A Closer Look at the Numbers…
Walpole, NH — With four races into the books on the 2014 season, it’s time for the resident stat-geek to take a look at the numbers for the Granite State Pro Stock Series.
The series has already raced at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Monadnock Speedway, Hudson International Speedway, and Star Speedway all before July. The schedule continues July 25th, as the series heads to Lee for the first time ever, and continues at Monadnock, Star, Hudson, White Mountain Motorsports Park, and concludes at the World Series at Thompson once more. With Lee and WMMP being the wildcards in the chase for the championship, as the series has never visited either facility, each race left is more important than ever.
There have been four different winners in four races to begin 2014. Mike O’Sullivan tied Matt Frahm’s career win total by picking up the win at the Icebreaker at TSMP, but Frahm upped the ante once more by winning the very next race at Monadnock. Larry Gelinas continued his torrid run by picking up the victory at Hudson, while Jeremy Davis returned to the GSPSS in style by grabbing the checkers at Star. This trend is actually the norm with the GSPSS, as there has only been one driver that has picked up more than one victory in a season. That driver? Matt Frahm in 2013.
Speaking of Gelinas’ season; the Buxton, ME driver has not finished outside the top 4 to begin the 2014 campaign. Dating back to last year, the 2013 championship runner-up has finished outside the top 5 only once in his last 7 races, giving him an average feature finish of 3.29 in that stretch. Surprisingly enough, that isn’t even the best stretch of top finishes in the short GSPSS history. Mike O’Sullivan’s first seven races netted him only one finish outside the top five as well, sporting a 2.71 average feature finish during that span, propelling O’Sullivan to the 2013 championship. Jeremy Davis’ 4.71 average feature finish in his first 7 races in 2013 places the Tamworth, NH resident 3rd in that category.
Frahm is the all-time wins leader, but things get a bit tricky in the records column after that. Of drivers competing in at least ¼ of the 22 events held with the GSPSS, Larry Gelinas boasts the best all-time average feature finish, with a 5.56. Mike O’Sullivan sits second with a 5.75 average feature finish, and Bobby Baillargeon sits third with an average finishing spot of 7th. Mike O’Sullivan is the leader in top 3’s with 8 all-time, with Gelinas second with 7, and Frahm third with 6 top 3 finishes. Veteran driver Barry Gray has the most all-time top 10’s however, with 14 to his name. A tie between O’Sullivan and Gelinas with 13 top 10’s place them in second, with recent winner Jeremy Davis close behind with 11.
There have been only two drivers to finish all four races in the early 2014 season in the top 10. One, of course, is Gelinas, the current point leader as of the first Star Speedway event. The second? Youngster Derek Griffith, who sits fourth in points, just 8 points shy of Dillon Moltz for third, 11 points shy of Frahm for second, and 44 points behind Gelinas for first.
Gelinas, as previously mentioned, is the current point leader after Star’s June 28th event, but he hasn’t improved his position the most in the feature overall this year. In fact, the leader of that category isn’t even in the top 10 in points. Scott “Zig” Geno has competed in only two events, but has improved 21 spots in the features from his starting position, the most on the GSPSS this year. Derek Griffith has been second-best in that category, with a +20, and Gelinas third with a +17. Of the 36 cars to compete in a feature event so far this year, 16 have improved their positions in their features, 17 have fallen back, while three are dead even.
The GSPSS will add to these numbers on July 25th, as the series heads to Lee Speedway for the first time in their existence. For more information on the Granite State Pro Stock Series, please contact Mike Parks via e-mail at mparks@gspss.net, or visit our website, www.gspss.net, or on social media via Facebook or Twitter @GSProStocks.
Sources: Shawn Sicard/GSPSS PR