JOHN CURTIS JR CAPTURES 150 LAP LATE MODEL WIN AT SPEEDWAY 95
John Curtis Jr. of Hermon won the biggest race of his career to date at Speedway 95 Sunday afternoon when he won the Veteran’s Remembrance 150 for Late Models. Curtis started 6 in the field of 16 that took the green flag, and took the lead from Andrew McLaughlin of Harrington on lap 95. Wayne Parritt Jr. of Steuben also got by McLaughlin late in the going and challenged Curtis for the lead following a lap 142 restart. Curtis was able to keep the lead by sticking to the bottom groove, relegating Parritt to a runner up finish. McLaughlin finished third, followed by Corinna’s Paul White in fourth and Milo’s Nick Jenkins in fifth. Brenton Parritt of Steuben, Josh St. Clair of Liberty, Deane Smart of Bradley, Donny Blanchard of Orrington and Chris Ryan of Newburgh rounded out the top 10.
The afternoon’s program also featured the 5th Annual Ikey Dorr Memorial Race for Street Stocks. This year, the format was changed from a straight 100 lap event to a Twin 50 format. Kurt Hewins of Leeds won the first 50 lap segment, followed by brother Kyle Hewins of Leeds in second, Mac Hannon Jr. of Union in third, Bob Seger Jr. of Frankfort in fourth and Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs in fifth. In the second 50 lapper, the starting order was determined by reversing the finishing order from the first segment. Alex Berry of Harrington, who finished 24th in the first 50 lapper, took the win by passing Mac Hannon Jr. on the final lap. Hannon Jr. finished second, with his right front brake on fire, followed by Kurt Hewins in third. Fourth went to Matthew Leavitt of Buxton with Bob Seger Jr. of Frankfort in fifth. In addition to the winnings from each race, the best overall finishes of the two races were combined, and another purse paid accordingly. Kurt Hewins was the overall winner, followed by Hannon Jr., Seger Jr., Kyle Hewins and Leavitt .
Donny Silva of Hudson won the 50 lap Coca-Cola Sport-Four feature when he inherited the lead on a lap 46 caution caused by an oil spill on the track that caused Brian Lancaster and Tim Robinson Jr., the top 2 at the time, to spin off the track and be unable to return competitively. Jayson Bosworth of Cornville finished second, followed by Darren Durrell of Newburgh in third. Justin Trombley of Winter Harbor and Jeff Overlock Jr. of Hermon rounded out the top five in that order.
On Saturday, Durban Davis of Etna passed Holden’s Steve Kimball with 4 laps to go in the 50 lap RoadRunner feature to post the win in the division’s final event of the 2015 season. Kimball came from his 40th place starting position in the 40 car field to take the lead on lap 24, only to have a tire start losing air with about 10 laps to go. Kimball managed to finish second with the tire going totally flat on the last lap, with Donny Silva of Hudson taking third. Only 16 cars finished the race out of the 40 that started.
In the Outlaw Super Series of Maine 35 lap feature, Ricky Burgess of Waterville took the led from Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs on the 7th lap and went on to take the win, his third at the speedway this year. Seekins held on to the second spot at the finish with Speedway 95’s 2015 Sportsman Division Champion Shane Tatro of Levant taking third. Skowhegan’s Kris Matchett was fourth with Shawn Hamel of Bangor finishing fifth.
Danielle Beale of Hampden passed her husband, Travis Beale with two laps to go to win the 35 lap Modified Enduro feature. Milo’s Dustin Lancaster also got by Travis Beale on the last lap as Beale’s right front tire finally went flat and slowed him down. Beale finished third, followed by Nick Huff of Hampden in fourth and Keith Drost of Stetson in fifth.
The annual Demolition Derby started 16 cars, and at the end Charles Henderson of Troy was the last car running. John McCullough of Hermon finished second with Duane Dunifer of Carmel finishing third.
Speedway 95’s tentative opening date for the 2016 season in May 7, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.