OXFORD ACCELERATION SERIES
June 18, 2008
This time, it counts: Bowie gets
his first
OXFORD, Maine – Some teenage drivers' biggest concern is passing
the road test to secure their driver's license. For third-generation
driver Zach Bowie, the chief obstacle of his short time behind the
wheel has been passing the technical inspection process at Oxford
Plains Speedway.
Bowie breathed a healthy sigh of
relief Wednesday night. One week after having the apparent first win
of his career taken away in the post-race check, Bowie made it
through the line and was allowed to keep his breakthrough checkered
flag in the stock six-cylinder Renegade division of the Acceleration
Series.
It was a career night for Bowie, who
also benefited from some other drivere' misadventures at the tech
shack to claim third in the Chimney Tech Outlaw 'A' feature.
Dan Brown dominated that high-point
Outlaw event. Shannon Judd and Rick Spaulding also sped to victory.
David Cook and Kyle Hewins prevailed
in a pair of wild Macdonald Motors Runnin' Rebel features.
Two drivers who have dominated
Saturday competition in the Agren Appliance Showdown broke through
with mid-week wins. Defending Call of the Wild RV Center Sport Truck
champion Jake Burns ruled the pickup roost, while Dottie Patria
pocketed her first-ever Wedneeday victory in the Allen's Coffee
Flavored Brandy Ladies division.
While filled with spins, contact and
two-to-four-wide racing, eight features were slowed by a total of
only four caution flags and were complete in 1 hour, 40 minutes.
Bowie was the second straight first-time Renegade winner, backing up
Nate Dubuc's triumph last week. Joe Morey and Craig Bartlett set the
early pace before Bowie grabbed the advantage on lap 6 and extended
it with ease.
He joined many members of his
extended family as an OPS winner. Bowie turned 18 in April.
"I have to thank David Walker
for letting me drive this car again this week," said Bowie.
Defending division champion Jamie
Heath settled for second, just ahead of teammate and division point
leader Bartlett. The third-place duel between Bartlett and Jason
Hannigan raged side-by-side and fender-to-fender for most of the
20-lap distance, with Hannigan unable to get enough grip in the
outside lane to make the pass.
Dubuc was a solid fifth in his bid
for back-to-back wins.
Fourteen drivers ran in a tight pack
at the front of the Outlaw 'A' field until Brown used the outside
lane to overtake four of them in short order. Both of Brown's
previous OPS wins came in the 'B' feature.
"That was crazy. I don't know
what to think right now," said Brown.
Disqualifications shuffled the
finishing order, with John Patria moving up to second and Bowie
advancing to third after Kevin Lawrence and Keith Landry lost out in
tech. Early leader Bubbe Collins was fourth, with steady Steve Moon
fifth.
Judd and Spaulding are both typically
'A' feature drivers, but they took advantage of lower-point
assignments to turn around some early-season ills.
In the 'C' main, Judd tracked down
apparent leader Kevin Leighton without the benefit of a caution and
made his move to the front on lap 14.
Leighton and third-place Rodney
Englehaupt failed inspection, vaulting Jay Wilkins to runner-up
honors and Scott Veinott to third. Randy Robitaille recovered from
an early stop-and-go penalty to finish fourth ahead of Don Veinott.
It was the best finish of the season for each driver in the top
five.
Spaulding raced from fifth to first
to take the 'B' lead from Dennis Morang in fewer than two laps. His
orange ride had the muscle to hold Tyler Belanger at bay.
"This isn't really the race I
belong in," Spaulding admitted, "but it's good to be back
in victory lane. I'll take it any way I can get it."
Josh Paradis moved comfortably into
third near the midway point. Several drivers unsuccessfully tried to
manuever around Rick Vining before Carey Robertson finally made a
late, outside move work for fourth. Vining completed the top five.
Two late restarts wiped out Archie
Watt Jr.'s lead in the Rebel 'A' main. The second stoppage forced a
green-white-checkered conclusion, and Hewins had the edge when the
leaders came up to speed.
"I didn't know when I was going
to get back here," Hewins said after his first victory of the
season.
Watt's second was his best in the
Acceleration Series after many years of Saturday night competition.
Gregg Norton enhanced his championship hopes with a measured drive
from the rear of the field to third ahead of Craig Farrington and
Calvin Rose Jr.
Cook held off a pack of six pursuers
after grabbing the Rebel 'B' lead on a lap 10 restart. Brandon
Munroe and Charlie Webster were his primary challengers, but Cook
denied both en route to his second career win.
"I didn't know if it would go that great," Cook said.
"I've had to do a lot of work in it, so I've missed a couple
weeks."
Munroe moved up a spot from last
week's third-place run to take second, with Jeff Beaule third in his
initial Wednesday start of the campaign. Brady Romano and Logan
Melcher completed the top five in a feisty 19-car field.
It hasn't been easy for Burns, who
chased Marvin Hamilton to the checkers the last two Wednesdays and
watched Corey Williams lead the first 13 laps of this week's truck
encounter.
