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NEWS
June 23, 2007
Right place, right time for Jimmy
Childs;
Glen Luce gets to party like it's 1998
OXFORD, Maine - Jimmy Childs often wheels the dominant Allen’s
Coffee Flavored Brandy Mini Stock around Oxford Plains Speedway.
When he doesn’t, Childs has a knack for being in the right place
at the right time and winning, anyway.
Childs took advantage of cousin Rich
Sirois' missed shift on a restart with six laps remaining to win the
rescheduled Sun Journal 100 for the Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy
Mini Stocks on Saturday night.
The finish was a reverse of the outcome in the regularly scheduled
30-lapper on 99.9 The Wolf Fan Appreciation Night, with Sirois
dominating runner-up Childs and the remainder of the field in that
one.
Seven features and more than 300
green flag laps of competition entertained a large crowd that
enjoyed major ticket discounts and hundreds of giveaways on Fan
Appreciation Night.
Glen Luce also was a central figure in the evening‘s festivities.
Not long after his LaVallee Motorsports team gave away two
children's bikes to a lucky boy and girl in the crowd, Luce picked
up his first OPS feature win since 1998 and his first since joining
the Oxford Networks Late Model division last season.
In other action, three-time Allen's Strictly Stock champion Larry
Emerson joined Sumner Sessions and Tommy Tompkins as a repeat winner
on the season. Second-year Chimney Tech Outlaw driver Tyler Belanger
collected his first career checkered flag in the first of twin
20-lap features for his Acceleration Series division. Addison Bowie
hitched a ride and parlayed it into his first Outlaw victory of the
season in round two. Chris Seavey captured the 25-lap New England
Legends Cars feature.
Childs shifts into gear, earns
Mini Stock split
When a Mini Stock driver wins a feature by finishing almost nine
seconds ahead of the runner-up, Jimmy Childs is usually the
culprit.
Instead, it was Rich Sirois setting that blistering pace in the
30-lap Allen’s Mini opener. Bill Thibeault led the first seven
circuits, but Sirois roared to the front and didn’t have to deal
with any caution flags to slow his progress.
Running his fastest lap at 18 seconds flat, Sirois sliced his way
through traffic and put two-thirds of the field a lap down at the
finish in his Fayette Baptist Church/Worship Radio Network #1 Mopar.
Sirois missed the wildly entertaining fracas behind him, including a
paint-swapping battle between rivals Childs and Polvinen for second.
Childs won the battle before an intriguing winner’s circle
exchange provided the teaser for the long-distance nightcap.
“Jimmy couldn’t drive around me, so he goes through me,” said
Polvinen, who immediately climbed into his #73, drove to the garage
area and skipped the post-race photo shoot.
Childs repeated a sound bite he used earlier in the season after a
similar encounter. “I just want to put on a good show for the
fans. It is Fan Appreciation Night, after all,” he said. “When
you’re out there and your is a little bit loose, you can’t
expect everyone to give you room in both lanes.”
It all left Sirois chuckling about whatever he missed. “Sounds
like there was a whole lot of stuff going on behind me,” said
Sirois. “I’m glad I got to the front when I did.”
Justin Karkos kept his streak of top-five finishes alive for one
more race,
Round two had all the earmarks of a re-run. Sirois blazed past
Guptill on lap 12 and put everyone but the top four one lap in
arrears before the first caution for third-place Karkos’
mechanical woes on lap 67.
Earlier, Guptill went a lap down when he and Polvinen got together
in turn three. Polvinen never recovered from the tangle and later
spent several laps on pit lane.
Al Roberti’s crash and the resulting second caution on lap 85 put
Sirois in position for his bad break. By the time Sirois came up to
speed on the restart, he watched Childs and Wal-Mart Rookie of the
Year leader Bill Irving fly to the front.
While Sirois rallied to sneak second from Irving with two laps to
go, Childs finished the event in his own zip code.
