Donnelly, Tucker Double Up In Front Of Huge Bear Ridge Crowd

PHOTO: Chris Donnelly drove to historic victories in both his SCoNE Sprint Car (pictured) and his DIRTcar Sportsman Modified at Bear Ridge Speedway on Saturday. (Alan Ward photo)

(From track press release)

BRADFORD — Chris Donnelly made stock car history at Bear Ridge Speedway on Saturday night by becoming the first driver to win feature races in two divisions at the same program. In one of the biggest events in the 44-year history of the quarter-mile, DIRTcar-sanctioned clay oval, nearly 100 race cars and a near-capacity crowd watched eight divisions run 12 feature races on Miller Auto Group/Noise-R-Us Fireworks Night, plus a match race and Independence Day fireworks.

Donnelly, of Piermont, N.H., opened with a Bond Auto DIRTcar Sportsman Modified victory in a 35-lap race postponed by rain from the Wells River Savings Bank program on June 25, then capped the evening with a win in the WYKR Sprint Cars of New England (SCoNE) 25-lap feature. Robert Tucker matched Donnelly’s victory total with a pair of feature wins in the A Notch Above Automotive Limited Late Model division.

Donnelly drove his No. 60 Forward’s Garage Bicknell chassis to the victory over Thetford Center driver Dan Eastman in the Wells River Savings Bank Modified race. Eastman’s finish matched his best effort of the year with the runner-up effort. Adam Pierson of Fairlee passed Jason Gray late to finish third, followed by Gary Siemons, who crashed early in the race.

Donnelly’s second victory came in the WYKR SCoNE event, where he started tenth on the 16-car grid and quickly worked to the front. Donnelly ran in second place from lap 8 until he passed leader Lacey Hanson of Orwell on lap 15. Two late restarts allowed Kevin Chaffee and Dan Douville to reach Hanson and pass her for podium positions. Hanson finished fourth with rookie Jim Lowrey, Jr., fifth.

“That’s an awful tough task to fulfill, but the car was just super,” Donnelly said after his SCoNE victory. “I’m having so much fun. It’s a great race track, it’s so nice you can move around and race good.”

The Miller Auto Group feature for the Bond Auto DIRTcar Sportsman Modified division was won by 20 year-old East Thetford driver Jason Gray. Gray’s No. 00 C.W. Gray & Sons, Inc. Auctioneers Bicknell had pressure over the final 15 laps from Fairlee driver Chaffee — who, like Donnelly, pulled double-duty — but Gray held on over a series of late restarts for his first win of the season. Chaffee earned his second runner-up finish of the night, and Donnelly capped a memorable night with his third trip to the podium in third place. Pierson and Bryan King completed the unofficial top five.

“Flat Foot” Joe Krawiec of Bristol, Conn., kept his unbeaten streak alive in the 25-lap USAC-sanctioned Dirt Midget Association feature. Scott Holcomb of Granby, Conn., moved from his sixth starting position to the lead at lap 4, then Krawiec muscled his way past Holcomb to take the lead ten laps later and cruise to his third victory in as many starts. Early leader Jeff Horn, a Vermont native now living in Hudson, Mass., took third for his best run of the season, with New England Auto Racing Hall of famer Ray Miller fourth and Dana Shaw fifth.

Veterans Gene Pierson, Jr., or East Corinth and Bob Shepard of West Topsham split victories in the Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe features. Pierson drove his No. 44 Steve’s Auto Body/Pierson Bros. Construction mount from ninth to lead the first 25-lap feature before the halfway mark and easily outdistanced the field for his second win of 2011. Terry Williams, Josh Harrington, Steve Ellsworth, and Shepard completed the top five in the Wells River Savings Bank feature.

Shepard earned his first Coupe victory in many years in the Miller Auto Group nightcap with an exciting series of maneuvers that saw traffic run three- and even four-wide at times. Harrington finished second with Shane Race, Pierson, and Ellsworth in tow.

Robert Tucker of East Corinth had a career night in the A Notch Above Automotive Limited Late Model division, driving his No. 42 Denecker Chevrolet entry to victory lane in both halves of the doubleheader.

Sophomore driver Tucker, who turns 24 years old on Tuesday, beat hard-luck driver Richie Simmons and Troy Comeau for the Wells River Savings Bank win early in the evening, then outdistanced 14 year-old rookie Jordan Fornwalt and veteran Ray Johnson for the Miller Auto Group win.

Former champion Danny Doyle of Barre won the first Weglarz Property Service Fast Four feature by beating rookie Bobby Bell and another former champion, Andy Johnson. St. Johnsbury racer Bell earned his first career victory later in the night, with Travis Hull and Doyle behind him.

Groton driver Eric Lang earned his fourth win of the season in the lone KDD NAPA Auto Parts Hornet division feature. Mike Stender, Tom Placey, Jessie Smith, and Andy Mooney completed the top five. Steve Sheldon and Don Reynolds walked away from a spectacular two-car flip on the frontstretch.

Fourteen year-old Geoff Durphey of Springfield took his first Bear Ridge victory in the Hornet Stinger youth class. Kodie Pittman and Travis King completed the podium.

Chaffee and Krawiec squared off in a special three-lap grudge match. Chaffee drove his V8-powered, winged SCoNE Sprint Car to a narrow victory (0.196 seconds) over Krawiec’s four-cylinder, wingless USAC Midget.

Bear Ridge Speedway’s 99ROCK Weekly Racing Series is back in action on Saturday, July 9 at 6:00pm, as Dennis Preston Builder presents all five weekly divisions, plus a repeat performance from the Sprint Cars of New England, Fast Four “Madness”, Hornet Queens and the annual David’s House benefit fundraiser for families with ill or injured children receiving treatment at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Admission is $10.00 for adults (age 17-61), $8.00 for teens (12-16) and seniors (62+), and $2.00 for kids (11 and under).

