As the North East Mini Stock Tour rolls into Oxford Plains Speedway on June 27 for their ACT/NEMST special event the touring mini stocks will have the 3^rd Annual NEMST Homecoming Race. For the past two seasons the NEMST has held their homecoming event at Wiscasset Speedway as that was the only Maine date on the schedule, however for the 2015 season the state of Maine will host 3 events in the months of May, June, and August.

 Along the lines of previous years the Homecoming Event will feature an increased payout for the top 5 positions with $750 to win, and $500, $400, $300, $200 for the remaining top 5 positions. The feature event will also run 50 laps with a 30 car starting field. “Bringing the NEMST to Oxford, my home track, and being able to offer this extended purse once again is such an honor. I want the teams to enjoy OPS as much as I have!” said NEMST Promoter Bob Guptill.

 The past two Homecoming events have been won by New Hampshire’s Toby Wells during his dominant NEMST seasons, however the Maine competitors have been hot on his heels and ready to regain their state during the 2015 season. The increase in Maine events have made a lot of northern New England teams take another look at the NEMST for 2015 competition.

 The North East Mini Stock Tour continues its show season in Marlborough, MA for The Racer’s Expo on February 6 and 7. The 2015 season kicks off on Sunday April 12 at the Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH. Please visit www.northeastministocktour.com for additional schedule and event information.

The upcoming 2015 season, and 7^th in NEMST history, continues to offer something for everyone in the new year. Following announcements of two dates at the historic Oxford Plains Speedway and a brand new event at the 1.7 mile Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Road Course the Texas Roadhouse North East Mini Stock Tour is returning to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, ME. The announcement brings current drivers back to a facility that has been missed over the past 3 tour seasons.

 On May 2^nd with the Pro All Stars Series the NEMST will run a 50 lap feature on one of the nicest facilities in New England. “Beech Ridge is one of the hardest tracks on the equipment and drivers of the NEMST. A win at Beech Ridge ranks you in the top tier of drivers in New England. For a team to build and compete well at Beech Ridge it definitely shows the caliber of competition on the track” said promoter Bob Guptill.

 Adding Beech Ridge to the 2015 schedule will mark the third event in Maine, the home state of the North East Mini Stock Tour. In addition to two dates at Oxford Plains Speedway including one during the famed Oxford 250 weekend, 2015 will be a sure bet for pine tree state teams to increase their level of competition by adding new tour-style events.

 For more information about the NEMST including its schedule, sponsors, and up-to-the-minute news check out the website at www.northeastministocktour.com or via facebook at facebook.com/neministocktour 

Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park is a track rich in history along multiple facets of motorsports. In the early days cars pushed the limits along the first paved oval in the nation and later on along a road course the had been nearly forgotten until 2013. In 2013 TSMP officials announced that the road course of yesteryear would be reconstructed along the premier details that TSMP is known for.

 In 2014 numerous road course series and clubs attended the facility posting videos and results for many people to dream about racing on such a magnificent track. No oval track cars competed on the course that ran along the pit area pavement of the oval primary design.

 The 2015 season continues to shape up as the best yet for the 7^th year entry level series. Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park’s 1.7 mile road course will host the thunderous mini stocks on September 12. The race will be the first time oval stock cars compete on the newly constructed road course. Along the construction timeline of TSMP’s road course teams continually asked about the NEMST competing along the brand new track. It never became more apparent until our visit to this past years World Series that really made the drivers ask more and more about holding an event at the facility.

 Since 2012 the North East Mini Stock Tour has ran on the 1.6 mile road course at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “Car counts have been strong and the competitors love our yearly visits to the road course for the challenge of being the king of the road course.” Said promoter Bob Guptill. “Given the rich history of road racing and stock car tradition at Thompson, it made sense to Lou and I to this event together. We’re excited to showcase some of the northeast’s finest grassroots racing series.” Said Josh Vanada from TSMP.

 The North East Mini Stock Tour kicks off its stock car season on April 12 at Lee USA Speedway. For more information about the NEMST please visit www.northeastministocktour.com or for TSMP www.thompsonspeedway.com 

Over the past few seasons many new teams have joined the North East Mini Stock Tour, mixing well with the veterans that have been with us from the early seasons. It is by far the most satisfying feeling seeing different makes and models of cars from all over an entire region competing with one another and continuing to raise the bar week after week and year after year.

 Since the inception of the NEMST is has been designed and planned to be By Racers, For Racers. Many people will see numerous areas within the rule books season after season that leave many levels of interpretation up to the teams running. This is not considered cheating, or bending, or trying to ‘pull the wool’ over technical officials eyes.

