Morgan breaks Brackett’s Streak Hewins and Jordan take Rebels
by Caleb Lamb
OXFORD, Maine – The Renegades were the first to take to the 3/8th mile track for a ten lap feature event. Charlie Hall started on the front row in his new #3 car, and he jumped out to the lead. However, it was very short lived as Jamie Heath passed him just a lap later and ran away from the field to open up a straightaway length lead. Mark Turner and Gerard Cote moved past him as well to take over second and third. Turner had moved his way up through the pack well after making contact with Bill Grover, causing Grover’s #91 to spin sideways in turn three. Grover charged furiously through the field and caught back up to Turner with two laps to go. Going into turn four, he made heavy contact with Turner’s car causing him to slide high and back several spots. Jamie Heath crossed the line first, well ahead of Grover and Cote. However, Bill Grover would not hold his position as he was bumped back to the tail end of the lead lap for rough driving. Gerard Cote officially finished second with Turner, Charlie Hall, and Grover rounding out the top five.
The Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Ladies were the next up for their twenty lap feature race. The ladies division has become one of the more competitive series over the last couple of years, but Vanna Brackett has dominated the series as of late, capturing five wins in a row. Missy Morgan has been close behind for several of those races and she went out on a mission to end that streak. Christina Spaulding took the lead from the pole, but Missy Morgan quickly took over the top spot after starting close to the front. Meanwhile, Vanna Brackett wasted no time in charging up through the pack after starting all the way in the back. Brackett moved past Spaulding for second on lap five and the chase was on as just like last week, Brackett tried to track down Morgan. In that race, she managed to complete the pass on the last lap but this time Morgan maintained her several car length lead until lap fifteen. With Deanna Robertson and Cathy Manchester well behind it came down to a battle between the two rivals. Brackett looked to the outside but got loose when she got forced out of the racing groove when the two went around the slower car of Kimberly Sessions. Brackett fought back but could only get close enough to make slight contact with Morgan’s rear bumper coming out of the last turn. Morgan held on to win while Brackett finished runner up, but the third position got turned upside down when Deanna Robertson, who held the spot, made contact with the lap cars of Allyson Moore and Missy Blash. Robertson spun, handing third place to Cathy Manchester, while Missy Blash and Tori Burgess both ended up making contact with the sand pile surrounding the turn four light pole. Both cars were hauled away as Morgan celebrated in victory lane.
The Call of the Wild RV Center Sport Trucks went ten quick laps for the third feature of the night. Ryan Farrar felt robbed last week after letting what he believed to be a lapped Jerry Stevens get around him on the last lap. It turned out that Stevens was in fact on the lead lap and he won the race leaving Farrar itching for revenge. Farrar started on the outside of the last row with Stevens right behind him and the two flew through the field right from the drop of the green flag. Corey Williams nearly spun out going into turn one, when he thought better of making it three by moving underneath Joe Farrar. Williams kept the #39 truck straight but lost some time and his chance to win. Jeff Schmidt led from the pole, but Ryan Farrar made the move around him for the lead just before the halfway point. Jerry Stevens was not as lucky, getting stuck on the outside groove in a battle with Schmidt for several laps. By the time he managed to claim the second spot, Farrar was long gone, opening up a big enough lead that he was able to coast across the finish line coming down the front straightaway for the final time. Stevens was second with Schmidt hanging on for third. Ross Spurling and Corey Williams rounded out the top five.
The MacDonald Motor Runnin’ Rebels were next up for two feature events. The low point drivers went first, with Ryan Hewins starting on the pole after missing several races with damaged cars. Hewins has had to resort to the car he drove last year, but he wasted no time in proving he still had the speed as he won the Saturday night feature for the series. This time around Hewins once again jumped out to the early lead, and he drove away from the low point field, opening up a half a track distance lead on the field at one point on second place John Childs. Derek Cook’s bad luck continued as the #88 was black flagged for passing before the start finish line on the first lap, negating his move that put him up to second place. Cook’s night appeared to get worse when his car began smoking heavily, but the green flag stayed out and Ryan Hewins cruised to what has to be one of the easiest wins of his career. John Childs was second, followed by Jonah Farrington, Roger Bourgoin, and Brian Nason.
