Lee, NH – The annual running of the nine-division Oktoberfest closed out the racing season in style at the Lee USA Speedway last Sunday, with Kirk Alexander capping off his 12-win season by locking down the championship with a seventh place finish in the 100-lap True Value Modified Racing Series feature.

            Bethel, CT driver Jimmy Dolan was fast out of the gate, taking the lead when starter John Spence Jr. unfurled the green flag, and he led the thundering field of Modifieds in an impressive caution-free run for the first 60 laps of the event.

            Dolan yielded the top spot to fellow Nutmeg Stater Dale Evonsion on lap 61, and two laps later, the field got their first break in the action for a multi-car tangle in turn one.  With 21 of the original starters still in action for the restart, Evonsion once again began to pull away from the field when action resumed.

            Jimmy Kuhn of Bridgewater, MA was the man on the move, blasting quickly from seventh place on the lap 63 restart to run on Dolan’s back bumper when the caution flew again on lap 89.  Making quick work of Dolan on the ensuing restart, Kuhn immediately began to pressure Evonsion for the lead.

            With 96 laps in the record books, contact between the leaders sent Evonsion spinning to the infield, and Kuhn was sent to the rear with him, handing the lead back to Dolan for a four-lap dash to the checkers. 

With Chris Wenzel and Andy Seuss hot on his heels, Dolan flashed under the checkers to score his first career TVMRS victory, becoming the seventh different winner this year.  Former National champ Peter Daniels and Les Hinckley rounded out the top five.

In the 50-lap Pro Stock main, it was Wayne Helliwell, Jr. out front early, holding off a determined Vinnie Annarummo and Scott Watts for the first few laps.  Watts lost third to fellow Lee Late Model regular Joey Porciello on lap four, and when Annarummo dropped off the pace 11 laps in, Porciello moved up to second behind Helliwell.

But he didn’t stay there long, as a strong restart move in the tough outside groove got Porciello past Helliwell for the lead, and he was there to stay.  A restart with five laps remaining gave everybody one last shot at Porciello, but he hung on to pick up his first career Pro Stock win.  Watts came on strong on the restart to grab second at the finish, with Bill Rodgers, Helliwell and Rich Eaton wrapping up the top five.

Watts and Porciello were both doing double duty for Oktoberfest 2005, and they swapped finishing positions in the Late Model main, with Watts taking down the win, and Porciello finishing second.  After losing a motor as he took the checkers in the Pro Stocks, the win was doubly sweet for Watts.

After an intense battle with Porciello that saw them battling side-by-side for some ten laps, 2005 Lee USA Rookie of the Year Bobby Grigas took down a hard-earned third place finish, with veteran Tom Fuller and Ryan Vanasse closing out the top five.

In the Supermodified feature event, it was all Dave Sanborn, as the Tilton, NH driver led every lap on his way to victory.  After a tough final points race last month that found him hard in the first turn wall, Sanborn redeemed himself in style with a convincing win.

Joey Scanlon took some time busting out of the pack, and although he was gaining ground on Sanborn’s long lead, he ran out of time before he could move in and mount a serious challenge, settling for runner-up honors.  Andy Seuss doubled up with a third place finish in the machine normally driven by Mike Ordway, Jr, with Brandee Tree and Ken Sughrue next across the stripe.

Although he’s spent the past three seasons competing elsewhere, former three-time Street Stock champion Ron Bolduc proved that he still knows the fast way around the Lee oval, putting on a clinic as he charged through the pack to victory.

A spectacular wreck in the early laps knocked several cars out of action for the night, as Rosebud Shea clobbered the frontstretch wall, and Bobby Chartier landed on top of Bruce Bernhardt, causing extensive damage to Bernhardt’s Ford.

Aaron Fellows had all the action in his rear-view mirror, as he jumped out from the pole to open up a healthy lead in the early going.  But, by lap ten, Bolduc was up to second, and he immediately went to work on Fellows for the top spot. 

Bolduc worked the high line to perfection, and by halfway, he was at the head of the field.  Weaving his way through heavy lapped traffic over the last ten laps of the race, Bolduc was first across the line to score the popular win.  Fellows checkered second, with 2005 champion Wayne Whitten, Jr., Grant Aither and Arnie Stygles third through fifth.

In the Hobby Stock main, it looked as if Lee regulars Pete Evans and Dan Eaton were going to fight it out for the win, but with just two laps remaining, invader Adam Gray joined the action up front to make it a three-way battle.

Gray quickly ducked to the inside of Eaton to grab second, and just as quickly slid past Evans just in time to take the checkers for the win.  Evans, Eaton, Matt LeBlanc and Bill Fiske were the remainder of the top five.

The Outlaw Mini Stock feature event looked like it was going to be a runaway for a while, with Gregg Hurley setting a torrid pace that nobody else could keep up with.  The lightning-fast pace turned out to be his undoing however, as he got caught up in lapped traffic at the white flag.

