N. WOODSTOCK, N.H. – A battle between Jason Ball and rookie Jackson Hunt started the night off at White Mountain Motorsports Park with the Strictly Mini 25-lap main. As the polesitters battled, they succumbed to Makenna Merchant who took charge at the head of the field on lap-six. Without the aid of a caution flag to re-rack the field, Merchant ran away with her fourth win of the season in a 2.569-second over second-place finisher Jacob Roy and point leader Tyler Thompson in third.
photo by Johnny Racer
The Dwarf Cars returned for twin 20-lap segment racing competition on the highbanks. After running away with Segment No. 1, Dave Gyger was unable to drive up through the field in Segment No. 2 but all eyes were on Jeff Ainsworth. Ainsworth was able to jump up through the middle of the pack and set sail at the front to win Segment No. 2 and the overall with a three-point total. Chad Dufour took second in the overall with five points and Gyger held on to collect six points overall.
Austin Sicard and Todd Derrington brought the Flying Tigers out of the pit area for their 35-lap trophy dash. Sicard showed the way early as Kyle Willis and Luke Peters made their way underneath Derrington in the opening ten laps. Going for the lead, Willis went sideways in turn three, holding onto his Chevy Monte Carlo in a full drift and falling back to fifth as Peters, Matt Potter and Nate Hamblett poured the pressure on Sicard. With fifteen laps remaining, Logan Powers made his way to fifth as Shane Sicard motored into fourth with Peters taking over the lead as his rearview mirror swelled.
photo by Johnny Racer
Five laps to go saw a three-way fight for the lead between Peters, Powers and Shane Sicard with Powers taking over the lead under the two-to-go popsicle sticks. Logan Powers came from second-to-last on the field to come home with the win over point leader Shane Sicard and Luke Peters under the twin checkered flags in the race of the evening.
Ryan Kuhn led from the outside pole of the inaugural Pro Truck Challenge Northern 55 on Saturday with Jason Paquette and Bert Ouellette in hot pursuit. The first-ever event for the full-bodied trucks went off with just two short caution periods slowing the pace as drivers took on the White Mountain highbanks for the first time. Through it all, Kuhn never faltered and took the Northern 55 win over Nikolas Frechette and Todd Taylor, a pair that fought among the top ten throughout the event and ran a smart race to end up on the podium.
Keegan Lamson brought out the Late Models for their 50-lap closer to Saturday night’s racing activities. Lamson ran uncontested at the front as Thomas Smithers VI, Colin Cornell and Kyle Goodbout ran hard among the top five. Cornell and Reilly Lanphear would go around just before the halfway mark with Goodbout getting the shove to the back of the pack for his involvement. Again, Lamson took off like a rocket sled on rails to win his first in a tough season filled with DNF marks as mechanical woes have plagued the team. Jaden Perry held his own to take home second while point leader Quinny Welch rounded out the top three.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
(local competitors)
Late Models – (50 Laps)
2. 92VT, Jaden Perry, Hardwick, Vt.
Flying Tigers – (35 Laps)
4. 23VT, Matt Potter, Marshfield, Vt.
6. 62VT, Jamon Perry, Hardwick, Vt.