Burns finally made his winning move
in the outside lane. Shortly thereafter, Williams spun while trying
to slam the door on rookie Ross Spurling for second.
Spurling survived for the first
runner-up trophy of his brief time in the division. Hamilton, Ryan
Farrar and John Lizotte were next in line.
Sue Veinott and Kimberly Sessions
each led an early lap in the Ladies scramble, but nobody was a match
for Patria after her charge to the top of the leader board on lap 3.
"I've had good luck on
Saturdays, but this is my first win ever on a Wednesday,"
Patria said. "My husband John, Rene Foster and Bill Dunphy
worked hard to put this car back together after last week."
Christina Spaulding and Cathy
Manchester battled for second, with Spaulding edging the division
point leader at the stripe. Sessions and Deanna Bisbee rounded out
the paying positions.
The Acceleratrion Series resumes next
Wednesday, June 25 at 6:30 p.m. OPS cranks it up again this Saturday
at 6:30 p.m. with the Dunkin' Donuts 150 for the American-Canadian
Tour. Racing in six divisions begins at 6:30 p.m.
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW #1 (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (6) #97 Shannon Judd, Jay, 20
2. (9) #69 Jay Wilkins, Gray, 20
3. (8) #30 Scott Veinott, Sabattus, 20
4. (5) #51 Randy Robitaille, Norway, 20
5. (1) #28 Don Veinott, Sabattus, 20
6. (13) #56 Richard Kyllonen, Oxford, 20
7. (3) #8 Devon Smith, Norway, 19
8. (14) #55 Justin Vining, Peru, 19
9. (10) #100 Curt Chapman, Lewiston, 19
10. (4) #54 Jonathan Baldwin, Auburn, 18
11. (12) #29 Nic Stanley, Buckfield, 11
12. (16) #20 Ron Parker, Lewiston, 7
13. (15) #4 Travis Bannett, Harrison, 7
DQ (2) #52 Kevin Leighton, Minot
DQ (7) #43 Rodney Englehaupt, Oxford
DNS #000 Robert Lowe, Auburn
Lap leaders: D. Veinott 1-4, Judd 5-20.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 6 minutes, 49 seconds
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW #2 (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (5) #36 Rick Spaulding, Lewiston, 20
2. (4) #33 Tyler Belanger, Sumner, 20
3. (11) #82 Josh Paradis, Sumner, 20
4. (6) #08 Carey Robertson, Leeds, 20
5. (2) #06 Rick Vining, Bridgton, 20
6. (3) #10 Scott Ellis, Lewiston, 20
7. (7) #137 David Brown, Gray, 20
8. (12) #72 Bill Coolidge,
Bryant Pond, 20
9. (1) #112 Dennis Morang, South Paris, 20
10. (13) #75 Gordon Bell, Auburn, 20
11. (14) #58 Tim Hatch, Gorham, 20
12. (8) #48 Tina Titus, Lisbon, 19
13. (14) #39 Ron Abbott Jr., Sabattus, 19
14. (9) #53 Steve Brill, Bridgton, 19
15. (16) #66x John Leonard, Oxford, 8
16. (10) #6 Jim Archer, Chesterville, 3
Lap leaders: Morang 1, Spaulding 2-20.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 6 minutes, 45 seconds
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW #3 (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (10) #83 Dan Brown, Peru, 20
2. (6) #34 John Patria, Turner, 20
3. (15) #04 Zach Bowie, Mechanic Falls, 20
4. (1) #68 Bubba Collins, New Gloucester, 20
5. (8) #19 Steve Moon, Gray, 20
6. (13) #38 Addison Bowie, Auburn, 20
7. (11) #00 Guy Childs Sr., Turner, 20
8. (4) #139 Jerry Freve, Buckfield, 20
9. (12) #12 Nik Coates, Lisbon, 20
10. (14) #18 Thom Bell, Minot, 20
11. (5) #169 Jim
Drake, Hebron, 20
12. (9) #99 Jerry Goss, Mechanic Falls, 19
13. (2) #63 Bob Ferguson, New Gloucester, 19
DQ (3) #24 Kevin Lawrence, South Paris
DQ (7) #90 Keith Landry, Oxford
Lap leaders: Collins 1-9, Brown 10-20.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 6 minutes, 50 seconds
MACDONALD MOTORS RUNNIN' REBEL #1
(20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (11) #15 David Cook, Wilton, 20
2. (7) #32 Brandon Munroe, New Gloucester, 20
3. (13) #31 Jeff Beaule, Lewiston, 20
4. (9) #83 Brady Romano, Livermore Falls, 20
5. (10) #41M Logan Melcher, Jay, 20
6. (8) #7x Charlie Webster, Auburn, 20
7. (5) #32x Brian
Hawthorne, New Gloucester, 20
8. (6) #91 Bill Grover, Topsham, 20
9. (12) #49 Dustin
Couture, Auburn, 20
10. (1) #97 Jim Hart, Buckfield, 20
11. (14) #28 James Record, Oxford, 20
12. (19) #71 Cody Smith, Oxford, 19
13. (2) #45 Ken Whittemore, Greene, 19
14. (18) #21 Bob Danforth, Stoneham, 19
15. (3) #02 Ben Libby, Buckfield, 19
16. (15) #14 Gene White, Lisbon, 17
17. (16) #148 Don
Smith, Oxford, 16
18. (17) #121 Everett Danforth, Lovell, 10
19. (4) #69 John Childs, Leeds, 9
DNS #23 Mike Anderson, Lewiston
DNS #19 Zach Audet, Wilton
Lap leaders: Hart 1-6, Webster 7-10, Cook 11-20.
