2014 Off to A Great Start - Race Recap!

The 2014 season is off to a great start for Hooligan Motorsports!

We began the season at Lee USA Speedway with a 10th place finish on April 13th.  The following weekend, the #8 finished 7th at Wiscasett Speedway and we finished out April with a 10th place finish at Oxford Plains Speedway.





Matt kept his momentum going for the month of May, beginning the month with a 6th place finish at Beechridge Motor Speedway.  After taking his first US Legends career heat win at Speedway 95 on May 10, Matt took home 7th place in the feature.  We took advantage of a day off from the tour on May 17 and visited the New Hampshire Motor Speedway / Granite State Legends Oval, taking home 6th place.  The NELCAR tour rounded out May with 3 races in 7 days... the #8 took home 5th at Wiscasset, 10th at Oxford and 6th at our "home track," Star Speedway!









June has approached quickly and brings about the start of the Thursday Thunder series at Beechridge, where Matt started off with an 8th place finish last week.  The NELCAR tour visited Speedway 95 for the last time in 2014 on Saturday June 14, giving Matt another 5th place finish.





We are excited for what's to come in 2014!  The #8 Hooligan Motorsports car currently sits in 3rd place overall for the NELCAR Tour and 8th place for Thursday Thunder.

This weekend brings us back "home" to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for a combined Granite State Legends & NELCAR race... hope to see YOU there!

Catching Up

Catching up on the past month in racing... in pictures!  Be sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page to keep up to date on everything!

**All photos by Nichole, Hooligan Motorsports except for the Beech Ridge shot by Jamie Williams and the last two shots by Bobby Hayden Photography



NHMS ~ 5/18/13

The Hooligan Motorsports #8 headed back to Loudon to take on the New Hampshire Motor Speedway Legends Oval on May 18.  Thanks to Chris at RPM Photography for these great shots!



NHMS ~ 4/27/13

The Hooligan Motorsports #8 was ready to make some right-hand turns as we hit the New Hampshire Motor Speedway road course on Saturday, April 27 for the Moat Mountain Smoke House & Brewing Company Legends Series.  Although NHMS is not part of the NELCAR Tour this year, we are planning to visit the speedway as often as our schedule allows.



photo by Chris Roy, RPM Photography

We hit the pits early in the morning, ready to race and armed with a boatload of Casey Jones Bones samples to hand out!


photo by Nichole, Hooligan Motorsports

Everyone changed gears and got back into the swing of road racing, after a long 6 months off.  Although a bit chilly, the spring day proved to be a great one for racing. 

photo by Chris Roy, RPM Photography

photo by Nichole, Hooligan Motorsports

Matt finished p12 in a 20 car field featuring road racers from all over New England -- and we handed out tuns of Casey Jones Bones treats to eager race dogs and their owners! 

photo by Chris Roy, RPM Photography

Look for the Hooligan #8 to be back in action at NHMS during the Father's Day weekend Loudon Classic -- and quite possibly on May 18 as well!

NHMS ~ NASCAR Invitational 9/22/12

This past weekend, the US Legends NASCAR Invitational race was held at NHMS on "Short Track Saturday," instead of the usual Sunday morning.  This made for a more energized race for the drivers and crews, as we had a lot more fans on hand to watch!  The Hooligan Motorsports #8 ran was running in the top five when a late race caution was brought out by the #39 of Nick Lascoula.  Matt ended the day in one piece and with a 6th place finish.

reprinted from nelcar.net
photos by RPM Photography

New Look, Same Result For Buffington in NHMS Invitational
 

The Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour returned to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway this past weekend as part of the Nascar Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 weekend. The Legends Cars closed out an exciting “Short Track Saturday” at the “Magic Mile.” The sun was setting but the Legends were on track for a thrilling event.

At the front of the field for the feature event was the usual suspect, Shawn Buffington in the new white 23s with Taylor Martin in the 20 on his outside. On the start, Buffington was able to get to the lead but when the field came back around to complete lap one, the 39 of Nick Lascoula and the 33 of Alan Smith made contact racing for fourth, and collected the 59 of Reid Lanpher. Lanpher went for a wild ride, barrel rolling three times before coming to a rest just before turn one. Lanpher was able to walk away from the scary incident, and once proved how safe the Legends Cars are.

After the great crew workers at NHMS cleaned up the mess in turn one, the field went back to green. Buffington once again got out to the lead while Evan Beaulieu in the 56 moved into second with Martin and Lascoula behind him. The race was running very clean until with just nine laps to go, Lascoula hit the wall off turn two, and brought out the race’s second yellow flag.

