This past weekend was a long one for the 56 Racing team of Evan and Todd Beaulieu. With three nights of racing, it showed how determined this team truly is in making their cars (or karts) better each time they hit the track. The first race was Thursday night, the opener for the popular Thursday Night Thunder (TNT) Series.

Throughout practice, Evan knew he had a strong car, since they had opened the season up with a solid third place run at Beech Ridge earlier this spring. When the green flag flew for the 25 lap feature race, Evan came from the 14th starting spot. Coming down the backstretch during the first lap, the 10 of Ed Getty and the 87 of Anthony Pagliarulo made contact going into turn three, and Evan had to go through the dirt off the track to avoid the mess. When the cars were realigned Evan had been dropped to the 16th starting spot. The race ran green the rest of the way, as Evan used a mix of passes on the outside and on the inside to make his way through the field and finish in the sixth position. Another solid run for the 56 team, coming from the rear of the field.

On Friday night, the team headed up to where it all began, the Richmond Karting Speedway in Richmond, Maine for the second race of the TGIF Series. Entering the race, Evan was the only champ kart in a field full of rocker cage karts. They struggled early on practice, but with Todd Beaulieu turning the wrenches, and with the assistance of Jeff Martel, they got the kart going better each run. In the heat race, the team was way off and Evan had a hard time holding the inside of the track, relegating him a sixth place run. They made many changes to get the kart ready for the feature, and the kart came alive.

Coming from the rear of the field, Evan started making his moves right away in the 35 lap feature. He grabbed third on the sixth lap and was making his way towards the front. On lap fifteen however, Evan was going for the lead when the 70 of Tommy Stilphen turned down the track into Evan’s right front, spinning both out and collecting the 3 of Almon Evans and the 4 of Brandon Barker. Evan once again had to come from the rear. The rest of the race was a wreckfest, but Evan was able to make his way back to the front with the damage from the wreck, ending up in third place. Evan now leads the TGIF Series points.

That wouldn’t be the only time that Evan would have to drive a wrecked race car this weekend. As the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour made an appearance alongside the PASS Tour at Unity Raceway last Sunday, the race was set to be another wild one. The show was delayed for three hours due to torrential downpours and thunderstorms, but once it stopped, the track was dried quickly and racing was underway.

Evan once again had to come from the rear in the heat race, and would work his way to third place on the slick Unity Raceway behind the 33 of Alan Smith and the 20 of Max Zachem. Next up was the feature race, and Evan was coming from the fifth place starting spot. When the green flew, Evan was quickly shuffled back to the eighth spot as there was no grip on the bottom groove and Evan had to wait for a hole to open up on the outside. The first caution came out on lap eight for a spin by Smith, moving Evan back to the bottom on the restart, however when the green flag flew, Zachem and the 31 of Bobby Timmons got together and Evan rammed the back of Zachem’s car, resulting in front end damage on the 56 car.

Evan pulled in and with the help of Mike Ramsey, the Curit crew, Richard Moody Racing and many others, they got the front end fixed enough so he could get back on the track without losing a lap. The car’s handling was off since the wreck, but Evan survived many of the wild moments in the race, and through being patient and taking what was given to him, he moved up to finish third at the finish. Another solid run.

Evan now moves to within 12 points of points leader and Unity winner, Bob Weymouth. He will look to close the gap this Thursday night at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway for round two of Thursday Night Thunder. After the races there, Evan and Todd will be running the Legends Car booth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway during Nascar weekend, with the 56 car being shown right out front. Come out to the track and support team 56.

Photos By Chris Roy; RPM Photography
 

After another solid run two weeks ago at Unity Raceway, which resulted in a second place finish, team 56 with Evan and Todd Beaulieu were heading into the third race of the 2010 season tied for the points lead with fellow competitor Bobby Timmons. After the roller coaster that was the 2009 season, the team was very pleased with their results so far and how fast they had gotten the 56 car to go. During practice the team was scuffing up some tires to get ready for the opening night of Thursday Thunder at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, where they would once again have to come from the rear. When the field went out for the heat race, Evan wasn’t entirely sure what the old pair of right side tires was going to do.

