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NEWS AND NOTES - PRACTICE DAY
April 19, 2008
Spring fever breaks on
picture-perfect practice day; speed chart full of surprises
OXFORD, Maine - Four hours after he drove his well-worn school
bus/car hauler through the Oxford Plains Speedway pit gate Saturday,
Mike Short made the return trip with a wry smile across his face.
"We won practice," said the
1997 Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy Strictly Stock champion, knowing
enough after all these years of competition to recognize that it
didn't mean much in the grand scheme.
Then again, we've all survived seven
months of hot stove racing, watching the snow pile up and malt too
slowly, and wondering if this day ever would arrive. We should
suppose that running at the head of the class in any environment
that involves traveling fast and turning left is worth celebrating.
Spring practice day -- an event that
was a two-time casualty last season due to saturated grounds and
rainy, cold weather -- went off without a hitch under robin's-egg
blue skies and late May temperatures.
Aside from a few clumps of snow
behind the front stretch wall and catch fence and an inch-deep patch
to the left of the pit gate, the ground was bare and in surprisingly
good shape after the nasty winter. Even the "lakes" that
traditionally form in Turns 2 and 3 are much shallower than usual
for the third week of April.
By 2 p.m., more than 70 drivers
across Oxford's eight Championship and Acceleration Series divisions
availed themselves of the opportunity to get a jump on the
competition and work out any gremlins in preparation for next
weekend's season-opener.
Early results from the 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. session might put some
of the straggling veterans in catch-up mode.
Now, it's no surprise that Short
showed the way in Strictly Stock practice, followed closely by
seasoned Skip Tripp, Billy Childs Jr. and Perry Tucker.
The other two fastest laps among
Championship Series divisions, however, were turned by
rookies.
Conrad Childs cranked out a
16.13-second lap in his Lightning McQueen look-alike Late Model in
the first afternoon go-round.
In Mini Stock, Darrell Moore --
owning just a half-season of Runnin' Rebel experience but armed with
a car that served previous owners Larry Melcher, Justin Karkos and
Bill Childs Sr. well -- opened eyes with an 18.55 and numerous
passes in the 18.6 and 18.7 range.
Not far behind Conrad Childs on the
Late Model list was Shawn Knight. Getting plenty of technical
support from Ricky Rolfe and Dave Smith of Race Basics, Knight
entrenched himself in the top five with a time of 16.43 that
compared favorably with past champions Rolfe and Travis Adams.
David Childs and Rich Spaulding waged some side-by-side battles
worthy of midsummer during Chimney Tech Outlaw practice. Reigning
Grand Slam (now Saturday Showdown) champion Childs scored temporary
bragging rights with the quick turn of 19.09.
Troy Jordan's new Runnin' Rebel ride isn't painted yet, but we know
looks don't count for much in the Acceleration Series. Jordan was
the lone driver to crack the 19-second barrier in his division.
Jake Burns, a heavy favorite to defend his Call of the Wild Sport
Truck title, was blisteringly fast in his 2008 debut, while Dottie
Patria and Debbie Marston were quick and closely matched in the
Allen's Ladies practice.
Highly unofficial practice times are listed at the end of this
column.
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Rookie drivers and family rivalries will be a recurring theme in the
Late Model division this season.
Mark Childs Jr. will join his uncle
Conrad and father Mark in the top division this spring, making the
jump all the way from Runnin' Rebel. He won five feature events in
the four-cylinder Acceleration class in 2007.
"I'm driving a second car for
John Thurlow," said Childs, who will team up with Zach Emerson
in the new #22. "The car's not quite ready yet. It should be
fun. I think we're going to have the whole family out there."
You throw another rookie and Childs
cousin -- two time Allen's Mini Stock champion Jimmy -- into the
mix. Billy Childs Jr. and Sr. could potentially round out the family
reunion as we inch closer to TD Banknorth 250 time.
*****************
Kyle Hewins looked quick in his first few turns with the #54 Runnin'
Rebel. The only problem: So did everybody else.
"It looks like everybody else has done their homework, that's
for sure," Hewins said. "Like Troy Jordan. He has a new
car, and we couldn't keep up. They've all upped the ante."
