Wiscasset2013logo     A crisp fall evening greeted a large crowd at Maine’s Wiscasset Speedway Saturday night for the final points races of the 2015 season. Group 2 was in action with the championship title still up for grabs in the Late Model Sportsman division plus racing in the Modified and Outlaw Mini classes. Also on the schedule was an appearance of the Napa Super Streets, which normally run with Group 1, with its championship still to be determined. The Flex race of the program was the 3rd and final Enduro of the season. The Enduro rolled out 51 cars to take the green flag. Chad Michaud took the victory by 2 laps over Michael Moody and Keith Rankin.
    The Modifieds rolled out for their 30 lap feature with Harpwell’s Mark Lucas having already secured the 2015 championship, thanks to his 10 wins in 11 races. The 11 car starting field as the largest for the mods this season. However a mishap in the front of the field on the initial green flag took a handful of cars out of contention including #15 Joe Williams, #33 Ron Bryant and #7 Nick Reno. With the race back underway #85 of Jairet Harrison took an early lead on lap 4 while Lucas picked his way up from the back of the field. Lucas reached the leader’s back bumper by lap 12 and would stay there for the next ten circuits. Harrison slipped up the track out of turn four and opened the lead up for Lucas. But just a lap later Lucas would be blackflagged for dumping water on the track. Harrison withstood one more restart challenge and drove to his first career win. He was chased across the line by Allen Moeller and Richard Jordan.

     The Outlaw Mini 25 lap feature was low on cautions but high on excitement. Former 2 time champ Shawn Kimball was strong in the early going, moving up from the back of the pack and taking the lead on lap 6. From there he took care of business on two restarts and drove his #20 car to his 3rd win of the 2015 season. Shane Kaherl of Jay was busy starting in the front of the pack and working to hold off challenges from several drivers. His hard work would be rewarded with his best finish of the season in 2nd. Rookie Cody Tribbet stayed out of trouble and capped off his championship season with a 3rd place finish.
    It was an uncharacteristically rough night for the Late Model Sportsman division. The class came into their 35 lap feature with three drivers gunning for the division championship. The #25 Will Collins of Waldoboro came into the last race with a 8 point cushion over closest challenger Shane Clark of Winterport and 20 points over defending champ #15 Nick Hinckley of Wiscasset. The race was a rough one with several cautions bunching up and thinning out the field. Each of the three championship contenders had their share of problems to deal with in the race, which only ratcheted up the tension. Clark was involved in a large wreck in turn 3 on the initial lap of the race. He suffered extensive front end damage and pitted several times to keep himself on the lead lap and in the fight. In the mean time, both Collins and Hinckley suffered damage to their cars in early cautions. At one point Collins nearly went a lap down after losing the rear spoiler and deck lid off his car. Hinckley pitted a couple times with front end damage. #20 Tracy Gordon and #04 TJ Watson battled it out early for the lead. Watson actually took the lead from Gordon twice only to have it negated by an untimely caution. In the meantime, #87 Chuck Colby continued his recent hot streak, quickly moving up from his 16th starting position into the top 5 by lap three. Just two laps later he would take the lead from Watson and hold it on each of five more restarts. He would pick up his class-high 3rd win of the season. However, as of the time of the press release, the victory is held up pending an engine inspection. Watson was the only driver to stay in the top three for the entire race, matching his season best with a second place finish. Former champ and driver of the year Chris Thorne filled out the top 3 despite being involved in the first caution of the race. Collins and crew worked themselves through their troubles and finished 7th, good enough to secure the 2015 Late Model Championship. Hinckley was never really int contention and settled for an 11th place finish. Clark faded late and finished 13th, but held on to the runner-up spot in the final standings.
    The Napa Super Streets had the final points race of the evening. It had been 3 weeks since their last race and drivers were anxious to get on the track. The championship was still mathematically up for grabs but #2 Josh Bailey of Wiscasset was able to claim the title simply by taking the green flag in the 25 lap feature. Like the other races on the program, the Super Streets race was also slowed by a handful of cautions. #13 Dave Dougherty held the early lead but struggled late. Defending champ Adam Chadbourne of Woolwich would finally nail down his first win of 2015, holding off #5 Mark Lucas for the victory. The race would finish under caution and checkers with Bailey beating out #02 Jason Curtis of Hollis for the final spot in victory lane.
    Wiscasset Speedway returns to action and concludes the season schedule Saturday October 3rd at 12noon with its annual Fall Fury program. The show will showcase features in all 8 weekly divisions (Prostock, Napa Super Streets, Thunder 4 Minis, N.E.4-cyl Pro, Late Model Sportsman, Modified, Strictly Streets, Outlaw Minis) plus an appearance of the Wicked Good Vintage Racers. Following the racing action will be a bbq pig roast. Race teams are encouraged to bring food dishes and desserts to help celebrate the season. Following dinner will be the presentation of the 2015 driver awards including officially crowning the 2015 division champions. Pit gates will open at 8am and the grandstand gate will open at 11am. Driver practice will go from 9am – 11:30am and the green flag flies at 12noon. For information, go to the Wiscasset Speedway website at www.wiscassetspeedway.com.
