Fall Challenge Returns to Claremont Motorsports Park
Claremont NH-For the first time in a number of years, the fall challenge returned to Claremont Motorsports Park. Thirteen divisions took to the race track beginning Saturday afternoon under perfect skies and the racing was nothing but outstanding!
The weekend got started with a major announcement about the future of the speedway. In the drivers’ meeting, Mike Parks announced that he and MDP Motor Sports Promotions had entered into an agreement with the owners of the Speedway to lease the facility for the 2020 racing season. Parks stated that “further announcements will be made as far as rules, schedule, payoffs and more in the coming weeks”. Parks went on to say, “fans and competitors alike should keep an eye on both the series website and the tracks website as well as social media for updates”.
After the big announcement, everyone was ready to go racing. Qualifying was up first with most divisions running heat races. Every heat race that took to the track was extremely competitive and exciting. The exit Realty Pro Truck Challenge held group time trials instead of heat races and it was muti time series champion Andy Lindeman winning the pole for the feature.
Features kicked off with the young guns on the track. Many time Monadnock winner Jake Puchalski continued his winning ways as he took down a dominant win. Brandon Lavoie would come home in second with J.D. Stockwell in his Halloween themed VW in third.
Next to take to the speedway were the Six Shooters. Several invaders from the seacoast region of NH came to take on the Claremont Motorsports Park regulars. After twenty laps of battling it was two of the invades who came out on top. Nathan Leclair and Travis Hollins would distance themselves from the rest of the field settling the top two positions among themselves. Leclair would come out on top as Jeremy Blood would complete the top three.
On track next was a solid field of twenty plus Pure Stocks. Former Claremont winner Matt Gauffin came out on top after a heated battle with his teammate and friend Joe Kendall. 2019 track champion Kyle Templeton would finish third after a heated battle with returning racer Alexis Aiken.
The Pro Truck Challenge was next out as they would run a 55 lap feature and crown their 2019 champion. After a nearly caution-free feature it was Andy Lindeman picking up another series win in dominating fashion. Randy Burr would finish second with newly crowned series champ Gerard Giordano Jr completing the top three.
One of the most highly anticipated races of the weekend was next as the dirt modifieds took to the track seventeen strong. Former winner in a Pro Stock, Walt Hammond Jr. would lead the field to the green with Marty Kelly to his outside. Hammond would get the Jump and never be headed. Vince Quenneville Jr. would battle from his mid-pack starting position to challenge Kelly for the second spot as they battled back and forth for the entire second half of the race. Kelly would prevail in his first race on pavement since his go-kart days with Quenneville completing the top three. Hammond’s son Walter would finish fourth in his first of two races on the weekend and Todd Buckwold would complete the top five.
Bucky Demers handily won the Asetex Tire and Auto spectator race in his Plymouth Laser while E.J. Flanigan would win the fifty lap redneck enduro. Matt Gauffin finished second in his second event of the afternoon and former mini stock winner Josh Rondeau made a stellar return to the track with a solid third-place finish.
Sunday kicked off under partly cloudy skies with The Crazy Horse Racing Race For The Pole. Devin O’Connell came up short of the track record by five-hundredths of a second but won the pole for heat race number one as two heat races were on the schedule. Home town hot-shoe Luke Hinkley would win the first of those with Ray Christian III taking down the second.
The first feature of the day was for the Mini Stock division and it was all Matt Sonhalter. The driver of the little VW pickup truck lead from green to checkers, sometimes by a full straightaway. Second went to Devin Guy who made a late charge late in the going and Tyler Chase wound up third.
The Late Model Sportsman where next up for their feature event as Aaron Fellows would try to complete the undefeated season at the Claremont NH oval. Fellows would start on the pole after winning his heat race and never look back. Ben Poland had a shot at the 2019 L.M.S. Champion after a midrace caution but Fellows was just too strong. Poland would finish second with Ricky Bly completing the top three after an entertaining battle with Ryan Bell.
Street Stocks would take to the track next with Jimmy Renfrew Jr. starting on the pole. Renfrew, who was doing double duty for the weekend, appeared to have the strongest car in Saturday’s heat races. He would get the jump on the start but not without significant pressure from Chris Riendeau. Renfrew would lead from beginning to end hoping to carry the momentum of the win into the pro stock main. Chase Curtis would finish second while “Mad” Max Dolliver would drive from twenty-first starting position all the way to third.
