|
NEWS
May 19, 2007
Spencer holds off MacDonald,
Adams;
OPS stands alone in beating weather
OXFORD, Maine - Dennis Spencer Jr. didn't disappoint the fans who
braved a cool, damp night at Oxford Plains Speedway to watch the
only live race in New England on Saturday night.
Spencer led wire-to-wire but survived a three-lap shootout and the
charge of Massachusetts invader Eddie MacDonald and reigning Oxford
Networks Late Model champion Travis Adams to rule the 40-lap main
event at OPS.
Shawn Martin and teenager D.J. Shaw completed the top five in a
25-car field. Spencer earned the pole position for the main event by
charging from 10th to the lead in the space of six laps during his
qualifying race.
Twenty-four hours of heavy rain and
the threat of additional showers wiped out the region’s weekly
short track competition and persuaded Maine’s other short tracks
to postpone their programs early Saturday.
With the exception of a few sprinkles
that fell during the afternoon practice, however, OPS dodged the
drops and defied the dire, week-long forecast. Only three caution
flags slowed the entire 11-race Superior Concrete Night program,
which was completed in just over two hours.
Jim Childs became the fourth
different winner in four Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy Mini Stock
features this spring. The 2006 division champion stayed eight car
lengths ahead of point leader Justin Karkos throughout the second
half of the event. Shane Kaherl placed a career-best third.
Sumner Sessions is the hottest
commodity in the Allen's Strictly Stock division through the opening
month of the 2007 season. Sessions led all but the first eight
circuits of Saturday's 30-lap encounter for his second straight win,
and he hasn't finished lower than second in four starts. Tommy
Tompkins recovered from an early crash to take away second from Kim
Tripp on the final lap.
Two of Oxford's Acceleration Series
divisions waged features in the opening round of the Agren Appliance
Grand Slam.
In the Allen's Ladies, Dottie Patria
claimed her first career victory in more than two full seasons of
trying, outrunning Cathy Manchester and Patty Brannon in a lively
battle.
Rick Hebert ascended to the Call of
the Wild RV Center Sport Truck win when Jake Burns' truck failed the
post-race inspection. Burns was seeking his third win without a loss
this season. Third-place Marvin Hamilton also ran afoul of the tech
gang, elevating Lee Spurling to second and Corey Williams to
third.
Spencer stays on top after late
restart
It hasn’t been a spectacular start
to the season for Dennis Spencer Jr.
Second in points a year ago and the
1999-2000 Oxford Networks Late Model champion, Spencer finished 31st
in April’s New England Dodge Dealers ACT 150 when his
Cole-Man’s/Magnum Homes machine succumbed to electrical problems.
A week later, Spencer was scored last in the 26-car field in the
Championship Series opener, and he surrendered the early lead before
settling for fifth in his most recent outing.
Spencer established early in the
evening that Saturday would be different, charting a course in the
outside lane to dominate his heat race.
“The crew has worked hard. We put
the Crazy Horse engine back in,” Spencer acknowledged. “It’s
got plenty of power, that’s for sure.”
In the main event, Spencer breezed
through the first half before averting a potentially heartbreaking
finish on two fronts.
Contact between T.J. Watson and Rick
Valentine and Valentine’s ensuing spin in turn two brought out the
second yellow flag of the event with three laps remaining.
That left Spencer and race-long
runner-up Jon Brill on the front row for the final dash with
fast-closing Travis Adams, Eddie MacDonald, Carey Martin and Shawn
Martin immediately in tow.
Brill attempted to sneak a generous
jump from his outside perch on the restart, prompting race officials
to wave off the green. That triggered a chain reaction behind the
leaders, with the top-10 cars of Carey Martin, Tommy Ricker and Brad
Hammond damaged in the fracas.
With Brill assigned to the rear of
the field for his role in the melee, last summer’s championship
rivals Spencer and Adams were reunited on the front row.
Spencer asserted himself in the first
corner after the resumption, leaving Adams forced to fend off
MacDonald from the high line. That was enough diversion to give
Spencer the edge by a car length at the checkers.
Making his third visit to OPS in the
first four weeks, MacDonald nipped reigning champ Adams for
second.
