SEEKONK, Mass. — It’s been a good season to be a Vanasse in the Seekonk Grand Prix Bandolero Outlaw division at Seekonk Speedway in 2023. Friday night, Collin Vanasse drove his No. 78 to his second win of the season in the 15-lap feature, doing it in rather dominating fashion. Through the first eight events, the Vanasse family has won all but one of the feature events.


Ben Moribito finished second, continuing to show speed in his ride, while Ryan Vanasse Jr. came back from mid-race trouble to finish third. Bryson Robidoux and Andrew Gomes followed in fourth and fifth at the finish.


Zachary Keith, Dylan Calabro, RJ Murphy, Brody Wakefield and Mikey LeFort III finished off the top-10.


The Seekonk Grand Prix Bandolero Outlaws will return to the track on Friday, August 4 for another 15-lap feature. For more information on Seekonk Speedway, visit SeekonkSpeedway.com and follow the track on social media for the latest news and updates.

SEEKONK, Mass. — Entering Friday night, the 2023 season had already been everything Jarrod Freitas could have imagined, with two feature wins already to his credit. After using the outside lane to rocket to the front once again, Freitas is now a three-time winner in the Sport 4's. He used the top groove to pass Richie Johnson for the lead, officially taking the top spot on lap 20, and didn’t look back. 



Freitas is showing himself to be the one of the favorites in the division as the summer continues to heat up. Justin Leduc followed up his first career win by finishing second, while Johnson finished on the podium in third. Crystal Murray followed in fourth and Mikey LeFort finished off the top-five.


Henry Lavallee, Taylor Bowser, Christine Cavallaro, Daniel Hayes and Joseph Mello rounded out the top-10.


The Sport 4’s will return to the track on Friday, August 4 for another 25-lap feature. For more information on Seekonk Speedway, visit SeekonkSpeedway.com and follow the track on social media for the latest news and updates.

SEEKONK, Mass. — Isaiah Newcomb seems to have figured out the Nick’s Pit Stop Legends at Seekonk Speedway the last few weeks. Friday, in the second round of the Everett’s Auto Parts Triple Crown, Newcomb jumped out to the lead on lap 24 and held off all challengers in the final six laps to win the 30-lap feature. The win was the second of the season for the driver of the No. 22, but it didn’t come easy.


Brenden LaBelle crossed the line second, charging his way through the field in the final laps. Nicholaus Bulkeley followed up his first career win with a solid third-place finish in the No. 27.


Behind them, Josh Parsons and Jacob “Rowdy” Burns finished the official top-five. Mason Tessier finished sixth, followed by Richie Helger Jr., Jase Mongeon, Kevin Davis and Ethan Avellar. 


The Nick’s Pit Stop Legends Cars will return to the track on Friday, August 4 for another 25-lap feature. For more information on Seekonk Speedway, visit SeekonkSpeedway.com and follow the track on social media for the latest news and updates.

SEEKONK, Mass. — Sam Macedo had a tough task for the final few laps of Friday’s Seekonk Grand Prix Bandolero Bandit feature. Even though he jumped out front right away and led the entire 15-lap race, he had Nick Uhrig Jr. breathing down his back bumper for just about all of it. Uhrig tried everything he could to get around the No. 16, but in the end, it just wasn’t enough.



Macedo claimed his third victory of the season in Seekonk’s most youth division, holding off Uhrig by a small margin for the win in his green No. 16. Parker Davis finished third after a clean battle to the finish. Mason Silva was fourth, with Mike Hanafin rounding out the top-five.


Behind them, Luka Dib finished sixth, with Jace Chaber, Carl Satterlund Jr., Ryder Aguiar, Alya Martin and David Bernier completing the field.


The Seekonk Grand Prix Bandolero Bandits will return to the track on Friday, August 4 for another 15-lap feature. For more information on Seekonk Speedway, visit SeekonkSpeedway.com and follow the track on social media for the latest news and updates.

