BRADFORD, VT – Open-wheel stock car racing action will overflow at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT on Saturday, June 16, as Jiffy Mart of Bradford presents the “New Digs for Dogs” event to benefit the Bradford Bull Dogs youth football team. Between the WYKR Sprint Cars of New England (SCoNE), the USAC Dirt Midget Association, the Atlantic Coast Old Timers antique club, and the regular 99ROCK Weekly Racing Series Bond Auto Parts DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds and Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupes, five open-wheel divisions will flock to the ¼-mile dirt track.
Will Hull of East Montpelier, VT scored a popular first career win in the most recent SCoNE event at Bear Ridge on May 26. The former Limited Late Model track champion snookered Tyler Rich in lapped traffic coming to the final lap to steal the win. He’ll try for his second win of the year against former SCoNE champions Chris Donnelly, Dan Douville, Shawn Lawler, and Mark Cole on Saturday.
The action is tight and tenacious at Bear Ridge Speedway this season, proven by close championship point battles across the board. With the first five events in the record books, no drivers have yet to make a dominant statement. Kevin Chaffee has the biggest lead in any division, pacing the Sportsman Modified class by just 16 points (275-259) over defending champion Adam Pierson. Both drivers hail from Fairlee, VT and have visited the winner’s circle this season, but both have had “off” nights as well; Chaffee crashed last week and finished 16th, while Pierson slumped to 14th on May 12. Dan Eastman, Justin Comes, and Derek Graham sit three points apart in positions 3-5, well within striking distance of the leaders.
Ride-hopping Chaffee is expected to pull triple-duty in the Modifieds, Midgets, and Sprint Cars on Saturday. Chaffee – known as “The Fairlee Flier” – also leads the USAC Dirt Midget Association standings by 11 points over Connecticut’s Scott Holcomb, 152-141, with Massachusetts youngster Tim Gallant and New England Auto Racing Hall of Famer Ray Miller just four more markers behind. Noted ESPN/ABC sports announcer and Stafford (CT) Motor Speedway president Jack Arute will make his Bear Ridge driving debut in the USAC Midgets on Saturday.
Terry Williams of Wells River, VT used a win last week to take over at the top of the Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe division, but only by two points over two-time champion Josh Harrington of Topsham, VT (227-225). The next 10 Coupe drivers are all within 50 points of Williams’ lead. North Haverhill, NH veteran Mike Greene leads the A Notch Above Automotive Limited Late Models on the strength of five top-two finishes, but paces 15 year-old Jordan Fornwalt of Bradford, VT by only 11 points, 253-242; Fornwalt already has three wins in 2012.
Danny Doyle of Rochester, VT has a nine-point cushion on Bradford’s Chuck Simmons (260-251) in the Weglarz Property Service Fast Fours after his first win of the year on Miller Auto Group Night last week, and Brent Warren of Salisbury, VT and defending champ Eric Lang of Groton, VT are deadlocked at the top in the KDD NAPA Auto Parts Hornet class, at 244 points each.
Jiffy Mart of Bradford Night starts at the famous “6:00-ish” post time on Saturday, June 14. All six 99ROCK Weekly Racing Series divisions will be on hand, along with the lightning-fast WYKR Sprint Cars of New England and the Atlantic Coast Old Timers club. Special event general admission is $13 for adults (age 18-61), $10 for teens (12-17) and seniors (62+), and $2 for children. Season passes are also available; Visa and MasterCard are accepted.
Bear Ridge Speedway is located on Kidder Road in Bradford, VT, just off Exit 16 on Interstate 91. For more information, call (802) 222-4052 or visit www.bearridgespeedway.com.