Then Vanderlaan Building Product Northeast Late Model Alliance Touring Series presented by Bernheisel Race Parts and Lazer X Chassis got back underway on August 14th after an almost twenty-three month lay off due to Covid 19. The doubleheader weekend saw great car counts with twenty-six (26) Late Models in attendance at Brighton Speedway and twenty-three (23) NLMA Late Models making the tow to the Cornwall Motor Speedway on Sunday!
With a packed pit area, Brighton Speedway enjoyed some great weather for race night. Local drivers would take on the best Late Model drivers from all over the province at the 1/3rd mile dirt oval. Heat race wins were picked up by #01 Eli Mayhew, #92 Adam Turner and #9 Bryan Sudsbury.
By process of the re-draw at intermission #55 Bradley Rayner and #87 Andrew Hennessy would start on the pole and bring the field to green for the forty-lap main event. Rayner would take the early lead but on lap five a caution for #92 Adam Turner who spun while running forth, Hennessy would move to the front of the field on the ensuing restart. On lap 7, #89 Austin King would move to the second spot to challenge Hennessy and put the pressure on, meanwhile 2019 series champion #57 Charlie Sandercock was moving forward from his 12th starting position. By lap 17 Sandercock had found his way to second position chasing down Hennessy for the lead. The two battled side by side for many of the remaining laps but in the end, it was Hennessy hanging on to capture his first ever NLMA feature event. Sandercock would finish second and Turner, who had went all the way to the back of the grid on lap five, made his way back through the field to capture the third and final podium spot!
On Sunday, teams would make the two-and-a-half-hour trip east to the Cornwall Motor Speedway, a track the series has visited annually since its inception. Sunny skies and a packed house welcomed the NLMA drivers for round two of the 2021 season. Heat race winners were #92 Adam Turner, #89 Austin King and #87 Andrew Hennessy.
Top nine positions in the feature were again set by the intermission re-draw with #92 Adam Turner drawing the pole position and the #0 John Pinsonneault lining up to his outside for the 35-lap feature. Turner would take off to an early lead and looked strong out front of the and being chased down by #89 of King and #87 Hennessy. On lap ten, Turner would make a rare mistake and spin in turns three and four while passing lapped traffic. On the ensuing restart, King would grab the lead for one lap before Hennessy would make his way into the lead on lap eleven. The two would stay in positions one and two until a lap twenty-nine caution as #15 Tim Gillespie and # 311 of Sam Pennacchio got together in turns three and four. On what would turn out to be the final restart of the night, Hennessy would maintain the lead but it was Charlie Sandercock making moves around the high side that would make the biggest jump going from sixth position two second in just two laps to try and chase down Hennessy. Hennessy would hold on for his second feature in as many nights and with Sandercock rounding out second and King securing his first podium finish of the season.
The next event for the Vanderlaan Building Product Northeast Late Model Alliance Touring Series presented by Bernheisel Race Parts and Lazer X Chassis will be Sunday August 29th at Humberstone Speedway for the Pete Cosco Memorial paying $1,517.00 to win. Check out www.humberstonespeedway.com for complete details.