Hermon’s Dale Swoboda recovered from a mechanical issue that took him out of the lead on the last lap of the qualifying heat, and returned to capture the caution free Late Model Feature victory at Speedway 95 Saturday night. The win wasn’t easy as it took Swoboda until the 17th lap to work his way past Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs and Don Alexander Jr. of Carmel, who had led the first 16 laps. Alexander chased Swoboda for the final 8 circuits, but was unable to retake the lead and settled for the runner up spot. Shane Clark of Winterport got past Seekins on the final lap to post a third place finish. Seekins finished fourth with Bar Harbor’s John Phippen Jr. in fifth. Swoboda was unable to make the initial line-up for the national anthem as, in addition to the distributor that went bad in the qualifier, his starter also quit and he had to be push started to leave the pits. Seekins won the qualifier for the Late Models.

 

Josh St. Clair of Liberty took the lead in a controversial incident on lap 23 of the 25 lap Late Model feature at Speedway 95 on Saturday night and went on the post the win. St. Clair was running second to Hermon’s Dale Swoboda, trying to make the pass on the inside, when the two cars made contact in turns 3 and four. Swoboda went spinning off the track, giving the lead and the win the St. Clair. In his post race interview, St. Clair stated that “He chopped me off three times, trying to take my lane away from me. All he has to do is give me a lane to race in. The fourth time, I stayed in my lane, he chopped down again, and I didn’t back off.” On the lap 23 restart, John Phippen of Bar Harbor, who had worked his way back to the front following an early race spin involving Dixmont’s Jason Witts and Hudson’s Glen Curtis, challenged St. Clair for the win, but had to settle for the runner up spot. Winterport’s Joey Doyon finished a strong third in a car borrowed from Josh’s grandfather, Dave St. Clair’s “Dave’s World” racing stable. Fourth went to early leader Shane Clark of Winterport, and Don Alexander Jr. of Levant finished fifth. Swoboda was also involved in two earlier incidents, one on lap 21, when he and Shane Clark tangled in turn one while racing for the lead, which caused a yellow flag when Clark spun and backed into the car of Ray-Allen Morse of St. Albans, that Swoboda and Clark were overlapping. The next was on that lap 21 restart, when Swoboda ran Seekins wide going into turn one, causing Seekins to lose about 6 spots as he fought to recover in the marbles on the high side of the track. Seekins was unable to recover his lost positions and finished in sixth. Phippen was the winner of the qualifier, followed by Seekins, Swoboda, Clark and Doyon.