Barker outlasts Pro Stock field at Lee in Keen Parts 150

At Lee USA Speedway, Kyle Busch’s presence at the coastal bullring dominated the headlines.

But it was Busch’s teammate for the evening who stole the show.

Barker celebrates with car owner Archie St. Hilaire and team and race sponsor Tom Keen of Keen Parts. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Brandon Barker surged to the front late, then fended off a last-ditch charge from Joey Doiron to win the Keen Parts 150 on the eve of New Hampshire’s annual NASCAR weekend.

For the third year running, “New Hampshire’s Center of Speed” hosted an unofficial preamble to New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series events, anchoring its Friday-night card with a 150-lap Pro Stock/Super Late Model feature.

In cooperation with team owner Archie St. Hilaire and sponsors Tom and Teresa Keen of Keen Parts, Lee has welcomed a visiting NASCAR Cup Series driver each year. The 2022 race, sanctioned by the Granite State Pro Stock Series, featured Tyler Reddick, who came just feet from nipping first-time winner Casey Call for the checkered flag. Busch took the ringer role in 2023, coming up short to Derek Griffith at the finish.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series titlist returned for a rematch this year, with St. Hilaire’s Go FAS Racing operation bringing a new car for Busch in addition to Barker’s familiar mount.

Despite struggling to find the right feel in practice, Busch laid down a hot lap in time trials, with only local racers Nick Cusack and Corey Bubar able to top the Las Vegas native.

Bubar, the winner of last fall’s GSPSS Bosowski Properties 150, dispatched Cusack early to take the lead. Max Cookson settled into second, with Busch shadowing the frontrunners in fourth. Cookson and Bubar dueled out front until Geoff Rollins pounded the backstretch wall to draw a caution on lap 43.

Max Cookson (#39), wheeling a Hamke-built car, battled Corey Bubar for the early lead, though both encountered trouble in the closing laps. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Busch plummeted through the field on the restart, clinging to the tail of the lead lap while North American Pro Stock Nationals winner Joey Doiron and seventh-place starter Barker emerged as challengers out front. Busch and Joey Parker made contact on lap 93, spinning on the backstretch and bringing out the yellow flag.

Cookson lost the lead to Bubar on the restart, with Doiron following through for second. Their charge was brief, though, as Ryan Green slammed into the backstretch wall to slow the race again at lap 97. As a lengthy cleanup ensued for Green’s battered car, those struggling at the rear ducked into the pits for adjustments.

Doiron found his way to the front on the next green-flag stint, with Barker joining the top-five battle. After a yellow for Cory Casagrande’s flat tire, early leader Cookson made a bold three-wide move on the restart, but Barker slipped away with the point as Cookson and Doiron dueled for second. Doiron had the upper hand when Wayne Helliwell, Jr. and Bubar got together in turn three, sending Bubar careering into the concrete and pausing the fireworks out front.

Race winner Barker gets into teammate-for-the-evening Kyle Busch (#51) early in the going. Busch was fast early but lost the handle on his borrowed ride. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Doiron and Barker gridded up for the start, but their run was short-lived as Skeeter Bearce and Casagrande collided in turn three. Casagrande hammered the outside wall, came back down into traffic and was drilled by Parker, planting his car atop the concrete barrier.

Skeeter Bearce (#71) spins across the track as Cory Casagrande gets the worst of one of the night’s hard wrecks. (STS/Jeff Brown)

After a red flag to clear the wreckage, Doiron asserted himself out front for a few laps while the pack behind him diced for position. Eddie MacDonald was battling for a top-five berth when he spun exiting turn three, with polesitter Cusack sustaining terminal damage in the aftermath.

Doiron restarted outside Barker with 16 laps to go, but he faltered on the drop of the green, falling to fourth as Barker took command. Now nursing an ailing clutch, Doiron clawed his way to Cookson’s door for second as Barker drove away. With only four laps left, Doiron got inside of Cookson when the two bumped, Cookson looping his car in turn two to bring out the last yellow flag of the evening.

