Offseason Spotlight: Lamson Shows His Mettle as Street Stock Rookie of the Year

Barre, VT – For much of the year, no one in the stands could have predicted who the top Street Stock rookie was going to be. The favorite seemed to change on a weekly basis as young drivers gained experience on the high banks. But down the stretch, it was Berlin’s Keegan Lamson who established himself as the racer to beat and who stood atop the heap as the Allen Lumber Street Stock Rookie of the Year.

For the second straight year, the Street Stocks had a large rookie class. At many events, there were up to seven rookies in attendance, meaning big swings could happen in any given week. Add in that many of the drivers were teenagers learning the ropes – three of them still aren’t yet old enough to legally drive on the streets – and it was clear a lot could change during the season.

Lamson got off to a relatively slow start. He earned a seventh-place finish on June 7 thanks to some early crashes but spent most of the first two months staying out of the way and getting up to speed in his #55 Lamson’s Property Services Ford Mustang. Meanwhile, other rookies were showing flashes – Kyle MacAskill and Derek Farnham finished first and third on June 27, with MacAskill crashing across the line.

Nobody was able to run away, though, leaving the door open for Lamson. In mid-July, the 14-year-old started to show the progress he’d made. Lamson finished seventh again on July 12, then took the rookie points lead with a 4th on July 18. Still, the month ended with five drivers bwithin striking distance of the lead.

But over the month of August, Lamson asserted himself as the best of the bunch. He broke things open with a runner-up finish on August 1 – his first time on the Thunder Road podium. Two weeks later, he became the third 14-year-old ever to win a point-counting feature on the Barre high banks. (Cooper French had become the second the previous month.) Lamson held off a pair of 15-year-olds, sophomore Kasey Beattie and fellow rookie Tanner Woodard, for what was certainly the youngest podium in track history.

Lamson then capped the month with a third-place run on August 31 as part of Four Cylinder Saturday. It was his third podium of the month and sixth top-10 of the season to put a hammer-lock on the Rookie crown – all Lamson needed to do was show up on Championship Day. He finished 13th in overall points in addition his Rookie of the Year title.

Lamson was just one of many Street Stock rookies to impress in 2019. Three won races and two others posted podium finishes, boding well for the future of Thunder Road racing. However, Lamson outshone them all and received the top Rookie award at the Banquet of Champions.

He kept his acceptance speech short, thanking his family and crew, his sponsors, and the track for making his successful first season possible. The now 15-year-old and his team are hard at work with plans for the 2020 season as he looks to continue his strides on the high banks.