Adams, Tompkins, Childs en-titled

OXFORD, Maine – Travis Adams, Tommy Tompkins and Jimmy Childs each earned an Oxford Plains Speedway division championship with its own unique historical impact Saturday night.

Adams successfully defended his Oxford Networks Late Model title, becoming the first three-time champion in the class and winning the inaugural crown in the Late Models' reign as the top division at OPS.

Tompkins edged Sumner Sessions in a tight battle for the Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy Strictly Stock championship, his first in a career at Oxford spanning two decades. He joins his late father, Joey "The Jet" Tompkins, as the tenth father-child combination to become OPS champions.

And Childs clinched his second straight Allen's Mini championship, becoming the first driver since Harold Beisaw in 1976 to win back-to-back titles in a four-cylinder Saturday night racing division at Oxford.

All three drivers were forced to weather a double-feature format on Grover Gundrilling Championship Night, prompted by thunderstorms that wiped out last Saturday's feature slate.

Ricky Rolfe did his part to make Adams earn the Late Model laurels, winning the 40-lap held-over feature and running second to Carey Martin in the nightcap.

"Travis is the true champion this year," said Rolfe, himself a two-time class champion at OPS. "He had the best year of any driver in any division down here."

Adams, a six-time feature winner, ran fourth in the first race and third in the encore to protect his lead.

"Last year Dennis Spencer gave us a great run for the championship and forced us to run in the top five all season long," Adams said. "Ricky made us need top-threes. I can't imagine what it will be like next year. Maybe we'll need top-twos or have to win every week, I don't know."

Rookie Mark Childs Sr. placed a career-best second in the opening race, with 2004 champion Shawn Martin third. Rolfe took the lead from Childs on a lap 35 restart.

Shane Green and Brad Hammond completed the top five in the second round.

Tompkins continued his incredible run of top-fives, snagging second and fourth in the two Strictly Stock events to ward off Sessions. The friendly rivals entered the night separated by a mere two points, or the equivalent of one position in a feature race.

Sessions owned the tie-breaker, if one were needed, by virtue of his four feature wins.

"Sumner is just the greatest guy to race with," Tompkins said. "If not for him having the four wins, I honestly wouldn't mind standing here sharing the crown with him."

In the other major story line of the Strictly Stock season, Rick Thompson ended Skip Tripp's four-race winning streak in the first race before Tripp bounced back to make it 5-for-6 in the finale.

Matt Williams edged Tripp for third in the first race.

"The car got all bent up in that race, so I can't believe it's even here," Tripp said in victory lane. "We really wanted to finish up by winning the last six races. It's been an incredible year."

Tripp found his way past early dominator Mike Short and Matt Williams in traffic on lap 20. Short rallied to finish second, while Williams narrowly avoided a spin into the front stretch wall before repeating his third-place run.

Childs already wrapped up his title defense by starting last week's race and running eight laps before the rain arrived. He went out in style, though, surging to his sixth win of the summer in that make-up event.

Later, Childs settled for third behind fellow two-time Mini Stock champion Don Mooney, who won for the fourth time this season.

"I'm proud to be the champion again," Childs said. "This is my last year in this division, so I hope everybody enjoyed it. It's been a lot of fun."

Childs geared up for next year's Rookie of the Year effort in Late Model by running the final three races of the campaign in the top class.

Bill Thibeault held off Mooney for second in the opening encounter.

Mooney led all 30 laps of the second segment. Top rookie Bill Irving edged Childs at the line for runner-up honors.

OPS has two open competition events remaining in the 2007 season. Next Saturday, September 8, it's the Summer Showdown for the Acceleration Series, beginning at 5 p.m. And the New England Dodge Dealers ACT 150 and Little Guy 100s share the spotlight on Saturday, October 6.

OXFORD NETWORKS LATE MODEL #1 (40 laps): 1. Ricky Rolfe, Albany Township; 2. Mark Childs Sr., Mechanic Falls; 3. Shawn Martin, Turner; 4. Travis Adams, Canton; 5. Dave MacDonald, New Gloucester; 6. Jon Brill, Bridgton; 7. Carey Martin, Denmark; 8. Dale Verrill, Paris; 9. Leon Heckbert, Wilton; 10. Scott Luce, Strong; 11. Tommy Ricker, Poland; 12. Don Wentworth, Otisfield; 13. B.J. Chapman, Bridgton; 14. Neil Martin, Freeport; 15. Zach Emerson, Sabattus; 16. Gary Chiasson, Peru; 17. Travis Stearns, Gray; 18. Earl Tripp, Standish; 19. Corey Morgan, Lewiston; 20. Glen Luce, Turner; 21. Doug Coombs, Livermore; 22. Skip Hodgdon, Minot; 23. Jimmy Childs, Leeds; 24. Shane Green, South Paris; 25. Gerald Parlin, South Paris.

