hampions crowned in Beech Ridge season finales.
By Dan Walker
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway PR
Scarborough, Maine- The final night of the NASCAR Whelan All American Series at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway resulted in a second title for Bub Bilodeau in the Pro Series and a second title for Don Colpritt in the Sport Series division. First time championships went to Richard Randall and Shawn Brackett for the Wildcat and Road Runner divisions.
The final races of the season were hotly contested with Bill Rodgers winning his fourth Pro Series main event and Andy Field winning his second Sport Series race of the season in dramatic fashion. Clayton Barker was a first time Wildcat winner and Bradley Babb scored a career first win for the Road Runner division. The Pro Series main event rolled onto the track with Bub Bilodeau and Dan McKeage separated by just 3 points following the heat races. Steve Jones and Aaron Ricker shared the lead position for the early laps of the 40 lap race but Bilodeau had found early racing room and moved into the top 10 quickly. A caution flag on lap 9 would tighten up the filed as Ricker and Josh Cantara began a 14 lap battle for the lead that would see the two young drivers side by side with Bilodeau anxiously waiting for something to give in front of him as he watched from third place. Finally Cantara wrestled the lead away but only for 1 lap as Bill Rodgers went to the outside and blazed to the front. A final caution flag waved on lap 33 setting the stage for a 2 lap dash to the finish but Rodgers held all of the aces and took the win. Danny Bubar charged to finish second with Bilodeau third and holding the season long championship. Fourth place went to Cantara and David Oliver was fifth. Andy Field came from stealth mode to steal the Sport Series feature win on Saturday night. Travis Buzzell led from the start and appeared to be on his way to an easy win. The caution flag appeared on lap 33 taking away the big lead Buzzell had enjoyed to that point. On the restart with just 2 laps remaining, Buzzell went back in front but Nate Leavitt suddenly went to the outside and took the lead. On the final turn of the final lap Andy Field appeared out of nowhere and beat Leavitt back to the finish line to take the win. Don Colpritt finished third to secure the division championship and Buzzell was fourth. Beaver Norton took home the fifth place position. Clayton Barker looked strong in his heat race and transferred that to the feature as he won his first Wildcat race. Barker led from the pole and was never challenged until the final lap when he and matt Wyman came upon slower traffic and Barker had to lift for a moment. Wyman made a bonsai move to the inside but Barker threw the block and was able to get to the checkered flag first ahead of Wyman. David Wildes was third with Lyman McKeage and Brian Caswell filling fourth and fifth. Richard Randall is the division champion. Bradley Babb will forever remember the first Road Runner feature win because he only led for the final 300 yards of the race. Mark Hill led from the start until lap 9 when Babb started to apply the pressure. Babb would try low and Hill would block and Babb would try high and Hill would block setting the stage for a controversial final lap. As the 2 leaders headed down the backstretch for the final lap Babb got a nose to the inside of Hill once again and Hill tried to shut the door but this time Babb didn’t lift and contact resulted in Hill spinning and Babb saving his car and getting the win. Tim Caswell was second and Ed Pierce third. Shawn Brackett took the championship with his fourth place finish and Paul Lund was fifth.