OFFICIAL FINISH 9/26/15
MODIFIED (30 LAPS)
1. #85 Jairet Harrison – Freeport
2. #04 Allan Moeller – Dresden
3. #8 Richard Jordan – Kingfield
4. #7 Nick Reno – West Bath
5. #1 Adam Chadbourne – Woolwich
6. #17 Tom Young – Freeport
7. #5 Mark Lucas – Harpswell
8. #14 Jon McCarron – Palmyra
9. #33 Ron Bryant – Livemore
10. #96 Todd Ladd – Farmington
11. #15 Joe Williams – Woolwich
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OUTLAW MINI (25 LAPS)
1. #20 Shawn Kimball – Augusta
2. #19 Shane Kaherl – Jay
3. #13 Cody Tribbet – Richmond
4. #81 Bryan Lancaster – Skowhegan
5. #5 Jimmy Childs – Leeds
6. #84 Mike Bolduc – Palermo
7. #61 Cole Robinson – Clinton
8. #26 Brent Roy – Vasselboro
9. #41 Shane Smith – Sidney
10. #83 Brady Romano – Livemore Falls
11. #2 Scott Trask – Richmond
12. #92 Mike Wilson – Chelsea
DQ #19x Zach Audet
DQ #18x Tim Collins
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LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN (35 LAPS)
note : unofficial finish pending engine inspection
1. #87 Chuck Colby – Wiscasset
2. #04 TJ Watson – Cundys Harbor
3. #17 Chris Thorne – Sidney
4. #33 Josh St Clair – Liberty
5. #26 Andrew McLaughlin – Harrington
6. #20 Tracy Gordon – Strong
7. #25 Will Collins – Waldoboro
8. #51 Puncin St Clair – Liberty
9. #14 Dave St Clair – Liberty
10. #3 Richard Jordan – Kingfield
11. #15 Nick Hinckley – Wiscasset
12. #5x Bryan Robbins – Montville
13. #21 Shane Clark – Winterport
14. #7 Jay Bailey – Wiscasset
15. #13 Nate Tribbet – Richmond
16. #11 Cody Verrill – Wiscasset
17. #34 Tyler Robbins – Montville
18. #1 Mark Lucas – Harpswell
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NAPA SUPER STREETS (25 LAPS)
1. #1 Adam Chadbourne – Woolwich
2. #5 Mark Lucas – Harpsell
3. #2 Josh Bailey – Wiscasset
4. #02 Jason Curtis – Hollis
5. #32 Tasha Dyer – Arrowsic
6. #06 Zac Poland – Woolwich
7. #85 Kenny Harrison – Pownal
8. #13 Dave Doherty – Greene
9. #54 Neil Evans Jr – Brunswick
10. #88 Jamie Norton – Farmingdale
11. #23 Brandon Sprague – Edgecomb
12. #38 Dan Trask – Chelsea
13. #25 Brad Bellows – China
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ENDURO (100 LAPS)
1 #99 Chad Michaud
2. #68 Michael Moody
3. #30 Horace Crawford
4. #87 Jeff Reed
5. #23 Mike Carlton
6. #1 Tim Johnson
7. #55 Mike Marshall
8. #156 Jason Cyr
9. #4 Donald Brown
10. #29 Chris King
11. #27 David Errington
12. #22 Scott Eck
13. #56 David Cook
14. #69 Merrill Chapman
15. #77x Vern Hogkins Jr
16. #27 Richard Clark
17. #8 Ron Whitcomb
18. #31 Bryan Lancaster.
19. #98 Kamren Knowles
20. #55x Mike Snyder
21. #23 Jake Allen
22. #42 Frank Brown
23 #14 Tyler Merrill
24. #03 Maurice Young
25. #7 Timothy Gosch
26. #08 Scott Merrill
27. #51  Scott Mason
28. #54 John Clark
29. #01 Cody Verrill
30. #83 Michael Duffy
31. #12 Don Nashawaty
32. #3 David Thompson
33. #77 Griffin Laney
34. #79x Stephen Sylvester
35. #0N0 Bobby Clark
36. #21 Corey Rines
37. #42x Travis Knight
38. #155 Billy McIntire
39 .#95 Andrew Holmes
40. #55me Brad Clement
41. #6 Brianna Bodman
42. #70 Aaron Sevigny
43. #20 Andrew Glynn
44. #53 Destiny McKenzie
45. #00 Bobber Tibbetts
DQ #00 Horace Crawford
note : 5 additional drivers chose not to use transponders and were therefore not scored