Taking checkered flag in first ACT race lands Windham racer in record books

By Ed Pierce

Windham’s Brandon Barker joined some prestigious auto racers when he entered the record book by winning his first race on the American Canadian Tour at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, New Hampshire on May 21. Barker, 26, is only one of three drivers to win in their first ACT start, with the late Dale Earnhardt and DJ Kennington being the only others to accomplish that feat.

Brandon Barker of Windham won his first 
race on the ACT Tour at Lee USA Speedway
in New Hampshire on May 21. He entered
the record books along with the late Dale
Earnhardt and Canadian driver DJ
Kennington as the only drivers to win
an ACT race in their only ACT start.
PHOTO BY ALAN WARD

Barker is currently in the middle of a busy 2023 racing schedule that includes 35 races running from March through November. He’s been racing mostly super late cars but chose to enter the ACT’s New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 race driving a late model car at Lee USA Speedway and defeated 24 other drivers to claim the checkered flag there.

He took the wheel of the Sullivan Construction 0NH car to the pole position in the ACT race with current top rookie Andrew Molleur to his outside after both earned prime racing positions in preliminary heats. Barker grabbed the early lead and then regained it late in the race. He traded first place back and forth with driver Jimmy Renfrew until lap 145 when Renfrew spun out. With just five laps remaining, Barker held off a challenge from driver Gabe Brown to earn his first American Canadian Tour victory in just his first and only start on the ACT Tour. In winning, Barker joined an elite list of ACT winners in their only start which includes Earnhardt’s victory at Cayuga Motor Speedway in Ontario in 1983 and longtime NASCAR Pinty’s Canadian Series standout Kennington who won at the Lee USA Speedway in 2004.

“What I love about racing is the competition part of it mostly,” Barker said. “But also having a good group of crew guys going to the races, they make it fun. The challenges I’ve found about racing professionally have got to be the money aspect of it. It’s so dang expensive. I’m extremely grateful I got a good group of sponsors and people backing me.”

His start in racing came when Barker was 5 just turning 6 in 2003 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway’s go-karting series. His grandfather obtained a couple of go-karts for Barker and his cousin to race there, and it prompted Barker to go on and pursue an auto racing career outside of his day job working for the Maine Turnpike Authority.

“Right now, I’m racing Super Late Models basically every weekend. And late model a few times,” he said. “I race on the Pro All Star series for Sam Snow, the Granite State Pro stock series, and the NASCAR weekly series Pro stocks at Lee USA Speedway for Archie St. Hilare, and a few American Canadian Tour Late Models for Chad Sullivan.”

He’s raced in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina and his sponsors include DLM Property Care, NLM Custom Homes, Keen Parts, Corvette Parts, Sam Snow Construction, CBS Lobster, R.N. Craft, DiRenzo Rentals, and Maietta Towing.

“What I hope to accomplish in my racing career before I am finished is I have yet to win a Pro All Star series race. I really want to do that, it’s the only series I have raced in where I haven’t won,” Barker said. “If it happens and not at Oxford, then winning the Oxford 250 would be one because that’s my favorite race and one of the biggest races in the country. The most challenging track I’ve raced on has got to be the Thompson Speedway in Thompson, Connecticut. I have no idea why I’m terrible there, it’s a high bank of 5/8 mile with long straightaways. It’s the second fastest track we go to. Speed doesn’t bother me but I’m just not very good there.”

According to Barker, Maine has many great drivers like Mike Rowe, Ben Rowe, and Joey Doiron because of the abundance of great racetracks in the state.

“Beech Ridge is closed now but I think that flat tracks are the toughest tracks to get a handle on and if you do, you go to places with banking,” he said. “It helps your car’s handling usually, so if your good at the flat tracks you can usually go anywhere and be competitive.”

He credits other auto racers from Windham for giving him confidence and offering sound advice about racing when needed.

“Support from others in Windham comes from friends like Brad Babb and Bobby Timmons,” Barker said. “They’re older than me so they were always a step ahead. I looked up to them and would ask their advice. Whether it was good advice or not, it seems to have worked out.”

Barker’s girlfriend, Sara Wear, has a brother and father who also race, so she is used to the competitive aspect of the sport and tries to attend as many of Barker’s races whenever possible.

His next race is scheduled for Saturday, June 3 at Riverside Speedway in Northumberland, New Hampshire for the Granite State pro stock series and then on Sunday, June 4, he’ll compete at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine in the Pro All Star series.

But if he doesn’t win any further races this year, Barker will remember 2023 for his history making victory in the ACT New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150.

