Evan Beaulieu drove his #56 Hancock Lumber Super Late Model to a third place finish in the final race of their 2021 campaign. Beaulieu’s team chose a variety of races at different tracks with different series in an effort to strengthen their team. The results have started to show in the latter half of the season, as the team has now finished with two podium efforts in the final two races of the highly competitive Granite State Pro Stocks Series (GSPSS).
“Our team has worked hard all year learning all new tracks and different procedures with each series, and it’s shown the past few weeks. I’d like to think that I have gotten better as a driver going to these new places as well and having to learn quick,” Beaulieu said after the race, “It helps when we unload and the car is fast right away as well, Robbie Harrison puts a great setup in our car and our team works hard all day to be competitive.”
While rain showers slowed the action during Sunday’s “Octoberfest” event, which had five divisions of racing headlined by the GSPSS, the team had to work quick as practice was shortened from 40 minutes to 15, followed by a ten minute round where the best lap times would determine the starting order of the race. Beaulieu wasted no time and went first fastest in the first round of practice, followed by a fourth best lap time in the second round to give the team a great starting position for the 100 lap feature event.
Typically, there is heat racing to determine the feature event, but with the threat of rain, series officials opted to get right into the feature racing. Evan started strong, moving right in the third position and battling in the top five before the race’s first yellow on lap 46 where Evan stood in the fourth position. On the restart, Beaulieu drove around the outside and slotted into third, and through various restarts throughout the rest of the race, he battled for second and held off a hard charging Corey Bubar to finish the race behind series champion Gabe Brown and Super Late Model standout Wyatt Alexander.
“I’m just really proud of this team, we’ve come on strong at the end of this season and have really shown what we are capable of, I’m sad to see this season end,” Beaulieu commented after the finish, “This season was all about going out, learning and having fun and we accomplished all of that, I’m looking forward to making improvements in the off season and coming out strong next year.”
While the team’s on track season has ended, they will be active throughout the off season in different events. On October 30th, the team will have their car in the annual “Track or Treat” event at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway from 1pm-3pm. Last year, the event drew a large crowd and the team is looking forward to participating this year. Also on the horizon is the start of the off season iRacing league that Beaulieu and many other of the top drivers in the Northeast participate in, the NEP iRacing League, which is broadcast each week on Vidane.tv. The first race is Tuesday, October 5th and runs throughout the winter months. In the meantime, the team will be hard and work on their Super Late Model getting ready for the 2022 season. Thank you to all of our team members, partners and supporters for making 2021 a great season.
Photos by Rob Branning | GSPSS