N. WOODSTOCK, N.H. — Four divisions worth of fantastic side-by-side racing filled the White Mountain Motorsports Park on Saturday, July 16th. Along with the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model 150, the Foley Oil & Propane Late Models, Wells River Chevrolet Flying Tigers and Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Stock Minis provided all the action for the folks in the stands and those at home tuning in on Racing America.
The Wells River Chevrolet Flying Tigers were the first feature to hit the track on Saturday led by White Mountain veterans Jody Sicard and Matt Potter.
Sicard immediately took the lead, leaving Potter to duke it out with Rookie contender Thomas Smithers VI. While the top three took off, Shane Sicard followed from afar, steadily gaining with each lap. Meanwhile, the rest of the field was under a blanket, nose-to-tail and side-by-side just inches apart. As fourth through eleventh fought tooth and nail for every inch of real estate, Shane Sicard methodically made his way past Potter, Smithers and his brother, Jody Sicard. As the checkers filled the air, it was a family affair in victory lane with Shane Sicard taking the win followed by brother Jody Sicard and Jody’s step-son Thomas Smithers VI.
Not to be outdone, the Foley Oil & Propane Late Models also went flag-to-flag in their 50-lap feature.
While Mark Patten got the jump at the start, and held the lead for the first five laps, Jeff Marshall sneaked underneath the 07NH to lead lap six. The 25NH of Jesse Switser soon followed in Marshall’s footsteps and overcame the Patten machine to take second. As the top cars stretched their leads, the battle was for fourth between the 78NH of Quinny Welch and the 77NH of rookie Bryan Wall Jr. In the closing laps, Welch and Wall caught up to Patten to make it a three-way dance for third. Under the white flag with Patten watching Welch move to his outside, Wall sneaked in low for a full contact, three-wide slide across the line. Bryan Wall Jr. would nab his first podium finish in third behind Jesse Swister and winner Jeff Marshall.
The highlight of the evening came with the second PASS Super Late Model 150 in less than 24-hours for the touring stars. Under the initial green flag, Thrillin’ Dillon Moltz led the way with Trevor Sanborn looking for racing room below until a melee of cars collected in turn two. On the restart, Moltz again took off with Garrett Hall in tow, both pacing the field until Scott McDaniel and Dennis Spencer went for the spin cycle in turn one.
On the restart, Moltz and Hall were neck and neck for the lead when Johnny Clark lost control going into turn one, keeping his Clark’s Metal Recycling machine running but dirt on the racing line called the caution flag out once again. It was trouble on the restart for Garrett Hall as he missed a shift, stacking the inside line up, leaving Moltz the clear leader and allowing Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Joe Pastore and Brandon Barker to follow on the inside groove. Barker tried again and again to take second from Helliwell until Pastore spun on Lap 34 to bring out the yellow.
On the restart, Helliwell powered hard on the outside of Thrillin’ Dillon but Moltz led the way with Barker close behind on the bottom. By Lap 46, it was the battle for fifth between Helliwell and Eddie MacDonald that had the fans on the edge of their seats as Johnny Clark powered back into the top ten after his pit cycle on lap 11. Gabe Brown muscled his way into the top three with Clark gaining ground every lap. By the Lap 86 caution for Evan Hallstrom’s broken right front, it was Moltz leading Clark and Brown.
Following two more cautions, Clark finally got the jump on Moltz to lead Lap 100 with Gabe Brown getting under Moltz for second on Lap 109. A Lap 115 caution for debris turned haywire, sending Moltz, D.J. Shaw and Trevor Sanborn into the front stretch grass. With Clark starting on the low side and Brown up high, Clark again took off to leave Brown defenseless against Garrett Hall. While Brown held strong, his car did not. Sparks flew from the right front to bring out the final caution at Lap 135 and set up an epic 15-lap dash to the end.
Johnny Clark again started on the inside, now with Brandon Barker on the outside and Clark got the jump once more to lead Lap 136. Behind him, Barker settled in while Ryan Kuhn, Garrett Hall and Ben Ashline struggled for the third spot. Taking ten laps to sort it out, Johnny Clark came under the checkers first with Brandon Barker in second. After hitting pit road on five different occasions, Ben Ashline powered through to take third.
Ending the night, the Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Stock Minis took to the field to try and match the excitement of the Pro All Stars Series, and they certainly did. As the closer, the Strictly Stock Minis took the green led by Jack Hayes, followed by Les Washburn as the field got to speed. From the onset, everyone watched the battle for third as Tyler Thompson drove from ninth to fourth without the slightest delay but simply could not get under the golden 22 of Brendan Clark. With the one and only caution on Lap 18 for the spinning Jason Goodboul, the battle resumed once again under the green.
While Hayes took the lead from the start once again, it was a four-car battle for second with Les Washburn not giving up on the inside, leaving Thompson and Clark to duke it out. Under the two-to-go popsicle sticks, Todd Derrington made the daring jump into the battle, throwing off Thompson and allowing Clark to focus on Washburn. All together under the white flag, it would be Jack Hayes taking the win one lap later followed by Brendan Clark who just edged Les Washburn by a bumper for second.