SEEKONK, Mass. — For the fourth time this season, Scott Cestodio was carrying the checkered flag in the Helger’s South Coast Power Equipment Pure Stocks on Friday night at Seekonk Speedway. Cestodio took advantage of leaders Nick Brightman and Ed Gould getting together to grab the lead in the middle of the race, then held off a hard charge from Greg Perry to take the win in the No. 15.


Perry posted his best finish of the 2023 season, as the former champion struggled to start the year, but seems to be coming on lately. Former winner Ethan Souza followed in third, followed by Jared Cordeira and Danny Massa, who finished off the top-five.


Tim Ouellette, Nick Brightman, Josh Badach, Don Courtemanche and Michael Marcou rounded out the top-10.


The Helger’s South Coast Power Equipment Pure Stocks will return to the track on Friday, August 4 for another 25-lap feature. For more information on Seekonk Speedway, visit SeekonkSpeedway.com and follow the track on social media for the latest news and updates.

SEEKONK, Mass. — Due to a forecast for thunderstorms throughout Saturday afternoon, Seekonk Speedway and Pro All Star Series (PASS) officials have agreed to cancel the Bay State Classic originally slated for Saturday, July 29. The cancellation of the PASS 150 also includes the cancellation of the entire NASCAR card including the Sport Trucks, Sportsman and Late Models. 


Unfortunately, no new date will be set for the event for the 2023 season. Due to scheduling conflicts for both Seekonk Speedway and the Pro All Star Series, both Seekonk and PASS have decided there is no open date that will work for 2023. PASS is heading towards a major event, their annual Oxford 250, and Seekonk has a packed schedule planned for the rest of the season. The track looks forward to having PASS back in 2024.
 
“We wanted to make sure we made the call in enough time to prevent the PASS teams and their dedicated fans from starting their travels to Massachusetts,” Ed St. Germain, Director of Business Development for Seekonk Speedway, said. “We understand the weather has been frustrating during the 2023 season and it’s certainly been a bummer for the fans, teams and staff of Seekonk Speedway. We look forward to seeing PASS back for the Bay State Classic in 2024 and our NASCAR teams back on the track on August 12, one week after the Midsummer Thrill Show on August 5.”


Fast Friday racing for Friday, July 28 remains as scheduled.


For more information on Seekonk Speedway, including to purchase tickets for all remaining 2023 events, fans are encouraged to visit SeekonkSpeedway.com and also follow the track on social media for the latest news and updates.

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The month of July concludes this weekend at Seekonk Speedway with both Fast Friday and NASCAR Saturday back on the track. 


The NASCAR divisions battle is on towards the Sunoco Drive For The Cup in September, with the top-eight drivers in each division at the end of August set to battle for the championship in September. 


Let’s take a look at the current standings with who is close to being in, or out, heading into the end of July.

PRO STOCKS


The Pro Stocks only have three scheduled events left before the playoffs, and all of them are in August. The Pro All Star Series will be in town this Saturday, July 29, giving the Pro Stocks the night off. That means only three more times to get inside the top-eight if you’re out right now.


Dylan Estrella and David Darling lead the standings, with Mike Brightman not far behind. The big question here is will Darling run anymore races? He was only planning a part-time schedule for extra-distance events. Darling likely will be back for the Triple Crown finale on August 12 to chase that title, but will he come back on August 19 and August 26 for regular events? If he doesn’t, that will shake things up, as he likely would fall out of the top-eight. Or does his current 50-point gap feel comfortable? Tough one to say right now!


Defending champion Mark Jenison is fourth, with Rick Martin fifth and Bobby Pelland only one point behind him in sixth. Dick Benoit is seventh, 14 points ahead of Tom Scully Jr., who holds the final spot right now.


It’s Rookie contender Mike Rotondo the first driver out by 13 points in ninth and Kevin Casper behind by 33 points. The big losers last week were Kenny Spencer and Colbey Fournier, who sit 13th and 15th now after missing the race due to damages from the race prior. Even if they come back for the next points race in August, they are going to have trouble getting back in the top-eight with not many races left to go.


