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NEWS
July 14, 2007
Sessions, Mooney win thrillers;
Adams extends win streak to 3 in last 250 tuneup
OXFORD, Maine - Hard to imagine the hottest late model driver in New
England extending his winning streak to three heading into the
biggest race of the year and getting upstaged.
TD Banknorth 250 contender Travis
Adams had plenty of competition from Sumner Sessions and Don Mooney,
though, for the spotlight and the headlines in one of the wildest
Saturday nights imaginable at Oxford Plains Speedway.
Adams continued his recent custom of
roaring up the outside and leaving the competition looking at a blur
through their windshields. The reigning Oxford Networks Late Model
champion won his third straight 40-lap feature and fifth of the
season in 10 tries, matching his full-season win total of 2006.
It's a phenomenal achievement headed
into what is essentially the all-star break for New England late
models, but for sheer excitement, Adams' win over Don Wentworth and
Brad Hammond wasn't even close to the top rung on Hilltop Pools
& Spas Night.
That distinction goes to Sumner
Sessions, who somehow reeled in Skip Tripp, Glen Henderson and Tommy
Tompkins in traffic, then scooted to Tompkins' low side in the final
turn to steal away the Hilltop 100 for Allen's Coffee Flavored
Brandy Strictly Stocks.
A 30-lap Allen's Mini Stock main
event didn't lack for thrills and raw emotion, with Don Mooney
outlasting Jimmy Childs in a heated clash of champions.
David Childs became the first 2007
champion at OPS, clinching the four-race Agren Appliance Grand Slam
for the Chimney Tech Outlaw division with a fourth-place finish in
the second of twin 20-lap features.
His uncle, Guy, logged a runaway win
in the Outlaw 'B' feature, his second of the season. The ‘A’
main went to Tom Averill, his first feature triumph in three
years.
In a 15-lap exhibition for the Wicked
Good Vintage Racing Association - a hodgepodge of restored coupes
and modifieds from the 1950s and '60s - John Rice outran OPS legend
Russ Nutting and Haggie Pratt.
Travis is triple trouble for Late
Models
Adams extended one of the most
impressive hot streaks in the history of the Oxford Networks Late
Model division.
While 1996 division champion Scott
Luce picked up the pace of his recent comeback by dominating the
early stages, Adams charged from his 15th starting position to
eighth on Lap 8.
By then, the double-wide traffic that
briefly hampered Adams’ progress was out of the way. With the top
seven stacked up like dominoes, his charge to the front was merely a
matter of time.
On the 16th circuit, Adams achieved
his recent ritual -- a stunning three-deep pass for position -- by
blazing a trail around Jon Brill and Don Wentworth. Dave MacDonald
fell into Adams’ clutch the next time around, and two laps later
Adams won the drag race out of turn four and put his fender in front
of Luce at the line.
Adams’ lead quickly accelerated to
a full straightaway. So the race was over, right?
Not quite. Two caution flags caused
more problems for Adams than anyone anticipated. Mechanical problems
left T.J. Watson’s disabled car sitting over the top of turn two
on lap 29, and Dale Verrill and Carey Martin piled up in that same
corner to bring out yellow on lap 30.
Luce actually found more power on the
restart and pulled in front by nearly a full car length with nine
laps remaining. Adams fought his way back to the inside on the next
pass, however. Having staved off the possible upset, he made a hasty
getaway from a closely matched pack of pursuers.
“It’s a really nice piece,”
Adams said of his Dacata Repair/River Valley Grill #03. “Jeff
Taylor isn’t racing with us anymore, and I really wish he was so
we could put our machine up against his. Jeff put his green machine
in victory lane a lot of times. I’m glad I’m carrying the torch
for the green machines here. They say green is bad luck, but I say
bring on the bad luck, because this car is very, very fast.”
Don Wentworth clearly had the
second-best car on long runs early in the race. That trend held true
in his finishing kick, too.
Wentworth muscled past Luce for
second on lap 34 and comfortably settled into the runner-up spot in
the K&K Excavation/E.A. Smith Plumbing and Heating #63.
“It wasn’t much of a battle.
I’ve still got a little work to do. Hopefully we can bring
something for the old boy before long,” Wentworth said. “We’ve
been struggling with electrical problems. I couldn’t find it, so
we started with the battery and changed everything clear through
including the distributor. It had to be one of those
things.“
The spotlight ended up shining on a
wild, third-place battle.
