Sanborn Picks Up Win, Beaulieu Takes Thursday Thunder Championship
The Thursday Thunder series came to a close this past week at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. With just three points separating leader Kevin Hutchens and second place Evan Beaulieu, this was one of the closest battles for the championship that the series has ever seen. Along with the points battle, there was plenty of drivers who were looking for a win before the season ended. For the final time in 2011, the Legends took the track for what was set to be a fantastic close to the season.
For the feature, the 17 of Terry Kirk started on the pole with the 87 of Anthony Pagliarulo on his outside. Points leader Hutchens started from fourth with Beaulieu in thirteenth. At the start, Kirk took off with Hutchens right behind and the 05 of Jacob Dore running third. Kirk was holding his own on the inside keeping the field at bay while Hutchens was doing all he could on the outside to take the lead. The drivers up front were having a great battle for the lead when Hutchens and Dore made contact racing for second, sending them both in a spin and collecting the 2 of Ryan Hammar as well.
On the final restart, Kirk held the lead over new second place runner, Trevor Sanborn in the 14. The two ran each other hard side by side with Sanborn able to get his car out front. The Beech Ridge Pro Series regular was able to make his first trip to Legends victory lane as he took the win in the final night of Thursday Thunder. Kirk finished runner up, with the 88 of Steve Fox in third. Bob Weymouth finished fourth after a hard charge from his 21st starting spot. The championship fight wasn’t over until the checkered flag fell, as Hutchens drove back to the seventh spot at the end, but it wasn’t enough as Beaulieu got fifth with a handful of laps to go to secure the Thursday Thunder championship by just one point.
Another Thursday Thunder year has come to a close with another intense battle for the championship that showed two young drivers, who were just rookies in this division a few years ago, show off their talent in front of thousands of fans, and through ten races it came right down to the last lap. Another young up and coming driver was honored after Thursday’s race as well with Ryan Hammar being presented as Thursday Thunder rookie of the year. Now, the titles still left up for grabs are the overall Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour championship and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway championship, with their next event coming this Saturday, August 20th. For more news, info and how you can get into a Legends Car, visit Nelcar.net.
For the feature, the 17 of Terry Kirk started on the pole with the 87 of Anthony Pagliarulo on his outside. Points leader Hutchens started from fourth with Beaulieu in thirteenth. At the start, Kirk took off with Hutchens right behind and the 05 of Jacob Dore running third. Kirk was holding his own on the inside keeping the field at bay while Hutchens was doing all he could on the outside to take the lead. The drivers up front were having a great battle for the lead when Hutchens and Dore made contact racing for second, sending them both in a spin and collecting the 2 of Ryan Hammar as well.
On the final restart, Kirk held the lead over new second place runner, Trevor Sanborn in the 14. The two ran each other hard side by side with Sanborn able to get his car out front. The Beech Ridge Pro Series regular was able to make his first trip to Legends victory lane as he took the win in the final night of Thursday Thunder. Kirk finished runner up, with the 88 of Steve Fox in third. Bob Weymouth finished fourth after a hard charge from his 21st starting spot. The championship fight wasn’t over until the checkered flag fell, as Hutchens drove back to the seventh spot at the end, but it wasn’t enough as Beaulieu got fifth with a handful of laps to go to secure the Thursday Thunder championship by just one point.
Another Thursday Thunder year has come to a close with another intense battle for the championship that showed two young drivers, who were just rookies in this division a few years ago, show off their talent in front of thousands of fans, and through ten races it came right down to the last lap. Another young up and coming driver was honored after Thursday’s race as well with Ryan Hammar being presented as Thursday Thunder rookie of the year. Now, the titles still left up for grabs are the overall Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour championship and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway championship, with their next event coming this Saturday, August 20th. For more news, info and how you can get into a Legends Car, visit Nelcar.net.