Cautions: 1 (lap 10)
Time of race: 11 minutes, 18 seconds
MACDONALD MOTORS RUNNIN' REBEL #1 (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (14) #54 Kyle Hewins, Leeds, 20
2. (1) #27 Archie Watt Jr., Auburn, 20
3. (16) #119 Gregg Norton, Lewiston, 20
4. (3) #333 Craig Farrington, Hebron, 20
5. (10) #12 Calvin Rose Jr., Turner, 20
6. (15) #96 Matt
Dufault, Turner, 20
7. (20) #3 Josh Childs, Oxford, 20
8. (17) #521 Scott Farrington, Oxford, 20
9. (11) #82 Martin Krauter, Raymond, 20
10. (2) #63 Cole Flagg, Livermore, 20
11. (6) #106 Nathan Guptill, North Turner, 20
12. (9) #4 Bill Dunphy, New Gloucester, 20
13. (12) #93 Jamie Leavitt, Minot, 20
14. (8) #16 Mike Ward, Harrison, 20
15. (7) #46 Jason Berry, Turner, 20
16. (13) #6 Troy Jordan, Turner, 20
17. (19) #84 Doug Degroat, Oxford, 19
18. (5) #555 Gerard Cote, Oxford, 19
19. (4) #76 Randy Nutter, Auburn, 19
20. (18) #88 Derek Cook,
Livermore Falls, 13
Lap leaders: Watt 1-18, Hewins 18-20.
Cautions: 2 (laps 13, 18)
Time of race: 13 minutes, 31 seconds
CALL OF THE WILD SPORT RV CENTER SPORT TRUCK (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1.(7) #74 Jake Burns, Gray, 20
2. (3) #17 Ross Spurling, New Gloucester, 20
3. (8) #7 Marvin
Hamilton, New Gloucester, 20
4. (6) #69 Ryan Farrar, Oxford, 20
5. (4) #1 John Lizotte,
Mechanic Falls, 20
6. (11) #40 Tom Libby, Gorham, 20
7. (5) #22 Jeff Schmidt, Mechanic Falls, 20
8. (1) #39 Corey Williams, Sumner, 19
9. (9) #43 Dennis Brine, Oxford, 19
10. (2) #30 Ryan
Varney, Oxford, 18
11. (10) #9 Brian Farrar, Sumner, 17
Lap leaders: Williams 1-13, Burns 14-20.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 6 minutes, 50 seconds
RENEGADE (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (8) #88 Zach
Bowie, Mechanic Falls, 20
2. (9) #91 Jamie Heath, Waterford, 20
3. (6) #2 Craig Bartlett, Waterford, 20
4. (5) #94 Jason Hannigan, Greene, 20
5. (7) #46 Nate Dubuc, Auburn, 20
6. (3) #05 Gerard Cote, Oxford, 20
7. (10) #92 Phil Knowlton, Poland, 19
8. (1) #1 Dan Ellis, Brunswick, 19
9. (2) #3 Joe Morey, Lisbon, 6
10. (4) #19 Mark Turner, Norway, 6
Lap leaders: Morey 1, Bartlett 2-5, Bowie 6-20.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 6 minutes, 49 seconds
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY
LADIES (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed
1. (5) #34 Dottie Patria, Turner, 20
2. (7) #36 Christina
Spaulding, Lewiston, 20
3. (9) #69 Cathy Manchester, Gray, 20
4. (4) #2 Kimberly
Sessions, Auburn, 20
5. (6) #3 Deanna Bisbee, South Paris, 20
6. (12) #30 Lisa Brooks, Auburn, 19
7. (2) #29 Shannon Wheeler, Auburn, 19
8. (3) #137 Kristen Brown, Gray, 19
9. (1) #28 Sue Veinott, Sabattus, 19
10. (8) #92 Debbie Marston, Hartford, 19
11. (11) #44 Annie Chartier, Mexico, 17
12. (13) #139 Lisa Vining, Turner, 15
13. (10) #23 Vanna Brackett, Buckfield, 5
Lap leaders: Veinott 1, Sessions 2, Patria 3-20.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 6 minutes, 49 seconds
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Photos from
all OPS divisions!
Photos by
Trudy Marshall
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