Hewins was involved in last year's friendly but fierce championship
battle with Tyson Jordan.
The two entered the season finale in
a tie, setting up a virtual match race that ended with Hewins
crashing on the front stretch.
"We're pushing. That's the same
problem we had all of last year," Hewins said.
At last check, Jordan was weighing
the possibility of joining that crowded Late Model rookie
class.
There will be no shortage of
contenders to fill the void, however. Along with Hewins and Troy
Jordan, other potential 'A' feature drivers in attendance Saturday
included Doug Degroat, Josh Childs, Gregg Norton, Jamie Leavitt and
teammates Calvin Rose Jr. and Archie Watt Jr.
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There's good news and bad news on the
health front involving two of the good guys in the local short track
racing game.
Great to see Bill Coolidge back at
the wheel of the Outlaw #72. Coolidge, a multi-time feature winner
to coincide with his 50th birthday in 2006, sat out last season
after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer shortly before the season.
Surgery and treatment proceeded
ideally. Coolidge is now anxious to get up to speed with the Camaro
he purchased from Brad Corson only days before getting the dire news
a year ago.
"As time permits, we plan on
running some races, mostly Wednesday nights," said Coolidge,
who noted that he worked a full-time schedule at his business,
Bill's Auto, along with "a lot of snow plowing" over the
winter.
Coolidge said that he is
"feeling great" and looking forward to a regularly
scheduled check-up in Boston this week.
The 2008 season will start without
former Sport Truck champion and Mini Stock championship contender
Bill Irving.
"Wild Bill" has been
hospitalized recently due to a recurrence of leukemia. Friend and
team member Steve Libby reported that Irving will be out definitely.
"He lit up when he heard that
his picture was in the preview (on the web site)," said Libby.
Irving spent much of the 2006-07
off-season recuperating from a fall while rock climbing. Our prayers
are with him as he fights this latest battle. Get-well wishes may go
to: William Irving Jr., 64 Thomas Way, Cumberland, Maine 04021.
Unofficial practice times
(NOTE: These represent the fastest lap by each driver, as gathered
randomly by Oaksie's stopwatch during three rounds of midday
practice. They are for educational purposes and amusement only. If
your favorite driver was short-changed by two-tenths of a second
because we didn't get his fastest lap, we're sorry!)
OXFORD NETWORKS LATE MODEL
#95 Conrad Childs 16.13
#63 Don Wentworth 16.22
#03 Travis Adams 16.40
#25 Shawn Knight 16.43
#51 Ricky Rolfe 16.54
#6 Tommy Ricker 16.55
#2 Zach Emerson 16.57
#7 Eric Williams 16.65
#07 Scott Luce 16.70
#94 Shawn Martin 16.71
#08 Gerald Parlin 16.75
#12 Nick Brown 16.97
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY STRICTLY STOCK
#56 Mike Short 18.43
#12 Skip Tripp 18.69
#51 Billy Childs Jr. 18.75
#97 Perry Tucker 18.85
#07 Rick Thompson 19.16
#0 Sumner Sessions 19.44
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY MINI STOCK
#12 Darrell Moore 18.55
#89 Don Frechette 18.81
#65 David Mooney 18.91
#77 Ashley Marshall 18.92
#48 Nick Coates (Titus) 19.29
#35 Dale Brackett 19.67
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW
#5 David Childs 19.09
#36 Rich Spaulding 19.24
#34 John Patria 19.57
#24 Kevin Lawrence 19.60
#12 Nick Coates 19.64
#04 Zach Bowie 19.69
#139 Jerry Freve 19.70
MACDONALD MOTORS RUNNIN' REBEL
#6 Troy Jordan 18.94
#84 Doug Degroat 19.12
#54 Kyle Hewins 19.13
#27 Archie Watt Jr. 19.26
#12 Calvin Rose Jr. 19.38
#119 Gregg Norton 19.39
#3 Josh Childs 19.67
CALL OF THE WILD SPORT TRUCK
#74 Jake Burns 19.09
#5 Rene Foster 20.01
#40 Tom Libby 20.11
#69 Ryan Farrar 21.26
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY LADIES
#34 Dottie Patria 20.20
#92 Debbie Marston 20.35
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