Hammann Nails Down First of Season
Brendon Hammann shook off last week’s miscue elimination with a convincing trip to the front for his first feature win of the season. He rolled up from his seventh-place start to roll polesitter Jacob Burns out of the lead on lap eight, then ran the remainder of the 25 laps to the finish in the clear air. The win elevates him to fifth on the season’s standings, currently being led by Josh Parsons.
Brendon Hammann wins first legends race!
Parsons was involved in the previous week’s event that eliminated Hammann – the two divers began swerving during caution to scrub rubber marbles from their tires for better traction. They were sharing the front row for the restart and began clearing tires at
This week was different for Hammann. No incidents and a solid run to the checkers put him in Victory Lane.
Burns was able to leap off the pole away from Andrew Carpenter and Connor Souza got under Carpenter into second. Hammann, meanwhile, sorted things out for a couple laps then started forward. Lap four saw Connor Holderbach take over second from Carpenter and Hammann moved into fourth on Carpenter’s tail.
Five laps in, Tom Searles and Jeff Wood got together in turn one, setting up a caution. On the restart, Burns and Souza faced off with Hammann and Peter Bennett behind them. Burns pulled away from Souza and Hammann got underneath. But RJ Marcotte spun on the next lap bringing another restart. This time Burns and Hammann were on the front row. Burns pulled ahead and Hamman let Souza run under him, dropped under and tried to run underneath into second, but Souza shut the door. Hammann persisted and secured the spot. Once more around and Bennett looked under Souza but was rebuffed.
Hammann went after the lead, going under Burns and to the front in turn four. Burns glommed onto his bumper while Bennett and Souza were door-to-door over third. Reagan Parent ran fifth, followed by Matthew Carpenter, Ryan Doucette, and Parsons. Lap ten saw the trio together in turn two, bringing caution with ten laps remaining.
Hammann grabbed the lead again and Burns went to second. Bennett got back under Burns and next time around was able to claim second coming out of turn two. Parent was under Holderbach behind them and when Burns got loose and fell back, Parent scooted into third.
Midway through the feature, Hammann was enjoying a six-car lead over Bennett. Parent closed on Bennett but Souza veered under him to capture third and Burns held on to fourth. Hammann continued to hold his margin over the field throughout.
The closing laps were a single file pursuit to the checkers. Hammann shot across for the win, followed by Bennett. Third through fifth came in a knot sorted out by the electronics and Holderbach grabbed third, followed by Parsons and Parent to round out the top five.
Sixth went to Burns, followed by Mason Tessier, Matt Carpenter, Connor Souza, and Doucette.
HENRIQUES NAILS DOWN PURE STOCKS
Mike Henriques climbed up from a seventh place start to nail down his first win of 2019 after Joey Morrissette spent the first half of the race in the catbird’s seat. Morrissette had grabbed the lead from the pole position and fended off Max Bergstrom over the distance until Henriques arrived on lap nine. Five laps later, Henriques had taken over to lead the final dozen circuits to the checkers. Bergstrom was good for second, just ahead of Greg Perry. Cliff Avila and Danny “The Outlaw” Massa, Jr. rounded out the top five.
Mike Henriques wins first of the season
Henriques and The Outlaw were side-by-side in row four as Morrissette and Ava Chouinard led the field to the green. Morrissette and Chouinard had a spirited wheel-to-wheel contest over the first lap before Joey put his nose ahead going into lap two. Bergstrom got a nose under Chouinard then drove in while Henriques ducked below Tommy Blackwell into fourth and then under Ava into third.
Morrissette led Max by a car. Four laps in, Amy Arsenault went under Blackwell for sixth as Morrissette stretched his lead to three cars.
Henriques was looking to Bergstrom’s high side and pulled up alongside on lap eight. Chouinard pursued in fourth as the field strung itself out. Avila closed in on her bumper. Having eased Bergstrom back to third, Henriques began to close the gap to Morrissette and got up to the bumper in turn four of lap ten. He started looking both high and low for a way around, but Morrissette did some good defensive driving. Henriques elected to push on the high side, but Morrissette held him off. Chouinard was on Bergstrom’s bumper as last week’s winner, Lenny Sousa, took a spin between turns one and two amidst a duel with Blackwell. Tommy was assessed an assist and joined Sousa at the rear.
On the restart, Morrissette and Henriques went door-to-door but Shayne Lambert took a spin before the lap was out. Second try saw Morrissette nose ahead at the stripe, but Henriques battled back in turn two. By turn four, Mike had pushed ahead into the lead. He then went to a three-car lead and in a second lap had pushed it out to six cars. Morrissette continued in third, ahead of Bergstrom, Chouinard, and Avila. Perry was behind them working under Arsenault, Massa was below Doug Benoit and Marissa Morgan was holding down tenth.
