Jesse Melberg returns to Pure Stock Victory Lane; Tom Grey breaks through for Nick’s Pit Stop Legends win; Pacheco, Blais and Lougee repeat
Seekonk, MA — Jesse Melberg made his way back to the winners circle in the Pure Stocks. Jesse took over on a lap 22 restart and held off defending Pure Stock Champion Bill Chouinard to pick up his second win of the season. The race was dominated by Amy Arsenault, who led from the beginning, but spun out of the lead with just a handful of laps remaining. Melberg took over, and amid heavy pressure, showed there is no “Sophomore Slump” for this Taunton native. Chouinard held on for second, with Chris Lima, Earl Curtin and Tom Blackwell rounding out the top five.
For the past two weeks, Tom Gray has been getting used to the 1/3 mile, finishing second and third in the Nick’s Pit Stop Legends. This time it was his turn to make the spectacular move, as he picked up his first Seekonk win in the Legends. Gray followed teammate Shawn Buffington for several laps before making his move with less than 10 laps to go. While a lapped car thwarted the efforts, he did not give up, and on the final lap, he was able to move underneath and pick up the Nick’s Pit Stop Legends win by just .010 seconds. Jordan Lamothe finished a close third, while Joey Parker and Taylor Martin rounded out the top five.
Defending Sport4 Champion Kyle Pacheco outlasted a rough Sport4 feature to pick up his second win of the young season. Henry Lavalee finished second, with Christopher Bissell, Lenny Sousa and Taylor Therrien third through fifth.
It took Somerset’s Austin Blais a little over a year to finally find his way into Victory Lane in the Seekonk Youth Racing Association (SYRA), but now that he has found his way there, he has put a stranglehold on it, as he picked up his second consecutive 750 win, making it one of the closest finishes in Seekonk Speedway’s history, as he edges Chase Belcher by .001 at the checkered flag. Belcher set the pace for the first 18 laps, holding off the charges from Waterford CT’s Kaitlyn Donovan, then reigning SYRA 600 Champion Curtis Rolando before Blais chased down the leaders. The pair raced side by side for a couple of laps before Austin took the lead with one lap remaining. The pair battled for the final 1/3 mile, and crossed the line in a virtual tie, needing the AMB Timing and Scoring system to determine the winner. Donovan crossed third, just .139 behind the leaders, with Rolando and Ashley Kuhn fourth and fifth.
David Lougee of Taunton picked up his second trophy in the SYRA 600 class, jumping out to an early lead and rolling to an easy win, his second of the season. Doug Meservey Jr finished second, while Shawn DeMello had his best run, hanging on for third. Tyler Boudreau and David White rounded out the op five.
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR