This time, it counts: Zach Bowie gets his first
OXFORD, Maine – Some teenage drivers' biggest concern is passing the road test to secure their driver's license. For third-generation driver Zach Bowie, the chief obstacle of his short time behind the wheel has been passing the technical inspection process at Oxford Plains Speedway.
Bowie breathed a healthy sigh of relief Wednesday night. One week after having the apparent first win of his career taken away in the post-race check, Bowie made it through the line and was allowed to keep his breakthrough checkered flag in the stock six-cylinder Renegade division of the Acceleration Series.
It was a career night for Bowie, who also benefited from some other drivere' misadventures at the tech shack to claim third in the Chimney Tech Outlaw 'A' feature.
Dan Brown dominated that high-point Outlaw event. Shannon Judd and Rick Spaulding also sped to victory.
David Cook and Kyle Hewins prevailed in a pair of wild Macdonald Motors Runnin' Rebel features.
Two drivers who have dominated Saturday competition in the Agren Appliance Showdown broke through with mid-week wins. Defending Call of the Wild RV Center Sport Truck champion Jake Burns ruled the pickup roost, while Dottie Patria pocketed her first-ever Wedneeday victory in the Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy Ladies division.
While filled with spins, contact and two-to-four-wide racing, eight features were slowed by a total of only four caution flags and were complete in 1 hour, 40 minutes.
Bowie was the second straight first-time Renegade winner, backing up Nate Dubuc's triumph last week. Joe Morey and Craig Bartlett set the early pace before Bowie grabbed the advantage on lap 6 and extended it with ease.
He joined many members of his extended family as an OPS winner. Bowie turned 18 in April.
"I have to thank David Walker for letting me drive this car again this week," said Bowie.
Defending division champion Jamie Heath settled for second, just ahead of teammate and division point leader Bartlett. The third-place duel between Bartlett and Jason Hannigan raged side-by-side and fender-to-fender for most of the 20-lap distance, with Hannigan unable to get enough grip in the outside lane to make the pass.
Dubuc was a solid fifth in his bid for back-to-back wins.
Fourteen drivers ran in a tight pack at the front of the Outlaw 'A' field until Brown used the outside lane to overtake four of them in short order. Both of Brown's previous OPS wins came in the 'B' feature.
"That was crazy. I don't know what to think right now," said Brown.
Disqualifications shuffled the finishing order, with John Patria moving up to second and Bowie advancing to third after Kevin Lawrence and Keith Landry lost out in tech. Early leader Bubbe Collins was fourth, with steady Steve Moon fifth.
Judd and Spaulding are both typically 'A' feature drivers, but they took advantage of lower-point assignments to turn around some early-season ills.
In the 'C' main, Judd tracked down apparent leader Kevin Leighton without the benefit of a caution and made his move to the front on lap 14.
Leighton and third-place Rodney Englehaupt failed inspection, vaulting Jay Wilkins to runner-up honors and Scott Veinott to third. Randy Robitaille recovered from an early stop-and-go penalty to finish fourth ahead of Don Veinott. It was the best finish of the season for each driver in the top five.
Spaulding raced from fifth to first to take the 'B' lead from Dennis Morang in fewer than two laps. His orange ride had the muscle to hold Tyler Belanger at bay.
"This isn't really the race I belong in," Spaulding admitted, "but it's good to be back in victory lane. I'll take it any way I can get it."
Josh Paradis moved comfortably into third near the midway point. Several drivers unsuccessfully tried to manuever around Rick Vining before Carey Robertson finally made a late, outside move work for fourth. Vining completed the top five.
Two late restarts wiped out Archie Watt Jr.'s lead in the Rebel 'A' main. The second stoppage forced a green-white-checkered conclusion, and Hewins had the edge when the leaders came up to speed.
"I didn't know when I was going to get back here," Hewins said after his first victory of the season.
Watt's second was his best in the Acceleration Series after many years of Saturday night competition. Gregg Norton enhanced his championship hopes with a measured drive from the rear of the field to third ahead of Craig Farrington and Calvin Rose Jr.
Cook held off a pack of six pursuers after grabbing the Rebel 'B' lead on a lap 10 restart. Brandon Munroe and Charlie Webster were his primary challengers, but Cook denied both en route to his second career win.
"I didn't know if it would go that great," Cook said. "I've had to do a lot of work in it, so I've missed a couple weeks."
Munroe moved up a spot from last week's third-place run to take second, with Jeff Beaule third in his initial Wednesday start of the campaign. Brady Romano and Logan Melcher completed the top five in a feisty 19-car field.
It hasn't been easy for Burns, who chased Marvin Hamilton to the checkers the last two Wednesdays and watched Corey Williams lead the first 13 laps of this week's truck encounter.
Burns finally made his winning move in the outside lane. Shortly thereafter, Williams spun while trying to slam the door on rookie Ross Spurling for second.
Spurling survived for the first runner-up trophy of his brief time in the division. Hamilton, Ryan Farrar and John Lizotte were next in line.
Sue Veinott and Kimberly Sessions each led an early lap in the Ladies scramble, but nobody was a match for Patria after her charge to the top of the leader board on lap 3.
"I've had good luck on Saturdays, but this is my first win ever on a Wednesday," Patria said. "My husband John, Rene Foster and Bill Dunphy worked hard to put this car back together after last week."
Christina Spaulding and Cathy Manchester battled for second, with Spaulding edging the division point leader at the stripe. Sessions and Deanna Bisbee rounded out the paying positions.