 Multiple teams have taken advantage of these ‘Gray Areas’ to some extent. Some teams more than others. We, the officials of the NEMST, encourage teams to take advantage of holes in the rules and areas that are less defined than others. Many series and facilities often say “If it is not IN the rules then don’t do IT”. For the most part that is not our feeling along the lines of the NEMST. We want teams to research, experiment, and ‘own’ their cars as well as their performance. By taking advantage of these gray areas teams can gain valuable tenths off of their lap times at most tracks.

 Please verify with NEMST Officials by phone, text, or email that the areas being used are legal and that modifications within one sections gray areas do not make cars illegal from other sections of the rule book.

 We appreciate everyone’s support through the seasons that have been finished so far as well as in the future. The NEMST is in great standing and continues its steady growth year after year due to the best teams, fans, and drivers the northeast has to offer!

The Pine Tree State is where it all started for the North East Mini Stock Tour back in 2008 with a vision by founder Bob Guptill to have a group of the best mini stock drivers in the region traveling to the best facilities for a yearly series. Entering the tours 7^th season only a handful of races have been held in Maine, Guptill’s home state, but there will be two Maine events in 2015!

 “Having races in Maine has always been great to expose the best of Northern New England with the best coming out of New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Bringing the tour to Oxford in 2015 on some of the biggest weekends is just incredible. We are honored to be part of ACT’s return to Oxford and on the Legendary 250 weekend!” Said NEMST Promoter Bob Guptill. NEMST’s Maine events have always held great car counts and fierce competition dating back to the early days of the touring series. Names like Greenleaf, Trombley, Audet, Mason, and Collins have always been right on the heels of the Cayers, Wells, Baxters, and Kings. Putting both of these events on will truly show us the best competitors in New England.

 On Saturday June 27 the NEMST will make its first visit to Oxford Plains Speedway to join in with the ACT Tour for their first standalone event at the track since being purchased by PASS president Tom Mayberry. For the second visit of the season the NEMST will visit during Oxford’s biggest week, the Oxford 250 Weekend, to put on a 50 lap main event on Saturday night preceding the 42^nd Annual 250 lap Pro Stock National Event.

 Formerly the NEMST has had one scheduled event at Oxford but rain forced the cancellation of that event late in the 2011 season. The return to Oxford should provide some of the largest fields NEMST competitors have ever seen. Please stay tuned to the NEMST facebook page and website for additional schedule information as it comes available.

For the first in the Texas Roadhouse North East Mini Stock Tour history the regular season closed out at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park’s World Series. Thirty-Two tour style mini stocks showed up for the Inaugural event. Two time champion Emerson Cayer entered the event 72 points behind friend and point leader Toby Wells. The closest battle within the points happened to be for the 3^rd spot and Rookie of the Year. Nick Anderson and Justin Larsen were only separated by a mere 3 points.

 On Friday evening teams lined up and ran their heat races with an impressive showing from Justin King moving from last to first in only 3 laps to win his heat. Larsen and Wells would also win their respective heat races in dominating fashion. The 4^th year driver, King, drew an invert of 2 rows for the feature to be held on Saturday. According to NEMST procedures no current season feature winners may start in the top 10, Wells and Larsen would start 10^th and 11^th.

 On the front row it would be Nick Maniatis and Justin King to lead the field to the green flag. After a long long day with multiple rain showers the NEMST feature rolled onto the speedway at about 10:45 PM. The field thundered down the front stretch with tight 2,3, and 4 wide action all throughout the 32 car field. King broke out to the early lead but was in a dog fight with Maniatis that would soon include Thomas, Sonnhalter, and Larsen.

 Wells had clinched the NEMST Championship presented by Twisted Tea after his heat race win but would still battle for is victory in the Thirty Racewear CT Triple Crown. Thirty Racewear owner Mark Caise announced early in the season that a brand new custom firesuit would be given to any driver that could win all 3 Triple Crown events. Wells had previously won Stafford and Waterford entering the Thompson event.

 After a lap 7 caution for the stopped car of Eric Pelletier in turn 4 the field fired away once again. Maniatis would take the advantage this time with King, Thomas, and Wells battling hard behind him. Twisted Tea sponsored Desmond Skillings continued his tough luck on lap 14 as an engine grenade collecting Doug Curry into the turn 3 wall.

 The field struggled to get under way with 4 cautions in the next 2 laps taking its toll on many top 5 competitors including a spin for Justin King, the wall for Beth Adams and Nick Maniatis, and a penalty to the rear for Justin Larsen. Mitch Bombard also made hard contact with the turn 3 wall.

 The field finally got restarted on lap 16 with Toby Wells breaking out to the lead being followed by Thomas, Pete Zakarite, Justin King, and Nick Anderson to round out the top 5. Wells had an emotional victory lane celebration for his first ever championship in decades of racing everything from endures to pro stocks.

