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DUNKIN' DONUTS ACT 150
RESULTS
AND PHOTO GALLERY
June 21, 2008 (full story and
results)
Joey Pole beats two of the best,
captures Dunkin' Donuts ACT 150
OXFORD, Maine - Ricky Rolfe and Eddie MacDonald provided much of the
entertainment value with their two- and three-deep drive through
traffic Saturday night, but 19-year-old Joey Polewarczyk Jr.
otherwise dominated the Dunkin' Donuts 150 for his second
American-Canadian Tour victory of the season.
Polewarczyk posted his first career
win at OPS after two previous top-five performances in his brief but
promising career.
"We came here with a completely
different set-up. This car was really good in practice, but the
motor was breaking down," said the driver of the
NHPrecision.com/Pole’s Automotive #97, known to his friends and
fans as 'Joey Pole.'
"We changed a lot of stuff in
practice. We didn't find anything, but we changed everything, so
apparently we fixed something."
Whatever the combination, it worked.
Polewarczyk charged from his seventh starting position and snagged
the lead from series point leader Scott Payea on lap 53.
Rolfe, the winner of two straight
40-lap weekly Oxford Networks Late Model features and the
season-opening New England Dodge Dealers ACT 150 at Oxford, made a
dramatic drive from 17th to second during the first half of the
event.
The two-time OPS champion closed
Polewarczyk's lead to about four car lengths prior to the first of
only two caution flags in the race on lap 104, for a single-car spin
by Payea. It was the youngster getting the jump on the restart,
though, actually extending his lead to almost a full straightaway
prior to the second yellow with a dozern laps remaining.
Given a four-car buffer zone of
lapped machines between himself and Rolfe, Polewarczyk cruised. In
fact, it was MacDonald making a jaw-dropping drive around
double-wide lapped traffic to catch and pass Rolfe for second on lap
147.
MacDonald set out his East Coast
Welding and Fabrication #17 to the outside rim of the track and took
full advantage of the second and final yellow flag for a spin by
reigning TD Banknorth 250 champion Roger Brown.
"The car was great on the
outside. The outside groove really worked good tonight," said
MacDonald, who will compete in at least three different touring
series this summer. "Rollie (MacDonald, crew chief) got the car
going on the outside again. He does a great job. I just love racing
here. Joey did an awesome job."
Rolfe was the star of the show prior
to the Payea spin. His car blistered most of the competition on the
long early run, and he worked lapped traffic with consummate veteran
skill.
Perhaps too well, he later admitted.
Rolfe passed the likes of Brent Dragon, Jean-Paul Cyr, Ben Rowe and
Patrick Laperle as if they were coasting around the historic
3/8-mile oval. After 30 laps of qualifying and nearly 100 in the
finale, however, Rolfe essentially used up his J. Jones
Construction/Swasey Excavation #51.
"The car was actually too good
at the beginning of the race," Rolfe said. "I wasn't
patient. I should have been a little bit more patient, but I wanted
to pass as many cars as I could because I figured (Cyr) would be the
one leading and he'd be the one lapping everybody.“
Cyr chased Rolfe to the checkered
flag in the spring ACT race, nearly taking away the win. Rolfe
couldn’t summon that kind of challenge for Polewarczyk, losing
ground each lap during the second extended green-flag run of the
event.
“I abused the right front tire, and
that cost me at the end of the race. I couldn‘t turn in the
corners. I was just kind of plowing up the track, turning what I
could and hammer down up off the corner,” said Rolfe. “Hopefully
we didn’t show ‘em everything we've got until about a month from
now.”
The race was the final long distance
tuneup for the 35th annual TD Banknorth 250 on Sunday, July
20.
Canada’s Laperle and ACT
rookie/Oxford graduate Glen Luce rounded out a diverse group of
drivers in the top five, followed by Rowe, Payea, Dragon, Cyr and
Scott Robbins.
Both MacDonald and Rolfe qualified
for the Dunkin' Donuts 150 by winning consolation races. Polewarczyk
won his 15-lap heat race and started seventh in the main by virtue
of his plus-minus seeding from the qualifier.
Rolfe and MacDonald each missed out
by one spot in the first round after starting last in their
respective heats.
Fifty-one cars attempted to make the
starting grid of 33. All but one starter was running at the finish.
Eleven finished on the lead lap.
The win was Polewarczyk's first
top-10 finish on the tour since a triumph in April at his home
track, Lee USA (N.H.) Speedway, in the Governor's Cup. Crashes and
mechanical problems placed Polewarczyk close to the rear of the
finishing order at four other events. He failed to qualify for
another.
"The beginning week was awesome,
but then after that it was pretty bad. We had fast cars everywhere,
but things just didn't go our way," Polewarczyk said. "It
certainly went our way tonight."