Bear Ridge Speedway is a quarter-mile, semi-banked clay oval located on Kidder Road in Bradford, Vermont. Bear Ridge Speedway is Vermont’s only dirt track and is New England’s only track sanctioned by the World Racing Group’s Charlotte, N.C.-based DIRTcar organization. For more information, call (802) 222-4052 or visit www.bearridgespeedway.com.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS — Miller Auto Group Night
Bear Ridge Speedway — Bradford, Vt.
Saturday, July 2, 2011

Pos.-Driver-Hometown
(# – denotes rookie)

WYKR Sprint Cars of New England (25 laps)
1. Chris Donnelly, Piermont, N.H.
2. Kevin Chaffee, Fairlee
3. Dan Douville, Bridgewater, N.H.
4. Lacey Hanson, Orwell
5. # Jim Lowrey, Jr., Tilton, N.H.
6. # Jake Williams, Center Tuftonboro, N.H.
7. Shawn Lawler, Mason, N.H.
8. Mark Cole, Lebanon, N.H.
9. # Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H.
10. Bruce Kimball, Lebanon, N.H.

USAC Dirt Midget Association (25 laps)
1. Joe Krawiec, Bristol, Conn.
2. Scott Holcomb, Granby, Conn.
3. Jeff Horn, Hudson, Mass.
4. Ray Miller, East Granby, Conn.
5. Dana Shaw, Plainfield, Conn.
6. David Rose, Jr., Keene, N.H.
7. Tim Gallant, Wales, Mass.
8. Denny Zimmerman, Glastonbury, Conn.
9. Dean Christensen, East Granby, Conn.
10. Jamie Spalding, Chaplin, Conn.

Bond Auto DIRTcar Sportsman Modified (35 laps — Wells River Savings Bank make-up)
1. Chris Donnelly, Piermont, N.H.
2. Dan Eastman, Thetford Center
3. Adam Pierson, Fairlee
4. Jason Gray, East Thetford
5. Gary Siemons, Orford, N.H.
6. Kevin Chaffee, Fairlee
7. Bryan King, Corinth
8. Justin Comes, Middlebury
9. Rick Martel, Meredith, N.H.
10. # Tim Tucker, Northfield

Bond Auto DIRTcar Sportsman Modified (35 laps — Miller Auto Group)
1. Jason Gray, East Thetford
2. Kevin Chaffee, Fairlee
3. Chris Donnelly, Piermont, N.H.
4. Adam Pierson, Fairlee
5. Bryan King, Corinth
6. Wayne Stearns, Bradford
7. Mike Dunn, North Haverhill, N.H.
8. Rick Martel, Meredith, N.H.
9. Gary Siemons, Orford, N.H.
10. Justin Comes, Middlebury

Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe (25 laps — Wells River Savings Bank make-up)
1. Gene Pierson, Jr., East Corinth
2. Terry Williams, Waits River
3. Josh Harrington, Topsham
4. Steve Ellsworth, Corinth
5. Bob Shepard, West Topsham
6. Jason Horniak, Bradford
7. Jeremy Stygles, Bradford
8. Jeremy Beckley, Woodsville, N.H.
9. Buster Kathan, Ludlow
10. # Robert Tilden, Bradford

Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe (25 laps — Miller Auto Group)
1. Bob Shepard, West Topsham
2. Josh Harrington, Topsham
3. Shane Race, South Strafford
4. Gene Pierson, Jr., East Corinth
5. Steve Ellsworth, Corinth
6. Terry Williams, Waits River
7. Jason Horniak, Bradford
8. Jeremy Beckley, Woodsville, N.H.
9. # Jason Colbeth, Newbury
10. # Tim Hodge, Vershire

A Notch Above Automotive Limited Late Model (20 laps — Wells River Savings Bank make-up)
1. Robert Tucker, East Corinth
2. Richie Simmons, Bradford
3. Troy Comeau, Rumney, N.H.
4. Ray Johnson, Campton, N.H.
5. Jeremy Hodge, Newbury
6. Tyler Stygles, Bradford
7. Will Hull, East Montpelier
8. # J.P. Vaillancourt, Campton, N.H.
9. # Jordan Fornwalt, Bradford
10. Jason Blake, Moretown

A Notch Above Automotive Limited Late Model (20 laps — Miller Auto Group)
1. Robert Tucker, East Corinth
2. # Jordan Fornwalt, Bradford
3. Ray Johnson, Campton, N.H.
4. Troy Comeau, Rumney, N.H.
5. Jeremy Hodge, Newbury
6. Anthony Perkins, Groton
7. Will Hull, East Montpelier
8. Richie Simmons, Bradford
9. Tyler Stygles, Bradford
10. # J.P. Vaillancourt, Campton, N.H.

Weglarz Property Service Fast Four (20 laps — Wells River Savings Bank make-up)
1. Danny Doyle, Barre
2. # Bobby Bell, St. Johnsbury
3. Andy Johnson, Wilder
4. Travis Hull, Graniteville
5. # Karl Sheldon, St. Johnsbury

Weglarz Property Service Fast Four (20 laps — Miller Auto Group)
1. # Bobby Bell, St. Johnsbury
2. Travis Hull, Graniteville
3. Danny Doyle, Barre
4. Andy Johnson, Wilder
5. Steve Bell, St. Johnsbury

KDD NAPA of Bradford Hornet (20 laps)
1. Eric Lang, Groton
2. Mike Stender, South Strafford
3. Tom Placey, Bradford
4. Jessie Smith, Topsham
5. Andy Mooney, Danville

Hornet Stinger (20 laps)
1. Geoff Durphey, Springfield
2. Kodie Pittman, Corinth
3. Travis King, Corinth