OXFORD, Maine – After newcomers and first-time winners dominated opening night of the 2008 JARRacing Photography Go Kart Series at Oxford Plains Speedway, Friday's second installment was headlined by champions getting back on track.
Troy Davis, Evan Armington and Stephen Beattie, all of whom captured their division title in '07, swept heat and feature action on the mini-oval. Brandon Varney, who won a championship in '06, accomplished the same feat.
There was still a place for fresh faces, though. Dave Blackwell carried the checkered flag in only his second feature start at OPS. After taking Week 1 off, Jeff Lillibridge reclaimed last summer's momentum with a victory.
Davis won every feature and heat race in a 13-race season last year, and he left nothing to chance in avoiding a rare Blue Plate losing streak. Davis led every lap of his main event, gradually pulling away from last week's winner, Spencer Thompson. Jacob Hendsbee crossed the line third.
Armington spotted triple-division driver Varney the lead at the outset of the Purple Plate sprint before taking command on a Lap 1 restart and setting sail to an impressive win.
Zachary Rich emerged from a three-kart battle with Varney and Dylan Haskell to grab second with five laps to go. He cut Armington's lead by more than half before falling just shy of his second straight win. Haskell had the edge over Varney for third.
Beattie returned the favor after Ricker's Star Champ sweep last week, leading all 10 laps of the heat and the entire 20-lap duration of their match race. The two past champions are now knotted for the early-season point lead.
Varney allowed his younger Box Stock competition to sort itself out, with Cameron Gaghan and Brodie Morse leading early before Varney forged to the front on lap 3 and left them behind.
Morse outlasted opening-night victor Ethan Matot to collect a career-best second place trophy.
The lead changed hands on each of the first five laps in the Unrestricted feature before Lillibridge established himself as the class of an 11-kart field. Robbie Wentworth whittled down the margin slightly with the help of traffic, but last week's dominator settled for second in front of stock car racing invader Justin Karkos.
Tyler Braunschweig and Kayla Ashline completed the top five.
In a wild Gold Plate feature that took three separate tries to start and saw half the field wiped out, Blackwell survived the early carnage and held Tyler King and Kyle Metivier at bay.
Katrina Bright was fourth for her best-ever finish at OPS, followed by defending champion Spencer Morse fifth, several laps down after a spin and mechanical issues.
The JARRacing Photography Go Kart Series continues next Friday, May 16 at 6:30 p.m. OPS action cranks up again Saturday night with Double T Fence Night, highlighted by six divisions of racing on the 3/8-mile oval at 6:30 p.m.
UNRESTRICTED (20 laps): 1. Jeff Lillibridge, Fryeburg; 2. Robbie Wentworth, Conway, N.H.; 3. Justin Karkos, Jay; 4. Tyler Braunschweig, West Newfield; 5. Kayla Ashline, Pittston; 6. Kyle Metivier, Lisbon; 7. Aaron Collomy, Saco; 8. Charlie Tyler, Buxton; 9. Chris Varney, Scarborough; 10. Paul Lund, Buxton; 11. Marcus Finch, Buxton..
Lap leaders: Collomy 1, Ashline 2, Karkos 3, Ashline 4, Lillibridge 5-20.
Heat winner: Lillibridge.
STAR CHAMP (20 laps): 1. Stephen Beattie, Conway, N.H.; 2. Mike Ricker, Sebago.
Lap leaders: Beattie 1-20.
Heat winner: Beattie.
GOLD PLATE (20 laps): 1. Dave Blackwell, Brunswick; 2. Tyler King, Livermore Falls; 3. Kyle Metivier, Lisbon; 4. Katrina Bright, Wilton; 5. Spencer Morse, Waterford; 6. Josh Brown, South Paris; 7. Brady Smith, Porter; 8. Neil Bernier, Minot; 9. Ryan Hewins, Leeds.
Lap leaders: Metivier 1-2, Blackwell 3-20.
Heat winner: Morse.
BLUE PLATE (20 laps): 1. Troy Davis, Windham; 2. Spencer Thompson, Oxford; 3. Jacob Hendsbee, Whitefield; 4. Brandon Varney, Lewiston; 5. Avery Spear, Oxford.
Lap leaders: Davis 1-20.
Heat winner: Davis.
PURPLE PLATE (20 laps): 1. Evan Armington, Lovell; 2. Zachary Rich, Casco; 3. Dylan Haskell, West Baldwin; 4. Brandon Varney, Lewiston.
Lap leaders: Varney 1, Armington 2-20.
Heat winner: Armington.
BOX STOCK (20 laps): 1. Brandon Varney, Lewiston; 2. Brodie Morse, Waterford; 3. Ethan Matot, Casco; 4. Kyle Mooney, New Gloucester; 5. Chase Staples, Durham; 6. Ethan Brown, South Paris; 7. Cameron Gaghan, Winthrop.
Lap leaders: Gaghan 1, Morse 2, Varney 3-20.
Heat winner: Varney.
