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NEWS
September 1, 2007
Adams, Tompkins, Childs en-titled
OXFORD, Maine - Travis Adams, Tommy Tompkins and Jimmy Childs each
earned an Oxford Plains Speedway division championship with its own
unique historical impact Saturday night.
Adams successfully defended his
Oxford Networks Late Model title, becoming the first three-time
champion in the class and winning the inaugural crown in the Late
Models' reign as the top division at OPS.
Tompkins edged Sumner Sessions in a
tight battle for the Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy Strictly Stock
championship, his first in a career at Oxford spanning two decades.
He joins his late father, Joey "The Jet" Tompkins, as the
tenth father-child combination to become OPS champions.
And Childs clinched his second
straight Allen's Mini championship, becoming the first driver since
Harold Beisaw in 1976 to win back-to-back titles in a four-cylinder
Saturday night racing division at Oxford.
All three drivers were forced to
weather a double-feature format on Grover Gundrilling Championship
Night, prompted by thunderstorms that wiped out last Saturday's
feature slate.
Ricky Rolfe did his part to make
Adams earn the Late Model laurels, winning the 40-lap held-over
feature and running second to Carey Martin in the nightcap.
"Travis is the true champion
this year," said Rolfe, himself a two-time class champion at
OPS. "He had the best year of any driver in any division down
here."
Adams, a six-time feature winner, ran
fourth in the first race and third in the encore to protect his
lead.
"Last year Dennis Spencer gave
us a great run for the championship and forced us to run in the top
five all season long," Adams said. "Ricky made us need
top-threes. I can't imagine what it will be like next year. Maybe
we'll need top-twos or have to win every week, I don't know."
Rookie Mark Childs Sr. placed a
career-best second in the opening race, with 2004 champion Shawn
Martin third. Rolfe took the lead from Childs on a lap 35 restart.
Shane Green and Brad Hammond
completed the top five in the second round.
Tompkins continued his incredible run
of top-fives, snagging second and fourth in the two Strictly Stock
events to ward off Sessions. The friendly rivals entered the night
separated by a mere two points, or the equivalent of one position in
a feature race.
Sessions owned the tie-breaker, if
one were needed, by virtue of his four feature wins.
"Sumner is just the greatest guy
to race with," Tompkins said. "If not for him having the
four wins, I honestly wouldn't mind standing here sharing the crown
with him."
In the other major story line of the
Strictly Stock season, Rick Thompson ended Skip Tripp's four-race
winning streak in the first race before Tripp bounced back to make
it 5-for-6 in the finale.
Matt Williams edged Tripp for third
in the first race.
"The car got all bent up in that
race, so I can't believe it's even here," Tripp said in victory
lane. "We really wanted to finish up by winning the last six
races. It's been an incredible year."
Tripp found his way past early
dominator Mike Short and Matt Williams in traffic on lap 20. Short
rallied to finish second, while Williams narrowly avoided a spin
into the front stretch wall before repeating his third-place run.
Childs already wrapped up his title
defense by starting last week's race and running eight laps before
the rain arrived. He went out in style, though, surging to his sixth
win of the summer in that make-up event.
Later, Childs settled for third
behind fellow two-time Mini Stock champion Don Mooney, who won for
the fourth time this season.
"I'm proud to be the champion
again," Childs said. "This is my last year in this
division, so I hope everybody enjoyed it. It's been a lot of
fun."
Childs geared up for next year's
Rookie of the Year effort in Late Model by running the final three
races of the campaign in the top class.
Bill Thibeault held off Mooney for
second in the opening encounter.
Mooney led all 30 laps of the second
segment. Top rookie Bill Irving edged Childs at the line for
runner-up honors.
OPS has two open competition events
remaining in the 2007 season. Next Saturday, September 8, it's
the Summer Showdown for the Acceleration Series, beginning at 5 p.m.
And the New England Dodge Dealers ACT 150 and Little Guy 100s share
the spotlight on Saturday, October 6.
OXFORD NETWORKS LATE MODEL #1 (40
laps): 1. Ricky Rolfe, Albany Township; 2. Mark Childs Sr.,
Mechanic Falls; 3. Shawn Martin, Turner; 4. Travis Adams, Canton; 5.
Dave MacDonald, New Gloucester; 6. Jon Brill, Bridgton; 7. Carey
Martin, Denmark; 8. Dale Verrill, Paris; 9. Leon Heckbert, Wilton;
10. Scott Luce, Strong; 11. Tommy Ricker, Poland; 12. Don Wentworth,
Otisfield; 13. B.J. Chapman, Bridgton; 14. Neil Martin, Freeport;
15. Zach Emerson, Sabattus; 16. Gary Chiasson, Peru; 17. Travis
Stearns, Gray; 18. Earl Tripp, Standish; 19. Corey Morgan, Lewiston;
20. Glen Luce, Turner; 21. Doug Coombs, Livermore; 22. Skip Hodgdon,
Minot; 23. Jimmy Childs, Leeds; 24. Shane Green, South Paris; 25.
