Donnelly Master Again on Bear Ridge Madness Night
Posted By Tj Ingerson On June 30, 2014
Categories: Bear Ridge
PHOTO: Chris Donnelly (left) celebrates his Bond Auto Parts DIRTcar Sportsman Modified 'Madness' feature win with a representative from Bond Auto Parts. (Alan Ward photo)
Pierson continues Midget dominance; Colbeth grabs Coupe win
--by T.J. Ingerson (@TJIngerson)
VMM Editor
BRADFORD -- Chris Donnelly has quickly become a sure bet on Modified Madness night at Bear Ridge Speedway.
The Piermont, N.H., driver collected his fourth straight Bond Auto Parts DIRTcar Sportsman Modified “Madness” win on Saturday night in the three-segment extra distance, extra money event.
Donnelly struck quick in the first segment as he took the lead as on the white flag lap and scored the win over Jason Gray. In a 21-car invert for the second segment, Donnelly weaved his way through traffic and finished third in the second segment. That allowed the defending track champion to enter the final segment with a total of four points, while the nearest contender to Donnelly was multi-time champion Adam Pierson, who toted a score of eight points.
In the third and final segment, Pierson quickly moved his way into contention for the win after the Bradford drive put enough cars in between himself and Donnelly to lead the overall standings through the midpoint of the third 37-lap segment. However, late race cautions allowed Donnelly to regain the distance lost and moved his way past Pierson to finish fifth in the segment and first overall with nine points.
“We did better than expected in the first (segment),” Donnelly said in victory lane. “We started 11th, which is a pretty good spot for us. We started 21st and finished third in that second segment, which was good.
“We got it dialed in real good for that last segment and just had nowhere to go, but luckily we were able to make some ground up. That gave us a nice top five for the overall.”
Derek Barker of East Thetford combined a fifth and ninth place finish with a fourth place final segment finish to post the second lowest cumulative score. Pierson finished third, one point behind Barker.
Mike Gendron of Newbury finished fourth overall with 21 points, while Fairlee’s Kevin Chaffee finished fifth overall with 23 points.
Robert Tucker, Bryan King, Josh Sunn, Jason Gray, and Derek Graham completed the top-ten in the final, overall standings.
Tim Hodge and Ryan Christian won the second and third segments, respectively.
Jason Colbeth of Newbury captured his first Wells River Chevrolet DIRTcar Sportsman Coupe feature win of the season.
Colbeth used a lap 19 restart to his advantage and worked from the third spot on the restart -- outside of row two in the “Delaware”-style restart -- to claim the lead on lap 22 of the 30-lap event.
Colbeth was followed by Corinth’s Matt Ellsworth, while Jeff Robbins, Jr., of Woodsville, N.H., finished third. Melvin Pierson, Brian Chaffee, Josh Harrington, Mitchell Forest, Louie Cadwell, Kane Pike, and Earl Maxham completed the top-ten finishers.
Adam Pierson continued his dominance in the USAC Dirt Midget Association.
Pierson started 15th in the 19-car field and only needed 10 laps to gain control of the lead. Pierson than cruised to a half-track victory. Granby, Conn., drivers Dean Christensen and Scott Holcomb completed the podium, while Joe Krawiec, Josh Sunn, Scott Viets, Tim Hodge, Mike Chaffee, Jeff Champagne, and Ray Miller completed the top-ten finishers, respectively.
Jason Giguere of Enfield, N.H., captured the win in the 20-lap Laquerre’s Sport Limited Late Model feature. Brandon Gray finished second while Derrick Stearns finished third. Mike Greene and Travis King completed the top-five finishers
Charlie Lakin of Groton won the combined 20-lap Welgarz Property Service Fast Four/KDD NAPA Hornet feature. Lakin finished ahead of Sean Perron and Hunter Garduno on the Hornet podium, while Rob Gioia of East Thetford won the Fast Four feature.
Bear Ridge Speedway returns to action on Saturday, July 5 with a visit from the Sprint Cars of New England.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- Bond Auto Parts Fourth of July Night
Bear Ridge Speedway, Bradford, Vt.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Pos.-Driver-Hometown
(# -- denotes rookie)
Bond Auto Parts Modifieds (3 x 37 laps)
1. Chris Donnelly, Piermont, N.H. -- 9 pts
2. Derek Barker, East Thetford -- 18 pts
3. Adam Pierson, Bradford -- 19 pts
4. Mike Gendron, Newbury -- 21 pts
5. Kevin Chaffee, Fairlee -- 23 pts
6. Robert Tucker, East Topsham -- 30 pts
7. Bryan King, Corinth -- 32 pts
8. Josh Sunn, White River Junction -- 35 pts
9. Jason Gray, East Thetford -- 35 pts
10. Derek Graham, Woodsville, N.H. -- 36 pts
11. Richie Simmons, Bradford -- 37 pts
12. # T.C. Forward, Lyme, N.H. -- 37 pts
13. Josh Currier, Newport -- 37 pts
14. Tim Hodge, Vershire -- 38 pts
15. Gary Siemons, Orford, N.H. -- 38 pts
16. Tim Tucker, Northfield -- 41 pts
17. Jordan Fornwalt, Bradford -- 41 pts
18. # Ryan Christian, Canaan, N.H. -- 45 pts
19. Ed Patterson, Websterville -- 49 pts
20. # D.J. Robinson, Canaan, N.H. -- 50 pts
21. Mike Dunn, North Haverhill, N.H. -- 50 pts
22. Bob Shepard, Bradford -- 51 pts
23. Adam Gage, Plainfield -- 60 pts
24. Tyler Austin, West Fairlee -- 71 pts
25. Matt Austin, West Fairlee -- 74 pts
Wells River Chevrolet DIRTcar Sportsman Coupes (30 laps)
1. Jason Colbeth, Newbury
2. Matt Ellsworth, Corinth
3. Jeff Robbins, Woodsville, N.H.
4. Melvin Pierson, Corinth
5. # Brian Chaffee, West Topsham
6. Josh Harrington, Topsham
7. # Mitchell Frost, East Corinth
8. Louie Cadwell, North Thetford
9. Kane Pike, Bradford
10. Earl Maxham, Jr., Titusville, Fla.
USAC Dirt Midget Association (25 laps)
1. Adam Pierson, Bradford
2. Dean Christensen, Granby, Conn.
3. Scott Holcomb, Granby, Conn.
4. Joe Krawiec, Bristol, Conn.
5. Josh Sunn, White River Junction
6. Scott Viets, East Granby, Conn.
7. Tim Hodge, Vershire
8. Mike Chaffee, East Corinth
9. Jeff Champagne, Westfield, Mass.
10. Ray Miller, East Granby, Conn.
Laquerre’s Sport Limited Late Models (20 laps)
1. Jason Giguere, Enfield, N.H.
2. Brandon Gray, East Thetford
3. Derrick Stearns, Piermont, N.H.
4. Mike Greene, III, North Haverhill, N.H.
5. Travis King, Corinth
Welgarz Property Service Fast Fours/KDD NAPA Hornets (20 laps)
1. Charlie Lakin, Groton -- Hornet
2. Sean Perron, Chelsea -- Hornet
3. Hunter Garduno, West Fairlee -- Hornet
4. Rob Gioia, East Thetford -- Fast Four
5. Chris LaForest, Barre -- Hornet