A restart with just five laps remaining had two of the best Legends Cars drivers in the northeast on the front row looking to grab a win in front of the thousands of fans on hand to watch. When the green flag waved, nothing was going to stop Buffington. At the completion of the event, he took the checkered flag, his fourth straight win on the Nascar weekends. Beaulieu would finish in second, with Martin finishing third. Dan Winter in the 81 car grabbed his best career finish with a fourth place finish after coming back from the wreck earlier in the race and Bob Weymouth in the 399 rounded out the top five.

The Legends Cars put on a great show in front of the great crowd on “Short Track Saturday” and will be back at the “Magic Mile” October 6^th and the 7^th for a double header weekend on the Road Course, which will be the conclusion of both the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour season and the Moat Mountain NHMS Series. The Tour will be in action next week as well, as they will head to Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine on Sunday, September 30^th. This will be the first event in three years for the Tour on the famous oval, and will be part of the final Pro All Stars Series North event. Racing is set to start at 1:30 on Sunday. For more news, info and how you can get into a Legends Car, visit Nelcar.net.

NHMS ~ 9/1/12

The NELCAR Legends touring series kicked off September with a race on the Legends Oval at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  Click hear for NHMS's video recap

Photos from RPM Photography - be sure to check them out and order all of your favorite shots!

NHMS ~ 7/21/12

The Amsoil NELCAR Legends took the Oval at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the second weekend in a row on July 21.

reprinted from nelcar.net
photos by RPM Photography

Gray Takes Strong Car To Win at NHMS

For the third straight weekend, the Amsoil Nelcar Legend Tour was back at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to battle on the quarter mile track in the Moat Mountain Legends Series at NHMS. After the past few weeks had been dominated by Shawn Buffington, today’s race was going to have a different outlook. It started early on as during qualifying his team mate, and the only other driver to get a win on the quarter mile not named Buffington, Tom Gray set fast lap. As qualifying concluded and the New Hampshire fans watching on, the Legends Cars were set for another thrilling event.

After his fast lap, Gray was on the pole for the first heat race with the 20 of Taylor Martin on his outside. On the start, Gray was able to get away while Martin, the 56 of Evan Beaulieu and the 59 of Reid Lanpher all raced hard for second spot. After a lot of dicing around, Lanpher got through into second. Gray would pull away from the field as the race ran clean and green. On the final lap, contact running for third between Martin and Beaulieu would shuffle the field a bit more, as Lanpher ended up second, with Martin in third.

For the second heat race, the dominator at NHMS, Shawn Buffington was on the pole with the 39 of Nick Lascoula on the outside. For the start, Buffington was able to do his traditional deal and run away with the lead. Around the halfway part of the heat race, the 99 of Mike Alton made contact with the turn two wall, ending his evening early. On the resulting restart, Buffington once again got away, and was able to take home the second heat win. The 38 of Matt Bourgoine was able to grab second, with Lascoula in third.

The 25 lap feature event was up next. Gray was on the pole with Buffington on the outside. Gray was able to get the early race lead, but Buffington wasn’t letting him go. The two were able to drive away from the battle for third place that consisted of Bourgoine, Lanpher and Lascoula. The pack stayed bunched up pretty well until about the halfway point when things would begin to spread out. It was a conveyer belt of Legend Cars going around the quarter mile and it was clean and green for all 25 laps. At the finish, it was all Tom Gray, as he was able to take home his first win of the season in the Moat Mountain Legends Series! Buffington would finish second while Lascoula finished third with Lanpher and Bourgoine rounding out the top five.

After post race tech, there was an issue with the 39 of Nick Lascoula’s car, which lead to a disqualification, moving everyone up a spot behind him. Thanks to his second place effort, Buffington was able to stretch his lead to 27 points ahead of Evan Beaulieu in the Moat Mountain Legends Series at NHMS. Beaulieu now holds a 10 point advantage over Bourgoine in the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour standings. The next race for the tour will be this Thursday, July 26^th at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, racing starts at 7PM and tickets are just $4! Then from there they are at Star Speedway two days later on Saturday, July 28^th, racing starts at 6PM! For more info, news and how you can get into a Legends Car, visit Nelcar.net.

