Posted: July 26th, 2011

In what can best be described as sweltering heat and humidity racing got underway at the White Mountain Motorsports Park in N. Woodstock, NH. With a huge crowd on hand racing got underway with great competition in all five regular divisions on the racing card for the evening.

The Little Ceasar's Kid's Truck Division kicked off qualifying as usual, with the win going out to the #37 of Mark Puffer leading the way to the checkers at the end of their eight lap qualifier. The Avery's Sweeping Tiger Sportsmen stepped up next for thier ten lap qualifier which was won by the #90 of Sean Akers, but only after a side by side dual with the #66 of Timmy Chrurchill that went on lap after lap. The NAPA Late Model Sportsmen were next to roll out of the pits and onto the highbanked racing surface of N. Woodstock. Qualifier number one went to the #62 of Tommy Smithers V who started on the front line and blew away the rest of the field on his way to the checkers. Qualifier number two went to the #73 of Charlie Bodwell who had built up quite a lead until the #16 of Travis Fadden came up to challenge for the win, but ran out of time. Out next were the Beacon Resort Strictly Stocks for their ten lap qualifier which was won handily by the #16 of Brandon Albee. The Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Mini Stock Division were the final division to take the track to qualify, with newcomer Rick Uttly in the #40 coming from the final row to take down the win. The semi-feature for the Napa Late Model Sporstmen went to Gilmanton, NH's own Tommy Smithers V who had handily set himself up to win the coveted triple crown trophy at the year-end banquet at the Beacon Resort.

With the sun dropping low on the horizon, the Little Ceasar's Kid's Truck Division rolled out onto the racing surface for their fifteen lap feature event. With the drivers in this division being between the ages of thirteen and sixteen years old their fearlessness behind the wheel of these trucks never disappoints to put on a great show. The green flag went in the air and was promptly followed by the yellow as the #26 of Logan Oliver went around in turn three. This was not the last that was to be heard from Oliver before this feature event was over. After leading the first 7 laps of the race the #37 of Puffer had to relinquish the lead as the #61 of Ryan Olsen worked his way from the shotgun starting position, took to the high side and drove around into the lead. As Olsen got to the lead the action broke loose behind him as someone got together with the #26 of Oliver and sent him rolling down the backstretch. Amanda Wheeler in the #20 got a piece of the action at some point as the front facia was ripped off her Chevy S-10. A quick trip through the pits, the front end was ripped off and she was able to rejoin the field. Not so for Oliver as he was taken to the pits on the rollback and was done for the night. On the restart it was the Olsen truck back to the lead and pulling away leaving the field to battle it out behind him. When the checkers flew on lap 15 it was Olsen with the win, the #4 of Brandon Croteau in second, with Puffer coming home in the third running spot.

As something of a footnote, in talking with Oliver the following morning, he says he is fine and not sore at all, albeit not anxious to take that ride again. He and his father say the truck is fixable and do intend to be back in action next Saturday night.

The Beacon Resort Strictly Stock Division were next to take control of the racing surface for a very action packed twenty-five laps. The field formed in columns of two and came out of turn four to take the green flag. Once again it was short-lived as the #84 of Elwin Sidney III went around on the backstretch and was unable to fire as the yelow flag came out, the car fired and pulled to the rear of the field. The green came out again with the original line-up posted and it was the #16 of Albee bolting to the lead from the front line. Albee saw his lead disintigrate as he had a tire go down on his Chevy Monte Carlo SS. A quick trip to the pits for a tire change and the Albee machine pulled onto the rear of the field. The green flag fell and the fireworks started as the #27 of Alex Kelley, the #21 of Lucas Wheeler, Sidney, the # 49 of Jody Sicard, along with the #31 of Brandon Bourne went at it, all fighting under a blanket for the top spot. On lap twenty Wheeler found his way to the lead as Kelley was forced to take his Chevy Camaro to the pits for the night. Behind him it was the Sidney machine doing battle with the Sicard machine, with Bourne looking for a mistake by either. When they crossed the stripe it was the rookie Lucas Wheeler with the win, Jody sicard in second and Bourne rounding out the top three.

The Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Mini Stock Division came out of the pits twelve cars strong for their feature event. When the green flag flew the pace was fast and action-packed while the lead changed hands a number of times all the way around the oval, not just at the start/finish line. On lap six the field slowed as the #27 of Jason Fallman, the #19 of Grandpa Dave Driscoll with the #17 of Desirae Sicard put on an outstanding display of sicronized spinning in turn three. While this was happening, and leading up to it, the #40 of Rick Uttly was working his way to the front from the final row and took the lead on lap eight. From then on it was a battle for second. The #01 of Shawn Sinclair battled his way from the back and was all over the back bumper of Uttly but after looking high and looking low couldn't find his way around the relative newcomer. When the field crossed the line on lap twenty it was Uttly with the win, Sinclair in second and another newcomer to WMMP, Howie Switzer in third.