 Nick Anderson would up as Rookie of the Year by 1 point over a hard charging Justin Larsen over the final 4 laps. The top 10 in NEMST points and champions in both Triple Crowns will be honored at the year end banquet being held on November 22 in Nashua, NH. For additional NEMST information please visit www.northeastministocktour.com or check us out on Facebook!

In just a few short days the 2014 Texas Roadhouse NEMST season will come to a close. The season championship and Thirty Racewear CT Triple Crown will be decided at the regions crown jewel event, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park’s World Series. The teams have had a busy season starting 6 months ago at the road course located at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

 A legendary car count is expected for this weekend’s event. Due to increased attendance NEMST and TSMP officials have decided to increase the maximum starting field up to 36 cars. Qualifying heats will be held on Friday evening with the feature to be run on Saturday.

 Toby Wells has had an outstanding year winning 5 out of 8 races held so far this season and leading the series points by 72. Two-time champion Emerson Cayer is in the distant second position after mechanical failure at Wiscasset Speedway.  The closest battle in the top 10 is for 3^rd and Rookie of the Year which is coming down to Justin Larsen and Nick Anderson separated by only 3 points heading into the final race.

 The Thirty Racewear CT Triple Crown is a much different story. Toby Wells has won both previous events and if he can win the third he will get a brand new firesuit from Thirty Racewear. Emerson Cayer is in 2^nd only 20 points back with Nick Anderson, Justin King, and Joe Baxter very close behind.

 Thirty Racewear is the place for all of your racing apparel and promotional needs. The official clothing supplier of the NEMST also sells custom and standard firesuits, promotional products, and motorsports novelty shirts.

 Please visit the North East Mini Stock Tour on Facebook or our website at www.northeastministocktour.com for any additional information on the series finale or upcoming series information.

Another legendary event for the 2014 season of the North East Mini Stock Tour was held Saturday August 23 for the only Maine event of the Pine Tree State based series. With help from Tire King and Belly Busters Concessions the NEMST was able to increase the purse for the top 5 finishers of the event and offer a $750 to win payday!

Under cloudy skies twenty-seven tour style mini stocks entered the pit area to begin pre-inspection and registration for the nights 50 lap Main Event. The cars were split into 3 heats races and set off for their qualifying races shortly after 6:00 PM. Shawn Kimball, Justin Trombley, and Toby Wells all took home their respective heat race wins. By fortune of winning the first heat race Justin Trombley got to draw the invert for the starting lineup. Justin selected the chip marked for a 7 row invert.

 The Baxter brothers from Pascoag, RI would start on the front row after the invert with 2014 feature winners Justin Larsen, Toby Wells, and Emerson Cayer starting in the 11^th 12^th and 13^th positions by NEMST rules. On lap 2 Zach Audet blasted his Acura to the lead with George Fortin following in his tracks. On lap 6 Fortin experienced trouble out of turn 4 and hit the tire wall bringing out the second caution of the event.

 Over the next 10 circuits 3 single car spins brought out cautions for vehicles unable to refire sitting on the infield. During the short green flag runs Toby Wells made slow forward progress picking off single positions at a time lurking into the top 5. Cayer and Larsen visited the pits during cautions to fix handling and mechanical issues.

 The field would settle down and run to the 30 lap mark before slowing again for the car of Mike Mason that had spun off turn 3 after contact and hit the trees with the passenger side. Mike was ok however the car was unable to continue. The final 20 laps would go green with Wells stalking Audet. Audet had begun to lose the handle on his car and Wells made a move to the inside off of turn 2 and completed the pass entering turn 3 on lap 42. Audet would fall to fourth behind Trombley and Tim Collins on lap 46. The 2^nd and 3^rd place cars began to chase down Wells and close the gap to just 2 car lengths in the final laps.

 Wells crossed the line first just .49 seconds ahead of second place Justin Trombley. Tim Collins, Zach Audet, and Shawn Kimball would round out the top 5. Audet cause for losing the handle was a left rear tire that began to go flat around the halfway point of the event.

 The next event for the NEMST will be at Devils Bowl Speedway in West Haven, VT. The Devils Bowl event will crown the champion for the Northern Triple Crown series led by 2 time NEMST Champion Emerson Cayer. For additional event information please visit www.northeastministocktour.com or Like Us on Facebook!

For the second year in a row the NEMST will feature an increased payout to highlight its homecoming and only state of Maine appearance for the 2014 season. Wiscasset Speedway in Wiscasset, Maine will host the Texas Roadhouse North East Mini Stock Tour presented by Twisted Tea for the second year straight under new owners Richard and Vanessa Jordan.

