The GSPSS hopes to become a viable and cost-effective alternative to either the American Canadian Tour or the Pro All-Star Series.
Bobby Cabral and his team celebrate the inaugural Granite State Pro Stock Series championship.If the Granite State Pro Stock Series continues down this same path, the Northeast racing scene will have another viable option for racers looking to do more than just compete at their weekly short track.
Last Saturday's Vampire 100 at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H., brought the first season of the GSPSS - which falls under the same umbrella as the Valenti Modified Racing Series - to a great conclusion. Nineteen cars showed up as the series crowned its first champion.
That inaugural champion, Bobby Cabral, is the perfect example of the type of racer the GSPSS aspires to attract more of in 2013 and beyond.
"When we started off the year this year, we were just going to run a few races to support the series and try to help the series," said Cabral, a veteran from East Kingston, N.H. "We almost won down here (at Monadnock) the first night. We were leading and spun out and came back and finished third."
Cabral had such a good first experience that he came back for the other four.
"We won at Hudson Speedway, which is kind of like my home track,"Cabral continued. "We just ended up running all the races and had a complete blast with these guys, that's for sure."
In 2013, the schedule will bump up from five races to an expected 12, as series president Mike Parks revealed prior to last weekend's race. Parks doesn't just serve as the GSPSS president, he also is one of its competitors.
Parks and everyone else involved with the series hopes that a spaced-out schedule, with multiple races at a handful of venues within close proximity of everyone's home base, will make the GSPSS a viable and cost-effective alternative to either the American Canadian Tour or the Pro All-Star Series.
"The series is doing well for itself. I firmly believe it's going to survive," said Belchertown's Barry Gray, who won the Monadnock race by leading the last 71 laps. "We had 19 cars tonight, so that's a good car count with the economy the way it is.
"It's fun. They're all long races. I like the long races, because you usually get to pace yourself. When you start up front, you've got to set your pace."
Gray benefited greatly from the length of the last race, as well as the rule that only laps run under the green flag count. Gray was involved in an incident on lap 54 but was able to retain the lead because the running order reverted to what it was on the last completed lap.
Otherwise, Gray would have lost the lead at that point, forcing him to carve his way back through the field. He drew the third starting spot in a random draw after winning his heat race, which is another interesting thing about the series. The top four finishers in each heat pull a new position for the feature, to add drama to the lineup, while the rest of the field lines up in order of heat finish.
"It's a great division for these Pro Stocks to run," Gray said. "When we were running here (on a weekly basis at Monadnock), there weren't enough cars, so we needed to do something to keep the division alive."
Eventual race winner Barry Gray passes Jake Vanada for the lead during the Halloween Vampire 100 at Monadnock Speedway. The GSPSS keeps the weekend warrior mentality alive. Cabral, for instance, had not run full-time in seven years, but he saw what this new circuit had to offer and decided to take on the challenge.
"Once or twice a month is enough, for me anyways," Cabral said. "I've been racing since 1980. It's a nice deal if you can race once or twice a month instead of going every week, you know?"
Cabral credits - and I'm sure the other drivers would, too - the dedication of Monadnock Speedway owner Larry Cirillo and other track owners and promoters on the circuit. Without them, the GSPSS would be nothing but a concept.
"You've got to give Larry Cirillo a plug for giving us the opportunity to race up here," Cabral said. "He's one of the guys who's really supported the tour heavily. That's pretty good when you get a guy like him and a guy like Bob Webber, who owns Star and Hudson speedways. They've both been huge supporters of this series."
Jason Remillard can be reached at jremillard@repub.com