Results from August 2nd at Lee USA Speedway
LEE, NH — The rest of Lee’s weekly divisions were in action as well, with Ryan Gath capturing his second checkered of the year in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Small Block Supermodifieds, Bobby Melvin grabbing his first of the campaign in the Prime Storage and Warehouse Late Model Sportsmen, and Wayne Osborne collecting his first career win in the American Used Auto Parts Ironman main event.
Prior to the start of feature event racing, another round of one-on-one Spectator Drags took to “New Hampshire’s Center of Speed”, with the win going to hometown driver Andrew Harmon of Lee, who put his immaculate Z-28 Camaro into the winners circle after holding off Steve Dickey, Jr. in the final round.
Ironman action started out the night’s feature action, and it was Hannah Shaw breaking out of the pack first to set the early pace. Shaw led the way for the first four circuits before yielding the top spot to Osborne, who was in control the rest of the way.
Danielle Simoneau was on the move over the second half of the race, but her charge fell just short as she settled for runner-up honors at the checkers. Evan Horvath survived a couple of close calls to finish third, with Travis Hollins and Zach Washburn rounding out the top five.
The Benson Lumber and Hardware Small Block Supermodifieds were next to hit the track, already one car short with Mike Murphy sitting on the sidelines after taking a hard trip into the turn one concrete during his qualifying heat, with serious front-end damage to his car the net result.
Veteran Sparky MacIver was off like a shot when flagman Steve Grant dropped the green flag for the main, moving out to a comfortable lead while fan favorite Mike Spurling held off Ryan Gath to maintain the second spot over the first half of the race.
Gath made his move past Spurling on lap 16 to claim the position, with only MacIver remaining between him and victory number two on the season.
Caution was on the field on lap 18 when contact sent Jake Stergios for a spin in turn one, and two laps later, the action was halted after former champion Eddie Witkum, Jr. took a wild ride on the frontstretch, climbing the wall just before the start/finish line, and losing the wing off his family-owned machine as he spun wildly all the way down to turn one.
Gath got a great run on the restart and rode the outside groove to the lead, and three laps later, defending champ Tommy Tombarello, Jr. knocked MacIver back another spot as he looked to catch the leader and keep his points lead.
Mike Netishen was knocked out of action after he took his turn fighting the retaining wall on lap 24, but the lead trio was safely out in front of the action, and stayed that way to the finish, with Gath in for the win, followed by Tombarello, MacIver, Spurling, Stergios, Jon Booth, Leslie Keyser, Moe Lattime, Bill Kimball, and Jim Barker finishing second through tenth.
Ricky Porter made quick work of the Late Model Sportsman starting grid, quickly moving to the front to stake his claim to the lead spot. Porter was still on top as the field took the crossed flags halfway through the 30-lapper, but by that point, Bobby Melvin was up to second and looking for more.
Melvin made his move on lap 18, taking over the lead and immediately putting a couple of car lengths between himself and Porter. Melvin managed to stay out front the rest of the way, picking up his first checkered flag of the season with a .3 second margin of victory.
Porter held on to collect runner-up honors, followed by second-generation racer Michele Fushpanski, multi-time feature winners Grant Aither and Geoff Rollins, defending champion J.R. Baril, Jimmy Russell, Alby Ovitt, Ryan Green, and Nike Maniatis.
The Hobby Stocks were the final event on the card for the night, and rookie Billy Clement, Jr. set a torrid pace out front over the first half of the 50-lap feature. An early incident sent Eric Hoffman and Ron Washburn to the pits, with the caution waving for the first time just four laps in.
A couple more first half cautions jumbled the field up, and things got really wild on lap 36, when the leader broke with the whole pack bearing down right on his back bumper. Jim Piaseczny slipped through the scramble to take over the lead, and it was all but over from there.
Piaseczny went on to take the win, with Dennis Dumas making his 2013 debut an impressive one with a runner-up finish in the biggest race of the year. Third spot went to Wade Worster, with Patrick Tanguay beating fellow veteran Brian Thompson to the line by a mere .011 second for fourth.
Sixth spot went to David MacDonald, with Jim Shorey, Paul Palen, Kyle Sawyer, and Chris Jacobson finishing up the top ten.
This coming Friday, August 9th, we will be hosting our annual ISMA Supermodified Summer Classic along with Small Block Supermodified, Hobby Stocks and the NEMA Lites. The Bentley Warren Benefit Bike Run for Petty’s Victory Junction Gang Camp will be making their annual appearance also. Pit gates open at 2pm with ISMA’s hour of practice from 4pm to 5pm.
Sources: Lee USA Speedway PR