A busy stretch of four races in four weeks for the Granite State Pro Stock Series wraps up this Friday night at one of the series’ staple venues.
Lee USA Speedway, only a short drive from the New Hampshire seacoast, welcomes the GSPSS back for their first of two visits this year with this Friday’s Clash on Calef 125.
Unique among the tracks on this year’s GSPSS itinerary, Lee hosts its own regular Pro Stock division, welcoming the class back to its weekly program a few years ago. Lee’s own big-ticket Pro Stock shows earlier this year boasted plenty of names familiar to GSPSS fans and followers. But Friday night’s showdown, named for the state highway on which Lee has been situated since the 1960s, is the first opportunity for those Pro Stock wheelmen to score points toward the series crown.
That contest took an intriguing turn Saturday evening at Speedway 95, with hometown hero Mike Hopkins the fifth different driver to wave the GSPSS checkered flag this season. The two strongest title threats in attendance, Casey Call and Evan Beaulieu, each faced their own pitfalls in the race. But where Call exited early with chassis damage, Beaulieu recovered from a mid-race spin to finish fifth, chipping away at Call’s healthy advantage.
Call’s calamity ended a season-opening streak of finishing no worse than fourth, while Beaulieu has back-to-back top-fives after a slow start. Both drivers have a lot of work ahead to be ready for Friday, and with the season’s deepest entry list in hand, winning promises to be a tall order.
A trio of Maine rookies have run the majority of the races this year, with Jamie Wright, Morgan Call and Miller Buzzell all set to carry on their season-long efforts at Lee. Joining them from the Pine Tree State is veteran Gary Smith and multi-track titlist Dave Farrington, Jr., who won his GSPSS debut back in 2016.
Wiscasset Speedway veteran and 2023 Speedway 95 winner Josh St. Clair is on the entry list, as well as Nick Jenkins and Matt Dow. Cole Robie, who hails from Maine, but has Granite State ties through his father Jarod and grandfather Carleton, plans to make his series debut as he graduates from Legends and Bandoleros into full-size fendered cars this season.
Local racers Bobby Baillargeon, Bobby Frappier and Frankie Eldredge plan to put their Lee expertise to the test. Dan Winter has stepped up his GSPSS appearances this year and wants to replicate his top-five run at Star Speedway in May’s season opener. Andy Shaw missed the season opener, but he and the Dale Drew Racing team have been at every event since.
Massachusetts teammates Alex Quarterley and Jeremy Sorel are back for more GSPSS action, with Sorel still smiling after his second-place finish at Claremont Motorsports Park earlier this month.
Cory Casagrande is back after a week off, with the Connecticut star anxious to avenge a hard crash at Lee a month ago. Fellow Nutmeg Stater Anthony Bello is back with the series as well, racing for Maine car owner Shawn Knight.
With big-league racing on a summer recess, Maine native and NASCAR spotter Derek Kneeland is dusting off his race car for his first GSPSS start since 2022. Kneeland accompanied his driver, Kyle Busch, to June’s Keen Parts 150 at Lee, where he and Busch both outlasted the carnage to post top-five finishes.
But the early favorites are sure to be those who have a record of past success at Lee. Ryan Green’s redemption arc remains in play after a grinding crash at June sidelined his own race car. Green borrowed a car from friend Joey Doiron to race at Claremont this month, reintroduced his repaired mount at Hudson two weeks ago, and will be a threat in whichever car he brings to the track this week.
Brandon Barker, the first Pro Stock champion at Lee after the division’s revival a couple years back, won the Keen Parts 150 in June and took home a $10,000 prize. Barker has a pair of GSPSS wins at Lee in 2018 and 2019 and would love to add to the trophy case.
Reigning Lee track champion Wayne Helliwell, Jr. last won a GSPSS feature in 2014, a dry spell the New Hampshire all-star would love to erase. Helliwell’s longtime rival, Joey Polewarczyk, won a GSPSS feature at Lee that season, one of two touring wins at the track. “Joey Pole” was victorious at Hudson Speedway two weeks ago, his eighth series victory.
And Corey Bubar won the GSPSS’ last outing at Lee, taking home $8,500 in last fall’s Bosowski Properties 150. The Beech Ridge Motor Speedway veteran is one of several racers who came to Lee after Beech Ridge was shuttered, and one of many to find success at his new home track.
In a showdown between the proven veterans and the optimistic hopefuls, the sure winners are the fans in the stands who can take in Friday night’s on-track fireworks.
Friday night’s Mid Season Shootout at Lee USA Speedway welcomes the Granite State Pro Stock Series to top an action-packed program under the lights at “New Hampshire’s Center of Speed.” The GSPSS will be joined by the New England Dwarf Car Series, plus Lee’s Open Pure Stocks, Six Shooters, Ridge Runners, and the Lee Weldy Memorial 77 for Super Streets. Post time is 7:00pm, with the grandstands opening at 5:00pm. Adult admission is $25.00; Junior and Senior tickets are just $20.00. For those who cannot make the trip, check out RaceDayTV for live streaming coverage.
For more information on the Granite State Pro Stock Series, visit www.gspss.net or find us on Facebook and Instagram.
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