Henriques pushed out to an eight-car lead with eight laps remaining and then had a half a straightaway on lap 19. Emily Brightman spun bringing caution with five to go. Henriques grabbed the lead from Morrissette and Bergstrom ducked under as Joey got loose. Perry ducked under Avila and past Morrissette into third on Bergstrom’s tail. Avila followed him into fourth and Massa took over fifth. Morrissette finally settled into sixth.
From there, it was a single-file drag race through the final 2 ½ laps to the checkers with Henriques grabbing the trophy by 1.483 seconds over Bergstrom.
Sixth went to Morrissette followed by Arsenault, Sousa, Chouinard, Benoit, and Morgan.
LOPES DOUBLES UP IN SPORT FOURS
Jordan Lopes came back from a week two DNF to grab the front and lead all comers under the checkers for his second feature win of the as-yet young season. It was a dramatic turnabout from his fortunes last week, when he was forced to retire with handling problems. The double-winner was chased across the line by Crystal Murray, who had missed last week’s feature so that she could graduate from Tiverton High. Mike Lefort completed his third-straight top-five, hauling in on Crystal’s tail and signaling that he is another threat to break it all open this year. He has finished second, fifth and third on the three weeks of racing so far in 2019. Tyler Almeida and Karlin Levesque shot home behind Lefort to round out the top five.
Jordan Lopes wins 2nd of the season.
AJ Manuel had another lunge toward the front interrupted on lap 10 with a spin after battling from fourteenth to fifth and restarted twenty-first. The current champ was in a sparring mood and spent the final fifteen laps battling all the way back up to sixth.
At the outset, Jason Poitras and Almeida battled off the front row, then had to do it again as newcomer Samantha Beaulieu got sideways on the berm in turn four. Second try saw Poitras and Almeida door-to-door through the first lap. Poitras got the lead in turn one of lap two and Almeida settled in with David Simpson, Jr. on his bumper, followed by Samantha Mattera, Tough Tim Bolger and then a charging Jordan Lopes.
Team Phils Propane
Two laps later, Lopes was digging in under Bolger, looking for fifth place and Murray was at their backs, awaiting the outcome. Lefort was on her heels with David Westgate in pursuit mode. Jordan took over fifth and began to survey Mattera’s fourth place spot as Poitras continued to fend off Almeida at the front.
Lopes ran under Mattera and then stole third from Simpson. Murray followed him like a magnet, settling into fourth. Five laps in and Lefort was again on Crystal’s bumper, AJ, Westgate, Simpson, and Mattera followed. At the front, Poitras also had Almeida filling his mirror. Lopes was two lengths behind them.
Two laps later, Lopes had closed the gap and powered past Almeida and leader Poitras; in the process, Poitras got outside and fell to fourth. Almeida retained second while Crystal grabbed third. Lefort was on her bumper and Manuel was under Poitras behind them. At this point, Manuel took a turn two spin. Matt Smith and Christine Simpson spun to avoid him.
Lopes and Almeida shared the front for the restart with the dangerous duo of Murray and Lefort behind them. To make matters worse, Westgate and Poitras made up row three, just ahead of Mattera and David Simpson. Lopes burst back into the lead over Almeida; Murray and Lefort where wheeling side-by-side behind him. Westgate charged along behind them.
Lopes took a quick, three-car lead over Almeida, and Crystal pulled ahead of Lefort into third. The field strung out, but lap 12 saw Sabrina Beulieu spin to avoid an accordion effect on the track. Lopes grabbed the lead from Almeida out of the box and Murray pulled away from Lefort on the backstretch to grab third. But suddenly, Westgate was creeping slowly along the wall and to the pits.
Lopes continued to lead by two cars and Almeida was two up on Murray, with a four-car gap back to Lefort when Christine Simpson spun up to the wall, leading Beaulieu and Timmy Oullette to spin in avoidance.
The lap nine restart saw Lopes sail back into the lead, but this time, Murray nosed under Almeida before he could drop. Lefort dropped to remain on her bumper and last week’s winner, Arthur Meack, came briefly loose behind him. Karlin Levesque, meanwhile, was below Bolger in pursuit. Almeida was taking the freight train back on the outside but averted a disaster when he dropped in behind Lefort.
With four laps remaining, Lopes was having a party to himself, ten cars up on Murray, Lefort, Almeida, Levesque, Meack, and Manuel. Bolger ducked in under Manuel and they ran wheel-to-wheel. Lefort became insistent and bore in on Murray’s bumper and they began a virtual brawl over the runner-up spot. It was a withering attack going into the penultimate lap. Crystal held him off under the white flag and was able to keep him at bay for the final third-of-a-mile to the checkers.
Bolger held off Manuel to grab sixth and AJ finished on his heels. Then came Meack, Mattera, Lavalle, Matt Menders and Poitras.
