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NEWS
July 2, 2007
Thibeault takes advantage of
Childs' bad break; Adams outruns Rowe, Rolfe for second straight
Late Model
OXFORD, Maine -
Like the rest of the Allen's Coffee
Flavored Brandy Mini Stock field, Bill Thibeault was beaten and
beaten badly by Jimmy Childs. But when the defending division
champion and current point leader dropped out with an apparent
broken axle on lap 76 after lapping the field, Thibeault inherited
the lead and ultimately one of the biggest wins of his four-cylinder
driving career.
Thibeault celebrated the checkered
flag in the marathon event minutes before a huge crowd enjoyed the
annual holiday fireworks celebration, presented by Central Maine
Pyrotechnics of Hallowell.
In other action, Travis Adams
continues to set the bar sky-high in the Oxford Networks Late Model
division. Adams won his second straight feature and fourth overall
in nine tries this season.
Sumner Sessions became the first
three-time winner in the Allen's Strictly Stock division after Tommy
Tompkins, who crossed the line first and had apparently notched his
third triumph, was disqualified in the post-race inspection.
Sessions also regained the series point lead in the process.
Thibeault not fastest, but still
first
Thibeault’s longest look at Jim
Childs came near the halfway point of the Allen’s Mini Stock main
event, when he established himself as the only driver who could stay
door-to-door with Childs for more than a straightaway.
Second-place Thibeault shadowed
Childs for about four laps before the leader clawed his way past and
sped away. What was significant about the exchange? Thibeault was
merely trying to stay on the lead lap.
He was the last car to fall into
Childs’ clutch, and suddenly the one car even remotely capable of
keeping Childs out of victory lane went by the wayside.
“This wasn’t our race. It was
Jimmy Childs’ race,” Thibeault said. “He had us all covered
tonight.”
Childs’ ownership of his second
straight Agren Appliance Grand Slam event exploded in a shower of
sparks on the backstretch. The #10 coasted to a stop on three tires
in the fourth turn, bringing out the second and final caution
flag.
Thibeault, Don Frechette, Ashley
Marshall and Shane Kaherl each had to pass Childs’ disabled ride
twice before being posted as the leaders. Seven lapped cars provided
a buffer zone between Thibeault and his closest pursuers.
“It’s too bad for him, but
we’ll take the victory, of course,” Thibeault said.
By any other measure, Thibeault’s
five-second margin of victory in the Reggie ’s VW Repair/Maine-Ly
Action Sports/Poland Spring Bottling #8 would have appeared
dominant.
Marshall fought past Frechette
shortly after Childs’ departure to claim second.
Mini Stock victory lane was an
emotional scene. Marshall matched his career-best finish at OPS in
the Hartt Transportation/Labonville/Bailey Bros. #77 and dedicated
the result to both his grandmother and George Brown, a former Mini
Stock competitor who died unexpectedly last month at age 40.
Despite falling shy of the finish,
Childs made a quick appearance in the winner’s circle to dedicate
his performance to uncle Perley Childs, who suffered a stroke over
the weekend.
“He’s the Childs who started us
out, the first person who started racing here in the ‘70s,”
Childs said. “So win or not, this race is for him.”
Frechette and Kaherl were locked in a
terrific battle for third over the final 10 laps, with Frechette
getting the nod at the finish.
“I thought winning a 30-lapper was
a lot of work, but this was something else,” Frechette said.
Kaherl recovered from an early spin
to run second before two additional off-track forays dropped him to
fourth. Adam Polvinen, who was penalized for contact with Kaherl
that triggered a multi-car wreck on lap 9, rallied with a brilliant
charge in the outside lane and passed Bill Irving on the final lap
for fifth, one lap down.
Childs, Polvinen and Justin Karkos
entered the night as the three dominant drivers in the Mini Stock
class this season. All encountered a variety of problems in the
event. Childs was credited with 14th place. Karkos wound up 16th
after he spun and collided with Irving in the Polvinen-Kaherl
aftermath.
The win was Thibeault’s 24th at
OPS, dating back to 1993.
Adams leads legend in Late
Models
Travis Adams channeled two of his
racing heroes with a how-did-he-do-that pass for his latest Oxford
Networks Late Model conquest.
Making the achievement even more
meaningful was that Adams led one of those all-time OPS greats, Mike
Rowe, across the finish line.
“My hero is Jeff Taylor, and I
absolutely admire the way he rolls a race car around this
facility,” Adams said. “But I’ll tell you what, this feels
really, really good to come out here and beat the King of
Oxford.”
Adams made a breathtaking, three-wide
pass of Dave MacDonald and Zach Emerson on lap 25 to land the lead,
then held off Rowe and closest championship points pursuer Ricky
Rolfe after a restart with 10 laps remaining.
Committed to the rim of the track in
turn three, Adams held the third groove for more than a fifth of a
mile before applying the exclamation point to his winning maneuver
between turns one and two.
Rowe used an inside pass to gain
third just as MacDonald’s spin brought out the third and final
caution on lap 30, putting him directly on Adams’ rear bumper for
the all-important resumption.
