SEEKONK, Mass. — After rain forced the postponement of the original June date, the American-Canadian Tour returned to Seekonk, Massachusetts for the 48th Spring Green 123.
With a powerhouse group of drivers flooding the pit area, and the season entering its apex, the on track action kept fans on the edge of their seats at the Concrete Palace as these Northeast pilots put on a show that proves once again that Seekonk Speedway is the Action Track of the East.
After powering through from the back of heat three to claim a +5 handicap, Joey Polewarczyk was wedged between rookies Andrew Molleur, on his outside, and Tanner Woodard at his rear under the initial green flag start. While Pole was quick on the inside, it was the Shelton, Connecticut rookie-of-the-year leader who put the hammer down to lead lap two from his outside starting spot with Connor Souza and Woodard in tow.
The first caution flag would fly on lap 19 for the spinning Mike Brightman with an ill-handling machine to close up the field. Molleur chose the outside restart lane above Pole and again rocketed away with the lead before Pole took the hint and jumped to the outside fast-lane and overtook Molleur to lead with 100 laps left ahead. Derek Gluchacki kept up a lightning pace at the onset, methodically moving himself into third by lap 35 from his tenth-place starting spot and set himself up to battle Molleur for second before a crossed-up mess in turn two saw Seekonk Speedway regulars Ryan Vanasse, Richie Murray and Vinny Arrenegado slam-bang across the racetrack and head pit-side for the night.
Pole again took the lead over Molleur on the lap 45 restart but as the field stretched out and settled in, the real battle was for eighth. Seekonk top dogs Jacob ‘Rowdy’ Burns and Mark Jenison fought nose-to-tail and side-by-side with top touring pilots Tom Carey III and Gabe Brown. Over twenty circuits the four battled all across the Seekonk quarter-mile, often three-wide in a thrilling showdown of gutsy skill and near misses.
Two more quick-spin cautions set up continued drag races between Pole and Molleur as Gluchacki kept up the pace in third with Woodard also staying within striking distance.
A hard wreck for Tom Carey III against the frontstretch wall on lap 102 ruined an up and down day for the Brookside Equipment team. For the first time of the night Gluchacki paced a strong-enough restart to clear Molleur and set his sights on Pole. Waiting for the opportune time to strike, Molleur and Woodard raced side-by-side behind waiting for a lucky break.
One final caution with three laps to go set up a final showdown among the top four. While the No. 03MA and No. 97NH remained side-by-side at the onset, Pole put the Ford power down and took the 0.631-second lead to claim his second Spring Green victory to join Scott Payea as the only repeat American-Canadian Tour winners at Seekonk Speedway. Gluchacki held on for second with Woodard getting the nine-one-thousands of a second edge over Molleur at the line to take third. Brown completed the top-five.