When the field got lined up for their heats, the track called them off due to technical difficulties with the backstretch lights. The night would be run with features only, leaving the team clueless going into the feature. When the green flag flew, Evan was coming from the 11th starting position in the field. On the start, the inside lane did not go, leaving Evan to lose a few spots as tried to get to the outside, the preferred groove at Unity. When he finally did, he started to make his charge towards the front of the field, using both the inside line and outside to make his way through the traffic. He had just climbed into the third spot when the caution came out on lap nine.

On the restart, Evan was just behind the 72 of Kevin Hutchens, and to his outside was Timmons. When the field went green once again, Timmons was able to get a jump and take the lead, leaving Evan and Kevin to duel it out for the second spot. Evan kept getting runs on Hutchens, but was unable to pull off the pass and had to settle for third, keeping his record of top threes in each of the Amsoil Nelcar Legends Tour races this season.

“We were way too loose on those old tires, but we did good for not knowing what the car was going to do in the feature,” Evan explained after the race, “Me and Kevin ran each other real hard but real clean and I can’t complain with another top three finish, we’ll take this and move on to Beech Ridge this Thursday.”

Thursday night will be the opening night of Thursday Night Thunder at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, and with both Beaulieu and Timmons, separated now by just six points, coming from the rear of the field, it should be a very exciting show. After that, Evan will be racing the kart again in the TGIF Series at Richmond Karting Speedway, and will be back in the Legends Car on Sunday at Unity Raceway for the second of the PASS tour Legends races. Come out to the track and support Evan Beaulieu and team 56!

Photos By Chris Roy; RPM Photography
 

Evan Finishes Sixth In First Road Race

   This past weekend was that of old and new for the 56 racing team.  Evan Beaulieu, already a two time champion at Richmond Karting Speedway, was returning to the kart track once again to show his hand in the Friday Night TGIF Series.  On Sunday, Evan was one of the select 16 drivers to compete in the first ever Legends Car race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

            The team showed up to Richmond Karting Speedway with the Inferno Champ Kart.  The kart never was that great at Richmond, only getting one win in the 2007 campaign, but crew chief Todd Beaulieu was learning more and more about the kart’s unique design in the indoor karting events, and they hit on a setup that worked.  The night did not have a heat race, and when the karts went out on the track, Evan rolled off sixth.  When the race went green Evan had to fight his way to the front, and lost contact with the top four drivers.  However, around halfway, the 70 of Tommy Stilphen and the 11 of Tyler King got together and spun, bringing out the caution and bringing Evan closer to the front in third place.  When the green flag came back out, Evan was on the hunt for the race leader, the 4 of Brandon Barker.  Those two and the 1 of Willie Pelotte put on a great show, running nose to tail and racing each other hard, but clean, and Evan ended up in third place.  He was not disappointed however, as the team made great gains, and plan on attending the next TGIF Series race.

            Sunday was the big day though.  For two years, Evan’s dad Todd was working hard to get the Legends at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and on Sunday it finally happened.  The team did not want to jeopardize their oval setup though, so they kept the car the way it was from Beech Ridge, with minor tire pressure adjustments, to run the road course.  It was Evan’s first time on a road course and he quickly adapted to the new challenge, posting the seventh fastest time in practice, putting him seventh in the feature lineup.  When the green flag flew, Evan dropped back to ninth place coming out of the first corners, and had ground to make up.  When the first and only caution came out on lap seven of the 15 lap feature, he was already back to seventh looking for more.  When the green flew again, Evan maintained seventh.  Doing about 110 miles per hour down the front straightaway on the course, Evan fought the 15 of Jim Mayrand hard for the sixth spot, and Evan was able to get it when the race finished.

