Brackett Wins Fifth In A Row Stevens Takes Epic Truck Race
By Caleb Lamb
OXFORD, Maine – The Acceleration Series was back on Wednesday night at Oxford Plains Speedway, and what a night of drama filled racing it was. Eight features saw last lap passes, wins starting from the back of the pack, and post-race disqualifications that turned the finishing order on it head.
The Renegades were the first to take to the track for their ten lap feature event. Opening night winner, Bill Grover bounced back from some tough luck in last week’s race, and took over the early lead after starting on the outside pole. Mark Turner and Jamie Heath filled in behind him as this quickly became a three car race. Grover, Turner, and Heath broke away from the pack and attempted to settle things amongst themselves, but all three cars appeared stalemated. Neither of the three competitors could pull alongside to attempt a pass, but none of them lost any ground either, and after the ten laps were up, Bill Grover still held the lead and took first place honors with Turner and Heath behind him.
The Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Ladies Division had fierce action from the first lap. Missy Morgan has had plenty of bad luck throughout the season, but with her primary car back on track, and an outside pole starting position, she jumped to the lead and began to pull away while the rest of the pack jockeyed for position behind her. Vanna Brackett had to start in the rear but dove to the inside of several cars going into turn one and had moved up to mid-pack before the first lap was over. By lap seven, Morgan had a straightaway lead but Brackett was now second and gaining ground, with Tori Burgess, Christina Spaulding, and Dottie Patria rounding out the top five. Two cautions in quick succession slowed the race, and grouped everyone back together for the final sprint to the finish. The first came on lap twelve when Allyson Moore spun, and Sue Veinott brought out the second on lap fourteen when she lost a tire as she drove down the front-stretch. Off the restart, Morgan held off Brackett on the inside, and even cleared her with a few laps remaining, but on the last lap, Brackett dove to the inside of Morgan going down the backstretch and did not lift as the two entered turn three. Morgan and Brackett made severe contact, bouncing off each other repeatedly, but Brackett kept the car straight and made it back to the line first to record her fifth straight win. Morgan limped to the line second just ahead of Dottie Patria and Tori Burgess while Cathy Manchester rounded out the top five.
The Call of the Wild RV Center Sport Trucks brought even more drama to the night.
As the trucks came out of turn four to complete the first lap, both Walter Knight and Ryan Farrar spun in the midst of several three wide battles, the race stayed green as Farrar lost a ton of time and track position, barely managing to stay ahead of the leaders to remain on the lead lap. He caught back up after the first yellow on lap six when Opie Allard spun in turn two and John Lizotte was unable to avoid him, smashing into the #68 truck and dumping fluid everywhere. After a lengthy clean-up the green flag flew once again with Jeff Schmidt and Corey Williams battling for the lead. Williams received some contact from Jerry Stevens and slipped back a bit, allowing Joe Farrar to take over the number two spot. Things stayed this way until lap thirteen when Jerry Stevens spun over the top of turn three and into the dirt bringing out the second yellow of the event. However, from here on, things got a whole lot more interesting. Off the restart, a three wide battle put too many trucks in the same place at the same time and forced Jeff Schmidt to back off the throttle, Joe Farrar got loose forcing Williams high and allowing Ryan Farrar to dive through the whole and up to the lead. Joe Farrar spun on the exit of four and brought out the final yellow setting up a green, white, checker finish. Off the restart, Jerry Stevens dove under several cars and slipped by to take over second. Incredibly two trucks that had spun earlier and the race and seen their chances of victory all but evaporate were now fighting it out on the last lap for the win. Stevens slipped a fender under Farrar going into turn one, and beat him to turn three after a drag race down the backstretch. Stevens crossed the line first to complete the astounding comeback with Farrar second and Corey Williams third.
The MacDonald Motors Runnin’ Rebels were next up for two twenty lap features.
