Dylan Turner claims Big John Phippen 59 victory at Unity Raceway
Unity, Maine — Dylan Turner of Freedom nailed down the biggest win of his short career with a victory in the Big John 59 Late Model race, held in the memory of multi-time, multi-track champion ‘Big John’ Phippen of Town Hill, who passed away last summer.
Turner, a third-generation racer and recent high school graduate, charged back into contention after an altercation while swapping the lead with Liberty’s Josh St.Clair went awry with just a handful of laps remaining in the event. That crash, which also eliminated Skowhegan’s David ‘Deuce’ Folsom II after he’d spent virtually the entire distance in second or third position, handed the lead to Cassius Clark of Farmington.
Clark, who missed the heat race and driver’s meeting while his team retreated to their nearby race shop to change an engine after a practice failure, ran afoul of the stated restart policy and was sent to the end of the lead lap cars. Ben Clark got to lead a lap before he, too, was penalized for the same violation. Chuck LaChance of Cushing inherited the lead for a restart with four laps remaining.
Young Turner charged into the lead as the late-race green flag appeared and outran Cassius Clark to the checkered flag. St. Clair, who led 47 of the first 53 laps before his aforementioned incident involving Turner, rebounded to finish in third position. Lachance held on to cross the line fourth under the checkered flag. Danny Smart of Buxton rounded out the top five.
Through the efforts of Wally Gibbons and many others, about $3500 in bonus money was paid out to competitors in the Big John 59, with St. Clair’s third-place disappointment softened to the tune of about $1450 to top the list. Deuce Folsom ($570), winner Turner ($530) and Justin Drake ($470) led a half-dozen others in bonus award earnings.
St. Clair, Drake and Turner won heat races.
Ed Sleeper of Vassalboro nailed down his first-ever feature victory in the Keystone Automotive Wildcat division, leading the entire 25-lap race while being pursued by the division’s top runners. Behind Sleeper the best of the rest was reigning division champion Chris King, who prevailed in a race long duel for runner-up honors with multi-time champion, and fellow Burnham resident, Carl McAlpine. Point leader Maurice Young of Chelsea was close behind in fourth position, with Skowhegan’s Kris Matchett rounding out the top five. Young won the heat race.
Point leader Lance Chapman of Benton got by early leader Steve Rackliff of Starks, then held off Clinton’s Tim Robinson to win the Late Model Pro Four main event. Rackliff foloowed Chapman and Robinson under the checkered flag. Bryan Lancaster of Skowhegan and Parkman’s Bill Ellis rounded out the top five. Chapman won the heat race.
Tim Robinson of Clinton swapped the lead several times with point leader Zach Audet of Skowhegan en route to a thrilling victory in the Monster Mini feature race. Audet chased Robinson under the checkered flag, with Hudson’s Richard Jackson finishing strong in third position. Early race leader Greg Cummings of Augusta hung on for a fourth-place finish, in front of Farmingdale’s Tim Collins. Audet won the heat race.
Cole Robinson of Clinton outran younger brother Kyle to claim victory in the Flyin’ 4 division feature. Kyle Robinson raced the main event in a borrowed car after a hard wreck in the heat race sidelined his regular ride. Nate Tribbett of Pittston picked up his second consecutive third-place trophy. Vassalboro’s Bob Gerard and Mika Wilson of Chelsea rounded out the top five.
Chad Folsom won again in the six-cylinder Challenger division main event, but the Skowhegan racer survived one of his best tests yet. Chad Williamson of Skowhegan traded the lead with Folsom on a couple of occasions late in the race, settling for a close runner-up finish. Eric Peavey of Clinton claimed third-place hardware, with the top five rundown filled out by Waterville racers Dan Lambert and Ken Lord.
Fairfield’s Kyle Jackson charged to the front and got by early race leader and eventual runner-up April McAlpine of Burnham, then drove to his first feature victory in the Teen Thunder class. Derek Pariseau of Brooks was third under the checkered flag. Montville’s Wes Turner bounced back from early-race troubles to finish third, ahead of Readfield’s Kamren Knowles.
Kerlsey Santos of Waterville was a first-time winner in the four-cylinder race, outrunning the previous week’s winner, Christie Foster of Norridewock, to the checkered flag.
