By Dan Walker
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway PR
Portland,Maine- Bill Rodgers, Corey Bubar, Brian Caswell and Ryan Phillips were the guests of honor at the 63rdd annual presentation of awards at the Holiday Inn by the bay in Portland Maine Saturday night. The awards ceremony closed out the 2011 NASCAR Whelan All American Series at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in front of an overflow crowd in the banquet room.
Bill Rodgers was honored with the championship awards for the Pro Series division. Rodgers received his championship awards from NASCAR and Beech Ridge and addressed the crowd in attendance and spoke some heartfelt words to his race team. This was the first championship title for Rodgers who has been working toward this night for nearly 20 years. Corey Bubar stepped to the podium to collect the Sport Series championship awards. Bubar capped off an amazing season by thanking his team and paid extra special thanks to his Father. The championship award was not the only honor bestowed on Bubar as he was the recipient of the prestigious Driver of the Year honor. Brian Caswell collected Wildcat championship on Saturday night. In fact for Caswell who is a veteran campaigner it was his first championship of any kind in racing. Ryan Phillips was honored for the Road Runner championship Phillips, at age 17, is the youngest NASCAR champion in the history of Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Several highly coveted and anticipated awards were presented by Beech Ridge CEO Andy Cusack. The award for Outstanding new driver was presented to first year Road Runner competitor Evan Armington who finished his first season of driving in the 4th position in the final Road Runner standings. Two members were inducted into the Beech Ridge Hall of Fame. Bob Gahan who acclaimed fame racing all over New England was honored for his achievements and a rare second inductee was honored on the same evening as Mal Graffam was also inducted into the Hall of Fame for his career that spans driving, crew chiefing and officiating throughout his career. Mal Graffam was not done being honored on the evening as he was called back to the stage to receive The Lifetime Achievement award. Rookie of the year awards went to Tyler King (Pro Series), Charlie Sanborn (Sport Series), Nicholas Cusack (Wildcat) and Evan Armington (Road Runner). Performance Advancement awards were presented to Aaron Ricker (Pro Series), David Charest (Sport Series), Brian Caswell (Wildcat) and Dave Cameron (Road Runner).
The 2012 NASCAR Whelan All American Series at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway will kick off on Saturday May 26th. Expect to see return visits from the Pro All Star Series and the American Canadian Tour as well as the Modified Racing Series. Thursday Thunder and the Day of Destruction events should make for another banner season.