Seasoned veteran Matt Lashua took home three out of four features this past weekend. On Friday, he ventured to Legion Speedway in Wentworth, New Hampshire, where he won in the late model and placed sixth in sportsman modified. The next day, Lashua scored victories in both classes at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, Vermont. (For more on Legion Speedway, read “Legion Speedway: New Promoter Ron Giroux’s Plans”.)
In the late models, Lashua races for friend Nick Longley, who also crew chiefs on both cars Lashua races.
“The [late model] has been phenomenal all year,” Lashua, 29, of Canaan, New Hampshire, said. “I had two wins prior to [last weekend] at Bradford [Vermont]. It hadn’t been out of the top three all year [at Bear Ridge Speedway]. My first outing at Legion Speedway, I was fourth. Last week, we made adjustments, and the car was awesome.”
However, the magical night of the weekend occurred at Bear Ridge Speedway. There, Lashua ran a grueling schedule of three 30-lap modified features, with heats and the main intermingled for the late models.
“Between the 90 laps for the modified and the 20 laps for the late model, and then heat racing for the late model, we had 120 to 125 laps on Saturday,” said Lashua. “At Legion Speedway, we did 20 laps in each division plus heat races. So, there were probably 50 to 60 laps there.”
Exhausting? Sure. Seat time, though, equates to speed.
“It definitely gives you a better chance to adjust the modified to what the track’s doing in the late model,” Lashua said of the number of laps throughout the night. “Even in the late model, I could adjust the late model to what it felt like in the modified.”
In the modified, Lashua started fifth and finished second in the first segment. They inverted the field for the second one, and Lashua started 11th and finished eighth. For the final segment, they inverted again, and Lashua started sixth and finished second. The track awarded points for the finishes in each segment and Lashua accumulated the most among his competitors to win the “feature.” While he had a great weekend, he took pride in one fact for Saturday night’s performance in the modified.
“I didn’t put brand-new tires on,” said Lashua. “You got all these other guys putting on new tires for each segment. [My tires] were new a couple of weeks ago, so they weren’t junk, but they weren’t brand new. I just took them off, did some grinding, and that’s all I did all night long.”
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
