Joint Effort Among New Hampshire Tracks Bring State’s Racing Community Together Under NASCAR Banner

Both Norm Wrenn Jr. and Ben Bosowski’s dads raced under a system that allowed drivers to travel from track to track under the same rules, sanctioning body and points system.

Now, the duo is hoping to bring that same joint effort among tracks back to New Hampshire.

Wrenn and Bosowski recently purchased Hudson Speedway, a quarter-mile asphalt oval in Hudson, New Hampshire, and joined the track with four others in the state to have all five racing together under the same umbrella.

Lee USA Speedway in Lee, Star Speedway in Epping, Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, and Claremont Motorsports Park in Claremont, will join Hudson in the group of five tracks. All five are asphalt tracks ranging from quarter-mile to third-mile ovals.

And they’ll all do it under the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series banner.

Lee USA and Monadnock have been NASCAR staples for years; Lee USA since 1992 and Monadnock since 1986. Claremont was NASCAR-sanctioned from 2000-07 and boasted 2002 national champion Peter Daniels. Star was with NASCAR from 1989-2009, while Hudson will be joining the program for the first time.

Hudson Speedway

Lee and Claremont both hold races on Friday nights. Star and Monadnock race on Saturdays, and Hudson on Sundays, giving drivers a chance to go from track-to-track during any given weekend to collect points.

“When Ben’s dad was driving and my dad was driving back in the day they used to be able to load up on a Friday night, roll down the street, race Saturday, roll down the street, and race Sunday,” Wrenn said. “It got to the point where each track was trying to keep their drivers, it was going down hill with car counts and it just made it worse. Now with everyone being on the same page with the same rules and everything else it’s just going to increase from here.”

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All five tracks will race under the same rules, operating procedures and protocols, something Bosowski said they’re modeling after similar race track communities in the south and west.

Wrenn said having the tracks work together will take away the rivalry among the tracks in the state.

“Basically what we did was we decided to put the old Hatfields and McCoy mentality away and start working with each other so we can increase the car counts at every track and give everybody who may not be able to race on Friday night the ability to go race on Saturday night or possible Sunday,” Wrenn said. “So that way they just get to get the races they can get in whether or not they can make every race at every track every time. We’re trying to support our drivers more than we’re trying to support ourselves. That’s kind of the way I look at it.”

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Bosowski owns Claremont, and Wrenn owns Monadnock and Lee. Star Speedway is owned by Bob Webber Jr.

The largest distance between any of the five tracks is about two hours, and Bosowski said the racing community in New Hampshire is small. Allowing drivers to go from track to track will not only help with regional racing awards, but more importantly it’ll help with bragging rights among drivers.

“The funny thing is a lot of people would just talk smack to each other. ‘Oh, my car would beat your car but I’m not changing it to go and race at your track,’” Bosowski said. “Now the top dogs at each track can go to another track and see if they’re actually faster than those guys or not.

“It’s kind of cool because it puts a lot of the talking to rest because now it’s, ‘All right, now you have no excuse. Let’s see if you can beat me at my own track or let’s see if I can beat you at your home track.’”

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Among the benefits of going NASCAR sanctioned is awards and points, plus Wrenn said the insurance policy is unmatched.

“My father was actually injured at one point and NASCAR did pick up his medical benefits and stuff like that. It’s definitely a great benefit. I’ve seen it on the other end,” he said. “NASCAR does a great thing too for everyone. They send them plaques, they send uniforms for all the officials. To me the benefits work out.”

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Both owners said the response from drivers on the joint effort has been positive. While there have been skeptics, Bosowski said most are realizing how good it can be.

“Originally they were kind of skeptical about it. But when they kind of realized, ‘Wait a minute, I can go for a regional championship and stay in New Hampshire,’ they were all excited. Now they can go on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday and stay in New Hampshire and they can race all weekend if they wanted.”