Gerald Parlin, South Paris.
OXFORD NETWORKS LATE MODEL #2 (40
laps): 1. Carey Martin, Denmark; 2. Ricky Rolfe, Albany
Township; 3. Travis Adams, Canton; 4. Shane Green, South Paris; 5.
Brad Hammond, Sabattus; 6. Leon Heckbert, Wilton; 7. Jon Brill,
Bridgton; 8. Travis Stearns, Gray; 9. Don Wentworth, Bridgton; 10.
Tommy Ricker, Poland; 11. Shawn Martin, Turner; 12. Dave MacDonald,
New Gloucester; 13. Dale Verrill, Paris; 14. Gary Chiasson, Peru;
15. Jimmy Childs, Leeds; 16. Zach Emerson, Sabattus; 17. Mark Childs
Sr., Mechanic Falls; 18. Glen Luce, Turner; 19. Doug Coombs,
Livermore; 20. B.J. Chapman, Bridgton; 21. Skip Hodgdon, Minot; 22.
Earl Tripp, Standish; 23. Scott Luce, Strong; 24. Neil Martin,
Freeport.
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY
STRICTLY STOCK #1 (30 laps): 1. Rick Thompson, Naples; 2. Tommy
Tompkins, Dixfield; 3. Matt Williams, Brownfield; 4. Skip Tripp,
Sabattus; 5. Sumner Sessions, Norway; 6. Glen Henderson, Sabattus;
7. Bob Hayslip, Lisbon; 8. Zach Emerson, Durham; 9. Larry Emerson,
Durham; 10. Reggie Houghton, Carthage; 11. Chris Burgess, Lewiston;
12. Danny Smart, Buxton; 13. Ben Krauter, Raymond; 14. Kim Tripp,
Oxford; 15. Mike Short, Auburn; 16. Matt Moore, Harrison.
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY STRICTLY STOCK #2 (30 laps):
1. Skip Tripp, Sabattus; 2. Mike Short, Auburn; 3. Matt Williams,
Brownfield; 4. Tommy Tompkins, Dixfield; 5. Rick Thompson, Naples;
6. Sumner Sessions, Norway; 7. Danny Smart, Buxton; 8. Glen
Henderson, Sabattus; 9. Larry Emerson, Duirham; 10. Chris Burgess,
Lewiston; 11. Bob Hayslip, Lisbon; 12. Zach Emerson, Sabattus; 13.
Ben Krauter, Raymond; 14. Reggie Houghton, Carthage; 15. Matt Moore,
Harrison; 16. Dick Damon, Livermore; 17. Luke Rickards, Anson; 18.
Josh Cash, Bridgton; 19. Phil Mitchell III, Buckfield; 20. Billy
Childs Jr., Leeds.
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY
MINI STOCK #1 (30 laps): 1. Jimmy Childs, Leeds; 2. Bill
Thibeault, Oxford; 3. Don Mooney, New Gloucester; 4. Shane Kaherl,
Jay; 5. Kevin Bishop, South Paris; 6. Ashley Marshall, Jay; 7. Bill
Irving, New Gloucester; 8. Dale Brackett, Oxford; 9. Bob Guptill,
Mechanic Falls; 10. Dale Durgin, Norway; 11. Greg Watkins, Bridgton;
12. Dave Mooney, Wales; 13. Al Roberti, South Paris; 14. Bob Mooney,
Lewiston; 15. Randy Kimball, Mechanic Falls; 16. Wayne Warren,
Waterford; 17. Darick Barker, Jay.
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY
MINI STOCK #2 (30 laps): 1. Don Mooney, New Gloucester; 2. Bill
Irving, New Gloucester; 3. Jimmy Childs, Leeds; 4. Bill Thibeault,
Oxford; 5. Kevin Bishop, South Paris; 6. Ashley Marshall, Jay; 7.
Randy Kimbell, Mechanic Falls; 8. Rick Giguere, Auburn; 9. Dale
Brackett, Oxford; 10. Jeff Prindall, Lisbon; 11. Darick Barker, Jay;
12. Shane Kaherl, Jay; 13. Greg Watkins, Bridgton; 14. Dale Durgin,
Norway; 15. Dave Mooney, Wales; 16. Bob Guptill, Mechanic Falls.
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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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