American Canadian Tour at Lee USA Speedway April 26, 2015
Lee, NH – Although the season-opening American Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model event had to pushed back two weeks due to the heavy snows Mother Nature piled on the Lee USA Speedway this winter, all systems are go to open the 2015 season on the rescheduled date of April 25 at “New Hampshire‘s Center of Speed“.
The Northeast Classic Lites and North East Mini Stock Tour will also be taking to the fast 3/8th’s mile as part of the opener, and the pre-season touring series action continues with the second annual Bullring Bash for the Tri-Track Open Modified Series along with the NEMST and the North East Street Stock Tour on May 17.
Two weeks later, the 2015 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season will take to the track for the Friday night opener on May 29, and entries are pouring into the speedway office at a record pace. Weekly events will once again feature the Supermodifieds, Hobby Stocks, Ironmen, and 4-cylinder Pure Stocks, but the Late Model Sportsmen are clearly leading the way when it comes to pre-season entries.
Defending Late Model Sportsman champion Niko Maniatis is taking the year off, but the Rick Solt-owned machine he wheeled to the 2014 title will be back in action with a familiar name behind the wheel. Second-generation Lee racer George Helliwell will be taking over the driving duties in the Solt entry, and if his past record is any indication, he should be a contender from the drop of the green flag.
Helliwell has already visited victory lane in the Lee USA Hobby Stocks, and more recently has had a stranglehold on the winner’s circle in the Northeast Classic Lites, not to mention the impressive run he put in during last year’s Granite State Pro Stock Series event.
George would like nothing more than to follow in the footsteps of his brother Wayne, Jr., who has amassed a resume that includes championships in the Late Model Sportsman, Late Model, and Supermodified ranks over the past decade at Lee USA.
Fellow second-generation racer and 2014 Late Model Sportsman runner-up Geoff Rollins is planning another run at the championship, after losing out on the title by a tie-breaker last year. Ditto veteran Ricky Porter of Epping, who finished just a handful of points away from the championship last year.
Jimmy Russell, a former Hobby Stock champ and the most prolific winner in the LMS division in 2014 is another who can be counted among the drivers expected to contend for the 2015 title, as is newcomer Jimmy Ryder, who like Helliwell, has already visited Lee’s victory lane in the Northeast Classic Lites.
Ryder most recently took home the win in the 2014 Oktoberfest Outlaw Late Model feature event, and he’s not the only Outlaw moving to the LMS ranks, as he’ll be joined by the driver who followed in his tire tracks and took home runner-up honors in the Oktoberfest main, Jay Sands.
Other notables who have thrown their hats in the ring for 2015 include longtime campaigners Bobby Melvin and Joe Delisle, former champ Boe Green, Mark Parenteau, Mike Welch, Jason Ryan, Ray Dinsmore, Jesse Bousquet, Patrick Stewart, and rookie of the year contenders Evan Amour, Jay Avery, and Nathan Leavitt.
Sources: Lee USA Speedway