Melberg and Buffington claim titles and wins. Shepard, Belcher and Barboza win while McDonald, Blais and Boudreau clinch Seekonk championships
Seekonk, MA — Jesse Melberg picked up his sixth win of the 2012 season at Seekonk Speedway, closing out the Fast Friday series with his first career championship in the Pure Stocks. Tim Demarderosian took the lead on the opening circuit of the 25 lap main, and held on for the first few circuits until he was caught up in an incident, eliminating him, Earl Curtin, John Robidoux and Bill Doyle.
Amy Arsenault took over at the helm, and set the pace for the half dozen laps while Melberg worked his way 3 wide to the battle at the top of the leader board. When they crossed the line for lap 10, the Champion found himself out front, and from there, never backed down. Amy held on to the second position until Chris Lima moved past with a handful of laps remaining. Arsenault wound up third, with Randy Moretti and Jamie Salley fourth and fifth.
Shaun Buffington claiming the inaugural Nick’s Pit Stop Legends Championship in winning fashion. Shaun showed he was going to be the driver to beat in 2012 by consistently finishing in the top three, save for a couple of mechanical failures. Joey Parker drew the early lead and set the pace through the first several laps until Nick Lascoula took over. His lead would be short lived however, as Buffington was able to move past on a lap eight restart.
With Shaun up front, the battle was behind him, as Tom Gray and Lascoula were fighting for the second spot. Grey was trying to hold off Lascoula when the pair made contact and Gray spun. Lascoula held on for second with Jordan Lamothe holding off Taylor Martin and Chris Robbins for third through fifth.
Frank Shepard picked up his second consecutive Sport Four feature win, taking the lead over in the middle portion of the 20 lap main. Shepard and Lenny Sousa started deep in the pack and fought their way through the field to try and settle it amongst themselves at the top of the leader board.
Robert Henry led the opening laps before Devin Miranda took over at the top. While the race at the front was going on, the battle for the championship was still lingering in the balance. Chuck McDonald held a slim lead over Henry Lavallee, and at one point, the lead changed hands.
With McDonald fighting engine issues, Lavallee had worked his way into second, and appeared poised to win his third race of the season until a right front flat tire sent him pit-side. A timely caution allowed him to change the tire and not lose any laps, forcing McDonald to continue on with a smoking power plant. In the end, Lavallee was not able to put enough cars between them, and came up short in the title chase.
In the race, Shepard held on with Sousa second, Miranda third, Peter Amelotte and Jeff Dombrowski rounding out the top five.
Chase Belcher picked up his third win of the season in the SYRA 750 class, but there was no catching The Bullitt for the title, as Austin Blais picked up his first title. Tylar Nailor led the opening lap of the 20 lap feature before the Chase was on. Chase took over on the second lap, and held on for the duration of the event while the action was happening behind him. Blais moved into second early, and settled into the runner up position. Kaitlyn Donovan finished third with Willy Sanchez and Curtis Rolando rounding out the top five.
Blais came into the night with an insurmountable lead, but raced as if it was all on the line, moving quickly toward the front, settling into second, but he had nothing for Belcher on this night. Not that he needed to, as the title was his.
Matt Barboza held on for his first win of the season in the 20 lap SYRA 600 feature, holding out a dominating 4 second advantage over the rest of the field. While he was cruising along, Tyler Boudreau was doing all he could to hold onto a slim lead in the championship chase, and in the end, a fourth place finish was enough to hold off Taylor Bowser for the SYRA 600 crown.
The battle for second and beyond was a hotly contested one, as Tom Morsehead Jr had his best run of his rookie season, racing hard with Taylor Bowser, Shawn DeMello and Boudreau, as they raced in a tight pack for many laps. Morsehead crossed for second, but his car failed post-race tech, moving Bowser into second. DeMello, Boudreau and Shea Kulpa rounded out the top five.
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR