Lee, NH – A beautiful fall weekend greeted race fans at the Lee USA Speedway for the running of Oktoberfest 2006, with over 250 race teams getting a piece of the on-track action. Ten divisions were in competition throughout the weekend, with a full slate of qualifying hitting the asphalt on Saturday.
The rain-delayed Late Model National 100 was run on qualifying day as well, and Lee’s 2006 NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Late Model champion showed why he holds that title. J.R. Baril of Haverhill, MA put an exclamation point on his championship season with a convincing win in the 100-lapper, his seventh win of the year.
“Screamin” Scott Watts of Seabrook, NH put in a solid run to checker second behind Baril, with Rochester, NH ace Jeffrey Labrecque, Jr. third across the stripe. ACT Tour regular Dave Pembroke finished fourth, with Keith Larmie rounding out the top five.
Feature event action started just after noon on Sunday, with the Weekend Thunder Mini Cups setting the tone for the day with a hard-fought race that saw John Roche break out of the pack first to grab the lead.
Just before halfway, “Ricky Tommy” McVay slipped past Roche to take over the top spot, looking to make it two straight wins at Lee. But with two laps to go, Stephen Hershey ducked underneath McVay, and he went on to score the season-ending win.
A full field of 4-cylinders followed Canaan Speedway regular Matt Anderson and Thompson Speedway runner Ron Rixham to the green flag, with Anderson moving to the early lead. Anderson went flag-to-flag to grab the win, with Eddie Haight, Rixham, Scott Bonney, Jr. and Geoff Rollins the rest of the top five.
The 350 Supermodifieds were next up, with Matt Riley and Rob Wilcox leading them around to take the green from starter Bryon Callen. Riley immediately jumped out to the lead, and began to pull away from the field.
Late in the race, Eddie Witkum, Jr. pounded the retaining wall while battling for second, destroying the Dave Callahan-owned machine in the process. After a short visit with the track safety crew, Witkum walked back to his pit uninjured.
Riley lost out at tech, with “Super Dave” Sanborn closing out the 2006 campaign with his second consecutive Oktoberfest win. Dan Bowes and Matt Seavey filled the rest of the podium spots.
The Allison Legacy Series North rolled onto the speedway next, with the newly-crowned 2006 series champion, Anthony Frisora of Shrewsbury, MA taking down the win. After the checkers, Frisora bounced off the turn one wall, but he rolled into victory lane just minutes later.
Berwick, ME racer Pete Evans found himself on the pole for the Hobby Stock/Strictly Stock main, and he jumped out to set the pace at the drop of the green. Evans ran virtually uncontested from green-to-checker, picking up his first career Oktoberfest win. Doug Ricker scored runner-up, with Wade Worster, Hans Meier and Todd Bregy the rest of the top five.
The True Value Modified Racing Series ran the final round of their championship season with a 100-lap feature event, which saw two-time champ Kirk Alexander leading the early laps. Hampstead, NH’s Andy Seuss got past Alexander on a lap 14 restart, and he was still sitting out front some 75 laps later.
With less than ten to go, Les Hinckley, Jr. made his move for the lead, and he went on to pick up the win in the Chuck Montville machine. Andy Seuss and championship contender Jimmy Kuhn were next across the stripe, but it was veteran Dwight Jarvis capturing the 2006 crown.
Former three-time Street Stock champ Ron Bolduc of Plaistow returned to his old stomping grounds in style during Oktoberfest, adding yet another win trophy to his collection. Grant Aither was all over Bolduc’s back bumper for most of the race, but he settled for second at the checkers.
Early leader Sparky MacIver lost a couple of spot in lap traffic, but he hung on to score third, with Jason Marr and second-generation racer Nick Gravel finishing up the top five.
The Late Models ran their second feature of the weekend with the regularly-scheduled 50-lapper, and this time it was hometown driver Joey Porciello taking down the win. Porciello got out front early, and with hard racing and lapped traffic all around, he stayed out of trouble to grab the win.
Baril capped off an impressive weekend with a runner-up finish in the second half of the doubleheader, with Jeff Zuidema, Bill Pancraw, and Scott Bonney wrapping up the top five.
The final race of the 2006 season was the Outlaw Mini Stock main, with Ed Drake outrunning the field to post the win. Last year’s winner, Wade Worster, collected runner-up honors, Ricky Porter third at the checkers.
All’s quiet at Lee USA Speedway until the weekend of November 11-12, when the gates will swing open for the annual Flea Market/Swap Meet. For information, call the speedway office at 978-462-4252, or log on to www.leeusaspeedway.com.