The second Rebels feature was a little more competitive as the team of Troy Jordan, Matt Dufault, and Jason Berry looked to rebound following some bad luck last week. Troy Jordan started shotgun on the field as per usual, but like always, charged his way up through the field. Teammate Jason Berry was not so lucky as something appeared to happen to the #46 car as it came down to the starting line and he fell all the way to the rear of the field. Cory Beaulieu took over the lead from Craig Bartlett early on with Mike Ward and Jamie Leavitt following behind. Scott Farrington and Kyle Hewins had made contact a few times during the race, and on lap five the two got together in between turns one and two as they ran three wide on the outside of Jeff Hebert. Both Farrington and Hewins flew over the top of the turn and ended up spinning in the dirt. Farrington received a stop and go penalty for rough driving, and shortly after getting back on track, Hewins got his revenge, hooking Farrington’s rear bumper and driving both cars, once again, over the top of turn one. Hewins, expecting a black flag, took his car off the track, and both drivers finished on the rear of the field. Meanwhile, Troy Jordan had made his way up to second and he took the lead from Beaulieu with just a few laps remaining to capture the victory. Jordan had been disqualified two weeks ago after a second place run and last week he lost some ground dodging a wreck, so this win represented a little bit of redemption for the driver of the #6. Teammate Matt Dufault made his way around Beaulieu to take second, while Jason Berry recovered well from his problems at the beginning of the race to finish fourth. Mike Ward rounded out the top five.
The Oxford Outlaws were divided up into three feature races based on points. In the low point feature, Zach Bowie started on the pole as he returned to Oxford Plains in a new car following his hard crash two Saturdays ago on the backstretch. Ron Abbott Jr., who suffered a hard crash himself while leading last week, followed close behind in second. The yellow flag flew on lap two when Mike Childs made contact with Gordon Bell and sent him around coming out of turn four. The contact did not slow down the Childs as on the restart both Mike and Guy Childs began moving towards the front. Mike made his way past Jonathan Baldwin for fourth, then ducked around Guy to take over third before the caution came out due to Curt Chapman stalling his car at the top of turn two. On the restart Abbott Jr. looked to make his move, hounding Bowie’s rear bumper for several laps. But a pass would be unnecessary. On lap sixteen, coming out of turn four, Bowie’s car lost power and the #04 slowed to a stop bringing out the third and final caution of the event and handing the race lead to Ron Abbott Jr. On the restart, Mike Childs made a valiant run on the outside but could not get the job done, falling back for second. Guy Childs suffered a tough break as just like Zach Bowie, his car lost power while coming down to the white flag. Abbott Jr. made it interesting on the final lap when his #39 began pouring out smoke as he crossed the finish line to claim the victory. Mike Childs finished second and Dennis Morang powered his #12 to a third place finish, even with his rear bumper flapping in the breeze.
In race two for the Outlaws, things started out with a bang with a first lap, first turn crash. Bob Ferguson appeared to hook the rear bumper of Scott Hethcoat spinning the #14 into the right rear fender of Gerry Richard. Hethcoat and Richard flew over the top of the turn while Ferguson also spun before receiving a stop and go penalty a few laps later for initializing the wreck. After that, things settled down with Dottie Patria leading early on and Steve Moon and Pat Maloy following behind her. Things remained unchanged until just past the halfway mark when Maloy took his #78 to the high side and completed the pass at the stripe to take over the lead. Jim Drake joined the fracas for second while Maloy extended his lead, but by the time Drake managed to move into the second spot there was not enough time to chase down the leader. Pat Maloy claimed the first place trophy while Jim Drake settled for second and Dottie Patria held off Steve Moon for third.
The final feature of the night brought the high point Outlaws out on the track to do battle. Mike Blue led from the get-go but there was plenty of shuffling behind him. Ryan Robbins dove three wide under Fred Clavet going into turn three setting off a chain reaction of drivers checking up, leading to three wide and even four wide racing all around the track. When the dust had settled after a few laps of close quarter racing, Spencer Morse, Thom Bell, Mike Haynes, Chris Burgess, and Josh Childs had all spun sideways or gone completely around during the traffic induced melee. While all this was going on Mike Blue managed to pull away to a considerable lead over Ryan Robbins and Dan Brown. Chris Coolidge and Josh Childs began moving towards the front, but nobody could catch Blue’s speedy #1 as he raced to his first career feature victory. Childs, Brown, Robbins, and Coolidge completed the top five in that order.