The story here is going to be whether or not Darling runs the two races at the end of August — and even if he doesn’t — can someone knock him out?
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SPORTSMAN


Off his recent win, Adam Pettey is comfortably at the top of the Sportsman standings. He’s ahead of former champions Chad Baxter and Steve Axon, who also seem comfortable. Colby Lambert and defending champion Craig Pianka are fourth and fifth. Barring trouble, these five will advance to the playoffs.


Randy Moretti is sixth with one win, and is ahead of the final spot by 28 points. Ryan Lineham is seventh, but only three points up on Don Perry for the final spot. Jimmy “Pepe “Silvia is first driver out, 17 points back with Tyler Almeida 21 points out and Ed Perry 23 out. As of now, it looks like it might be a race between 11 drivers for eight spots.


Buckle up, one of the most exciting divisions in New England is sure to make this one tight!

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As the month of July comes to a close this weekend at Seekonk Speedway, the second annual Sunoco Drive For The Cup is coming up in September. Most divisions at the track have either four or five races remaining before their fields will be set with who will be eligible for the championship heading into September.

This week and every week leading into the playoffs, we will profile the playoff battles in all divisions as the racing gets set to roll.


Let’s start with Fast Friday heading into their show on July 28th at 7PM.

SPORT 4’S


It may be a bit of a surprise to some, but Jarrod Freitas leads the Sport 4 standings heading into the end of July. He’s ahead of Henry Lavallee, defending champion Crystal Murray, Richie Johnson and Taylor Bowser for the top-five spots. Daniel Hayes and Christine Cavallaro are sixth and seventh, but Cavallaro holds a 26-point lead over the cut spot.


Remember, in all divisions except Bandolero’s, the top-eight will advance. Right now, after missing the race last week due to mechanical troubles, former champion Mikey LeFort holds the eighth and final spot by 2 points over Tyler Duhancik.


This is significant because leading into the season, LeFort and Duhancik would have been two drivers that many would have had on their bingo card to race for the the title. Like LeFort, Duhancik had troubles and wasn’t able to run the race last week.


So, as it sits right now with five races still to go, the two drivers in trouble could be Hayes and Cavallaro, with LeFort and Duhancik going to be going full force trying to cement their spot.
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SEEKONK, Mass. — As one of the staple events on the Seekonk Speedway schedule each year, the Pro All Star Series is coming to town this Saturday night, July 29 for another running of the Bay State Classic. The $10,000 to win special event will pin some of Seekonk’s top NASCAR Advance Auto Parts regular Pro Stock drivers against some of the best in the Northeast region for 150 laps and a big prize on the line. The race moves from Wednesday in previous years to the headliner of a Saturday night card this time.



And it’s only one of nine divisions on track this weekend at the Action Track of the East.


PASS contenders like former Seekonk Late Model champion and defending PASS North champion Ryan Kuhn, multiple-time champion Johnny Clark, Gabe Brown, Max Cookson, Trevor Sanborn and DJ Shaw are ready to come to the track. They will be battling against Seekonk regulars and top names like eight-time track champion David Darling, former Late Model champion Vinnie Arrenegado, former Pro Stock champion Angelo Belsito, former Late Model champion and Pro Stock winner Bobby Pelland and more. The main event will conclude not only a full Saturday of racing, but a full weekend of racing as Fast Friday is also on the track on Friday night.


Fast Friday action includes the Seekonk Grand Prix Bandolero Bandits and Outlaws, the Sport 4’s, Helger’s Pure Stocks and the Nick’s Pit Stop Legends, all beginning at 7 p.m. The Saturday night card, on top of PASS, also includes three NASCAR classes - the Late Models, Helger’s Sportsman and Chaz Auto Body Sport Trucks. 


As the Sunoco Drive For The Cup in September draws closer on both Friday and Saturday, drivers are looking to qualify for the playoffs for their shot at the championship.


