by Jay | Jul 26, 2009 | Maine, Unity
Unity, ME — Josh St. Clair of Liberty drove to victory lane twice in one day for the second time this season on a special Saturday afternoon “Wrestling & Racing” card at Unity Raceway, offering up double points in all racing divisions.
St.Clair came from the back of the pack in both the Late Model and Super Street division main events in impressive fashion.
In the Late Model event St.Clair worked his way through the field to take command just past the halfway point in the race, getting by early race leader Frank Moulton of Burnham. Moulton, the current leader in the battle for the 2009 track championship, managed to hold off Palmyra’s Louie Picard, making his first Unity Raceway appearance of the season, for runner-up honors. Picard crossed the line in third position, with the top five filled out by Anson’s Mark Dodge and David Folsom II of Skowhegan.
St.Clair’s Super Street victory saw the third-generation racer chase down Orrington’s John Kalel II to earn his first trip to victory lane on the afternoon. Ed ‘Fubby’ Drake of Vassalboro chased St.Clair throughout the 35-lapper and drove to a second-place finish, his. Donnie York of Thorndike made a late charge pay off with a third-place finish, in front of Kalel and Steve Moulton of Glenburn.
Reigning division champion Carl McAlpine of Burnham led every lap en route to victory lane in the Wildcat class. Ed Sleeper of Vassalboro posted his best finish in the division, moving into second position on the final lap. Chet Hanscom of Benton, who challenged McAlpine’s lead for much of the race, got entangled with a lapped car on the final lap and had to settle for a third-place finish. Chris King of Burnham and Shawn Racila of Dover-Foxcroft rounded out the top five.
Reigning Monsta Mini division champion Mike Wilson of Chelsea cruised to victory in the 25-lap, double-point main event for his division. Mike Dulaney of Richmond tried to make things interesting in the closing laps to earn runner-up honors. Tim Robinson of Clinton ended up with the third-place trophy. Alicia Goodwin of Clinton finished fourth, with the top-five rundown filled out by Jason Forbes of Castle Hill.
Lance Chapman returned after a few weeks off and dominated the Enduro division race on the track. He lapped everyone with the exception of apparent runner-up Travis Dodge. But post-race inspection uncovered rules violations on the two quickest cars, which made Chad Badger of Milo the official winner.
Rain showers forced postponement of features in four racing divisions. The Flyin’ 4 and Ladies divisions will race in double-point features to kick off this Friday night’s (July 31) racing program, while Late Model Pro Four and Teen Thunder division features will be made up on August 7.
This Friday night is also Christmas in July, with a visit from Santa and other kids activities scheduled. Post time is 6:30 p.m. For more information visit unityraceway.info or call (207) 453-2021.
Late Model: 1. Josh St.Clair, Liberty; 2. Frank Moulton, Burnham; 3. Louis Picard, Palmyra; 4. Mark Dodge, Anson; 5. David Folsom, Skowhegan; 6. Deane Smart, Bradley; 7. David Folsom II, Skowhegan; 8. Mike Howlett, Presque Isle; 9. Jeff Willette, Presque Isle; 11. Joey Doyon, Winterport.
Super Street: 1. Josh St.Clar, Liberty; 2. Ed Drake, Vassalboro; 3. Donnie York, Thorndike; 4. John Kalel II, Orington; 5. Steve Moulton, Glenburn; 6. Corey Poulin, Augusta; 7. Steve Rackliff, Starks; 8. Jesse Michaud, Caribou; 9. Bryan Robbins, Montville; 10. Kris Watson, Hermon; 11. Hal Stratton, Belgrade.
Wildcat: 1. Carl McAlpine, Burnham; 2. Ed Sleeper, Vasalboro; 3. Chet Hanscom, Benton; 4. Chris Gray, Burnham; 5. Shawn Racilla, Dover-Foxcroft; 6. Andy Turbovsky, Winslow; 7. Mike Shaw, Troy; 8. Brent Chase, Burnham; 9. Dustin Hubbard, Unity.
Monsta Mini: 1. Mike Wilson, Chelsea; 2. Mike Dulaney, Richmond; 3. Tim Robinson, Clinton; 4. Alicia Goodwin, Clinton; 5. Jason Forbes, Castle Hill.
Enduro winner: Chad Badger, Milo.
by Jay | Jul 26, 2009 | ACT, Beech Ridge
Scarborough, ME – Five-time American Canadian Tour Champion Brian Hoar of Williston, VT notched career win number 24 in the Beech Ridge 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Hoar started in the ninth position and moved into the lead on lap 37 by passing local favorite Aarron Ricker. Hoar then appeared to have the race in hand as he was chased through lap traffic by Randy Potter during an 80 lap green flag run.
After a couple of late cautions Eric Williams moved up into second place and challenged Hoar for the win right down to the end. Williams would come home second followed by Cris Michaud while Potter held on for fourth and Maine native Ricky Rolfe finished fifth. Coming home sixth was Jay Laquerre followed by Brent Dragon, John Donahue, Scott Payea, and Nick Brown rounding out the top ten.
Hoar becomes the 13th driver to qualify for the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19th. He joins Brad Leighton, Williams, Scott Payea, Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Patrick Laperle, Dave Pembroke, Jean-François Déry, Donald Theetge, Sean Kennedy, Brent Dragon, John Donahue and Oxford 250 winner Eddie MacDonald.
The Beech Ridge 150 took just over one hour and fifteen minutes to complete and was slowed by only seven cautions. One caution was for a malfunction with the track lighting, which left the front stretch completely dark on lap 28. Everyone made it through the black out safely.
