Sunday October fourth, the Granite State Pro Stock Series made its annual trek to Russ Conway’s Oktoberfest at Lee USA Speedway and for the second year in a row Derek Griffith bested all comers.
Under a picture perfect sky the teams of the GSPSS assembled at one of the traditional events in New England to contest a 100 lap affair. Practice was smooth for most and all looked to be well until it was time for The Crazy Horse Fast Time Challenge. Due to a tight schedule and a short turn around from practice, time trials were canceled and heat races were lined up based on final practice speeds.
Heat number one was won by Dylan Estrella who was making his first start of the season. He beat Rusty Poland to the line and would redraw pill number one and start the main event on the pole.
Granite State Pro Stock Series Headed to Lee for Oktoberfest
As the 2020 racing season winds down, the action for the Granite State Pro Stock Series heats up. October fourth, the series will headline the Sunday portion of the annual Russ Conways Oktoberfest at the Lee USA Speedway.
For the first half of the season it was Ray Christain III dominating the point standings. The Uncasville CT driver suffered a parts failure at the Sept. race at Claremont Motorsports Park and was involved in a hard crash at the last event in Waterford CT. Christain III now sits 26 points behind Hudson NH’s Joey “Pole” Polewayczyk with Angelo Belsito forty points behind Pole. All three drivers have entered to compete at Lee and gather all the points they can.
Derek Griffith is the defending winner of this race and comes in as the hottest driver in the northeast. In his last three starts, Griffith has won two races carrying a $10,000 winners check at each and finished second at the prestigious Star Classic. Griffith will look to keep his hot streak going at Lee this weekend.
Chase Locke, Randy Cabral Best in NEMA at LEE USA’s First Responder Freedom 300 Night
LEE, NH
The Northeastern Midget Association rolled into the Wrenn family’s LEE USA Speedway this past Friday evening for the Freedom 300/First Responder’s September 11th tribute. Great car counts across all divisions showcased some of the best drivers in New England at the New Hampshire oval. In the NEMA Lites, after so many “so close” scenarios for the youngster Chase Locke, he finally took down his first ever NEMA Lites victory, and in convincing style. In the NEMA feature, Randy Cabral inherited the lead after teammate Todd Bertrand suffered a heart breaking flat tire with seven laps to go, as the eight time champion took down his first back to back victory in many years.
In the Lites feature, NJ’s Richie Coy blasted out into the lead from the pole position on lap one. Coy was quickly hounded by the young Chase Locke in the Chester General Store/Locke Crane Services #88. Locke followed Coy closely, and made a bid for the lead on lap nine. Once in command, Locke began to set a torrid pace, with his fastest lap of the feature coming on lap nine, a 14.182 second lap. Lap after lap, Locke began to distance himself from the field, clicking off consistent 14.3 second laps. Behind him, veterans Jim Santa Maria and PJ Stergios were engaged in a battle for the second spot, with Stergios taking over the spot on lap twenty.
Oktoberfest up next for the GSPSS at Lee USA Speedway
As the 2019 Granite State Pro Stock Series season winds down, the series takes part in one of the most anticipated events of the year. The two day Oktoberfest at Lee USA Speedway has become a destination event for New England race fans and teams alike.
The last three Lee events for the GSPSS have been dominated by two drivers from just up the road in Maine. They are friends, competitors, rivals and coworkers, as both drivers work at JBJ Machine in North Berwick Maine. The machine shop, owned by John Doiron, not only employs both drivers but makes numerous parts for race cars driven throughout New England.
