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By Jeff Brown, for Granite State Pro Stock Series
Photo Credit Jeff Brown
HERMON, ME. — After last week’s command performance in the Stan Meserve Classic, D.J. Shaw may have been the odds-on favorite to win Sunday’s Bar Harbor Bank & Trust 200, the penultimate race of the 2026 campaign of the Granite State Pro Stock Series presented by Hudson International Speedway.
But the Center Conway, N.H. veteran’s path to another victory at Speedway presented by Bar Harbor Bank & Trust was not what most expected.
Shaw took the lead on a late restart and benefited from a gritty second-place battle to score his fourth victory of 2026 in the longest and richest race in GSPSS history.
Sunday’s tilt, with $15,000 to the winner plus over $20,000 in lap-leader bonuses, was the penultimate showdown of the GSPSS schedule and the finale of Speedway’s inaugural Darling’s Pro Stock Series season, pitting the road-tripping touring racers against a deep field of Pine Tree State locals.
Shaw surprised no one as he set a new track record in Saturday’s time trials. In Sunday’s heat race to set the top ten, Austin Teras served notice with a statement win to put his Anthony Wilcox-owned car on the pole for the feature.
From the drop of the green, though, Shaw knew something was amiss. As Teras set the pace, Shaw dropped through the top ten, ultimately coming to a stop on lap 15 with a loose wheel. A quick stop under caution left the pre-race favorite mired deep in the 28-car field.
A turn two pileup after the restart helped Shaw make up some ground, while Teras and Brandon Barker swapped the lead ahead of a scheduled competition caution. But as the leaders cleared a slower car on lap 77, contact sent Barker hard into the first-turn concrete in a shower of sparks. Barker, the 2023 GSPSS runner-up, was done for the evening.
Sylas Ripley inherited second place after the break and rocketed into the lead on the restart. But as the yellow flag waved for a restart incident, Ripley’s car shut down, forcing him to the pits with electrical issues.
Teras brought the field back to green, but reigning champion Cole Robie made quick work of the June winner, pulling away as Shaw challenged Evan Beaulieu for third. Robie was solidly in command at halfway, with Teras, Beaulieu, Shaw and two-time GSPSS champ Joey Doiron in tow.
Beaulieu’s car came to life in the second half, as the two-time Speedway winner drove past Teras and Robie to take the lead. Teras faded to fifth as Robie, Shaw and Doiron battled for second in Beaulieu’s mirror.
Mike Rowe’s flat tire on lap 135 brought out a timely caution for Shaw and Teras, who ducked into the pits for further adjustments. Doiron poked his nose into the lead briefly, but when Steve Kimball’s spin set off a turn-three conflagration that collected points leader Jeremy Sorel, the field was frozen on lap 139 with Robie at the point.
Beaulieu charged back to the lead, leaving Robie to fend off Shaw, who had already clawed his way back to third. Once again, Beaulieu relished the second-place battle in his rear view. On lap 155, though, Angelo Belsito went around in turn three, slowing the race pace and erasing Beaulieu’s advantage.
On the restart, Robie went back to the front, this time with Shaw and Matt Bourgoine breathing down his neck. For the first time all night, Shaw found his way to the lead, with Bourgoine slipping past Robie to settle into second. Sorel, who escaped the lap-139 tangle mostly unscathed, was sent around with 26 laps remaining to draw the last caution flag of the night.
Shaw pulled away on the restart, leaving Beaulieu and Bourgoine to settle second place amongst themselves. The two former go-kart rivals waged a tight but clean battle for second, but neither could close the gap to Shaw, who was in a class of his own.
After starting out front but needing most of the race to get back there, Shaw crossed the line a second ahead of the field to win his 16th career GSPSS checkered flag and claim a series-record $20,700 payday.
Beaulieu edged out Bourgoine for second, notching his best finish of the season while Bourgoine celebrated top-six finishes in two of Maine’s biggest races this year.
Early leader Teras battled back to a fourth-place finish, ahead of reigning champ Robie in fifth. Former champions Casey Call and Joey Doiron were sixth and seventh, with Canadian veteran Lonnie Sommerville in eighth. Ryan Deane and Jamie Wright rounded out the top ten.
Despite their respective struggles, points leader Sorel and 2020 champion Joey Polewarczyk ended their evenings in 12th and 13th, keeping Polewarczyk’s hopes for a second series crown alive with one race remaining.
Shaw’s record-setting win also clinched the Darling’s Pro Stock Series championship at Speedway, the first time in nearly 20 years that Shaw has chased a track championship. With schedule conflicts keeping Shaw from attending the GSPSS finale, the series’ winningest driver ends his season with a series-leading four wins and only one finish worse than second in seven starts.
The Granite State Pro Stock Series presented by Hudson International Speedway concludes its season in two weeks in conjunction with Claremont Motorsports Park’s Fall Challenge. The GSPSS will anchor the second day of competition at its home track on Sunday, October 25. Details on the eleventh and final feature for the 2026 season are forthcoming.
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, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust 200 at Speedway Presented by Bar Harbor Bank & Trust:
1. (60) D.J. Shaw
2. (56) Evan Beaulieu
3. (83) Matt Bourgoine
4. (39) Austin Teras
5. (29) Cole Robie
6. (90NH) Casey Call
7. (73D) Joey Doiron
8. (23S) Lonnie Sommerville
9. (22) Ryan Deane
10. (84) Jamie Wright
11. (23) Dave Farrington, Jr.
12. (7MA) Jeremy Sorel
13. (97) Joey Polewarczyk
14. (95) Morgan Call
15. (24) Mike Rowe
16. (8) Angelo Belsito
17. (51X) Steve Kimball
18. (1) Ryan Messer
19. (78) Tiger Colby
20. (14) Josh St. Clair
21. (32) Nick Jenkins
22. (18) Cassius Clark
23. (28) JR Robinson
24. (27B) Bryson Parritt
25. (09) Sylas Ripley
26. (32B) Brandon Barker
27. (81ME) Bryan Lancaster
28. (05) Phil Richardson
