By Dan Walker
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway PR
Scarborough, Maine-Bub Bilodeau got the holiday weekend off to a sizzling start on Wednesday night by capturing the Miller Lite 50 for the NASCAR Whelan All American Series Pro Series division. Rookie driver Chris Smith was the early leader pulling away from the field in the opening 8 laps before a caution flag slowed his progress.
Smith would retain his lead to lap 19 when former champion David Oliver took over the lead followed quickly by reigning champion Bilodeau. A caution flag on lap 23 set the stage for Oliver and Bilodeau to race side by side for the lead for the next 4 laps before Bilodeau muscled his way to the front.
Green flag racing to the finish found Bilodeau fending off several bids by Oliver to unseat him as the 2 drivers crossed the finish line in the top 2 positions. Bobby Babb cleared traffic very late in the race but rallied to finish third with Bill Rodgers and Brockie Gerry fourth and fifth.
Reggie Leeman won a spirited Sport Series feature race on Wednesday night that featured a little controversy. Bradley Babb was the early leader Jeff Charland moved ahead on lap 2. Dave Lampron was next to lead the race taking his car to the front on the 17th circuit with Leeman moving to second place.
This would set the stage for a very exciting finish as Lampron and Leeman raced side by side for the next 14 laps often time with tire smoke billowing from the rubbing. Finally on lap 31 something had to give as the 2 leaders again got tangled up with each other this time with Charland taking a hard hit into the back wall and Leeman coming out with the lead. The final 4 laps following the caution flag were uneventful as Leeman took the win over Sally Gherardi in second and Jason Larrabee third. Travis Buzzell and Bradley Babb rounded out the top 5.
Lyman McKeage scored an easy Wildcat feature win on the mid week special show. Lewis Anderson led to lap 16 when McKeage put a dazzling move on to take the lead. Once in front there was no challenges for McKeage but the race for second place between Brian Caswell and Paul Lund was heated. Caswell finished second and Lund third with Randy Snow and Gary Babineau fourth and fifth.
Mark Hill was the Road Runner feature winner on Wednesday night . Kari Thibodeau led the first lap then faded back a bit as Mark Hill went to the front and scored the eventual win. Shawn Brackett was second with Casey Corkum avoiding a last lap crash that took out several cars finishing third. Dave Cameron and Ed Connolly were fourth and fifth.