SAUNDERS AND DEANE DOMINATE SPEEDWAY 95 LATE MODELS
Andy Saunders of Ellsworth and Ryan Deane of Winterport showed they were the cars to beat in the early going in the Dysart’s Late Models at Speedway 95 Saturday night as the each picked up a win and a second place in the two features run. In the first race, a 40 lap event rescheduled from last week’s program due to the power failure, Deane took the checkers after grabbing the lead on a restart with 8 laps to go. Meanwhile, Saunders was working his way up from a last place start in the event. Saunders was scheduled to start in the sixth spot, but when the initial green flag flew, he was unable to start due to an issue with his transmission. After a quick trip to the pit following the caution he caused, Saunders rejoined the race at the rear of the 17 car field, still on the lead lap before the next green was waved. Saunders finished in second, followed by Shane Clark of Winterport in third. 2012 Strictly Street champion Andrew McLaughlin of Harrington finished fourth in his first ever Late Model start, and Donny Blanchard of Bangor was fifth.
In the regularly scheduled 50 lap Maine State Lottery series event, Saunders won his heat race, qualified on the pole and led the entire distance, maintaining the lead through three cautions. Deane also won a qualifier and started on the outside pole, keeping the heat on Saunders throughout the race, challenging him hard following the last caution on lap 42. Saunders had enough to hold Deane off, with Deane finishing a close second at the checkers. Wayne Parritt of Steuben finished the race in third, followed by John Kalel II in fourth and Andrew McLaughlin of Harrington in fifth.
In the Darling’s Ford Sportsman division, Kris Watson of Hermon won the make-up 20 lapper holding off Skowhegan’s Kris Matchett who finished second. Third went to Joe Legere of Milford with Bradley Smart of Bradley fourth in his first race ever. Bradley Norris of Ellsworth finished fifth. In the regularly scheduled race for the night, Joe Legere of Milford took the lead from Kris Watson of Hermon on the 12th lap following a side by side battle and picked up the win, followed by Watson in second. Kris Matchett of Skowhegan finished third with Ryan Robinson of Clinton fourth and Bradley Norris of Ellsworth in fifth.
The Strictly Streets also saw double action on the night as their make-up feature was won by Andy Turbowsky of Winslow. Jim Carr Jr. of Clifton finished in second, followed by Cornville’s Shelby Kimball in third. Fourth went to Alex Berry of Harrington with Matt Kimball of Cornville rounding out the top five. In the second event, Shelby Kimball of Cornville led all 25 laps to post her first win of the season with Andy Turbowsky of Winslow finishing second. Jim Carr Jr. of Clifton finished in third, followed by Matt Kimball of Cornville in fourth and Shawn Racilla of Dover-Foxcroft in fifth.
In Sport-Four action, Donny Silva of Hudson picked up the win in the 25 lap feature by finishing about 10 car lengths ahead of Zach Audet of Skowhegan, who had come from the rear of the 19 car pack to finish second. Becky Elston-Burns of Carmel drove a clean race to finish third, followed by Hermon’s Kevin Hartley in fourth. Brad Bosworth of Cornville finished fifth.
Chris Carroll of Greenbush led the 20 lap Bomber feature from green to checkers, holding off Skowhegan’s Edward Archer in the closing laps. Archer finished second with Bangor’s Scott Bonney in third. Fourth went to Dennis Burns of Carmel with Mark Lane of Newport finishing fifth.
Racing action continues at Speedway 95 on Saturday, May 4 at 5:00 p.m. with the Dysart’s Late Models, Darling’s Ford Sportsman, The Sport-Fours and Bombers scheduled to run their regular heats and features. The Strictly Streets will see extended action in their first Pepsi Beverage Company 35 lap series event.