Goodrow, Lebrun, Caddick, Thompson & Henriques Fast Friday winners
GOODROW WIN MAKES IT TWO ON THE SEASON
Trenton Goodrow followed up on his first rookie win with a big second trophy run, moving to second early on, then taking over the lead vacated by early leader Alexandria Lillie, which included a mid-race debate over the lead with last week’s winner Luke LeBrun. But Goodrow secured the lead on lap 15 and battled LeBrun to the checkers, coming out with the win. Points leader Karlin Levesque got by LeBrun for second while the latter finished third. Zachary Martinez and Evan Marchand rounded out the top five.
Lillie started outside Ava Chouinard and quickly grabbed the front, but dropped across Chouinard’s nose. Chouinard grabbed second while Goodrow came powering around the field from ninth, three-wide. Martinez looked under Chouinard and Marchand went to her outside, sprouting another three-wide. LeBrun and Levesque were jousting as well, when Levesque spun on the front stretch.
The lap one restart saw Lillie and Chouinard lined up again, with Marchand going under Chouinard as Lillie escaped with the lead. Three-wide ruled as Scott Serydynski, Jr. came around Goodrow who was outside Chouinard. Goodrow came out ahead with Serydynski giving chase and Levesque in pursuit. Serydynski fell back as Levesque and Marissa Morgan went by. Serydynski challenged Levesque and held fifth briefly as Goodrow went to third at Marvin’s expense, then took second from Marvin on lap six, before Morgan and Chouinard made contact, sending the former into a spin.
Marchand lined up outside Lille, but Goodrow got underneath him at the green and Serydynski followed. LeBrun nabbed fifth and Marchand tumbled to eighth over the ensuing lap as Levesque, Martinez and Marvin marched past.
Lap ten saw a lead change as Goodrow went under Lillie and to the front. Lille dropped into the grove, knocking Serydynski to the infield between turn four and the front stretch.
On the restart, LeBrun lined up outside Goodrow with Levesque and Martinez in row two, followed by Marvin and Lillie. It was a door-to-door situation from the green but Goodrow nosed out in turn one. The leaders were still battling into lap 12 as Lebrun pried past Lillie to run side-by-side with Goodrow, swapping the lead each lap. Goodrow finally secured the front on lap 14 with Levesque then getting under LeBrun for second. Martinez, Marchand and Morgan followed.
Marvin was able to dislodge Morgan from sixth on lap sixteen and held position for three laps before Morgan was able to take the spot back on the penultimate lap.
She collected the sixth finishing spot, followed by Marvin, Chouinard, Colin McMullen, Ella Sprague and Lillie.
LEBRUN MAKES IT TWO IN A ROW IN 750’S
Eric LeBrun went from last to first over the 20 laps of SYRA 750 action — a last he earned by virtue of last week’s division win. Along the way, he had to erase Tom Ouelette’s fifteen laps at the front since the opening green, then hold off a charging Taylor Bowser. But hold he did, for a half-second margin of victory.
LeBrun seemed sluggish at the outset and indeed did not begin to move toward the front until lap 12, remaining one spot ahead of the back. But his car began to come to him and he then passed a car on each lap until he was following leader Ouellette on lap 15, just before a Brandon Lillie spin.
They went door to door until Lebrun put his nose ahead coming out of turn three. They were dead even once again across the stripe into lap 16 and they whipsawed through lap 17 until Mike Toner nosed underneath and Ouelette spun in turn two, sending Ouelette to the pits.
LeBrun had pole on the restart with Toner on his shoulder. LeBrun nosed ahead from the box. Toner’s speed ran him high through the turn and Bowser leapt onto LeBrun’s bumper. He edged to a one-car lead, chased by Bowser, Toner and Lillie. The final lap saw him secure a three-car lead as they crossed in order.
At the outset, Ouelette and Shea Kulpa led from the front, going wheel-to-wheel until Ouelette took the lead in turn two. Kulpa began to fade and Bowser passed Toner into second. Kulpa was having problems and plummeted to last on lap two. She struggled along, but was forced to retire with seven laps remaining.
LeBrun moved up to Toner’s bumper on lap two and the field stretched out, running in order until lap nine, when Lillie was able to slide under LeBrun into fourth as the latter went outside for a pass on Toner. Lebrun’s attempt failed and Lillie notched the position. Meanwhile, Toner got under Bowser to steal second and two laps later, Lillie nosed by to register third on lap thirteen. LeBrun followed him into fourth, dropping Bowser to fifth, then edged Lillie back to fourth. Lap 14 saw LeBrun deprive Toner of second as Bowser stepped up to fourth, just before the lap 15 spin sent Lillie into his spin.
