Lee USA Speedway May Madness 5/18-5/19 Race Report
Lee, NH – The first annual May Madness event opened the 2019 racing season at Lee USA Speedway, with two action-packed days of racing to start out the new year.
Saturday action included qualifying for all divisions, and feature events for the NEMA Midgets, NEMA Lites, and Pro-4 Modifieds.
Mike Horn of Ashland, MA took down the NEMA Midget win over Avery Stoehr of Lakeville, MA and Dan Cugini of Marshfield, MA. Reigning Lee champion Alby Ovitt of Somersworth finished an impressive fourth aboard a Bertrand Motorsports entry, with multi-time NEMA champ John Zych, Jr. of Mendon, MA rounding out the top five.
Anthony Marvuglio picked up the NEMA Lites win in the Glen Cabral machine, with Ryan Locke of Chester, Matt Merry of Plaistow, Jake Trainor of Medway, MA and P.J. Stergios of Candia second through fifth.
Brett Meservey scored the win in the Pro-4 Modifieds.
Sunday action opened up with the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model Sportsmen running their first event of the 2019 championship season, and this one was all Bill Helliwell.
“Billistic Bill” led from flag to flag to score the big 50-lap season-opening win over his brother George and former champion Jimmy Russell.
A strong field of Mini Stocks answered the call for their 50-lapper, the first round of the New Hampshire Short Track Racing Association “Battle for the Belt”.
Andrew Harmon of Farmington won his heat race on Saturday and looked strong early in the main, but Niko Maniatis of Hooksett looked stronger when it counted.
Maniatis quickly worked his way to the head of the field, and like he’s done so many times before at Lee USA, he dominated the action to score the win. Harmon checkered second, with Dan Sweeney of Barrington taking down the third spot.
Longtime racer George Baldwin of Lowell, MA came out on top in the debut of the Steel Sportsman series, with Kyle Casper chasing him to the checkers.
The Valenti Modified Racing Series ran a pair of 50-lap feature events as part of May Madness, with Jeff Gallup taking his first career VMRS win over Mike Willis and Dylan Rock in the first of the two, and Anthony Nocella grabbing the second victory after passing Andy Shaw in lapped traffic with just two laps remaining.
A disappointed Shaw had to settle for second place honors, with Rock coming home third for the second time on the day.
The Granite State Pro Stock Series finished out the weekend with a $3,000-to-win 150 lap main event, and it was Brandon Barker collecting the big paycheck with yet another impressive Lee run. Once he got to the lead, he was in command, leading the field under the checkers by a comfortable margin. Veterans Jeremy Davis and Ben Rowe finished second and third.
Sources: Rich Hayes/Lee USA Speedway PR