10/22/2012
Wayne Helliwell Jr
Win Some Lose Some...
Racing in the month of October is the time of year that Wayne Helliwell Jr. and the Bruce Bernhardt Motorsports team look forward to each season. It’s a time that brings no added pressure and they can lay it all on the line and just have fun.
The team headed to Groveton, New Hampshire’s Riverside Speedway for first running of the $5,000 to win Fall Brawl 200. A track in which the Helliwell and Bernhardt team have seen victory lane in the past, Winning the “Clash of the Titans” race in 2009. Fresh off claiming the 2012 American Canadian Tour Championship the Ekeys-4-Cars, Unique Ford Fusion was posed for more success.
Helliwell started on the pole of the second heat race with former Riverside Speedway track champion Randy Potter to his outside. He wasted little time getting out front as he would take the win by 3 car lengths. A random draw of the top four finishers from each of the three heat races would set the lineup for 200 lap main event. Helliwell would roll from the 5th starting position in the 22 car field.
Moving into the second position by lap 12, Helliwell would ride there for most the race. Battling a tight handling condition during the first 100 laps he could edge ahead on restarts over Derek Ming, only to see the bottom lane prevail a few laps later. Repeated restarts saw the 27NH get the jump and fallback in line. After a mandatory fuel stop at the halfway point Helliwell was content to ride and wait for the race to unfold. A caution with 11 laps to set up a stirring battle between Maine’s Ben Ashline for win.
A side-by-side battle for 8 laps with Helliwell on the outside and Ashline on the inside would come to an end with 2 laps to go as the pair made contact several times. Running way up the track, the third place car of Derrick O’Donnell took advantage of the open race track on the bottom lane and drove by both cars to go on and record the $5,000 payday. Helliwell was left trying to avoid the backstretch wall and the top of the racetrack; he would take home a 7th place finish.
Helliwell was quick to point out after the race that there is no need to race like that, but found a positive in racing for another win. “Neither of us won the race, [referring to Ben Ashline]. I’m glad the 60 car (O’Donnell) got the win. I would have done the same thing he did. It should have been between Ben [Ashline] and I, but when the kid runs into you door lap after lap and runs us into the third groove the guy in 3rd deserves to win. I had 15 [Ashline] beat and I think he knew that. It is what it is. After the year we have had… to show up race after race and contend for wins is all you can ask for. We had a competitive car today but could have been better… The car hated the tires we put on it and it took me most of the race to learn the line to make up for it. You can’t win them all.”
The weekend wasn’t over from there; an early Sunday morning decision to head to the teams home track of Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH had them busy in the Pelham NH race shop at 7:30am. As they swapped setups in the same car used in Groveton, NH the day before, the Bernhardt Motorsports team arrived at the New Hampshire oval after the days action was already under way for the other divisions.
Helliwell would start 18th, shotgun on the field for the 50 lap Oktoberfest late model race. A race in which he also won a year ago. With no practice laps or qualifying on the car, it was show up and go straight into the feature event. With a couple of warm up laps and caution flag on lap one, Helliwell ducked into the pit area for a chassis adjustment. Barely making it back out before the green flag waved on the restart, he was in turn one when the field took the green flag out of turn 4.
Wasting no time at all, in 3 laps he caught the field and started his charge to the front. A caution on lap 6 had the 27NH car restart 14th. Inside, outside wherever there was an open lane Helliwell filled it. By lap 12 he was up to 8th, lap 18 he battled to the outside of Eddie MacDonald for the 3rd position. Tracking down the front runners on lap 26 he would rocket to lead. As he hit lap traffic with 10 laps remaining his lead was by more than half a straightaway. Helliwell would go on to record his 22nd victory of the season over Eddie MacDonald and Tyler Fiscus.
“That’s the most fun I’ve had all year”, said Helliwell in victory lane. “To come here with no laps on the car and do that, is so awesome. Of course we know this track… but you have to know so much about your [race] car to do this. We came here on a new setup, something we have never run here and really only made one small adjustment. The car was tight after we ran those couple of laps, then it was a rocket ship for just long enough. It was a good 50 lap car. If that was a long distance 150 lap race it wouldn’t have worked out.”
Helliwell was most proud of where the team is and the year they have been able to put together. “We have learned so much and I’m so proud of this team, and everyone’s hard work. Today shows where we are with our program, there are so many small details you have to know about a car to just race green like that. Every time we pull into a track we are trying something to get better. We are all tired but really don’t want this year to end… it’s been incredible.
Helliwell and the Bernhardt Motorsports team don’t have to worry about the season ending yet. They will head to Thunder Road Speedbowl in Barre, VT for the third attempt at the 50th running of the famous Milk Bowl this coming Sunday. Helliwell is scheduled to start from the 22nd position in his attempt to take home a possible $60,000+ payday if he is able to win all three segments of the race. More information can be found a http://acttour.com/
Wayne and Bruce would like to thank the following partners for their help in making 2012 an overwhelming success. - EKeys-4-Cars / Unique Ford / Bernhardt Automotive / A Handy Company / DTB Tax / C&M Distributing / Carbonneau Insulation Co / Hillside Country Store / IICCEEE / Ford Racing / Schoenfeld Headers / Sunoco Race Fuels / The Brake Man / Joes Racing Products
Follow Wayne:
https://www.waynehelliwelljr.com
https://www.facebook.com/WayneHelliwellJr
https://twitter.com/#!/WayneHelliwell
Article Credit: Jason Lubin
Submitted By: Jason Lubin
