Lee USA 06/21 Results
Lee, NH — Lee USA Speedway hosted its annual Autograph Night pit party on the front straightaway prior to the evening’s racing action on Friday night, giving race fans a chance to meet their favorite drivers, and an up close look at racecars from all four NASCAR Whelen All American Series weekly divisions as well as the visiting Northeast Classic Lites.
After a quick round of qualifying heats set the stage for feature event action, the streak of new winners carried on yet another week in the Benson Lumber and Hardware Small Block Supermodifieds, as defending champion Tommy Tombarello, Jr. made it six winners in six races when he collected his first checkered flag of the year.
Things started out rough in the Small Block main, with red flags halting the action on three separate occasions in the early laps. Super Dave Sanborn moved out first to set the early pace, but something broke as he was coming off turn four, sending him hard into the frontstretch wall and destroying his Swisset Tool machine with just a single lap in the record books.
Mike Netishen was also eliminated after some heavy contact in the same incident, and just three laps later, Bobby Webber, Jr. got tangled up with Ricky Wolf and clobbered the wall just past the start-finish line, riding along the concrete all the way down to turn one before he came to a stop with some heavy damage evident on his Rod Majowicz-owned machine.
A winner the week before, Jon Booth was the next casualty, as he spun on the frontstretch and collected the inside retaining wall, ending his night as well. Fan favorite Mike Spurling managed avoid the carnage over the first few laps, and he led the way until Tombarello made his move to the outside on lap eight and took command.
Once out front, Tombarello was never seriously challenged, and he led the rest of the way to bring car owners Bobby and Ed Witkum the team’s first win of the 2013 campaign.
Spurling was next across the stripe to collect runner-up honors, with Leslie Keyser completing the podium in the third spot ahead of Ryan Gath, Moe Lattime, Sparky MacIver, Jim Barker, Jake Stergios, Tony Carroll, and Webber.
Patrick Stewart jumped out from the pole and led the first two laps of the Prime Storage and Warehouse Late Model Sportsman main event, but Ray Dinsmore quickly moved to his outside and slipped past to take over the point on lap three.
Dinsmore maintained the top spot for the next dozen laps, but J.R. Baril was on the move and closing fast in the Brian House entry. The defending champ made his move on lap 15, ducking to the low side heading into turn one, and quickly completing the pass to take over the point.
Baril was easily the class of the field the rest of the way, leading them under flagman Steve Grant’s checkers for his second win of the year with a 1.121 second margin of victory over Grant Aither. Alby Ovitt scored another podium finish in the third spot, followed by Boe Green, Dinsmore, Niko Maniatis, Michele Fushpanski, Ricky Porter, Ryan Green, and John Falconi.
Troy Washburn was quickly out to lead the David’s Race Cars and Components Hobby Stock main, but his time in the top spot was short-lived, as Chris Jacobson found his way past on lap two. Jim Piaseczny and Paul Palen followed Jacobson to the front, and after giving chase for the next ten laps, Piaseczny moved past to take his turn out front on lap 12.
Looking to become the first two-time winner in the Hobbies this season, Piaseczny immediately began to distance himself from the field, and he went on to lead them across the stripe to accomplish his mission with win number two of the year.
Palen grabbed second from Jacobson on lap 17, but Piaseczny was already well on his way to victory and Palen had to settle for runner-up at the checkers. Jacobson finished third, with Ron Washburn, Billy Clement, Jr., Wade Worster, Patrick Tanguay, Kyle Sawyer, Troy Washburn, and David MacDonald rounding out the top ten.
Hannah Shaw grabbed the early lead in the American Used Auto Parts Ironman main, setting the pace for the first five laps before 2012 Rookie of the Year Tyler Mitchell moved past to take over the top spot, with Shane Horvath following him to the front.
Mitchell stayed at the head of the field until lap ten, when Danielle Simoneau got past both he and Horvath to grab the lead, but Horvath made a quick move and took his turn out front on lap 11. Horvath held strong to the checkers to pick up his second win of the season, with Mitchell, Zach Washburn, Wayne Osborne, and Evan Horvath rounding out the top five.
Former Lee USA Ironman champ Tom Harton led most of the Northeast Classic Lites main, but he had issues late in the race, allowing Myles Devits to get past and score the win. Chris Sullivan and Jimmy Ryder, Jr. rounded out the podium.
Sources: Lee USA Speedway PR