NEMRR – August 27-28, New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Mother Nature was smiling on the NEMRR paddock as round 5 of the 2022 season was held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway under near perfect conditions. Temperatures in the upper 70’s, a light breeze and sunny skies greeted a paddock that was anxious to get back on track after having a full month for a summer break.
Veteran racer Scott Greenwood dominated the weekend with a second consecutive weekend scoring eight wins on his Argo Cycles Yamaha R6. Greenwood started the weekend off with wire-to-wire wins in the Dunlop Tires GTU and Bauce Racing GTO classes. He then backed those wins up with a dominant victory in the Antham Racing Heavyweight Supersport class, which featured many of the same riders he would later face in the feature race of the weekend – the Michelin/Motorace $1500 dash for cash.
As the green flag dropped for the Saturday afternoon race, Greenwood made a mistake getting off the line and entered Turn One behind the likes of top NEMRR riders Ian Beam and Paul Duval. Greenwood wasted no time in his charge to the front as he went deep on the brakes into Turn Three on the opening lap to get by fellow Yamaha rider Duval.
He then set his sights on the speedy Triumph of Beam, closing up to the back wheel over the fast Turn Eight sweeper and making his move to the front around the back section of NHMS. Beam was not giving up easily and surprised the crowd as he momentarily re-passed Greenwood into Turn One. As determined as Beams’ attempt was, the cagey Greenwood drove it in even harder and held his position at the front of the field.
As the race unfolded, young gun Eli Block charged towards the front to finish a strong second place. Third place turned into an exciting back and forth battle between Beam and Harlan Hildbrand, who prevailed by a scant 0.3 second at the end.
Saturday evening featured a fundraiser for the Roadracing World Action Fund held in honor of Scott Briody. Dozens of industry supporters donated items for a combination silent and live auction, followed by a cornhole tournament. The NEMRR community came together to raise nearly $20,000 for the fund, which is the leader in our industry for promoting rider safety and one that these riders supported wholeheartedly. NEMRR wants to extend a heartfelt thanks to all those who participated.
The other top performers in the Expert ranks were Renee Franco and Eric Wood, both of whom won four out of four races and set season-best lap times in their final races of the weekend. In the premier Sunday race, Franco took a solid victory in the Dunlop Tires 500 Superbike field, the Dunlop contingency and a new personal best 1:17.1 lap time. In the very next race, Wood followed up with a win in the Scott Mullin Memorial Unlimited Superbike class with a 1:11.2 lap time, Wood’s fastest lap in three seasons and the quickest lap run since NEMRR was founded in 2021.
Other weekend standouts were Jacob Crossman, winning the Lightweight Supersport contest and setting a new personal best of a 1:15.4 as he prepares for his first MotoAmerica Twins Cup race at NJMP. Fletcher Rood scored a win in his very first weekend as an Amateur in the Bay Radiology Ultralight GP class. The ever popular Tim Rinaldi put in an incredible performance as he started from the very back of the Formula 40 Unlimited Amateur race to take a last-corner, last-lap victory from the clutches of John Beaulieu.
Geoffrey Bonnard won three Amateur middleweight races as he continues his march towards advancing to the expert ranks, and Superstreet rider Joshua Stewart impressed as he and fellow Super Street rider Conner McCormack stormed away from the field and ran lap times in the 1:19 & 1:20 range!
NEMRR will run round 6 of the of the 7-round series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 16-18.
