CHUBBUCK ENDS BURGESS WIN STREAK AT WISCASSET
by Ken Minott
A select group of racers in Wiscasset’s history draw the attention from drivers & fans similar to that of Scott Chubbuck. The former 6-time track champion rolled into Wiscasset Speedway for the first time this year and proved once again that he is still the man to beat, besting a strong field of Prostocks Saturday night at Maine’s fastest oval. A sunny and pleasant early summer evening welcomed a large crowd of race fans with Group 1 divisions on the agenda, including Prostocks, Thunder 4 Minis, N.E.4-cyl Pros, Napa Super Streets. The “Flex” class was the 3rd appearance of the season for the Amsoil Nelcar Legends.
The Napa Super Streets rolled onto the speedway as the evening’s spotlight division for a 35 lap feature. #12 Dave Patten had the pole position with #88 Jamie Norton alongside and #02 Jason Curtis behind. Patten and Curtis put on a good side by side battle for the lead over the first five laps while the division’s top drivers picked their way through traffic from the middle of the pack. Defending champ Adam Chadbourne was the first to make a move, jumping to the outside lane on lap 5 for a shot at 3rd. A caution for a minor spin bunched up the field for a lap 6 restart. Chadbourne and Patten would make contact in turn 4 sending Patten spinning onto the front stretch bringing out another caution before a lap could be completed. The two cars would go to the back of the field for what would prove to be the final restart of the race. Curtis took the point for the restart with the #2 of Josh Bailey alongside. Bailey, who started 4th had his fingers crossed as he had to make extensive front end repairs after hitting the turn 1 tire wall at the end of his heat race. It didn’t take him long to see the hard work had paid off. He quickly disposed of Curtis and into the lead on lap 7. Also coming into the picture was the #38 of Dan Trask. The former Heavyweight Demon champ was making his season debut driving for Chris Buzzell and started back in the 9th position. By lap 8 he had made his way into contention and followed the lead of Bailey to take the 2nd position. Things settled down from that point. #32 of Tasha Dyer had started 6th and raced her way into a comfortable 3rd place slot. Chadbourne made another charge into the top 5 with a good side by side duel with Jason Curtis for 4th. The second half of the race became a game of “wait and see” as Trask chased the leader Bailey just a car length away. The two pulled away to sort it out for the win with fans waiting to see if Trask had saved anything for a final challenge to the leader. The rest of the field began to fade with the extra 10 laps in their feature putting a strain on driver and machine. The race remained green to the conclusion. Bailey stayed strong and piloted his #2 Galley Restaurant / Possibilities Salon sponsored Chevy to his 2nd feature win of 2015. Trask would settle for the runner up finish. Dyer, the division’s previous week winner, crossed the stripe 3rd but forfeited the spot in post race inspection with an unapproved tire. The 3rd place trophy would go to Chadbourne.
The next division was the N.E.4-cyl Prostocks. The #14 of Bob Patten took the pole position for the 25 lap feature with #9x Brooke Knowles outside and #15 Tyler Bailey starting 3rd. While all eyes were on the early season rivalry of #24 Jeff Prindall and #98 Kamren Knowles, it was the young lady who stole the show. Kamren, the defending champ brought out the first caution of the race for a spin on lap 4. On lap 7 Prindall raced his way into the lead from his 8th starting spot, while Knowles moved back up to 4th from the back of the field. Things started to heat up by the mid point of the race. A couple tries at a lap 15 restart had both Prindall and Knowles taking a share at the lead. Patten and Brooke Knowles stayed close knowing they were still in contention with the recent history of the lead pair. Their chance came on lap 20 as the leaders made contact in turn 2 bringing out the 5th caution of the race. The final five laps of the race cranked up the intensity with Brooke Knowles, Bob Patten and #8 of Craig Dunn all gunning for their first win, while Prindall & Kamren Knowles made their expected charge from the back. Brooke Knowles proved her early strength in the race was no fluke, taking a one car length lead with 2 to go and Dunn putting on the pressure. In the meantime Brooke’s little brother was storming up the outside and moved into 2nd as the white flag flew. He pulled up to the outside on the backstretch as the fans were stirred into a frenzy with the brother and sister racing to the checkers. They crossed the stripe in a near photo finish with the My-Laps scoring system confirming Kamren Knowles taking the win by 1/1000 of a second. It was the 2nd win of the season for the 15 year old defending champ. The biggest ovation would go to his 17 year old sister who turned in her career best finish in second. The two shared some light hearted jabs in victory lane for the close finish. Craig Dunn would hold on for the 3rd place trophy.
