Lee, NH – Lee USA Speedway hosted the Mighty Midgets of NEMA and the NEMA Lites on Friday night, along with a full program of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing action to fill out the night’s racing action at “New Hampshire‘s Center of Speed“.
Third-generation racer Avery Stoehr of Lakeville, MA was the class of the field in the NEMA main, jumping out to the lead early and going the distance to post the win and collect the coveted Marvin Rifchin Memorial trophy. Five-time NEMA champ Randy Cabral of Plymouth, MA was the best of the rest and scored runner-up honors, with Seth Carlson of Brimfield, CT rounding out the podium in third.
One of several drivers doing double duty for the night, Jimmy Chambers of nearby Atkinson picked up a solid fourth place finish, with former champ John Zych of Mendon, MA, Todd Bertrand of Suffield, CT, Bethany Stoehr of Bridgewater, MA, Alan Chambers of Atkinson, Danny Cugini of Marshfield, MA, and Paul “Dangerous” Scally of Raynham, MA rounding out the top ten.
Danny Cugini was the ace in the NEMA Lites portion of the program, running of to a dominating win over Jimmy Chambers and former Lee USA Supermodified competitor P.J. Stergios of Candia. Stergios recovered for a mid-race spin to finish up the podium.
Fourth spot went to Dylan Duhaime of Loudon, followed by Paul Bigelow of Kensington, CT, Randy Cabral, Paul Scally, Anthony Payne of Fairlawn, NJ, and Jim Cataldo of Sterling, MA.
Second place points man Leslie Keyser took a hard trip into the retaining wall just two circuits into the EKeys4cars Supermodified 30-lapper, ending his night with heavy damage sending his family-owned machine to the pits on the business end of a wrecker.
Second-generation racer Mike Ordway, Jr. of Fremont moved to the front when racing resumed, and he stayed there until the checkers waved to make his second 2015 appearance in victory lane aboard the Witkum Brothers Racing entry.
Tommy Tombarello, Jr. of Haverhill, MA was up in the late laps to collect runner-up honors, with Lance Barthelemy of Fremont joining the podium after a third place run. Groveland, MA ace Mike Murphy grabbed fourth, with Mike Spurling of Rochester, “Super Dave” Sanborn, Kyle Sawyer, Mike Keddy, and Artie Rousseau finishing up the top ten.
George Helliwell was first out of the gate to grab the lead in the R & R Public Wholesale Late Model Sportsman main event, setting the pace for the first half of the race before Epping’s Ricky Porter snuck by at the crossed flags to take his turn out front.
Porter has had a tough first half of the season, and was finally looking like he might catch a break and score a win. That all ended on lap 23, when Geoff Rollins of Groton, Ma made his way past and took command.
Another driver who has been unable to find victory lane in the early season, Rollins finally broke the ice and led them under the checkers to collect his first win of the 2015 campaign. Porter held on to post a strong second, with two-time winner Frankie Eldridge taking home third.
Fourth spot went to early leader Helliwell, with Brentwood’s Jimmy Russell rounding out the top five. Veteran Jesse Bousquet came across the stripe sixth, followed by Alfred, ME’s Ray Dinsmore, Neil Evans, Jr., Steve Paquette, and Jay Sands.
Eric Hoffman was the man to beat for the second straight week in the David’s Race Cars and Components Hobby Stock main event, and for the second straight week, Dennis Dumas of Nashua did just that, pulling alongside Hoffman at the white flag, and beating him back to the checkers for the second race in a row.
Tewksbury, MA racer Brian DeStefano had a strong run in his 2015 debut, bringing home third place honors to round out the post-race podium. Nottingham’s Zac Fraser, Pelham’s Paul Palen, Chris Harding of Lebanon, ME, Jay Avery of Berwick, ME, Dave MacDonald of Tewksbury, MA, and Trevor Randlett were next in the finishing order.
Opening night Tri-City Line-X Ironman winner Troy Washburn made a return trip to victory lane after his second win of the year, easily outrunning the field to post the victory. Tyler Mitchell of Dracut, MA got his best result of the year in the runner-up slot, with two-time winner Zach Washburn picking up a strong third.
Defending champion Wayne Osborne of Kingston was fourth across the stripe, with Christin DeStefano of Tewksbury, MA, Travis Hollins, Luke Grammont, Greg Brannan, Hannah Shaw, and Shane Horvath closing out the top ten. Jesse Tellier topped the Pure Stocks over Danielle Evans and Rob Carleton.