by Jay | Aug 30, 2009 | Maine, Speedway 95
The all day soaking rain received in the Bangor area on Saturday forced Speedway 95 officials to cancel the program scheduled for 6:30 Saturday night, August 29th. Racing will resume at the speedway on Saturday September 5 at 6:30 p.m. with a regular card of racing that includes the Dysart’s Late Models, the Super Streets, Strictly Streets and the Allenfarm Fence Co. Sport Fours. Also on the card will be the Wacky Wednesday night Little Enduros, who moved to the Saturday night show for the remainder of the season at the conclusion of the 2009 Wacky Wednesday racing schedule on August 26th.
On Saturday, September 12, Speedway 95 will host Round 2 of the Linnehan Credit Now Triple Crown Series for Late Models. The event will pay the winner a total of $1754, which comes from the regular purse planned for the event plus $1054 from the friends and family of Bob Coburn, a former Pro Stock driver at the track who passed away in June of this year. Top Late Model drivers from the central and coastal Maine areas are expected to challenge the Speedway 95 regulars for the largest purse of the three race series. The final leg of the series will be held at Unity Raceway on Sunday, October 11th.
by Jay | Aug 26, 2009 | Maine, Speedway 95
Jim Carr Jr. of Clifton won his 12th feature of the season in the pick up truck division Wednesday night at Speedway 95, making it a clean sweep for the 2009 season. Carr took the lead from Peter Drake of Corinth on the 3rd lap and led the way to the finish in the caution free 20 lap event. Drake finished second with Winterport’s Mike Lynch picking up his second third place finish in a row. Dana Harlow of Bucksport was fourth with Hermon’s Andrew Crosby finishing fifth. In addition to his 12th win of the season, Carr also won the truck division points championship for the season, and was presented with the Mainley Motorsports Driver of the Month at Speedway 95 award for the month of July. Carr also won the 10 lap qualifier for the truck division, making that his 11th qualifying win of the 12 run.
Paul Higgins of Newburgh dominated the action in the Little Enduros as he led from the pole position to the checkers in the 20 lap feature event. Donnie Blanchard of Orrington chased Higgins from the outside pole but was unable to catch Higgins as the two smoothly worked their way through slower traffic about a quarter track ahead of the third place car of Bucksport’s Mike Ogden. Newburgh driver Darren Durrell finished the event in fourth, followed by Ken Getchell, another driver from Newburgh. In winning the feature event, Higgins locked up the points title for the 2009 season in the Little Enduro division. Track officials announced that the Little Enduros would be joining the Saturday night show for the remaining three weeks of the season for a three race series sponsored by First Choice Auto of Newburgh and Jim Robichaud’s Auto Repair of Orrington. Higgins and Blanchard each won a qualifier earlier in the evening, placing then side by side on the front row for the start.
Sixteen Little Enduro drivers also participated in a Double O race to wind up the 2009 Wacky Wednesday racing season. David Grant jumped behind the wheel of the Tim Moon number 76 and took the car for a wild ride that ended in victory circle. Mike Ogden finished the event in second, after placing third in the regular feature, giving him a good night of racing. Third went to Abel Lemur of Winterport, with Dan Quillia of Winterport in fourth. Ken Getchell of Newburgh was fifth. The event started out a little wacky with the red flag falling twice before the first lap was completed.
Alan Cookson of Old Town returned to victory lane in the Big Enduro division after struggling for most of the season following his early season win in June. Cookson kept his Monte Carlo out front for the entire distance, holding off Winterport’s Ricky Palmer for the win. Palmer finished in second, and in doing so clinched the 2009 points title for the division. Third went to Roger Smith Jr. of Clifton, who slowed down a little this week after winning the past two feature events. Shawn McNevin of Hudson finished in fourth with fifth place going to Glenburn’s Dwayne Walton. Roger Smith dusted the field in the qualifier earlier in the evening, finishing a good half lap ahead of the second place finisher.
Danielle DeLuck made it two in a row and three for the season in the Ladies division as she powered into the lead past polesitter Kayla Allen of Bucksport on the backstretch during the third lap of the event. DeLuck held on to the lead through one caution on lap 11 caused when Nicole Smith of Clifton and Kayla Allen of Bucksport tangled on the front stretch over the same piece of real estate. DeLuck resumed the lead when the green again restarted the race, and held on to take the win. Becky Elston of Carmel finished in second with Rhonda Lyford charging through the field to finish third. In addition to her third place finish, Lyford also went home with the division points championship. Amy Houde of Howland had a strong fourth place finish followed by Kayla Allen in fifth. Danielle also won the qualifier earlier in the event, but started near the end of the field because of her victory in last week’s feature race.
by Jay | Aug 23, 2009 | Maine, Speedway 95
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.
