Refocusing Brings Magic Mile Victory
In what has been a season about refocusing their racing program Wayne Helliwell Jr. and Bruce Bernhardt led Team put an exclamation point on their 2014 season with arguably the biggest win of Helliwell’s career on Saturday.
Rocketing from his 16th starting spot in the 6th Annual Bond Auto ACT Invitational, Helliwell was 8th by lap-4, 3rd by lap-10 and the leader by lap-16. Fighting off multiple restarts from Canadian ace Patrick Laperle, it was darkness that ended the event 6-laps from its scheduled distance with an extended red flag on lap-44 and the lack of lights at New Hampshire Motor Speedway brought the Ekeys-4-Cars, Butler MacMaster Ford Fusion to victory lane.
The win was Helliwell’s second of the year in ACT competition; but more so a rebound after leading 111 of the 200 laps north of the border in August; sidelined with steering failure while leading with 20 laps remaining in the Cam-Am 200.
This is huge,” stated Helliwell. “We needed this… The car was fantastic from lap-1 to the end. To get this win after the let down at Ste-Croix [Riverside Speedway] is so great for everyone on this Team. On a stage this big, our sponsors, all of friends and family are here. I can’t thank Ekeys-4-Cars, Butler MacMaster, Mangus Transmissions and Unique Ford enough for all of their support and help in getting us here. This is a big, big deal.”
High on the list of big deals is the progression of Helliwell’s self-designed and built chassis. In a year where the Team has spent almost as much time testing as they have competing, Helliwell is happy with the progress after what he feels like is a refocusing on the future for the Pelham, NH based Team.
“This year feels like one big test session,” stated Helliwell. We’ve spent a lot of time trying to get better, trying to be more consistent through a whole race distance. I feel like everyone around us is getting better and we are the same. You start to second guess yourself; you think do i need to get a different chassis… This year we have just refocused on what we’re doing and I think over the last month we are starting to see the effort we have put in.”
Helliwell points to a trip to DRP Racing Products in Rocky-Mount, Virginia in early August that proved to be an eye-opening experience, one he credits to more consistency in his cars.
I was skeptical,” stated Helliwell. “It’s a hard pill to swallow when you take a car that has won back-to-back titles and change it. Lynnie [Doughton] showed us to look at things in a different perspective. It’s easy to get tunnel vision when there is just one chassis and no one to bounce ideas off of. You can get into a rut pretty easy. It was an educational trip…”
Helliwell continued that the addition of a super late model to their stable has been beneficial to the late model program.
“One of reasons we didn’t want to compete full time and get sucked into a point’s battle this year is all the technology with the super late model,” stated Helliwell. “Bump stops, coil binding, shocks… on and on. There is so much stuff to learn and understand with the super late model we didn’t think we could focus on the points and do that. I think it’s all starting to come full circle; both programs are benefiting each other. We are bringing a better product, a better base line to the track each week. The cars are getting more and more stable. I just hope it continues…”
The Bernhardt Team will look to keep up the winning ways this coming weekend as the as the American Canadian Tour wraps up the series championship at Airborne International Speedway in upstate New York. A track that Helliwell went to victory-lane at to claim his first series title in 2011.
“We’ve struggled somewhat at Airborne,” stated Helliwell. “I hope the speed we’ve found on flat tracks can translate to there…“
Next Event
What: The Fall Foliage 200
Where: Airborne International Speedway – Plattsburgh, NY
When: Saturday September 27, 2014 – 2:00PM
Wayne Helliwell Jr. and Bernhardt Motorsport’s would like to thank their proud partners for their support in 2014: EKeys-4-Cars • Unique Ford • Bernhardt Automotive • Pro-Turf Landscaping • DTB Tax • C&M Distributing • Butler MacMaster Performance Racing • Carbonneau Insulation Co • IICCEEE • Ford Racing • Schoenfeld Headers • Sunoco Race Fuels • Bassett Wheels • Joes Racing Products • Quarter Master • ARP Bodies • Welded Media • Mangus Transmissions • Coastal Candle Company
Sources:Jason Lubin/Welded Media