photo by Rich Hayes
Lee, NH – Lee USA Speedway opened the regular season last weekend with the first Friday night under the lights at “New Hampshire‘s Center of Speed“ for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. The night’s action featured the EKeys 4Cars Supermodifieds, R&R Public Wholesalers Late Model Sportsmen, David‘s Race Cars and Components Hobby Stocks, and Tri-City Line X-sponsored Ironman divisions.
Veteran campaigner “Super Dave” Sanborn of Tilton was the man of the hour in the Supers, moving past polesitter Mike Spurling of Rochester to grab the early lead and staying out front for the balance of the 30-lap main, scoring the win in just over seven and a half minutes in the fast-paced green-to-checker event.
“Super Dave” gave an emotional victory lane interview to track announcer John Spence, dedicating his win to longtime car owner Howdy Clapp who passed away just prior to the 2014 season, and admitting that an opening night win had long been on his personal bucket list. Check that one off.
Spurling took a well-deserved runner-up finish, with 2014 Rookie of the Year Lance Barthelemy of Fremont up to fill out the podium in the third spot. Fourth went to Groveland, MA racer Mike Murphy, with Leslie Keyser of Northwood, Kyle Sawyer of Kingston, multi-time champ Tommy Tombarello, Jr. of Haverhill, MA, Artie Rousseau of Ipswich, MA, rookie Mike Keddy, and Moe Lattime rounding out the top ten.
After finishing just five points short of the championship in 2014, Late Model Sportsman ace Ricky Porter of Epping got the new season underway with a promising pole position start, but he quickly lost the lead to the hard-charging Frankie Eldridge, who moved to the point shortly after the green flag waved.
Eldridge was off and running once he got to the front, quickly opening up a several car length lead as the field sorted out behind. Eldridge was easily the class of the field in the first contest of the 2015 campaign, eventually pulling away to a more than comfortable 5-second lead over his nearest competition as the checkers waved after another caution-free feature event.
Former Hobby Stock champion and multi-time 2014 LMS feature winner Jimmy Russell of Brentwood was the best of the rest in the second spot, with 2014 points runner-up Geoff Rollins of Groton, MA just behind in the third spot. Fourth went to newcomer Nate Leavitt, with Jay Sands of Hampton closing out the top five.
Mark Parenteau of Groveland, MA scored sixth in the Brian House entry, with 2014 Oktoberfest Outlaw winner Jimmy Ryder seventh followed by George Helliwell in the defending championship Rick Solt ride, Tom Carey III, and heat race winner Crystal “Hollywood” Serydynski.
Dave MacDonald of Tewksbury, MA jumped out to the lead in his Midnight Motorsports entry when the David’s Race Cars and Components Hobby Stock main went green, setting the pace for the first 11 laps before veteran Paul Palen slipped past to take over the point.
Palen sat on point for the next several circuits as he pulled away to a put a few car length lead between himself and the rest of the field approaching the five-to-go mark. But a late-race challenge killed his chances of victory when he got tangled up with Dennis Dumas coming off turn four, and the pair spun from contention with MacDonald moving back to the head of the field with the laps winding down.
With his shot at the opening night win restored, MacDonald picked up the lead on the restart, and he held on to the checkers to post the win, with Zac Fraser, Chris “Rooftop” Harding, Palen, and Jay Avery closing out the top five.
The Tri-City Line-X Ironman feature saw plenty of side-by-side action along the way, with former champ Troy Washburn outrunning the field to score the victory. Ryan Pitkin had an impressive run to collect runner-up honors, with Shane Horvath rounding out the podium in the third spot.
2013 champ Travis Hollins took home fourth place honors, with second-generation racer Zack Washburn, Hannah Shaw, Adam Knowles, and Luke Grammont next across the stripe. 2014 champion Jesse Tellier picked up right where he left off last year, scoring the 4-cylinder Pure Stock win.