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NEWS
July 21, 2007
Alexander denies Hinckley's
back-to-front bid in thrilling True Value Modified debut
OXFORD, Maine - Les Hinckley provided much of the entertainment
value in Saturday night's Maine-Ly Action Sports 100 at Oxford
Plains Speedway, but Kirk Alexander was the lead actor who stole the
show.
Alexander made a bold move around
Hinckley with six laps remaining in the inaugural True Value
Modified Series event at OPS and sped away to his third tour win of
the season in the middle segment of TD Banknorth 250 Weekend
Presented By New England Dodge Dealers.
Prior to Alexander's winning
maneuver, Hinckley made a brilliant charge from worst to first in
the 24-car field. Hinckley was handicapped to the rear of the grid
due to his victory in the series' most recent stop at Lee USA
Speedway. He held off Alexander in a similarly spirited scrap that
evening.
"I think my car was just a
little bit better than his in the center of the corner,"
Alexander said. "It was good racing on a great track. It all
sort of came back to me."
This wasn't Alexander's first
encounter with the historic OPS oval. He qualified for the TD
Banknorth 250 in 1996, finishing 22nd.
With the exception of Louie
Mechalides, most of Alexander's pursuers enjoyed little previous
Oxford experience.
Dwight and Peter Jarvis finished
third and fourth, respectively. The brother tandem fought off
Mechalides in a pair of brilliant side-by-side battles over the
final 15 laps.
Chris Pasteryak, the next wave in a
prominent modified racing family, also snuck past Mechalides in the
waning moments to secure fifth.
Five caution flags briefly slowed the
event, the last pair coming in two separate incidents on lap 84.
Alexander appeared poised to overtake Hinckley prior to the yellows,
and he stayed in the leader's tire tracks until opportunity knocked
on the 94th circuit.
Hinckley boldly used both the inside
and outside lanes to pick his way to the front. He moved into the
top five in under 30 laps, then out-dueled Mechalides and Peter
Jarvis before swiping the top spot from Dwight Jarvis on lap 78.
Dwight Jarvis roared past pole-sitter
Jimmy Dolan on lap 3 and set a blistering early pace, dominating
much of the night.
Of the two supporting features, the Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy
Strictly Stock division waged a three-car battle in heavy lapped
traffic that rivaled the closeness of competition in the main event
for the "ground pounders."
Glen Henderson led from wire-to-wire,
but that statistic does no justice to how hard he fought the wheel
to ward off Skip Tripp and Tommy Tompkins.
The three leaders each chose a
separate lane out of the final corner with double-wide roadblocks
ahead. Henderson hit the stripe first by 0.141 of a second.
Tompkins' margin over Tripp for second was merely a fender.
"It was an easy race and a hard
race all at once," Henderson said. "When you see the
slower cars running side-by-side in front of you, what can you do?
Especially when you see this kind of competition closing in on
you."
With three runner-up finishes already to his credit this season,
Tripp was frustrated by his lack of an opportunity to take a clean
shot at the leader.
"I guess Glen had a hard time
finding a groove," said Tripp. "It's too bad. We were
fast."
The top three left fourth-place Sumner Sessions a straightaway
behind at the finish. Danny Smart and Mike Short rubbed door panels
for most of the race before Short won the battle for fifth.
A season-high 34 Strictly Stocks
signed in at the pit gate, forcing two loaded heats and a
consolation race to set the 30-car starting grid.
For a guy who's won five Allen's Mini
Stock features, Jimmy Childs looked the part Saturday night of
someone who's been starved for a victory. His typically dominant car
failed to make it to the finish in his last two starts, temporarily
costing Childs the point lead.
Things turned around dramatically on
the big weekend. While rival Adam Polvinen ran into trouble and
finished five laps down after a collision left him with a flat tire,
Childs motored past Dave Mooney midway through the 30-lap main event
and cruised to another triumph.
"It feels like it's been a long
time," said Childs. "I couldn't even relax when I saw the
white flag, because that's when things went bad last time."