Although the NASCAR Busch East Series
veteran is a product of his family-owned Lee USA Speedway in New
Hampshire, MacDonald has local ties. His chief mechanic is Rollie
LaChance of New Gloucester, who has turned the wrenches in the past
for two of Oxford’s all-time greats, Tracy Gordon and Dale
Shaw.
“The car was running really good
tonight. Rollie LaChance did an awesome job setting it up. He and
his father have been doing an awesome job getting this thing ready.
I just can’t thank them enough,” MacDonald said. “We’ve been
playing with it a little bit every time we come back, and we think
we’ve got a pretty good set-up now.”
Adams kept pace with Ricky Rolfe in
the points chase, producing another podium effort at the helm of the
Dacata Repair/River Valley Grill #03E.
“That race was exciting. We started
deeper in the field than we did last week. With this being the third
points race, the rookies got to start up front and we were close to
the back,” Adams noted. “I’m absolutely tickled with this
third-place run. The car wasn’t quite as good as last week,
obviously. It wasn’t that far off. We know what we need to do to
kind of make it better.”
Shawn Martin, seeking to repeat
Adams’ accomplishment of two division titles in four seasons,
finished fourth ahead of second-generation phenom D.J. Shaw. The
teenage son of Dale Shaw and a graduate of the JARRacing Photography
Go Kart Series, D.J. was competing in his first Late Model feature
at OPS after winning the title as a rookie at White Mountain
Motorsports Park last summer.
Rolfe patiently worked his way
through traffic and the late-race carnage to claim sixth in front of
Doug Coombs, Glen Luce, top Wal-Mart Rookie Travis Stearns and Dale
Verrill.
Sessions can’t be stopped
One year ago at this time, nothing
went right for Sumner Sessions.
His #0 was a rolling testament to the
old superstition about green cars. While the old, reliable ride was
fast, it was virtually destroyed in a May wreck, and Sessions needed
many weeks to get it back up to speed.
Speed is no problem for Sessions in
his new, all-black livery this season. He captured his second
straight Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Strictly Stock feature in
overwhelming fashion Saturday night, finishing more than six seconds
ahead of a furious scrap for second place.
Kim Tripp set the pace for eight laps
before Sessions zeroed in from his 15th starting spot and left the
field choking on his exhaust fumes.
“We just got through traffic at the
beginning and did the right things,” Sessions said of his smoke
show in the Walter Connell‘s Junkyard/Goodwin‘s Insurance/Sunco
Well Drilling #0. “There’s just a couple of those guys you
can’ t tell what they’re going to do. I did the three-wide
thing. It was a little dangerous. There was a lot of dirt in that
turn three, but it worked and I came out on top. That’s what
you’ve got to do - keep digging.”
It didn’t hurt Sessions that his
fastest competition and closest pursuer in the championship chase,
Tommy Tompkins, was involved in a three-car tangle w ith rookies
George Haskell and Ben Krauter on lap 1.
Tompkins’ crew assessed the damage
during the lone caution period of the event, allowing the Hanson’s
Automotive/Dave’s Janitorial #113 to catch the tail of the field
before the green.
From there, Tompkins used the outside
lane to keep a leg up in a spirited skirmish that was reminiscent of
last week’s battle for third in the Double T Fence 100.
This time, Tripp drifted high in an
effort to protect second place on the final lap. Tompkins took
refuge in the third groove, and Matt Williams darted to the rail in
an effort to steal the glory for both. Billy Childs Jr. was close
enough to take advantage of someone’s mistake or get involved in a
Talladega-style pile-up, whichever came first.
The four combatants crossed the line
sideways, with Tompkins’ tires squealing across the stripe just in
front of Tripp’s. Williams edged Childs for fourth. Cars two
through five were less than four-tenths of a second apart.
“Congratulations to Sumner,”
Tompkins said. “I’ve waiting for some of that bad luck he had
last year.”
Tripp has been one of the
division’s hard-luck drivers in the opening weeks, but his second
straight top-five performance is evidence of a turnaround.
“It was a good race. I wish we
could do a little bit better. You know how Cole-Man (car owner and
primary sponsor Colin Groves) is,” Tripp said. “He wants to run
up front, so we’ve been working. We’ll be here again shortly,
don’ t you worry.”