“I told you guys it was a going to be a great race,” said
Childs, who survived the anticipated tough battle for second with
Polvinen early in the encore. “The car was good at first. Then I
didn’t think I had enough for Richard, but I cam promise you I
would have given him a run.”
Sirois apologized for not holding up his end of the bargain for a
dramatic finish. He also took advantage of a second chance to his
wife a happy seventh anniversary.
Irving, last year’s champion in the
Call of the Wild RV Center Sport Truck series, celebrated his first
Championship Series trophy.
“Those guys are so fast,” Irving
said. “I was just waiting for a few of them to drop out.”
Guptill held off Shane Kaherl for
fourth. Both drivers were one lap down, but they rounded out a pack
of three rookies in the top five.
Childs' solid evening gave the
reigning division champion a huge break in the season championship
chase. Karkos and Polvinen entered the night ahead of Childs in the
point standings, but they finished 14th and 12th, respectively, in
the nightcap.
Luce gives, then receives
After the pre-race bike giveaway,
nobody pedaled harder than Glen Luce in a wild Oxford Networks Late
Model 40-lap main event.
Tommy Ricker and Dale Verrill exchanged the lead four times in the
first 13 laps before Ricker reclaimed the lead for himself and tried
to draw away. Luce looked stout from the get-go in his climb from
the 13th starting position, however.
Two separate restarts on lap 24 gave Luce an opportunity to take his
shot on the outside, and he dropped the hammer en route to his first
checkered flag since a Pro Stock triumph on September 6, 1998. That
previous win ended a seven-year drought, itself. Luce won six races
in the Charger division between 1989 and 1991.
“It feels like it’s been 12 years or something like that,”
Luce said. “I almost don’t know what to say. We’ve struggled
for a year-and-a-half with this chassis. This is the best race
I’ve had in a long time.”
Despite an early escape from another
driver’s aggressive maneuver that triggered a 10-car melee around
him, reigning Late Model champion and current point leader Travis
Adams nearly made one of his increasingly familiar runs to the
front.
For the second time this season,
Adams edged Ricker by a fender out of the final turn for
second.
“This car was terrible in the heat
race, as everybody could see,” said Adams, who finished 12th in
his preliminary and started 19th in the 25-car feature lineup. “We
had a carburetor go sour in practice. Then he put a new one in, and
it was no better, so we spent most of the night trying to piecemeal
a carburetor together. I’m more than happy with second.”
Ricker rebounded nicely after his car
wouldn’t come up to speed for either start in last week’s double
features.
“It’s always fun racing
Travis,” Ricker said, “but I can’t believe he got me on the
last lap again! I’m just happy we got in 40 laps without breaking
anything.”
Zach Emerson posted his best-ever
Late Model finish in fourth, with Shawn Martin running in the top
five for the third consecutive race.
Emerson adds to Strictly story
book
He has won in virtually every
division that OPS has offered in his adult life, but Larry Emerson
continues to build a case as the greatest Allen’s Strictly Stock
driver in track history.
The 2001, 2004 and 2005 track
champion won for the second time in 13 days and the 36th time in his
all-around career - a total that doesn’t include his many Enduro
victories.
Emerson took advantage of three
restarts that tightened the field, then made his winning move around
early dominator Jeff Moon on lap 24.
“It looked like everybody was kind
of bunched up back there,” Emerson said. “I got through pretty
well. Everybody raced me clean.”
Nobody made a longer commute through
the carnage than Skip Tripp, who was saddled with a starting spot at
the rear of the field following a problem with his heat race
technical inspection. Tripp worked his way around division point
leaders Tommy Tompkins and Larry Emerson to snag his third runner-up
honor of the campaign.
“I guess there was something in a
wheel they didn’t like. One-eighth of an inch off. I’m not sure
how much difference that makes, but the car was good all night,”
Tripp said.
Tompkins and Sessions put on their
weekly, door-to-door display, with “Tommy Gun” emerging third to
protect his narrow championship edge.
