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Baril Honored By Gov. Lynch

Philip “J.R.” Baril recently visited the Concord, N.H., office of Gov. John Lynch to receive congratulations for winning the 2009 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series New Hampshire state championship.

Gov. Lynch welcomed Baril, Dave Reynolds Motorsports’ crewman Al Castro and Lee (N.H.) USA Speedway publicist Robert Watson to his office. The governor congratulated Baril on his first NASCAR state championship and talked racing with the group.

“Governor Lynch is a friendly guy. We talked about racing, the kinds of cars we race and the tracks we run,” Baril said. “It was a different experience. I’d never been to the Governor’s Office before.”

Baril won the 2009 NASCAR New Hampshire state championship competing full time in the Late Model division at Lee. He also made several starts in the NASCAR Modified division at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H. He has a total of nine career track championships around the state.

He had four wins, 15 top fives and 19 top 10s in 24 starts.

Baril had finished second to Louie Mechalides for the 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series New Hampshire state championship.

“We worked really hard and finally won the stated championship,” Baril said. “It was a different goal we wanted to accomplish. The series awards banquet in Concord was a blast, and the visit with Governor Lynch went really well.

“He’s been to Lee before for our Governor’s Cup race, and it sounds like he’ll be there for the race again in 2010.”

The NASCAR New Hampshire champion was determined by the champion driver’s racing record at the NASCAR-sanctioned track.

“We’d like to be contenders again in 2010,” Baril said. “I think we could have a shot at being ranked in the national top 10.”

The crowning of champions in a U.S. state or Canadian province continues a tradition of honoring the best short-track racers which dates back to the earliest days of NASCAR.

Since its inception, NASCAR’s national short-track racing series has served as a springboard in the careers of many top drivers. NASCAR stars Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Kurt and Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Elliott Sadler and Brian Vickers all began their careers racing their local short tracks.

Year	Driver	Hometown
2009	Phil Baril Jr.	Haverhill, Mass.
2008	Louie Mechalides	Tyngsboro, Mass.
2007	Barry Gray	Belchertown, Mass.

Modified

Year	Driver	Hometown
1979	John Ruggerio	Forestville, Conn.
1974	Jim Landry Jr.	Rochester, N.H.