Jordan Continues to Dominate – Veinott Earns First Victory
by Caleb Lamb
OXFORD, Maine – The Acceleration Series took to the track under overcast skies for the second Wednesday night event of the year. One hundred thirteen cars checked in to compete in the five different divisions competing in eight feature races.
The Renegades kicked off an action packed night of racing with a 10 lap feature. Last week’s winner, Bill Grover suffered some bad luck on lap 1 as he was tagged by William Dunphy Jr and lost some ground to the leaders. The yellow flag flew a few laps later when Dunphy got loose again and spun into the path of Corey Edwards. Edwards slammed into the front of Dunphy’s #4, totaling the car and spilling water all over the track. After a long caution to clean up the water, the yellow flag flew again when Edward’s damaged #05 spun going into turn 1 and slid into the sand pile at the base of one of the light poles. Jamie Heath eventually overcame Mark Turner to take the win after a back and forth battle. Bill Grover finished third after his car dropped well off the pace while he was battling for the lead.
In the Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Ladies Division, Vanna Brackett made it 3 wins in a row, running away from Cathy Manchester, Deana Robertson, and Missy Morgan. Morgan held the early lead while Brackett moved her way up through the field. There was plenty of action behind them though. Dottie Patria tangled with Cathy Manchester coming out of turn 4, and then with Kate Brown a few laps later in the middle of turns 1 and 2 with Deanna Childs just managing to avoid her. Patria and Brown both were sent to the back of the pack as a result of the incidents. Brackett picked up the lead and went on to win while Manchester recovered well and flew by several cars on the restart to finish second. Deana Robertson got around Missy Morgan a few laps later to round out the top 3.
The Call of the Wild RV Center Sport Trucks had a repeat winner as well. Ryan Farrar took the checkered flag on Saturday night, but had to beat out several more drivers this time around to get back to victory lane. Last Wednesday’s winner, Corey Williams, lost his chance of making it two in a row when he was black flagged for passing before the start finish line. Farrar made quick work of the rest of the field, coming from the back and getting around leader John Lizotte on lap 7. Joe Farrar came home second, just edging out Jerry Stevens after a great last lap battle.
Troy Jordan, and his two teammates Matt Dufault and Jason Berry continued their dominance of the MacDonald Motors Runnin’ Rebels Series. Jordan started in dead last but used a series of daring three-wide passes to quickly make his way through the field. Dustin Salley jumped out to the point from the pole position and raced away to the kind big lead that normally means certain victory. Unfortunately for Salley, nobody told Troy Jordan that. Jordan completed a three wide pass for second around teammate Dufault and Mike Ward on lap 9, and just 4 laps later he was on Salley’s rear bumper. Dufault would get around Salley for second while Cory Beaulieu, Jason Berry, and Kyle Hewins battled it out for fourth. Jordan cruised to a comfortable win with Dufault and Salley behind him. Beaulieu and Berry were fourth and fifth respectively while Hewins, who has played second fiddle to the team of Jordan, Dufault, and Berry all season, wound up sixth.
In the second Rebel feature, made up of the drivers lower in the point standings, Ryan Hewins made a strong return after spending several weeks in a clearly inferior back-up car. Hewins crashed his primary car a few weeks back, but in his third car of the season, he found victory lane. Hewins sat on the pole and jumped out to the lead early on followed by Jamie Heath. Heath faded after a few laps leaving Hewins by himself, but he saw his commanding lead erased when Jamie Leavitt spun out of turn 4 to bring out the yellow flag. Leavitt was running second at the time. On the restart, Heath gave chase again but didn’t have enough to track down Hewins who took the checkers. Heath crossed the line second, but it was all for naught as he was disqualified after the post-race inspection.
The Oxford Outlaws took to the track for 3 feature races. In feature number 1, Guy Childs took the checkered flag and recorded his feature win of the season. Childs benefitted from a front row starting position while several of the faster drivers had to fight their way up from the back. Nic Stanley was back in his #64 after Troy Jordan drove it to a runner up finish in his place last week, and Fred Clavet was back in the #71 after Matt Dufault won an Outlaw feature in it last week as well. However, Stanley’s chance at the win disappeared when he spun on lap 6 and lost a lot of ground, and Clavet finally worked his way up to second late in the race, but didn’t have enough time to chase down Childs. Gerry Richard, Jonathan Baldwin, and Dottie Patria rounded out the top 5.
In feature 2, Scott Veinott jumped out to the lead in the #139, a back-up car loaned to him by Jerry Freeve, and held on to earn his first career win. Veinott had a great jump from the front row, and pulled away from everyone. Kevin Leighton ran far back in second while rookie Mike Childs and Josh Paradis battled for third. The only yellow of the race came on lap 8 when David Brown made contact with Ron Abbot Jr who wound up in the turn 3 dirt. After the restart it was more of the same as Veinott cruised to an emotional first win while Leighton just barely managed to edge out Childs at the line for second.
