DJ Shaw Fends Off Challenges – Cruises to Star Classic 100 Victory
Epping, NH- With the August 23 Hudson Hugger having been rained out it had been over a month since the Granite State Pro Stock Series was last on track. That didn’t slow any of the series and the region’s top dogs, drawing 23 cars for the full fendered portion of the historic 50th Annual Star Classic at the racy ¼ mile speed plant in Epping NH.
DJ Shaw made his second appearance of the year in the series and was quick to show his strength early with a dominant win in the first heat of the night. Strong wins by Nick Sweet and Matt Frahm in the remaining heats would set the tone for the night.
The feature saw 03 Auto Mart Chevy of Joe Squeglia benefitting from the redraw to find himself on the pole followed by the Steve Dickey, Matt Frahm, Nick Sweet and DJ Shaw rounding out the top 5. Squeglia showed the way for much of the first 40 laps fending off challenges on the outside from a hard charging Matt Frahm.
Squeglia was very strong on the restarts but soon had a mirror full of DJ Shaw. By lap 40 Shaw had managed to wrestle the lead from Squeglia, but the story of the night was current point leader Derek Griffith in the #12 LCM Racing Toyota. Griffith had a rough start to the night when contact with the #29 of Barry Gray in the heat race relegated him to a 22nd place starting spot. Griffith would have his work cut out for him as he need to patiently and methodically work his way through the pack.
Shaw would battle the very stout Squeglia for the next 25 laps fending off challenges through a slew of restarts before the 03 would lose ground and position to a very stealthy #05 of Jacob Dore. Dore, making his first appearance with the series in the Star Classic 100, had been under the radar most of the night taking 3rd on a lap 65 restart after a racy battle with both Frahm and Griffith who had worked his way to the top 5 after another early race incident that ripped the right front fender off of his #12 LCM Racer.
Shaw was comfortably leading the race, but was very much aware the #12 of Griffith was not far behind. “When Derek got to 4th I knew he was good so I said he’s the one I want to watch. Keep an eye on him and let me know when he goes and luckily we had a good cushion when he got to 2nd”. With 15 to go it was Shaw leading. Matt Frahm had worked his way back to 2nd followed by Griffith and Dore. Frahm knew he had his work cut out for him on the next restart and let his Lambert Roofing #14 crew know it wasn’t quite right “Guys it’s not 100%, It’s not like a video game I can’t just go around, so it’s gonna be a lot of work to hold these guys off.” Frahm battled valiantly on the restart but was stuck on the outside losing position to both Griffith and Dore. With 10 laps to go the Precision JLM #60 of Shaw was able to maintain a two car length advantage, cruising to his second career win on the Granite State Pro Stock Series. Derek Griffith battled adversity for the second straight event to finish a strong second followed by Jacob Dore, Matt Frahm, and Joe Squeglia rounding out the top 5.
Unofficial Finish
1 60 DJ Shaw
2 12 Derek Griffith
3 05 Jacob Dore
4 14m Matt Frahm
5 03 Joe Squeglia
6 38 Babe Branscombe
7 66 Mike Parks
8 29 Barry Gray
9 5 Dillon Moltz
10 21nh Nick Sweet
11 98 Steve Dicky
12 37me Larry Gelinas
13 06 Dan Colby
14 51nh Jeremy Harclerode
15 1ct Cory Casagrande
16 16 Tommy O’Sullivan
17 08 Mike O’Sullivan
18 92 Billy Brady
19 35 Bobby Nadeau
20 32 Steve Murphy
21 21 Josh King
22 11 Steve Johnson
23 28 Greg Nanigian
Contingency Winner Car # Name AR Bodies (Hard Luck) 11 Steve Johnson
Bond Auto Parts (Last Car on Lead lap) 1 Cory casagrande
Bond Auto Parts (Halfway Leader) 60 DJ Shaw
Draco Springs (Most spots gained) 12 Derek Griffith
Five Star Bodies (5th Place) 3 Joe Squeglia
MacLellen Metal Finishing (Heat #1) 60 DJ Shaw
MacLellen Metal Finishing (Heat #2) 21 Nick Sweet
MacLellen Metal Finishing (Heat 3) 14 Matt Frahm
Seymour Racing (Random Draw) 16 Tommy O’Sullivan
RB Performance (3rd Place) 5 Jacob Dore
RB Performance (7th Place) 66 Mike Parks
Sherwood Wheels (Most Laps Lead) 3 Joe Squeglia
Sunoco (Heat Winner) 60 DJ Shaw
Sunoco (Heat Winner) 21 Nick Sweet
Sunoco (Heat Winner) 14 Matt Frahm
VDL (5th Place) 3 Joe Squeglia
Powertrain (4th Place) 14 Matt Frahm
Coilover Comander (Feature Winner) 60 DJ Shaw
Rich Hayes Photos