            “It was a lot of fun, definitely different, we were a much better car than sixth, I’d say fourth, but we lost a lot of track position and that’s everything when you come to these road races,” Evan concluded after the race, “I can’t wait to come back here now with the experience we have.

            Another successful weekend for team 56, as they are already having a better year than last.  Evan is currently sitting third in the Nelcar points standings, just four points out of first place.  The next race for the team will be at Unity Raceway on May 29^th.  They were very successful at Unity last year, showing many great runs with top five’s in almost all of their races.  Come to the track and support team 56.

Photos By Chris Roy

 Providence, RI - With the success of the first Providence Indoor Show, the 56 crew were making the trip back down with hope of competing again this time around. The driver, Evan Beaulieu, and his crew chief Todd Beaulieu, were being helped this weekend by Jeff Martel, Joe Lovejoy, and Bobby Timmons. With 42 karts on the sign up list, and only 25 karts making the feature each night, just making the show would be a feat in itself.

When they arrived on Friday, they got the kart ready to practice and were fast through the first practice. During the second practice, they fell off the map, with the 56 kart very slow on the track and not much better through the final practice, still a second and a half off the pace. However, the crew made some changes to the kart before qualifying, and found themselves right back where they needed to be.

Evan would line up sixth for the third heat race. The top six would make the show. Once the shuffling ended in the first few laps, Evan found himself racing for position with Greg Brehio, when the two made contact going into turn three, leaving Evan in the guardrail and into the consolation race. Evan was coming from the rear in the consi, and only the top three made the show. On the second lap, Evan was drove to the inside guardrail by the 88 kart, leaving him on the concrete barrier, and little hope of continuing. When officials lifted Evan’s down though, he put his wheel back in place, told the officials he could still drive, and off he went. When the consi finished, Evan drove his way to the third spot, and made the feature.

When the feature went green, Evan was coming from the 24th starting position out of 25 karts. While making his way through the field, he dodged many of the wrecks that would plague the first half of the race. After a little bit of a green flag run, Evan found himself about midpack when a wreck going down the backstretch occurred, Evan darted for the inside and had the wreck cleared until the 64 of Mike Sullivan got spun right in his tracks, the two made contact, leaving Evan’s nose crunched in enough to leave the throttle sticking. He got the throttle back out though, and coasted the kart around for the rest of the race to finish in 9th.

Saturday came and the crew was hopeful for a better night than the one before. In practice they were still one of the more fast karts on the track, and would start from the second spot in the heat race, with once again only the top six making the field. On the start Evan got a good jump, but going into turn one, the 44 of Chris Daley made contact with him, leaving Evan dropping back to sixth and trying to hold on. A late race caution set Evan on the outside, and dropping to seventh once the field went green, and out of the show. However, on the final lap, Evan got under the 20 kart of Dale Friendly, and made it stick, grabbing the sixth spot and making the feature.

The second feature wasn’t going to be much nicer to Evan, starting from the 18th starting spot. When the green flew Evan saw himself stopped as quick as they got going to miss a big melee in front of him. That was only the first of many close calls for Evan in the feature, but he was still making his way to the front, picking them off one at a time. With five laps to go, Evan saw himself in the top ten and looking to go for more when the motor starting letting go. He coasted the kart once again to the finish, and again, finished in 9th.

“Can’t be too disappointed, we made the show both nights with all the horrible luck we had, but that’s the way it goes, I can’t thank my dad, Jeff, Joe, Bobby and my family for coming down here with us and supporting us,” Evan said after the race, “We’ll get a motor for Atlantic City next month, and be even better.”.

The next race for Evan will be at Atlantic City, arguably the biggest karting race on the east coast. With many heavy hitters there as well, the small team from Durham, Maine will be making the trip and once again competing with the best. Visit 56Racing.com to keep updated on team 56.