“We had a slow car tonight,”
Tompkins said, “but we got lucky and got through some of the
wrecks.”
Kim Tripp followed Sessions in fifth.
Moon slipped to eighth at the finish.
Another new face Accelerates to
glory
Eight of the first 14 race dates in
this season’s Acceleration Series have produced a first-time
winner at OPS. Tyler Belanger added his name to the list in the
20-lap Chimney Tech Outlaw ‘B’ feature.
Josh Morang, Leo Hatch-Auger, Scott
Ellis and Tom Averill each led the race during the first six laps,
but Belanger patiently moved in from his ninth starting spot and
took over the point from Averill on the 12th circuit.
Averill also saw Steve Brill and
Wednesday’s winner Keith Landry drive by in the closing stages,
with Brill winning the battle for second. Averill held onto fourth
in front of Hatch-Auger.
Addison Bowie is always fast in his
familiar #38 Outlaw, and a switch to Stan “Sonny” Morgan’s
#89.3 for Saturday’s ‘A’ feature didn’t change anything.
Bowie led all 20 laps of a caution-free sprint, protecting the
inside lane from David Childs’ many overtures for the lead in the
late going.
“Sonny went camping this
weekend,” Bowie said, “but he’s definitely going to get a
phone call.”
Third through fifth also finished
within close proximity of the lead. Bob Ferguson outran Mike
Rainville and Jerry Freve for the final trophy.
Seavey shines in annual Legends
dash
Chris Seavey put his seven years of
New England Legends Car experience to work, swiping the lead from
teenage rookie Nick Brown on lap 6 and cruising to a 25-lap NELCAR
triumph.
“I think we should have more races
here,” Seavey said. “I’ll bet we pull 80 miles per hour down
the straightaway.”
Jacob Dore won his heat race and
bolted from 13th to second in the main event at the helm of his
reduced-scale replica of the vintage racing coupes.
Brown, a multi-time champion of the
JARRacing Photography Go Kart Series at Oxford, ran a strong third
in his first experience on the big oval.
“These cars are fast. Last year I
was putting around over here on a go kart, and now I’m standing
here after driving one of these things,” Brown said. “ It’s
unbelievable to be here.”
Ed Getty and Dustin Reynolds
completed the top five.
Wednesday’s Acceleration Series
event at OPS begins a stretch of six oval track events in a dozen
days. Also upcoming: The Championship Series on Saturday, June 30,
and Maine State Lottery Fireworks Night on Monday, July 2. Racing
each night starts at 6:30 p.m..
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY MINI STOCK SUN JOURNAL 100
(100 laps, makeup from June 2)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (8) #10 Jimmy
Childs, Leeds, 100
2. (6) #1 Rich Sirois, Leeds, 100
3. (10) #74 Bill Irving, New Gloucester, 100
4. (1) #9 Bob Guptill, Mechanic Falls, 99
5. (14) #19 Shane Kaherl, Jay, 99
6. (3) #77 Ashley Marshall, Jay, 99
7. (17) #14 Jeff Prindall, Lisbon Falls, 99
8. (11) #29 Greg
Watkins, Bridgton, 97
9. (4) #35 Dale Brackett, Oxford, 97
10. (13) #6 Dale Durgin, Norway, 97
11. (5) #5 Darick Barker, Jay, 93
12. (7) #73 Adam Polvinen, Oxford, 91
13. (16) #07 Al
Roberti, South Paris, 79
14. (9) #12 Justin Karkos, Jay, 69
15. (12) #08 Kevin Bishop,
South Paris, 27
16. (15) #44 Jim Robbins, Dixfield, 25
17. (2) #8 Bill Thibeault, Oxford, 22
DNS #7 Joe Treadwell, Auburn
DNS #54 Ben Audet, Chesterville
DNS #66 John Cary, Cumberland
DNS #21 Rick Giguere, Auburn
DNS #2 Butch Keene, Turner
Lap leaders: Guptill 1-11, Sirois 12-94, Childs 95-100.
