SPEEDWAY 95 CLOSES 2012 SEASON WITH DOUBLE HEADER ACTION
MIKE HOPKINS AND RYAN DEANE TAKE LATE MODEL WINS
Speedway 95 closed out a very successful 2012 season with a double header week-end full of racing action that looked like the season was just beginning. On Saturday, over 75 cars entered the pit area under cloudy and breezy skies in a day that was to feature extended races in the speedway’s Strictly street and Sport-Four divisions. In Sunday’s action, the Dysart’s Late Models and the Maine State Lottery Sportsman did their season ending extended length features.
Qualifying for the Dysart’s Late Models was completed on Saturday, but rain forced postponement of the regularly scheduled 35 lap feature until Sunday’s show. This required that they run the postponed 35 lap feature first, then qualify for and race the 50 lap feature scheduled for Sunday. Mike Hopkins of Hermon qualified on the pole for the make-up event from Saturday, but it took him until lap 30 of the 35 lap feature to pass Bradley’s Dean Smart of Milford to take the lead. Hopkins led to the finish with Smart in second. Ryan Deane of Winterport was third, followed by Shane Clark of Winterport in fourth and Wayne Parritt of Steuben in fifth. In the 50 lap event, Ryan Deane of Winterport passed Wayne Parritt of Steuben on the 47th lap to win the year’s final race. Parritt took second with Deane Smart of Bradley finishing third, Fourth went to Mike Hopkins of Hermon with Phil Richardson of Hermon finishing fifth.
In the Maine State Lottery Sportsman division, Joe Legere of Milford was declared the winner of Saturday’s 25 lap feature when four of the top five finishers were disqualified in post-race inspection. Scott Modery of Hermon, Kris Watson of Hermon, Brad Norris of Ellsworth and Ralph Melanson of Charleston were all disqualified in the tech garage for multiple infractions of the rules, leaving Legere, who finished third on the track, as the winner. Troy Patterson of Stockton Springs was awarded the second place trophy with Dustin Bisson of Greene in third.
In Sunday’s 40 lap event, Steve Moulton of Holden led the entire distance to pick up the win. Scott Modery of Hermon finished second followed by Bradley Norris of Ellsworth in third. Bob Seger Jr. of Frankfort finished fourth, followed by Ralph Melanson of Charleston in fifth.
Strictly Street action saw, Maurice Young of Windsor fight side by side with Speedway 95’s 2012 Strictly Street champion, Andrew McLaughlin of Harrington for the most of the 50 lap event. Young and McLaughlin swapped the lead several times through four restarts until Young pulled ahead late in the event and kept McLaughlin about a car length behind to the finish. McLaughlin finished second with Burnham’s Chris King finishing in third, about ten car lengths behind the leaders. Fourth went to Zachary Bowie of Lisbon, with Dixmont’s David Gray finishing fifth. On Sunday, the Strictly Streets ran a regular 25 lap feature with Andrew McLaughlin taking the win after wrestling the lead away from Jim Carr Jr. on the 20th lap. Carr finished in second, followed by Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs in third. Fourth went to Jeff Willette of Presque Isle with Gerry Phillips of Hermon taking fifth.
All 31 of the Sport-Four entrants were qualified and lined up for the 50 lap Fred Ashmore JR and Mike Harnish Jr. “Quit Your Complaining” 50 lap feature when the rains came, putting a halt to the start of that event. The race was postponed until day 2 of the double header week-end, and was the first race out on Sunday afternoon. To make the race more of a challenge, the top 15 qualifiers were inverted for the start, making the winners of the three qualifying races start 13th, 14th and 15th. Zach Audet of Skowhegan took the lead from Hermon’s Kevin Hartley on the fifth lap and led to the finish. Matt Moore of Mechanic Falls recovered from an early race spin to finish second, followed by Hudson’s Donny Silva in third. Fourth went to Bradley Dolan of Glenburn with Calvin Rose Jr. of Turner finishing fifth. In Sunday’s regularly scheduled 30 lap feature, Calvin Rose Jr. of Turner grabbed the lead from Skowhegan’s Zach Audet on lap 12 and held on for the win. Audet finished second with Fred Ashmore Jr. of Hancock in third. Matt Moore of Mechanic Falls finished fourth and Keith Ogden of Holden was fifth.
The pick up truck feature held over from Saturday was won by Jim Carr Jr. of Clifton, who took the lead on a lap 5 restart. Jeff Overlock Jr. of Hermon finished second with Roger Smith Jr. of Bangor in third. Jason Haskell of Levant was fourth.
Denis Burns of Carmel fought off Jeremy Scott of Carmel to take his first win of the season in the Bomber feature on Saturday. Scott finished second with Dustin Lancaster of Brownville in third. Fourth went to Jacob Earle of Veazie in his first appearance of the season with Rick Pease Sr. of Detroit finishing fifth. On Sunday, it was Jeremy Scott taking the win with Cody Robbins of Oakland a close second. Third went to Hermon’s Andrew Crosby with Denis Burns fourth and Kyle Gallant of Bangor in fifth.
On Saturday, the Stars of Tomorrow feature ended with apparent winner Dustin Durrell of Newburgh disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct when he ran Dylan Street of Old Town high off turn four as they came out of turn four on the final lap, putting Street into the front stretch wall. Alex Runci of Belfast was declared the winner as he was the first car after Durrell to cross the finish line. Street was awarded second after he recovered from the incident without assistance, with Alexis Roach of Brewer, who was three laps down to the leaders, finishing third. On Sunday, Dylan Street took the win, followed by Alex Runci in second, Dustin Durrell third, Kyle Moore of Frankfort fourth and Alexis Roach of Brewer in fifth.