FINAL FOUR TO BE SET ON FAST FRIDAY, NASCAR SATURDAY THIS WEEKEND AT SEEKONK SPEEDWAY

SEEKONK, Mass. — The Sunoco Drive For The Cup revs up in a big way this weekend at Seekonk Speedway, as the Final Four championship contenders will be set on both Fast Friday and NASCAR Saturday. 

All nine track divisions have six drivers going into the weekend in mathematical contention to qualify for the crown and some of them already have drivers locked into the Final Four no matter what happens this weekend.

Fast Friday’s penultimate race of the season begins at 7 p.m., while NASCAR Saturday will take the green flag at 6 p.m. NASCAR Saturday’s division lineup remains the same, but the lap counts are higher this week - with five extra circuits per division on tap. Fast Friday’s will run the normal lap distances.

The Sport Truck field definitely will run through Rick Martin if they want to win the title, as the driver who has won the last three championships enters this weekend already with enough playoff points to be locked into the Final Four. Martin will be chasing the checkered flag this Saturday, looking to continue to fine-tune his setup to be able to chase the championship on September 27. While Martin earned his spot, three more are open for the taking. Dane Saritelli enters the weekend with six playoff points, while Ethan Heilborn has four and Jake Vanada, who currently holds the final spot, has three. On the outside looking in, Tim Bolger looks to add enough to his two points to find his way in. One driver will be eliminated following Saturday night, joining Mike Cavallaro, who due to injury, was not able to compete in the Sunoco Drive For The Cup. If it comes down to tiebreakers in the Sport Trucks, Heilborn is in the best position of anyone with three wins, while Vanada has two victories. 

The Late Model field saw a major shake-up last week, with some of the top contenders being collected in a serious wreck early, ending the night for multiple of them. Chase Belcher, the leader at the end of the regular season, earned the most playoff points on the night (six) and added with his bonus points, has locked himself into the Final Four before even taking the green flag this Saturday. Belcher has a four point lead over his closest contender - sophomore Andrew Gomes - who has been hot of late. Gomes, with five points, leads Mark Jenison (four) and Richie Murray (three) as the drivers currently in the Final Four. On the outside looking in, Connor Souza has two and Charlie Rose just one. Perhaps the surprise of last weekend, the early wreck ended Rose’s chances of setting himself up well for a title run. Rose and Souza both have this Saturday’s 35-lap feature to try and find his way into the championship fight. Look out for Rose, a veteran, to pull out all of his tricks. If it comes down to tiebreakers to advance, Rose is in the best spot of anyone with his three regular season wins. 

Sportsman competition went through Adam Pettey in the first race of the Sunoco Drive For The Cup, with the defending champion setting himself up strong with a feature win. Pettey held on over playoff contenders Jeremy and Colby Lambert, who also join him in the provisional Final Four. Pettey has six points, while Colby Lambert leads with seven, because of his three bonus points from the regular season. Jeremy has five. Nick Brightman currently holds the final spot with three points - enough to lead over Nick Wood (two) and former Fast Friday Pure Stock champion Doug Benoit (one). This week, the Sportsman are set for 30 laps with Wood and Benoit trying to rebound and give themselves a shot at the title. Lambert and Pettey are best suited of all if it comes down to a tiebreaker, both with four feature wins in 2025. 

The opener of the Sunoco Drive For The Cup for the Pro Stock division went to defending champion Dylan Estrella. After a tough end to the summer for his standards, Estrella opened the playoffs with a dominant win in the 40-lap main event. His six playoff points has him second, only trailing Jacob Burns, who has seven, including his three bonus points from the regular season. Eight-time champion David Darling is third in playoff points with five, while Bobby Pelland III currently holds the final spot with three points. Mark Jenison, a two-time champion, is on the outside looking in with two points, while Vinnie Arrenegado has none after failing post-race inspection last week. Arrenegado has the steepest hill to climb if he wants to chase his first Pro Stock title. The Pro Stock battle includes a 45-lap showdown this week - and to make the Final Four - it’s going to go right down to the final laps. 