The final event before the GSPSS took to the track was the sportsmen modifieds. 2019 Claremont Motorsports Park champion Brian Robie would pass early leader Dana Smith before halfway and never be seriously challenged from there. Matt Kimball would try to apply pressure to Robie late in the going but could never get around. Behind Robie and Kimball, Smith would hang on to third.
The final event of the evening would be the Granite State Pro Stock Series main event scheduled for one hundred laps. As the cars rolled onto the track the rain would begin to fall. While only a sprinkle, it was coming down none the less. Series officials made the decision to cancel pre-race ceremonies and get the race underway. Ray Christian III jumped out from his pole position and checked out to as much as a full straightaway lead. Joey Doiron would clinch the championship at the drop of the green flag then patiently work his way into second where he would finish behind Christian. Local driver Luke Hinkley would finish a solid third with Devin O’Connell and DJ Shaw rounding out the top five. The race would go caution-free, but be cut short as the rain picked up significantly at about lap 81. Series officials gave the two to go signal at lap 83 and checker the race at lap 85.
This event brings to a close both the Claremont Motorsports park season as well as the Granite State Pro Stock Season. Big things are on the horizon for both heading into 2020 and teams and fans are encouraged to keep up to date through social media and the track and series websites. The track can be found at www.claremontmotorsportspark.com and the series can be found at www.gspss.net.
Official Finish
Young Guns – 13 Jake Puchalski,67 Brandon LaVoie,45 JD Stockwell,60 Reagan Buffum,18 Matt Lambert,57 Conner Remick,19 Aaron Thompson,94 Matt Winter
Pure Stocks- 68 Matt Gauffin,67 Kyle Templeton,96 Cooper Roberge,33 Alexis Aiken,451 Dylan Adams,129 Freddie Rogers,16 Chris Davis,21 Clark Brooks,92 James Carley,26 Bruce Adams,73 Tim St John,06 No Name,8 Sean Lantas,92nh Bruce Cantara,53 Nicholas Houle,88 Chris Carver,33x Damon Roy,165x Amber Bueilo,82x Richard Stockwell,24c Camdyn Curtis,603 Joey Kendall (DQ)
Six Shooters- 10 Nathan LeClair,07 Travis Hollins,03 Jeremy Blood,86 Paul Colburn,07 Zach Stanhope,27 Amy Jaycox,38 James Rhodes,9 Derrick Stanhope.
Mini Stocks- 33Vt Matt Soonhalter,23 Devin Guy,64 Tyler Chase,46nh Gordon Farnum,03 Nathan Wenzel,83 Tim Wenzel,49 Alex Poison,8 Shelby Avery,57x Pat Houle,23x David Aiken,24c Camden Curtis,83g Hayden Grenier,28vr Chris Chambers
Street Stocks-00 Jimmy Renfrew Jr,88 Chase Curtis,29x Max Dolliver,2 Chris Buffone,32 Travis Cass,80 Bryan Towne,33 Jaret Curtis,88 Hillary Renaud,02 Briana Akusis,7 Greg Williams,4 Chris Riendeau,3 Ben Williams,83 Hayden Grenier,19 Brad Zanensky,21 Michael Salois,73 Joe Tetreault,31 Cody Schoolcraft,64 Andrew Brooks Jr.,29 Tanner Durkee Jr, 91 Rober Hager(DNS) 28Matt McHugh (DNS)
Late Models-29 Aaron Fellows,00 Ben Poland,28 Ricky Bly,8nh Ryan Bell,8 Kenny Fowler,15 Tyler Lescord,13 Jimmy Russell,12 Cole Littlewood,10 Andrew Martel,52 Craig Smith,3 Ryan Currier,16 Jack McClay,51 Joe Brown,42 Josh Currier
Sportsman Modifieds- 25 Brian Robie,50 Matt Kimball,14 Dana Smith,03 Joel Monahan,99 Kimmy Rivet,27 Mike Smith,77 Walt Hammond Jr.,11 Keith Caruso,05 Cameron Houle,5a Alysa Rivera,Cory Plummer,77 Eathan Marsh
DIRT Sportsman Modifieds 88. Walt Hammond,21 Marty Kelly,78 Vince Quineville,98 Walt Hammond Jr.,631 Todd Buckwald,18 Matt Lashua,91 Brett Fadden Jr,10x Ryan Christian,6 Butch Elms,96 Jason Sanville,2 Tanner Siemons,70 Lenny Pillsbury,9 Michael Dunn,8 Stephen Lary,F8 Thomas Kimball,17 Jim Morgan,21 Jamey Ferland
Sources: Mike Parks/Granite State Pro Stock Series PR
Alan Ward photos