Chris Ouellette captures first feature win on Jiffy Mart Night
Milan NH’s Chris Ouellette took advantage of the three race competition for the Jiffy Mart Cyclones, earning his first ever feature victory on Riverside Speedway’s salute to public safety night in Groveton Saturday. Other feature winners included Jesse Switser, Chris Caron, Matt Carbone, Cody Smith, Stephen Donahue, and Shawna Whitcomb.
The management team at Riverside Speedway opened the evening with a tribute to all area public safety teams. The Town of Northumberland came out in full force, displaying all of their emergency response vehicles and participating in the event. A moment of silence was recognized to all of the fallen heros in the 9-11 tragedy. The fans gave the local heros a standing ovation at the conclusion of the national anthems.
It was Jiffy Mart night and the Cyclones were the star drivers on the evening. The first race was a 10 lap dash and lined up by point factor. Aric Cole took to the front early and raced to the win, with Ouellette finishing in fourth.
The remaining two races were then run Monza style by inverting the field according to finishes. After the heat races for the other divisions, the Cyclones returned to the track for their second segment 25 lap race. This time the division’s top racers were able to get through traffic. Jason Wyman won the race, Lorin Vear was second, and Shaun Stetson third. Ouellette raced to a sixth place finish. After two races, Dana Graham, Ouellette, and Cole Kilby were all tied with a total of 10 points. The leaders that had nine points included Vear and Wyman.
The final race was only a 15 lap dash. The race for the overall win was unfolding between Wyman and Ouellette. The duo marched through the pack. Wyman was locked on Ouellette’s back bumper. The checkers flew for the final segment for the #21 of Keith Normand. Ouellette finished in the third spot and Wyman in fourth. That put both racers in a tie with a final total of 13 points. The win went to Ouellette based on the tie breaker for finishing better in the final race. Wyman was in the runner-up spot and point leader Vear in third.
The Sign Depot and Caron Building Center Daredevils ran their feature race together and caution free. In the rookies division, Cody Smith drove his #18 into victory lane, Jared Plumley was second, and Sierra Sanschagrin third. The checkers in the veteran class went to Stephen Donahue. Berlin’s Aaron Poulin was next across the stripe and the #05 of Tyler Austin finished third. Donahue and Plumley took the heat wins.
The North Country Late Models came onto the speedway with 18 cars in the pit area. The Late Models had not been in action for three weeks and it showed during the feature. The Late Models had to take a break after too many cautions led the race directing team to park the top flight division in the infield until all the other features were completed.
The decision seemed to work. Once the Late Models were back underway, rookie driver Jesse Switser was able to hold off the hard charging Grant Folsom for the win. Veteran Russ Clark was back and strong in the outside groove to take home the third spot. Heat wins went to Switser, Paul Schartner III, and Bryan Mason.
The Town & Country Street Stocks were again one of the top racing classes for the evening. Tom Sokolis and Matt LeBlanc brought the streeters to green and commenced to put on a great battle for the lead racing side by side for several laps. At the midpoint of the race, top runners Chris Caron and Brett Rowell worked their way to the front to take the top two spots. LeBlanc finished third, Thunder Road racer Dave Whitcomb finished fourth and Sokolis fifth. LeBlanc and Jason Kenison won the qualifying races.
The Budweiser super stocks saw top point man Matt Carbone capture his third feature win of the year. Bobby Taylor, Nick Gilcris, Shawn Hood, and Daniel Plante rounded out your top five. Hood and Carbone were the heat winners.
The Isaacson Structural Steel Angels were back on the asphalt. The point battles in the top part of the division were at the forefront. When the dust finally settled, it was rookie driver Shawna Whitcomb carrying the checkers for the second time this season. Desirae Sicard finished second, Cynthia Litvin third, Allison Barney fourth, and Shauna Randall rounded out the top five. Heat wins went to Whitcomb and Tracie Nelson.
The next racing event will be on Friday September 17th. The Outlaw/Sportsman will be on tap and the division’s two top drivers, Jeff Marshall and Dan Sidney are virtually tied in the point battle. A champion could be determined on the evening’s event. The Super Stocks, a make-up feature and regular races for the street stocks, Daredevils, a Cyclone/Enduro 100 lap race, and the return of spectator drags will also highlight the card of racing.
Riverside Speedway is located off of Brown Road in Groveton NH. You can check out all of the speedway’s racing news at www.riversidespeedway.org.
(49) Nate Brown and (7) Cody Leblanc had a hard crash off turn 2
911 TRIBUTE
Shawn Cook's tribute on the hood of his late model