Kyle Gallant of Veazie took off from his outside pole starting spot and outran the field of Sport-Fours to the checkered flag Saturday night at Speedway 95. As he was cruising out front, though, there were a couple of race long battles going on for the runner up spots. Gary Richards of Stetson and David Green of Hampden raced side by side and nose to tail for the entire race to decide who finished second and third to Gallant. At the end, it was Richards in the second spot and Green settling for third. By finishing third, Green, the current division points leader, also locked up the win in the three race series in the Allenfarm Fence Co. sponsored division. His closest competitor for the series title, Old Town’s Brent Fletcher, dropped out of the event on the 30th lap with mechanical issues. While Richards and Green were battling for the runner up spot, Rick Grant of LaGrange and Derick Terrell of Plymouth were also in a close race for fourth and fifth. Grant won that battle and finished fourth, with Terrell coming home in fifth. Richards won the 10 lap qualifier after racing with Gallant over the entire distance for the pole position in the feature.
The winner of the Strictly Street feature event was decided in post race inspection when Dustin Hubbard of Unity was disqualified for an illegal carburetor. As a result, Bradley Norris of Ellsworth, the current points leader, was declared the winner of the event when his car went through the inspection process successfully. Second spot went to Glenburn’s Doug Day, who had to come back from the rear of the field when he was sent there by the race director following a lap 4 incident that sent Bangor’s Shawn Hamel II climbing the tire wall on the backstretch. Day apologized to Hamel in his post race interview stating it was totally an error with no intention on his part to cause Hamel any harm. Rookie Nick Huff of Orrington finished the race in third, with Jim Carr Jr. of Clifton and Travis Poulin of Holden rounding out the top five. With only three races remaining for the season, Norris has an 89 point lead over Shawn Hamel II for the title. Norris also won the division’s qualifier for the night.
Kris Watson of Hermon returned to the winner’s circle in the Super Streets after several weeks of sub par performance. Watson took the lead on the fourth circuit and was never challenged on his way to victory in the caution free event. While Watson rode around alone out front, Holden’s Steve Moulton was working his way through the field to place his car in the second spot at the finish. Lindsey Young of Winterport started the event on the pole and kept her car in the competition, finishing in third for her second top three finish of the season. With only Watson and Moulton able to go by her, Lindsey has begun to really get a handle on racing in the more powerful Saturday night cars, after cutting her teeth in the Wednesday night Ladies division, where she was a past points champion. Artie McGuire of Bucksport, another former Wednesday night racer, finished in fourth with Hermon’s Doug Sinclair coming in fifth. Moulton won the division’s qualifier. Watson currently holds a 14 point edge over Moulton for the division championship.
Dale Swoboda of Hermon found the top spot in the Late Models for the third week in a row Saturday night as he held off a strong challenge from points leader John Phippen Jr. of Bar Harbor. Earlier in the race, Phippen got tangled up with pole sitter Dwayne Seekins coming out of turn four on the first lap. Seekins spun in front of the field, but received only minor damage and was able to continue. Phippen made a short trip to the pit for repairs, so restarted at the rear of the field when the green flag restarted the race. As Swoboda worked his way to the front, Phippen was also coming from the rear and caught Swoboda by the fifth lap, but was unable to make his car work in the lower groove to make the pass. Phippen challenged hard and pulled up alongside Swoboda several times in the closing laps, but Swoboda held fast on the outside forcing Phippen to settle for a runner up finish. Seekins recovered from the lap one incident to place third. Winterport’s Shane Clark came under the checkered flag in fourth, followed by Scott Modery of Hermon in fifth. Seekins was the pole sitter for the feature by virtue of his winning the 10 lap qualifier. Phippen currently leads Swoboda by 69 points in the championship chase.
Racing continues at Speedway 95 on Saturday August 29 at 6:30 with a regular card of racing highlighted by visits from the Maine Super Cup Racing League and the Wicked Good Vintage Racing League.