Mathew Bourgoine Returns to Victory Lane at Wiscasset
Although it’s hard for some to believe that the Amsoil NELCAR Legends Tour has already entered its third month of racing in 2015, it is a testament that time really does fly when you’re having fun! The convoy of car haulers, accompanied by their crew and drivers, rolled into the pits of Wiscasset Speedway on Saturday, for race #5 of the season. With 15 cars on hand, the Tour looked to start off June with some exciting racing for the spectators to enjoy! Picture perfect weather graced the coastal Maine area for the evening, as hundreds embraced the chance to come out and spend some time at the track!
The first heat race of the night, consisting of all the top drivers in the points standings, was paced by the 70 of Tylar Braunschweig, alongside the Racin’ Realtor Ed Getty in the 10. Braunschweig took the lead right away as Getty squeezed in front of Terry Kirk in the 17 to hold down the second spot. The 38 of three-time and defending Tour Champion Mathew Bourgoine was a man on a mission, using the outside line to power past several cars en route to the second spot. Some fierce racing and position swapping went on from 1st to last place, but it was Braunschweig in the Wedgewood Motorsports entry, holding off Bourgoine for his second heat win of 2015. Ed Getty held off a flurry of challenges from the 84 of Matt Grant and the 19 of Kevin Girard Jr. in a near 3-wide finish for the third spot in the caution-free event.
The second heat was headed up by Buckshot Brackett in the 00 and the 8 of NELCAR Vice President Matt Chagnot. Brackett jumped out to the lead in his cherry red Ford sedan and showed the eight car pack the way, until a caution fell on lap 6 for a spin by the 72 of Mike Humphrey. When racing got back to green, it was Brackett still on point, but it was short-lived, as the 17 year old South Portland driver was black flagged for a heavy oil leak, ending a bid for his first career heat win, and effectively ending his night of racing. Bob Weymouth in the 399 inherited the lead from Brackett, and took off from the pack. Chagnot and the 29 of rookie of the year contender Austin Teras battled hard for the second spot in the very entertaining 10-lapper. At the checkers, it was all Weymouth, as the defending Golden Masters Asphalt National Champion grabbed his second heat win in as many weeks. Chagnot hung on to bring home P2 in the Hooligan Motorsports ride, and Teras continued to impress with a solid third place effort.
The feature promised to be a good one, as Braunschweig and Bourgoine set the pace from row 1. Driver 70 was able to pick up right where he left off in the heat and put his flat black Ford coupe on point, but not easily, as Bourgoine fought hard on the outside for quite a number of laps before sliding into the second spot. Ed Getty started 3rd and maintained that spot right on the bumpers of the two leaders, waiting for a possible slip up in hopes of taking the lead for himself, to bring his Getty Real Estate sedan to victory lane for the first time since 2006. Nearly everybody quickly settled into a rhythm and started to spread out across the 3/8 mile oval. While the top 3 pulled away, Matt Grant was steadily picking his way through the field from the 12th starting spot, to take over 4th place on lap 14. With the positions seemly set in place for the duration, that quickly changed several laps later, as Braunschweig struggled to negotiate a car that was going down a lap, allowing Bourgoine to opportunistically jump to the outside and snake away the top spot. The pause in momentum allowed Grant to close in and overtake both Getty and Braunschweig in the closing laps, and pursue the new leader Bourgoine. The race was on, but it was one that the three time champ rarely loses, as Mathew Bourgoine rolled his Corinna Auto Body #38 into victory lane at Wiscasset for the first time in 2015, after sweeping all 5 races a year ago. Matt Grant’s run from the back landed him a solid 2nd place finish in his white and green coupe, Tylar Braunschweig completed a Pro division sweep of the podium, securing a strong 3rd place result, Ed Getty earned himself a Masters division win with his 4th place effort, and the 33 of Alan Smith had a very quiet but effective race, as the 2013 Golden Masters Asphalt National Champion brought home the 5th position.
The Tour will take a break next weekend, before returning to Speedway 95 for the second and final time in 2015 on June 20th. In the meantime, most of the Tour teams as well as some drivers we have yet to see this year, will compete in Thursday Thunder at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway for the next 10 weeks, to fight for a chance to be crowned a champion at Maine’s NASCAR Track!
Special thanks to all our sponsors for their generous contributions; Amsoil Four Season Synthetic, Puzzled Racing for Autism Awareness, New England Legends Sales & Service, and Dysart’s Truck Stop.
For more about legends racing in Northern New England and how YOU can get involved in this exciting breed of cars, check out www.NELCAR.net, and Like our Facebook page!
Feature Finish
1-38 Mathew Bourgoine – Newport – P
2-84 Matt Grant – Windham – P
3-70 Tylar Braunschweig – W. Newfield – P
4-10 Ed Getty – Gray – M
5-33 Alan Smith – Lincoln – M
6-17 Terry Kirk – Durham – M
7-19 Kevin Girard Jr. – Old Orchard Beach – S
8-399 Bob Weymouth – Topsham – M
9-29 Austin Teras* – Windham – Y
10-8 Matt Chagnot – Derry, NH – M
11-7 Steve Benincasa – Buxton – M
12-92 Colby Meserve – Buxton – S
13-72 Mike Humphrey – Cornish – M
14-80 Dylan Varney – Windham – Y
DNS-00 Philip Brackett III – South Portland – S
Heat 1 Finish
1-70 Braunschweig
2-38 Bourgoine
3-10 Getty
4-84 Grant
5-19 Girard Jr.
6-17 Kirk
7-33 Smith
Heat 2 Finish
1-399 Weymouth
2-8 Chagnot
3-29 Teras*
4-7 Benincasa*
5-72 Humphrey
6-92 Meserve*
7-80 Varney
8-00 Brackett III
* denotes rookie
Sources: Matt Grant/NELCAR PR