Childs back in familiar surroundings
If you’ve given anything more than
a passing glance at the Allen’s Mini Stock division over the
years, you knew it was only a matter of time for Jim Childs.
Childs entered Saturday night with a
second, a third and a did-not-finish, battling oil pan and clutch
problems all the while. It’s actually nothing new for Childs, who
went winless until mid-season last year before blitzing the
four-cylinder field in the second half of the season en route to his
first championship.
He’s behind the eight-ball in his
pursuit of a repeat, but Childs served notice that anyone’s path
to a title still goes around his Brown’s Construction/Wolf Den
#10. Childs swept his heat race and feature, leading all 30 laps of
the main event to join Adam Polvinen, Justin Karkos and Don
Frechette as feature winners on the young season.
“I had a real good starting
spot,” said Childs, who ran and hid after earning the pole with
his heat triumph. “I’ve been having a lot if problems with it.
This is my last year in this division, so I want to end it
good.”
Current point leader Karkos broke
free of traffic at about the halfway point, but he could only take
little bites out of Childs’ four-second advantage.
“That’s four (trophies) in a row.
We’ve started off pretty good here. Hopefully we can keep it
going,” Karkos said of his debut in the Autobahn High
Performance/Sampson’s Collision Center #12. “It’s too bad
Jimmy started so far out front. I think we would’ve had a good
race if I could have caught up with him.”
Shane Kaherl was probably the
second-happiest driver in the field. After getting his feet wet for
the first three weeks in the Sandy River Farm Supply #19, the rookie
challenger and former Macdonald Motors Runnin’ Rebel champion
finished an impressive third.
“I like being up here,” said
Kaherl. “I had a bit of a time holding onto what I had, but it‘s
our first season.”
Polvinen was a tick or two off his
usual pace, and the 2006 Wal-Mart Rookie of the Year accepted
fourth, trailed by past champion Butch Keene.
Hammer down for Acceleration stars
Patria, Hebert
The Acceleration Series continued to
prove its worthiness to share the Saturday night stage with another
pair of caution-free sprints and exciting finishes.
Dottie Patria
kept up the early-season trend of first-time winners in the
crossover program, outlasting Cathy Manchester and Patty Brannon for
that honor in the 20-lap Ladies meeting.
Manchester led the first 10 laps.
Brannon used the outside lane to dominate the next five circuits in
the Beth Bell and Associates/ReMax #18, but she couldn’t overcome
the effects of a handling problem that prevented her from keeping
her fast ride along the rail.
Patria took her turn at the point on
lap 16 and never surrendered the spot in the Mike Hemond
Construction/R.P.M. Racing Engines #34.
“It’s good to be up here,”
Patria said. “My husband, John, and my crew and our sponsors have
worked hard to get us here. I hope I’m not forgetting
anybody.”
Manchester appears in line to become
the next breakthrough winner after her second-place finish. “I
think both my fans are here tonight,” joked Manchester, “so
it’s a good night to do well.”
Brannon made her first OPS start in
three years pay off with a third-place trophy and check, swapping
paint with Christina Spaulding on the final lap to keep the spot.
Debbie Marston was a not-too-distant fifth.
Jake Burns appeared to make it
3-for-3 on the season in Call of the Wild RV Center Sport Truck, and
for the second time he seemingly made the winning pass on the final
lap.
Burns and third-place Marvin Hamilton
were called out in the post-race inspection for a brake infraction,
however, yielding Rick Hebert his third career victory.
Hebert, who finished second in his
only previous start this season and was the top rookie in 2006, drew
the pole position and swapped the lead three times with Burns in
lapped traffic at the wheel of the Tommy Gun’s Pit Stop/Frost
Motor Supply #18.
“I figured it was just a matter of
time before Jake got around us,” Hebert conceded. “He really
goes well.”
Lee Spurling and Corey Williams
benefited from the shuffle at tech to take second and third,
respectively, backed by Yogi Hiscock and John Lizotte.
The Acceleration Series resumes this
Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Punctuating the next round of the
Championship Series on Saturday, May 26 is a holiday weekend
fireworks bonanza. Racing begins at 6:30 p.m.
