Bubar beats Barker in GSPSS Clash on Calef 125

For years, Corey Bubar called another track home. But at Lee USA Speedway, he has something figured out.

Bubar bested the Granite State Pro Stock Series’ strongest field of the season Friday night, dominating the Clash On Calef 125, the sixth race of the GSPSS schedule.

And while the Windham, Me. native became the sixth different winner of the season, the top points challengers swapped spots on the board with only three races remaining to decide the champion.

The New Hampshire oval’s third major Pro Stock race of the year was the first of two GSPSS visits planned for 2024. May’s North American Pro Stock Nationals and June’s Keen Parts 150 were both sanctioned by the track, with some operational support from the GSPSS and with a healthy contingent of the series’ regulars.

Bubar was a factor in both races, finishing seventh in the Pro Stock Nationals and leading a portion of the Keen Parts 150 before being swept into a wreck. But in the GSPSS’ season-ending Bosowski Properties 150 last October, Bubar put on a dominant performance to take his second win with the touring series.

Rolling off third for Friday night’s race, Bubar slipped past polesitter Brandon Barker to take second early on as Joey Polewarczyk led laps. On lap 13, Anthony Bello and Matt Dow made contact, with Bello’s car riding the backstretch wall before slamming down on all four tires in turn three to draw the first caution flag of the night.

Polewarczyk brought the field back to green, but Bubar pounced on the restart, taking control from the 2020 GSPSS champion a lap later. Polewarczyk and Dave Farrington, Jr. fell into line, but neither could close the gap on Bubar until slower traffic came into play.

Veteran Gary Smith, caught up in a first-lap stackup, was running seventh when he looped his car on the backstretch, bringing out a timely yellow on lap 56. Teams mired in the middle of the pack pitted for adjustments, trying to find something extra on a night when passing was at a premium.

But out front, Bubar remained in control, with Polewarczyk only cutting into his advantage as the Mainer worked around slower cars.

Another yellow flew on lap 99 when Bobby Frappier and Andy Shaw got together, with Shaw taking the worst damage from the incident. Two laps after the restart, Alex Quarterley’s top-ten run came apart as he went around in turn three, sustaining a flat tire as the back of the field piled in.

Bubar chose the outside for the restart with 24 laps remaining and shot into the lead, quickly closing the door on Polewarczyk for the final sprint to the checkers. Barker worked over Polewarczyk for second, getting back around “Joey Pole” to take the runner-up spot.

Barker, June’s Keen Parts 150 winner, gave chase over the final circuits, but Bubar kept Barker at bay for his second-straight GSPSS win at Lee and his third victory with the series.

Both Bubar and Barker were making their season debuts with the GSPSS.

Polewarczyk, a winner two weeks back at Hudson Speedway, held on for third, with Farrington fourth and Wayne Helliwell, Jr. fifth.

Evan Beaulieu shook off his struggles from his last two outings at Lee, coming home sixth. Speedway 95 runner-up Josh St. Clair finished seventh. NASCAR spotter Derek Kneeland, still buoyed by his top-five run in the Keen Parts 150, drove to an eighth-place finish. Bobby Baillargeon placed ninth. Ryan Green, who started last after a gaffe in post-race procedure, drove through the field to round out the top ten.

Twenty-five cars turned out for the race, by far the strongest field of GSPSS entrants this season. That statistic, though, spelled trouble for Casey Call, who entered the weekend as the points leader. An early crash at Speedway 95 sidelined the team’s only car, and a car they hurriedly acquired was not quite race ready by Friday. Call credited several teams for reaching out to help, but in the end, he worked out an arrangement with Bernhardt Automotive to field Helliwell’s second car. Call parked the borrowed mount after two laps, scoring last-place points and keeping himself in contention for the title.

But Beaulieu made the most of Call’s trouble, his sixth-place finish propelling him into the points lead by a slim margin with three races to go.

Friday’s race ended a grueling four-week, four-race mid-summer stretch run, with a more leisurely schedule ahead to close out the season. After a week off, the GSPSS teams will race at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, N.H., followed by a mid-September date at Speedway 95 and a return to Lee for the speedway’s year-ending Oktoberfest.

Call’s new ride will be ready to go for Riverside, and his challengers will have the same moment of respite to get their equipment freshened for the run to the title.

However, this year’s championship battle has yet to intersect with the winner’s circle. Call has finished second twice; Beaulieu managed a podium finish at Hudson Speedway. But of the six series winners this year, only Polewarczyk has made more than two starts so far.

The next two events on the calendar may represent the best opportunity to shift the status quo. Both Riverside and Speedway 95 are distant enough from the radius of the usual ringers that a new winner could well be in the cards.

Call will be armed with a new car. Beaulieu will be armed with new confidence.

On the high banks at Riverside, either could pay off.

Unofficial Results
Granite State Pro Stock Series | Clash On Calef 125
Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H.
1. (12X) Corey Bubar
2. (32) Brandon Barker
3. (97) Joey Polewarczyk
4. (23) Dave Farrington, Jr.
5. (27NH) Wayne Helliwell, Jr.
6. (56) Evan Beaulieu
7. (14) Josh St. Clair
8. (90) Derek Kneeland
9. (82) Bobby Baillargeon
10. (73) Ryan Green
11. (29) Cole Robie
12. (7MA) Jeremy Sorel
13. (7CT) Cory Casagrande
14. (84) Jamie Wright
15. (75) Gary Smith
16. (05F) Bobby Frappier
17. (95) Morgan Call
18. (32Q) Alex Quarterley
19. (09) Frankie Eldredge
20. (18ME) Miller Buzzell
21. (32J) Nick Jenkins
22. (50) Andy Shaw
23. (25) Anthony Bello
24. (84D) Matt Dow
25. (27X) Casey Call

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