Cautions: 2 (laps 67, 85)
Time of race: 39 minutes, 7.657 seconds
Margin of victory: 2.243 seconds
Fast lap: Rich Sirois, 18.058 seconds
OXFORD NETWORKS LATE MODEL (40
laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (13) #7 Glen Luce, Turner, 40
2. (19) #03 Travis Adams, Canton, 40
3. (1) #6 Tommy
Ricker, Poland, 40
4. (7) #2 Zach Emerson, Sabattus, 40
5. (16) #94 Shawn Martin, Turner, 40
6. (2) #56 Dale Verrill, Paris, 40
7. (18) #63 Don Wentworth, Bridgton, 40
8. (20) #93 Mike
Ferguson, Rangeley, 40
9. (10) #51 Ricky Rolfe, Albany Township, 40
10. (21) #01 Billy
Childs Jr., Leeds, 40
11. (12) #85 Travis Stearns, Gray, 40
12. (9) #8 Dennis Spencer Jr., Oxford, 40
13. (14) #57 Doug Coombs, Livermore, 40
14. (6) #69 Dave MacDonald, New Gloucester, 40
15. (25) #44 Neil Martin, Freeport, 40
16. (15) #18 Carey Martin, Denmark, 40
17. (4) #15 Ben Ashline, Pittston, 40
18. (22) #0 Scott Hodgdon, Minot, 40
19. (23) #70 Gary
Chiasson, Peru, 29
20. (24) #31 Tim Pendergast, Swanville, 21
21. (3) #26 Corey Morgan, Lewiston, 12
22. (5) #40 Rick Valentine, Greene, 12
23. (17) #11 Scott King, Livermore Falls, 12
24. (8) #04 T.J. Watson, Harpswell, 12
25. (11) #36 Brad Hammond, Sabattus, 3
DNS #77 Jon Brill, Bridgton
Lap leaders: Ricker 1-5, Verrill 6, Ricker 7-11, Verrill 12,
Ricker 13-24, Luce 25-40.
Cautions: 4 (laps 1, 12, 24, 24)
Time of race: 31 minutes, 26.500 seconds
Margin of victory: 0.791 seconds
Fast lap: Travis Adams, 16.301 seconds
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY STRICTLY STOCK (30 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (13) #24 Larry Emerson, Durham, 30
2. (22) #12 Skip Tripp, Sabattus, 30
3. (15) #113 Tommy
Tompkins, Dixfield, 30
4. (14) #0 Sumner Sessions, Norway, 30
5. (11) #42 Kim Tripp, Oxford, 30
6. (12) #63 Matt Williams, Brownfield, 30
7. (23) #81 B.J. Chapman, Bridgton, 30
8. (1) #97 Jeff Moon, Gray, 30
9. (19) #23 Zach Emerson, Sabattus, 30
10. (18) #56 Mike Short, Auburn, 30
11. (2) #91 Danny Smart, Buxton, 30
12. (10) #07 Rick Thompson, Naples, 30
13. (5) #13 Chris
Burgess, Lewiston, 30
14. (16) #57 Glen Henderson, Sabattus, 30
15. (3) #11 Todd Hall, Auburn, 30
16. (6) #82 Ben Krauter, Raymond, 30
17. (4) #43 Bob DiPompo, Jay, 30
18. (7) #29 Chris
Mosher, Litchfield, 30
19. (20) #777 Mike St. Germain, Auburn, 29
20. (21) #18 Reggie
Houghton, Carthage, 28
21. (9) #8 Shawn Thompson, Wilton, 28
22. (17) #71 Scott Belskis, Dixfield, 24
23. (8) #21 Nick Coates, Turner, 8
24. (24) #P38 Mark Bowie, Poland, 1
Lap leaders: Moon 1-23, L. Emerson 24-30.