OXFORD NETWORKS LATE MODEL (40 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (1) #8 Dennis Spencer Jr., Oxford, 40
2. (23) #17 Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass., 40
3. (17) #03 Travis Adams, Canton, 40
4. (19) #94 Shawn Martin, Turner, 40
5. (21) #60 D.J. Shaw, Center Conway, N.H., 40
6. (12) #51 Ricky
Rolfe, Albany Township, 40
7. (22) #57 Doug Coombs, Livermore, 40
8. (15) #7 Glen Luce, Turner, 40
9. (3) #85 Travis Stearns, Gray, 40
10. (8) #56 Dale Verrill, Paris, 40
11. (20) #1 Billy
Childs Jr., Leeds, 40
12. (9) #69 Dave MacDonald, New Gloucester, 40
13. (10) #36 Brad
Hammond, Sabattus, 40
14. (13) #2 Zach Emerson, Sabattus, 40
15. (18) #04 T.J. Watson, Harpswell, 40
16. (5) #77 Jon Brill, Bridgton, 40
17. (4) #40 Rick Valentine, Greene, 40
18. (24) #15 Ben Ashline, Pittston, 39
19. (25) #44 Neil Martin, Freeport, 39
20. (11) #18 Carey Martin, Denmark, 37
21. (6) #6 Tommy Ricker, Poland, 37
22. (14) #63 Don Wentworth, Otisfield, 29
23. (2) #01 Bill Childs Sr., Leeds, 27
24. (16) #11 Scott King, Livermore Falls, 19
25. (7) #26 Corey
Morgan, Lewiston, 1
Lap leaders: Spencer 1-40.
Cautions: 2 (laps 1, 37)
Time of race: 25 minutes, 9.970 seconds
Margin of victory: 0.260 seconds
Fast lap: Eddie MacDonald, 16.003 seconds
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY STRICTLY STOCK (30 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (15) #0 Sumner Sessions, Norway, 30
2. (14) #113 Tommy Tompkins, Mexico, 30
3. (1) #42 Kim Tripp, Oxford, 30
4. (4) #63 Matt Williams, Brownfield, 30
5. (5) #1 Billy Childs Jr., Leeds, 30
6. (12) #56 Mike Short, Auburn, 30
7. (8) #71 Scott Belskis, Dixfield, 30
8. (10) #81 B.J. Chapman, Naples, 30
9. (13) #12 Skip Tripp, Sabattus, 30
10. (20) #14 Dave Brannon, Lisbon, 30
11. (16) #23 Zach
Emerson, Sabattus, 30
12. (9) #24 Larry Emerson, Durham, 30
13. (21) #P38 Mark Bowie,
Mechanic Falls, 29
14. (11) #91 Danny Smart, Buxton, 29
15. (19) #4 Todd Hall, Auburn, 29
16. (7) #01 George Haskell, Casco, 29
17. (2) #43 Bob DiPompo, Jay, 27
18. (17) #07 Rick Thompson, Naples, 25
19. (18) #57 Glen Henderson, Sabattus, 21
20. (3) #21 Nick Coates, Turner, 21
21. (6) #82 Ben Krauter, Raymond, 1
Lap leaders: K. Tripp 1-8, Sessions 9-30.