NHMS ~ 7/15/12

The Amsoil NELCAR Legends were back in front of the NASCAR fans at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on the morning of July 15!

reprinted from nelcar.net
photos by RPM Photography

Shawn Buffington Wins Sprint Cup Pre Race Thriller!

 

 

Nascar Sprint Cup weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is always one of the most exciting weekend in all of New England. With thousands of fans packing into the Magic Mile to see the best drivers do battle on the tight oval, the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour had the chance to show their appeal to the fans as they took to the quarter mile track just before the start of the big race. 21 of the best participated in this “invite only” event, and did not disappoint the thousands of fans on hand as they put on one of the best races of the weekend.

On the pole was the favorite to win the event, the 23 of Shawn Buffington with his teammate the 18 of Tom Gray on the outside of the front row. On the start, Buffington jumped out with the lead with the 38 of Matt Bourgoine who started third right behind him. On lap three the race’s first yellow flag came out as the 49 of Pete Cannell and the 96 of Wyatt Alexander made contact, forcing Alexander into the turn one barrier. He was able to continue on after being pushed back. On the next restart, Buffington once again was able to get away while the 56 of Evan Beaulieu worked his way by Bourgoine to take the second spot. The caution came out two laps into this run as the 11 of Steve Miller went for a spin off turn one, ending his top ten run early. As the green flag waved again, Buffington and Beaulieu fought side by side into turn one, and as the field entered turn three, contact between the 20 of Taylor Martin and the 38 of Matt Bourgoine sent Bourgoine for a spin, bringing out the yellow flag again.

As the field got back into their positions for the next restart, the 59 of Reid Lanpher pulled from his fourth place run to the pit area with engine issues. On the restart, Buffington and Beaulieu once again drew even through one and two, but Buffington was able to get the edge and go to the top spot once again. Buffington, Beaulieu and the 2 of Ryan Hammar powered away from the rest of the field and were putting on a good show for the win for the fans. Buffington was able to get a gap until with two laps to go, Cannell went for a spin in turn four, bringing out a green white checker finish. On the final run, Buffington was able to hold off a last lap charge by Beaulieu to take the win! Beaulieu would finish second, with Tom Gray coming back from an early race engine issue to finish third. Ryan Hammar ran in the top three all race and finished fourth while Mike Alton in the 99 rounded out the top five.

It was another exciting Sprint Cup pre race show from the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour, with the dominator at NHMS, Shawn Buffington finding victory lane once again. Even if it was a non points race, the event was still a huge deal to a lot of the drivers as they were able to showcase their talents in front of the many fans at NHMS. The next race for the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour is this Thursday night for round six of Thursday Thunder at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. The Tour will also be back at NHMS next Saturday, July 21^st with a 5PM start time. For more news, info and how you can get into a Legends Car, visit Nelcar.net.

NHMS ~ 7/7/12

The #8 was running solid in the Top Ten for much of the race, until a faulty radio lead to the driver not hearing a request to move up one spot on a late race restart.  Instead of asking the car in front to drop back a spot or leaving the line up as is, the #8 suffered a severe penalty of being sent to the back of the pack.  We were then literally run into by another car in the back, resulting in a bent up rear bumper and a disappointing 16th place finish.

reprinted from nelcar.net
photos by RPM Photography

Buffington Shakes Off Strong Field To Win At NHMS

The Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour traveled back to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this past weekend for the fifth race of the Moat Mountain Legends Series, this time on the tight quarter mile oval. The track is one of the most difficult for all the drivers, as it is a much different discipline than any of the other tracks, with high speeds and hard braking through the sharp corners, these races always bring out the best, or the worst of the competitors. With a strong field of 24 Legends drivers, the season’s halfway point was set at NHMS.

As always at NHMS, practice times would set the field for the feature event. On the pole was the 18 of Tom Gray with the 23 of Shawn Buffington starting alongside him on the front row. On the start, Gray was able to get out to the lead over Buffington, with the 56 of Evan Beaulieu and 59 of Reid Lanpher right behind. On lap two, the car driven by Jim Karatsonas quit on him down the backstretch, bringing out the races first yellow flag. On the resulting restart, Buffington was able to work his way by Gray into the race lead, while Lanpher made a run into second with Beaulieu in third. Those four drivers were racing hard at the front of the field for a stretch of green flag racing before an incident with the 81 of Dan Winter and the 60 of Joey Parker off of turn four would slow the field down for the second time of the race with just eight laps to go. On the next restart, Buffington once again got out to the lead, while Beaulieu and Gray followed through behind him with Lanpher stuck in the outside line. After a few laps, the 11 of Steve Miller and Lanpher, both having great runs, made contact and both were sent spinning, bringing out another yellow flag. On the resulting restart, it was Buffington and Beaulieu on the front row. Buffington was able to get away and take home the victory, his third of the season at NHMS. Nick Lascoula was able to drive from the rear of the field to finish second, with Tom Gray finishing third. Beaulieu ended up fourth while Taylor Martin had a solid run, rounding out the top five.

