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By Jeff Brown, for Granite State Pro Stock Series
PHOTO: Claremont Motorsports Park
WALPOLE, N.H. – After a false start at Lee USA Speedway a month ago, the Granite State Pro Stock Series is primed to lift the lid on this season’s schedule at long last, with a Memorial Day homecoming in store for this extended weekend.
Claremont Motorsports Park welcomes the GSPSS for Sunday evening’s Claremont 125, the second day of a holiday weekend doubleheader that launches the fourteenth season of competition for the New Hampshire-based organization.
A punishing pattern of precipitation this spring has forced cancellations of racing events across the Northeast, and the GSPSS is no exception. Plenty of cars filed into Lee’s pit paddock for April’s scheduled season opener, but the day’s weather window closed quickly, halting opening day before it began.
With wet weather in the forecast every weekend since, New England’s racers and fans have been clamoring for on-track action. And one of New England’s most unique ovals is sure to deliver.
Claremont Motorsports Park is where the GSPSS’ story began with a single race in 2011.
Twenty GSPSS bouts in all have been contested on the third-mile track in New Hampshire’s Upper Valley, with all-time GSPSS win leader D.J. Shaw owning four series victories. Ringers stole the show in 2024; two-time champion Joey Doiron put on a dominant performance in May, while Shaw won a battle of inches with Jeremy Sorel to score his fourth win in July.
Lost in July’s thrilling finish was the budding rivalry between title hopefuls Casey Call and Evan Beaulieu, who traded words after an on-track incident. The two racers sustained their rivalry through the season finale, where Call edged out Beaulieu by a single point to win the championship. Both Call and Beaulieu have redoubled their efforts for 2025. Call, from Pembroke, N.H., wants to become the GSPSS’ first back-to-back champ. Beaulieu is every bit as eager to bring the series’ crown home to Maine.
Claremont is a long trek for the Pine Tree State contingent, but fellow Maine racers Jamie Wright and Josh St. Clair are undaunted as they prepare for the drive west. Cole Robie’s diverse schedule includes his first GSPSS attempt of the year after April’s rainout. Rookie Danny Wear is returning to the GSPSS, too, after making his debut early last year.
From the Granite State, Dan Winter looks to improve on his eighth-place finish last July. Connecticut’s Cory Casagrande, second to Doiron last May, is still on the hunt for his first GSPSS win, and Claremont is a likely venue for the big breakthrough.
After last summer’s runner-up finish, Sorel may be the most enthused driver to return to Claremont. Sorel and teammate Alex Quarterley head north to bring the trophy back to western Massachusetts. Joe Kendall, another racer from the Bay State with plenty of laps around western New Hampshire’s bullrings, is hopeful for his first GSPSS appearance since 2021.
But while neither Doiron nor Shaw are entered for this weekend’s race, there are plenty of past winners vying for the victory.
Former champion Joey Polewarczyk could break his tie for second on the GSPSS all-time win list this weekend. Veteran Wayne Helliwell, Jr., one of Polewarczyk’s rivals in the mid-2010s, has two series wins of his own but has not visited the winner’s circle since 2014. Mike Mitchell, a winner in 2017, came close to breaking his own winless streak last fall at Lee. And four-time winner Angelo Belsito has his eyes on a repeat of his 2020 win at Claremont.
Post time is 6:00pm Sunday for a night of racing at Claremont Motorsports Park, featuring the first round of the Granite State Pro Stock Series championship chase. The GSPSS touring stars will take to the track for 125 green-flag laps, accompanied by Claremont’s Todd Martell Memorial Super Street 60, Pure Stocks, Six Shooters and a 4-Cylinder enduro. Adult tickets are $25, with senior and military admission only $20.
For more information on the Granite State Pro Stock Series, visit www.gspss.net or find us on Facebook and Instagram.