The Nelcar Legends rolled out for their 25 lap feature next as the evening’s Flex division race. The class had a tall task with point leader Kevin Girard at the pole position, looking for his 3rd Wiscasset win. Just one caution would bunch up the field with 19 complete. #19 Girard took little time to regain his comfortable advantage. From there he would cruise to the win. Veteran Bob Weymouth took over 2nd by lap 15 but had little for the eventual race winner. He put up a short challenge on the lap 20 restart, but would settle for the runner-up finish in is #399 Bob’s Custom Tire Grooming / Moat Mountain Smokehouse & Brewery sponsored ride. #84 Matt Grant started deep in the field and raced his way to a 3rd place finish, out racing #70 Tyler Braunschwieg and defending champ #38 Matthew Bourgoine.
The Thunder 4 division came into their 20 lap feature with a unique opportunity as defending champ and 3time winner Ryan Chadwick was not able to compete. Seven of the eight drivers in Saturday’s race were shooting for their first career win, with Cody Tribbett being the only driver in the field having ever hoisted a 1st place trophy. #54 Noah Haggett and #58 David Greenleaf led the class to the green. By the time the field reached the second lap of the race, #04 Curtis Anderson took over the lead. A trio of teenagers from Richmond then settled into a good battle for the front. Anderson along with #113 Tribbett and his cousin #31 Leandra Martin raced nose to tail and were soon joined by #48 Michael Harrison of Pownal. The first caution of the race came out on lap 8 as Martin and Anderson made contact racing for the lead in turn 4. Anderson was able to maintain control, but Martin would go spinning to the infield. On the ensuing restart Tribbett took the lead away from Anderson. A caution just a lap later gave Anderson a shot to take back the lead but Tribbett was up to the challenge and quickly reestablished his advantage. Anderson and Harrison settled into a nice battle for 2nd and 3rd over the final 5 laps as Tribbett pulled away. Harrison waited for Anderson to slip up, but finally jumped to the outside and took over 2nd with the 2-laps to go signal out. Tribbett would cruise to the feature win, his first Thunder 4 win of 2015. He has also won an Outlaw Mini feature earlier this season. Harrison would settle for 2nd, matching his career best from his previous race. Anderson took 3rd.
Prostocks wrapped up the show with a 40 lap feature and their largest field of the season. Point leader Jeff Burgess was looking to extend his 3 race win streak to start the year. Defending champ Mike Orr qualified his #32 car in the pole position with rookie contender #29 Kevin Morse to his outside and #77 Maggie Ferland starting 3rd. Burgess would start back in the 9th position. Eyes were also locked onto the #15x of 5-time Prostock champ Scott Chubbuck, making his first start of 2015 back in the 12th position. Orr set the early pace leading the way over Ferland and Morse. #96 Wyatt Alexander was strong in the early going as well, making a charge into the top 5 by lap four. A pair of early cautions bunched up the field bringing some fast cars from the back into the picture. #15 Nick Hinkley took over 2nd, Burgess worked his way up to 4th and Chubbuck up to 5th by a lap 9 restart. On the ensuing Hinkley took the lead with Burgess following him to 2nd and Chubbuck to 3rd. As the trio raced into turn one on lap 12 Burgess pulled to the outside of Hinkley to grab the lead. Just a lap later the two made contact while racing side by side, knocking Burgess up the track to the top of turn 2. The caution flag would fly on lap 14 with as Burgess had suffered a cut left side tire. The lap 14 restart turned out to be the 3rd and final restart of the race. Chubbuck took advantage and drove around Hinkley to take the lead on lap 15. Over the 2nd half of the race Hinkley began to fade while #05 of James Osmond came to life, charging up from his 6th position in to 2nd by lap 19. Wyatt Alexander, Hinkley and Kevin Morse raced in a pack for 3rd. Alexander finally secured the spot by lap 25 while Hinkley’s handling problems got worse and he dropped out of contention. Chubbuck left little doubt once he got to the front, wheeling his ride to his first win of the 2015 campaign. Osmond was strong but wasn’t able to mount a challenge to the winner. He would settle for the runner-up finish, matching his best prostock finish. The race took a final turn with 2 laps to go. Alexander was solid in the 3rd spot until his car shut down coming out of turn 4. He would coast to the pits, handing over the 3rd place finish to Kevin Morse. The rookie picked up his first podium finish in his #29 Brackett’s Market sponsored ride. #05r of Phil Richard and #21 of Sulo Burbank filled out the top 5. Burgess was not able to make it back through the field to contend for the win. He finished 6th.
