Story By: MIKE PARKS / GRANITE STATE PRO STOCK SERIES – WALPOLE, NH – The Granite State Pro Stock Series heads to one of the original tracks on the schedule as they make their first and possibly only visit to the quarter-mile bullring Friday, August 1st.
The Winchester NH oval was one of the first facilities to sign on with the then fledgling series and has been a staple ever since.
Mike O’Sullivan picked up his only win of the 2019 campaign at the tricky high banked oval and returns, hoping to turn his 2020 season around. The two time series champion scored a top five finish at the second round at Claremont but has struggled to get the finishes hes expects in his other two starts.
DJ Shaw is expected to compete this weekend at a track where the win has eluded him thus far. Shaw has had the dominant car in recent events at the Monadnock high banks but bad luck has derailed his efforts. Although the Precision JLM team has yet to file an entry, they have stated that they intend to race.
Ray Christian III leads the way in the 2020 point standings but only by fourteen points over Joey Polewarczyk. Angelo Belsito sits twenty four markers back on the heels of two straight wins. All three will take their fight to Monadnock where none of the three have ever won and Christian III is the only one to ever race there.
Rookie Competitors Casey Call and Cody Leblanc both plan to attend this event as they battle for rookie of the year honors along with Ryan Lineham. All three have posted solid finishes this year and look to continue to learn at a track that is traditionally tough on rookies. Lineham has yet to officially enter but has stated he intends to be there.
Josh King is a former winner at Monadnock and had a very successful test at the quarter mile bull ring before kicking off his season. King looks to get back to victory lane for the first time since 2017 at the track closest to his Vernon Vt shop and he’ll try to do it in a brand new race car. King has run the car twice now and hopes he has all the kinks worked out of it.
Barry Gray is a former Pro Stock champion at both the track and with the series. Gray missed the most recent event at Claremont Motorsports Park to concentrate on getting his car right for one of his best tracks. He looks to get back to a victory lane he is very familiar with.
Other entries include Kevin Folan, Mike Mitchell and and Jake Matheson. Folan and Mitchell are veteran competitors and Matheson is in his second year out of the legends car ranks. All three have raced at Monadnock previously and look for strong runs.
Post time for this event will be at 6:00pm and the GSPSS will be joined by the Monadnock Speedway weekly racing divisions.
August 15 the series heads for Beach Ridge Speedway in Scarborough Maine for a 150 lap affair. This will be the first ever visit to the coastal speedway and the first time the the traveling pro stockers have raced in the state of Maine in several years.