Lillie, in fourth, was the last car still running. Ouelette (fifth) was in the pits, two laps down and Kulpa ended sixth, spending the final seven circuits off track.
The win gives LeBrun a tiny bit of breathing room over Toner in the points chase with one week remaining: LeBrun led him by two points coming into the evening and he gained another four with the win and Toner’s third. Bowser continues in third overall, with an insurmountable 100 points plus over Kulpa.
CADDICK RETURNS FOR FEATURE WIN
Corey Caddick returned to competition after being sidelined with a blown engine to return to his victorious ways with a convincing Sport Four win. The event was a grand brawl for speed merchants, running caution free.
Caddick started fifth and was in second behind leader Mike Lefort on lap two, edging Henry Lavallee and Pole sitter John Lineberger in the process. He subdued Lefort on lap eight and ran the remainder of the 20 laps relatively unchallenged at the front. Lefort continued in second until being nipped for the position on the last lap by the rampaging Gil Bradstreet, who had won the previous three divisional outings. Lefort claimed third, ahead of Henry Lavalle and the $5 Sunglass Guy, Glen Leduc.
Lineberger nosed ahead of Lefort at the outset, only to have him come back to take the lead. Lineberger faded rapidly afterward, to third, then sixth and then tenth on succeeding laps. Meanwhile Caddick vaulted into second and began his conquest of Lefort. He went out to a six-car lead a scaddick cleared Lavalle into second. By lap five, Lefort’s lead was down to four cars and Caddick was closing. Meanwhile, Westgate was getting past Leduc into fourth and Mike Glad settled in behind Leduc in sixth. But Bradstreet was behinding, having charged up from tenth and Dylan Cabral was trailing him. Lap five saw Bradstreet springboard past Mike Belanger and Lineberger onto Glad’s bumper.
Three laps later, Bradstreet was again marching forward passing Glad, then Leduc as Caddick was getting under Lefort and into the lead. As Caddick moved away from Lefort, Bradstreet was beyond Lavalle and two laps later, he was past Westgate into third. Westgate was driving with caution, looking to protect his points lead over Bradstreet.
The field unwound the laps as the Dozer, Dylan Cabral, passed Westgate into sixth with two laps remaining. Bradstreet continued to zero in on the front and on the last circuit got by Lefort for second.
Sixth went to Cabral followed by Westgate, David Simpson, Christine Cavallaro and Glad.
TJ THOMPSON RETURNS TO CLAIM LEGENDS WIN
TJ Thompson returned to the speedway – his brother Adam has been shepherding the car most of the season – for another big win in the Legends Division. It wasn’t an easy affair, as he was constantly antagonized by challengers Jordan Lamothe, Brandon “Batman” Martinez and Jake Johnson, who buzzed angrily after him the entire night. Thompson waited as Johnson ducked under Brendon Hammond and Shileigh Martinez for a three-wide into the first turn of the feature. As Shileigh claimed second behind pole sitter Brandon Packard and Johnson dropped to third, Thompson moved from fifth to steal the lead from Packard on lap two. He was in command on the third circuit and held the front all the way to the checkers. Lamothe and The Caped Crusader quickly moved to second and third by lap ten and traded position for the remainder of the feature. Lamothe wrenched second away from Martinez on the final circuit. Johnson followed with Brandon’s sister Shileigh just .05 seconds off his pace, making it two Martinez siblings in the top five.
Shileigh settled onto Thompson’s tail as he took command in lap two with Packard, Ryan Kuhn and Batman rocketing along behind. Brandon yielded to Lamothe on lap seven and they pursued Shileigh, both getting by on lap nine. Jesse Melberg got by Kuhn to follow Shileigh.
But lap 12 saw Brendon Hammond erupt in smoke down the backstretch, then burst briefly into flames under the hood, reminiscent of Joey Lembo’s inferno of the previous week. Hammond pulled to a stop, high in turn three, as caution flew. He was quickly out of the car as the flames subsided. It was the end of his evening and Melberg also retired to the pits for the duration with unknown problems.
Thompson and Lamothe faced off and Thomson nosed out from the box. Martinez ran under Lamothe into second as Thompson went to a three-car lead. Lamothe dropped under Martinez while Kuhn passed Shileigh into fourth. She, in turn, was pursued by Johnson, who worked his way up on the low side.