by Jay | Aug 20, 2009 | Maine, Speedway 95
SHELBY KIMBALL TAKES SERIES TROPHY
Danielle DeLuck of Hampden won her second feature of the season Wednesday night at Speedway 95 after leading from the start in the third race of the Ladies three race series, and holding off Winterport’s Rhonda Lyford in a green, white checker dash to the finish. Although Lyford finished second on the track, her car failed post-race inspection and she was disqualified from the event. Becky Elston of Carmel was awarded the second place finish, followed by Cornville’s Shelby Kimball in third. Kimball’s third place finish wasn’t an easy one, as she had to start at the rear of the field twice due to pit stops during caution periods. Nicole Smith of Clifton caused three cautions, which kept the field bunched up on the restarts. The third place finish gave Kimball the overall win in the three race series points chase. Pole sitter Kayla Allen of Bucksport finished fourth with Amy Houde of Howland in fifth. Kayla Allen won the qualifier, which sat her on the pole for the feature.
Darren Durrell returned from his tough loss last week to lead the caution free Little Enduro feature from pole to checkers. Although it took three tries to get the race started, once it got going it didn’t stop again until it was over. Durrell easily threaded through traffic enroute to his victory, but had to watch Milo’s Mike Witham, who chased him for the entire race. Andrew Crosby of Hermon ended up finishing second following Witham’s disqualification in post race inspection. Witham was found to have “gutted” his hood, which is an infraction of the rules. Chris Carroll of Greenbush then took home the third place trophy, his first top three for the season. Fourth went to Newport’s Mark Lane, and Paul Higgins of Newburgh finished in fifth. Higgins won one of the qualifiers and Orrington’s Donnie Blanchard won the other. With just one week to go, Higgins leads Blanchard in the point chase in the division by about 30 points.
Roger Smith Jr. picked up where he left off last week and led the Big Enduro feature from green to checkers to post his second win in a row. Ricky Palmer of Winterport, who had won three in a row earlier in the season, finished second, blaming himself for being lazy and not touching his car all week. In his first appearance of the season, Alvin McNevin of Holden brought his Ford LTD home in third. McNevini explained he had been sidelined this season with a leg injury, but was ready to go now, and proved it with his top three effort. Shawn McNevin of Hudson finished fourth with Robert Caruso of Kenduskeag finishing fifth in his first attempt in the Big Enduros.
In the last appearance of the season for the Stars of Tomorrow, Cole Robinson of Clinton made it three in a row by passing early leader Brett McCullouogh of Kenduskeag on the fourth lap of the 10 lap feature for the 11-14 year olds. Hermon’s Ryan Modery finished in second, and McCullough finished third following a last lap altercation with Cornville’s Matt Kimball. Kimball went into turn one on the last lap and made a charge up the inside of turn one, forcing Modery into McCullough and spinning both cars out. Modery and McCullough recovered, and Kimball was relegated to a last place finish for rough driving. Robinson also won the qualifier earlier in the evening.
Jim Carr of Clifton made it 10 in a row in the pick up truck division as he took the lead from Winterport’s Mike Lynch on the 8th lap of the 20 lap caution free event by running the inside groove as he does so successfully each week. Dana Harlow of Bucksport again finished in second after passing Lynch late in the race. Lynch held on to finish third, driving a truck owned by Harlow. Hermon’s Brett Crosby took fourth followed by his son, Andrew, also of Hermon, who posted a fifth place finish for the night. Carr made it a sweep by also winning the 10 lap heat race for the division.
by Jay | Aug 13, 2009 | Maine, Speedway 95
Donny Blanchard of Orrington won the Wacky Wednesday Little Enduro feature Wednesday night, but really wishes he hadn’t won it the way he did. Blanchard was in a three way battle for the lead with two laps to go when leader Darren Durrell of Newburgh started to overlap the slower car of Old Town’s David Ogden. Ogden then deliberately turned into Durrell’s rear fender, causing Durrell to spin sideways and out of the lead. Blanchard, Newburgh’s Paul Higgins and Chad Badger of Milo managed to slip by without any contact with the spinning cars and went the final two laps to the checkered flag in that order. Andrew Crosby of Hermon was fourth with Milo’s Mike Witham in fifth. Ogden was subsequently disqualified from the race for rough riding, and told not to bother to return next week either. Durrell recovered to finish in 12th spot in the 26 car field. Milo’s Mike Witham and Darren Durrell won the qualifiers for the division. With only 2 weeks of Wacky Wednesday racing left, Paul Higgins sits atop the point standings with a 29 point lead over Blanchard.
Big Enduro action saw Roger Smith of Clinton return to victory lane after being chased hard by Winterport’s Ricky Palmer for the entire distance of the series race #3 they were competing in. Palmer could get close, but said his car was wasn’t handling well enough to be able to catch and pass Smith cleanly. Palmer, who had won the last three Big Enduro, features finished in second, which gave him the overall win in the 3 race series for the season. Carmel’s Dwayne Walton brought his T-bird home in third, a short distance behind the leaders. Walton had taken a few weeks off before returning to the Wednesday night car fights, and said he was amazed at how much faster the competition was since his return. Joey Doyon of Winterport picked up a fourth place finish with Shawn McNevin finishing in fifth. Smith was hooked up all night, and also won the division’s qualifier.
