Lee USA Speedway’s Governor’s Cup 150
Lee, NH – Lee USA Speedway swung open the gates Sunday afternoon to drop the green flag on the 2016 season with the annual running of the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 American Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model event. The traditional season-opener also featured the NEMST Mini Stocks and Northeast Classic Lites doing battle at “New Hampshire‘s Center of Speed“.
Many special guests were on hand for the season-opening activities, including New Hampshire’s Governor Maggie Hassan, and legendary local rocker Charlie Farren, who sang the national anthem before the afternoon’s main event.
The Northeast Mini Stock Tour got the honor of being the first feature that took to the fast 3/8th’s mile for the new season, with Zach Audet claiming a convincing victory in the 50-lap feature event. 2014 Lee USA Late Model Sportsman champ Niko Maniatis came up just short for the second straight year scoring runner-up ahead of Haywood Herriot.
The Northeast Classic Lites main event that followed was a hard-fought battle all the way, with local favorite Myles DeVits taking down the checkers for his second career Lee USA win after a race-long duel with veteran campaigner Duane Skofield. Eric Boucher was next across the stripe, with Chris Sullivan, DeVits’ car owner Tom Harton, Kevin Merryfield, Doug Dawkins, Jim Ayotte, Sam Gilman, and Justin Harris rounding out the top ten.
An impressive field of 32 ACT Late Models took to the 3/8ths mile oval to close out the opening day action, with Rowland Robinson of Steuben, ME leading the first circuit before giving way to the hard-charging Todd Davis of Claremont, NH, who pulled away and set the pace until the first caution flew 46 laps in for a spin by Adam Gray of Granby, MA.
Davis picked up the pace again on the restart, but he quickly fell to the challenge of veteran racer Scott Payea of Milton, VT, who quickly took over the top spot and led the way for the next half-dozen laps before yielding the point to Ray Parent of Tiverton, RI.
Parent’s first time at the head of the field lasted 22 trips around, but Quinny Welch of Lancaster moved to the lead on lap 77, and clicked off some impressive laps as he worked lapped traffic masterfully and led the field past the century mark.
Still working heavy lapped traffic, Parent dug deep and took the lead once again on lap 104, but Payea was saving his best for last and once again made the pass for the lead on lap 117. It was all but over from there, as Payea opened up a 2.086 second margin of victory when the checkers waved.
Defending race winner and series champion Wayne Helliwell, Jr. made a last lap charge to nip Parent at the checkers for second, with Alex Labbe of St. Albert, Quebec taking fourth place honors and Welch rounding out the top five.
The complete finishing order was:
Position, car number, driver, hometown, sponsor, laps completed
1 – 37VT Scott Payea Miton, VT Harrison Concrete & Redi-Mix Dodge Charger 150
2 – 27NH Wayne Helliwell, Jr. Dover, NH Rydemore Heavy Duty Truck Parts Inc. Ford Fusion 150
3 – 17RI Ray Parent Tiverton, RI Parent Motorsports Ford Fusion 150
4 – 48QC Alex Labbe St-Albert, QC Larue Industrial SnowBlowers Ford Fusion 150
5 – 78NH Quinny Welch Lancaster, NH Jeremy Hiltz Excavating Chevy Impala 150
6 – 9ME Emily Packard E. Montpelier, VT Northstar Fireworks Ford Fusion 150
7 – 5VT Bobby Therrien Hinesburg, VT Subway Chevy Impala SS 150
8 – 17MA Eddie MacDonald Rowley, MA Hancock Electric Chevy Impala SS 150
9 – 9NH Kyle Welch Newport, NH The Kid’s Place Chevy 150
10 – 15NH Brad Babb Windham, ME Speedway 51 Ford Fusion 150
11 – 40VT Nick Sweet Barre, VT Malone Properties Chevy Impala 150
12 – 34NH Todd Davis Claremont, NH R.E. Hinkley Co. Chevy Impala 150
13 – 58VT Jimmy Hebert Williamstown, VT Hebert Excavation Chevy Impala SS 150
14 – 5CT Dillon Moltz Waterford, CT RB Performance Inc. Chevy Impala SS 150
15 – 61NH Ryan Olsen N. Haverhill, NH NAPA Auto Parts Ford Fusion 149
16 – 1VT Devin O’Connell Madison, CT Chatham Highlander Motel Toyota Camry 149
17 – 54VT Mike Ziter Barre, VT Jeffords Steel and Engineering Chevy Impala SS 149
18 – 1NH Corey Mason Groveton, NH Corey Mason Trucking Chevy Impala 149
19 – 49NH Matt Anderson Franklin, NH Watts Water Technologies Chevy Impala 149
20 – 31NH Luke Hinkley Claremont, NH R.E. Hinkley Co. Chevy Impala 149
21 – 0NH Miles Chipman Nottingham, NH Tri-City Line X Chevy Impala 149
22 – 28ME Rowland Robinson Jr. Steuben, ME Camp Pickled Ford Fusion 149
23 – 30NH Rich Dubeau Lebanon, NH Upper Valley Equipment Rental Toyota Camry 149
24 – 97MA Adam Gray Granby, MA Meadows Motor Car Chevy 149
25 – 4NY Brandon Atkins AuSable Forks, NY Northline Utilities Dodge Charger 149
26 – 10NH Bryan Mason Stark, NH Mr. Pizza Chevy 148
27 – 11QC Claude Leclerc Lanoraie, QC Dimension Portes Fenetres Chevy Impala SS 148
28 – 99NH Jeff Morse Cornish, NH Morse Motorsports 147
29 – 22RI Mark Jenison Warwick, RI Protect Automotive Services Chevy Impala SS 146
30 – 21NH Oren Remick Warner, NH Promis Chevrolet Impala 39
31 – 82MA Mark Hudson Norton, MA MH Enterprises Chevy Impala 29
32 – 77MA James Linardy Somerville, MA Kayem Hot Dogs Chevy Impala 20
Sources: Lee USA PR