The Amsoil NELCAR Legends tour hit the halfway point of Thursday Night Thunder at Beech Ridge on July 12. Following a great night of racing, all drivers and cars hit the track for the first of two Autograph Hours for 2012! We had a wonderful time meeting the fans up close and handed out nearly 200 hero cars, as well as Hooligan Motorsports and
FOR (Friends of Retrievers Rescue) stickers!
reprinted from nelcar.net
photos by Nichole, Hooligan Motorsports
Beaulieu Takes Win at TNT Halfway Point
The VIP Thursday Thunder Series reached it’s halfway point this Thursday as round five was upon the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour. The popular series at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough,Maine had filled the stands every week, and this weekend was no different. With the event having some extra purse to the winner thanks to night sponsor Beaulieu Construction, the teams were getting anxious to either turn their season around or solidify their spot in the championship battle. After winning a week ago, Terry Kirk had moved his way up in the points battle with a big win last week. Kirk, former champion Bob Weymouth and current runner up in points, Charlie Buxton would all have to come from the rear of the field after being the top three from a week before. The Legends field hit the track to decide who would come away with the win at the season’s halfway point.
On the pole was longtime competitor Ed Getty in his familiar 10 car, with the 87 of Massachusetts’ driver Anthony Pagliarulo on the outside. At the start, Getty would take off with the lead but some scrambling behind him saw Matt Grant in the 84 go over the left rear fender of Tylar Braunschweig, but the two would sort it out and the green flag would stay out. In second spot was the 33 of Alan Smith as he was looking on the outside to get around Getty. It wasn’t long though until the 56 of current point’s leader Evan Beaulieu worked from his 11
th starting spot to the outside, as he drew side by side with Getty and after many laps of battling hard, Beaulieu would take the lead on lap seven. Following him through was Buxton and the 38 of Matt Bourgoine. The top three in the point’s standings were in control of the field as Beaulieu had opened up a bit of a lead on Bourgoine and Buxton. The race was clean and green until the 25 of Larry Poirer went for a spin in turn two with just four laps to go, bringing out the caution flag and bunching up the field for a final start. On the start, Beaulieu was able to get the jump but Bourgoine held strong on the outside. The two drivers stayed side by side for a while, but at the finish, Beaulieu was able to edge ahead, and grab his third win of the 2012 season! Bourgoine went across the line in second, with Buxton rounding out the podium. Ryan Hammar in the 2 car finished fourth with the 88 of Steve Fox rounding out the top five.
After the event, the drivers made their way onto the front stretch for the autograph hour portion of Thursday Thunder, a staple at the season’s halfway point. The Legends Cars are always one of the most popular divisions for the fans and it showed, as the drivers were swarmed with fans throughout the hour. With the win, Beaulieu was able to increase his points lead over his teammate Charlie Buxton by 24 points and 33 over Bourgoine. This weekend the Tour is back at it, this time for the big show of the season. The Tour will be the pre race event for the Nascar Sprint Cup Series’ Lenox 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The race will take place on the quarter mile track in turns one and two and will begin at 9AM Sunday morning. For more news, info and how you can get into a Legends Car, visit
Nelcar.net.
