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By Jeff Brown, for Granite State Pro Stock Series
CLAREMONT, N.H. — The 2026 season for the Granite State Pro Stock Series presented by Hudson International Speedway drew to a close Sunday, with the seventh different race winner of the year celebrated and the series’ 13th different champion crowned at the venue where the series’ history began.
Wayne Helliwell, Jr. outpaced Cory Casagrande in the closing laps of the Fall Challenge 100, the headliner of the third day of Claremont Motorsports Park’s season-ending spectacle, to earn his fourth career GSPSS win and his first of 2026.
And deeper in the field, Jeremy Sorel finished ninth to clinch his first-ever GSPSS championship.
Casey Call shook off his season’s struggles to smash the track record in time trials, putting his new car on the pole and rolling off third for the feature. The 2024 GSPSS champion dominated the first half of the feature, but by halfway, mechanical gremlins were surfacing under the hood of Call’s No. 90NH. As his car gave up the ghost, Helliwell and Casagrande took over out front.
Casagrande, coming off three straight GSPSS podium performances, gave Helliwell everything he had in the final laps, but “The Punisher” from Pelham, N.H., held firm out front. After breaking a long series winless streak last spring at Claremont, the decorated veteran only needed a handful of races to return to the winner’s circle.
Helliwell’s victory is his fourth GSPSS win, all at New Hampshire ovals, coming in only his second GSPSS start of 2026.
Casagrande’s runner-up finish kept his podium streak alive, picking up three second-places and a third after a slow start to his season. Maine’s Evan Beaulieu, second in the penultimate race of the season two weeks ago, carried his momentum through the end of the year with a promising third-place run.
Former champion Joey Polewarczyk finished fourth, with Alex Quarterley rounding out the top five.
Quarterley’s teammate Sorel finished ninth, but that was exactly what the Westfield, Mass., racer needed to do. In his first full-season schedule since 2022, Sorel was a model of consistency en route to his first GSPSS championship, becoming the thirteenth driver and the third from the Bay State to earn the honor.
Sorel was victorious in April’s lidlifter at Stafford Motor Speedway, never letting go of the points lead all year. While his challengers faced their own misfortunes and miscues, Sorel dodged their bad breaks, picking up four more top-five finishes and finishing in the top-10 in all but one race. Sorel completed every lap in 2026, the first champion to do so since 2023 titlist Travis Benjamin.
Sorel was one of seven feature winners in 2026, joined by Maine’s Austin Teras in earning their first GSPSS victories. D.J. Shaw and Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. each recorded multiple wins, with Shaw’s four trophies anchoring him as the GSPSS’ all-time leader.
With Sorel competing and winning in a Shaw-built chassis, Sorel is the first driver to race Dale Shaw Race Cars equipment to the championship since Joey Doiron in 2022.
Thus concludes the 15th full season for the Granite State Pro Stock Series presented by Hudson International Speedway. On behalf of his team, GSPSS President Mike Parks extends his heartfelt appreciation to the partner tracks, the dedicated drivers, and the eager fans who have supported the series since its first race in 2011.
Information regarding this year’s postseason banquet and next year’s schedule will be released as they are available.
For more information on the Granite State Pro Stock Series presented by Hudson International Speedway, visit www.gspss.net or find us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Results, Fall Challenge 100 at Claremont Motorsports Park:
1. (27NH) Wayne Helliwell, Jr.
2. (7CT) Cory Casagrande
3. (56) Evan Beaulieu
4. (97) Joey Polewarczyk
5. (32Q) Alex Quarterley
6. (84) Jamie Wright
7. (81) Dan Winter
8. (83) William Roberge
9. (7MA) Jeremy Sorel
10. (4NH) Chris Riendeau
11. (90NH) Casey Call
