by Jay | Jul 15, 2012 | Massachusetts, Seekonk Speedway
Jesse Melberg of Taunton picked up his fourth Fast Friday Pure Stock victory tonight at Seekonk Speedway. The current points leader started deep in the field, and picked off cars one by one on his way to the front. Ian Savard of N. Attleboro jumped out front and set the pace for the fourteen laps until a caution came out. On the restart, Melberg out powered Savard and went on his way to the win. Doug Benoit crossed the line in second, with Jamie Salley, John Robidoux and Savard rounding out the top five.
In the Nick’s Pit Stop Legends, it appeared Nick Ladyga’ s perfect run for the season would continue, as he moved through the field and passed Nick Lascoula for the lead on lap 10, and pulled away from the field. Nick Lascoula held a comfortable lead before a restart closed up the field. With Lascoula out front, Shaun Buffington moved past Lascoula for second. A late race caution bunched up the field again, and Buffington of Plainfield CT was able to keep pace with the Voluntown, CT driver, and with a slight push in turn one with three laps remaining, slid underneath and held the three time winner at bay. Tom Grey wound up third, followed by Lascoula and Jordan LaMothe.
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by Jay | Jul 10, 2012 | Massachusetts, New England, Seekonk Speedway
Dave Darling is finding 2012 to be just what the doctor ordered after finishing second in the championship chase the last 3 seasons. Over the course of this season, Darling has been one of the fastest and most consistent cars at the speedway. He proved it for the third time last Saturday night, putting his Bristol Toyota Scion Camry anywhere on the track he wanted, and cruised to his first 40 lap win.
Kevin Casper jumped out to the early lead, and held off the challenges of Ken Spencer and Dick Houlihan for the first 11 laps. Mike Brightman took over the second spot and started to pressure the Phil’s Propane Fusion. That lasted for 6 laps before Darling started to make his move. Darling took over second on lap 17, and using a restart on lap 19, took over at the halfway point and never looked back. While Darling was dominating the final laps, a lot of action was going on for second on back. In the closing laps, Brightman had his hands full with Tom Scully Jr, who moved around and into the runner up spot with just 5 laps remaining. Brightman held on for third, while Ryan Vanasse and Tom Scully Sr rounded out the top five.
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by Jay | Jul 7, 2012 | Massachusetts, Seekonk Speedway
John Robidoux picked up his first win of the season in the 25 lap Pure Stock main event on Friday. John followed Randy Moretti across the finish line in second, but after post-race tech, was handed the trophy.
Bill Doyle led the first 6 laps, but was overtaken by Moretti, who led the rest of the way, and held on through a couple of restarts. Moretti started 7th in the field, but was able to use the outside and inside lanes to the front of the pack. Robidoux started sixth, but was a little slower moving through traffic, following Moretti through. The pair raced first and second for the remainder of the race. Points leader Jesse Melberg started 13th in the pack, and sliced his way through the field, moving past Bob Hinckley for third with only three laps remaining. Hinckley fell back to fifth in the running order on the final lap when Jamie Salley slid past. Chris Lima was credited with fifth in the final rundown.
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by Jay | Jul 2, 2012 | Massachusetts, Seekonk Speedway
Craig Pianka wins first in the Street Stocks. Scott Dion wins Sport Truck event. Gerry DeGasparre picks up 3rd LM win.
Tom Scully Jr picked up his first win in several seasons when he inherited the lead with 14 laps remaining in the 40 lap Pro Stock main event. Scully started toward the middle of the pack, and found himself in the right spot at the right time. He was running 7th when Mike Brightman, Tom Scully Jr and Fred Astle tangled while racing for third, and was sitting fourth when Ryan Vanasse and Kevin Casper tangled while racing for the lead. Right after that caution, Dave Darling, who was running third, was forced to pit with a flat left front tire that had been going down for several laps.
On the restart, Scully jumped out front and opened a 5 car length advantage over Craig Weinstein. Craig was able to close the lead down to less than ½ car length, but was unable to mount a serious challenge to the Wheelock’s NAPA Auto Parts Chevy. Tom Scully Jr was able to work his way back up to third, with Astle and Darling rounding out the top five.
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by Jay | Jun 24, 2012 | Massachusetts, New England, Seekonk Speedway
Dave Darling is perfect in extra distance in 2012. Rick Martin makes it back to Victory Lane. Joe Kohler picks up first win of the season, DeGasparre wins second LM event.
Dave Darling was daring and dynamic on Saturday, June 23, as he picked up his second win of the season in the 75 lap Pro Stock main event. His last win came on opening day, in the first 75 lap feature of the season. Darling used a late race restart to move past Tom Scully Jr, who dominated the middle portion of the event, and took over the lead for good.
John Dabrowski led the early portion of the race, as he and Ken Spencer raced wheel to wheel for the first several laps, swapping the lead back and forth. It wasn’t until a lap 12 caution when Scully lined up aside Dabrowski and was able to power past into the lead. While Scully Jr spent the middle portion of the race at the top of the leader board, there was a lot of action going on behind him. Darling was weaving his way through the field from his 12th place starting position, and was able to put himself in the right place at the right time, using the inside and outside lanes, and a couple of timely cautions to close in on Scully. Several cars held the runner up position, but without much luck. Mike Brightman ran second for a while, only to fall out of the top three, and have a tire go down with less than 10 laps to get. Kevin Casper was running third when a cut left rear tire sent him around and into the wall midway through the event. Ryan Vanasse was sent to the rear for the contact with Casper, but worked his way back up to second by the time the checkered fell.
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by Jay | Jun 17, 2012 | Massachusetts, New England, Seekonk Speedway
Jesse Melberg made his way back to the winners circle in the Pure Stocks. Jesse took over on a lap 22 restart and held off defending Pure Stock Champion Bill Chouinard to pick up his second win of the season. The race was dominated by Amy Arsenault, who led from the beginning, but spun out of the lead with just a handful of laps remaining. Melberg took over, and amid heavy pressure, showed there is no “Sophomore Slump” for this Taunton native. Chouinard held on for second, with Chris Lima, Earl Curtin and Tom Blackwell rounding out the top five.
For the past two weeks, Tom Gray has been getting used to the 1/3 mile, finishing second and third in the Nick’s Pit Stop Legends. This time it was his turn to make the spectacular move, as he picked up his first Seekonk win in the Legends. Gray followed teammate Shawn Buffington for several laps before making his move with less than 10 laps to go. While a lapped car thwarted the efforts, he did not give up, and on the final lap, he was able to move underneath and pick up the Nick’s Pit Stop Legends win by just .010 seconds. Jordan Lamothe finished a close third, while Joey Parker and Taylor Martin rounded out the top five.
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