Lee USA Speedway 7/30/21 Race Report
Lee, NH – The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series competitors continued the chase for the 2021m championships at Lee USA Speedway on Friday night, with the Rodfather Late Model Sportsmen highlighting the program with twin 25-lap feature events.
In the first feature of the night, veteran campaigner Jesse Bousquet of Pittsfield broke out from the pole to set the early pace, but the field was quickly under yellow when rookie Cam Huntress found trouble and collected the turn one wall.
Bousquet picked right up again when racing resumed, and he continued to lead the way as the field took the crossed flags. Still looking for his first checker of the season, Bousquet hung on to the top spot for a couple more circuits, but Bryan Kruczek was coming, and coming fast.
Kruczek powered by Bousquet to take over the point on lap 15, with multi-time champ Frankie Eldredge also getting past with the laps winding down. At the checkers, it was Kruczek in for win number eight on the season, with Eldredge, Bousquet, Charlie Colby, and Steve Paquette rounding out the top five.
In the nightcap, it was Mark Hudson setting pace for the first two laps before giving up the point to second-year, second-generation hotshoe Bobby Frappier. But Frappier’s time out front was short-lived, as Colby quickly worked his way past and took a turn at the head of the field.
Once out front, Colby was a man on a mission, and he drove away to open up a comfortable lead over by the halfway mark. Frappier held strong in the runner-up spot, and that’s how they came to the finish, with Colby rolling into victory lane with his second win of the 2021m campaign.
Frappier collected another solid second place finish, with Eldredge right on his bumper in the third spot. Fourth went to Bousquet, with Kruczek finishing up the top five.
In O’Reilly Auto Parts Six Shooter action, former champions Christin DeStefano and Travis Hollins showed the way in qualifying, taking down the wins in their respective heat races, but at feature time, the show belonged to rookie Michael Yeaton.
Yeaton gridded third for the main, but he was quick to pass polesitter Tom Harton and Adam Knowles and move into the lead. Seventh starter Brandon Mailhot knifed his way through the field to grab the second spot, and he put some heavy pressure on Yeaton in the closing laps.
Yeaton was up the challenge, and he kept Mailhot behind until the checkers to collect his first win of the year. Mailhot had to settle for runner-up, with DeStefano, Hollins, Jesse Tellier, Jeremy Decourcy, Harton, Chris Jones, Trystin Bodwell, and Knowles third through tenth.
The MLM Diagnostics Pure Stocks competed in the 40-lap Londonderry Raceway Fast 40 special, with rookie Jeff Turcotte breaking out from the pole to lead the first 15 laps. Trouble struck just a lap later, when Turcotte got a piece of the backstretch wall, ending his night early.
Feature winners from earlier in the year, Noah McGrath, Kodi Sabins, and Justin Faford were all inside the top five at lap 20, but if the second half of the race, Kyle Robinson-Newell came on strong to lead them all to the checkers.
Sabins collected runner-up honors with Faford, Donnie McCaffrey, Zach McGrath, Noah McGrath, Ernie Coates, Justin Littlewood, Turcotte, and Dave Stone, Jr. scored as the rest of the top ten.
The night closed out with a dominating performance by Andrew Harmon in the Decourcy Memorial 4-cylinder Enduro, beating out Danny Gill, E.J. Flannigan, Shane Garon, Gage Osborne, Donnie McCaffrey, Scotty Duval, John Shedd, Craig Arvanites, and Matt Kimball for the win.
Next Friday, August 6, it’s the highly-anticipated Ollie Silva Mid-Summer Classic for the ISMA Supermodifieds, always one of the season highlights here at Lee USA. In addition to the ground-pounding winged warriors, Lee’s weekly series divisions will be in action as well, along with the Maine Wicked Good Vintage Early Late Models.
Sources: Rich Hayes/Lee USA Speedway PR