Lee USA Speedway 8/27/21 Race Report
Lee, NH – Double features were the order of business for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Rodfather Late Model Sportsmen and MLM Diagnostic Services Pure Stocks at Lee USA Speedway Friday night, running their final round of the 2021m Norm Wrenn III Triple Crown series.
Bryan Kruczek of Newmarket returned to action in the LMS, and did so in impressive fashion. Kruczek stormed to a convincing victory in the first of the twin-25’s, putting in another dominating performance to capture his ninth win of the season.
Charlie Colby outran the rest of the field and picked up a solid runner-up finish in the first feature, with defending champion Frankie Eldredge, Steve Paquette, and Jesse Bousquet rounding out the top five.
Things didn’t go quite as smoothly for Kruczek in the nightcap, however, as he got caught up in an early-race skirmish that also involved Colby, who ran out of racing room and collected both Kruczek and the frontstretch wall.
Colby pitted for repairs and somehow managed to return to action, but Kruczek was done for the night, with his Bobby Webber Racing machine badly damaged and headed to the pits on the business end of a wrecker.
Bousquet picked up the lead when the race restarted, and he was quickly off to the races. Bousquet set a torrid pace at the head of the field, and he was still in command when flagman Dave Tibbetts signaled the halfway mark.
But Eldredge was on the move at the crossed flags, and he ducked underneath a few laps later to take over the lead. Once out front, Eldredge was good to go, leading the field to the checkers to pick up the win. Bousquet grabbed his best result of the year in second, with Paquette, Bobby Frappier, and Cam Huntress the remainder of the top five.
Vermonter Kodi Sabins came into the night locked in a tight battle with Justin Faford for the Norm Wrenn III series lead, but he moved ahead with a win in the first of twin-20’s for the Pure Stocks, and he stayed there by sweeping the night with another victory in the nightcap.
Faford had broken out to the early lead in the first race, but Sabins slipped past with the laps winding down to collect the win. Faford was the best of the rest, with Josh Rondeau, Chris Roberge, Noah McGrath, Bill Faford, Ernie Coates, Jeff Turcotte, Zach McGrath, and James Brownell, Jr. third through tenth.
Behind Sabins in the second feature, Faford once again came home as the runner-up, with Roberge up one spot to third, followed by the McGrath brothers, Noah in fifth and Zach in sixth. Coates, Bill Faford, Brownell, Turcotte and Rondeau closed out the top ten.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Six Shooter ran an extra-distance 35-lapper in their portion of the program, with rookie standout Michael Yeaton busting out from his pole position start and leading flag to flag to score the win, his second of the season.
Former champ Christin Destefano gave chase for the entire distance, but she couldn’t muster a serious challenge to the race-long leader. At the checkers, it was Yeaton and DeStefano leading the field, with Travis Hollins up in the late laps to round out the podium.
A winner the week before, Troy Washburn checkered fourth, with Chris Hadley, Jesse Tellier, Jake Michaud, Trystin Bodwell, Bob James, and veteran Randy Washburn finishing up the top ten.
With the R & R Race Parts NH Street Stocks taking the night off, a strong field of Mini Cup competitors were in action on Friday, with Carl Rackliff storming to victory aboard the Peter Raby-owned Londonderry Raceway machine.
Regular season action closes out on Friday, September 3, with the 2021m championships to be decided with double features for the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Sportsmen, Street Stocks, Six Shooters, and Pure Stocks.
Sources: Rich Hayes/Lee USA Speedway PR