Photos By Lesha Beaulieu
 

The biggest karting event in Maine, the 3rd Annual, $1,000 to win, Dash For Cash at Richmond Karting Speedway. After leading until lap 99 of last years 100 lap race, Evan was ready for redemption in this years event. He’d be idle from the kart at his home track since May when he race a Friday night series race, and idle from driving anything since the trip to Bethel almost a month ago.

When the team got to the track, they unloaded both their Ultramax Blaze Octane “Rocker” Kart and the Ultramax Inferno “Champ” Kart, with 2008 Kart Driver of the Year, and good friend Bobby Timmons behind the wheel. During practice, Evan was fast and chose not to run much practice, saving his stuff for the race. Meanwhile, Timmons’ was not so lucky, motor issues plagued the team and would be the story of the day for Timmons’.

Instead of heat races like the previous two years, this years starting grid was going to be staged by time trials, which both drivers have had a history for struggling in. When the qualifying was over, Evan would start from the seventh position and Timmons’ would start 15th. New England karting ace TJ Laro started on the pole with the 41 of Nick Hadden on his outside.

When the green flag dropped, Evan quickly made his way through traffic to get into the top five. Riding in fifth behind Laro, Hadden, the 70 of Tommy Stilphen and the 4 of Brandon Barker. The order stayed the same for most of the beginning until Evan made his way around Barker to take fourth. While in lapped traffic, Stilphen and Evan made slight contact but continued, being one of the only times Evan made contact with anyone all day. Timmons’ day ended early, on around lap 15 when he decided to pull the kart in with more motor issues.

As Evan put it, he just rode for most of the first half until there were five laps to go in the half, when a caution came out and Evan pitted for fuel after running the tank dry. They would restart back in the pack and made up no ground before the mandatory caution at lap 50. Under the caution, the teams were only allowed to add fuel and adjust air pressures. Crew Chief Todd Beaulieu made a slight air pressure adjustment and told Evan to use his head to get to the front.

“The track has no grip for the first few laps and it gets real tight going into turn one,” Evan commented after being asked about the track conditions, “But after a few laps it’s still the same track it’s always been even with the cold weather.”

When the green flag came back out, Evan rode and just picked off karts one at time. With karts pulling in to make early fuel stops, Todd made the decision to keep Evan on the track for track position and run the race on the load of fuel he got at lap 50. After most of the drivers made fuel stops, Evan inherited the race lead and commanded it for a good 20 laps of the second segment before a caution came out with just 15 laps to go. On the restart, Laro and Hadden were able to power off the outside and take the lead. Evan wasn’t done yet though, as he stalked in third waiting for the right moment to make his move. Then, with just 10 laps to go, the two leaders made slight contact out of turn two and Evan drove around Hadden and go alongside Laro for the race lead.

From that point on, he didn’t look back as he put five kart lengths on eventual second place finisher Hadden, and took his first Dash For Cash victory and the big paycheck that goes with it. The redemption after last years heartbreak felt great.
“I wasn’t letting it slip away this year,” Evan said as he celebrated with his crew in victory lane, “I can’t thank my dad, mom, and Bobby enough, I wish we could’ve given him a better motor for todays race because he’s been a big help to us this year, and to all my sponsors too, this is a great win for us and a great way to end a frustrating year.”

A win was a great way to end out the season, and a great way to what may be the end of Evan’s five year dominance run at Richmond Karting Speedway. This just builds more momentum for the 56 team for the 2010 season. Evan’s next race isn’t for a month and a half, when he will participate in the 2nd Annual Indoor race at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, RI. The 2010 Legends Car schedule is still in the works, but is sure to be one of the most competitive in a while.

Photos by Lesha Beaulieu and Julie Barker
 

 The final Nelcar race was held this past weekend during one of the biggest motorsports weekends in New England , PASS 300 weekend at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Todd and Evan arrived to the track Friday for the practice session and when they hit the track for their first session, Evan explained the car in one word, “fast.” They kept changing the car to make it faster, but in the end, Evan wanted the car put back to the way it originally was, and that’s fast.