Cautions: 1 (lap 1)
Time of race: 14 minutes, 20.491 seconds
Margin of victory: 6.135 seconds
Fast lap: Tommy Tompkins, 18.496 seconds
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY MINI STOCK (30 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (1) #10 Jim
Childs, Leeds, 30
2. (8) #12 Justin Karkos, Livermore Falls, 30
3. (2) #19 Shane Kaherl, Jay, 30
4. (9) #73 Adam Polvinen, Oxford, 30
5. (7) #2 Butch Keene, Turner, 30
6. (11) #14 Jeff
Prindall, Lisbon Falls, 30
7. (10) #16 Don Frechette, Turner, 30
8. (3) #77 Ashley
Marshall, Jay, 29
9. (12) #74 Bill Irving, New Gloucester, 29
10. (4) #08 Kevin Bishop, Oxford, 29
11. (5) #90 Dale Durgin, Norway, 28
12. (6) #29 Greg Watkins, Bridgton, 27
13. (14) #65 Dave Mooney, Wales, 17
14. (15) #92 Chris Varney, Scarborough, 13
15. (13) #1 Rich Sirois, Leeds, 5
16. (16) #9 Bob Guptill, Mechanic Falls, 3
Lap leaders: Childs 1-30.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 8 minutes, 50.830 seconds
Margin of victory: 3.471 seconds
Fast lap: Jim Childs, 18.086 seconds
CALL OF THE WILD RV CENTER SPORT TRUCK (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (1) #19 Rick
Hebert, Peru, 20
2. (10) #17 Lee Spurling, New Gloucester, 20
3. (9) #39 Corey Williams, Sumner, 20
4. (11) #26 Yogi Hiscock, Jay, 20
5. (13) #1 John Lizotte, Mechanic Falls, 20
6. (3) #28 Kevin Oliver, Gray, 20
7. (6) #71 Rene Foster, Minot, 20
8. (15) #69 Ryan Farrar, Oxford, 19
9. (4) #32 Brian Farrar, Sumner, 19
10. (8) #54 Devon Smith, Norway, 19
11. (2) #34 Joe Farrar, Oxford, 19
12. (5) #41 Doug Stevens, West Sumner, 19
13. (16) #54x David Smith, Norway, 18
14. (14) #6 Herb Farrar, Sumner, 18
DQ (7) #74 Jake Burns, Gray
DQ (12) #7 Marvin Hamilton, New Gloucester
Lap leaders: Hebert 1-20
Cautions: None
Time of race: 6 minutes, 44 seconds
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY
LADIES (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (5) #34 Dottie Patria, Turner, 20
2. (1) #69 Cathy Manchester, Gray, 20
3. (3) #18 Patty Brannon, Lisbon, 20
4. (4) #00 Christina Spaulding, Lewiston, 20
5. (2) #92 Debbie Marston, Hartford, 20
6. (8) #29 Shannon Wheeler, Auburn, 19
7. (6) #44 Annie
Chartier, Mexico, 18
8. (7) #23 Vanna Brackett, Buckfield, 13
Lap leaders: Manchester 1-10, Brannon 11-15, Patria 16-20.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 6 minutes, 49 seconds
HEAT RESULTS
LATE MODEL #1
1. Dennis Spencer Jr.
2. Bill Childs Sr.
3. Travis Stearns
4. Rick Valentine
5. Jon Brill
6. Bill Childs Jr.
7. Neil Martin
8. Tommy Ricker
9. Corey Morgan
10. Dale Verrill
11. Ben Ashline
12. Dave MacDonald
LATE MODEL #2
1. Brad Hammond
2. Carey Martin
3. Ricky Rolfe
4. Zach Emerson
5. Don Wentworth
6. Glen Luce
7. Scott King
8. Travis Adams
9. D.J. Shaw
10. Doug Coombs
11. T.J. Watson
12. Shawn Martin
13. Eddie MacDonald
STRICTLY #1
1. Kim Tripp
2. Bob DiPompo
3. Nick Coates
4. Matt Williams
5. Glen Henderson
6. Billy Childs Jr.
7. Ben Krauter
8. Todd Hall
9. George Haskell
10. Scott Belskis
STRICTLY #2
1. Larry Emerson
2. B.J. Chapman
3. Danny Smart
4. Mike Short
5. Skip Tripp
6. Tommy Tompkins
7. Sumner Sessions
8. Dave Brannon
9. Mark Bowie
10. Zach Emerson
11. Rick Thompson
MINI #1
1. Jim Childs
2. Shane Kaherl
3. Darick Barker
4. Ashley Marshall
5. Kevin Bishop
6. Dale Durgin
7. Greg Watkins
8. Bob Guptill
MINI #2
1. Butch Keene
2. Justin Karkos
3. Adam Polvinen
4. Rich Sirois
5. Don Frechette
6. Jeff Prindall
7. Dave Mooney
8. Bill Irving
9. Chris Varney
|
|
Oxford Networks
Late Model
Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy
Strictly and Mini Stock and Ladies
Photos by
(207) 645-4571
Photos by Trudy Marshall from
all OPS divisions!
|