CARON OUTLASTS DELL FOR OUTLAW WIN
Riley Caron came off the pole to lead all comes from green to checkers in a race (save for a first lap red flag that led to a complete race restart) that ran caution free for all fifteen laps. It was Caron’s first feature win, and he was literally bouncing up and down when he alighted from his mount. Samantha Dell had one of her best races, climbing from eighth to second over the first nine laps, then relentlessly pursued Caron for the remainder of the outing. Twin-winner on the season, Giovanni Ruggerio, grabbed third, driving a borrowed car after his was crumpled in a wreck during practice and could not be repaired. He was able to run, however, in Brandon Cowen’s Bandolero as a loaner. Joey LeMay and Ethan Heilborn rounded out the top five.
The opening lap was marred by an accident against the front stretch wall. Nathan Smith struck a glancing blow, but he collected Nicholas Rose who piled in at speed and carried into the wall. Isaiah Newcomb was also collected in the incident. Red flags flew and Rose took a trip to the pits in the ambulance for observation. His car and Newcomb’s went to the pits on the hook.
On the complete race restart, Caron and LeMay went wheel-to-wheel at the start before Caron could disentangle himself and take the lead in turn two. Heilborn ran third behind LeMay, ahead of Stephen Bowden. Ruggerio and Aubrey Keller followed.
Caron was suddenly two cars up, then four cars going into lap three. LeMay, Heilborn, and Ruggerio clustered behind him. Heilborn looked underneath but LeMay shut the door on him. Heilborn then began to look to the high side.
Riley Caron Takes a Victory lap!
Ten laps to go, and Caron seemed unassailable: he was up by eight cars. Dell had picked her way onto Ruggerio’s bumper and got in underneath. After a brief battle with Heilborn, Dell moved into second with five laps remaining. Ruggerio took advantage as LeMay and Heilborn got together briefly and slipped into third to harass Dell.
They ran nose-to-tail and picked up some speed, allowing them to narrow the gap to Caron, but the laps were winding down and it seemed there wasn’t enough time left to close in. Behind Ruggerio, LeMay was taking over fourth with Heilborn and Cameron Tavares following. With two to go, Caron still had a comfortable six-car lead over Dell.
It was a single-file run through the white flag lap with Caron well ahead, Ruggerio trying to steal second from Dell and LeMay firing in behind.
`Sixth on the evening went to Cameron Tavares, followed by Bowden, Keller, and Smith.
DION: GREEN-TO-CHECKERS FOR FIRST FEATURE WIN
Ethan Dion was greedy with the lead of the Bandolero Bandits: he erupted from the pole onto the front of the field and never allowed his competitors to pass. This, of course, was easy for the speedster as he easily rocketed out to a long lead. And with the feature running caution-free, none of them had the opportunity to restart alongside. He had instituted a six-car lead over the initial two laps while Colin Vanasse, Rob Murphy, Jr., Brenden LaBelle, and Smilin’ Reese Bogue snarled around each other trying to settle the runner-up spot. This was good news for Dion as he cruised ahead in the clear air, increasing his lead.
Smilin’ Reese broke away on lap four and spent the rest of the 15-lapper trying to overhaul the leader, concluding with a second-place finish. Ryan Vanasse, Jr. completed the podium finish with a third while Brenden LeBelle and Adam Harrison rounded out the top five.
The feature was an abrupt about-face from last week’s chaos with five cautions before a lap could be completed and difficult field realignments. Race directors Tim Bolduc and Len Ellis took extra time with the division during drivers’ meetings before racing began and their instructions hit home with an uninterrupted fifteen laps, much to the crowd’s delight.
On the green, Dion pulled away from outside polesitter Colin Vanasse and began building a comfortable margin. Murphy ducked under Colin into second as LeBelle followed him into third. Bogue settled into fifth behind Vanasse. But Bogue was past Ryan Vanasse on the next circuit, then deprived Colin and LeBelle of position to gather in second. Dion had fired the afterburners and sat ten cars up on Bogue who had Le Belle, and Murphy (with Ryan looking underneath).
Vanasse ran under Murphy into fourth with 10 laps remaining and the field mostly single file. Murphy pursued, followed by Adam Harrison, Colin, and Mike Hanafin. Dion continued to increase his lead over the next few laps, and with five remaining, he had a 15-car lead. Bogue and LeBelle followed but Ryan looked underneath then passed LeBelle in turn three, running up to Bogue’s tail. Smilin’ Reese pushed out, getting about ¾ of a car length on his opponent, but Vanasse would not go away and pursued on a mission.
With two remaining, he took another look underneath on the backstretch, but Bogue saw him coming and slammed the door. This was giving Dion everything he could ask for although he was giving ground: Bogue and Vanasse only trailed by 7 lengths.
However, with just over a lap to go, the distance seemed insurmountable. They ground under the white flag, and the field held position for the final circuit. Dion came home with his first feature win as a Bandit by 5/8 of a second over Bogue and The Rocket, Jr. was just .189 seconds behind Reese.
Sixth, overall, went to Murphy, followed by Colin Vanasse. Jaden Dib, Hanafin, and Brent Robidoux completed the field.
Sixth on the evening went to Cameron Tavares, followed by Bowden, Keller, and Smith.
Sources: Dana Rowe, SeekonkSpeedway.com