When Saturday came, the skies looked threatening, but the team got in the two practice sessions in the early morning before the rain came. The rain was bad enough to delay the program for six hours, but the PASS officials were adamant to get the show in, and they did. The Legends cars heat race hit the track at 7 PM at night, and Evan was a part of the first one.

The heat race was a train wreck for Evan, after being so fast during all the practices; he was not at all during the heat race. The 7th place finish in the heat was not at all what Evan was looking for. He rode for most of the race behind the 33 of Alan Smith and was very frustrated after the heat. He didn’t have enough time to complain or fix the car however, as the feature race lined right up after the heat.

When the green flag dropped, Evan realized how much of a hole he was put in, starting from the 13th spot in the 20 car field. He got to work early on as he worked his way up through the field. The first caution came on lap eight when the 21 of Chris Sargent and the 72 of Kevin Hutchens got together right in front of Evan as he went way high in turn one, off into the dirt to miss the wreck and got it back together to keep his spot in the ninth position. When the flag flew again Evan went back to work, and he worked his way up to the sixth position behind the 10 of Ed Getty, where he rode of a good portion of the race trying to find a way around.

The next caution came and Evan was riding sixth. When the green flag flew again, Evan got around Getty after just a couple laps. The final caution came with just three laps to go, and Evan was able to hold on for the last laps and finish in the top five.

“Another awesome run for this 56 team, we ran awful in the heat race and got back to the front when the feature came,” Evan said after the feature, “For 50 laps in these cars, and the way I was handling, I could go another 100 laps, I just got to thank my dad, my great sponsors and all the fans here who went through all the rain today.”

While the Nelcar season is over, Evan will still be action this weekend. The 56 Hancock Lumber Legends Car will be at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the Legends booth this weekend, September 18th-20th. And the week after the team will be headed to New York to race at Bethel Speedway on Saturday and Mountain Speedway on Sunday to close out the Legends car season, with the 3rd Annual Dash For Cash at Richmond Karting Speedway the week after. Come out and support team 56!

Photos by Chris Roy
 

 The 56 team rolled the kart out for the first time in months last Friday night for the Kart Klash at Oxford Plains Speedway. Todd and Evan got the kart together Thursday night and loaded it up and looked for their first win in the season ending race. When the team got to the track, they were to miss the first practice as they were busy putting a new pipe on the motor that Jeff Martel supplied. Evan went out for seven laps in the second and final practice to get back accustom to the go-kart around the small but rough oval.

In his previous two Kart Klash starts, in 2005 and 2008, Evan drew last place on the starting grid, last Friday was not much better as he drew third to last, starting just ahead of PASS North regular, DJ Shaw. When the green flag flew over the field, those two showed their strength as they made their way to the front. Evan made his way up into the top five early but would start to fade with a tight handling kart in the long green flag run.

The first yellow flag flew just after halfway in the 50 lap feature, and Evan lined up eighth on the restart. When the race resumed, he once again gained a few spots on the restart, but the yellow flew again and slowed the pace back down. On the next restart, Evan spun off the backstretch going to avoid pieces off another karts body, sending Evan back to the rear of the field.

When the field went back green, Evan started his way back to the front, and made his way up to third before the caution came out for the final time for a big wreck on the frontstretch. This all happened with just two laps to go, and when the field went green again, Evan worked on the leader, the 18 of Brandon Douglas. Going down the fronstretch on the last lap, Evan was getting a push and tried a move going into one but couldn’t make it work, as he fell to third behind school friend David Blackwell as Douglas took the win.

“We went into one, and I was getting a push, we got to the turn and I had to back off a bit from hitting the 18, I could’ve hit him but he was having a great night and I’m not that kind of driver to take the win from him like that,” Evan concluded after the race, “But, for just one practice and putting this kart together last minute, we were very competitive and I’m ready for the Dash next month.”

Next weekend Evan will be back in action for the final Legends race at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway for the 50 lapper, $400 to win race on PASS 300 weekend.

Photos by JAR Racing