DEANE SMART TAKES SPEEDWAY 95 LATE MODEL FEATURE
In a night filled with close finishes, Deane Smart of Bradley led the Late Model feature from the pole to the checkers, but had to outrun the field through two restarts to do it. The first caution came on lap 18 when Dale Swoboda of Hermon and Wayne Parritt of Steuben came together in turn 3, spinning Swoboda out of fourth place. Both drivers were sent to the rear of the field for the restart. When the green flag flew, Smart outraced Winterport’s Ryan Deane to maintain the lead until lap 29 when Donny Blanchard of Bangor, Alex Waltz of Damariscotta and Ajay Picard of Palmyra spun on the front stretch, bringing out the second yellow of the night. That time Smart outgunned Steuben’s Brenton Parrit when race resumed, and held the lead to the checkers. Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs started last in the 11 car field and worked his way up to take second from Parritt in the final to laps. Parritt finished third, with pole sitter John Kalel II of Orrington fourth. Wayne Parritt recovered from his trip to the rear of the field to finish fifth. Sixth went to Swoboda, with Hermon’s Greg Ellis in seventh. Eighth went to Picard, Waltz was ninth and Blanchard finished tenth. Ryan Deane was credited with 11th, the only car not competing when the checkered flag fell.
The 35 lap Varney Agency Series race #3 for Sport Fours was the race of the night with the top four cars all in a group when Bradley Norris of Ellsworth won by less than a foot over Milo’s Steve Heath. Using the inside groove, Norris worked his way past early leader Becky Elston of Carmel, who surrendered the lead to Norris on the 32nd lap when Elston miscalculated a little and had to brake for a slower car. Norris slipped by, only to have the yellow come out a lap later. Heath, who had also passed Elston while she was stuck behind the slower car, lined up outside Norris for the two lap dash to the checkers. It was a side by side battle all the way, with Norris barely edging Heath at the finish. Elston finished third with Mike Heath of Brownville fourth and Eddington’s Jay Robichaud in fifth. The remainder of the field in the extended length event was 6. Bradley Dolan, Winterport, 7. Ryan Kennedy, Holden, 8. Gerry Phillips, Hermon, 9. Keith Ogden, Dedham, 10. Joshua Grant, Carmel, 11. James Johnson II, Bucksport and 12. Dennis Burnes, Carmel.
The Strictly Streets ran their postponed Coca-Cola series race #3 with Jim Carr Jr. of Clifton taking the win following a lap 22 restart caused when Cody Brassbridge of Frankfort blew a tire and landed in the turn 4 tire wall. Shelby Kimball had held the lead from lap 7, when she passed the faltering Andrew McLaughlin, who started on the pole. Kimball then spun out of second place on lap 25 while racing Carr for the lead, but recovered before the yellow came out. Shawn Hamel II of Bangor then inherited the second spot, which he held to the end. Kimball finished third, followed by McLaughlin in fourth, Cody Brassbridge of Frankfort in fifth and Al Libby of Belfast in sixth.
In Sportsman action, Jeremy Glasier of Appleton managed to squeak out a win over D.J. Moody of Prospect by less than a car length as the pair raced side by side and nose to tail along with third place finisher Deane Smart of Bradley for most of the 25 lap event. Glasier and Moody swapped the lead several times, with Smart also running as high as second while subbing for the injured Doug Sinclair, who is still recovering from injuries suffered in a wreck two weeks ago. The trio raced the entire event in a close group, several car lengths ahead of fourth place finisher Steve Moulton of Holden. Mike Overlock of Franklin was fifth with Gene Wasson of Greenbush in sixth.
Andrew Crosby of Hermon made it 3 in a row in the Bomber Division when he took the lead from Emma Libby of Glenburn on the second lap of the caution free feature when she slowed momentarily on the backstretch. Crosby led the rest of the way, with Libby recovering to challenge him for the win in the final three laps. Libby finished second with Ryan Modery of Hermon a close third. Ken Ogden of Seal Cove finished in fourth with Scott Bonney of Bangor in fifth. Matt Kimball of Cornville finished sixth. The remainder of the field was 7. Darryl Ogden, Bangor,8. Kevin Seekins, Frankfort, 9. Chad Badger, Milo and 10. Charles McKusik, Abbott.
Racing resumes at Speedway 95 on Wednesday August 3 at 7:00 with a regular Wacky Wednesday show. On Saturday, August 6, NAPA presents racing in the Dysart’s Late Models, the Sportsman, Strictly Street, Sport-Four and Bomber divisions.