SWOBODA TAKES CRASH MARRED 95 LATE MODEL FEATURE
Hermon’s Dale Swoboda started on the front row of the 35 lap Dysart’s Late Model Feature at Speedway 95 Saturday night, but what happened in between made it far from an easy run for him. Swoboda and Ryan Deane of Winterport battled side by side in the early laps, swapping the lead several times before Deane took the point. A caution on lap 4 bunched the field back up when George Dunn of Eastbrook side-slapped Winterport’s Shane Clark, sending him to the infield. Clark recovered, but restarted at the rear of the 15 car field. Another yellow fell on lap 9, when John Kalel II stopped the race for a flat tire. On the restart, it was Swoboda and Deane again until lap 19, when points leader Mike Hopkins brought out the caution as he slowed due to a flat right front tire. A quick trip to the pit and Hopkins was back out, but at the back of the field. Four more yellows for minor incidents kept the field close, but Wayne Parritt of Steuben had worked his way up past Swoboda and was battling Deane for the lead on lap 32. Hopkins had also returned to the front of the field, riding in fourth when Parritt and Deane started bumping and spinning each other as they raced for the lead with 3 to go. Swoboda somehow got by, but Hopkins ended up on his roof on the back stretch after hitting the back stretch retaining wall trying to avoid what Parritt and Deane were doing in front of him . Hopkins climbed out of his wrecked car, and was out for the night. The red flag that stopped the field on lap 32 for that incident set up a 3 lap dash for the checkers with Swoboda at the head of the field. Swoboda led the pack under the green, with Duane Seekins beside him. As the cars got back up to speed, Seekins tucked in behind Swoboda, and Shane Clark made a mad dash for the front on the outside, passing Seekins on the final lap, finishing in second just behind Swoboda when he drove under the checkers for his third win of the season. Seekins finished third, with Deane Smart of Bradley in fourth. Donny Blanchard of Bangor posted a fifth place finish. Hopkins and Deane won the evening’s Late Model qualifiers.
Steve Moulton of Holden started the Sportsman feature on the pole and ran away and hid from the field until the checkered flag fell for him 25 laps later. What he missed by being way out front was a great side by side duel for second and third by Deane Smart of Bradley and D.J. Moody of Prospect. After swapping the lead many times during the race, Smart was in second when the race ended and Moody was a very close third. Fourth went to Gene Wasson of Greenbush with Mike Overlock of Franklin finishing fifth. Moulton also won the division’s 10 lap qualifier.
In Strictly Street action, what had to be the most spectacular roll over in a long time happened on lap 3, right in front of the flag stand, when Ren Dore of Addison got sideways and was hit by Cody Brassbridge of Frankfort. When Brassbridge made contact with Dore, Dore’s car flipped over, and Brassbrigde and his car rode up over the rolling Dore car and ended up in the front stretch wall. Both drivers escaped from their wrecked cars without visible injuries, but were eliminated from the race for the night. Shelby Kimball of Cornville was also involved, but was able to resume racing, only to fall out later due to mechanical issues related to the hit she took in the earlier incident. When the race resumed following a lengthy clean up period, Andrew McLaughlin of Harrington worked his way through the pack and took the lead on lap 13 of the 25 lap race and held it to the end. Early leader Jim Carr Jr. of Clifton finished second, followed by Ryan Beale of Cherryfield, who posted his first top three of the season. Shawn Hamel II of Bangor was fourth, followed by Al Libby of Belfast in fifth. McLaughlin also won the qualifier.
In the Sport-Fours, Steve Heath of Milo won his sixth feature of the season when he passed race long leader Becky Elston of Carmel coming out of turn four on the last lap, after the pair raced side by side for the last six laps of the event. Elston finished second with Keith Ogden of Dedham in third. Fourth went to 2011 Ladies Division champion Chelsea Young of Winterport in her first attempt this season to run with the Saturday night cars. Point leader Bradley Norris of Ellsworth finished fifth. Elston won the divisions qualifying race.
Emma Libby of Glenburn took the lead on lap six of the 20 lap Bomber feature and then outran Carmel’s Ted Ryder over the final five laps of the feature to post her third Bomber division feature win in a row. Ryder, a regular Wednesday night Little Enduro driver, finished in second with 2011 Little Enduro champion Darren Durrell of Newburgh in third. Ryan Modery of Hermon finished fourth after leading the early laps of the race, and Jeremy Scott of Carmel, another Wednesday night regular, was fifth. Modery had won the earlier qualifying event. The win was Libby’s fifth in the last two weeks, as she had also won the final two Stars of Tomorrow features in Wednesday night action.
The season finale for the regular Speedway 95 season will start at 7:00 on Saturday, September 10. Information about the annual awards banquet, to be held on Saturday November 5, will be posted on the speedway’s website, www.speedway95racing.com within a few days.
Maine Racing Forum – http://maineracing.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=89