 Tire King of Skowhegan and Belly Busters Concessions from Mechanic Falls have stepped up and provided the increased payout for the traveling mini stock series. Coming into the event the season points standings have just 12 points separating Sophomore Toby Wells and 2-time Champion Emerson Cayer. Last season the NEMST event at Wiscasset had the highest car count for any event during the season with 35 cars attempting to qualify.

 The payout for the event will feature increases for the top 5 positions.

1. $750

2. $500

3. $400

4. $300

5. $200

 Toby Wells brought down the win last season at Wiscasset kicking off a run where he would win 3 in a row. Wells has been winless since June 22 at Legion Speedway after winning 4 in a row early on this season. Justin Larsen (1) and Emerson Cayer (2) have also won features this season.  Come on down to Wiscasset this weekend to see if Wells can make it back to victory lane or if a new face will be holding the checkers!

History was made multiple times in central New Hampshire Sunday for the Texas Roadhouse North East Mini Stock Tour presented by Twisted Tea.  The largest starting field ever for the young series assembled in the infield of New Hampshire Motor Speedway over the course of the weekend. As cars arrived they went through a vigorous safety inspection to make sure the cars were prepared for the up to 130 MPH speeds they were going to run.

Sunday morning the cars rolled from pit road and began to pace around the one mile NASCAR oval housed within the NHMS facility. After 3-4 pace laps the cars were allowed to turn up the speed and start laying down fast laps. During the 30 minute practice session multiple cars pit to make adjustments and go back out to try again. The cars were running an average speed of 110 MPH around the 12* banked track.

 As noon rolled around so did the 45 European Style Qualifying Session which would have a live pit road and a maximum of 20 cars on the track at one time. Cars made longer runs early on to check and see if fuel would be an issue during the 25 lap scheduled feature later on. Justin Larsen set a fast time early of 36.238 seconds which held on until about 3 minutes remaining in the session. Multiple cars including Toby Wells came in the pits and bolted on fresh tires as well as taping up the nose of the cars for maximum downforce. Wells was able to snipe Larsen’s time with a 36.177.

 The field was set and rolled onto the track at 5:15 PM for a 36 car 25 lap Main Event of the day. Justin Larsen and Nick Maniatis would lead the field down to the green flag starting the legendary event. Maniatis would break to the early lead but Larsen was able to fight back with 2 laps and take back over the top spot. A caution on lap 3 for the stalled car of Jake Rheaume of the backstretch reset the field for another attempt at a two by two start.

 On the restart Maniatis and Larsen once again raced side by side for 2 laps until Larsen got the jump and tried to run away. Over the next 10 laps Wells would be on a mission picking off cars one by one on his way towards the front. Larsen would build a 20 car length lead over Maniatis. Wells took over the number 2 spot with 11 circuits remaining and began to chase down Larsen. It was noticeable Wells was lacking horsepower on the straights and had to keep his momentum through the corners approaching lapped traffic.

 With 4 laps remaining Wells caught Larsen and they both began negotiating traffic. Larsen slid his line slightly in front of Wells to hold off the 4-time 2014 winner and point leader. Larsen used a lapped car for a pick once and fought off a charge from Wells once high and once low. Coming out of turn 4 on the final lap Larsen edged Wells by .307 seconds to take down his first NEMST victory. Nick Maniatis, Justin King, and Emerson Cayer rounded out the top 5 for the Inaugural Magic Mile event.

A very emotional victory lane showed Larsen joined with family, friends, and fellow competitors to celebrate his victory on the largest oval racing facility in New England. Please join the NEMST for their next event at Wiscasset Speedway on August 23^rd. The Wiscasset event is the NEMST Homecoming and the only stop in the Pine Tree State for the 2014 series. A $750 to win and $3500 overall payout will be sure to attract cars from all over New England to Maine’s Fastest Oval! Check out www.northeastministocktour.com for additional information or Like the Facebook page for the most up to the minute updates!

 NHMS Bonus Awards:

Thirty Racewear Fastest Qualifier: Toby Wells (36.177s)

RH2Way Longest Traveler: Gene Purvis (353mi)

ARBodies Best Appearing Car: 2ME Rob Greenleaf

Speedway Motors Worst Appearing Car: 10CT Mitch Bombard

Mike Harnish Most Positions Gained: 2X Butch Keene

Stan Mertz Highest Non-tour Car: 9 George Fortin

Stan Mertz Dedication Awards: Erica Page, Beth Adams, Bruce Knowles, Jake Rheaume

Sunoco Race Fuels Winners Circle: Justin Larsen

Twisted Tea Brew of the Race: Desmond Skillings