In the third and final Outlaw feature, Chris Coolidge benefitted from a little bit of luck and some smart racing to beat out Pat Maloy, Addison Bowie and the rest of the pack to capture his first victory of the season. Coolidge almost lost the chance on the very first lap when John Patria spun right in the middle of the pack and Coolidge squeaked past him on the outside. The early lead belonged to Pat Maloy who led from the pole, but Zach Bowie and Coolidge were right there to apply the pressure. On lap 12, Maloy was running side by side with Bowie before he got loose and forced both of them up the race track. Coolidge saw his chance and pounced, making his move on the inside and stretching out his lead. With just two laps left, Zach Bowie suffered even more bad luck as something broke in the rear end and he sputtered to a stop while the Coolidge took the checkered and yellow flag. Maloy held on for second while Zach’s uncle, Addison Bowie, gained a position from his nephew’s bad break and finished third.
Motor Mayhem #2 comes to Oxford Plains Speedway this Friday night before the Championship Series gets back to business on Saturday.
Renegades
1 – 9 Jamie Heath
2 – 09 Mark Turner
3 – 91 Bill Grover
4 – 12 Charlie Hall
5 – 05 Corey Edwards
6 – 4 William Dunphy Jr
Ladies
1 – 23 Vanna Brackett
2 – 69 Cathy Manchester
3 – 21 Deanna Robertson
4 – 26 Missy Morgan
5 – 89 Kristen Brown
6 – 07 Tori Burgess
7 – 49 Sue Veinott
8 – 34 Dottie Patria
9 – 36 Christina Spaulding
10 – 2 Kimberlee Sessions
11 – 1 Deanna Childs
12 – 12 Allyson Moore
13 – 37 Kate Brown
14 – 44 Annie Chartier
DQ – 13 Missy Blash
Sport Trucks
1 – 69 Ryan Farrar
2 – 18 Joe Farrar
3 – 77 Jerry Stevens
4 – 17 Russ Spurling
5 – 22 Jeff Schmidt
6 – 88 Walter Knight
7 – 39 Corey Williams
DQ – 1 John Lizotte
Rebel #1
1 – 55 Ryan Hewins
2 – 94 Mike Carver
3 – 33 Jonah Farrington ( R )
4 – 25 Roger Bourgoin
5 – 7 Carl Conant
6 – 52 Louie Cote
7 – 89 Gene White
8- 29 Brandon Palmer
9 – 18 Don Lovell
10 – 93 Jamie Leavitt
11 – 15 Nate Dubuc
DQ – 91 Jamie Heath
Rebel #2
1 – 6 Troy Jordan
2 – 96 Matt Dufault
3 – 8 Dustin Salley
4 – 59 Corey Beaulieu
5 – 46 Jason Berry
6 – 54 Kyle Hewins
7 – 16 Mike Ward
8 – 88 Derek Cook
9 – 86 Jeff Hebert
10 – 2 Craig Bartlett
11 – 22 Scott Farrington
12 – 83 Brady Romano
13 – 41 Logan Melcher
14 – 85 Bill Sprague
15 – 26 Kyle Treadwell ( R )
Outlaw #1
1 – 35 Guy Childs
2 – 71 Fred Clavet
3 – 57 Gerry Richard
4 – 54 Jonathan Baldwin
5 – 4 Dottie Patria
6 – 11 Spencer Morse ( R )
7 – 64 Nic Stanley
8 – 62 Randy Cyr
9 – 14 Scott Hethcoat
10 – 10 Scott Ellis
11 – 29 Randy Desmaris
12 – 49 Rob Lowe
13 – 23 John White ( R )
14 – 77 Bryce Mains ( R )
15 – 40 Bob Morey
16 – 44 John Lizotte
Outlaw #2
1 – 30 Scott Veinott
2 – 52 Kevin Leighton
3 – 00 Mike Childs ( R )
4 – 82 Josh Paradis
5 – 21 Todd Bisbee
6 – 75 Gordon Bell
7 – 51 Randy Robitaille
8 – 67 Mike Haynes
9 – 97 Shannon Judd
10 – 12 Dennis Morang
11 – 69 Jay Wilkins
12 – 43 Rodney Englehaupt
13 – 22 Phil Knowlton Jr
14 – 63 Robert Ferguson
15 – 37 David Brown
16 – 39 Ron Abbott Jr
Outlaw #3
1 – 25 Chris Coolidge
2 – 78 Pat Maloy
3 – 38 Addison Bowie
4 – 3 Josh Childs
5 – 9 Ryan Robbins
6 – 1 Mike Blue
7 – 83 Dan Brown
8 – 48 Tina Williams
9 – 18 Thom Bell
10 – 19 Steve Moon
11 – 16 Jim Drake
12 – 07 Chris Burgess
13 – 89 Kyle Curtis
14 – 34 John Patria
15 – 01 Chad Truman
16 – 04 Zach Bowie
17 – 36 Nick Hoyt