Zachem Takes Title In Style
The final race of the season for the Nelcar Legends tour was held during one of the biggest racing weekends in New England , the PASS 300 weekend at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Going into the race, Max Zachem had the championship basically locked up, but that wasn't going to keep him from going for the win, along with the 20 other drivers in the line up.
After a six hour rain delay, the field for the first heat took to the track and it was the 48 of rookie Kendall Curit leading the field to the green flag. He got a good start, but the 38 of Bobby Timmons got the lead on the outside. The 20 car of Max Zachem came to the lead in a hurry though, as he took the lead and took the win in the 10 lap heat race in front of Timmons and Curit.
The second heat race was up next, and the action started right away as the 39 of former champion Doug Coombs spun after contact with his car owner in the 399, Bob Weymouth. Once the field settled in it was all Weymouth at the front as he took the heat win while another former champion, Jacob Dore in the 64X finished second and Aaron Boucher, fresh off his first win a few weeks ago, finished third.
Along with being the biggest race of the season, it was also the longest. 50 long and grueling laps in the already hard to drive cars with no power steering, was going to be a difficult task for the drivers and on their equipment. When the green flag flew, Zachem took off with Weymouth right behind him. The top five broke away from the rest of the field a bit while there was racing all over the track. The first caution flew on lap eight when the 72 of Kevin Hutchens and the 21 of Chris Sargent made contact in turn one. Both were able to continue as Zachem took the green flag once again and broke away from the field. After a long green flag run, the caution flew again as the 22 of Forest Boucher, having a great run in the top five all night, hit the wall off turn two after contact with the 70 of Tylar Braunschweig, ending his night early..
As a heavy fog set on the track, Weymouth and Zachem were showing why they are considered the two best of the tour while they had a stranglehold on the rest of the field as they fought back and forth for the race lead. Coming to the closing stages of the race, Zachem had the lead when the green flew again. After only a few laps, the 19 of Jim Manchester and the 33 of Alan Smith made contact going into turn one, sending Smith's car over the side of Manchester's and ending his night early. After the cleanup, it was set to be a three lap dash to the finish, and Zachem got a great restart as he lead the field around. He got about a three car length lead while Dore was fighting a very loose racecar behind him with pressure from Timmons and Weymouth . When the checkered flag flew, Zachem rolled across the line first to take the 2009 championship in style. Timmons was able to finish second, while Weymouth finished third. Dore was able to hold on for fourth while the 56 of Evan Beaulieu quietly made his way through the field after starting 13th to finish in the fifth spot.
At the conclusion of the race, the racing on the track was more than expected as the whole race had exciting points in it. It was only fitting however, that the kid who has dominated the season, end it while being on top. While the tour season is over however, the series is still active as they will be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this coming weekend for the Nascar Cup weekend, this being their third time to the track. For more info, news and points, visit Nelcar.net