Rookie Chris McKinstry of East Thetford, VT grabbed his second NEMST victory of the season in dramatic fashion by only 1 inch over Tim Boyle. McKinstry started deep in the field in 15th place but rallied to the front by lap 10.
Early race action saw Tim Collins lead the first lap but that was short lived as the flyin’ Scirocco of Loren Smith overtook Collins on lap 2 where he lead all the way until the halfway point of the event. On lap 8 McKinstry poked his Mustang out in front of all the other competitors to bring the field back around to the stripe. On lap 10 there was contact on the backstretch between Tim Boyle and Loren Smith, that sent Smith into the wall causing some suspension damage ending the night for the 41 car. On the restart McKinstry showed the way but Boyle was fighting hard on the outside and pulled even down every straightaway.
While flagman Jordan Harnish showed the field the white flag Boyle made one last charge on the outside of McKinstry. McKinstry pushed high through turns 3 and 4 and it was a drag race down the front straight. McKinstry was ahead out of the corner but Boyle made a strong run to come dead even with the 8 car at the line. The winner was determined Chris McKinstry in the Koloski Plumbing and Heating Ford after tour and track officials reviewed still and video cameras of the finish.
Later on in the evening the NEMST and Thompson mini stocks were combined for the first ever Mini Stock Challenge. After a tough battle between tour and Thompson regulars Chris McKinstry pulled a modified style switchover to take the lead from Thompson regular Jeff Moffat. McKinstry showed that he was the fastest mini stock in the northeast by winning both features at Thompson International Speedway.
1. Chris McKinstry
2. Tim Boyle
3. Emerson Cayer
4. Scott Michalski
5. Joe Kendall
6. Ian Brew
7. Roger Ducharme
8. Bill Leonard
9. Tim Collins
10. Bruce Knowles
11. Don Soucy
12. Mark Caise
13. Robert O’Connell
14. Joe Turner
15. Loren Smith
16. Billy Osborne
DNS Randy Churchill