“I was a little concerned having
Mike on my tail. I was thinking, you know, I ’ve got to be ready
for anything here. My car was just a little bit better than his.,”
Adams said.
The runner-up himself admitted as
much in victory lane, playfully chiding Adams, “Next time, wait
for me.”
Rowe pulled the slide job on Emerson
to take second at the drop of the green, but the Lux Enterprises #23
didn’t have enough bite to stay in Adams’ tire tracks to the
finish.
“We’ve been trying some different
set-ups in the car, and this one’s pretty close. We’ve got to
work on it a little bit more,” Rowe said. “We’ve got to keep
trying and get ready for that (TD Banknorth) 250. We’re still
really tight when the sun goes down and the clouds come over, but
that’s the best set-up we’ve had so far. We had nothing for
Travis here tonight. He was wicked good.”
Adams is starting to experience one
of the pitfalls of success that followed Rowe in the 1970s and
‘80s and Taylor in the ‘90s. The crowd reaction to hearing his
name announced in victory lane was mixed.
“That feels good, because I got as
much applause and boos as Mike Rowe did,” Adams said. “You know
they know your name when they’re making noise.”
Ricky Rolfe kept his streak of
top-three finishes alive with the final podium position. Tim
Brackett logged his second straight top-five since returning to OPS
in fourth, followed by 2004 track champion Shawn Martin.
Pre-race fun, post-race turn spice up
friendly rivalry
You can bet Sumner Sessions was a
little disappointed to pick up his third Strictly Stock win of the
season at the so-called “house of horrors.”
He and Tompkins have enjoyed one of
the friendliest rivalries at the speedway all season while running
one-two in the standings and almost constantly fighting for position
on the track.
Before Monday’s race, Tompkins
playfully walked up to Sessions’ car in the pit and gave it a
“kiss of death,” even talking to the car: “You cannot pass the
#113.”
Sessions couldn’t pass Tompkins,
but overtaking early leader B.J. Chapman with three laps remaining
was enough for the Rick Morse Custom Engines/Sunco Well Drilling #0
to ultimately inherit the victory.
“We’re having a ball. He comes
over to my trailer all the time, and we rag on each other,”
Sessions said. “Everybody’s having a good time and getting good
finishes. I’m looking forward to just keep doing what we’re
doing.”
Sessions snapped a modest seven-race
winless streak with his 13th Strictly victory, a total that puts him
in a tie for sixth all-time.
One thing that has eluded Sessions is
a speedway championship. Emerson, who holds a record three titles in
the Strictly division, recovered from a wreck 48 hours earlier and
soldiered home second.
“We kind of got lucky there. We got
bent up pretty hard Saturday. All in all, it came out pretty
good,” Emerson said. “I’ve got to thank the boys back in the
pit, because they helped me get it back together and get it
here.”
Chapman’s blistering early pace
yielded a third-place result, followed by Matt Williams and Glen
Henderson.
OPS returns to action on Wednesday,
the Fourth of July, with an Acceleration Series card at 6:30 p.m.
The busy week continues with the American-Canadian Tour Time Warner
Cable 100 on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., and Motor Mayhem with Twin
Enduro 100s on Sunday at 1 p.m.
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY
MINI STOCK (100 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (1) #8 Bill Thibeault, Oxford, 100
2. (9) #77 Ashley
Marshall, Jay, 100
3. (10) #16 Don Frechette, Turner, 100
4. (11) #19 Shane Kaherl, Jay, 100
5. (14) #73 Adam Polvinen, Oxford, 99
6. (13) #74 Bill Irving, New Gloucester, 99
7. (3) #08 Kevin
Bishop, South Paris, 98
8. (4) #29 Greg Watkins, Bridgton, 98
9. (15) #6 Greg Durgin, Norway, 98
10. (5) #35 Dale Brackett, Oxford, 98
11. (2) #5 Darick Barker, Jay, 95
12. (16) #66 John Cary, Cumberland, 95
13. (17) #25 Wayne Parkin, Wales, 90
14. (8) #10 Jimmy Childs, Leeds, 76
15. (6) #90 Dale Durgin, Norway, 73
16. (12) #12 Justin Karkos, Jay, 7
17. (7) #9 Bob Guptill,
Mechanic Falls, 1
DNS #80 Don Mooney, New Gloucester
Lap leaders: Thibeault 1, Childs 2-76, Thibeault 77-100.
Cautions: 2 (laps 8, 76)
Time of race: 37 minutes, 59.363 seconds
Margin of victory: 5.094 seconds
Fast lap: Jimmy Childs, 18.133 seconds (74.450 mph)
OXFORD NETWORKS LATE MODEL (40 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (13) #03 Travis Adams, Canton, 40
2. (18) #23 Mike Rowe, Turner, 40
3. (11) #51 Ricky Rolfe, Albany Township, 40
4. (10) #60 Tim Brackett, Buckfield, 40
5. (15) #94 Shawn Martin, Turner, 40
6. (20) #36 Brad Hammond, Sabattus, 40
7. (14) #7 Glen Luce, Turner, 40
8. (4) #2 Zach Emerson, Sabattus, 40
9. (6) #04 T.J.
