark Boisvert, and Rick Hayward made contact and spun exiting turn two. John Robidoux took the lead from Jamie Burch on the restart, and opened up a sizeable gap over the field. However, his two second lead was erased as the caution on lap twenty three for a spin involving Dan Massa Jr. and Jamie Salley set the stage for another green-white-checkered finish. John Robidoux maintained the inside line and picked up the win over Randy Moretti and Jesse Melberg.
Pure Stock Finish
1 93 John Robidoux
2 5 Randy Moretti
3 32 Jesse Melberg
4 9 Amy Heroux
5 66 Bill Doyle
6 8 Bill Chouinard
7 28 Ed Flanagan Jr
8 01 Thomas Blackwell III
9 22 Jay Sullivan
10 29 Timothy DerMarderosian
11 65 Mark Miranda
12 41 Daniel Massa Jr.
13 81 David Desrosiers
14 47 Mark Boisvert
15 87 Jamie Salley
16 53 Keri-Lynn Manfredo
17 00 Derek DeMoura
18 10 Melissa Charette
19 48 Rick Hayward
20 2 Doug Benoit
21 07 Christopher Lima
22 15 Jeremy Lambert
DNS 16 Robert Gillman
DQ 14 Jamie Burch
Sport4 Finish
1 10 Richard Sprague
2 3 Kyle Pacheco
3 49 David Westgate Jr
4 95 Christopher Bissell
5 6 Ed Gould
6 66 Devin Miranda
7 28 John Lamake
8 20 Stephen Heath
9 9 Robert Henry
10 67 Josh Barrie
11 39 Kim Bickford
12 99 Taylor Therrien
New England Pro Four Late Model Finish
1 44 James Logan
2 9x Emily Packard
3 24 Peter Portante
4 26 Sean Murphy
5 17 Melissa Fifield
6 38 T.J. Jeski
7 36 Troy McNeil
8 43 Devin O’Connell
9 16 Danielle Biebuelt
10 2 Anthony Ryan
SYRA 750 Finish
1 95 Kaitlyn Donovan
2 75 Adam Swift
3 5 Willy Sanchez
4 18 Ashley Kuhn
5 33 Nicholas Lascuola
6 9 Tylar Nailor
7 04 Branden Dion
8 87 Christine Cavallaro
SYRA 600 Finish
1 48 Curtis Rolando
2 28 Austin Blais
3 15 Shelby Donovan
4 11 Tyler Boudreau
5 07 Taylor Bowser
6 3 Jason Enos II
7 22 David Lougee
8 1 Brett Meservey
9 88 Kiera Carpenter
10 2X Matthew Barboza
11 8 Doug Meservey Jr
12 81 Chase Belcher
13 96 Brooke Meservey
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR