GROVETON, NH – Anthony Belfiore nabbed his first North East Street Stock Tour victory, after holding off Geoff Rollins for over thirty laps in the “51 for 500”, presented by Robertson’s Auto Sales, event at Speedway 51.
The drivers had special help during out-of-car introductions, bringing children from the crowd on to the track as honorary crew chiefs. The children helped strap drivers in their cars, and made sure their drivers were ready for the feature event.
Belfiore started on the pole, and jumped to the lead early, before a caution on lap 14 brought the field back together. Jim Boyle restarted on the outside of Belfiore, but Belfiore’s Lawrence Air Motive Chevrolet Monte Carlo was too strong, and pulled away, bringing Rollins, Chris Douton, Joe Arena, and Patrick Tanguay with him. The top five separated themselves from the rest of the field, until an incident between Arena and Douton brought out the second caution of the night.
Douton would find trouble again on the restart, after contact with Tyler Janovsky left both drivers with damage, and Douton slamming the wall on the front stretch. Douton would stay on the track, but would not contend for the win the rest of the night.
Rollins and Belfiore would run nose to tail for the final twelve laps, but Rollins was unable to mount a charge, and Belfiore took the win.
“I just kept it as smooth as I possibly could,” commented Belfiore. “He had to go around me if he was faster than me, but he ran me clean.”
The duo seemed glued nose to tail for multiple laps late in the race, but did not make contact. Belfiore commented on that fact, saying “We used to race Mini Stocks together at Hudson [International Speedway]. We have a lot of respect for each other. They are a great family.”
Rollins unofficially took the point lead with his second place finish. Rollins knew he couldn’t get around Belfiore cleanly, stating “The track is really hard to pass on, and the only way I could’ve gotten by him was to rough him up a little bit. I’d like to have some friends at the end of the night.”
Joe Arena fought his way back through the field to finish the podium. On his eventful night, Arena was thankful for help from Jim Boyle’s crew after suffering a flat tire in the incident with Douton, saying “We got tangled up a little bit, and ended in the infield. Thankfully for Jim Boyle’s crew, they changed the left front tire, and the car was a rocket ship after that.”
Patrick Tanguay would salvage a fourth place finish, with Boyle finishing fifth. Bryan Town took the sixth spot, with Douton crossing the line seventh. Robbie Bodwell, Tyler Janovsky, and Jay Bennett finished eighth through tenth, respectively.
The North East Street Stock Tour will be back in action at New London-Waterford Speedbowl, on August 29. For more information, visit www.nestreetstocktour.com.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
51 for 500, presented by Robertson’s Auto Sales
Speedway 51
8/14/15
Pos. (Start) Driver Hometown
1. (1) Anthony Belfiore Haverhill, MA
2. (7) Geoff Rollins Groton, MA
3. (5) Joe Arena Bristol, CT
4. (4) Patrick Tanguay Lebanon, ME
5. (3) Jim Boyle Waterford, CT
6. (2) Bryan Town Charlestown, NH
7. (6) Chris Douton Waterford, CT
8. (8) Robbie Bodwell Sanford, ME
9. (10) Tyler Janovsky Whitingham, VT
10. (9) Jay Bennett Stark, NH
Dur-A-Flex ($100 gift certificate to halfway leader) – Anthony Belfiore
Northeast Race Cars + Parts (Lucky Dog) – Bryan Town
Photo credit: Alan Plummer
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