MIKE HOPKINS TAKES SPEEDWAY 95 LATE MODEL WIN

Speedway 95Hermon’s Mike Hopkins came out on the winning end of a controversial 40 lap Dysart’s Late Model feature at Speedway 95 Saturday night. Hopkins started the event in the 14th position and took the lead from Ryan Deane following a lap 25 restart and held the lead through two more restarts to take the win. On lap 25, leaders Andy Saunders of Ellsworth and Wayne Parritt Jr. of Steuben were sent to the rear of the field following a spin by Saunders apparently caused when Ryan Deane of Winterport tried to make it three wide in turn one, making Parritt and Saunders stay high on the track, which led to Saunders spinning out in the “marbles” high in turn one. Both flagmen felt Parritt, who was in the middle of the three wide formation touched Saunders, helping him spin, so both drivers were sent to the rear of the field. Deane and Hopkins, who were running third and fourth when the spin occurred, inherited the front row. Hopkins got by Deane on lap 29 following a four lap side by side battle, and stayed there until the yellow flag flew again on lap 35, when someone in the pits rolled a trash barrell onto the track, causing a caution to be thrown. Hopkins survived the restart and went on to win the race with Deane finishing in second. Andrew McLaughlin of Harrington finished third, followed by Milford’s Deane Smart in fourth and Milo’s Nick Jenkins in fifth.
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MIKE HOPKINS TAKES 75 LAP LATE MODEL FEATURE AT SPEEDWAY 95

Speedway 95Mike Hopkins stared 8th in the 18 car starting field of the Dysart’s Late Model 75 lap Team Morgan Racing shootout at Speedway 95 Saturday night and ended up the winner by taking advantage of a late race caution. On the 68th lap, the yellow flew ending Andy Saunders 49 lap run at the front of the field. After Hopkins took the lead when the green dropped for the final 7 laps of the event, Saunders found himself in a battle for second with Winterport’s Ryan Deane who had led for 18 laps earlier in the race and had worked his way up from the rear of the field following an altercation with Hermon’s Phil Richardson earlier in the night. Deane also had an encounter with Richardson later in the race in an incident that saw Richardson black flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Saunders managed to hold Deane off to finish second with Deane ending up third at the finish. Dean Smart of Bradley came in fourth with Josh St. Clair of Liberty finishing fifth. Donny Blanchard of Bangor, the only other driver to lead one lap of the event, finished in sixth. Hopkins said at the end that he never would have been able to catch and pass Saunders if the restart had not given him the opportunity to catch Saunders and race him for the win.
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MIKE HOPKINS TAKES SPEEDWAY 95 LATE MODEL 50 LAPPER

Speedway 95

Hermon’s Mike Hopkins took off from the outside pole position in the 50 lap Sinclair Towing Service feature for the Dysart’s Late Models Saturday night at Speedway 95 and won the event by almost half a track over the rest of the field. The real action took place in the battle for second place where Phil Richardson of Hermon and Brenton Parritt of Steuben battled for second and third over the last half of the race. Parritt finally got by Richardson on lap 42 to take the second spot at the finish. Richardson had to settle for third after winning last week’s main event. The battle for fourth and fifth wasn’t decided until the 44th circuit when Nick Jenkins of Milo finally took fourth from Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs, who finished in fifth. Because of the torrid pace set by Hopkins on his way the win, and the last caution period coming on lap 18, only 8 of the 19 starters finished on the lead lap.
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MIKE HOPKINS TAKES 95 DYSART’S LATE MODEL FEATURE

Hermon’s Mike Hopkins returned to Dysart’s Late Model racing at Speedway 95 in fine fashion Saturday night as he won the feature event. Hopkins started off the season with a win in his first ever Dysart’s Late Model event, but wrecked the next week, and has been out of competition until returning two weeks ago. This week he picked up where he left off by beating one of the best in the business to the checkered flag.  The race started with Hopkins and Greg Morse of St. Albans in the second row, and the pair took off, passing the front row quickly, with Morse leading the first 12 laps. On the 13th circuit, Morse suddenly checked up going into turn three, and Hopkins was so close to his bumper he couldn’t react fast enough, and wound up hitting Morse and spinning him out. On the restart Morse retained his position, as the incident was obviously not his fault, and held the lead the rest of the way to the checkers. Finishing in second, but not far behind, was the old veteran from Bar Harbor, John Phippin Jr. with Hermon’s  Dale Swoboda in third. Shane Clark of Winterport was fourth with Morse hanging on for a fifth place finish. Swoboda was the winner of the 10 lap qualifier earlier in the program.
The Allenfarm Fence Company Sport-Fours were the featured division of the night as they raced for 35 laps in the second of their three race series for the season. Hermon’s Ralph Allen held the lead for the first 23 laps until his car started losing grip on the track and he spun out of the lead in turn four, giving the lead up to Hudson’s Rick Grant. Grant held off a serious challenge for the lead from points leader David Green of Hampden, who had been battling with Grant for second until Allen’s misfortune placed the pair at the front. The battle continued to the end, with Grant taking the win and Green settling for second. Old Town’s Brent Fletcher finished a strong third, with Kyle Gallant of Veazie and Gary Richards of Stetson rounding out the top five. During the post race interview, Green was presented with the Mainly Mororsports TV show’s Speedway 95 Driver of the Month award for the month of May. Green currently sits atop the Sport-Four point standings and will represent the Speedway at the 4 cylinder Nationals at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough on August 2. Roy Hathorne won the qualifier and started the feature ion the pole, but finished back in the pack following a lap 33 trip into the turn 4 tire wall.
In Strictly Street action, Doug Day of Bangor, a veteran driver who came up through the ranks as far as the Pro Stock Division, returned to victory lane in the Strictly Streets as he made his second appearance of the season in this division. Day is preparing a Late Model for competition at the Speedway, and has been driving the Dave McCullough prepared Camaro in the Strictly Streets since their driver Jordan Pearson was suspended from competition for infractions occurring while he was competing in the Wednesday night Truck Division. Day finished third in his first appearance in the division a week ago, and took his first win in several years in his second night in the car. The win didn’t come easy as Day had to fend off points leader Bradley Norris of Ellsworth, who challenged Day from the lap 14 restart where Day took the lead. Norris challenged hard, pulling up alongside Day in the final laps, but his car got increasingly loose and he was unable to complete the pass for the lead. Norris finished second with Shawn Hamel II of Bangor in third. Shawn Racilla of Dover-Foxcroft placed fourth with Shawn Hamel of Bangor in fifth. Norris won the night’s qualifier, putting him on the pole for the feature.
Kris Watson of Hermon returned to victory lane in the Super Streets again this week after taking the lead from Holden’s Steve Moulton on a lap 9 restart caused when Lindsey Young spun her Camaro on turn 4. Coming off a win and a second place finish at Unity Raceway the past two Friday nights, Watson made it two wins in a row at Speedway 95. Moulton finished in second, followed by pole sitter Nick Kinney of Danforth in third. Mike Overlock of Franklin held a steady pace and stayed out of trouble to post his second top five in as many races. Lindsey Young recovered from her lap 9 spin to finish in the fifth spot. Hermon’s Doug Sinclair and Milton Ketch of Greenbush both ended up in the pit area early after hammering on each other long enough to cause both cars enough damage to eliminate them from the event.
Saturday night racing continues at Speedway 95 on July 18 at 6:30 with a 75 lap Little Enduro race filling in for the Late Models, who have the night off. The Strictly Streets, Super Streets and Allenfarm Fence Inc. Sport-Fours will also be racing that night