By Dan Walker
Scarborough, Maine- Bobby Babb scored the NASCAR Whelan All American Series 40 lap Pro Series win on Saturday night at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Joining Babb in victory on the night were Frank Wear, Lewis Anderson and Trevor Graffam. The 40 lap Pro Series feature race saw Mike Maietta Jr in the early lead with Steven Jones hanging in for second. Jones made a move for the lead on lap 2 but Maietta Jr was still hanging to his outside. The quest for victory ended on lap 5 for Jones when he spun while leading sending Maietta Jr back to the front. Maietta held off T.J. Brackett from laps 5 through 11 as Steve Carrier and Bobby Babb were quickly coming to the front in the outside groove. On lap 20 Carrier got to second place but that only lasted 1 lap because Babb went flying past him on the next lap. Babb kept his foot in the gas pedal still on lap 21 and disposed of Maietta as he took the lead. Carrier and Maietta found themselves in a disagreement over space on the track on lap 29 as Carrier got into Maietta and both cars spun. The final restart would be entertaining as Babb and Brackett diced for the lead but in the end again Bobby Babb drove to victory lane as Brackett finished in a very solid second position. Dan McKeage was third with Bub Bilodeau and Dave Oliver fourth and fifth.
Frank Wear earned his Sport Series win on Saturday night with hard clean racing and a 5 lap duel to the finish with the division point leader. Dave Lampron led the opening 10 laps and then he and Robert Emery swapped the lead several times over the next 19 laps as the first 8 cars raced side by side in 4 rows. The night once again would end in disappointment for Emery on lap 29 as his car spun in turn 3 while battling for the lead.
On the restart Wear and point leader Sally Gherardi would square off at the front of the field to settle the race. Wear inched into the lead with Gherardi even to his outside. On lap 32 Scott Dorr riding in third tried to move to the inside of the 2 leaders as Wear shut the door not knowing he was there. The final 2 laps were contested between Wear and Gherardi as they crossed the finish line in that order. Don Morse was third and Nate Leavitt and Bradley Babb rounded out the top 5.
Lewis Anderson showed in his heat race that if he kept his cool in the feature for the first few laps he could win the Wildcat feature race on this night. Anderson moved into the lead on the opening lap but a caution on lap 4 slowed his progress to victory lane. When racing resumed it was Anderson back to the front with Steve Benincasa on his bumper. The race would stay green to the finish but all Anderson had to do or not do, was look in his mirror and he would have seen 6 cars side by side behind him. Anderson would keep the lead to the finish to score a very popular victory for the low buck driver. Randy Snow won the war for second place over Glenn Bradbury, Lyman McKeage and Steve Benincasa. Rounding out the evening was Trevor Graffam winning the 20 lap Road Runner feature race. Dave Cameron led until lap 5 when Mark Boutin took over. Boutin was pulling away from the field when suddenly he suffered a mechanical problem ending his race. Graffam took over at that point and held off Ed Pierce for the win. Shawn Brackett was third with Boutin pitting at the caution and coming back to finish fourth. Dave Cameron ended up in the fifth position.