Bear Ridge Speedway
Kevin Chaffee and Thomas Placey amongst the Winners on Opening Night
After an unusually wet and cold spring, which meant the management team at Bear Ridge Speedway had to hustle to get the facility ready for the 51st consecutive season of racing at the Quarter Mile Dirt oval nestled high in the hills of Bradford, VT. Heavy rains the night before opening forced the annual Race morning Bradford car show to be moved to the local High School due to the wet conditions of the field normally used.
The small in size buy mighty in speed and performance Laquerre’s Sports USAC DMA Midgets were the first to hit the track. Most of these guys trek from far away to be a part of the full card weekly racing and for those that have a great night it is well worth the trip. At the drop of the green Jeff Champange rocketed into the lead from the pole position. With one lap in the books Derek O’Hearn caught a wheel while battling for second and took a wild ride, flipping through turns three and four. When racing resumed Champange once again moved to the lead with Jason Goff on the move into second. Goff Challenged Champange for the lead for a few laps before taking the top spot. The running order of the top two would remain the same for the next 15 laps while a torrid battle took place for positions three through five. With just five laps left in the feature Seth Carlson, who had to restart in the rear after an early race spin, made his way to toward the front, challenged Jeff Champange for second, and completed the pass with three laps to go. At the Checkers it was Jason Goff with the win with Seth Carlson second, Jeff Champange third with Mike Chaffee fourth and former Champion Joe Kraweic completing the top five. For winner Jason Goff it was quite a feat as he had not been in a race car since 2002 and it was the first time ever in a Midget.
The Wells River Chevrolet DIRTcar Sportsman Coupes were next on the track for their thirty lap main event. Matt Ellsworth took the lead when the green flag flew and repelled the charges of Chris LaForest and Thomas Placey through a number of restarts. With 21 laps complete disaster struck for Ellsworth as he ended spinning while battling for the lead with Placey. Thomas Placey inherited the lead and made it stick holding off the advances, first of Todd Hayward and later Chris LaForest to take the win. LaForest claimed the second spot with Tanner Siemons third. Earl Maxham was fourth and Matt Ellsworth made a late race charge to come from the rear to finish 5th
Up next came the pounding thunder of the Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds. Mike Ryan and Stephen Lary brought the field to green with Ryan able to take the top spot. Steven Flint was the man on the move early in the Feature as he came from his 4th starting spot to 2nd in just a lap and eventual taking the lead from Ryan with five laps complete. It wasn’t long before Robert Tucker started to pressure Flint for the lead, eventually taking the top spot of the 40 Lap event with 10 laps in the books. From there Tucker held off the charge of Terry Williams and later Kevin Chaffee, who challenged for the lead for a number of laps before taking the top spot from Tucker in traffic. Once in the lead Chaffee quickly started pulling away from the field and went on to take the exciting win. Robert Tucker held on for 2nd with Richie Simmons third. Reigning track Champion Derek Graham crossed the line in 4th with Adam Pierson completing the top five.
The Weglarz Property Service Four Cylinders came out 24 strong in a feature that turned into a rather ragged affair. Kelly Miller Jr took the lead early but only lasted a few laps before mechanical problems relegated him to the pits. Rodney Davis then held the top spot through a couple of cautions before Buddy Welch took the lead. Meanwhile Danny Doyle was making his way towards the front and started to put intense pressure on Welch, finally taking the lead while the duo were slicing through lapped traffic with 17 laps complete. The caution would fly just a later for Welch, whose car suffered a mechanical failure and was then hit by another competitor. Doyle held the lead on the restart and drove to victory. Bobby Bell claimed second with reigning 4-Cylinder Champion Jesse Durkee third. Dennis Perry and Jason Porter completed the top five.
The C.A. Miller Limited Late Models concluded the night with John Neddo taking the top spot when the green flew, holding it until the first restart of the race when perennial front runner Ryan Christian took the top spot and ran away from the field to take the win. Neddo claimed second with Jesse Durkee crossing the line third, however a rules infraction discovered in post race inspection moved him to last in the finishing order and moved George Osgood to third.
