Sep 7, 2012 | Beech Ridge, Maine Race Tracks, Maine Racing News
YOUTH IS SERVED: John Peters Exceeds Expectations
15-Year-Old Caps 2012 As Youngest Champion In Beech Ridge History
WESTBROOK, Maine – John Peters’ first 10 races in a stock car turned out better than even he expected.
After posting two wins, five runner-up finishes and no result worse than fourth during the VIP Thursday Thunder season this summer, Peters earned the championship in Beech Ridge Motor Speedway’s entry-level “Beetle Bug JV” division in 2012 to become the youngest champion in the track’s 64-year history.
“It’s weird to think about it sometimes,” said Peters, 15, of Westbrook, Maine. “When people would start coming up and telling me that I was going to be the youngest champion in history there, I’d think, ‘Oh, that’s nice.’ Then I started looking at Beech Ridge’s old memories and history page (on Facebook), and you see all of the people that have won races and championships there, and you really get thinking about it. It’s a shock. It’s pretty amazing.”
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Sep 2, 2012 | Maine Race Tracks, Maine Racing News, Speedway 95
Hermon’s Mike Hopkins started fifth in the 16 car Dysart’s Late Model field at Speedway 95 Saturday night, but it took a late race caution to give him the chance to take the lead away from Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs. Seekins had led from the drop of the green in the 35 lap event until the caution flew on lap 26 when John Curtis Jr. of Hermon spun and almost hit Seekins as he came out of turn four. On the restart, Hopkins finally got by John Kalel II of Orrington and Donny Blanchard of Bangor, who had raced side by side for second and third for most of the race while Hopkins rode in fourth and hoped for a break. Following the restart, Hopkins got by Blanchard on lap 30 and set his sights on Seekins. Hopkins and Seekins swapped the lead back and forth for four laps until Hopkins got by Seekins for good as the two entered the final circuit. Seekins finished second with Kalel taking third. Fourth went to Oakland’s Jeff Burgess with points leader Andy Saunders of Ellsworth in fifth.
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Aug 30, 2012 | American Canadian Tour, Maine Race Tracks, Maine Racing News, NE Racing News, NHMS, Touring Series News
More than two dozen teams gear up for Sept. 22 ACT Invitational
LOUDON, N.H. (August 29, 2012) – A picturesque day provided the perfect setting for American-Canadian Tour teams as they turned practice laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Wednesday.
More than 25 teams from five New England states and two Canadian provinces spent most of the morning and afternoon gathering as much information as possible for the Bond Auto ACT Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 22 at “The Magic Mile.”
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Aug 26, 2012 | Maine Race Tracks, Maine Racing News, Speedway 95
Mike Hopkins stared 8th in the 18 car starting field of the Dysart’s Late Model 75 lap Team Morgan Racing shootout at Speedway 95 Saturday night and ended up the winner by taking advantage of a late race caution. On the 68th lap, the yellow flew ending Andy Saunders 49 lap run at the front of the field. After Hopkins took the lead when the green dropped for the final 7 laps of the event, Saunders found himself in a battle for second with Winterport’s Ryan Deane who had led for 18 laps earlier in the race and had worked his way up from the rear of the field following an altercation with Hermon’s Phil Richardson earlier in the night. Deane also had an encounter with Richardson later in the race in an incident that saw Richardson black flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Saunders managed to hold Deane off to finish second with Deane ending up third at the finish. Dean Smart of Bradley came in fourth with Josh St. Clair of Liberty finishing fifth. Donny Blanchard of Bangor, the only other driver to lead one lap of the event, finished in sixth. Hopkins said at the end that he never would have been able to catch and pass Saunders if the restart had not given him the opportunity to catch Saunders and race him for the win.
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Aug 26, 2012 | Beech Ridge, Maine Race Tracks, Maine Racing News
Brad Babb Racing: Beech Ridge Motor Speedway
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Race Report
Brad Babb of Windham, Maine, finished eighth in the 45-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Pro Series feature event at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, August 25, to unofficially retake the division point lead with one race remaining. Babb started 19th in the 23-car field, cracked the Top-10 by the Lap 20 mark and then battled in heavy traffic to hold onto the eighth position. It was Babb’s second-straight Top-10 finish in the No. 4 Babb Wood Contractors/McGoldrick Bros. Blasting Chevrolet and earned him a 14-point lead in the standings with only next Saturday night’s final point race remaining on the schedule. Babb’s father, five-time Beech Ridge Motor Speedway track champion Bobby Babb, finished a season-high third on Saturday night.
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