9/2/2024
Lee USA Speedway
Cusack double dips on Beech Ridge Night but School Buses steal the show!
Lee, NH- After being rained out earlier in the season Lee USA Speedway was finally able to host its Beech Ridge Speedway night at the track! To make the night bigger it was back to school night with a school bus night and on track meet and great. Numerous former Beech Ridge Speedway employees filled in similar roles around the track to make the night even more special. Additionally, division names were changed to match those of Beech Ridge as well.
The Super Streets ran under the name Wildcats for the evening! Kris Schroeder in the 66K would fire out to the early lead holding off challengers for as long as he could. On lap 12 Nick Maniatis (63W) and Andrew Morin (30) would both get around Schroeder with Maniatis taking the lead and Morin going into the 2nd spot. Morin would make a few challenges but in the end Maniatis would prevailing taking the win. With Morin settling into 2nd, Schroeder would come home in 3rd. Patrick Tanguay in car #79 finished 4th and Jason Curtis (02x) finished 5th.
The Black Flagged Podcast Mad Bombers (Ridge Runners) had the largest car count in the pit area. Kyle Gailoux car #25 jumped out to the early lead. Drew Morse (63M) took the lead away on lap 8 but would hold it for long as Brian Caswell (47) would assume the top spot on 12. Morse wouldn’t make it easy on Caswell but in the end Caswell prevailed for the win with Morse crossing the line in 2nd. Trace Ayers (63x) finished 3rd with Gailoux in 4th and Taylor Graffam in car 47G rounding out the top 5. In post race tech the 63M of Morse was found to be too low and was disqualified.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Roadrunners (Six Shooters) stormed onto the track with Mike Comtois (52NH) leading the first 5 laps. Steve Miller Jr. in car #79 took the lead on lap 6 and never looked back on the way to collect his win! Steve Miller Sr. in car 68 used a strong run to finish 2nd with Michael Yeaton (25NH) rounding out the podium. Erin Aiken in the 33A ran out of time after starting deep in the pack and settled for 4th and Christin Destefano (67) finished 5th.
A special division for the evening was the ladies division which was a female only drivers in Ridge Runners. Taylor Graffam (47G) started on the pole and lead every lap to take the win. Jessica Coulter (5) charged through the field to finish 2nd with Maddy Herrick in car #88 in 3rd! Callie Osborne (59) came home in 4th and Kristina Nadeau (7) rounded out the top 5.
MLM Diagnostic Services Beetle Bugs (Open Pure Stocks) saw the highest car count of the season with many new faces. Shane Webber in car #7 led every lap to collect the win but it was no walk in the park as 2nd place finisher Derek Cook in car #88c tried the outside groove for numerous laps giving the fans a great show! Donnie Fletcher in car 88 finished 3rd with Andrew Harmon (14) in 4th and Rick Austin (42x) in 5th.
The Pro Series (Pro Stocks) ran two 30 lap feature events. Nicholas Cusack in car #2 would lead every lap in feature #1 to take the win. Brandon Barker (32) would be 2nd with Ryan Green (93) in 3rd, Corey Bubar (12x) in 4th and Larry Gelinas in car #37 rounded out the top 5! For feature #2 the finishing order of feature 1 was inverted. Dalton Gagnon (9) led until lap 25 of 30 when Cusack caught up and made the pass for the lead. Cusack would take the win sweeping the night. Bobby Baillargeon in car 82 finished 2nd and Barker came home 3rd. Bubar would finish 4th again and Gagnon would hold off a hard charging Green to take the 5th spot.
To round out the evening 6 school buses took to the track for a scheduled 10 lap feature but the fans spoke and the race was increased to 20 laps. The 121 of William Jones would take the win after beating and banging with the 8 of Kai Mooreland. These school buses will be used in a demolition derby on September 14th at the Granite State Fair.
Lee USA Speedway is back in action Sunday September 8th to wrap up the points season. For full details check out leespeedway.com!
Article Credit: Ryan Lawliss
Submitted By: Mark Beaudry