Barker outraced the tenacious Doiron to the first turn, but despite his clutch issues, Doiron kept within arm’s length of the leader. Barker blocked Doiron’s run down the frontstretch coming to the white flag, and Doiron swung wide into turn one, getting outside of Barker in the corners.

But Doiron could not maintain the momentum in three and four, and Barker edged out his friend and former teammate at the line.

Barker holds off Joey Doiron, who took evasive action on the final lap to not wreck his friend and former teammate for the win. (STS/Jeff Brown)

It was an emotional winner’s circle as Barker, who won last May’s American-Canadian Tour feature at Lee, celebrated his first win for St. Hilaire since joining forces to win the Lee weekly championship in 2022.

Doiron, who came up short of his fourth feature win in the last month, was one of the first to congratulate Barker in victory lane. He described his last-lap move as evasive, an attempt to not wreck a friend on the final lap.

Doiron and Cookson put on a battle in the closing laps, but Cookson spun from third with only a few laps remaining. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Home-track hero MacDonald fought his way back to third, but following the race, officials announced that “The Outlaw” had been disqualified for an illegal tire change. Fourth-place finisher Joey Polewarczyk, who drove a smart race while staying under the radar, was elevated to the podium.

Kneeland, in what might have been the race of his occasional driving career, ultimately finished fourth, one spot ahead of his Cup Series driver, who persevered through the late-race chaos to finish fifth.

Local racer Bobby Baillargeon was sixth in the final rundown, with Cookson recovering from his late spin to finish seventh. Reigning Lee Pro Stock champ and 2016 Oxford 250 winner Helliwell was eighth ahead of Skeeter Bearce, with street stock regular Chris Riendeau debuting a new car in tenth after running out of fuel late.

Busch was the Keen Parts 150’s NASCAR ringer for the second year in a row, but his top-five finish betrayed the handling struggles the all-star faced in the second half of the event. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Rain threatened Friday night’s action, as it did all weekend across the Granite State. But after a shower that delayed the initial start, only occasional sprinkles popped up, and the night’s racing program was able to continue uninterrupted.

It was a stroke of fortune for the venerable New Hampshire oval, a track that has overhauled its grounds and its schedule over the last several years in order to chase the glory days of the past. Yet the night was steeped in history all the same. Run on Lee’s traditional Friday night, the evening was anchored by Pro Stocks, a staple of the track’s weekly program in the 1990s and early 2000s that were returned to the track in 2022 after the closing of Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.

And the presence of Busch and Kneeland recalled the late 1980s and early 1990s, when NASCAR names like Dale Earnhardt and Morgan Shepherd made the trip to Lee to race against the weekly stars.

Busch will be back in New England for the Pro All Stars Series’ All That’s Metal Celebration of America 300 at Oxford Plains Speedway, giving him a rematch against New England’s tough local contingent this summer. With a different ride awaiting his return to Oxford for the first time since his 2011 Oxford 250 win, Busch and Barker will be adversaries this time around.

But being teammates didn’t slow Barker down any, either.

Unofficial Results
Keen Parts 150 Pro Stock Open
Lee USA Speedway

1. (32) Brandon Barker
2. (73D) Joey Doiron
3. (97) Joey Polewarczyk
4. (90K) Derek Kneeland
5. (51) Kyle Busch
6. (82) Bobby Baillargeon
7. (39) Max Cookson
8. (27NH) Wayne Helliwell, Jr.
9. (71) Skeeter Bearce
10. (4VT) Chris Riendeau
11. (12X) Corey Bubar
12. (2) Nick Cusack
13. (23) Dave Farrington, Jr.
14. (7CT) Cory Casagrande
15. (40NC) Joey Parker
16. (93) Ryan Green
17. (444) Derek Griffith
18. (84) Matt Dow
19. (09) Frankie Eldredge
20. (99) Charlie Buxton
21. (02) Geoff Rollins
22. (37) Larry Gelinas
23. (81) Raymond Dinsmore III
24. (05) Bobby Frappier
DQ (17MA) Eddie MacDonald

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