Cautions: 3 (laps 1, 19, 23)
Time of race: 16 minutes, 4.480 seconds
Margin of victory: 0.232 seconds
Fast lap: Mike Short, 18.551 seconds
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY MINI STOCK #1 (30
laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (10) #1 Rich Sirois, Leeds, 30
2. (11) #10 Jimmy Childs, Leeds, 30
3. (13) #73 Adam Polvinen, Oxford, 30
4. (15) #12 Justin Karkos, Jay, 30
5. (2) #9 Bob Guptill, Mechanic Falls, 30
6. (14) #74 Bill Irving, New Gloucester, 30
7. (1) #8 Bill Thibeault, Oxford, 30
8. (17) #77 Ashley
Marshall, Jay, 30
9. (3) #07 Al Roberti, South Paris, 29
10. (19) #14 Jeff Prindall, Lisbon Falls, 29
11. (4) #35 Dale Brackett, Oxford, 29
12. (8) #5 Darick Barker, Jay, 29
13. (18) #29 Greg
Watkins, Bridgton, 29
14. (12) #19 Shane Kaherl, Jay, 29
15. (5) #21 Rick Giguere, Auburn, 26
16. (16) #16 Don Frechette, Turner, 24
17. (7) #08 Kevin Bishop, South Paris, 23
18. (6) #6 Dale
Durgin, Norway, 22
19. (21) #65 Dave Mooney, Wales, 10
20. (20) #44 Jim Robbins, Dixfield, 1
21. (9) #54 Ben Audet, Chesterville, 1
DNS #7 Joe Treadwell, Auburn
Lap leaders: Thibeault 1-7, Sirois 8-30.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 9 minutes, 27.240 seconds
Margin of victory: 9.891 seconds
Fast lap: Rich Sirois, 18.000 seconds
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW #1 (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (9) #33 Tyler Belanger, Sumner, 20
2. (15) #53 Steve Brill, Bridgton, 20
3. (14) #90 Keith
Landry, Oxford, 20
4. (11) #3 Tom Averill, Peru, 20
5. (3) #37 Leo Hatch-Auger, Norway, 20
6. (8) #60 Kevin Plummer, Oxford, 20
7. (18) #99 Jerry Goss, Mechanic Falls, 20
8. (5) #10 Scott
Ellis, Lewiston, 20
9. (7) #83 Dan Brown, Peru, 20
10. (20) #04 Corey Williams, Sumner, 20
11. (19) #81 Roger Cousineau, Turner, 20
12. (3) #37 Dave Brown, Gray, 20
13. (4) #30 Scott Veinott, Lewiston, 20
14. (10) #8 Gerald Parlin, South Paris, 20
15. (2) #40 Josh Morang, Norway, 20
16. (1) #42 Donnie Wright, Kittery, 18
17. (21) #35x Justin Bubier, Greene, 16
18. (6) #54 Jonathan
Baldwin, Auburn, 15
19. (13) #112 Dennis Morang, South Paris, 12
20. (17) #95 Justin
Dennison, North Yarmouth, 12
21. (16) #17 Maurice Martel Jr., Greene, 2
Lap leaders: J. Morang 1-2, Hatch-Auger 3, Ellis 4-5, Averill
6-11, Belanger 12-20.