Williams, Karkos, Bowie, Patria also
claim checkers
In accompanying feature action, Matt
Williams made himself 2-for-2 on the supporting card of ACT main
events this season by winning the 30-lap Allen's Coffee Flavored
Brandy Strictly Stock feature.
Justin Karkos completed a triumphant
return to his home track with a convincing Allen’s Mini Stock
victory, his first in three tries. Zach Bowie backed his first
career win Wednesday night with another on Saturday, this time in
the Chimney Tech Outlaw division.
Bowie padded his Agren Appliance
Saturday Showdown point lead in the process. Dottie Patria did the
same, sailing to her fourth Allen's Ladies victory of the
season.
Williams took advantage of lapped
traffic, trapped early leader B.J. Chapman on the outside and
scooted into the lead with seven laps remaining.
Chapman and Mike Short spun over the
first turn on the next lap, leaving Williams with a spacious lead in
the R.W. Plumbing #63.
“I’ve got to apologize to B.J. I
got underneath him and tried putting him up three-wide,” said a
subdued Williams. “I don’t know. We touched, and that’s what
happened.”
Glen Henderson and Skip Tripp were
left to duke it out for second after playing a friendly game of
bumper tag for fourth throughout the middle stages.
Henderson had the preferred spot at
the head of that battle and wound up in the runner-up role for the
third time this season after three wins a year ago.
“My crew works on that car hard and
faithfully every week. I hope that was a good show. That’s the way
racing should be,” Henderson said.
Tripp’s team continues to chase the
set-up that earned him back-to-back wins on May 3 and 10. Although
he put the R.P.M. Racing Engines/Waste Management #12 into the top
three for the second straight week, Tripp is encountering tougher
competition as spring turns to summer.
“That car was a handful tonight. I
was lucky to get up there and be able to play as much as I did,”
said point leader Tripp, who then issued a challenge to the
boo-birds and bench racers who accuse him of skirting the rule book.
“Anybody up there who thinks I cheat, come on down to tech and
help tear this apart for them.”
Kim Tripp returned from a month out
of the driver's seat to finish fourth. Rick Thompson was fifth in
Tommy Tompkins' #113, borrowed after Thompson's #07 suffered engine
failure in practice.
In only his third start since
returning to full-time competition at his home track, Karkos
dominated the 30-lap Allen's Mini Stock feature.
Karkos was one of several drivers who
produced an amazing 11 lead changes in the Allen’s 100 last week.
Issues underneath the hood relegated him to 10th place in that one,
but the resulting low handicap provided him a prime starting spot
and a runaway win in his return engagement.
“I went away for a little while,
but I’m glad to be back here,” said Karkos, who bought his
Polymer Repair Technology/Autobahn High Performance #1 from
runner-up Jimmy Childs’ cousin Rich Sirois. “I guess Jimmy was
catching me, but was I using all of the car? Who knows? I really
didn’t want to do it from the front, but I’ll take whatever I
can get. I’ve had some really bad luck the last couple
weeks.”
Childs charged from the rear of the
field to runner-up honors for the second time this season in a
relief role for his dad, Bill Sr. It’s the same Wolf’s
Den/Brown’s Construction #10 that Jimmy drive to 2006 and ‘07
Mini Stock championships before embarking on a Late Model
career.
“I was hoping for a caution,
because I was definitely reeling him in,” Childs said. “I know
he’s got a fast machine, but it would have been a good race,
regardless.“
Bill Childs Sr. also finished second
in last week’s 100-lap marathon, one week after a hard impact with
the front stretch wall. As the chief mechanic on his father’s
ride, Jimmy takes the close-but-no-cigar distinction to heart.
“We got it straightened out a
little bit after putting it in the wall,” he said. “It isn’t
perfect yet, but if I’ve got to work on it and that means putting
the LMS aside, I’ll do that.”
Matt Moore finished a distant third,
safely ahead of cousin and point leader Darrell Moore.
“I didn’t have much for these
guys, but it was good to get the motor back in shape and be
competitive again,” Moore said. “This is why we do it.”
Bob Guptill was a solid fifth after a
heat race win.
Bowie steered David Walker’s
Renegade to his breakthrough win Wednesday. He was a strong third in
the Outlaw battle that night.
This time out, Rodney Englehaupt,
Randy Robitaille and Dan Brown only kept the Outlaw lead warm
while Bowie bolted from the back. He took command on lap 14 after
the third and final restart of a wild race.
“We just stick it out there and see
where we end up at the end of the race,” said Bowie, 18, and a
third-generation winner at Oxford.
David Childs latched onto Bowie’s
back bumper over the final five laps but couldn’t complete the
final pass.
“I was being good,” Childs said.
“I figured I’d let him have one.”
Brown piggybacked his Wednesday win
with a third-place showing, chased by Steve Moon and Thom
Bell.