Bear Ridge Speedway’s season of dirt car racing continues Saturday, May 12th with the Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds, Wells River Chevrolet DIRTcar Sportsman Coupes, C.A. Miller Inc Limited Late Models, and the Weglarz Property Service Four Cylinders. Plus the Sprint Cars of New England will be on hand. Special general admission for the 99Rock Weekly Racing Series is $13 for adults (age 18-61), $10 for teens (12-17) and seniors (62+), and $2 for children; Visa and MasterCard are accepted. Racing begins at the famous “6:00-ish” start time.
Bear Ridge Speedway is as an alcohol free family friendly entertainment spot, with our goal to make each experience at the Ridge better than the last. Remember “Dirt where every lap is the last lap” we continue to offer the best source of good inexpensive high quality entertainment for families.
Bear Ridge Speedway is located off exit 16 of I91 on to Rte 25 west 1 mile to South Road up the hill to Kidder Rd. The green will wave every Saturday evening through September at 6:00 pm(ish). Be sure to check the web www.bearridgespeedway.com Questions can be sent to [email protected]
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – Opening Night sponsored by FMS NAPA Auto Parts
99ROCK Weekly Racing Series
Bear Ridge Speedway — Bradford, VT
Saturday, May 5 2018
Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Feature (40 laps)
1 73c Kevin Chaffee
2 42 Robert Tucker
3 34 Richie Simmons
4 10 Derek Graham
5 15 Adam Pierson
6 24 Jordan Fornwalt
7 97 Terry Williams
8 00 Jason Gray
9 98 Walter Hammond
10 9 Mike Dunn
11 631 Todd Buckwold
12 5 Tanner Siemons
13 40 Steven Flint
14 91 Tim Tucker
15 10s Ryan Christian
16 86 Mike Ryan
17 18 Matt Lashua
18 88 Walt Hammond Jr
19 92 Ricky Sanville
20 8 Stephen Lary
21 1D Wayne Stearns
22 7 Robert Thurston
23 4 Brian Bishop
Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe Feature (30 laps)
1 22 Thomas Placey
2 56 Chris LaForest
3 5 Tanner Siemons
4 17 Earl Maxham
5 21E Matt Ellsworth
6 16 Brian Chaffee
7 71 Josh Harrington
8 33 Melvin Pierson
9 44 Gene Pierson Jr
10 18 Jason Colbeth
11 77j Robert Kilburn
12 28 Bob Shepard
13 3 Jason Horniak
14 09 Tod Kingsbury
15 43 Kevin Dickinson
16 20 Todd Hayward
17 13 Buster Kathan
18 23 Derrick Stearns
DNS 2 Tim Hodge
Laquerre’s Sports USAC DMA Midgets Feature (25)
1 19 Jason Goff
2 2 Seth Carlson
3 77 Jeff Champange
4 18c Mike Chaffee
5 1B Joe Krawiec
6 9M David Moniz
7 3 Will Hull
8 A1 Jeff Horn
9 1M Justin Phillips
10 46x Jake Higginson
11 42 Manny Dias
12 88 Brandon Emerson
13 7x Dan Douville
14 46 Robert Spino
DNS 11 Alex Rose
DNS 68 Bobby White
C.A. Miller Limited Late Model Feature (20 laps)
1 10c Ryan Christian
2 15 John Neddo
3 17 George Osgood
4 07 Nutter
5 13 Hunter Garduno
6 04 Kelly Miller
7 8 Jesse Durkee
Weglarz Property Management 4-Cylinder Feature (20 laps)
1 51 Danny Doyle
2 24 Bobby Bell
3 88 Jesse Durkee
4 18 Dennis Perry
5 9 Jason Porter
6 007 James Shuefelt
7 3 Charlie Lakin
8 21 Harry Davisoin
9 27 Hunter Hannon
10 17
11 99
12 07
13 82
14 65 Buddy Welch
15 14 Durkee
16 66 Robert Audet
17 71 Rod Davis
18 5 Owen Carbee
19 83 Mike Sherburne
20 87 Don Reynolds
21 12 Steve Bell
22 89
23 0VT Kelly Miller Jr