The Ladies put on in impressive performance once they got the early race pushin’ and shovin’ over with. Rhonda Lyford of Winterport grabbed the lead on a lap 16 restart and held off a hard charge from early leader Becky Elston of Carmel and Danielle DeLuck of Hampden. All three raced close for the final 4 laps, and finished in that order. DeLuck challenged Elston for second on the inside, but was forced to settle for third due to a push her car developed toward the end of the race. Nicole Smith of Clifton also took a turn at the front, but spun out of contention and finished in fourth after making contact with Kayla Allen of Bucksport in the second turn, sending Allen to the pit with a flat tire. Lynn Downing of Brownville was the last survivor running, and finished in the fifth spot. Lyford also won the 10 lap qualifier earlier in the evening.
Cole Robinson made it two in a row in the Stars of Tomorrow as he overtook Hermon’s Ryan Modery on the third lap and drove on to the win. Modery finished in second after fighting off Cornville’s Matt Kimball who finished in third. Brett McCullough of Kenduskeag took fourth with D.C.Alexander finishing fifth. Robinson also won the 10 lap heat race. The competition in this division for 11-14 year olds is really heating up, as they gain experience and start stepping a little harder on the gas. Robinson has added a lot to the division, but says Matt Kimball still beats him on Friday nights at Unity, so he has to pick up his game a little over there.
by Jay | Aug 9, 2009 | Maine, Speedway 95
Hermon’s Dale Swoboda recovered from a mechanical issue that took him out of the lead on the last lap of the qualifying heat, and returned to capture the caution free Late Model Feature victory at Speedway 95 Saturday night. The win wasn’t easy as it took Swoboda until the 17th lap to work his way past Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs and Don Alexander Jr. of Carmel, who had led the first 16 laps. Alexander chased Swoboda for the final 8 circuits, but was unable to retake the lead and settled for the runner up spot. Shane Clark of Winterport got past Seekins on the final lap to post a third place finish. Seekins finished fourth with Bar Harbor’s John Phippen Jr. in fifth. Swoboda was unable to make the initial line-up for the national anthem as, in addition to the distributor that went bad in the qualifier, his starter also quit and he had to be push started to leave the pits. Seekins won the qualifier for the Late Models.
Super Street action saw a replay of last week’s 50 lapper as Steve Moulton of Holden won again with Josh St. Clair chasing him under the checkered flag. The difference this week was that instead of both drivers shaking hands and congratulating each other on a good race as they did last week, both kept their distance from each other and traded barbs about the other’s driving abilities during their post race interviews. St. Clair took exception to Moulton’s driving tactics as a result of what he felt was a deliberate move on Moulton’s part to force him high in turn 2 as Moulton was working his way by St.Clair on the inside on lap 9. St. Clair had been running in the lead, but slipped high in turn four on lap 8, allowing Moulton to get close enough to strike. Moulton retorted that he was merely driving the way he saw St.Clair drive in the Late Models. Could there be a late season feud brewing between these two highly competitive drivers? Hermon’s Kris Watson finished third after a race long battle with Lindsey Young for the position. Young finished fourth with Doug Sinclair, also of Hermon finishing in fifth. Moulton also won the 10 lap qualifier earlier in the program.
Doug Day took the lead from Ellsworth’s Bradley Norris on a lap 18 restart, lost it to Norris on a lap 19 restart, then retook it on lap 21 and cruised on to the victory, his second since taking the wheel of the 37 at mid-season. The lap 18 caution was caused by a solo spin by Dustin Hubbard of Unity as he was running alone in third place at the time. On the 19th lap, Nick Huff spun on the back stretch when he pulled up too early while passing Travis Poulin on the inside. In his post race interview, Poulin stated that Huff had pulled the same stunt last week and he let off and let it go as a rookie mistake. This week, Poulin stated , he stayed in it and Huff learned a lesson. Current points leader Bradley Norris finished second in the event, followed by Poulin in third, Shawn Hamel II of Bangor in fourth and Hubbard recovering from his spin out to finish in fifth. Day also won the qualifier.
Gary Richards of Stetson won his first Sport-Four feature of the season Saturday night as he led the caution free 20 lap event from pole to checkers. Rick Grant of LaGrange and David Green of Hampden waged a race long battle for second and third, with Grant coming out ahead at the end. Grant congratulated both Richards on his win and Green on the good battle for the runner up spot. Green, the division’s current points leader, finished in third, with Veazie’s Kyle Gallant and Plymouth’s Derick Terrell finishing in fourth and fifth respectively. Ralph Allen of Hermon easily outdistanced the field in the 10 lap qualifier.
