Craig Smith is first time winner, Mike Ramsey 3-peats in Friday action at Beech Ridge
Scarborough,Maine-Craig Smith a leading rookie in the Sport Series division at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, secured the 35 lap feature win in a special Friday night card in conjunction with the Pro All Stars Series. Daryl Dewitt led the opening 3 laps and then Frank Wear powered into the top position.
Wear would set the pace until the caution flag waved on lap 18 allowing the field to close up behind him. When racing resumed, George Libby muscled his way to the lead with a pack of hungry drivers on his bumper. Craig Smith went to the lead on lap 22 with a power outside move and cruised home from there for the win. Reggie Leeman finished second with George Libby third. Bobby Nadeau and Frank Wear were fourth and fifth.
Mike Ramsey made it 3-in-a-row on Friday night in the Wildcat 30 lap race. Brian Caswell led the first 2 laps until his motor expired sending the entire field scattering off the top of turn 2. The restart found Matt Gain leading with Matt Hodgdon second but another caution flag on lap 10 changed the race complexion.
Hodgdon went into the lead on the restart with Ramsey moving to second place. For the next 14 laps Hodgdon and Ramsey went nose to tail with Ramsey looking to make a move for the lead. On lap 25 Ramsey set the car to the outside and dusted Hodgdon to take command of the race. In a very rare feat in a competitive division, Ramsey won his third straight race. Dan Bean finished second with Hodgdon third. Darin Kilton and Steve Benincasa rounded out the top 5 finishers.
Trevor Graffam made the race winning pass on Brian Graffam on lap 2 and held off several attempts by Matt Dow to win the 20 lap Road Runner feature race. Dow threw all he had at the leader but could not make the pass as Graffam took his first win of the season over Shawn Brackett. Dow finished third with Ray Letellier and Brian Graffam fourth and fifth.