Friday night was one of Lee USA Speedway’s premier nights of the 2018 season with the Firecracker 100. The night was action-packed, with six exciting racing divisions taking to the track.
The 20-lap Northeast Classic Lites feature was the first feature of the night, with Charlie Patterson and the #36 of David McLean starting on the front row. After winning his heat, the #45 of Paul Marsan quickly made his way to the front of the field, stealing the lead away from Patterson on the first lap. The #18 of Eric Skofield wasn’t far behind, quickly taking the lead away from Marsan.
By lap 5, the #25 of Chris Sullivan had powered his way into the runner-up spot. After having a solid day, the #57 of Patterson took a spin on lap 9 in turn 2, leading to the first caution of the feature.
The #27 of Roger Edgecomb powered into the top 3 on the restart as Rob Bryant continued his fight to the front of the pack. After battling side-by-side for the lead with Skofield for a handful of laps, Bryant took away the top spot on lap 16.
Rob Bryant ran away with the victory, followed by Eric Skofield, Roger Edgecomb, Stew McCormack and Justin Larsen.
The Rod Father Super Modifieds were up next, with Jeffrey Battle taking off with the early lead. Battle was on a roll early, lapping cars by lap 12. After dominating both the heat and the feature, Battle had a left rear tire go down on lap 18, leading to a caution. By the time the field went green again, Battle’s team had replaced the tire and he was back on track.
The #55 of Mike Netishen took off with the lead on the restart, never looking back. The last lap of competition ended with a bang, as the #27 of Leslie Keyser blew up coming to the finish line. Netishen held off the competition for the victory, followed by John Burke, David Helliwell, Mike Spurling and Jeffrey Battle.
The #14 of Mike Farrington took off with the early lead in the 25-lap Ironmen feature after winning the heat earlier in the evening. The #69 of Brian Thompson took a hit in turn 1 on lap 6, leading to the first caution of the feature.
Trouble was brewing on the restart as Jamie Holland, Mike Farrington and the #12 of Lewis Anderson made contact in turn 1. After Anderson was involved in a hard wreck in his #81 car in the heat, Michael Ramsey allowed Anderson to pilot the #12 car. This incident led to yet another early-race caution.
The #44 of Troy Washburn took over the lead on the restart as the #67 of Christin Destefano pulled up to his door to challenge for the lead. As Destefano took over the lead, Lewis Anderson, Kaycie Kustra and Randy Washburn all retired to the pits on lap 18.
Destefano held off Troy Washburn for the victory as Brian Destefano and Jamie Holland battled tooth-and-nail for the third spot behind them. Destefano held off Holland for third, with Adam Knowles rounding out the top five.
Jacob Michaud powered away with the early lead in the 20-lap Pure Stocks feature. By lap 4, heat winner, Tyler Mailhot, was all over him for the top spot. By lap 15, the two leaders had checked out and began putting cars a lap down. Michaud and Mailhot continued to battle it out until the very last lap.
The two leaders were side-by-side coming into turn 3, with the #6 of Mailhot sliding through the grass as Jacob Michaud took home the feature victory. Robert Carleton, Danielle Evans and Jessica Michaud rounded out the top five.
The 25-lap Street Stocks feature was next on the agenda, with Patrick Tanguay and Boe Green starting on the front row, followed by Alby Ovitt. After taking home the victory in his heat, Ovitt quickly made his way into the runner-up spot. He made his way to the outside of Tanguay for the lead on lap 3, capturing the top spot the following lap.
Max “Mad Max” Dolliver, scraped the wall on lap 11 in turn 2, losing ground on the runner-up car of Tanguay. By the halfway mark, there was a 3-car breakaway at the front of the pack. Alby Ovitt was seemingly all checked out by lap 20, but he lost a little bit of ground the following lap due to lap traffic.
Ovitt didn’t let lap traffic break his stride as he rolled into victory. The win was huge for Ovitt, who recently took home a big Street Stocks victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway during the New England Short Track Showdown race weekend.
Patrick Tanguay, Max Dolliver, Boe Green and Rob Bodwell followed, rounding out the top five.
After winning his heat, Bobby Melvin, Jr. took off with the early lead in the final event of the night, the Firecracker 100. Jimmy Russell was on a roll early, powering into the runner-up spot on lap 3. Grant Aither quickly made his way to the front of the pack, taking the lead on lap 13.
After falling to the back of the pack early in the race, the #88 of Bryan Kruczek had made his way back into the top 3 by lap 15. He advanced into the runner-up spot on lap 18, taking control of the lead shortly after.
After missing his heat and starting dead last after replacing his rear end, rookie Zach Nicholson powered his way into the top 5 on lap 20. It was a long and trying week for the Nicholson Racing Team, who also had the joy of putting in a new motor into the #21 machine this past week. Nicholson continued his stride on lap 30, stealing away the fourth spot from the #02 of Dylan Bilodeau. His voyage to the front of the pack continued on lap 35 as he made his way around the #63 of Grant Aither for third.
By lap 40, Jimmy Russell was reeling in Kruczek, getting within 3 car lengths of the #88 machine. A caution for debris came out on lap 45, with all of the leaders coming down for a pit stop for fresh tires and fuel. Zach Nicholson’s team had the fastest pit stop, powering the series rookie into the lead for the restart.
Bryan Kruczek reclaimed his lead on the restart as Nicholson filed in behind him. Jimmy Russell gave Nicholson a love tap on lap 50, advancing into the runner-up spot as Nicholson fell back to fifth. By lap 60, Kruzek had checked out by nearly an entire straightaway over Jimmy Russell.
Dylan Bilodeau had reeled in Zach Nicholson for the fifth spot on lap 65, advancing into the top five. Jimmy Russell, Grant Aither and Geoff Rollins led a tight battle for the runner-up spot on lap 70, with Aither gaining the edge over Rollins and Russell.
It was a tough night for points leader Frankie Eldredge, who retired for the night on lap 89. By lap 95, there were only 5 cars left on the lead lap. After having a solid night, Zach Nicholson scraped the backstretch wall on lap 99, electing to stay out to salvage his finish. Dylan Bilodeau made contact with Nicholson coming into turn 3 on the final lap, resulting in both drivers winding up in the grass in turn 3.
Bryan Kruczek sailed into the victory, followed by Geoff Rollins, Grant Aither, George Helliwell and Jimmy Russell.
The exciting night of competition was followed up with a fantastic fireworks display, celebrating the Fourth of July holiday.
The competition continues this upcoming Friday, July 6th, at Lee USA Speedway. Get out and support your local race track.
We hope to see you there!
Thank you again to Drown Excavation and Four Season Synthetic for their endless support for Chasing the Checkered. Contact Drown Excavation for all of your demolition and excavation needs and Four Season Synthetic for all of your oil, lube and filter needs!
