Hudson NH – It was a fabulous fall afternoon for Pumpkinfest ’09 at Hudson Speedway this past Sunday. With five championships to be decided, the stands and pits were at capacity.
Eric Bacon and Billy Ryder were the top pointmen in the Classic Lights. Bacon held a slim nineteen point advantage over Ryder at the start of their feature so Ryder would have to finish in front of Bacon with at least one car between them to notch his second title in as many years. With both men starting in the last row of the twenty-two car main, all eyes were on those two. Bacon and Ryder both sliced through the field after the drop of the green, never more than a position or two apart. At the halfway point Ryder was running in front of Bacon but got crossed up trying to pass Ralph Cook and got all four wheels off the ground while driving over Cooks hood. Although Ryder drove off after the incident he made numerous pit stops and ended his day early giving the championship to Bacon.
After Ryders incident, Bacon battled side by side for a few laps with Jimmy Ryder Jr. for the lead before pulling away to victory. Finishing second through tenth were Jimmy Ryder Jr., Eddie Gilman, Dennis O’Brien, Matt Seavy, Jon Provost, Jeff Gilman, Paul Colson, Shane Reinhold and Danny Shields.
Dean Wendell held a fifty seven point lead over John Morin heading into the Rookie Stock main and needed almost all of them as he couldn’t get his car hooked up on the outside lane and struggled to finish eighth. Morin finished second in the feature but fell just three points shy of a championship behind Wendell. It was the second championship for the Wendell family at Hudson this year as Dean’s father Mitch won the Outlaw Sportsman championship a few weeks ago.
With his hood acting as rudder, Keith “Slika” Ennis kept his car going straight the entire race and led every lap of the Rookie main except the all important last lap. John Cianciulli passed Ennis in turn one of the last lap to get his third win of the year. Morin also slipped passed Ennis to finish second while Ennis had to settle for third. Fourth through tenth were Corrie Merritt, Larry Fortin, Brian Harron, John Swain, Wendell, Dan Murphy and Scotty Duval.
Dylan Bilodeau started the Thunder Lite feature needing to finish fourth or better to clinch the title and did so finishing second. Derek Griffith was second in points going into the race and did all he could by winning the feature but it wasn’t enough and finished second in points. Third through fifth in the race were Sammy Gilman, Jen Lord and Dan Fortin.
Louie Maher needed to finish fourth or better to clinch the Roadrunner championship and after second place pointsman Jef James slammed the front stretch wall while passing Erik Miller for the race lead and couldn’t race on, the championship was all Maher’s. With Miller sent to the pits for rough driving, Maher took over the race lead and cruised to the win. Second through fifth in the race were Patrick D’Alba, Don Soucy, Johnny Walker and Dean Santzer Jr.
Allan Reiser led the V-6 Modifieds from green to checker for his second win of the year. Keith Caruso finished second in the race and won the V-6 title. Third through fifth in the race were Dick Dubois, Chris Kuebler and Eric Vilandre.
Derek Beaudry won the Spectator Drags and Scotty Duval won both the Flagpole race and the Figure 8 race. Patrick D’Alba won the 4 Cyl. Enduro and Dave McCarthy won the Grand Enduro.
Hudson Speedway’s 62nd annual banquet is Sunday November 8th at King’s Court Banquet Hall in Hudson N.H. Tickets are available until Oct.31st. Please visit www.hudsonspeedway.info for more information.