“There’s no way it can’t help it as far as I see,” Wrenn said. “I think once everyone does come on board and we get all the kinks worked out it’s going to be the best thing possible because across the board anyone can race any track with minimal changes.”

Star Speedway will open the season on April 20 with enduros, street stocks, and six shooters. Claremont will open on May 3, Monadnock on May 4, Hudson on May 5, and Lee on May 18.

Star Speedway Schedule | Claremont Motorsports Park Schedule | Monadnock Speedway Schedule | Hudson Speedway Schedule | Lee USA Speedway Schedule

Idaho’s Tim Wallace has found a lot of success on the drag strip. He started in a junior pro-competition dragster when he was eight years old, and won his first championship a year later, the youngest ever winner in the junior class at his home track. He’s won one of the biggest independent dragster races on the west coast twice, and was runner up once.

The thrill of running down a drag strip at more than 200 miles per hour in six seconds is one thing, but the thrill Wallace got his first time getting in a car on an oval track was almost just as great.

Wallace grew up around racing with his dad, but didn’t step into a car on an oval track until a friend let him drive a sprint car in 2014.

“I was pretty hooked,” he said. “The first time I got in: The minute he fired me up and I turned some hard laps I was like, ‘Man, I need my own car to run out here.’ ”

Three years later, another friend had a spare late model he let Wallace drive at Meridian Speedway in Meridian, Idaho. That was the start of a new circle racing love.

“I started at the back because I was a rookie and got like seventh in the first race out,” he said. “After that and being competitive and not being in last place in my first actual oval track race I was like, ‘man, I really need to get my own car for sure.’”

After running a modified in the final races of the season last year at Meridian, Wallace will suit up for his first full season at the quarter-mile asphalt track when the season opens this Saturday.

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Since he got into oval track racing, Wallace said he gets asked a lot which of the two styles he likes better, but for now it’s “about 50/50.” Going down the drag strip may be the bigger blood rush, but going up against a lineup of cars on the quarter-mile oval is just as thrilling for him.

“It’s just totally different. I’ve been 6.4 seconds at 216 mph in a supercharged dragster. That’s a pretty big speed rush,” he said. “Where on a circle track car the rush is totally different because you’re next to other cars and dicing around. It’s just two totally different things. I like both.”

The toughest part about the transition to the oval, Wallace said, was learning how to focus for longer periods of time. In a drag race, it’s six seconds and done, but in a modified he has to be perfect on every single lap. Getting used to the car and learning the suspension setup in a modified took some time.

And getting into a car where he wasn’t successful from the get-go has been “totally humbling,” for Wallace.

“I was used to being pretty dominant in my category here in town,” he said. “And then going to an oval track car, it makes you go from hero to zero pretty quick when you’re dicing at the back for 10th place.”

Tim Wallace Racing

What has helped ease the transition for Wallace has been working in the racing industry. He and his dad own auto body shops and a machine shop that provides motors for both drag and oval track cars. He bought his car from one of his customers, modified driver Shelby Stroebel. Stroebel and others in the area have offered a lot of advice to Wallace on how to find success at Meridian.

“There’s a few people out there who will tell us exactly what we need to know, Shelby being one of them,” Wallace said. “And some other friends of mine are like, ‘If you need help let me know.’

“Until I start winning, then that might change,” he added with a laugh.

Wallace will run a full season for the first time at Meridian this season, with sponsors West Side Machines and Lucas Oil, while also keeping up a full drag racing schedule. His hope is that he can just get faster each race and learn the ropes of the “left turning side of the sport.”

“I’ve been thinking about it all winter, ways to lower laps times and be more competitive,” he said. “I’ve been playing it out in my mind just different scenarios. We’ll find out how that works on Saturday for the season opener.”

Meridian Speedway will open the season on Saturday with modifieds, pro-4s, minis, street stocks and hornets beginning at 6:45 p.m.

Meridian Speedway Full Schedule | Season Opener Schedule