NASCAR Saturday’s Sportsman class victory went to Adam Pettey last week, as he broke the steak of not winning to get the No. 57 to the top. He was chased to the line by Ryan Lineham and Steve Axon, two other names we have seen on the podium often in 2023. Will former champion Chad Baxter or defending champion Craig Pianka get the 25-lap win this week? 


In the Late Models, Jacob “Rowdy” Burns found redemption last week, rocketing to the front and picking up the win in the No. 30. He was chased across by Vinnie Arrenegado and Luke LeBrun — two other season winners. As the battle for the Sunoco Drive For the Cup inches closer, the race for the final playoff spot in the Late Models is heating up even more. They will be back on track Saturday night for another 30-lap race.


In the Sport Trucks, Rick Martin may have won last weekend, but it was only his first of the year for the defending champion. Will winning one race open the flood gates to more? Or can Mike Cavallaro, Brittany Campbell, Jake Vanada or someone else win another on their 2023 season? Can someone break into Victory lane for the first time this year in their 25-lap feature? All answers are coming up on Saturday at 6PM.


Fast Friday’s racing has been hot since day one and the Bandolero divisions continue to impress Seekonk fans. Ryan Vanasse Jr. has five wins in seven races in the Outlaws, while the Bandit division has seen a handful of different winners, including Sam Macedo, Mike Hanafin, Parker Davis and Nick Uhrig Jr. Seekonk’s youth racing continues to thrive in this class. 


The Sport 4 race last week went to Justin Leduc for the first time in his career. He’s going to try to make it back-to-back, but it won’t be easy with two-time winners Jarrod Freitas and Mikey LeFort, along with defending champion Crystal Murray, Richie Johnson, Henry Lavallee and others going for the checkered themselves in the 25-lap feature.


Round two of the Everett’s Auto Parts Triple Crown Series is on tap for the Nick’s Pit Stop Legends Cars, set for 30 laps. After Isaiah Newcomb won a rather clean and green feature last week, the race to the finish was for second with three different drivers. Is former Seekonk Bandolero champion Richie Helger Jr. heading for his first career win in the Legends this week after three straight top-five finishes? Can Burns get back to the top? Someone else?

The Helger’s Pure Stocks will also be back on track after Mike Henriques broke into Victory Lane last week to mark the fifth different winner so far this season.


Fast Friday tickets are $10 in advance online at SeekonkSpeedway.com, or $13 at the gate on race day. NASCAR Saturday PASS racing tickets are $25 in advance online or $28 on race day for adults, while children ages 6-12 are $12 in advance and kids five and under and parking are free.


Don’t miss racing on the final weekend in July as the month of August draws near at Seekonk Speedway.


For more information on Seekonk Speedway and to purchase tickets for Saturday’s racing action, fans are encouraged to visit SeekonkSpeedway.com and follow the track on social media for the latest news and updates.

SEEKONK, Mass. — It’s hard to believe Saturday night was defending Chaz Auto Body Sport Truck champion Rick Martin’s first win of the 2023 season at Seekonk Speedway. Martin took advantage when two leaders got together in front of him in the final laps to take the lead, then held off Mike Cavallaro to score his first victory of the season in a wild 25-lap feature on Rhode Island Shriners night at the track. 



There was certainly a tight battle for the lead between Jeff Belyea and Mike Duarte for much of the second half of the feature. Belyea led the field across for the white flag with Duarte hot on his bumper, the two made contact, and both ended up in the rear. That setup a dash to the finish between Martin and Cavallaro, two former champions and division veterans, and Martin wasn’t to be denied.


Cavallaro followed up his first win of the season a few weeks ago to finish second, with Brittany Campbell, a two-time season winner, crossing in third. Jake Vanada, also a two-time season winner, and Bobby Tripp followed to finish the top-five.


Amy Arsenault, Darryl Church, Ethan Heilborn, Tommy Scully III and Danny Thibeault completed the top-10.


The Chaz Auto Body Sport Trucks will be back on track on Saturday, July 29 for another 25-lap feature. For more information on Seekonk Speedway, visit SeekonkSpeedway.com and follow the track on social media for the latest news and updates.