Ricky Rolfe set out to the rim of the
track in an attempt to duplicate Adams’ earlier move. Luce drifted
up slightly in an attempt to protect the final trophy position, and
Brad Hammond took advantage by staying glued to the bottom.
“That was a good show. It looked
good in my mirror seeing Rocket Man Rolfe out there three-wide,”
Wentworth said.
Hammond hit the wire first in the
Ron‘s Transmission/Central Maine Plumbing and Heating #36, with
Rolfe fourth and Luce fifth, all separated by less than a car
length.
“Our car’s been good on a long
runs. We were a top three car,” said Hammond. “It was just some
good breaks at the end and running clean.”
Somehow, it’s Sumner
How Sessions won the Strictly
nightcap is anyone’s guess.
For the second time in three 100-lap
events this season, the Strictly gang went wire-to-wire without a
caution flag. Sessions didn’t move into the top 10 until after lap
30, or when the checkered flag normally flies in a weekly
race.
The next five spots came a bit more
easily, as “The Big O” turned on the jets in the outside lane.
Sessions couldn’t get around Skip Tripp, though, and it wasn’t
until early dominator Dave Brannon faded backward with about 10 laps
remaining that Sessions was able to move into fourth. And Sessions
drifted alarmingly high in the fourth turn several times as he tried
to overtake Tripp, which seemed to signal a handling problem.
“If it hadn’t been for lapped
cars, I don’t know,” Sessions said. “I couldn ’t get around
Skippy there on the outside. I tried and tried and tried. I made the
lapped stuff work there.”
Then came a finish with so more
twists and turns than a who-dunnit novel. Tripp and Sessions used
lapped traffic to their advantage, catching leader Tommy Tompkins
and runner-up Glen Henderson.
With four laps to go, Tripp found a
line underneath Henderson for second. When he reached the
backstretch, Tripp saw daylight under Tompkins and made an overture
for the lead.
Tompkins staved off the challenge in
the Dave‘s Janitorial/Hanson’s Automotive #113, and with Tripp
suddenly losing momentum, Sessions snuck into second with two to go.
With the white flag in the air, Tompkins couldn’t negotiate his
way around Larry Emerson’s tail-end-of-the-lead-lap car without a
fight. Sessions boldly dove low and pulled even with Tompkins in
turn three.
“I really think he had eight
cylinders on that last lap,” Tompkins said of Sessions, who runs
with six under the hood of the Johnson’s Radiator Shop/Maine-Ly
Action Sports #0.
He maintained the preferred line out
of the final corner and pulled off the victory by 0.011 of a
second.
Sessions’ heroics continued
Tompkins’ notoriously rough luck in the Agren Appliance Grand Slam
events the last two seasons.
“You can’t ask for any better
than that. That’s what the fans come here to see, and I’ll take
second any day of the week to a guy like Sumner who drives clean,”
said Tompkins. “It came up to one to go and Larry (Emerson) was
running me pretty hard, I thought. I guess if the show was on the
other foot, we’ d run him that hard, too. Lap-down cars really
didn’t cooperate tonight, but you can’t always expect them to. I
thought Glen had the fastest car tonight. I was in his way a
lot.”
The win was Sessions' second straight
and fourth overall, extending his point lead over Tompkins.
Henderson wound up third in the R.P.M.
Racing Engines/Oceanside #57, with Tripp fourth and Brannon
fifth.
“I wish I could have made it a
little more exciting than that by making it three-wide for the
lead,” Henderson said, “but these guys have too much experience
for that. I’m dead tired.”
After Henderson led the opening lap
by a nose, Brannon settled in and set the pace until lap 81.
Brannon’s cushion was a full straightaway for most of that
run.
“Once we go out on that
racetrack,” Sessions said, “we aren’t planning on stopping for
nothing.”
Childs’ challenge ends a lap early;
Mini is Mooney's
The 30-lap Mini Stock feature
actually took longer than the 100-lap Strictly marathon thanks to
two lengthy, early cautions. It didn’t do much to cool
tempers.
Two-time division champion Don Mooney
and defending champ Jimmy Childs bumped several times on the race
track, including exchange under caution, before settling in for a
classic, five-lap sprint to the finish.
Shane Kaherl led the race on two
separate occasions, and he actually held the advantage when
suspected fluid from Bob Guptill’s machine brought out the third
and final caution on lap 24.