Cautions: 1 (lap 12)
Time of race: 14 minutes, 50 seconds
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW #2 (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (3) #89 Addison Bowie, Auburn, 20
2. (13) #5 David Childs, Oxford, 20
3. (5) #63 Bob Ferguson, New Gloucester, 20
4. (2) #122 Mike
Rainville, Littleton, N.H., 20
5. (9) #139 Jerry Freve, Buckfield, 20
6. (6) #39 Ron Abbott
Jr., Lewiston, 20
7. (8) #97 Shannon Judd, Jay, 20
8. (19) #00 Guy Childs, Turner, 20
9. (7) #68 Bubba
Collins, Lewiston, 20
10. (4) #6 Jim Archer, Chesterville, 20
11. (17) #51 Randy
Robitaille, Norway, 20
12. (20) #116 Craig Coolidge, Auburn, 20
13. (12) #24 Kevin Lawrence,
South Paris, 20
14. (15) #43 Rodney Englehaupt, Oxford, 20
15. (10) #18 Thom Bell, Minot, 20
16. (16) #36 Richard Spaulding, Lewiston, 20
17. (14) #19 Steve Moon, Gray, 19
18. (18) #34 John
Patria, Turner, 19
19. (11) #57 Gerry Richard, Leeds, 17
20. (1) #35 John Spencer, Auburn, 4
DNS #169 Jim Drake, Hebron
Lap leaders: Bowie 1-20.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 6 minutes, 41 seconds
NEW ENGLAND LEGENDS CARS (25 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (6) #23 Chris Seavey, Windham, 25
2. (13) #05 Jacob Dore, Sanford, 25
3. (1) #12 Nick
Brown, Topsham, 25
4. (5) #10 Ed Getty, Gray, 25
5. (7) #0 Dustin Reynolds, Westbrook, 25
6. (12) #399 Bob Weymouth, Topsham, 25
7. (10) #20 Max Zachem, Preston, Conn., 25
8. (3) #42 Mike
Fuchswanz, Vassalboro, 25
9. (11) #09 Josh Leach, Islesboro, 25
10. (14) #99 Terry Kirk, Durham, 25
11. (9) #1 Aaron Lewis, Scarborough, 25
12. (8) #88 Steve Fox, Falmouth, 25
13. (4) #80 Marc Fuchswanz, Vassalboro, 24
14. (16) #79 Wade Corkum, Canton, Mass., 24
15. (15) #56 Anthony Pagliarulo, Groveland, Mass., 23
16. (13) #13 Patrick Stewart, Beverly,
Mass., 15
Lap leaders: Brown 1-5, Seavey 6-25.
Cautions: None
HEAT RESULTS
LATE MODEL #1
1. Tommy Ricker
2. Dale Verrill
3. Corey Morgan
4. Ben Ashline
5. Rick Valentine
6. Mike Ferguson
7. Billy Childs Jr.
8. Dave MacDonald
9. Zach Emerson
10. Scott Hodgdon
11. Neil Martin
12. Gary Chiasson
13. Tim Pendergast
LATE MODEL #2
1. T.J. Watson
2. Dennis Spencer Jr.
3. Ricky Rolfe
4. Brad Hammond
5. Travis Adams
6. Glen Luce
7. Doug Coombs
8. Carey Martin
9. Shawn Martin
10. Scott King
11. Don Wentworth
12. Travis Adams
13. Jon Brill
STRICTLY #1
1. Jeff Moon
2. Danny Smart
3. Todd Hall
4. Bob DiPompo
5. Chris Burgess
6. Mike St. Germain
7. Ben Krauter
8. Chris Mosher
9. Reggie Houghton
10. Nick Coates
11. Shawn Thompson
12. Mark Bowie
STRICTLY #2
1. Rick Thompson
2. Kim Tripp
3. Matt Williams
4. Larry Emerson
5. Sumner Sessions
6. Tommy Tompkins
7. Glen Henderson
8. Scott Belskis
9. Mike Short
10. Zach Emerson
DQ B.J. Chapman
DQ Skip Tripp
MINI #1
1. Bill Thibeault
2. Bob Guptill
3. Al Roberti
4. Dale Brackett
5. Rick Giguere
6. Dale Durgin
7. Kevin Bishop
8. Jim Robbins
9. Darick Barker
10. Ben Audet
11. Bill Thibeault
MINI #2
1. Rich Sirois
2. Jimmy Childs
3. Shane Kaherl
4. Adam Polvinen
5. Bill Irving
6. Justin Karkos
7. Don Frechette
8. Ashley Marshall
9. Greg Watkins
10. Dave Mooney
11. Jeff Prindall
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Oxford Networks
Late Model
Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy
Strictly and Mini Stock
Photos by
(207) 645-4571
Photos by Trudy Marshall from
all OPS divisions!
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