St. Johnsbury’s Kasey Beattie Goes Big on Late Model Double Features

Special To The Eagle Times
N. Woodstock, N.H. —Win streaks ended and twin-features lived up to the billing Saturday at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H.

The schedule started off with a pair of rain-out additions from the Midseason Championships two weeks prior. The Fisher Auto Parts Flying Tigers took center stage with John Donahue overtaking Joey Laquerre for the lead on lap nine after a melee start. With Donahue stretching his lead, Laquerre and point leader Brandon Gray got physical over the second position as Mike MacAskill got the best of both to take over second. In the final circuits, Gray would power back up past MacAskill as John Donahue took the win to break Gray’s win-streak on the season and set up for their second feature. Mike MacAskill would rejoin White Mountain victory lane with his third-place effort.

Equally as important for later developments was the double points make-up feature for the Foley Oil & Propane Late Models. It was a Patten front row as both Mark and Pat got physical with each other from the start, playing games and banging doors. While Mark held the lead for a while, point leader Kasey Beattie took over the helm just before the halfway point. The first and only caution flag flew on lap 47 for Matt Anderson’s spin into the infield to set up a perfect side-by-side restart between Mark Patten and Beattie. In a physical battle, Beattie would take the win by a bumper cover at the line. After fighting words were exchanged in victory lane, Mark Patten would later be disqualified in post-race inspection for a chassis infraction giving rookie Kyle Goodbout his first runner-up finish and defending champion Quinny Welch third.

A visit from the New England Pro-4 Modifieds broke up the drama, but trouble struck fast as point-leader Dan Meservey Jr. came to a screeching halt in turn one, hooked to Rob Richardi’s nerf-bars. With the field back under green with Brandon LaVoie at the front, Caleb Cashman was all over his bumper giving the perfect distraction to allow Brett Meservey to steal the lead on lap 13. A second caution would flash to life with Justin Faford’s expired engine dumping oil across turns three and four. A final green-white-checker restart gave Brett one final chance to overtake Doug Meservey and beat him he did, just 0.098-seconds at the line. Brandon LaVoie kept it clean and green to round out the podium in third.

In the Wayne’s Market Dwarf Car race, a host of new drivers invaded the division as sub-drivers for the point chasers. With Keith Normand taking over the Chad Dufour ride, Colby Bourgeois back in the Jason Wyman machine and Luke Shannon, the elder, taking over his son’s car for the night, regulars Jeff Ainsworth and Dave Gyger seemed a rarity in the race. Stephen Donahue also joined the fun, taking the Dwarf Car wheel for the first time in his career and winning the first 20-lap segment over Ainsworth and Shannon.

In the second segment, former near-championship standout Bourgeois tangled with new-blood Daniel Brofman to call the one and only caution for the night. Back under green, Donahue worked the outside lane above Gyger and Shannon, using consistency to maintain position with Bourgeois joining in the battle. In the end, Donahue would take second in the second segment by just 0.002-seconds to claim the win with a combined 3-point total. Stephen Donahue would take his first Dwarf Car win in his first start with Dave Gyger and Luke Shannon second and third.

The Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Stock Minis saw a pair of young-guns lead the pack until lap two as Jacob Ailes and Pat Switser tangled at the line to create a pile-up behind them. Under the restart, Jack Hayes and Donnie Baumgardner led the pack with top rookie McKenna Merchant confidently running the outside groove to gain on the leaders. As Donnie was stretching his lead, Thunder Road invader Nate Brien ran hard into the turn four tire-wall to call out the second and final caution. Baumgardner led the restart over Kristian Switser with the two finishing nose-to-tail at the line with Jack Hayes in tow to round out the podium.

A double-shot of four-cylinder racing saw the $1,000-to-win Ammonoosuc Asphalt Mini Late Model Special take the field with Kevin Boucher and defending champion Nick Anderson leading the pack. Unfortunately, Boucher began dropping back from the pole, allowing Cody LeBlanc the chance to duke it out with Anderson. While LeBlanc got around Anderson, the Oxford, Massachusetts-native stayed right with him. The first yellow slowed the field on lap 25 for the spinning Eric Banks in turn four allowing a hard-charging Jerrod Soucy to restart on the tail of the leaders in third.

What started out as a godsend, turned sour fast as the motor exploded under Soucy’s hood, sending fluid across turn four and ending his strong run. Anderson took the outside jump on LeBlanc at the line before a melee ensued in turn one with Anderson going around and collecting Colton Hull and Dustin Jackson. The final restart saw LeBlanc up against Garrett LaBounty with Desmond Skillings and Brett Jackson hoping for the best in the second row. Cody LeBlanc would nab the $1,000 win at the line over LaBounty with Skillings rounding out the podium in third.

Back for their second feature of the night, David Baron and Frank Sweeney led the Fisher Auto Parts Flying Tigers at the line. An absolutely wild field behind them, all seemingly out for the win, bobbed and weaved from corner to corner with John Donahue taking it three wide from his ninth-place start to try to make it two-for-two. Donahue took over for Sweeney out front with Matt Potter, Brandon Gray and Colin Cornell nose-to-tail behind him. With Donahue and Gray getting physical at the head, Potter and Cornell sat in the cat-bird seat as the final caution flew on lap 32 for Joey Laquerre and Luke Peters’ spin and stop. With a three-lap dash ahead of them, Donahue and Gray got physical and hooked each other in turn two allowing Matt Potter to rocket out the outside and steal the lead. Matt Potter would take the ecstatic win over Donahue and Gray as they exchanged words following the desperate battle they played out on the track.

The Foley Oil & Propane Late Models also returned to wrap-up the night’s card of racing with Oren Remick and Pat Patten starting off the event. Patten looked to have a career day as he held a strong half-track lead over the pack while point leaders Kasey Beattie, Quinny Welch and Stacy Cahoon methodically made their way up through the pack of invaders. The final caution for a spinning Kyle Goodbout on the frontstretch set up a final 10-lap dash to the finish. Beattie would sneak under Patten on lap 42 to lead as the former leader slid back quickly on the outside. Kasey Beattie would take the win and sweep the Late Model double features, this time with Quinny Welch and Stacy Cahoon on the podium.

Thunder returns to the Mountains on Saturday. Midseason Championships make-up double features return, this time for the ultra-competitive Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Stock Minis. The Wall’s Ford Platinum Late Model Series returns for 100 laps of Foley Oil & Propane Late Model action in round 3 as the last test and tune before the American-Canadian Tour returns for the sixth annual Milton CAT Midsummer Classic 250 on Aug. 5. Saturday with also include the $500 to win Matt Clay Memorial for the Ammonoosuc Asphalt Mini Late Models with $100 bonuses for the top-10 finishers plus Fisher Auto Parts Flying Tigers and the Dads 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Division!

For more information, contact the White Mountain Motorsports Park offices at 802-244-6963 or visit www.whitemountainmotorsports.com.