Kaherl abruptly pitted during the
short break, though, handing Mooney the lead in only his second
start of the season. Childs moved up to second and held back
slightly on the ensuing restart, a move that cost him when the green
flag appeared. Mooney held his line while Childs tried in vain to
make the winning pass on the outside.
The final misfortune for Childs
struck when his ride lost power as he crossed the stripe to take the
white flag, sidelining him before the conclusion for the second
straight week.
Mooney moved on to his 16th career
victory.
“Me and Jimmy had a little run-in,
but I didn’t come up to get pushed around,” Mooney said.
“It’s just racing. It isn’t handling too good, but I think if
we can keep it cool we’ve got something for them.”
Adam Polvinen took over the division
point lead by running second, closely followed by a second Mooney
brother, David, in his best run of the season by far.
“It just goes to show that the
fastest car doesn’t always win,” Polvinen said in an apparent
reference to his championship rival Childs. “A lot of people are
coming out here and cheering me on. It’s nice.”
“We made a few changes to get it
right, and now hopefully we can have fun and be somewhat
competitive,” Dave Mooney said.
Wal-Mart Rookie of the Year point
leader Bill Irving was fourth, with Kevin Bishop a season-best fifth
after leading the first five laps.
Fourth equals first as Childs hits
Grand Slam
Three nights after picking up his
first-ever Chimney Tech Outlaw feature victory, longtime
four-cylinder standout David Childs collected the initial
championship of his career.
Consistency paid dividends for
Childs, who parlayed a second-place run and three fourth-place
finishes into the Agren Grand Slam crown.
“It was tight racing there,”
Childs said. “I want to dedicate this championship to my
father.”
Childs is one of four different
members of his family to win a feature at OPS since his dad, veteran
racer Perley, died July 4.
Tom Averill’s second career victory
was the other highlight of the 20-lap ‘A ’ feature. He steered
the Bailey Inn/Ralph’s Store #3 to the front and took command from
Randy Robitaille on lap 7.
“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs
this year, and obviously this is one of the ups,” said
Averill.
Keith Landry and Steve Moon led
Childs under the wire, backed by Thom Bell.
Guy Childs went from third to first
in the opening half-lap and cruised to his 28th career victory in a
caution-free ’B’ feature.
“Every race I win from here on out
is for my brother,” he said.
John Patria, one of the prime
contenders for the full-season Acceleration Series title, turned
around his summer-long Saturday night misfortunes and snagged
second.
Two post-race disqualifications
shuffled the remainder of the top five, with Mark McDonald, Dan
Brown and Jim Drake falling into line.
TD Banknorth 250 Speedweek Presented
By New England Dodge Dealers has arrived! It starts Wednesday at
6:30 p.m. and Friday at 6:30 p.m. with a pair of cards for the
Acceleration Series. The True Value Modified Racing Series makes its
first OPS appearance Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in the Maine-Ly Action
Sports 100, and the 34th annual summer classic gets the green flag
for qualifying Sunday at 2 p.m.
For ticket reservations and more
information, call 539-8865 or go to www.oxfordplains.com.
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY
STRICTLY STOCK (100 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (17) #0 Sumner Sessions, Norway, 100
2. (18) #113 Tommy
Tompkins, Dixfield, 100
3. (2) #57 Glen Henderson, Sabattus, 100
4. (14) #12 Skip Tripp, Sabattus, 100
5. (1) #14 Dave Brannon, Topsham, 100
6. (15) #63 Matt Williams, Brownfield, 100
7. (4) #07 Rick Thompson, Naples, 100
8. (13) #71 Scott Belskis, Dixfield, 100
9. (19) #24 Larry Emerson, Durham, 99
10. (3) #13 Chris Burgess, Lewiston, 99
11. (5) #91 Danny Smart, Buxton, 99
12. (16) #56 Mike Short, Auburn, 99
13. (11) #81 B.J. Chapman, Bridgton, 99
14. (20) #23 Zach Emerson, Sabattus, 99
15. (21) #54 Bob Crocker, Freeport, 98
16. (8) #777 Mike St. Germain, Auburn, 98
17. (7) #43 Bob DiPompo, Jay, 96
18. (10) #82 Ben Krauter, Raymond, 88
19. (12) #18 Reggie Houghton, Carthage, 83
20. (22) #27 Kenny Harrison, Pownal, 65
21. (6) #42 Kim Tripp, Oxford, 64
22. (9) #21 Nick Coates, Turner, 43
DNS #3 David Tripp, Oxford
Lap leaders: Henderson 1, Brannon 2-81, Tompkins 82-99,
Sessions 100.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 31 minutes, 48.603 seconds
Margin of victory: 0.011 seconds
Fast lap: Tommy Tompkins, 18.597 seconds (72.592 mph)
OXFORD NETWORKS LATE MODEL (40 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (15) #03 Travis Adams, Canton, 40
2. (9) #63 Don Wentworth, Otisfield, 40
3. (11) #36 Brad Hammond, Sabattus, 40
4. (14) #51 Ricky Rolfe, Albany Township, 40
5. (1) #07 Scott Luce, Strong, 40
6. (19) #7 Glen Luce, Turner, 40
7. (13) #29 Ricky Morse, St, Albans, 40
8. (22) #5 Leon Heckbert, Wilton, 40
9. (20) #20 Kurt Hewins, Leeds, 40
10. (7) #77 Jon Brill, Bridgton, 40
11. (3) #69 Dave MacDonald, New Gloucester, 40
12. (18) #2 Zach Emerson, Sabattus, 40
13. (10) #85 Travis Stearns, Gray, 40
14. (5) #6 Tommy Ricker, Poland, 40
15. (8) #40 Rick Valentine, Greene, 40
16. (16) #94 Shawn Martin, Turner, 40
17. (24) #44 Neil Martin, Freeport, 40
18. (17) #18 Carey Martin, Denmark, 40
19. (23) #70 Gary Chiasson, Peru, 39
20. (2) #50 Jeff White, Winthrop, 39
21. (4) #15 Ben Ashline, Pittston, 39
22. (21) #56 Dale Verrill, Paris, 29
23. (12) #04 T.J. Watson, Harpswell, 28
24. (6) #1 Billy Childs Jr., Leeds, 18
Lap leaders: S. Luce 1-18, Adams 19-30, S. Luce 31, Adams
32-40.
Cautions: 2 (laps 29, 30)
Time of race: 20 minutes, 9.774 seconds
Margin of victory: 1.155 seconds
Fast lap: Jon Brill, 16.433 seconds (82.152 mph)
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY
MINI STOCK (30 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (15) #80 Don Mooney, New Gloucester, 30
2. (11) #73 Adam Polvinen, Oxford, 30
3. (14) #65 Dave Mooney, Wales, 30
4. (5) #74 Bill Irving, New Gloucester, 30
5. (1) #08 Kevin Bishop, South Paris, 30
6. (4) #77 Ashley Marshall, Jay, 30
7. (10) #29 Greg Watkins, Bridgton, 30
8. (8) #35 Dale Brackett, Oxford, 30
9. (18) #21 Rick Giguere, Auburn, 30
10. (19) #6 Greg Durgin, Norway, 30
11. (12) #10 Jimmy Childs, Leeds, 29
12. (2) #19 Shane Kaherl, Jay, 24
13. (3) #9 Bob Guptill, Mechanic Falls, 24
14. (13) #8 Bill Thibeault, Oxford, 24
15. (6) #16 Don Frechette, Turner, 23
16. (16) #14 Jeff Prindall, Lisbon Falls, 10
17. (9) #90 Dale Durgin, Norway, 10
18. (7) #5 Darick Barker, Jay, 7
19. (17) #44 Jim Robbins, Dixfield, 6
20. (20) #07 Al Roberti, South Paris, 2
Lap leaders: Bishop 1-5, Kaherl 6-11, Guptill 12-19, Kaherl
20-24, Don Mooney 25-30.
