reprinted from nelcar.net
Beaulieu Crosses One Off The Bucket List, Wins at NHMS
Evan Beaulieu has been going to New Hampshire Motor Speedway since he was a young kid, watching his heroes run on “The Magic Mile” and hoping that one day he would be able to take a checkered flag. After going winless at NHMS last season, Beaulieu opened up this year’s NHMS season with a big victory. Not only was this race the first of the season for the Moat Mountain NHMS series, but it was also a road course Regional Qualifier for the Nationals later this year. With each spot meaning so much to each driver, it was yet another great race on the 1.6 mile road course.
Leading the 22 car field to the green flag would be Tom Gray in car 18, ahead of Beaulieu by just one thousandths of a second in qualifying. The dominator at New Hampshire, Shaun Buffington, qualified third with Mike Alton in car 99 in fourth. At the green flag, it was Gray with a push from teammate Buffington. Gray would lead the first lap with Beaulieu and Buffington right on his tail. In turn three on lap two, Beaulieu made a move and took the lead. From that point on, it was the Beaulieu and Buffington show at the front. The two fierce competitors were in a dog fight for the rest of the race as neither would give an inch, but they showed each other a lot of respect throughout the road course. The first incident of the race was on lap six, when Tylar Braunschweig broke a rear end coming out of turn ten, but he was out of the racing groove and the race stayed green.
There were many battles across the track behind the great race for the lead, as there were at least three groups of drivers racing hard for position. With just a few laps to go, one of those battles got a bit too tight, as the 49 of Pete Cannel and the 17 of Terry Kirk made contact on the front straightaway, sending Kirk into a 360 degree turn, as the veteran kept his foot in the gas and saved the car from wrecking into the wall, and Kirk continued on.
As Beaulieu had the lead coming to the white flag, the 15 of TJ Bleau in his first Legends start, spun in turn one and that incident laid cones across the track. As the two leaders drove as deep as they could into the first corner, they had to give each other a lot of room to maneuver around the cones. Buffington would grab the lead out of turn three, but Beaulieu made a quick move to get back around, and he didn’t let up as he took the victory over Buffington. Gray would finish third, Alton was fourth and Reid Lanpher rounded out the top five.
With the win, Beaulieu leads the Moat Mountain NHMS Series after one race by three points over Buffington. Lanpher now leads the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour points, by five points over Matt Bourgoine, who finished ninth at NHMS. Due to his age however, Lanpher will not be able to compete in the next race at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. The race will be Saturday, May 5th as part of the Pro All Star Series race. The Tour will then head south to Seekonk,Massachusetts for the fourth race of the grueling season. For more info, news and how you can get into a Legends Car, visit Nelcar.net.