OXFORD ACCELERATION SERIES
OFFICIAL RESULTS 07/07/10
RENEGADES
1 – 9 Jamie Heath
2 – 05 Gerard Cote
3 – 09 Mark Turner
4 – 3 Charlie Hall
5 – 91 Bill Grover
6 – 4 William Dunphy Jr
7 – 31 James Ring
8 – 1 Bob Morey
LADIES
1 – 26 Missy Morgan
2 – 23 Vanna Brackett
3 – 69 Cathy Manchester
4 – 36 Christina Spaulding
5 – 34 Dottie Patria
6 – 89 Kristen Brown
7 – 21 Deanna Robertson
8 – 2 Kimberly Sessions
9 – 51 Michele Clouser
10 – 13 Missy Blash
11 – 31 Allyson Moore
12 – 07 Tori Burgess
13 – 44 Annie Chartier
SPORT TRUCKS
1 – 69 Ryan Farrar
2 – 77 Jerry Stevens
3 – 22 Jeff Schmidt
4 – 17 Ross Spurling
5 – 39 Corey Williams
6 – 29 Nathan Merrill
7 – 99 Joe Farrar
DNS – 88 Walter Knight
RUNNIN’ REBEL #1
1 – 55 Ryan Hewins
2 – 69 John Childs
3 – 33 Jonah Farrington
4 – 25 Roger Bourgoin
5 – 01 Brian Nason
6 – 15 Nate Dubuc
7 – 88 Derek Cook
8 – 29 Brandon Palmer
9 – 4 Bill Dunphy
10 – 79 Jason Cummings
11 – 18 Don Lovell
12 – 7 Carl Conant
13 – 71 Cody Smith
DNS – 91 Jamie Heath
RUNNIN’ REBEL #2
1 – 6 Troy Jordan
2 – 96 Matt Dufault
3 – 59 Corey Beaulieu
4 – 46 Jason Berry
5 – 16 Mike Ward
6 – 86 Jeff Hebert
7 – 93 Jamie Leavitt
8 – 2 Craig Bartlett
9 – 52 Gerard Cote
10 – 26 Kyle Treadwell
11 – 83 Brady Romano
12 – 41 Logan Melcher
13 – 54 Kyle Hewins
14 – 22 Scott Farrington
OUTLAWS #1
1 – 39 Ron Abbott Jr
2 – 00 Mike Childs
3 – 12 Dennis Morang
4 – 86 Mike Bradstreet
5 – 54 Jonathan Baldwin
6 – 75 Gordon Bell
7 – 69 Jay Wilkins
8 – 97 Shannon Judd
9 – 52 Kevin Leighton
10 – 35 Guy Childs
11 – 30 Scott Veinott
12 – 04 Zack Bowie
13 – 23 John White
14 – 41 Curt Chapman
DNS – 44 John Lizotte
OUTLAWS #2
1 – 78 Pat Maloy
2 – 16 Jim Drake
3 – 4 Dottie Patria
4 – 19 Steve Moon
5 – 89 Kyle Curtis
6 – 48 Tina Williams
7 – 21 Todd Bisbee
8 – 82 Josh Paradis
9 – 10 Scott Ellis
10 – 22 Phil Knowlton Jr
11 – 57 Gerry Richard
12 – 14 Scott Hethcoat
13 – 51 Randy Robitaille
14 – 63 Robert Ferguson
OUTLAWS #3
1 – 1 Mike Blue
2 – 3 Josh Childs
3 – 83 Dan Brown
4 – 9 Ryan Robbins
5 – 25 Chris Coolidge
6 – 34 John Patria
7 – 38 Addison Bowie
8 – 36 Nick Hoyt
9 – 07 Chris Burgess
10 – 64 Nic Stanley
11 – 11 Spencer Morse
12 – 71 Fred Clavet
13 – 77 Bryce Mains
14 – 18 Thom Bell
15 – 67 Mike Haynes