The Acceleratrion Series resumes next Wednesday, June 25 at 6:30 p.m. OPS cranks it up again this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. with the Dunkin' Donuts 150 for the American-Canadian Tour. Racing in six divisions begins at 6:30 p.m.
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW #1 (20 laps): 1. Shannon Judd, Jay; 2. Jay Wilkins, Gray; 3. Scott Veinott, Sabattus; 4. Randy Robitaille, Norway; 5. Don Veinott, Sabattus; 6. Richard Kyllonen, Oxford; 7. Devon Smith, Norway; 8. Justin Vining, Peru; 9. Curt Chapman, Lewiston; 10. Jonathan Baldwin, Auburn; 11. Nic Stanley, Buckfield; 12. Ron Parker, Lewiston; 13. Travis Bannett, Harrison. DQ: Kevin Leighton, Minot; Rodney Englehaupt, Oxford. DNS: Robert Lowe, Auburn.
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW #2 (20 laps): 1. Rick Spaulding, Lewiston; 2. Tyler Belanger, Sumner; 3. Josh Paradis, Sumner; 4. Carey Robertson, Leeds; 5. Rick Vining, Bridgton; 6. Scott Ellis, Lewiston; 7. David Brown, Gray; 8. Bill Coolidge, Bryant Pond; 9. Dennis Morang, South Paris; 10. Gordon Bell, Auburn; 11. Tim Hatch, Gorham; 12. Tina Titus, Lisbon; 13. Ron Abbott Jr., Sabattus; 14. Steve Brill, Bridgton; 15. John Leonard, Oxford; 16. Jim Archer, Chesterville.
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW #3 (20 laps): 1. Dan Brown, Peru; 2. John Patria, Turner; 3. Zach Bowie, Mechanic Falls; 4. Bubba Collins, New Gloucester; 5. Steve Moon, Gray; 6. Addison Bowie, Auburn; 7. Guy Childs Sr., Turner; 8. Jerry Freve, Buckfield; 9. Nik Coates, Lisbon; 10. Thom Bell, Minot; 11. Jim Drake, Hebron; 12. Jerry Goss, Mechanic Falls; 13. Bob Ferguson, New Gloucester. DQ: Kevin Lawrence, South Paris; Keith Landry, Oxford.
MACDONALD MOTORS RUNNIN' REBEL #1 (20 laps): 1. David Cook, Wilton; 2. Brandon Munroe, New Gloucester; 3. Jeff Beaule, Lewiston; 4. Brady Romano, Livermore Falls; 5. Logan Melcher, Jay; 6. Charlie Webster, Auburn; 7. Brian Hawthorne, New Gloucester; 8. Bill Grover, Topsham; 9. Dustin Couture, Auburn; 10. Jim Hart, Buckfield; 11. James Record, Oxford; 12. Cody Smith, Oxford; 13. Ken Whittemore, Greene; 14. Bob Danforth, Stoneham; 15. Ben Libby, Buckfield; 16. Gene White, Lisbon; 17. Don Smith, Oxford; 18. Everett Danforth, Lovell; 19. John Childs, Leeds. DNS: Mike Anderson, Lewiston; Zach Audet, Wilton.
MACDONALD MOTORS RUNNIN' REBEL #1 (20 laps): 1. Kyle Hewins, Leeds; 2. Archie Watt Jr., Auburn; 3. Gregg Norton, Lewiston; 4. Craig Farrington, Hebron; 5. Calvin Rose Jr., Turner; 6. Matt Dufault, Turner; 7. Josh Childs, Oxford; 8. Scott Farrington, Oxford; 9. Martin Krauter, Raymond; 10. Cole Flagg, Livermore; 11. Nathan Guptill, North Turner; 12. Bill Dunphy, New Gloucester; 13. Jamie Leavitt, Minot; 14. Mike Ward, Harrison; 15. Jason Berry, Turner; 16. Troy Jordan, Turner; 17. Doug Degroat, Oxford; 18. Gerard Cote, Oxford; 19. Randy Nutter, Auburn; 20. Derek Cook, Livermore Falls.
CALL OF THE WILD SPORT RV CENTER SPORT TRUCK (20 laps): 1. Jake Burns, Gray; 2. Ross Spurling, New Gloucester; 3. Marvin Hamilton, New Gloucester; 4. Ryan Farrar, Oxford; 5. John Lizotte, Mechanic Falls; 6. Tom Libby, Gorham; 7. Jeff Schmidt, Mechanic Falls; 8. Corey Williams, Sumner; 9. Dennis Brine, Oxford; 10. Ryan Varney, Oxford; 11. Brian Farrar, Sumner,
RENEGADE (20 laps): 1. Zach Bowie, Mechanic Falls; 2. Jamie Heath, Waterford; 3. Craig Bartlett, Waterford; 4. Jason Hannigan, Greene 5. Nate Dubuc, Auburn; 6. Gerard Cote, Oxford; 7. Phil Knowlton, Poland; 8. Dan Ellis, Brunswick; 9. Joe Morey, Lisbon; 10. Mark Turner, Norway.
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY LADIES (20 laps): 1. Dottie Patria, Turner; 2. Christina Spaulding, Lewiston; 3. Cathy Manchester, Gray; 4. Kimberly Sessions, Auburn; 5. Deanna Bisbee, South Paris; 6. Lisa Brooks, Auburn; 7. Shannon Wheeler, Auburn; 8. Kristen Brown, Gray; 9. Sue Veinott, Sabattus; 10. Debbie Marston, Hartford; 11. Annie Chartier, Mexico; 12. Lisa Vining, Turner; 13. Vanna Brackett, Buckfield.