Mooney bettered last week's
third-place run and moved up another rung on the ladder to second.
His last win came in 2003.
Don Mooney threatened to join his
brother on the podium for the second week in a row but fell a car
length shy of rookie Bob Guptill. Ashley Marshall ran fifth.
The crown jewel of New England and Canadian late model racing, the
34th annual TD Banknorth 250, gets the green flag with qualifying
Sunday at 2 p.m.
TRUE VALUE MODIFIED MAINE-LY ACTION SPORTS 100 (100 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (15) #43 Kirk Alexander, West Swanzey, N.H., 100
2. (24) #06 Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, Conn., 100
3. (2) #28 Dwight Jarvis, Ascutney, Vt., 100
4. (11) #9 Peter Jarvis, Ascutney, Vt., 100
5. (6) #15 Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., 100
6. (13) #40 Louie Mechalides, North Tyngsboro, Mass., 100}
7. (19) #6 Rob Goodenough, Swanzey, N.H., 100
8. (17) #38 Billy Goodrow, Pembroke, Mass., 100
9. (7) #72 Jimmy Kuhn, Jr., Bridgewater, Mass., 100
10. (9) #70 Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., 100
11. (20) #12 Vinnie Annarummo, Swansea, Mass., 100
12. (8) #01 Todd Patnode, Swanzey, N.H., 100
13. (12) #35 Dale Evonsion, East Hartland, Conn., 100
14. (16) #23 Mike Douglas, Jr., Auburn, N.H., 100
15. (22) #73 Jonathan McKennedy, Chelmsford, Mass., 100
16. (3) #5 Brian Shumway, Belchertown, Mass., 99
17. (14) #1 Sean Boudreau, Claremont, N.H., 99
18. (10) #32 Tom Abele Jr., Norwich, Mass., 98
19. (23) #0 Mike Holdridge, Madison, Conn., 98
20. (1) #69 Jimmy Dolan, Bethel, Conn., 80
21. (21) #31 Tom Cravenho, Raynham, Mass., 80
22. (5) #4 Tony Ricci, Westbrook, 75
23. (18) #61 David Pinkham, Buxton, 41
24. (4) #48 Ed Dachenhausen, Danbury, Conn., 37
Lap leaders: Dolan 1-3, D. Jarvis 4-76, Hinckley 77-93,
Alexander 94-100.
Cautions: 5 (laps 35, 37, 75, 84, 84)
Time of race: 45 minutes, 44 seconds
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY STRICTLY STOCK (30 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (1) #57 Glen Henderson, Sabattus, 30
2. (12) #113 Tommy Tompkins, Dixfield, 30
3. (11) #12 Skip Tripp, Sabattus, 30
4. (13) #0 Sumner Sessions, Norway, 30
5. (16) #56 Mike Short, Auburn, 30
6. (9) #91 Danny Smart, Buxton, 30
7. (15) #63 David Vaughn, Naples, 30
8. (21) #27 Kenny Harrison, Pownal, 30
9. (25) #42 Kim Tripp, Oxford, 30
10. (18) #24 Larry Emerson, Durham, 30
11. (27) #61 Roy Weymouth, Winthrop, 30
12. (24) #P38 Mark Bowie, Poland, 30
13. (15) #63 Matt Williams, Brownfield, 30
14. (2) #13 Chris Burgess, Lewiston, 30
15. (3) #54 Bob Crocker, Freeport, 30
16. (26) #07 Rick Thompson, Naples, 29
17. (14) #81 B.J. Chapman, Bridgton, 29
18. (23) #17 Luke Rickards, Anson, 29
19. (4) #777 Mike St. Germain, Auburn, 29
20. (19) #23 Zach Emerson, Sabattus, 29
21. (22) #97 Perry Tucker, Sumner, 29
22. (30) #29 Chris Mosher, Litchfield, 29
23. (5) #18 Reggie Houghton, Carthage, 29
24. (28) #36 Ron Charpentier Jr., Wales, 28
25. (7) #21 Nick Coates, Turner, 18
26. (8) #82 Ben Krauter, Raymond, 15
27. (6) #43 Bob DiPompo, Jay, 3
28. (10) #14 Dave Brannon, Topsham, 1
29. (17) #71 Scott Belskis, Dixfield, 0
30. (22) #97 Jeff Moon, Gray, 0
DNQ #53 Dick Damon, Livermore
DNQ #11 Todd Hall, Auburn
DNQ #12x Derek Mingo, Lamoine
DNS #8 Shawn Thompson, Wilton
Lap leaders: Henderson 1-30.
