Gelinas, Helliwell File Entries for Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP)
Walpole, NH — As the Icebreaker at TSMP quickly approaches; some big names have filed last minute entries.
Winner of the last race for the Granite State Pro Stock Series (GSPSS) at TSMP, Larry Gelinas has announced his intent to pick up another win at the 5/8 mile oval. The entry with the GSPSS makes for a busy weekend for the Buxton, ME driver, as he is also running for points in the Late Model division at TSMP for the 2014 season. Gelinas races as much as anybody on the tour, entering around 50 races during the 2013 season, including 11 races with the GSPSS en route to a runner-up finish in the championship standings. Even with the experience at the track and with the series, Gelinas isn’t sold on himself being a runaway favorite. Gelinas stated “If Mechalides is there, he will be tough. (Mike and Tommy) O’Sullivan’s are tough. It could be somebody different. By the sounds of it, there are a lot of good drivers entering the race.”
Two-time defending ACT champion “The Punisher” Wayne Helliwell, JR has filed entry with his Bruce Bernhardt Motorsports ride. The duo has turned heads on just about anything they’ve been a part of on the racing scene, and the GSPSS is no exception. Helliwell, JR picked up the win last year at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, NH in dominating fashion, holding off the aforementioned Gelinas for his first checkers in the series. “We have a brand new car, so we will be shaking the car down at the Icebreaker,” Bernhardt says. “However, we don’t attend a race we don’t think we can win.” Helliwell is more reserved about the first race of the year. He comments, “We want to take it step-by-step. We would like to get a good practice in and work the bugs out.” Helliwell will be running a limited schedule in the GSPSS, as the Dover, NH driver will be turning “Outlaw” in 2014 by running partial schedules with the Pro All-Star Series, ACT, and GSPSS.
Other big names that will be attending the race are Matt Frahm and Tommy O’Sullivan. Frahm, the career wins leader in the GSPSS with 4, will look to pick up number 5 at the Icebreaker. The former Nationwide Series driver finished 12th in this race one year ago. O’Sullivan, brother to 2013 champ Mike, finished third in the World Series at Thompson in 2013, and looks to start the year off on the same note.
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park is located at 205 E. Thompson Road in Thompson, CT. For more information at the track, please visit www.thompsonspeedway.com. For more information on the Granite State Pro Stock Series, contact Mike Parks at mparks@gspss.com or visit www.gspss.net.
Sources: Mike Parks/Granite State Pro Stock Series PR