Patria picked up her second straight
victory and third in Agren Appliance Saturday Showdown activity,
where she‘s the point leader by a bundle in pursuit of her second
straight championship.
Christina Spaulding dominated the
first half of the event, but Patria closed the gap and put her
Little Giggles Child Care/Michael Hemond Construction #34 in
position to steer clear when Spaulding had to slow on the
backstretch for double-wide traffic.
“Christina definitely was flying
out there,” Patria said. “I didn’t know if I could catch her,
but the lapped traffic played to my advantage.”
Spaulding voiced no complaints or
excuses.
“That was a hell of a race,” she
said. “My husband (Rick) put this car together for this year, and
it’s been great. It’s always a lot of fun.”
Acceleration Series point leader
Cathy Manchester was a steady third. Tina Springer was fourth in her
first appearance after a two-year break from the division, with
Deanna Bisbee fifth.
OPS action continues Wednesday at
6:30 p.m. with the Acceleration Series. Championship Series
competition resumes next Saturday, June 28 at 6:30 p.m. Round one of
Unicel Motor Mayhem is scheduled for Friday, June 27, also at 6:30.
AMERICAN-CANADIAN TOUR DUNKIN' DONUTS 150
Fin. (Start) No., driver., hometown, laps completed
1. (7) #97 Joey
Polewarczyk Jr., Hudson, N.H., 150
2. (18) #17 Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass., 150
3. (17) #51 Ricky Rolfe, Albany Township, 150
4. (10) #91 Patrick Laperle, St. Denis, Quebec, 150
5. (4) #7 Glen Luce, Turne, 150
6. (6) #10 Ben Rowe, Turner, 150
7. (3) #89 Scott Payea, Milton, Vt., 150
8. (32) #55 Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt., 150
9. (1) #32 Jean-Paul Cyr, Milton, Vt., 150
10. (25) #72 Scott Robbins, Dixfield, 150
11. (12) #78 Ryan Nolin, Georgia, Vt., 150
12. (24) #03E Travis Adams, Canton, 149
13. (21) #94 Shawn Martin, Turner, 149
14. (8) #9 Jonathan Urlin,
London, Ontario, 149
15. (29) #16 Joey Becker, Jeffersonville, Vt., 149
16. (13) #96 Kurt
Hewins, Leeds, 149
17. (26) #02 Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H., 149
18. (22) #24ME Roger Brown,
Lancaster, N.H, 149
19. (19) #25 Shawn Knight, South Paris, 149
20. (9) #70 Scott Dragon,
Milton, Vt., 148
21. (28) #26 John Donahue, Graniteville, Vt., 148
22. (20) #41 Pete Potvin
III, Graniteville, Vt., 148
23. (22) #24VT Steve Fisher, Shelburne, Vt. 148
24. (16) #6 Tommy
Ricker, Poland, 148
25. (15) #11 Claude Leclerc, Lanoraie, Quebec, 148
26. (30) #18 Jamie
Fisher, Shelburne, Vt., 147
27. (14) #8 Rick Thompson Jr., Derby, Vt., 147
28. (27) #95 Dennis Spencer Jr., Oxford, 147
29. (5) #85 Travis Stearns, South Paris, 147
30. (11) #88 Nick Sweet, Barre, Vt., 146
31. (33) #28 Corey Morgan, Lewiston, 146
32. (31) #38 Tyler Cahoon,
St. Johnsbury, Vt., 146
33. (5) #85 Trampas Demers, South Burlington, Vt., 85
Lap leaders: Cyr 1-10, Payea 11-52, Polewarczyk 53-150.
Cautions: 2 (laps 104, 138)
Heat winners: Polewarczyk, Laperle, Sweet, Demers
Consolation winners: Rolfe, MacDonald
'B' feature winners: Spencer
Failed to qualify: Billy Childs Jr., Daniel Descoste, Leon
Heckbert, Stephane Descoste, Phil Scott, Ricky Wolf Jr., Eric Chase,
Matt White, Dale Verrill, Mark Childs Jr., Joey Doiron, James
Linardy, Donald Theetge, Mark Hudson, Ron Henry,
Scott Luce, Gerald Parlin, Bobby Dragon.
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY STRICTLY STOCK (30 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., driver., hometown, laps completed
1. (3) #63 Matt Williams, Brownfield, 30
2. (5) #57 Glen Henderson, Sabattus, 30
3. (7) #12 Skip
Tripp, Poland, 30
4. (8) #42 Kim Tripp, Oxford, 30
5. (6) #113 Rick Thompson, Naples, 30
6. (9) #27 Jerry Harrison, Freeport, 30
7. (4) #0 Sumner Sessions, Norway, 30
8. (1) #4 Michael
Roe, West Paris, 30
9. (2) #81 B.J. Chapman, Bridgton, 25
10. (10) #56 Mike Short, Auburn, 24
11. (11) #1 Dean Cololidge, Oxford, 21
DNS #113 Tommy Tompkins, Carthage
DNS #20 David
Tripp, Oxford
Lap leaders: Chapman 1-22, Williams 23-30.