“First, you never forget your first win, that is the most satisfying feeling, winning your first one,” he said. “But winning your first touring race feels great because it proves you can do it and you belong to be out there.” <

Windham racer Kneeland revs up NASCAR career

Windham auto racer Derek Kneeland owns his own Super
Late Model car and has been competing in racing since he 
first climbed into a go-kart at age 8. He now works for 
NASCAR racing teams as a spotter for drivers such as
Tyler Reddick, Austin Hill, Corey Heim, Daniel Dye,
and Kyle Busch. COURTESY PHOTO

By Ed Pierce

Derek Kneeland’s passion for auto racing runs deep and it not only has become his career; it’s led him to places he’s never been before and experiences he wouldn’t have had otherwise like the Daytona 500.

Kneeland, 36, grew up in Windham in a racing family and the need to compete on the racetrack is in his blood.

“My dad Jeff raced back in the 1970s and my grandfather used to be the general manager of Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough back when it was clay,” Kneeland said. “My family worked the ticket booths and concessions, so I was pretty destined to get involved somehow and we started racing go-karts when I was 8 years old.”

He currently owns his own Super Late Model racecar and tries to race as much as he can when he has free time from his work with teams in NASCAR races. That career began as a spotter during a race in Pennsylvania 14 years ago and has evolved to jobs in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series.

“Each year is a little different on how much I can race due to my NASCAR schedule and obligations,” Kneeland said. “This year I will race three or four times. I travel around to race kind of wherever I can when I’m able. I race with Pro All-Stars series and the Oxford, Granite State Pro Stock Series. I’ve won a few heat races but my best finish in a feature/main event is fifth last year at Oxford.” 

 

He currently works for Richard Childress Racing spotting for the #8 car of Tyler Reddick. Kneeland also spots for RCR's Xfinity team with Austin Hill in the #21 car, and in the truck series he spots for Kyle Busch’s Motorsports #51 truck shared by Busch, Corey Heim, and Buddy Kofoid. In the Arca series, he spots for the #43 car of Daniel Dye. 

As a NASCAR spotter, Kneeland relays information to the driver of the team he works for, keeping them alert of what is occurring on the track. To get a complete look at the racetrack, he is usually positioned on top of one of the grandstands or support buildings.

“For me I think the hardest part is I don’t get to race weekly like most do because of traveling around the country working my NASCAR duties, so there are a few things I need to clean up to figure out such as how to go faster and be better as a driver as a whole. And money obviously, it takes a lot of money to race these cars and be competitive.”

According to Kneeland, the toughest track he’s raced on was a track he competed at during the “Money in the Bank” event at the Berlin Raceway in Michigan on June 8.

“Both ends were different,” he said. “One end was long and sweeping and one was tighter, and I had to slow down more. It was challenging to find the balance needed to be fast.”

His biggest fans are his family, including his wife, Carley, two stepsons Kolby and Logan, his parents Jeff and Kelly Kneeland, and his sister, Tasha.

“Everyone is super supportive. My dad and my cousin Rusty Poland and my good buddy, Nick Brown, all work together on my car and Rusty’s,” Kneeland said. “It’s definitely a family sport. My parents and my wife every weekend tune into the NASCAR app to listen to me spot for my drivers as well. They love it all whether it’s getting to watch me behind the wheel or listen to me do my job on a weekly basis.” 

He says that sponsors are tough to come for his own racecar, but each year it seems like he’s been lucky enough to have a few that stick by him for the select races he competes in. His sponsors include Sumerian Irrigation, Bonang Concrete, SOS towing, One Stop Earthworks, Logan Oil, Drew Excavation, and Pierson Heating and Cooling, along with some family and friends that step up throughout the year. 

So far Kneeland has raced his own car at tracks in Maine, New Hampshire, Michigan and North Carolina, and he plans to race in Florida at the end of this year. He says the biggest race he’s been in behind the wheel himself is the Oxford 250, where he raced against NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski.

“My next race is Friday July 15 at Lee Speedway in Lee, New Hampshire,” Kneeland said. “It’s also the same weekend that NACSAR is racing at Loudon, New Hampshire, so I’ll be coming over to Lee after we have practice at Loudon that afternoon.”

As far as the future goes, Kneeland said he’d really like to get a Feature win on the racetrack before he’s done whether it’s a weekly race or a touring race.

“I don’t really have a timeline on when I’m going to get done,” Kneeland said. I’m just enjoying it for now and I try to help my cousin Rusty Poland as much as possible, so I think when I’m done racing myself, I’ll probably have Rusty race for me some.” <