Wade Worster, a former Lee champion himself, took advantage of Hurley’s traffic troubles to blast past and lead the only lap that really counted, the last one.  Behind Worster, it was Hurley, Jim Dennis, Dan Somes and Mike Walsh filling out the top five spots.

Somes bounced right back to grab the win in the Roadrunner main, which was highlighted early on by a wild spin by Myra Fowler, who lost a wheel and went whirling down the frontstretch in a shower of sparks.

Somes led the entire distance to pick up the win, with Matt Anderson next across the stripe.  Former Lee USA flagman Steve Dumas checkered third, with Chad Hancock and Dave Pratt closing out the top five finishers.

The WeekendThunder.com Mini Cups had to sit through a red flag period after a couple of cars got into the concrete, but that couldn’t stop Jake Labrecque from continuing his winning ways.  Labrecque is no stranger to victory lane, and he closed out his season in style with another visit to the winner’s circle.

Nick Ribbe mounted a stiff challenge on the last lap, but he came up about a foot short at the stripe and had to settle for second.  Stephen Hershey, Frank Perry and Matt LaChance rounded out the top five.

There are still two events remaining on the Lee USA calendar for the 2005 season, the annual Flea Market to be held at the track on November 12-13, and the awards banquet, which takes place on November 19^th at Joseph’s Faro Gardens in Hampton Falls.  For information on either event, call the track office at 978-462-4252, or log on to www.leeusaspeedway.com. 

2005 OKTOBERFEST FINISHES

STREET STOCKS FINISHES

1.  #95 - RON BOLDUC - PLAISTOW, NH

2.  #27 - AARON FELLOWS -  NEWPORT, NH

3.  #2 - WAYNE WHITTEN JR - KENNEBUNK, ME

4.  #7 – GRANT AITHER - EXETER, NH

5.  #77 - ARNOLD STYGLES - BRADFORD, VT

MINI CUP FINISHES

1.  #5 - JEFF LABRECQUE – ROCHESTER, NH

2.  #85 – NICK RIBBE – KINGSTON, MA

3.  #7 - STEPHEN HERSHEY - COLLEGEVILLE, PA

4.  #83 - FRANK PERRY - HOLBROOK, MA

5.  #41 – MATT LACHANCE – MANCHESTER, NH

MODIFIEDS FINIISHES

1.  #69 - JIMMIE DOLAN - BETHEL, CT

2.  #83 - CHRIS WENZEL - HOLYOKE, MA

3.  #70 - ANDY SEUSS - HAMPSTEAD, NH

4.  #76 - PETER DANIELS - LEBANON, NH

5.  #06 - LES HINCKLEY - WINDSOR LOCK, CT

OUTLAW MINI FINISHES

1.  #95 - WADE WORSTER - LEBANON, ME

2.  #99 - GREGG HURLEY - BEVERLY, MA

3.  #38 - JAMES DENNIS II - BENTON, ME

4.  #56 - DAN SOMES - SIDNEY, ME

5.  #05 - MICHAEL WALSH - LACONIA, NH

SUPERS FINISHES

1.  #61 - DAVE SANBORN - TILTON, NH

2.  #5 - JOEY SCALON - SALEM, NH

3.  #10 - ANDY SEUSS - HAMPSTEAD, NH

4.  #70 - BRANDY TREE - NOTTINGHAM, NH 

5.  #26 - KEN SUGHRUE - E. HAMPSTEAD, NH

ROAD RUNNER FINISHES

1.  #56 - DANMES - SIDNEY, ME

2.  #49 - MATT ANDERSON - ANDOVER, NH

3.  #04 - STEVE DUMAS - QUINCY, MA

4.  #6 - CHAD HANCOCK - WOONSOCKET, RI

5.  #27 - DAVE PRATT II - WESTMINISTER, VT

HOBBY STOCK FINISHES

1.  #97 - ADAM GRAY - BELCHERTOWN, MA

2.  #57 - PETER EVANS - BERWICK, ME

3.  #77 - DAN EATON - KINGSTON, NH

4.  #20 - MATT LEBLAC - NASHUA, NH

5.  #19 - BILL FISKE - CHESTER, NH

PRO STOCK FINISHES

1.  #31 - JOEY PORCIELLO - LEE, NH

2.  #81 - SCOTT WATTS - SEABROOK, NH

3.  #53 - BILL RODGERS - OLD ORCHARD BEACH, ME

4.  #01 - WAYNE HELLIWELL, JR - PELHAM, NH 

5.  #4 - RICH EATON - SEABROOK, NH

LATE MODELS FINIISHES

1.  #81 - SCOTT WATTS - N. HAMPTON, NH

2.  #04 - JOEY PORCIELO - LEE, NH

3.  #9 - ROBERT GRIGAS III - MARSHFIELD, MA

4.  #14 - TOM FULLER - ALLENSTOWN, NH

5.  #1 - RYAN VANASSE - WARWICK, RI