Fast Friday’s Nick Pit Stop Legends Cars playoff field appears to have two of the four drivers set for the Final Four. Jacob Burns is locked in, with max playoff points in the first two weeks of the Sunoco Drive For The Cup, while Josh Parsons has 10 points, comfortably in second. If Parsons takes the green flag this Friday, he will lock himself in. That will leave two spots to be determined. Chase Silvia and Richie Helger Jr currently have enough playoff points to advance, with Silvia showing eight and Helger six. On the outside looking in, Ryan Vanasse Jr is two back, with four points, and Brenden LaBelle has just two points. Both Vanasse and LaBelle will have some work to do this week - with non-playoff contenders like Mason Tessier and recent winner Isaiah Newcomb looking to spoil the party in Friday’s 25-lap feature.

Pure Stock competition in the first two weeks of the Sunoco Drive For the Cup went through defending champion Brent Robidoux. With two max point nights, including both feature wins, Robidoux has 15 playoff points and is locked into the Final Four. Robidoux leads over Ethan Souza, who had two straight nights of second in the playoff group, totaling 10 points. Souza will lock-in when he takes the green on Friday night. Matt Talbot and Mike Henriques are currently tied for the final playoff spot with seven points each. If they have a solid race this week, it will be rather difficult for someone to catch them. Former champion Jared Cordeira has four points and Zachary Keith, a Rookie of the Year contender, has two. In the race for the Pure Stock Rookie of the Year, Zachary Keith leads by 16 points over Crystal Murray. Non-playoff drivers Justin Menard, Peter Bleau and others will also look to capture the checkered flag in this Friday’s 25-lap main event. 

The Seekonk Grand Prix Bandolero Outlaw field includes one driver already locked into the Final Four. Allyha DeSomma earned five and four points in the first two races of the Sunoco Drive For The Cup, and added in with her three regular season bonus points,  DeSomma is locked in. Ryder Aguiar, Mason Silva and Vincent Sarro also appear well on their way to making the big dance, all tied with nine playoff points. Jordan Duquette (four) is the only driver that could mathematically make some noise this week and find his way in, but he is going to need some major trouble for someone currently above the cutline. David Bernier, a former Bandit champion, missed last week and has already been eliminated from championship contention for 2025. 

In the Bandolero Bandits, the race for the Final Four is still wide open. Landon Solomito put together two strong weeks in the openers of the Sunoco Drive For the Cup, and currently leads all drivers with 11 playoff points. Jace Chaber, last week’s winner, has 10, while Carl Satterlund Jr has nine in third. Satterlund had a tough wreck last week, but left with still a solid amount of playoff points, due to his three bonus from leading the regular season. Satterlund leads all drivers at Seekonk Speedway with seven second-place finishes and no feature wins - not a category he wants to lead at the end of the year. He wants the checkered flag. Landon Heim and Brooke Meyer are currently tied for the final playoff spot with six points, but Heim gets the edge due to Seekonk’s normal tiebreaker rules, with more feature wins in 2025, two to none for Meyer. For Meyer and Elias Dib, who has three points, it will take some work to find their way into the Final Four this Friday night in the 15-lap main event.

Sport 4 competition has three spots left to be decided in the Final Four. Richie Johnson has 13 points and the regular season champion is locked into the Final Four. Daniel Hayes and Arthur Meack have 10 points each, comfortable over their competition and looking well on their way to racing for the championship. Right now, Samantha Sleboda and Jacob Budzyna are tied for the final spot with five playoff points each. Budzyna currently has the edge in playoff points via the tiebreaker. Seekonk’s tiebreaker rules give the driver with the most wins the spot, but they both have one. They also both have one second-place finish, leaving it to third-place runs - where Budzyna has two and Sleboda one. Since they can’t tie following this Friday’s event, as long as the race takes the green flag, they will be fighting each other for what looks like the final spot, unless someone ahead of them has trouble. Sleboda has rebounded from missing the first two races of the year to have a shot at the crown. 

Seekonk Speedway’s penultimate racing weekend of the season takes place on Friday, September 19 and Saturday, September 20. The Final Four will be set for the Sunoco Drive For The Cup for all nine track divisions, starting on Fast Friday and also including NASCAR Saturday. For more information on Seekonk Speedway, visit SeekonkSpeedway.com and follow the track on social media for the latest news and information. 

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