Watson, Harpswell, 40
10. (21) #29 Ricky Morse, St. Albans, 40
11. (7) #56 Dale Verrill, Paris, 40
12. (24) #26 Corey Morgan, Lewiston, 40
13. (19) #1 Billy Childs Jr., Leeds, 40
14. (5) #77 Jon Brill, Bridgton, 40
15. (8) #6 Tommy Ricker, Poland, 40
16. (3) #11 Scott King,
Livermore Falls, 40
17. (22) #44 Neil Martin, Freeport, 40
18. (2) #69 Dave MacDonald, New Gloucester, 40
19. (17) #40 Rick Valentine, Greene, 40
20. (12) #18 Carey Martin, Denmark, 40
21. (1) #15 Ben Ashline, Pittston, 40
22. (23) #07 Scott Luce, Strong, 30
23. (9) #85 Travis
Stearns, Gray, 27
24. (16) #63 Don Wentworth, Otisfield, 22
DNS #50 Jeff White, Winthrop
Lap leaders: MacDonald 1-15, Emerson 16-17, MacDonald 18-24,
Adams 25-40.
Cautions: 3 (laps 4, 4, 30)
Time of race: 22 minutes, 38.390 seconds
Margin of victory: 1.120 seconds
Fast lap: Dave MacDonald, 16.318 seconds (82.731 mph)
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY
STRICTLY STOCK (30 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (12) #0 Sumner Sessions, Norway, 30
2. (9) #24 Larry
Emerson, Durham, 30
3. (1) #81 B.J. Chapman, Bridgton, 30
4. (16) #63 Matt Williams, Brownfield, 30
5. (17) #57 Glen Henderson, Sabattus, 30
6. (24) #14 Dave Brannon, Topsham, 30
7. (14) #12 Skip Tripp, Sabattus, 30
8. (5) #07 Rick Thompson, Naples, 30
9. (15) #23 Zach Emerson,
Sabattus, 30
10. (8) #42 Kim Tripp, Oxford, 30
11. (11) #56 Mike Short, Auburn, 30
12. (7) #13 Chris
Burgess, Lewiston, 30
13. (23) #36 Ron Charpentier Jr., Wales, 30
14. (13) #71 Scott Belskis,
Dixfield, 30
15. (19) #777 Mike St. Germain, Auburn, 30
16. (2) #21 Nick Coates, Turner, 30
17. (21) #4 Michael Roe, West Paris, 28
18. (22) #43 Bob DiPompo, Jay, 28
19. (3) #18 Reggie Houghton, Carthage, 28
20. (4) #82 Ben Krauter, Raymond, 27
21. (6) #91 Danny Smart, Buxton, 25
22. (20) #8 Shawn Thompson, Wilton, 18
23. (25) #64 David Vaughn, Naples, 10
24. (18) #P38 Mark Bowie, Poland, 8
DQ (10) #113 Tommy Tompkins, Dixfield
Lap leaders: Chapman 1-26, Sessions 27-30.
Cautions: 2 (laps 19, 19)
Time of race: 20 minutes, 17.127 seconds
Margin of victory: 1.130 seconds
Fast lap: Glen Henderson, 18.610 seconds
HEAT WINNERS
LATE MODEL #1
1. Ben Ashline
2. Dave MacDonald
3. Scott King
4. Zach Emerson
5. Jon Brill
6. T.J. Watson
7. Neil Martin
8. Dale Verrill
9. Rick Valentine
10. Tommy Ricker
DQ Scott Luce
DQ Corey Morgan
LATE MODEL #2
1. Travis Stearns
2. Tim Brackett
3. Ricky Rolfe
4. Carey Martin
5. Travis Adams
6. Glen Luce
7. Shawn Martin
8. Mike Rowe
9. Billy Childs Jr.
10. Brad Hammond
11. Ricky Morse
12. Don Wentworth
STRICTLY STOCK #1
1. B.J. Chapman
2. Nick Coates
3. Reggie Houghton
4. Ben Krauter
5. Mike St. Germain
6. Rick Thompson
7. Shawn Thompson
8. Michael Roe
9. Bob DiPompo
10. Ron Charpentier Jr.
11. Danny Smart
12. Chris Burgess
DQ David Vaughn
STRICTLY STOCK #2
1. Kim Tripp
2. Larry Emerson
3. Mike Short
4. Sumner Sessions
5. Scott Belskis
6. Skip Tripp
7. Zach Emerson
8. Matt Williams
9. Glen Henderson
10. Mark Bowie
11. Dave Brannon
DQ Tommy Tompkins
MINI STOCK #1
1. Bill Thibeault
2. Darick Barker
3. Kevin Bishop
4. Greg Watkins
5. Dale Brackett
6. Greg Durgin
7. John Cary
8. Dale Durgin
9. Bob Guptill
MINI STOCK #2
1. Jimmy Childs
2. Ashley Marshall
3. Don Frechette
4. Shane Kaherl
5. Justin Karkos
6. Bill Irving
7. Adam Polvinen
8. Wayne Parkin
9. Don Mooney
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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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