Cautions: 3 (laps 7, 11, 24)
Time of race: 37 minutes, 17.905 seconds
Margin of victory: 1.030 seconds
Fast lap: Dave Mooney, 18.336 seconds (73.626 mph)
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW #1 (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (3) #00 Guy Childs, Turner, 20
2. (5) #34 John Patria, Turner, 20
3. (16) #61 Mark MacDonald, Center Conway, N.H., 20
4. (9) #83 Dan Brown, Carthage, 20
5. (1) #169 Jim Drake, Hebron, 20
6. (8) #10 Scott Ellis, Lewiston, 20
7. (11) #62 Leo Hatch-Auger, Norway, 20
8. (13) #71 Fred Clavet, Buckfield, 20
9. (15) #9 Ralph Felker, Poland, 20
10. (18) #69 Jay Wilkins, Gray, 20
11. (10) #8 Gerald Parlin, South Paris, 19
12. (20) #3x John Childs, Leeds, 19
13. (17) #50 Todd Foss, Raymond, 19
14. (12) #2 Kimberly Sessions, Oxford, 19
15. (6) #54 Jonathan Baldwin, Auburn, 18
16. (7) #30 Scott Veinott, Lewiston, 17
17. (2) #95 Justin Dennison, North Yarmouth, 2
18. (19) #169 Mike Girardin, Oxford, 1
DQ (4) #99 Jerry Goss, Mechanic Falls
DQ (14) #04 Zach Bowie, Lisbon Falls
DNS #112 Dennis Morang, South Paris
Lap leaders: G. Childs 1-20.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 6 minutes, 50 seconds
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW #2 (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (5) #3 Tom Averill, Peru, 20
2. (9) #90 Keith Landry, Oxford, 20
3. (10) #19 Steve Moon, Gray, 20
4. (18) #5 David Childs, Oxford, 20
5. (8) #18 Thom Bell, Minot, 20
6. (13) #68 Bubba Collins, Lewiston, 20
7. (20) #38 Addison Bowie, Auburn, 20
8. (16) #63 Bob Ferguson, New Gloucester, 20
9. (3) #35 John Spencer, Auburn, 20
10. (1) #51 Randy Robitaile, Norway, 20
11. (19) #33 Tyler
Belanger, Sumner, 20
12. (6) #57 Gerry Richard, Leeds, 20
13. (7) #6 Jim Archer,
Chesterville, 20
14. (11) #53 Steve Brill, Bridgton, 20
15. (17) #139 Jerry Freve, Buckfield, 20
16. (15) #97 Shannon Judd, Jay, 20
17. (4) #137 David Brown, Gray, 20
18. (14) #122 Mike Rainville,
Littleton, N.H., 20
19. (2) #60 Kevin Plummer, Oxford, 20
20. (12) #36 Richard Spaulding, Lewiston, 15
Lap leaders: Robitaille 1-6, Averill 7-20.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 6 minutes, 50 seconds
WICKED GOOD VINTAGE RACING
ASSOCIATION (15 laps)
1. John Rice
2. Russ Nutting
3. Haggie Pratt
4. Robert Hills
5. Bob Cercena
6. Alan Gassett
7. Mark Collins
8. Rosie Gerry
9. Keith Smalley
10. Ron Young
11. Barry Clukey
12. Victor MacArthur
Lap leaders: Rice 1-15.
HEAT RESULTS
LATE MODEL #1
1. Scott Luce
2. Jeff White
3. Dave MacDonald
4. Ben Ashline
5. Tommy Ricker
6. Billy Childs Jr.
7. Jon Brill
8. Rick Valentine
9. Kurt Hewins
10. Neil Martin
DQ Leon Heckbert
LATE MODEL #2
1. Don Wentworth
2. Travis Stearns
3. Brad Hammond
4. T.J. Watson
5. Ricky Morse
6. Ricky Rolfe
7. Travis Adams
8. Shawn Martin
9. Carey Martin
10. Zach Emerson
11. Glen Luce
DQ Dale Verrill
STRICTLY #1
1. Dave Brannon
2. Glen Henderson
3. Chris Burgess
4. Rick Thompson
5. Kim Tripp
6. Danny Smart
7. Bob DiPompo
8. Mike St. Germain
9. Nick Coates
10. Ben Krauter
11. B.J. Chapman
12. Reggie Houghton
STRICTLY #2
1. Scott Belskis
2. Skip Tripp
3. Matt Williams
4. Mike Short
5. Sumner Sessions
6. Tommy Tompkins
7. Larry Emerson
8. Zach Emerson
9. Bob Crocker
10. Kenny Harrison
MINI #1
1. Kevin Bishop
2. Shane Kaherl
3. Bob Guptill
4. Ashley Marshall
5. Bill Irving
6. Don Frechette
7. Darick Barker
8. Dale Brackett
9. Dale Durgin
10. Greg Watkins
MINI #2
1. Adam Polvinen
2. Jimmy Childs
3. Bill Thibeault
4. Dave Mooney
5. Don Mooney
6. Jeff Prindall
7. Jim Robbins
8. Rick Giguere
9. Greg Durgin
10. Al Roberti
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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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