The low point racers were up first and saw a yellow on lap one when Carl Conant and Gene White spun going into the first turn. Kyle Treadwell had the early lead but Logan Melcher replaced him shortly thereafter bringing Jamie Leavitt with him up to second. Leavitt slipped underneath Melcher for the lead on lap five, but received the black flag and a stop-and-go penalty for passing below the white line, sending him to the rear of the field. A yellow flag for a backstretch spin brought the field back together at the halfway point, but it didn’t matter as Logan Melcher jumped out to a big lead again and raced to the checkered flag with Treadwell second, and Jamie Leavitt recovering well to finish third. But it would all be for naught, as Melcher was disqualified in post-race inspection, handing the win to Kyle Treadwell and bumping Jamie Leavitt and Greg Norton up to second and third respectively.
In the high point feature, Matt Dufault and Troy Jordan were the favorites, but it was their teammate who got off to a quick start as Jason Berry took the green flag and launched himself through the field like he was shot out of a cannon. The three wide racing opened up everywhere, but naturally it could not last as the caution flag flew when Derek Cook got together with Craig Bartlett sending him down into the path of Roger Bourgoin, causing both to spin. Scott Farrington jumped out to the lead off the restart with Mike Ward, Jason Berry, and Cory Beaulieu going at it behind him. Berry would get loose coming out of turns three and four allowing Beaulieu to slip under for second, and all of a sudden there was Troy Jordan already up to third. Farrington did his best impersonation of a roadblock, holding off Beaulieu to maintain the lead, but on lap fourteen a frustrated Beaulieu made contact with Farrington’s rear bumper knocking him to the inside and back several positions. Beaulieu received the black flag next time by for rough driving handing the battle for the lead over to who else but Matt Dufault and Troy Jordan. Jordan just could not make the pass and Dufault raced away with the win while Jordan took second and Scott Farrington held on for third. However, post-race inspection once again shuffled the order with Jordan being DQ’d for the first time all season, handing Farrington second place, and bumping Mike Ward into the top three.
The Oxford Outlaws finished out the night with three feature races. In race #1, Ron Abbott, Jr, Bob Ferguson, Scott Hethcoat and Nick Hoyt turned themselves into a four car freight train that left the rest of the pack eating their dust. However, on lap eleven, that all went away when John Lizotte, the last car on the lead lap, spun in turn two but left the leaders with a decision to make as to which line would take them safely past. Abbott, Jr guessed wrong taking the inside lane and hitting Lizotte square in the broadside to bring a sudden end to his night. Ferguson inherited the lead but off the restart, Nick Hoyt beat him back to the line before clearing him, and taking over the lead. Hoyt would cruise to the victory as Ferguson and Hethcoat maintained their positions behind him to round out the top three.
Race #2 would have looked awfully different if not for a great piece of driving on lap one by John Patria. Coming out of turn four, Kyle Curtis hooked the rear bumper of Patria, with the car turned completely sideways and the tires squealing, Patria somehow managed to keep the car from spinning and rejoined the fight without losing too much ground. Spencer Morse and John Patria battled it out for the lead with Motor Mayhem Spectator Drags winner Thom Bell and Mike Haynes behind them. It came down to the final lap, but going into turn one, Morse got too loose and slid up the banking allowing Patria to slip past him for the victory. Morse did not make it through post-race inspection, handing second over to Thom Bell and moving Mike Haynes to third.
The final Outlaws feature was packed with the likes of Josh Childs, Chris Coolidge, Nic Stanley, and Pat Maloy, but it was defending Outlaws champion Chris Burgess who took the lead on lap two. The race went caution free and the only real trouble came when Guy Childs spun over the top of turn four and Pat Maloy spun to the bottom of turn two on the same lap. Dan Brown took over second but never came within any kind of range of Burgess who could very well of coasted home on the final lap. Nic Stanley was able to hold off Josh Childs for third while Addison Bowie completed the top five.