Cautions: 1 (lap 1)
Time of race: 18 minutes, 56.333 seconds
Margin of victory: 0.141 seconds
Fast lap: Skip Tripp, 18.495 seconds
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY MINI STOCK (30 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (10) #10 Jimmy Childs, Leeds, 30
2. (2) #65 David Mooney, Wales, 30
3. (5) #9 Bob Guptill, Mechanic Falls, 30
4. (11) #80 Don Mooney, New Gloucester, 30
5. (14) #77 Ashley Marshall, Jay, 30
6. (15) #74 Bill Irving, New Gloucester, 30
7. (12) #16 Don Frechette, Turner, 30
8. (6) #29 Greg Watkins, Bridgton, 30
9. (7) #08 Kevin Bishop, South Paris, 30
10. (9) #19 Shane Kaherl, Jay, 29
11. (8) #35 Dale Brackett, Oxford, 29
12. (20) #90 Dale Durgin, Norway, 29
13. (16) #48 Rob Baitler, Wales, 29
14. (4) #21 Rick Giguere, Auburn, 28
15. (18) #12 Bill Childs Sr., Leeds, 26
16. (13) #73 Adam Polvinen, Oxford, 25
17. (19) #25 Wayne Parkin, Wales, 21
18. (3) #8 Bill Thibeault, Oxford, 13
19. (1) #55 Darick Barker, Jay, 10
20. (17) #7 Joe Treadwell, Auburn, 6
DNS #07 Al Roberti, South Paris
Lap leaders: Dave Mooney 1-15, J. Childs 16-30.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 9 minutes, 19.544 seconds
Margin of victory: 3.199 seconds
Fast lap: Jimmy Childs, 18.493 seconds
HEAT RESULTS
STRICTLY #1
1. Glen Henderson
2. Chris Burgess
3. Kenny Harrison
4. Jeff Moon
5. Bob Crocker
6. Mike St. Germain
7. Reggie Houghton
8. Bob DiPompo
9. Nick Coates
10. Ben Krauter
11. Danny Smart
12. Luke Rickards
13. Dick Damon
14. Chris Mosher
15. Perry Tucker
16. Rick Thompson
17. Kim Tripp
STRICTLY #2
1. Dave Brannon
2. Skip Tripp
3. Tommy Tompkins
4. Sumner Sessions
5. B.J. Chapman
6. Matt Williams
7. Mike Short
8. Scott Belskis
9. Mark Bowie
10. Larry Emerson
11. Zach Emerson
12. David Vaughn
13. Roy Weymouth
14. Ron Charpentier Jr.
15. Derek Mingo
16. Todd Hall
STRICTLY CONSI
1. Roy Weymouth
2. Skip Tripp
3. Rick Thompson
4. Ron Charpentier Jr.
5. Perry Tucker
6. Chris Mosher
7. Dick Damon
8. Todd Hall
9. Derek Mingo
MINI #1
1. Darick Barker
2. David Mooney
3. Bill Thibeault
4. Rick Giguere
5. Bob Guptill
6. Greg Watkins
7. Kevin Bishop
8. Dale Brackett
9. Rob Baitler
10. Dale Durgin
MINI #2
1. Shane Kaherl
2. Jimmy Childs
3. Don Mooney
4. Don Frechette
5. Adam Polvinen
6. Ashley Marshall
7. Bill Irving
8. Joe Treadwell
9. Bill Childs Sr.
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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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