An issue in post race technical inspection led to a disqualification for Lascoula, moving everyone behind him up the order. After the fifth race of the Moat Mountain Legends Series at NHMS, Shawn Buffington’s win was able to help him increase his points lead over Beaulieu by ten points. While it doesn’t sound like much, both Buffington and Beaulieu have been running at the front all season long, and as competitive as it’s been it is difficult to make up much ground in the points’ standings, and if either has a bad race, Tom Gray, Matt Bourgoine and Bob Weymouth are sitting right behind. Next weekend, the Moat Mountain Legends Series will continue at NHMS, with one of the biggest races for the Tour of the season, the Nascar Sprint Cup Invitational. The event will be held at 10 AM before the start of the Lenox 301 Nascar Sprint Cup Series race. With thousands of fans packing the Magic Mile for the Nascar event, the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour will be able to put on a show in front of one of the best audiences you could ask for. For more news, info and how you could get into a Legends Car, visit Nelcar.net.

NHMS ~ 6/17/12

reprinted from nelcar.net
photos by RPM Photography

 

Buffington Back On Top At 89th Loudon Classic

The Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour was back at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for one of the most insane weekends of the year, the 89th Annual Loudon Classic, otherwise known as “Bike Week.” The field has been getting tight in recent road course races, as last year’s dominating driver, Shaun Buffington, has been shut out in the two road course races thus far this season by Evan Beaulieu and Reid Lanpher. However, on this day, he knew he had a shot to win and the race did not disappoint the many fans who came out to enjoy their day at NHMS. The fifth race of the Moat Mountain Legends Series showed 22 of the best Legends Car drivers, once again doing battle on the 1.6 mile road course.

On the pole with a new track record in qualifying was defending Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour champion, Evan Beaulieu, with current point’s leader Matt Bourgoine on his outside. On the start, Beaulieu was able to get the jump into turn one with the race lead, but he had both Bourgoine and Lanpher right behind, as the top three were able to open up some distance on the rest of the field. It was all Beaulieu in the lead until about the halfway point, when Lanpher started to close in and made his move to the race lead, which allowed both Bourgoine and Buffington to catch right up to them and started a four car battle for the lead. The first yellow would come out with five laps to go, while in the battle for the lead, Lanpher went off in the downhill section of the track, along with Ryan Hammar in the 2 car having a mechanical failure in turn two.

On the restart, with just five laps to go, Beaulieu opted to restart from the outside, with Buffington running second next to him. The two went in a drag race into the first corner, but Buffington was able to get around and take the lead. The two who fought each other hard in the first road course race, were once again running one-two for the win. Beaulieu would stalk Buffington for the final laps, but coming around to the white flag, Buffington was able to open up enough distance to hold him off, as he took his first road course win of the season! Beaulieu finished second, for the sixth straight race, while Bourgoine rounded out the top three. Tom Gray in the 18 was fourth while Bob Weymouth finished fifth.

After ten races, Bourgoine still holds on to the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour points lead, but it’s tight up at the top as Beaulieu is just three points behind. In the Moat Mountain Legends Series at NHMS, Buffington was able to stretch out his points lead to four points over Beaulieu and 33 ahead of Lanpher. The next stop for the Tour is at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway on Thursday night, June 21st, for the second round of VIP Thursday Thunder, racing starts at 7 PM. Then the Tour will be back at Star Speedway on Saturday, June 23rd. Racing starts at 6 PM! For more news, info and how you can get into Legends Car racing, visit Nelcar.net.

NHMS Photos ~ 5/19/2012

NELCAR took to the Legends Oval at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first time in 2012 on Saturday.  A 23 car field took the track for two heat races, followed by a caution-filled crazy feature. The #8 Hooligan Motorsports car finished 7th in our heat race and 10th in the feature.  Special thanks to Chris at RPM Photography for these shots...

We had a special guest in our pit.... the lovable Babs, a Friends of Retrievers Rescue dog who is crashing at the Hooligan Motorsports household until she finds her FORever home!