OXFORD NETWORKS LATE MODEL #2 (40 laps): 1. Carey Martin, Denmark; 2. Ricky Rolfe, Albany Township; 3. Travis Adams, Canton; 4. Shane Green, South Paris; 5. Brad Hammond, Sabattus; 6. Leon Heckbert, Wilton; 7. Jon Brill, Bridgton; 8. Travis Stearns, Gray; 9. Don Wentworth, Bridgton; 10. Tommy Ricker, Poland; 11. Shawn Martin, Turner; 12. Dave MacDonald, New Gloucester; 13. Dale Verrill, Paris; 14. Gary Chiasson, Peru; 15. Jimmy Childs, Leeds; 16. Zach Emerson, Sabattus; 17. Mark Childs Sr., Mechanic Falls; 18. Glen Luce, Turner; 19. Doug Coombs, Livermore; 20. B.J. Chapman, Bridgton; 21. Skip Hodgdon, Minot; 22. Earl Tripp, Standish; 23. Scott Luce, Strong; 24. Neil Martin, Freeport.

ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY STRICTLY STOCK #1 (30 laps): 1. Rick Thompson, Naples; 2. Tommy Tompkins, Dixfield; 3. Matt Williams, Brownfield; 4. Skip Tripp, Sabattus; 5. Sumner Sessions, Norway; 6. Glen Henderson, Sabattus; 7. Bob Hayslip, Lisbon; 8. Zach Emerson, Durham; 9. Larry Emerson, Durham; 10. Reggie Houghton, Carthage; 11. Chris Burgess, Lewiston; 12. Danny Smart, Buxton; 13. Ben Krauter, Raymond; 14. Kim Tripp, Oxford; 15. Mike Short, Auburn; 16. Matt Moore, Harrison.
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY STRICTLY STOCK #2 (30 laps): 1. Skip Tripp, Sabattus; 2. Mike Short, Auburn; 3. Matt Williams, Brownfield; 4. Tommy Tompkins, Dixfield; 5. Rick Thompson, Naples; 6. Sumner Sessions, Norway; 7. Danny Smart, Buxton; 8. Glen Henderson, Sabattus; 9. Larry Emerson, Duirham; 10. Chris Burgess, Lewiston; 11. Bob Hayslip, Lisbon; 12. Zach Emerson, Sabattus; 13. Ben Krauter, Raymond; 14. Reggie Houghton, Carthage; 15. Matt Moore, Harrison; 16. Dick Damon, Livermore; 17. Luke Rickards, Anson; 18. Josh Cash, Bridgton; 19. Phil Mitchell III, Buckfield; 20. Billy Childs Jr., Leeds.

ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY MINI STOCK #1 (30 laps): 1. Jimmy Childs, Leeds; 2. Bill Thibeault, Oxford; 3. Don Mooney, New Gloucester; 4. Shane Kaherl, Jay; 5. Kevin Bishop, South Paris; 6. Ashley Marshall, Jay; 7. Bill Irving, New Gloucester; 8. Dale Brackett, Oxford; 9. Bob Guptill, Mechanic Falls; 10. Dale Durgin, Norway; 11. Greg Watkins, Bridgton; 12. Dave Mooney, Wales; 13. Al Roberti, South Paris; 14. Bob Mooney, Lewiston; 15. Randy Kimball, Mechanic Falls; 16. Wayne Warren, Waterford; 17. Darick Barker, Jay.

ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY MINI STOCK #2 (30 laps): 1. Don Mooney, New Gloucester; 2. Bill Irving, New Gloucester; 3. Jimmy Childs, Leeds; 4. Bill Thibeault, Oxford; 5. Kevin Bishop, South Paris; 6. Ashley Marshall, Jay; 7. Randy Kimbell, Mechanic Falls; 8. Rick Giguere, Auburn; 9. Dale Brackett, Oxford; 10. Jeff Prindall, Lisbon; 11. Darick Barker, Jay; 12. Shane Kaherl, Jay; 13. Greg Watkins, Bridgton; 14. Dale Durgin, Norway; 15. Dave Mooney, Wales; 16. Bob Guptill, Mechanic Falls.