With the Oxford 250 looming in the distance, in order to give the NAPA Late Model Sportsmen teams time to go over the hill into Maine, their feature was run early in the program. Looking for the triple crown trophy, the #62 of Tommy Smither V took the green flag and drove off away from the field. Smithers led for the first 16 laps until the #73 of Charlie Bodwell worked his way into second. Bodwell on the outside, Smithers on the inside and that's the way they ran. For two laps. Smithers found himself in the infield, while Bodwell found himself at the rear of the field for putting him there. On the restart the #42 of Michael Jurkowski took the lead. Jurkowski would pace the field for eighteen laps as the heavy hitters in the points parade were looking to find their way out of the back, jostling and rubbing for every position they could get. On lap twent-three the field slowed again as the #92 of Will Avery found himself in the infield spinning up the grass. Out came the green again with Jurkowski again in the lead. But the war was raging behind him as the #83 of Stacy Cahoon, the #3 of Bernie Lantagne, the #60 of of Dan Colby waged battle with the #21 of Oren Remick and the #16 of Travis Fadden. That battle went on lap after lap until Cahoon looked high and wide around the Jurkoski Ford Fusion. Lap thirty-six saw yet another caution fly as Bodwell and the #88 of Jeremy Welch found themselves sideways the track in turn two. When the field realigned Jurkowski was on the point with Cahoon riding the outside lane next to him. That was the break Cahoon needed to take the lead on the restart. All was going well until Colby, Jurkowski and Remick tried a three-wide move through turns three and four that found Colby and Jurkowski sideways in the apex of the turn. Remick drove away and left them sitting there. Both Colby and Jurkowski now found themselves coming from the rear of the field. For the final time the caution flag flew on lap forty-nine as Lantagne got two tires on the dirt and found himself sideways just off the racing surfaceon the backstretch. Again, this shuffled the deck at the front of the field. Green, white, checkers ended the night for the NAPA Late Models as the #83 of Stacy Cahoon got his first win of the season, followed by the #21 of Oren Remick, and rounding out the top three was the #38 of Tyler Cahoon who came from virtualy out of nowhere to take third.

The final feature of the night fell on the shoulders of the Avery's Sweeping Tiger Sporstsmen. It was all Sean Akers in the #90 from green to checkers. The #66 of Timmy Churchill was beside him almost every step of the way burning the tires off his Chevrolet Impala SS trying to go around on the high side. The #24 of Jeff Huntington rode in the third spot, not having enough motor to do anything with the Akers or Churchill cars. That's the way they would finish. Akers getting the win, Churchill in second and Huntington completing the podium in the third running spot.

Don't Forget Next Week!!!

Kids Bike Races

Don't forget Saturday night July 23rd we cut the kids loose on the highbanks in N. Woodstock!! Kids eleven and under are eligible providing they bring their own bikes. The competitors will be broken down into age groups and will be competing for trophies of their own on this night. No sign up is required, just show up with a parent and bike and we will let them have at it. Kids competing in different classes will be allowed to share bikes if need be.

This always proves to be a great time for all involved and we do encourage you to throw the bikes in the trunk, back of the truck, or strap them to the top of the car. We don't care, just get them there and we will all have a great time! Trophies sponsored by White Mountain Motorsports Park.

In addition, we have a full card of stock car racing featuring the NAPA Late Model Sportsmen, the Avery's Sweeping Tiger Sportsmen, the Beacon Resort Strictly Stocks, the Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Mini Stock Division and the Little Ceasar's Kids Truck Division. The weather is looking great for another twilight start on Saturday and we are expecting even hotter action on the racetrack. We look forward to seeing you there.

Gates open at 2pm, practice will start at 4pm, with the sizzling racing action getting under way at 6pm. See you there!!

Don't forget about the new program for the kids we have started just this year. Each week the announcer will be pulling a child's ticket. That child and parents will then be invited into the tower to watch a feature event. When that event is over the child will be brought down onto the track and will hand out the trophies to the three winning drivers. As a "Thank-You" to the child for doing it, they will be taking home a trophy of their own! This weeks winner was J.J. Boodbro who took home a beautiful multi-colored marble trophy. This is just one more way White Mountain Motorsports Park would like to thank the families that come out in support of our racing program every week. We look forward to seeing you soon!!

We are very easy to find in the heart of the White Mountains, in Woodstock, NH. We are two miles south of N. Woodstock village on route 3 and three miles north of exit 30 off Interstate 93. We are a family friendly facility with no alcohol being allowed on the grounds at any time, and the grandstands split evenly into smoking and non-smoking sections. Again, we look forward to seeing you, if not next week, then sometime over the 2011 season.