Alexander denies Hinckley's back-to-front bid
in thrilling True Value Modified Series debut
OXFORD, Maine – Les Hinckley provided much of the entertainment value in Saturday night's Maine-Ly Action Sports 100 at Oxford Plains Speedway, but Kirk Alexander was the lead actor who stole the show.
Alexander made a bold move around Hinckley with six laps remaining in the inaugural True Value Modified Series event at OPS and sped away to his third tour win of the season in the middle segment of TD Banknorth 250 Weekend Presented By New England Dodge Dealers.
Prior to Alexander's winning maneuver, Hinckley made a brilliant charge from worst to first in the 24-car field. Hinckley was handicapped to the rear of the grid due to his victory in the series' most recent stop at Lee USA Speedway. He held off Alexander in a similarly spirited scrap that evening.
"I think my car was just a little bit better than his in the center of the corner," Alexander said. "It was great racing at a great track. It all sort of came back to me."
This wasn't Alexander's first encounter with the historic OPS oval. He qualified for the TD Banknorth 250 in 1996, finishing 22nd.
With the exception of Louie Mechalides, most of Alexander's pursuers enjoyed little previous Oxford experience.
Dwight and Peter Jarvis finished third and fourth, respectively. The brother tandem fought off Mechalides in a pair of brilliant side-by-side battles over the final 15 laps.
Chris Pasteryak, the next wave in a prominent modified racing family, also snuck past Mechalides in the waning moments to secure fifth.
Five caution flags briefly slowed the event, the last pair coming in two separate incidents on lap 84. Alexander appeared poised to overtake Hinckley prior to the yellows, and he stayed in the leader's tire tracks until opportunity knocked on the 94th circuit.
Hinckley boldly used both the inside and outside lanes to pick his way to the front. He moved into the top five in under 30 laps, then out-dueled Mechalides and Peter Jarvis before swiping the top spot from Dwight Jarvis on lap 78.
Dwight Jarvis roared past pole-sitter Jimmy Dolan on lap 3 and set a blistering early pace, dominating much of the night.
Of the two supporting features, the Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy Strictly Stock division waged a three-car battle in heavy lapped traffic that rivaled the closeness of competition in the main event for the "ground pounders."
Glen Henderson led from wire-to-wire, but that statistic does no justice to how hard he fought the wheel to ward off Skip Tripp and Tommy Tompkins.
The three leaders each chose a separate lane out of the final corner with double-wide roadblocks ahead. Henderson hit the stripe first by 0.141 of a second. Tompkins' margin over Tripp for second was merely a fender.
"It was an easy race and a hard race all at once," Henderson said. "When you see the slower cars running side-by-side in front of you, what can you do? Especially when you see this kind of competition closing in on you."
With three runner-up finishes already to his credit this season, Tripp was frustrated by his lack of an opportunity to take a clean shot at the leader.
"I guess Glen had a hard time finding a groove," said Tripp. "It's too bad. We were fast."
The top three left fourth-place Sumner Sessions a straightaway behind at the finish. Danny Smart and Mike Short rubbed door panels for most of the race before Short won the battle for fifth.
A season-high 34 Strictly Stocks signed in at the pit gate, forcing two loaded heats and a consolation race to set the 30-car starting grid.
For a guy who's won five Allen's Mini Stock features, Jimmy Childs looked the part Saturday night of someone who's been starved for a victory. His typically dominant car failed to make it to the finish in his last two starts, temporarily costing Childs the point lead.
Things turned around dramatically in the first installment of the big weekend. While rival Adam Polvinen ran into trouble and finished five laps down after a collision left him with a flat tire, Childs motored past Dave Mooney midway through the 30-lap main event and cruised to another triumph.
"It feels like it's been a long time," said Childs. "I couldn't even relax when I saw the white flag, because that's when things went bad last time."
Mooney bettered last week's third-place run and moved up another rung on the ladder. Don Mooney threatened to join his brother on the podium for the second week in a row but fell a car length shy of rookie Bob Guptill. Ashley Marshall ran fifth.
The crown jewel of New England and Canadian late model racing, the 34th annual TD Banknorth 250, gets the green flag with qualifying Sunday at 2 p.m.
TRUE VALUE MODIFIED MAINE-LY ACTION SPORTS 100 (100 laps): 1. Kirk Alexander, West Swanzey, N.H.; 2. Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, Conn.; 3. Dwight Jarvis, Ascutney, Vt.; 4. Peter Jarvis, Ascutney, Vt.; 5. Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn.; 6. Louie Mechalides, North Tyngsboro, Mass.; 7. Rob Goodenough, Swanzey, N.H.; 8. Billy Goodrow, Pembroke, Mass.; 9. Jimmy Kuhn, Jr., Bridgewater, Mass.; 10. Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H.; 11. Vinnie Annarummo, Swansea, Mass.; 12. Todd Patnode, Swanzey, N.H.; 13. Dale Evonsion, East Hartland, Conn.; 14. Mike Douglas, Jr., Auburn, N.H.; 15. Jonathan McKennedy, Chelmsford, Mass.; 16. Brian Shumway, Belchertown, Mass.; 17. Sean Boudreau, Claremont, N.H.; 18. Tom Abele Jr., Norwich, Mass.; 19. Mike Holdridge, Madison, Conn.; 20. Jimmy Dolan, Bethel, Conn.; 21. Tom Cravenho, Raynham, Mass.; 22. Tony Ricci, Westbrook; 23. David Pinkham, Buxton; 24. Ed Dachenhausen, Danbury, Conn.
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY STRICTLY STOCK (30 laps): 1. Glen Henderson, Sabattus; 2. Tommy Tompkins, Dixfield; 3. Skip Tripp, Sabattus; 4. Sumner Sessions, Norway; 5. Mike Short, Auburn; 6. Danny Smart, Buxton; 7. David Vaughn, Naples; 8. Kenny Harrison, Pownal; 9. Kim Tripp, Oxford; 10. Larry Emerson, Durham; 11. Roy Weymouth, Winthrop; 12. Mark Bowie, Poland; 13. Matt Williams, Brownfield; 14. Chris Burgess, Lewiston; 15. Bob Crocker, Freeport; 16. Rick Thompson, Naples; 17. B.J. Chapman, Bridgton; 18. Luke Rickards, Anson; 19. Mike St. Germain, Auburn; 20. Zach Emerson, Sabattus; 21. Perry Tucker, Sumner; 22. Chris Mosher, Litchfield; 23. Reggie Houghton, Carthage; 24. Ron Charpentier Jr., Wales; 25. Nick Coates, Turner; 26. Ben Krauter, Raymond; 27. Bob DiPompo, Jay; 28. Dave Brannon, Topsham; 29. Scott Belskis, Dixfield; 30. Jeff Moon, Gray.
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY MINI STOCK (30 laps): 1. Jimmy Childs, Leeds; 2. David Mooney, Wales; 3. Bob Guptill, Mechanic Falls; 4. Don Mooney, New Gloucester; 5. Ashley Marshall, Jay; 6. Bill Irving, New Gloucester; 7. Don Frechette, Turner; 8. Greg Watkins, Bridgton; 9. Kevin Bishop, South Paris; 10. Shane Kaherl, Jay; 11. Dale Brackett, Oxford; 12. Dale Durgin, Norway; 13. Rob Baitler, Wales; 14. Rick Giguere, Auburn; 15. Bill Childs Sr., Leeds; 16. Adam Polvinen, Oxford; 17. Wayne Parkin, Wales; 18. Bill Thibeault, Oxford; 19. Darick Barker, Jay; 20. Joe Treadwell, Auburn.