Late Model Big John 59 (59 laps) 1. 9 Dylan Turner, Freedom; 2. 04x Cassius Clark, Farmington; 3. 33 Josh St. Clair, Liberty; 4. 3 Chuck LaChance, Cushing; 5. 7x Danny Smart, Buxton; 6. 15 David Folsom I, Skowhegan; 7. 50 Scott Pooler, Vassalboro; 8. 51 Criag Robbins, Montville; 9. 21 Ben Clark, Clinton; 10. 7 Tim Turner, Freedom; 11. 09 Justin Drake, Burnham; 12. 25 Will Collins, Waldoboro; 13. 14 Dave St. Clair, Liberty; 14. 88 Puncin St. Clair, Liberty; 15. 75 David Folsom II, Skowhegan; 16. 34 Tyler Robbins, Montville; 17. 3 John Rideout, Washington; 18. 29 Rick Morse, St. Albans; 19. 21x Nick Huff, Orrington; 20. 11 Ryan St. Clair, Liberty; 21. 17 Tim Reynolds, Bradley; 22. 18 Brian Whitney, Burnham; 23. X Jeff Burgess, East Madison; 24. 99 Ajay Picard, Palmyra.
Wildcat (25 laps) 1. 22 Ed Sleeper, Vassalboro; 2. 29 Chris King, Burnham; 3. 18 Carl McAlpine, Burnham; 4. 03 Maurice Young, Chelsea; 5. 17 Kris Matchett, Skowhegan; 6. 24 Ed Gilblair, Skowhegan; 7. 51 Tyler Ring, Detroit.
Late Model Pro Four (20 laps) 1. 64 Lance Chapman, Benton; 2. 38 Tim Robinson, Clinton; 3. 94 Steve Rackliff, Starks; 4. 81 Bryan Lancaster, Skowhegan; 5. 5 Bill Ellis, Parkman; 6. 91 Alex Fernald, Benton.
Monster Mini (15 laps) 1. 23 Tim Robinson, Clinton; 2. 19 Zach Audet, Clinton; 3. 53 Richard Jackson, Hudson; 4. 2 Greg Cummings, Augusta; 5. 18 Tim Collins, Farmingdale; 6. 26 Brent Roy, Vassalboro; 7. 81 Paul Shorrette, Vassalboro; 8. 88 Norm Cummings, Jr., Augusta; 9. 94 Mike Wilson, Chelsea.
Flyin’ 4 (15 laps) 1. 61 Cole Robinson, Clinton; 2. 01 Kyle Robinson, Clinton; 3. 04 Nate Tribbett, Pittston; 4. 22 Bob Gerard, Vassalboro; 5. 94 Mika Wilson, Chelsea; DQ Don Giggey, Athens.
Challenger: 1. 15 Chad Folsom, Skowhegan; 2. 13 Cody Williamson, Skowhegan; 3. 44 Eric Peavey, Clinton; 4. 41 Dan Lambert, Waterville; 5. 84 Ken Lord, Waterville; 6. 45 Mike Stowe, Waterville;
7. 24 Alden Corson, Canaan; 8. 88 Henry Boudreau, Bristol; 9. 45x Nick Jackson, Fairfield; 10. 19 Sandy Macomber, West Gardiner; 11. 16 Sandy Gagnon, Clinton; Ken Bosse, Whitefield; 12. 4
13. 7 Troy Rusconi, Clinton; 14. 96 Samantha Farnham, Benton; 15. ? Louie Stillman, Clinton.
Teen Thunder (15 laps) 1. 01 Kyle Jackson, Fairfield; 2. 11 April McAlpine, Burnham; 3. 34 Derek Pariseau, Brooks; 4. 88 Wes Turner, Montville; 5. 20x Kamren Knowles, Pittsfield; 6. 21 Austin Clemons, Norridgewock; 7. 45 Nick Stowe, Waterville; 8. 1 Cody Robbins, Montville; 9. 18 Emily McAlpine, Burnham; 10. 15 Colby Robbins, Montville.
Enduro: 1. 35 Kerlsey Santos, Waterville; 2. 19 Christie Foster, Norridgewock; 3. 95 Josh Switzer, Woonsocket, RI, 4. 4 Josh Spencer; 5. Brandi Jackson, Augusta.
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