Ryan Robbins Outruns Super Late Model field at Oxford Plains Speedway
Oxford, ME – Ryan Robbins of Dixfield nailed down his first victory of the season Saturday night in Budweiser Championship Series Super Late Model competition at Oxford Plains Speedway. The race, run under threatening skies, went caution-free, the third 50-lapper to do so this season in five races contested, to date.
Robbins, the only two-time winner in weekly 50-lap main event action last season, jumped out front early and led every lap, easily outrunning two-time track champion TJ Brackett of Buckfield to the checkered flag.
Brackett, the championship runner-up in the two most recent racing campaigns at OPS, was almost five seconds ahead of third-place finisher Curtis Gerry of Waterboro, who got caught up in traffic more than once after starting in 10th spot. Windham’s Rusty Poland earned his fourth-place finish, while Ryan Deane of Winterport was fifth, earning a fifth consecutive top-five finish.
Kurt Hewins of Leeds won his second consecutive Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Street Stock feature event, this time in spectacular fashion to win by inches over reigning division champion and current points leader Matt Dufault of Turner.
The long Hewins/Dufaut battle seemingly went on for half of the 30-lap affair, set up when the winner’s brother, Kyle Hewins, was helped from the lead by Norway’s Jordan Russell and both were sent to the rear of the lineup on an ensuing restart. The eventual winner then inherited the lead and waged an epic side-by-side battle with the champ on his outside, hanging on to earn victory just about sideways across the finish line by less than a foot.
Hewins and Dufault were joined on the podium by Lisbon’s Rick Spaulding. Russell bounced back from his altercation and penalty to finish up in fourth position, with Oxford’s David Whittier filling out the Street Stock division’s top-five rundown.
Rookie Alex Mowatt of Norway raced to an impressive victory in the 20-lap main event for four-cylinder Bandits racers. Mowatt spent most of the race fending off challenges from apparent runner-up Brian Hiscock of Turner, who lost a second-place finish in post-race technical inspection. That moved defending division champion Dustin Salley of Mechanic Falls up to second-place in the final rundown, with the Tornado. Travis Verrill, third after inspection. Caleb Proctor of Casco and Oxford’s Doug Degroat rounded out the top five.
Oxford’s own Charlie ‘Chachy’ Hall prevailed in an uncharacteristically-sloppy 20lap race for the Figure 8 competitors. Hall held off reigning division champion Kyle Kilgore of South Paris, snapping the division kingpin’s two-race winning streak. Poland’s Larry Lizotte was third, followed by Minot’s Dale Lawrence and Kyle Glover of Oxford. Glover led about half of the race before he was turned around on a restart.
Norway’s Maddy Herrick won her first-ever Rookie division feature race, holding off three-time winner Brady Childs of Leeds to earn her trip to victory lane. First-time OPS racer Cole Binette was the third-place finisher. Sophie Green of South Paris led much of the race before finishing fourth, ahead of the previous week’s winner, Owen Stuart of Naples, who was hampered by a long pit stop after a mid-race collision.
The first Motor Mayhem program of the season is set for Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, at 2:00 p.m., with enduro races and other special events joining the Oxford Acceleration Series for what promises to be an afternoon of motorized entertainment. The Budweiser Championship Series Super Late Models, Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Street Stocks, Bandits, Figure 8s and Rookies are in action next on Saturday night, June 1. Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models race 150 laps to top a special racing card to be presented on Sunday, June 2 at 2:00 p.m. PASS Mods and Legends Cars will also compete. Oxford Plains Speedway is located at 877 Main Street (State Route 26) in Oxford, Maine. For more information please visit oxfordplains.com or call (207) 539-8865.
Super Late Model (50 Laps) 1 36 Ryan Robbins, Dixfield; 2 61 TJ Brackett, Buckfield; 3 7 Curtis Gerry, Waterboro; 4 44 Rusty Poland, Windham; 5 54 Ryan Deane, Winterport; 6 7 Glen Luce, Turner; 7 8 Calvin Rose, Jr., Turner; 8 41 Tracy Gordon, Strong; 9 81 Dan Winter, Windham, NH; 10 20 Richie Brown, Wentworth, NH; 11 60 Timmy Brackett, Buckfield; 12 53 Alan Wilson, Hebron; 13 11 Tyler King, Gray; DNS 88 Jeff Taylor, Farmington.
Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Street Stock (30 laps) 1 55 Kurt Hewins, Leeds; 2 61 Matt Dufault, Turner; 3 36 Richard Spaulding, Lisbon; 4 4 Jordan Russell, Norway; 5 58 David Whittier, Oxford; 6 64 Skip Stanley, Oxford; 7 27 Patrick Thorne, Standish; 8 99 George Haskell, Casco; 9 25 Shawn Knight, South Paris; 10 09 Mark Turner, Norway; 11 6 Brian Dolloff, Jr., Jay; 12 95 Conrad Childs, Auburn; 13 51 Kyle Hewins, Oxford; 14 67 Michael Haynes, Livermore Falls.
Bandit (20 laps) 1 11 Alex Mowatt, Norway; 2 18 Dustin Salley, Mechanic Falls; 3 24 Travis ‘Tornado’ Verrill, South Paris; 4 04 Caleb Proctor, Casco; 5 84 Doug Degroat, Oxford; 6 26 Tyler Green, Turner; 7 44 Jeff Libby, Poland; 8 53 Todd Hallett, Hallowell; 9 9 Joshua Dube, Auburn; 10 34 Grady Doherty, Casco; 11 52 Chad Wills, Oxford; DQ 20 Brian Hiscock, Turner.
Figure 8 (20 laps) 1 12 Charlie ‘Chachy’ Hall, Oxford; 2 4 Kyle Kilgore, South Paris; 3 00 Larry Lizotte, Poland; 4 2 Dale Lawrence, Minot; 5 07 Kyle Glover, Oxford; 6 41 Greg Durgin, South Paris; 7 97 Eric Hodgkins, Minot.
Rookie (15 laps) 1 95 Maddy Herrick, Norway; 2 1 Brady Childs, Leeds; 3 96 Cole Binette, Arundel; 4 29 Sophie Green, South Paris; 5 8 Owen, Stuart, Naples.
Sources: Oxford Plains Speedway PR