In only his second appearance of the season, Andy Saunders of Ellsworth won the Dysart’s Late Model 50 lap series race at Speedway 95 Saturday night, putting a stop to Mike Hopkins’ domination of the division this year. Saunders started in the third spot and charged past pole sitter Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs on lap 28 of the 50 lap event. Saunders maintained the top spot until the race’s only caution flew on lap 43 for a solo spin by Alex Waltz of Damariscotta. On the restart, Saunders retained his lead and led the field to the checkers. Behind him, Deane Smart of Bradley worked past Seekins to take the second spot at the finish. Seekins came in third, followed by Winterport’s Ryan Deane in fourth and Hopkins in fifth, right where he started the race. Shane Clark of Winterport ran a strong race, finishing sixth, followed by Jessie Smith of Hermon in seventh. Eighth finishing spot went to John Kalel II of Orrington, with Ajay Picard of Palmyra in ninth in his first appearance of the season. The tenth finishing spot went to George Dunn of Eastbrook. Rounding out the 15 car field were Donny Blanchard of Bangor in 11th, 12. Alex Waltx, Damariscotta, 13. Dale Swoboda, Hermon, 14. Brenton Parritt, Steuben and 15, Bob Seger Jr, Frankfort. Seekins and Smart were the heat race winners, and started the feature on the front row.
Becky Elston of Carmel won her career first Sport-Four feature as she wired the 20 lap event from the pole to the checkers. Mike Heath of Brownville finished a strong second as he continually closed the gap, but couldn’t get close enough to challenge Elston for the win. Bradley Norris could get no closer than third in the race that saw only one caution flag early in the event when Dennis Burns of Carmel slammed the front stretch wall. Fourth went to Steve Heath of Milo with 2010 champion Keith Ogden of Dedham in fifth. The remainder of the 10 car field was 6. Bradley Dolan, Winterport, 7. Josh Dillon, Milo, 8. James Johnson II, Bucksport, 9. Scott Bonney, Bangor and 10. Durban Davis, Bangor. Elston also won her qualifier, with Bradley Norris picking up the other heat race win.
A short field of Strictly Streets kept the crowd’s attention for the entire distance as Cody Brassbridge of Frankfort fought off a stiff challenge from Shelby Kimball of Cornville as they swapped the lead several times before Brassbridge took it for good, leaving Kimball to fight off the attempts of points leader Andrew Crosby to take the second position from her. Kimball drove smartly and kept McLaughlin behind, forcing him to finish third. Fourth went to Shawn Hamel II of Bangor with Ren Dore of Addison finishing fifth. Seventy-two year old Ken Bowness of Levant finished n sixth, followed by Shawn Hamel of Bangor in 7th and Brad Finnemore of Dover-Foxcroft in 8th. McLaughlin won the division’s qualifier. The next appearance for this division will be the “Wreaths Across America” Ikey Dorr Memorial 50 lap event scheduled for Thursday, July 14. Street Stockers from across Maine and Canada are expected for the race that pays $1000.00 to the winner, with $20.00 going to the leader of each lap.
Sportsman action saw Steve Moulton of Holden wrestle the lead away from Kris Watson of Hermon on a lap 15 restart caused when Franklin’s Mike Overlock went sailing off turn one. Watson chased Moulton for the final 10 laps, but was unable to get close enough to threaten Moulton’s top spot. Watson finished second with pole-sitter Doug Sinclair of Hermon finishing third. Gene Wasson of Greenbush was fourth with Overlock recovering to finish fifth.
Ryan Modery of Hermon held off an early race challenge from Andrew Crosby in the Bomber division and posted his fourth win of the season. Crosby finished second, followed by Glenburn’s Emma Libby in third. Kevin Seekins of Frankfort finished fourth, with Ken Ogden of Seal Cove in fifth. D.C.Alexander left the race early with mechanical problems and was awarded the sixth and last finishing position. Modery was also the winner of the division’s heat race.
Speedway 95’s Saturday night show moves to Thursdays for the next two weeks, with special events planned for each Thursday night. On Thursday, July 14, all regular Saturday night divisions will be in action, highlighted by the “Wreaths Across America” Ikey Dore Memorial 50 lap Street Stock event. There will be no racing at Speedway 95 on Saturday, July 16. On Thursday, July 21, Speedway 95 presents the 1st annual John Phippen Memorial 100 lap event for Late Models. The special event will go 100 green flag laps, with no yellow flag laps scored. Speedway 95 has posted a total purse to date of $6500.00 for the event, should a full field of 26 cars take the green flag. All Saturday night divisions will again be in action that night, as there will be no racing on Saturday, July 23. Saturday night racing will return on Saturday, July 30. The regular Varney Buick-GMC-Mazda Wacky Wednesday show will precede the Thursday night show each week, making two double header weeks in a row for the speedway. Starting times for all week night shows is 7:00 p.m.