Thompson had a ten car lead on lap fourteen while Lamothe had Batman all over his bumper.
Lap 16 saw Jesse Jakubahtys and Al Wisialko together just out of turn four at mid-track and Samuel Rameau flew in, getting caught up and creating a tangle sandwich in front of the starter’s stand. It took an extensive amount of pushing, prying and jockeying to separate the three vehicles before all three could be towed to the pits.
The restart jogged to the previous lap completed –15 – and Thompson again found Lamothe on his shoulder and Batman at his bumper. Thompson and Lamothe dueled and Martinez again worked under to steal second. Kuhn pursued while Johnson and Shileigh looked underneath, stealing his position on lap 18. Matthew Carpenter moved into seventh behind Kuhn and in turn was chased by Lembo and Jessica O’Leary.
Brandon Martinez was leading by ¾ car under Lamothe, who dropped under to scoot back to second as Thompson went out to a 2-car lead on lap 20 as Mike Marfeo became the second car of the race to burst into flame while going down the backstretch. It was a brief under hood fire which put itself out, but his night was ended.
The restart was a carbon copy : Thompson edging out, Martinez locking onto his bumper to steal second from Lamothe, who pursued with vehemence. Johnson, Shileigh, Kuhn, Carpenter and Lembo followed.
The race ended in a dogfight for second as Lamothe looked underneath on the last lap, was refused, tried again and they ran door-to-door to the stripe. At the checkers, Lamothe had survived with a margin of twenty-five hundredths of a second.
Kuhn was sixth, followed by Lembo, O’Leary, Bob Disimmone and Joe Wisialko.
HENRIQUES TAKES HIS FIRST VICTORY IN PURE STOCKS
Mike Henriques wrested the lead away from Jeremy Lambert on the second circuit of the Pure Stock feature, then ran the distance to the finish in the lead with Lambert giving chase for virtually the remainder of the race, before Randy Moretti charged into second with just four laps to go. Lambert held on to fourth and held off Dan Massa who finished fifth. Lenny Sousa battled his way in the top five for the fifth spot.
Lambert popped out of the box but was caught up when Robert Moore became motionless in turn four, requiring a complete race restart. Again Lambert nosed out to find Henriques on his bumper with Jamie Burch on his outside. Burch faded and Sousa grabbed third. Henriques slowed suddenly and got into the grass, setting up a scramble. The accordion effect caught Amy Arsenault, who spun. On the lap two restart, Henriques was able to claim the lead in turn two. By lap four he had a three-car lead over Lambert. Jamie Burch was at work under Sousa, who was able to move ahead on the outside. Meanwhile, Dave Desrosiers got under Moretti for sixth.
Lap six saw Lambert closing back up on Henriques while Sousa, Burch and Baxter plugged along in pursuit. They ran four laps this way until Andrew Kun moved up to nose past Baxter and get alongside Burch. Lambert had closed and looked under Henriques but was unable to move up. Instead he fastened on and did some bumper tag as Sousa and Moretti followed. Burch pursued in fifth.
Lap sixteen saw Kun to the outside of Burch looking to steal away fifth while Moretti made his way past Sousa into third behind Lambert. Kun was lapping Robert Moore on lap 17, when they got together with Kun bouncing off Moore. Kun, the points leader, just fourteen points up on Arsenault was suddenly out of the race.
Henriques and Lambert lined up with Sousa and Moretti at their backs. Mike nosed out then took the lead in turn one. Behind Lambert, Sousa was under Moretti with Burch under Mark Murphy behind them. Colby Lambert stuck a nose under Moretti as Murphy suddenly lost speed in turn two and limped to the pits to end his night.
Lap 22 saw Emily Brightman spin to bring a restart with the same cast at the front. This time, Moretti grabbed onto Henriques’ bumper and Jeremy could not drop into second, having to take third ahead of Sousa. Massa got under Sousa and pried him out of fourth as Colby pushed past Burch into sixth. Arsenault then got under Colby and into sixth with three laps remaining. Behind Colby, Burch and Desrosiers were side by side and swapping the lead each lap. Desrosiers had the final move and pushed past for eighth.
Arsenault finished sixth, followed by Colby Lambert, Desrosiers, Burch, Melissa Charette and Baxter.
Sources: SeekonkSpeedway.com