Lee USA Speedway Oktoberfest Preview
Lee, NH – Lee USA Speedway’s Oktoberfest 2015 is just two weeks away, with racers representing tracks and tours from all six New England States and beyond expected to compete in the 18 divisions on the schedule at “New Hampshire’s Center of Speed”, closing out the season’s on-track action with one of the most-anticipated events of the year.
Over 300 race teams competed in last year’s version of Oktoberfest, and this year’s schedule invites even more racers, as virtually every type of race car that competes from Connecticut to Maine will fit in the varied set of rules, and a record-setting field is expected enter the weekend’s events.
As always, the Valenti Modified Racing Series will close out their 2015 points season at the Oktoberfest, with Connecticut driver Chris Pasteryak leading the point standings coming in. Pasteryak has a solid career record at Lee USA, including a perfect 2015, winning the annual “Bullring Bash” open-competition show in May, and taking the checkers in the VMRS‘s first 2015 visit to Lee back in June.
In addition, the Pro Stocks/Super Late Models will once again take part in the final race of the 2015 season, with defending race winner Jeremy Davis of Tamworth expected to defend his Oktoberfest title. Davis has already visited Lee USA victory lane this season, scoring a dominating win when the Granite State Pro Stock Series visited on July 24.
Lee USA’s weekly Supermodifieds will contest their last race of the year during the ’Fest, but 2015 champion Tommy Tombarello, Jr. of Haverhill, MA suffered a hard wreck on the final night of the regular season, and the four-time champ and defending race winner is expected to be a spectator for the last race of the 2015 season, leaving this year‘s Oktoberfest title up for grabs.
Lance Barthelemy of Fremont, the most recent winner in Friday night weekly action is among the favorites to step up, as is fellow Fremonter Mike Ordway, Jr., a three-time winner this season aboard the former championship-winning Witkum Brothers Racing entry, and 2015 feature winners “Super Dave” Sanborn of Tilton, Moe Lattime of Kingston, Leslie Keyser of Northfield, and rookie sensation Jarrod Soucy of Hudson, MA.
Other divisions on the 2015 Oktoberfest slate include the always-exciting Late Models, which were once the headline division of Lee USA’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly schedule. Last year’s Oktoberfest saw multi-time Lee USA and American Canadian Tour
(ACT) champ Wayne Helliwell of Dover victorious.
Helliwell’s 2014 win came over fellow Granite Stater Glenn Martel and Connecticut driver Keith Rocco, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
2010 champion and owner of three-straight and five overall championships in the Waterford (CT) Speedbowl SK Modifieds, the most recent of which was won just last weekend.
Other divisions in action during the course of Oktoberfest weekend include the Late Model Sportsmen/Super Streets, which saw 2009, 2010, and 2013 champion Grant Aither score the victory last year, and the Hobby/Strictly Stocks, won last season by 2011 Hobby Stock champ Mark Parenteau.
Four-cylinder action on tap for Oktoberfest weekend includes several varieties of racecars, including the Roadrunners, Pure Stocks, and the exotic Outlaw Mini Stocks, which feature some of the fastest four-cylinder powered machines sporting fenders in the Northeast.
Open-wheel fans get their fill from the Pro-4 Modifieds, as the touring series visits “New Hampshire’s Center of Speed” for the second time this season. Second-generation racer Robin Berghman emerged victorious in the 2014 Oktoberfest feature for the Pro-4’s.
Other open-wheeled action on tap for Oktoberfest weekend includes the lightning-fast “Mighty Midgets” of NEMA (North Eastern Midget Association), the NEMA Lites, Modifieds, Northeast Classic Lites, and the Vintage Outlaw Modifieds.
The remainder of the program will be filled out by the six-cylinder Ironman division, Outlaw Late Models, and the Mr. Rooter New England Truck Series, with action taking to the fast 3/8th’s mile oval on Friday, October 9 for practice, followed by Saturday practice and qualifying, and Sunday feature event action for the 18 divisions.
The weekend promises to be the biggest event on the Northern New England fall racing calendar, with as much action off the track as there is on the oval during the three-day weekend. Don’t miss the traditional season-ender at Lee USA Speedway, as Oktoberfest 2015 takes to the track and the campgrounds on October 9-11, 2015. See you there !
Sources: Lee USA Speedway PR