reprinted from http://www.nelcar.net/
Bourgoine Dominates For First Win At Unity
As the season heads into its final run to decide the champion, the Amsoil Nelcar Legends tour was back at Unity Raceway this past weekend for another thrilling event. As many of the top drivers in the series were set to start from the rear of the field, others who have yet to win were running out of time to do so, and tonight was a perfect opportunity to shine in the Unity lights. With 14 Legends Cars taking to the rough and tough track, the fans were treated to another great race.
For the first heat race, it was the 2 of Ryan Hammar on the pole with the 10 of Ed Getty to his outside. On the start, Getty used the preferred high line to his advantage as he grabbed from Hammar. As Getty pulled away, the 27 of Kevin Hutchens was on a march to the front and he took second from Hammar with just a handful of laps to go. He got to the back bumper of Getty and made a bid for the lead with one to go, but it wasn’t enough as Getty held on and took the first heat victory. Hutchens was second at the line with Hammar rounding out the top three.
In the second heat race, the 33 of Alan Smith was on the pole with the 38 of Matt Bourgoine on the outside. Once again the outside groove was the place to be, as Bourgoine drove to the lead with the 56 of Evan Beaulieu right behind. Bourgoine was able to drive away with the second heat win as Beaulieu finished second with the 30 of Ed Field in third.
As the sun set over the 3/8th mile track, the field took to the track for their feature event. It was an all rookie front row with the 81 of Dan Winter starting on pole with Ryan Hammar on his outside. As the field went green, Hammar got the early lead, but Bourgoine came from his fifth starting spot to take the lead early as he began to pull away from the field. As he was pulling away, Hutchens lead Beaulieu, Field and the 399 of Bob Weymouth on their way up through the field from the rear. When they got into the top five the first caution fell around the half way point for a solo spin from the 59 of Reid Lanpher in turn four.
When the field got back to racing, Bourgoine got just enough of a jump on Hutchens to clear him going into turn one and took the outside groove. It was a spectacular race up front as Bourgoine tried to hold off both Hutchens and Field as Weymouth and Beaulieu sat behind ready to pounce on a mistake from the top three. As Hutchens worked the bottom groove, Bourgoine was able to use the outside line and fend off the challenges, as he took the checkered flag for the first time in his Legends Car career. Hutchens made him earn it and wound up second, with Field in third, Weymouth fourth and Beaulieu in fifth. Bourgoine’s first victory comes after finishing right behind the drivers he was racing with tonight many times at Unity, as he had been so close to victory lane, making his first win just that much more special.
The points race is very tight with as the season is now in its closing stages and there are not many opportunities left to come out and see the best racing in New England with the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour. The next stop for the tour will be at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway on Thursday, August 11th. Hutchens and Beaulieu are locked in a heated point’s battle for the Thursday Thunder championship and with five points separating them with two races left, it is set to go right down to the final lap to decide the champion. For more news, info and how you can get into the fun atmosphere of Legends racing, visit Nelcar.net.