Cautions: None
Time of race: 9 minutes, 43 seconds
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY MINI STOCK (30 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., driver., hometown, laps completed
1. (3) #1 Justin Karkos, Jay, 30
2. (18) #10 Jimmy Childs, Leeds, 30
3. (5) #14 Matt Moore, South Paris, 30
4. (15) #12 Darrell Moore, Mechanic Falls, 30
5. (7) #9 Bob Guptill, Mechanic Falls, 30
6. (12) #77 Ashley Marshall, Jay, 30
7. (13) #80 Don Mooney, New Gloucester, 30
8. (17) #7 Randy Kimball, Mechanic Falls, 30
9. (14) #8 Bill Thibeault, Oxford, 30
10. (1) #91 Brad
Dwinal, Freeport, 29
11. (16) #21 Rick Giguere, Auburn, 29
12. (11) #90 Dave Mooney, Wales, 29
13. (10) #08 Kevin Bishop, South Paris, 29
14. (19) #35 Dale Brackett, Oxford, 28
15. (4) #25 Ken
Daigle Jr., Lisbon, 28
16. (8) #22 Chuck Higgins, Lewiston, 28
17. (9) #19 Shane Kaherl, Jay, 11
18. (6) #28 Craig Moore, Woodstock, 11
19. (2) #16 Don Frechette, Turner, 8
20. (20) #2 Butch Keene, Turner, 4
DNS #48 Wayne Titus, Minot
Lap leaders: Karkos 1-30.
Cautions: 1 (lap 8)
Time of race: 13 minutes, 10 seconds
CHIMNEY TECH OUTLAW (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., driver., hometown, laps completed
1. (15) #04 Zach Bowie, Mechanic Falls, 20
2. (17) #5 David Childs, Oxford, 20
3. (5) #83 Dan Brown, Peru, 20
4. (14) #19 Steve Moon, Gray, 20
5. (11) #18 Thom Bell, Minot, 20
6. (13) #00 Guy Childs Sr., Turner, 20
7. (7) #69 Jay Wilkins, Gray, 20
8. (20) #169 Jim Drake, Hebron, 20
9. (6) #10 Scott Ellis, Lewiston, 20
10. (4) #53 Steve Brill, Bridgton, 20
11. (19) #57 Gerry Richard, Leeds, 20
12. (2) #35 John Spencer Jr., Auburn, 20
13. (3) #51 Randy Robitaille, Norway, 20
14. (23) #48 Tina Titus, Lisbon Falls, 20
15. (12) #90 Keith Landry, Oxford, 13
16. (1) #43 Rodney Englehaupt, Oxford, 13
17. (10) #34 John
Patria, Turner, 12
18. (9) #139 Jerry Freve, Buckfield, 7
19. (8) #72 Bill Coolidge,
Bryant Pond, 5
20. (16) #99 Jerry Goss, Mechanic Falls, 5
21. (18) #36 Rick Spaulding, Lewiston, 5
22. (21) #75 Gordon Bell, Auburn, 5
23. (22) #30 Scott Veinott, Sabattus, 5
24. (24) #112 Dennis Morang, South Paris, 5
Lap leaders: Englehaupt 1-3, Brown 4-7, Robitaille 8, Brown
9-13, Z. Bowie 14-20.
Cautions: 3 (laps 5, 7, 13)
Time of race: 23 minutes, 26 seconds
ALLEN'S COFFEE FLAVORED BRANDY LADIES (20 laps)
Fin. (Start) No., driver., hometown, laps completed
1. (6) #34 Dottie
Patria, Turner; 20
2. (2) #36 Christina Spaulding, Lewiston, 20
3. (5) #69 Cathy
Manchester, Gray, 20
4. (9) #51 Tina Springer, Norway, 20
5. (10) #3 Deanna Bisbee, South Paris, 20
6. (8) #30 Lisa Brooks, Auburn, 20
7. (7) #92 Debbie Marston, Hartford, 20
8. (4) #2 Kimberly Sessions, Auburn, 20
9. (1) #29 Shannon Wheeler, Auburn, 19
10. (3) #44 Annie
Chartier, Mexico,. 18
Lap leaders: Spaulding 1-13, Patria 14-20.
Cautions: 1 (lap 15)
Time of race: 11 minutes, 16 seconds
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Oxford Networks
Late Model
Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy
Strictly and Mini Stock
Photos by
Trudy Marshall
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(207) 645-4571
Photos from
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