OXFORD, Maine – Kyle Mooney's father and uncles have combined for 54 feature wins and three championships at Oxford Plains Speedway.
No surprise, then, that when the 8-year-old made the transition from racing snowmobiles to go karts as part of the JARRacing Photography Series at OPS this year, it was only a matter of time before he also made the commute to victory lane.
Mooney led all 20 laps of his Box Stock feature Friday night, holding off division dominator Brandon Varney to score the breakthrough victory.
All was not lost for Varney, who didn't repeat his two recent sweeps of Box Stock and Purple Plate competition but did conquer the Blue Plate field for the first time in his career.
Evan Armington stopped Varney's two-race winning streak and snagged his fourth checkered flag of the season in Purple Plate.
David Blackwell joined Spencer Morse and Josh Brown as repeat winners in the ultra-competitive Gold Plate ranks.
In the adult divisions, Stephen Beattie made it five straight Star Champ victories, while the largest Unrestricted field of the campaign forced twin 'A' and 'B' features for the fast class. Tyler Braunschweig won the high-point half when touring star, go kart graduate and visitor D.J. Shaw failed the post-race weight inspection. Charlie Tyler took the first half of the twin bill.
Mooney broke away from Chase Staples at the Box Stock start and cruised in a rare caution-free sprint for the entry-level group. Varney made his way underneath Staples with four laps to go but ran out of time to make up the half-straightaway between himself and Mooney.
Staples made it two OPS rookies in the top three, followed by Brodie Morse and Ethan Matot.
Varney made himself a winner in three different classes this month by powering past Chris Staples Jr. two laps into the Blue Plate encounter.
Spots shuffled behind him on almost every lap through the event, and that only helped the leader's cause as he added a new line to his name in the OPS record book.
Spencer Thompson finally took command of that furious battle for second and made one final run at Varney, but he fell a kart length shy. Cody Chiasson wound up third in front of point leader and reigning champion Troy Davis. Staples Jr. followed in fifth.
Armington waited patiently and seized control of the Purple Plate main just past the midway point. Rookie Owen Poisson continued his marked improvement by leading the first 11 laps, but then it was Armington squeezing to the low line and showing why he is the defending champ and current pacesetter in the point parade.
Dylan Haskell drove to second, the best run of his rookie season in the class, with Varney, Poisson and heat winner Zachary Rich in tow.
Blackwell's win was much like Varney's. He grabbed the top spot on lap 2, then waited out a variety of cautions and stayed in front of many wild scrambles behind him.
Kyle Metivier recovered from a heat race wreck to challenge in the closing laps, but he fell one spot away from his first win of the season. Last week's winner Josh Brown took third, chased by champion Spencer Morse and Brady Smith.
Katrina Bright experienced her first OPS win of any variety with an impressive 10-lap triumph in the qualifying round.
Beattie and Ricker raced side-by-side late in the Star Champ showdown before Ricker's kart fell off the pace and retired to the garage area. That left Beattie an easy winner, a full lap ahead of runner-up and son Stephen Beattie Jr.
Charlie Tyler survived the Unrestricted 'B' dash, reclaiming the lead under caution on lap 18 after leader David Putnam was the unfortunate victim of a lapped car's attempt to knock him out of the lead.
Michael Olanovich matched a career-best in second, with Mike Ramsey restored to third after he, too, was spun out in the final corner.
Tech was the only thing that could slow Shaw in the final round. His kart measured three pounds beneath the required 425-pound threshold.
Braunschweig won a tense mid-race battle with Aaron Collomy to secure the runner-up spot and ultimately the victory.
Point leader Robbie Wentworth drove a smart race from the rear of the field to collect second, followed by Dan Pelletier Jr., Metivier and Jeff Lillibridge.
The JARRacing Photography Go Kart Series continues next Friday, June 20 at 6:30 p.m. OPS racing action resumes Saturday at 6:30 p.m. with five racing divisions, highlighted by the Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy 100 for Mini Stocks.
UNRESTRICTED 'A' (20 laps): 1. Tyler Braunschweig, West Newfield; 2. Robbie Wentworth, Conway, N.H.; 3. Dan Pelletier Jr., East Poland; 4. Kyle Metivier, Lisbon; 5. Jeff Lillibridge, Fryeburg; 6. Aaron Collomy, Saco; 7. Kayla Ashline, Pittston; DQ – D.J. Shaw, Center Conway, N.H.
Lap leaders: Collomy 1-5, Lillibridge 6, Collomy 7-8, Pelletier 9, Collomy 10-12, Braunschweig 13-20.
Heat winner: Pelletier.
UNRESTRICTED 'B' (20 laps): 1. Charlie Tyler, Buxton; 2. Michael Olanovich, Saco; 3. Mike Ramsey, Buxton; 4. Ron Abbott Sr., Lewiston; 5. David Putnam, Arundel. DQ – Jeff Roubo, Saco.
Lap leaders: Ramsey 1-4, Tyler 5-13, Putnam 14-18, Tyler 19-20.
Heat winner: Ramsey.
STAR CHAMP (20 laps): 1. Stephen Beattie, Conway, N.H.; 2. Stephen Beattie Jr., Conway, N.H.; 3. Mike Ricker, Sebago..
Lap leaders: Beattie 1-13, Ricker 14, Beattie 15-20.
Heat winner: Ricker.
GOLD PLATE (20 laps): 1. David Blackwell, Brunswick; 2. Kyle Metivier, Lisbon; 3. Josh Brown, South Paris; 4. Spencer Morse, Waterford; 5. Brady Smith, Porter; 6. Katrina Bright, Wilton; 7. Zach Harmon, Buxton.
Lap leaders: Harmon 1, Blackwell 2-20.
Heat winner: Bright.
BLUE PLATE (20 laps): 1. Brandon Varney, Lewiston; 2. Spencer Thompson, Oxford; 3. Cody Chiasson, Peru; 4. Troy Davis, Windham; 5. Chris Staples Jr., Brunswick; 6. Jacob Hendsbee, Whitefield; 7. Avery Spear, Oxford..
Lap leaders: Staples 1, Varney 2-20.
Heat winner: Chiasson.
PURPLE PLATE (20 laps): 1. Evan Armington, Lovell; 2. Dylan Haskell, West Baldwin; 3. Brandon Varney, Lewiston; 4. Owen Poisson, Brunswick; 5. Zachary Rich, Casco.
Lap leaders: Poisson 1-11, Armington 12-20..
Heat winner: Rich.
BOX STOCK (20 laps): 1. Kyle Mooney, New Gloucester; 2. Brandon Varney, Lewiston; 3. Chase Staples, Durham; 4. Brodie Morse, Waterford; 5. Ethan Matot, Casco; 6. Ethan Brown, South Paris; 7. Jake Talbot, Hiram.
Lap leaders: Mooney 1-20.
Heat winner: Varney.