This Friday, July 31st the American Canadian Tour will be back in action at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, NH. Twin State is one of the five ACT sanctioned events during a four day period this week. It all begins this Thursday, July 30th when special guest Richard Petty visits Thunder Road International Speedbowl for a regular weekly event. Friday sees the ACT Tour at Twin State, while Saturday, August 1st has the Série ACT Castrol at Autodrome Montmagny and the Tiger Sportsmen Tri-State Series travels to Canaan Fair Speedway for their second event of the 2009 season. The busy weekend is then capped off with the 25th Annual M&M Beverage Enduro on Sunday, August 2nd.
Unofficial Beech Ridge 150 Results
Pos Car # Driver
1 37 Brian Hoar
2 7vt Eric Williams
3 6 Cris Michaud
4 02nh Randy Potter
5 51me Ricky Rolfe
6 50 Jay Laquerre
7 55vt Brent Dragon
8 26vt John Donahue
9 89 Scott Payea
10 12 Nick Brown
11 97nh Joey Polewarczyk, Jr.
12 88 Nicholas Sweet
13 22 Aarron Ricker
14 10nh Mike Rowe
15 55nh Brad Leighton
16 0 #Miles Chipman
17 60nh Bobby Babb
18 7me Glen Luce
19 40vt Eric Chase
20 73me #Joey Doiron
21 00 Bryan Kruczek
22 9vt Chip Grenier
23 15vt Joey Laquerre
24 28vt Dwayne Lanphear
25 27 Jason Larrabee
26 41 Pete Potvin, III
27 26me Corey Morgan
28 38vt Tyler Cahoon
29 87 Larry Gelinas
30 85 Travis Stearns
31 71 Bobby Dragon
32 77nh Mark Hayward
33 18 Jamie Fisher
34 25 Shawn Knight
by Jay | Jul 26, 2009 | Beech Ridge
With the American-Canadian Tour back in town for the first time in 16 years, Dave Oliver also took the time to renew acquaintances with the winners circle in front of a large crowd of fans. The 40 lap Pro Series feature was led in the early going by Keith McKinnon who was about to drive the best race of his short career. McKinnon stayed in front until lap 14 when Oliver took over following a restart. With Oliver cruising away from the field McKinnon was locked in a battle for second place with Aaron Ricker, Bub Bilodeau and Mike Rowe. Oliver would take the win and McKinnon posted a career best second place with Rowe getting third at the stripe by inches. Ricker and Mike Maietta Jr were fourth and fifth.
Doug Wolf won his first career race in the 35 lap Sport Series main event. Wolf led from the green flag until he was passed by Reggie Leeman on lap 26. The caution flag waved on lap 27 and Wolf powered his way back to the lead at lap 30. The final 5 laps saw Wolf hold off Don Morse for the win with Leeman third. Andy Field and Russ Morse rounded out the top 5 finishers.
Alby Ovitt won his second Wildcat race of the season in only his third start. Steve Benincasa led for the majority of the race until lap 22 when Ovitt got to his inside. Benincasa and Ovitt raced side by side for the final 8 laps with Ovitt getting the win over Benincasa. Lyman McKeage made a late race charge to finish third with Andy Ayers and Mike Ramsey next.
Matt Dow made easy work of the Road Runner field in their 20 lap feature race. Dow took the lead on lap 6 and pulled away to an easy win. Shawn Brackett was a distant second and Ray Letellier third. Don Dinsmore and Taylor Lampron were fourth and fifth.
by Jay | Jul 26, 2009 | New Hampshire
Lee, NH – July 24, 2009 – The Pro Four Modifieds of New England (PFMNE) once again battled Mother Nature yesterday as they completed their seventh race of the 2009 season on Friday, July 24, at Lee USA Speedway. Sponsored by Bot-L-Gas and RF Logic, the 25-lap main event was the second round of the Triple Crown Series. The #1m of Norm Wrenn and the #4 of Cory Cleary provided the entertainment as both worked their way from the back of the field to the front. But Wrenn had just enough to hold off the advances of Cleary as the checkers unfurled—claiming his sixth victory of the season.
When the 11-car field took the green flag, it was Franky Perry and Rob Richardi, Jr. bringing them down. Perry got the advantage with Robin Berghman looking inside of Wrenn. The two continued to battle until Wrenn made contact with the outside retaining wall, causing him to lose several positions. But by lap four, he made up the ground he lost and moved by Berghman. Two laps later, Cleary used the outside lane to pass Vincent coming out of turn two. Wrenn continued his quest for the top spot on lap seven, as he drove around the #07 of Phil Lausier, the #13 of George Sherman, and Richardi, Jr. He then set his eyes on the leader, Franky Perry, who continued to set the pace. Meanwhile, Cleary drove his Jannell Ford machine under Lausier in turns three and four to make his claim on a top five position. Sherman moved his modified into third around Richardi, Jr.—and one lap later, Cleary passed the #12 family-owned machine as well. On lap twelve, Cleary looked to the inside of Sherman for third. Wrenn made the winning pass on Perry going down the backstretch with the field receiving the ten-to-go signal. Cleary, too, passed Perry, wrestling the second position away from the early race leader.
Wrenn went made it two for two in Triple Crown races with Cleary, Perry, Sherman, and Richardi Jr. rounding out the top five. Lausier, Berghman, Brian Vincent, Joe Lemay, Michael Crawford, and Stan Mertz comprised the rest of the field. Lemay was the first Limited Pro Four across the line, followed by Crawford and Mertz.
The next event for the four-cylinder modifieds will be held at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway next Sunday, August 2, for the Four Cylinder Nationals, presented by Kraze Korlacki Speed Equipment. The race is the culminating event in a weekend full of events scheduled to raise funds for breast cancer. For more details, visit the PFMNE homepage at www.pro4mods.com.
by Jay | Jul 25, 2009 | Video
A recap of the races that occurred at Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, CT on the night of July (more…)
