HOPKINS TAKES PHIPPEN MEMORIAL RACE AT SPEEDWAY 95

Mike Hopkins of Hermon won his 7th feature of the season at Speedway 95 Thursday night and did it in style as he won the 100 lap John Phippin Memorial race for Late Models by half a lap over second place finisher Deane Smart of Bradley. Hopkins had a couple of spirited battles along the road to his win, the first for the beginning18 laps of the race with Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs, who eventually finished third. Then a short battle with Smart ensued from a restart on lap 35, until Hopkins took the lead for good on lap 39. The race then went from lap 40 to lap 100 without another pause in the action. Hopkins kept increasing his lead after picking up the $200 bonus money, posted by Larry and Deb Curtis of Buxton, Maine, for leading lap 59. 59 was Phippen’s number for all the years he raced from 1978 to 2010, in the Central Maine area. Dale Swoboda of Hermon placed fourth at the finish, followed by Winterport’s Shane Clark in fifth. The remaining finishing order was 6. Jesse Smith, Bangor, 7. George Dunn, Eastbrook, 8. Alex Waltz, Damariscotta, 9. Greg Ellis, Hermon, 10. Brenton Parritt, Steuben, 11. Phil Richardson, Hermon, 12. Ryan Deane, Winterport. Only the top three cars were on the lead lap when the checkered flag ended the event.

Jeremy Glasier of Appleton returned to the winner’s circle in the Sportsman division after nipping D.J. Moody of Prospect at the finish line. Glasier and Moody raced side by side for the final 5 laps, with Glasier taking the win by a bumper as the checkered flag flew over the pair. Moody finished a very close second, followed by Hermon’s Kris Watson in third. Fourth went to Steve Moulton of Holden, who suffered minor damage in a skirmish with Glasier in the early laps of the race. Nick Huff of Orrington placed fifth, with Gene Wasson of Greenbush finishing sixth.

Andrew McLaughlin of Harrington backed up his impressive win in last week’s Ikey Dore memorial 50 lapper with another win in the regular 25 lap Strictly Street feature. Winning by over a half a lap, McLaughlin took off from the pole position and never slowed during the caution free race. Shelby Kimball took the second place trophy home to Cornville, followed by Shawn Hamel II of Bangor, who finished third driving his second car of the night. After problems with his Camaro during the qualifier, Hamel loaded it, took it home, swapped it for his father’s Monte Carlo, and returned to the track in time for his feature event. Cody Brassbridge of Frankfort finished fourth with Carl McAlpine of Burnham in fifth.

In Sport-Four action, Bradley Norris of Ellsworth took the lead from Jay Robichaud of Eddington at the half-way point of the 20 lap feature and went on to post his fifth win of the season. Robichaud finished in the second spot with Barry Elston of Carmel, subbing for his daughter Becky, who was ill and unable to compete, took third place honors. Steve Heath of Milo was fourth with Bradley Dolan of Winterport finishing in fifth. The remaining order was 6. Gerry Phillips, Hermon, 7. Mike Heath, Brownville, 8. James Johnson II, Bucksport, 9. Scott Bonney, Bangor, 10. Ryan Kennedy, Holden, 11. Dennis Burns, Carmel, 12. Josh Dillon, Milo.

Andrew Crosby of Hermon picked up his second win of the season in the Bombers after passing Ryan Modery of Hermon early in the event that was stopped twice for Emma Libby of Glenburn, who broke two right front wheels on her Honda in separate incidents. Ken Ogden of Seal Cove finished in third, followed by D.C.Alexander of Glenburn, Emma Libby, and Kevin Seekins of Frankfort.

Racing continues at Speedway 95 on Wednesday, July 27, with a regular Wacky Wednesday show, and on Saturday, July 30, with the Dysart’s late Models, the Sportsman, Street Stocks, Bombers and the Sport-Fours in a 35 lap Varney Agency series event.