Page 11 - DEC2020

December 2020 Newfound Lake Life Page 11 Sports
From Diploma to Dirt Track, Nick Comeau Finds Success
By Donna rhoDes
HEBRON – Eighteen-year- old Nick Comeau of Hebron grew up with racing in his fam- ily’s blood, watching three gen- erations of his family take to the track to compete on ice, dirt and asphalt at race tracks around New England. This year he proved himself worthy of that legacy of racing when he placed second in the Wingless Sprint Car division at Legion Speedway in Rumney.
Over the years grandfather Harold Hannaford and dad Jamie Comeau toted young Nicholas to the tracks where he watched they and other rela- tives compete in Modified Stock, Super Modified cars and even Sprint cars on asphalt, ice and dirt tracks.
Even as a child he looked for- ward to the day when he, too, could head out behind the wheel of a racecar.
“I’ve been going to the races since I was a little kid. Both of my great-grandfathers began racing in the 1950s and over the years the family brought that love for racing to me,” said Comeau.
At the age of 15, he finally saw his dreams come true. Before he even had a New Hampshire driv- er’s license, Comeau was able to join the family on the dirt track at Rumney’s Legion Speedway, aka “Rumtown,” to begin his own racing career.
“2017 was the first time I was actually out driving on the track in a Mini-Stock 4-cylinder street car,” Comeau said. “In 2018 my dad was racing a Wingless Sprint Car when a guy offered me one that I drove in seven races. I drove another five races in a Mini-Stock car and here we are now.”
His car number is 03, as a tip of the cap to dad Jamie and his grandfather’s #30 cars. He chose a white with purple numbered color scheme so it would be eas- ily noticed on the track during a night race.
The best part about racing though is not just the family leg- acy but the feeling he himself gets when he climbs behind the wheel.
school graduation as soon as it was over this past June and hur- ried to the track to prepare for another round of competition in Rumney that night.
“Every race counts when you are going for the top trophy,” he said.
At Legion Speedway though, his top competition on the Satur- day night dirt track though was his uncle, Doug McPhail.
Even though there is some bumping and banging for posi- tion at times the two promised to race clean. McPhail told his nephew he was just another driver on the track but he would not run into him deliberately.
Racing wheel to wheel, the two each set out to be the best they could be on Rumney’s dirt track and in the end, it was Uncle Doug who topped the points, but not by much.
“He bested me by 10 points for the win and I came in sec- ond,” Comeau said.
There are no hard feelings though and he said he has a lot of people to be grateful for this year. Among those are Hobart Graphics of Hebron and Frankie Hobart who allowed him to use his car while also providing Co- meau with a garage to work on it.
“I owe Frankie a lot for all his support,” he said.
He also wished to thank his other sponsors and supporters, which included DJ’s Crafts in Bristol and West Shore Marine.
Trophies were handed out in a season-ending celebratory din- ner on Oct. 24th and Comeau was proud to accept one for his second place finish.
“It felt pretty good to get that trophy because I had to work hard for it,” he said.
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18-year-old Nick Comeau of Hebron proudly displayed his second place trophy, a tribute to his determination and hard work to succeed on the track this year at Legion Speedway in Rumney.
2020 Newfound Regional High School graduate Nick Comeau of Hebron drove his #03 Wingless Sprint Car to a second place finish this year at Legion Speedway in Rumney.
“Pretty much everything goes
away then and you just focus on the race,” said Comeau.
In 2019 he came in fourth in his division, an admirable finish for a young man who had only been a licensed street driver for a little over a year. He took that on as a challenge though and has been fighting to show he is capa- ble of competing with more ex- perienced drivers.
“When I came in fourth that
year (2019) I decided I was going to try to win it in 2020,” he said. Comeau took his 1500 lb. car
to the track this past spring and gave it his all in 2020. His senior high school project at Newfound Regional High School was even about his car and his passion for racing.
Determined to make the best of his fourth season in competi- tive racing, Comeau left his high