CALVIN ROSE JR. AND KEVIN HARTLEY SHARE SPORT-FOUR SPOTLIGHT AT 95
Calvin Rose Jr. of Turner made his first appearance of the season at Speedway 95 Saturday night and came away with the win in the 35 lap Coca-Cola Sport-Four series race #3. Rose led the pack from lap 8 after battling with Hudson’s Donny Silva for the first seven laps of the event and went on to victory. Carmel’s Ted Ryder battled with Rose for the lead following a lap 9 caution that eliminated Silva from the race, but Rose proved too strong for the season points leader and Ryder finished the race in second. Meanwhile Kevin Hartley of Hermon survived a spin that brought out the lap 9 caution, and finished seventh in the race, securing his first place finish in the series points. Third in the night’s race went to Milo’s Steve Heath, with Chris Blanchard of Clinton and Matt Moore of Mechanic Falls rounding out the top five in that order. Ryder was credited with a second place finish in the series points, with Andrew Crosby of Hermon third in the series competition.
John Kalel II of Orrington took the lead from Bradley’s Deane Smart on the 29th lap of the 40 lap Dysart’s Late Model feature and went on to post his third win of the season. Smart finished second, with Brenton Parritt of Steuben in third. Early leader Andrew McLaughlin of Harrington finished fourth while season points leader Andy Saunders of Ellsworth, who was sent to the rear of the pack on lap 21 for his involvement in an incident that brought out the race’s final caution, made a charge from the rear of the pack to place fifth.
Skowhegan’s Kris Matchett won his first feature race of the season in the Darling’s Ford Sportsman division when he edged points leader Kris Watson of Hermon by inches at the line. Watson finished second with Milford’s Joe Legere in third. Fourth went to Bradley Norris of Ellsworth with Bradley Smart of Bradley finishing fifth. Watson had taken the lead from Norris on the 15th lap of the 25 lap race, and led until Matchett nosed by him at the end.
Jordan Pearson of Glenburn picked up the win in the Keystone Automotive Strictly Streets with Matt Kimball of Cornville finishing second, beating out his sister Shelby Kimball, also of Cornville, who finished third. Fourth went to Andy Turbovsky of Oakland with Jim Bragdon of Corinth finishing fifth. The 25 lap race was stopped three times by the caution flag, but Pearson was able to maintain the top spot after taking the lead from Bragdon on lap 6.
Denis Burns of Carmel won the caution free Bomber feature with Old Town’s Dylan Street taking second in his first race in the division. Mark Lane of Newport finished third, followed by Bangor’s Scott Bonney in fourth and Dustin Durrell of Newburgh in fifth. Both Street and Durrell came up from the Wednesday night Stars of Tomorrow to try out what they’ve learned there, and both came away with a top five finish.
Saturday night racing continues on August 24th then the Varney Agency sponsors the night’s activities, which will feature a fireworks display at dusk. The Dysart’s Late Models will race a 40 lap feature, with the Darling’s Ford Sportsman, the Keystone Automotive Strictly Streets and the Sport-Fours also running their regular heat and feature races. The Bombers will race for 30 laps in their third series race of the season.