The race for the championship begins!
The race for the first Maine Late Model championship began this Sunday at The Center of Speed, Wiscasset Raceway! 24 Late Models from all over the state lined up on the front stretch for the first of three Maine Alliance races. The 100 lap feature started with a wave off from all of the drivers as the paraded past the grandstands. The three heat winners started up front with Darren Ripley in his #70 “big race car” starting in the pole position. Also starting up front on Sunday were heat winners Michael Landry in the #40 and Nick Reno in the #41. Corey Morgan, coming off his top 3 Oxford 250 finish, also started up front in the #26 car. Two generations of Maine racers, Dave “Boss Hogg” and Josh St. Clair driving the #14 and #33 also ended up up front with second place heat finishes.
Darren Ripley’s #70 was the fastest car for most of the race. He led through 70 plus laps with Mike Landry, the St. Clairs’ and the #87 of Chuck Colby making up the lead pack. There was some aggressive driving as these late model racers got to know each other on the track and the first half of the race was punctuated by several cautions. After 80 laps the field was 7 late models down and the race for the win was door to door. After leading most of the race, Darren Ripley’s #70 gave out and he was forced down pit road late. This opened up the door for Chuck Colby in his #87 Late Model to pull out the win! Mike Landry, who was right behind the #70 for most of the race takes second and Josh St. Clair takes third. Colby, a veteran Wiscasset racer, made his triumphant return the The Center of Speed with a big win in the first of the three Maine Alliance races! The race for the championship continues at Speedway 95 in Bangor on September 11th and Spud Speedway on September 25th.
Official Maine Alliance Results- July 25th – Wiscasset Raceway
Place Name Car#
1 Chuck Colby #87
2 Mike Landry #40
3 Josh St. Clair #33
4 Mike Hopkins #15x
5 Dave St. Clair #14
6 Shane Clark #21c
7 Puncin St. Clair #14x
8 Nick Hinkley #15
9 Tyler Robbins #34
10 Brenton Parritt #27
11 Duane Seekins #19
12 Danny Smart #6
13 Jerry Williams #99
14 Sulo Burbank #21
15 Corey Morgan #26
16 Darren Ripley #70
17 Tharren MacDugal #3
18 Rowland Robinson Jr. #28
19 John Phippin #59
20 Craig Robbins #51
21 Nick Reno #41
22 Milo Haney #21x
23 Dale Swoboda #0
24 John Albert #00