JEFF BURGESS NOTCHES IMPORTANT OPENING DAY WIN AT WISCASSET SPEEDWAY

Apr 8, 2013 | Maine Race Tracks, Wiscasset Speedway

A hearty crowd of racing-starved fans huddled into a blustery Wiscasset Speedway Saturday afternoon for the start of the 2013 Maine racing season. This is a new chapter in the history of the state’s fastest track. The coastal speed plant has been relatively silent for nearly three years. Saturday it roared to life as new track owners Richard and Vanessa Jordan of Kingfield unveiled the results of their off-season work, and kick started the revival of racing action.

East Madison’s Jeff Burgess didn’t have a very large group of cars chasing him in the 30 lap Prostock feature. It probably did not matter to the veteran racer. This was one win that he wasn’t about to let slip through his hands. On this day his late father, Butch Burgess, who built his legendary resume with wins from Wiscasset, was to be inducted into the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame. Jeff honored him in perhaps the best way he could- by winning at the same track his father had won at so many times before. Burgess used the first half of the race to gradually pull away from Bill Penfold of Yarmouth, and cruised from there to the win. It wasn’t his first Wiscasset win, his most difficult win, or the biggest win of his long career. However, there was no doubt it was one of the most important. Penfold finished second by nearly a full straightaway and John Rideout of Washington finished third. (more…)