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Granite State Pro Stock Series

Renfrew goes back-to-back with GSPSS at Langis Caron 150

The New Hampshire racer pocketed $10,000 with his second straight GSPSS win.

Jimmy Renfrew celebrates his second straight GSPSS win in the series' second-ever trip to Canada, the Langis Caron 150 at Autodrome Chaudière. (Photo courtesy GSPSS/Jimmy Wiggin)

Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. is making it a habit of spoiling homecoming trips.

Renfrew bested Alexendre Tardif to win the Langis Caron 150 at Autodrome Chaudière, earning back-to-back wins with the Granite State Pro Stock Series presented by Hudson International Speedway.

And with that, the $10,000 purse for the second edition of the GSPSS’ cross-border crown jewel was headed back across the border.

Tardif, the rising Super Late Model star and Quebec native, dominated last year’s inaugural event, winning in his first-ever GSPSS start.

Renfrew finished second to Tardif that day. The Candia, N.H. racer has had his own breakout season in 2026, winning his first Pro All Stars Series features while making select starts outside the Northeast as his stock continues to rise.

Two weeks earlier, Renfrew dethroned Hudson Speedway favorite Joey Polewarczyk, putting on a clinic to win his second Gate City Classic at the quarter-mile bullring where he turned his earliest racing laps.

This time, with half the GSPSS field at Chaudière hailing from the speedway’s home province, Renfrew arrived as one of the visitors, albeit a visitor with an American-Canadian Tour feature win at the oval.

Visitor Jimmy Renfrew stalks Quebecers Raphaël Lessard and Alex Labbé in the series’ second trip to Autodrome Chaudière. (Photo courtesy GSPSS/Jimmy Wiggin)

Tardif had plenty of pace in his homecoming, but Renfrew had the long-run speed to keep “Fireball” on his toes through the brisk 150-lap feature.

And in the closing laps, Tardif had no answers for Renfrew, who followed up D.J. Shaw’s back-to-back GSPSS wins in July with his own back-to-back performance in his only starts of the season thus far.

Tardif, the PASS regular who notched his first series win at Oxford Plains Speedway, settled for second at his home track. Fellow Quebecer Alex Labbé seized third near the end of the race to round out the podium.

Full-timer Evan Beaulieu, whose truck broke down en route to the speedway and had to be towed back to Maine, scrambled to get through an abbreviated practice but got his car dialed in. Beaulieu ran in the top three most of the evening before fading to fourth.

GSPSS points leader Jeremy Sorel was closing on Beaulieu late, but ran out of time and settled for a fifth-place finish.

Former Série ACT champions Jeff Côté and Raphaël Lessard were sixth and seventh, ahead of 2020 GSPSS champ Polewarczyk. William Roberge and Michaël Lavoie rounded out the top ten.

The combined efforts of Chaudière, a NASCAR-sanctioned track and a stronghold for Quebec’s ACT Late Model-centric scene, and the ambitious GSPSS, a series striving to set itself apart from the longer-tenured PASS, have yielded one of the more intriguing dates on the calendar. This year’s race boasted a bigger field than last September’s showdown, also eschewing a presenting sponsor in favor of a tribute to veteran Quebec racer Langis Caron, who made a few token laps at the track over the weekend.

However, August is a busy month for racing, anchored by PASS’ Oxford 250 and peppered with events moved from early-season rainouts. A few drivers expected to make the trip, notably D.J. Shaw, turned their focus elsewhere. Among the GSPSS full-timers passing on the venture were Casey Call, who also skipped last year’s event amid late-season struggles, and top rookie Joe Kendall.

Sorel, who won the season opener and has avoided misfortune all year with consistent performances, sits atop the points standings with Polewarczyk at a safe 24-point deficit. With three dates left on the calendar, chipping away at Sorel’s advantage may not be enough to earn “Joey Pole” a second series crown.

Shaw occupies third in points on a part-time schedule, with Jamie Wright and Beaulieu well back in fourth and fifth. With two of the final three events at Speedway presented by Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, the track sponsored by Shaw’s own corporate backers, Shaw’s attendance at two of the three final dates is a given.

Renfrew is not part of the GSPSS points race.

But that comes with a freedom all its own.

Unofficial Results
Granite State Pro Stock Series | Langis Caron 150
Autodrome Chaudière, Vallée-Jonction, Que.

1. (00) Jimmy Renfrew, Jr.
2. (21QC) Alexendre Tardif
3. (21L) Alex Labbé
4. (56) Evan Beaulieu
5. (7MA) Jeremy Sorel
6. (51) Jeff Côté
7. (48) Raphaël Lessard
8. (97) Joey Polewarczyk
9. (83) William Roberge
10. (56QC) Michaël Lavoie
11. (17) Andy Gilbert
12. (81) Dan Winter
13. (17B) Marco Gilbert
14. (84) Jamie Wright
15. (83X) Jonathan Desbiens

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Jeff Brown has been a Short Track Scene contributor since 2017. A native of New Hampshire and a long-time fan of New England racing, Brown was inspired by other writers from the region to ensure that the stories of the Northeast had a voice to share them.

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