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By Souza Media/Kyle Souza
PHOTO: Rob Branning/GSPSS
EPPING, N.H. — While series points leader Gabe Brown blew a tire in the lead in the final laps, Joey Doiron was the next man up, scoring the Granite State Pro Stock Series win at the Star Classic at Star Speedway on Friday, September 17. Doiron bested Bryan Kruczek in a final restart dash to the finish to take the No. 73 to Victory Lane in front of a strong crowd to open the 56th annual Classic festivities at the New Hampshire oval.
The story of the night was Gabe Brown.
After winning the third qualifying heat race, Brown rolled to the lead on lap 33 of the 100-lap race, passing Kruczek for the top spot. From there, he dominated — pulling away to a lead of over three seconds as the field crossed the line with four laps to go. However, the next time the field crossed the line, Brown was not the leader — instead pouring out a shower of sparks from under his No. 50 with a right-front tire flat. After a dominating performance, Brown was left frustrated, heading into the pits to repair, and coming back out to finish in seventh at the end of the race.
After Brown fell out of contention, it was Doiron who charged to the front and took down the big victory. The final laps were marred with cautions — with a scary wreck in turn four collecting Jacob Dore and others, and a late wreck in turn one collecting Ryan Kuhn, and others. In the end, Doiron wasn’t going to be denied, taking his car to Victory Lane in just the second outing for the new ride.
“We really should have been second tonight, Gabe Brown had all of us covered, but I’d rather be lucky than good,” Doiron said. “It worked out for us. We have never been able to seal the deal before here at Star and we finally got one. Just the second race on a new car, the first one didn’t go so hot for us — we’re still working the bugs out.”
Kruczek finished second, just short of a repeat, as the Bobby Webber Racing driver had won the Granite State Pro Stock Series event at Star in May. Evan Beaulieu was third, posting a solid podium, followed by Luke Hinkley and former champion Devin O’Connell.
Kuhn, after spinning late after contact with Kruczek, was sixth at the finish, followed by Brown, David Oliver, Josh King and Bobby Pelland. The 100-lap feature took just under one hour to complete. Doiron, Brown and Casey Call won the qualifying heat races earlier in the day.
The next race on the schedule for the Granite State Pro Stock Series is a visit to Lee USA Speedway for the annual Octoberfest weekend on Sunday, October 3.
For more information on Star Speedway, visit StarSpeedwayNH.com. For more information on the Granite State Pro Stock Series, visit gspss.net and follow the series on social media for the latest updates.
RESULTS: Granite State Pro Stock Series at Star Speedway; September 17, 2021:
- Joey Doiron
- Bryan Kruczek
- Evan Beaulieu
- Luke Hinkley
- Devin O’Connell
- Ryan Kuhn
- Gabe Brown
- David Oliver
- Josh King
- Bobby Pelland
- Bobby Cabral
- Tyler Tomassi
- Joey Kendall
- Casey Call
- Jacob Dore
- Rusty Poland
- Adam Gray
- Charlie Buxton
- Ryan Green
- Randy Cole
- Bobby Baillargeon
- Corey Bubar
- Bill Helliwell
