small HOME.gif (773 bytes)results.gif (930 bytes)

NEALS Races 4 & 5 - Unity Raceway - 6/12-13

3rd and 4th place finishes move Katie into 2nd in the NEALS points standings with a count of 221, trailing Dave Sullivan by just 22 points.

Photos from Sunday's Action at Unity:

Heat >

Feature >
Sunday, June 13 -  4th Place

Kyle Coolidge recovered from a DQ Saturday at Unity Raceway to win Sunday night’s feature prior to the DNK Select Used Cars 250. A lap 1 spin in front of Coolidge saw three cars go to the rear and Coolidge quickly moved to second place by lap 2. Pole sitter Tom Abele from Norwich, CT set a blistering pace and Coolidge set out in hot pursuit.

Points leader Dave Sullivan jumped from his tenth place starting position to fourth by lap 3 and passed Kraig Coffin form Uxbridge MA on lap 7 to move to third. By this time, Abele and Coolidge had gained a large lead over the rest of the field. On lap 12 Coolidge moved inside Abele as they entered turn 3 and took over first place.

Sullivan ran the wheels off his 17 car trying to catch the 2 DNK Sponsored cars of Abele and Coolidge, but fell short is his attempt to win 2 straight features and settled for third, giving Sullivan five straight top three finished in as many attempts. Meanwhile, Katie Hagar from Damariscotta, Maine had her 14 car working well and slid into fouth where she ended up at the checkered.

Sports agent Charlie Clark had arranged a contract with MMR Motorsports to put two of his brothers behind the wheels of Legacy cars for this event. The arrangement appears to be a very good move for both parties. The situation kept Charlie out of the drivers seat and the cars survived the night without damage, contrary to the situation on Saturday when Charlie drove. John Clark put on a great show in the MMR Motorsports #1 car and from the results, anyone can see the former ProStock Star has not lost his touch. John managed a very impressive fifth place finish. Brother Richard seemed more focused on passing cars than where he finished. In true Clark style, Richard sat in the outside groove and passed car after car. His first ride in an Allison Car looked like he’d been doing it for years. After Richard would pass four or five cars, he would burn a doughnut going down the backstretch and let them all go back by so he could pass them again.

Ron Bryant of Livermore Maine has been knocking on the door for his first feature win. Unfortunately this would not be his night as a last minute gear change proved to be a bad move. Bryant ended up 6th with Kraig Coffin in 7th. Bart Hathorne of New Gloucester Maine, Stormin Norman Sears of Manchester, CT and Barry Orleans of Wrentham, MA rounded out the top ten.

The 10 lap heat race was won by Abele. He was followed across the finish line by Bryant, Coolidge, Hathorne and Hagar.

Saturday, June 12 - 3rd Place

The New England Allison Legacy Series did double duty at Unity Raceway in Unity, Maine this past weekend. Unity was hosting the DNK Select Used Cars 250 over the weekend and the Allison Series was running double features on Saturday and Sunday night. If not for a rules infraction following the feature race on Saturday night, Kyle Coolidge would have walked away with his fourth straight victory in that series. Technical Director, Mark Bogue, declared Coolidge out of stock following his feature win on Saturday night. Bogue explained that the rule book clearly points to where lead can be placed on the chassis and Coolidge had placed some lead weight in a location that clearly violated that rule.

The old "Full Moon" rule seemed to be in effect for the Legacy thirty lap feature, which saw multiple spins and crashes resulting in a total of eight yellow flags. Tom Abele Jr., out of Norwich, CT, led the field to the green flag. Lap 1 saw Charlie Clark of DNK Select Used Cars spin the #1 car coming out of turn 4. The off track skirmish punctured the oil pan and Clark managed to oil down the track which created a very slick racetrack. The next lap saw a crash that involved the #3 car of Kraig Coffin and Norman Sears. Meanwhile, Coolidge quickly moved up from his seventh place starting position. On lap 5 Coolidge passed Barry Orleans for second place while Abele continued to lead the race. A lap 7 yellow was thrown for a spinning Katie Hagar from Damariscotta, Maine that also involved the 51 car of Bart Hathorne and 33 car of Ron Bryant. On lap 10 Coolidge passed Abele for the lead while positions were quickly changing behind him. A lap 11 yellow was thrown for the 3 car of Kraig Coffin, which also involved point leader Dave Sullivan. By lap 15, Bryant had worked his way from the back of the pack into third place and Sullivan had recovered and sat in fifth.

The field continued to swap positions and a couple more yellows were thrown for spinning cars. Abele fell slightly off the pace and Bryant quickly moved into second place to pressure Coolidge. Orleans was running one of his best races in a Legacy car and put pressure on Bryant while he had Sullivan putting the pressure on him. With five laps to go, Sullivan moved to the outside to pass Orleans and set himself up to put the pressure on Bryant. With three laps to go, Bryant spun and the order became Coolidge, Sullivan and Coffin at the finish. With the DQ, Sullivan won his first Legacy race. A very young and impressive Coffin ended up second and Hagar wound up third followed by Hathorne. Bryant rounded out the top 5.

First time driver Mike Whittier, from the Coolidge pit crew drove the #8 car to sixth place, while Orleans settled for seventh. Abele, Sears and Clark completed the top 10.

 

line 430.gif (2835 bytes)

small HOME.gif (773 bytes)