Lee USA 07/18 Results
Lee, NH – Lee USA Speedway hosted the annual El Camino Night on Friday night, with some 40 local members of the National El Camino Owners Association (NECOA) cruising the oval after the completion of qualifying for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions.
This year’s El Camino Night featured representatives of every decade of El Camino, with dozens of restored vehicles representing the various generations, ranging from one of the original 22,246 built in 1959, a few of ‘60’s vintage, a handful of ‘70’s models, and several from the 1980’s taking part in the exhibition. The crowd cheered in appreciation as the El Caminos toured the track and participated in a burnout competition.
During the night’s feature racing action, the parity among teams in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, EKeys 4Cars Supermodifieds was displayed once again when rookie Kyle Saywer of nearby Kingston outran the competition to become the seventh winner in seven races this season.
Sawyer and his team purchased a new-to-them used Super just before the end of the 2013 campaign, and he made his debut in the Oktoberfest event to get a feel for the high-powered open-wheelers, after spending a couple of seasons in the track’s Hobby Stock division with a single feature win to his credit.
Sawyer has already been on the podium in the first half of the 2014 season, and was quick to thank Jim and Jamie Timmons of Timmons Racing for his success. Sawyer was clearly enjoying the moment as he gave his victory lane interview.
Fellow freshman Lance Barthelemy of Fremont had another strong run to collect runner-up honors in the 30-lap main event, with Candia’s Jake Stergios, Mike Spurling of Rochester, and defending champion Tommy Tombarello, Jr. of Haverhill, MA rounding out the top five.
The Prime Storage and Warehouse Late Model Sportsmen were the double feature division for the night, and it was crowd favorite Alby Ovitt of Somersworth picking up the wins in both of the 30-lap main events. Ovitt scored one the old fashioned way on the racetrack, and the other as a result of a post-race disqualification.
In the first race, Ovitt was hounded all the way by Frankie Eldridge of Stratham, but he held off the determined Eldridge, and went the distance to post the win. Eldridge, Epping’s Ricky Porter, two-time 2014 winner Jimmy Russell of Brentwood, rookie Mark Parenteau of Groveland, MA, Niko Maniatis of Hooksett, Geoff Rollins of Groton, MA, Jesse Bousquet of Pittsfield, and Barrington racers Tom Harton and Kyle Roy finished up the top ten.
In the nightcap, it looked as if Eldridge would get the better of Ovitt as he checkered at the head of the field, but he didn’t get the better of the tech staff, who determined his car was not the winning ride. Ovitt was declared the winner, with Porter, Russell, Parenteau, and Roy the balance of the top five.
The Benson Lumber and Hardware Ironman feature race was pretty much the Evan Horvath show, as the young Nottingham racer led the entire 20-lap distance to collect his second win of the 2014 campaign in his Red Cup Racing entry.
Defending Ironman champion Travis Hollins came into the race with the points lead, but after suffering a cut right-front tire while running in the fourth spot with two laps to go, his title defense hopes took a hard hit as he was forced to pit as a result.
Fan favorite Hannah Shaw of Epping had her best run of the year to claim the runner-up spot behind Horvath, with Epping’s Jeff Bennett, former Rookie of the Year Tyler Mitchell of Dracut, MA, Jeff Nadeau of Epping, and Christin DeStefano of Tewksbury, MA next across the stripe.
The David’s Race Cars and Components Hobby Stocks contested their longest race of the season, with a 50-lap grind around “New Hampshire’s Center of Speed” determining the night’s winner. Jim Piaseczny of Merrimack was fast right out of the gate, and despite a strong late-race challenge from three-time winner Dennis Dumas of Nashua, he held on to score the win.
Rookie contender Zac Fraser of Nottingham found trouble on the race’s first lap, sliding up out of the groove and making contact with the first turn retaining wall. A quick trip to the pits got him back in action after some attention from his crew, and he eventually ended the night with a top ten finish.
Despite an early-race runaway by Piaseczny, things got interesting in the late going when Dumas and Billy Clement, Jr. of Manchester reeled him in and joined the battle for the lead, as the trio ran in tight formation for several laps late in the race.
Dumas eventually prevailed over Clement, but he came up a car length short of Piaseczny as the checkers waved. Dumas had to settle for second behind Piaseczny‘s second win in a row, with Clement closing out the podium with his best finish of the season in the third spot.
Defending champ Patrick Tanguay of Berwick, ME came home with a fourth place finish, followed by Chris Harding of Lebanon, ME, Brian DeStefano of Tewksbury, MA, Jay Avery of Berwick, ME, Sandown’s Brian Thompson, David MacDonald of Tewksbury, Ma, and Zac Fraser finishing up the top ten.
Sources: Lee USA Speedway PR