Wiscasset Speedway resumes action Saturday June 6th, 2015 with its Group two lineup of divisions: Late Model Sportsman, Outlaw Minis, Strictly Streets, and Modifieds. The flex race of the week are the Nelcar Legends with another 25 laps. Pit gates open at 2:00pm. Grandstand gates open at 4:00pm. Racing action begins at 6:00pm. Admission is $5, with children 6&under free. Pit admission is $20 for all. Race fans and drivers can purchase their favorite photos from track photographer Peter Taylor at www.petespicks.smugmug.com Wiscasset Speedway is located on the West Alna Road in Wiscasset. For more information, head to the Wiscasset Speedway website at www.wiscassetspeedway.com . The website is packed with info, pointstandings, driver rosters, driver profiles and more.
WISCASSET SPEEDWAY OFFICIAL FINISH 5/30/15
NAPA SUPER STREETS – 35 LAPS
1. #2 Josh Bailey – Wiscasset
2. #38 Dan Trask – Chelsea
3. #1 Adam Chadbourne – Woolwich
4. #02 Jason Curtis – Hollis
5. #23 Brandon Sprague – Edgecomb
6. #12 Dave Patten – Westbrook
7. #06 Zac Poland – Woolwich
8. #88 Jamie Norton – Farmingdale
DQ – #32 Tasha Dyer – Arrowsic (*unapproved tire)
N.E. 4-CYL PRO – 25 LAPS
1. #98 Kamren Knowles – West Gardiner
2. #9x Brooke Knowles – West Gardiner
3. #8 Craig Dunn – Strong
4. #14 Bob Patten – Westbrook
5. #27 Jacob Hendsbee – Whitefield
6. #55 John Shorey – Alna
7. #5 Cody Billings – Hartford
8. #15 Tyler Bailey – Wiscasset
9. #4 Connor Wenners – Edgecomb
10. #99 Cameron Folsom – Augusta
11. #42 Mike Kibben – Lewiston
DQ – #24 Jeff Prindall – Lisbon (*on track penalty)
THUNDER 4 MINI – 20 LAPS
1. #113 Cody Tribbet – Richmond
2. #48 Michael Harrison – Pownal
3. #04 Curtis Anderson – Richmond
4. #31 Leandra Martin – Richmond
5. #58 David Greenleaf – Brunswick
6. #26 Michael Golding – Pownal
7. #54 Noah Haggett – Wiscasset
8. #74 Aaron Sevigny – Windsor
PROSTOCK – 40 LAPS
1. #15x Scott Chubbuck – Bowdoin
2. #05 James Osmond – Wiscasset
3. #29 Kevin Morse – Woolwich
4. #05r Phil Richardson – Hermon
5. #21 Sulo Burbank – Gorham
6. #1 Jeff Burgess – E. Madison
7. #32 Mike Orr – Wiscasset
8. #0 Dale Swaboda – Hermon
9. #72 Scott Fowler – Sidney
10. #01 Andy Saunders – Ellsworth
11. #77 Maggie Ferland – Auburn
12. #96 Wyatt Alexander – Ellsworth
13. #15 Nick Hinkley – Wiscasset
14. #5 Joe Morey – Lisbon
DNS – #09 Justin Drake – Burnham
NELCAR LEGENDS – 25 LAPS
1. #19 Kevin Girard – Old Orchard Beach
2. #399 Bob Weymouth – Topsham
3. #84 Matt Grant – Windham
4. #70 Tyler Braunschwieg – West Newfield
5. #38 Matthew Bourgoine – Newport
6. #33 Alan Smith – Lincoln
7. #17 Terry Kirk – Durham
8. #10 Ed Getty – Gray
9. #8 Matt Chagnot – Derry, NH
10. #29 Austin Teras – Windham
11. #92 Colby Messerve – Buxton
12. #80 Dylan Varney – Windham
13. #49 Pete Cannell – S.Berwick
14. #67 Zack Godbout – Mt Vernon
15. #7 Steve Benincasa – Buxton