Barker blitzes PASS field in Lee USA Speedway return

Brandon Barker’s first career wins in two of New England’s top touring series have come at Lee USA Speedway.

It’s little surprise that he went three for three.

Barker finally took his first career Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model win last Saturday in the Strafford County 150, dominating the first PASS feature at Lee in nearly five years.

While PASS has only raced sporadically at “New Hampshire’s Center of Speed” in the last decade, Barker has taken up residency there. The Windham, Me. native won a pair of Granite State Pro Stock Series features in 2018 and 2019, tacking on a Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour win in 2023. When Lee reintroduced Pro Stocks to their weekly program, Barker earned the 2022 track championship and feature wins, including a big non-points win in 2024.

In a part-time PASS career dating back to 2015, Barker had racked up a handful of runner-up finishes, but no checkered flags.

Starting from the pole made Barker’s job Saturday that much easier, as he set the early pace while other contenders worked their way through traffic. Joey Doiron, victorious in PASS’ 2021 visit to Lee, started seventh but carved his way to second in the first third of the race.

Two midrace cautions showed that Barker had plenty of short-run speed to keep Doiron at bay, but his one-time teammate closed the gap after halfway. On lap 99, though, Doiron’s left rear tire went flat, sending him for a spin and ending his shot at victory.

Gabe Brown assumed the runner-up slot, a week after alternator failure cost him a win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Brown’s path to second had not been without struggle, either, with his Bobby Webber Racing crew replacing the clutch after qualifying. Lurking in Brown’s mirror was Corey Bubar, a multi-time GSPSS winner still seeking his first PASS win.

But Bubar’s hopes went up in smoke when he drilled the wall with 29 laps to go. Johnny Clark’s return to PASS after skipping the NHMS season opener ended a few laps later with a restart spin.

Out front, Brown took advantage of every shot he had at Barker in the final laps. A tight setup and Barker’s own prowess kept him from unseating his rival at the head of the pack.

And in his 77th series start, Barker crossed under the checkered flag, 1.154 seconds ahead of Brown for his first career PASS North victory.

Brown’s runner-up result was especially redemptive after his late mechanical failure in the season opener. Reigning GSPSS champion Cole Robie earned his career-best finish in third.

Defending PASS North champ D.J. Shaw was fourth at the checkers, while Garrett Hall raced his backup car to a fifth-place finish after a transmission failure in practice.

Derek Griffith was sixth after a mid-pack day at NHMS, followed by Quebecer Alexendre Tardif in seventh. Doiron rebounded from his tire failure to place eighth. Ryan Kuhn and Bobby Baillargeon rounded out the top ten.

On the back of his season-opening win at NHMS, Shaw leads the points after only two races, with “Fireball” Tardif second in the provisional standings. Barker has top-ten finishes in the first two races, but without a full-season entry to his credit, he sits just outside the top ten in points.

Barker’s ride at Lee was fielded by former NASCAR team owner Archie St. Hilaire, who has prepared cars for Barker for the last few seasons, including his weekly efforts at Lee. He raced for longtime car owner Sam Snow in the season opener, continuing a relationship that dates back to 2017.

In nine starts last year, Barker made three in Snow’s No. 88 and six of them – all at Oxford – for St. Hilaire. Despite his weekly success at Lee, a second-place GSPSS points finish in 2023, and his Keen Parts 150 win in 2024, Barker had not yet delivered a touring series win for the Go FAS Racing operation.

Saturday’s doubleheader with the Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour marked the first race date at Lee under a new lease agreement between PASS, ACT, and speedway owner Ben Bosowski. PASS owner Tom Mayberry and ACT managing partner Cris Michaud announced last fall that they would operate the speedway for Bosowski, who is focusing on managing Hudson Speedway in 2026 and beyond.

While ACT raced at Lee in 2023, a planned PASS event that year was ultimately canceled, making a May 2021 ACT-PASS doubleheader the last visit for New England’s premier fendered tour to the track where it ran its first ever race in 2001.

Under the leadership of Mayberry and Michaud with PASS technical director Jason Ricker, Lee will host a full weekly program in 2026, anchored by three PASS dates that include the touring series’ season finale as part of Lee’s traditional Oktoberfest.

Mayberry and Michaud, who operate their own tracks in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire while managing Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway under a similar lease agreement, have taken yet another gamble in trying to rejuvenate a track that has struggled to overcome past perceptions.

Suffice it to say, Brandon Barker is atop the list of the thankful.

Unofficial Results
PASS North | Strafford County 150
Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H.
1. (32) Brandon Barker
2. (47) Gabe Brown
3. (29R) Cole Robie
4. (60) D.J. Shaw
5. (94) Garrett Hall
6. (12G) Derek Griffith
7. (21QC) Alexendre Tardif
8. (73D) Joey Doiron
9. (72) Ryan Kuhn
10. (82) Bobby Baillargeon
11. (10) Kate Re
12. (44) Trevor Sanborn
13. (5C) Dominic Curit
14. (8) Connor McDougal
15. (56) Michaël Lavoie
16. (24J) J.P. Josiasse
17. (00) Jimmy Renfrew, Jr.
18. (5VT) Pat Corbett
19. (54) Johnny Clark
20. (12X) Corey Bubar
21. (38H) Daniel Harding
22. (153) Travis Stearns
23. (27) Wayne Helliwell, Jr.
24. (09R) Sylas Ripley

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