The Granite State Pro Stock Series’ return to Stafford Motor Speedway was the perfect setup for a veteran winner on the famed Connecticut oval.
Jeremy Sorel had something to say about that.
The Westfield, Mass. veteran put on a dominant performance en route to his first GSPSS victory in Saturday’s Casagrande Builders 75, the season-opening tilt for the New Hampshire-based series.
Saturday’s lidlifter, the highlight of Stafford’s opening day and a prelude to Sunday’s 54th edition of the Modified-centric Spring Sizzler, marked the series’ first race at Stafford since its debut in 2021. And while five years had passed, plenty of the drivers who finished second to Joey Polewarczyk that day were on hand to become the second series driver to win at Stafford.
Sorel was not among those drivers.
Nevertheless, Sorel sat atop the board in practice, while Cory Casagrande and Eddie MacDonald won the two qualifying heats. A good draw before the race put Sorel on the pole alongside MacDonald for the start of the 75-lap feature.
Sorel shot out to lead the first lap, but the yellow waved quickly for an incident deep in the pack. A series of spins slowed the opening circuits, with Casagrande spinning after contact to bring out a lap-four yellow. MacDonald wrested the lead from Sorel briefly, but slipped back in the pack as Sorel powered back to the point.
Tom Carey III was the next driver to go around after contact on lap 16, setting up a restart calamity that ended the day for Casagrande and dealt terminal damage to championship runner-up Evan Beaulieu’s ride. With the grid pruned by a couple more cars, Sorel brought the field back to the green flag again.
Polewarczyk slipped past former American-Canadian Tour Late Model champ Jimmy Hebert to take second on the restart, putting himself in position to go two-for-two at Stafford. But just past halfway, “Joey Pole” dropped off the pace, ceding second and third to Hebert and David Arute. Polewarczyk picked up the pace as he settled into fourth, but was well back of the leader.
A Modified regular and a scion of the family that owns and operates Stafford, Arute caught Hebert during the second half of the race, making the pass for second. Sorel was well out front, though, and the field was spread out enough that the early rash of spins had become a distant memory.
Untouchable in the final circuits, Sorel coasted to a 6.416-second margin of victory as he took his first touring Late Model victory.
In 26 series starts dating back to 2020, Sorel had six prior top-five performances, his career best a runner-up photo finish to D.J. Shaw in 2024.
Arute held on for second, a stellar series debut in a car fielded out of the Casagrande family’s nearby shop. Hebert, a Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model feature winner in addition to his ACT prowess, celebrated his own strong series debut by rounding out the podium.
Early spinner Carey recovered to finish fourth, while four-time GSPSS feature winner Angelo Belsito came home fifth.
Polewarczyk limped home sixth after contending early on. Seventh went to Michael Scorzelli, who made his first GSPSS start since the 2021 Stafford event. MacDonald faded to eighth at the finish. Casey Call and series rookie Matt Beers rounded out the top ten.
Eighteen cars took the green flag on an afternoon where the PASS Super Late Models raced head-to-head against the GSPSS at Lee (N.H.) USA Speedway, almost three hours away. At least one team on the entry list withdrew a week earlier, after a practice crash that left several racers concerned about track sealant that had been applied ahead of the open test session.
Reigning champion Cole Robie was one racer who opted for Saturday’s PASS event, leaving the championship battle in the hands of Call and Beaulieu for another season. Call prevailed as the 2024 titlist, but weathered a challenging 2025 season that relegated him to fourth in the standings. Beaulieu won twice last year, but struggles at Lee all season kept him from taking the fight to the rookie Robie.
Fortunately for Beaulieu, Lee is off the series schedule this year, lending to a lease operation deal with PASS and ACT. Speedway presented by Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, the rechristened oval at which Beaulieu scored his first two GSPSS wins, has a strong presence on the 11-race itinerary, buoying the Mainer’s hopes of capturing a series crown.
Sorel’s win echoes the typical trajectory of the GSPSS schedule, pitting the series regulars against each host track’s home favorites or the region’s at-large “ringers.” A local racer who spent some years in the Carolinas before returning home, Sorel has long favored the “outlaw schedule” approach popular in the Northeast, running select events from the PASS, ACT and GSPSS calendars.
Working in close concert with fellow Pioneer Valley racer Alex Quarterley, son of motorcycle privateer turned stock car racer Dale Quarterley, Sorel seemed to veer from that path in 2024 when he competed full-time on the ACT Tour schedule. But changes away from the track, along with a wreck in the 2025 Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour season opener, have returned Sorel to the outlaw approach.
Last year, Sorel made five ACT Late Model starts and four starts each with PASS and the GSPSS, finding his best success in GSPSS with two top-four finishes.
This year, Sorel has already competed with all three organizations.
This time around, he already has a win.
Unofficial Results
Granite State Pro Stock Series | Casagrande Builders 75
Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford Springs, Conn.
1. (7MA) Jeremy Sorel
2. (75) David Arute
3. (58VT) Jimmy Hebert
4. (5MA) Tom Carey III
5. (8) Angelo Belsito
6. (97) Joey Polewarczyk
7. (18) Michael Scorzelli
8. (17MA) Eddie MacDonald
9. (90NH) Casey Call
10. (11B) Matt Beers
11. (32Q) Alex Quarterley
12. (29) Adam Gray
13. (56) Evan Beaulieu
14. (7CT) Cory Casagrande
15. (62) Joe Kendall
16. (84) Jamie Wright
17. (17F) Kevin Folan
18. (81) Dan Winter
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