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OKTOBERFEST PREVIEW
AT LEE USA SPEEDWAY |
Lee
USA Speedway’s Oktoberfest 2015 is just two weeks
away, with racers representing tracks and tours from
all six New England States and beyond expected to
compete in the 18 divisions on the schedule at “New
Hampshire’s Center of Speed”, closing out the
season’s on-track action with one of the
most-anticipated events of the year.
Over 300 race teams competed in last year’s version
of Oktoberfest, and this year’s schedule invites
even more racers, as virtually every type of race
car that competes from Connecticut to Maine will fit
in the varied set of rules, and a record-setting
field is expected enter the weekend’s events.
As always, the Valenti Modified Racing Series will
close out their 2015 points season at the
Oktoberfest, with Connecticut driver Chris Pasteryak
leading the point standings coming in. Pasteryak has
a solid career record at Lee USA, including a
perfect 2015, winning the annual “Bullring Bash”
open-competition show in May, and taking the
checkers in the VMRS‘s first 2015 visit to Lee back
in June.
In addition, the Pro Stocks/Super Late Models will
once again take part in the final race of the 2015
season, with defending race winner Jeremy Davis of
Tamworth expected to defend his Oktoberfest title.
Davis has already visited Lee USA victory lane this
season, scoring a dominating win when the Granite
State Pro Stock Series visited on July 24.
Lee USA’s weekly Supermodifieds will contest their
last race of the year during the ’Fest, but 2015
champion Tommy Tombarello, Jr. of Haverhill, MA
suffered a hard wreck on the final night of the
regular season, and the four-time champ and
defending race winner is expected to be a spectator
for the last race of the 2015 season, leaving this
year‘s Oktoberfest title up for grabs.
Lance Barthelemy of Fremont, the most recent winner
in Friday night weekly action is among the favorites
to step up, as is fellow Fremonter Mike Ordway, Jr.,
a three-time winner this season aboard the former
championship-winning Witkum Brothers Racing entry,
and 2015 feature winners “Super Dave” Sanborn of
Tilton, Moe Lattime of Kingston, Leslie Keyser of
Northfield, and rookie sensation Jarrod Soucy of
Hudson, MA.
Other divisions on the 2015 Oktoberfest slate
include the always-exciting Late Models, which were
once the headline division of Lee USA’s NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series weekly schedule. Last
year’s Oktoberfest saw multi-time Lee USA and
American Canadian Tour
(ACT) champ Wayne Helliwell of Dover victorious.
Helliwell’s 2014 win came over fellow Granite Stater
Glenn Martel and Connecticut driver Keith Rocco, the
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
2010 champion and owner of three-straight and five
overall championships in the Waterford (CT)
Speedbowl SK Modifieds, the most recent of which was
won just last weekend.
Other divisions in action during the course of
Oktoberfest weekend include the Late Model
Sportsmen/Super Streets, which saw 2009, 2010, and
2013 champion Grant Aither score the victory last
year, and the Hobby/Strictly Stocks, won last season
by 2011 Hobby Stock champ Mark Parenteau.
Four-cylinder action on tap for Oktoberfest weekend
includes several varieties of racecars, including
the Roadrunners, Pure Stocks, and the exotic Outlaw
Mini Stocks, which feature some of the fastest
four-cylinder powered machines sporting fenders in
the Northeast.
Open-wheel fans get their fill from the Pro-4
Modifieds, as the touring series visits “New
Hampshire’s Center of Speed” for the second time
this season. Second-generation racer Robin Berghman
emerged victorious in the 2014 Oktoberfest feature
for the Pro-4’s.
Other open-wheeled action on tap for Oktoberfest
weekend includes the lightning-fast “Mighty Midgets”
of NEMA (North Eastern Midget Association), the NEMA
Lites, Modifieds, Northeast Classic Lites, and the
Vintage Outlaw Modifieds.
The remainder of the program will be filled out by
the six-cylinder Ironman division, Outlaw Late
Models, and the Mr. Rooter New England Truck Series,
with action taking to the fast 3/8th’s mile oval on
Friday, October 9 for practice, followed by Saturday
practice and qualifying, and Sunday feature event
action for the 18 divisions.
The weekend promises to be the biggest event on the
Northern New England fall racing calendar, with as
much action off the track as there is on the oval
during the three-day weekend. Don’t miss the
traditional season-ender at Lee USA Speedway, as
Oktoberfest 2015 takes to the track and the
campgrounds on October 9-11, 2015. See you there !
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Source:
Lee USA Speedway
Posted:
September 28, 2015 |
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