Next up, Oxford Plains presents its annual Independence Day weekend celebration as Maine State Lottery Fireworks Night returns this Saturday, with another amazing display courtesy of Maine Pyrotechnics. The green flag will fly at 6:30. For more information, go to www.oxfordplains.com or find us on Facebook.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OXFORD ACCELERATION SERIES 06/30/10
Renegades
1 – 91 Bill Grover
2 – 09 Mark Turner
3 – 9 Jamie Heath
4 – 1 Bob Morey
5 – 05 Gerard Cote
6 – 3 Charlie Hall
7 – 4 William Dunphy Jr
Ladies
1 – 23 Vanna Brackett
2 – 26 Missy Morgan
3 – 34 Dottie Patria
4 – 07 Tori Burgess
5 – 69 Cathy Manchester
6 – 21 Deanna Robertson
7 – 13 Missy Blash
8 – 89 Kristen Brown
9 – 2 Kimberly Sessions
10 – 92 Debbie Marston
11 – 36 Christina Spaulding
12 – 1 Deanna Childs ( R )
13 – 37 Kate Brown ( R )
14 – 44 Annie Chartier
15 – 51 Allyson Moore ( R )
16 – 28 Sue Veinott
Sport Trucks
1 – 77 Jerry Stevens
2 – 69 Ryan Farrar
3 – 39 Corey Williams
4 – 17 Ross Spurling
5 – 22 Jeff Schmidt
6 – 88 Walter Knight ( R )
7 – 18 Joe Farrar
8 – 68 Opie Allard
9 – 1 John Lizotte
10 – 55 Donnie Roussel
DNS – 29 Nathan Merrill
Runnin’ Rebel #1
1 – 26 Kyle Treadwell ( R )
2 – 93 Jamie Leavitt
3 – 98 Greg Norton
4 – 52 Gerard Cote
5 – 73 Adam Polvinen
6 – 15 Nate Dubuc
7 – 69 John Childs
8 – 83 Brady Romano
9 – 79 Jason Cummings
10 – 7 Carl Conant
11 – 29 Brandon Palmer
12 – 48 Jeff Jordan
13 – 08 Daniel Cyr
14 – 89 Gene White
DNS – 31 Scott Merrill ( R )
DQ – 41 Logan Melcher
Runnin’ Rebel #2
1 – 96 Matt Dufault
2 – 22 Scott Farrington
3 – 16 Mike Ward
4 – 54 Kyle Hewins
5 – 86 Jeff Hebert
6 – 46 Jason Berry
7 – 2 Craig Bartlett
8 – 8 Dustin Salley
9 – 94 Mike Carver
10 – 59 Corey Beaulieu
11 – 25 Roger Bourgoin
12 – 33 Jonah Farrington ( R )
13 – 55 Ryan Hewins
14 – 88 Derek Cook
15 – 91 Jamie Heath
DQ – 6 Troy Jordan
Outlaws #1
1 – 36 Nick Hoyt
2 – 63 Robert Ferguson
3 – 14 Scott Hethcoat
4 – 22 Phil Knowlton Jr
5 – 23 John White ( R )
6 – 10 Scott Ellis
7 – 37 David Brown
8 – 29 Randy Desmaris
9 – 01 Chad Truman
10 – 39 Ron Abbott Jr
11 – 44 John Lizotte
12 – 43 Rodney Englehaupt
DNS – 04 Zach Bowie
DQ – 90 Keith Landry
DQ – 77 Bryce Mains ( R )
Outlaws #2
1 – 34 John Patria
2 – 18 Thom Bell
3 – 67 Mike Haynes
4 – 89 Kyle Curtis
5 – 57 Gerry Richard
6 – 16 Jim Drake
7 – 82 Josh Paradis
8 – 51 Randy Robitaille
9 – 4 Dottie Patria ( R )
10 – 69 Jay Wilkins
11 – 97 Shannon Judd
12 – 21 Todd Bisbee
13 – 62 Randy Cyr ( R )
14 – 75 Gordon Bell
15 – 54 Jonathan Baldwin
16 – 12 Dennis Morang
DQ – 11 Spencer Morse ( R )
Outlaws #3
1 – 07 Chris Burgess
2 – 83 Dan Brown
3 – 64 Nic Stanley
4 – 3 Josh Childs
5 – 38 Addison Bowie
6 – 9 Ryan Robbins
7 – 25 Chris Coolidge
8 – 48 Tina Williams
9 – 1 Mike Blue
10 – 71 Fred Clavet
11 – 19 Steve Moon
12 – 78 Pat Maloy
13 – 35 Guy Childs
14 – 52 Kevin Leighton
15 – 00 Mike Childs
16 – 28 Scott Veinott