Wentworth, NH – A beautiful early fall evening and a beautifully
fast track greeted the racers and fans this week for the Super Street
Shootout at Big Daddy’s Speedbowl.
The Mid-State Trucking Modifieds were not on the race card this week,
but enough teams showed up to rave a non-points race. Canaan’s Allan
Hammond (97) finished second in the points at Canaan Dirt Speedway,
but never managed a feature win there. His visit to Big Daddy’s
Speedbowl got him that first-place trophy. Fellow Canaan native
Trevor Rocke (63) was second, followed by Todd Petscke (09) of
Windsor, VT.
The Mike’s Automotive Late Model class ran for double-points this week
with a surprising outcome. “Dangerous” Dan Collins (4) of W. Canaan
clawed his way to the front with Rumney’s Brad Shanks (8) challenging
for the lead. On the last lap something broke in the rear suspension
of Brad’s car, letting Mike McClay (82) of Holderness grab a
well-deserved second-place. Brad salvaged a third place finish.
Warren’s Marcus “Animal” Jenness (19) fattened his Camaro Heaven
Bandits points lead with a feature win in a car borrowed from Jamie
“Tumbler” Nutting. JP Vaillancourt (14x) of Campton and Chris Camire
(16) rounded out the top three.
The 35-lap OE Parts Direct Mini-Stock feature had some twists.
Franklin’s Shane LaBraney (L16) who runs very strong at Big Daddy’s,
took an early lead, but retired with engine trouble. With Shane in
the pits, a determined Matt Morrill (9) of Center Harbor cruised to
the win. Ashland’s Taylor Fletcher (27) took over second place when
Chris Sweet (91) spun out. Chris hung on for third.
The Cutting Edge Graphix and Keyser Trucking Super Street division,
capped the evening with a 40-lap feature event. While James Travis
(17) of Springvale, Me. led the early going, Rumney’s Mark Brown (47)
worked his way around Travis and into the lead. It looked like Brown
would cruise to an easy win, but a late-race caution flag tightened up
the field. Points leader Derek O’Hearn (14) of Campton took advantage
of the restart and quickly took the lead from Brown and went on to
win. Mark Brown settled for second, and Travis third.
Big Daddy’s got a visit this week from the Atlantic Coast Old Timer’s
club, which collects and restores old Midget and Sprint racers. They
brought four examples, dating from the 1940’s through the late ’70’s,
and even staged a race. It’s truly amazing how similar these cars are
mechanically to modern-day Sprint cars. It was a unique look into
dirt-track racing history. Big Daddy’s is working to host a club
event next year. You can learn about this group from their website at
www.acotnews.com.
Next week is Championship Night at Big Daddy’s for its 5 regular
divisions; don’t miss it. A track champion in each division will be
crowned. Check the track website, www.BigDaddysSpeedbowl.com for more
info about coming events and for race photos. You can also call the
track at 603-786-2866 on race day for up to the minute information.