Hudson N.H. –“Pumkinfest 2011” was held on Sunday October 16th at Hudson International Speedway. It was a fun day for all with kids bikes races on the speedway before warm-ups, a costume contest, Enduros, and tight championship races in two divisions.
The first championship to be decided was in the Thunder Lights. After heat race points were calculated in, Chad Wendell held a ten point lead over Jarrod Soucy. With the car count in the Thunder Lights and it being a double points race, each spot in the feature was worth ten points more than the spot before it. So Wendell just needed to keep Soucy behind him and he would win his second Thunder Light championship in a row.
When the green dropped Soucy got ahead of Wendell first and was battling side by side with Carlos Esquivel with Wendell right behind them. Wendell then made a bold move going three wide into turn one and they all made it through turn two and started down the backstretch three wide but contact was made between them and both Wendell and Soucy went spinning off the track bringing out a caution. After the restart Wendell was able to get past Soucy. Soucy was able to get back by Wendell as the laps wound down. At the checkers Soucy crossed the line in fourth and Wendell in fifth. With that finish, Soucy and Wendell were tied in points and declared co-champions.
The Thunder Light feature was won by Justin Beecher. Austin Erickson in his “LL” Pinto has made much improvement in the last few weeks and finished second. Meegan Lord was third. Beecher won the heat.
Last weeks (Oct 9th) Race Report had a glitch and the Roadrunners weren’t reported on. In the Roadrunners last week Billy Osbourne won the 201st feature of his career passing the great R. Petty on the all-time list.
The Roadrunners had five drivers with a chance to walk away with the championship. Leading points going in to the day was Nick Fissette followed by Jason Carroll, Johnny Reefer, Jen Lord and Jef James.
Jen Lord jumped out to the early lead and was quickly caught by Jason Carroll. Carroll tried high and low but wasn’t able to make it past Lord. After the halfway mark Billy Osbourne joined the front duo in the battle for the lead. Osbourne went to the outside and got past Carroll. Osbourne could get a few feet in front of Lord but then would slip back some. Shaun Waites Jr. made it past Carroll and got to Lords rear bumper but time had run out as the trio crossed under starter Steve Gran’s checkered flag and Lord was able to celebrate her first career win. Osbourne was second and Waites Jr. was third. Carroll was fourth and Fissette fifth. Carroll and Osbourne won the heats.
Fissette won the championship by 3 points over Carroll and Lord finished third in points just 4 points behind Carroll.
Roger Tanguay Sr. won his first Rookie Stock feature. Tanguay Sr. led from green to checker but it wasn’t an easy road with the likes of Jerry Lepage and Steve Dickey on his bumper for the entire race. Tanquay Sr. had a lot of handling issues early in the season but kept working on his car and got better and better towards the end of the season and it all came together on the last race of the season for him. Lepage was second followed by Steve Dickey Jr. Corrie ”knock ‘em out of the way” Merritt was fourth and Dean Wendell was fifth. Lepage and Dickey won the heats. Slika Ennis finished 13th on the hook of the tow truck.
John Morin Jr. had clinched the Rookie Stock championship the previous week. Morin Jr. had an outstanding last half of the season. In late July Morin Jr. was leading by less than ten points but went on a winning streak that cumulated in clinching the championship with a week to go in the season.
Rusty Bryant won the Classic Light main followed by George Helliwell, Eddie Gilman, Paul Colson and Rob Bryant. Helliwell and Rusty Bryant won the heats.
Corrie Merritt won the Grand Enduro followed by Bob Murphy, Roland Laplante, Dave Levine and Ryan Foley.
Dave Helliwell won the 4 Cyl Enduro followed by Issac Chabot, Jake Joslin, Jay Keezer and Zack Leslie.
Ralph Coombs won the Spectator Drags. Scotty “The Fighter” Duval won the Flagpole Race. Richard Hennessey won the Spectator Race.
Hudson Speedway concluded its 64th consecutive racing season and will honor its drivers/crews at a banquet held in conjunction with Star Speedway. The banquet is being held November 5, 2011 at the Lowell MA Lodge of Elks at 40 Old Ferry Road Lowell MA 01854. Trophies will be presented to the top points finalists in each division. Many special achievement awards will also be presented. Doors open at 6.05 pm with a social hour. Awards presentations begin at 7pm followed by a full course roast beef and turkey dinner by Lenzi’s Catering. Tickets are $45 each and must be purchased in advance before November 1st. For more info please visit www.hudsonspeedway.info or star-speedway.com.