Garrett Hall Breaks Dry Spell with PASS Super Late Model Triumph at Oxford Plains Speedway
ACT Late Model Win for Bryan Kruczek, First PASS Mods Score for Matty Sanborn
Oxford, Maine — Garrett Hall of Scarborough, Maine drove to an impressive Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model victory Sunday afternoon at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway, taking the lead away from reigning series champion DJ Shaw of Center Conway, New Hampshire, then hanging on to the top spot to end a year-plus dry spell on the region’s top Super Late Model circuit.
Hall, three times a winner in PASS action prior to last season, seemed almost surprised to be collecting the big trophy after struggling prior to the main event. After starting 20th in the 33-car field Hall patiently worked his way into contention, chasing down PASS opening day winner, and defending series champion, DJ Shaw of Center Conway, New Hampshire.
Shaw had his hands full just getting to the lead after starting 11th. Barre, Vermont’s Nick Sweet turned in the quickest laps of the day while setting the early pace before gremlins drove the car to pit road under green flag conditions. Maritime Canadian Pro Stock champion, and 2018 PASS North race winner Cole Butcher of Nova Scotia took command after Sweet was sidelined.
Butcher and Shaw soon waged a long battle for the lead as Hall steadily moved upward in the running order. Late caution periods in a race that was otherwise reasonably trouble-free offered Hall an opportunity and the Blackpoint Motorsports driver got his Norm’s Used Cars 94 past Shaw and into victory lane. Hall’s last PASS Super Late Model victory was a memorable, wreck-after-the-checkered win over Ben Rowe at his hometown racetrack, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in September of 2017.
Shaw’s runner-up finish unofficially vaulted him to the top of the current PASS North Super Late Model standings. Cassius Clark of Farmington, Maine, who won on opening night at Oxford Plains Speedway last year, earned third-place honors aboard the Nova Scotia-based King Racing 13.
Butcher, recently relocated to his new house in Hantsport, Nova Scotia, led a bunch of laps and ended up crossing the line in fourth position. Reigning Oxford Plains Speedway Super Late Model champion Gabe Brown of Center Conway, New Hampshire rounded out the top five after lining up in the back row for the start of the 150-lapper.
Reigning PASS Super Late Model National Champion Derek Griffith of Hudson, New Hampshire, who was one point ahead of Shaw in the PASS North SLM rankings entering the event, ended up with sixth position. Maine and New England Hall of Famer Mike Rowe of Turner was seventh, followed by 2017 OPS track champ Alan Tardiff of Lyman, Maine, 32nd-place starter and former series champion Travis Benjamin of Belfast, Maine and early-race frontrunner Ashton Tucker of Lyttleton, New Brunswick.
Super Late Model heat race victories were posted by Shawn Martin of Turner, Maine along with early race leadr Sweet and runner-up Shaw.
Bryan Kruczek of Newmarket, New Hampshire prevailed in a wild ACT Late Model Tour main event, shortened to 125 laps after about a dozen caution periods interrupted the 2019 points opener for the regional series. Kruczek, making his debut in Bobby Webber’s 19, drove by former Oxford 250 champion Joey Pole, Jr. of Hudson, New Hampshire to claim the victory.
Graniteville, Vermont’s Chip Grenier led early before Kruczek and Bobby Therrien swapped the lead a bit before Pole rolled into contention. Pole looked good when the green flag stayed out but frequent cautions worked in Kruczek’s favor and the former PASS winner at OPS added an ACT victory to his resume.
Pole was second across the finish line, with Hinesburg, Vermont’s Therrien earning third-place spoils. Jimmy Hebert of Williamstown, Vermont was fourth, with early leader Grenier filling out the top-five rundown.
Matty Sanborn of Windham scored a popular, first-ever PASS Mods win, leading all 40 laps on his way to victory lane. It wasn’t as easy as that sounds, as fellow first-win seekers Mike Carignan of Lebanon, Maine and Spencer Morse of Waterford, Maine both mounted stiff challenges that were turned back by Sanborn.
Morse, who spun out of the lead pack and fell to the rear of the field at one point, charged back into second position under the checkered flag, with first-time PASS Mods racer Justin Larsen, the 2013 Mini Stock division champion at Oxford Plains Speedway, earning third-place hardware. Carignan and Billy Dixon of North Waterboro, Maine rounded out the top five.
Kenny Harrison of Durham, Maine prevailed in the 50-lap Honey Badger Bar & Grill Street Stock Series opener, inheriting the race lead when Gary Babineau of Hollis Center, Maine couldn’t maintain the lead when aggressively challenged by Jordan Russell of Norway, Maine very late in the race.
Harrison, 52, outran 2017 Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Street Stock track champion Billy Childs, Jr. of Leeds, Maine to the checkered flag after Babineau’s misfortune. Babineau recovered enough to finish in third position, ahead of Oxford’s own Skip Stanley, and Russell.
Jimmy Childs of Leeds, Maine dominated the action in a 50-lap race for North East Mini Stock Tour competitors. Childs patiently worked his way into contention and worked his way past early leader Zach Audet of Norridgwock to claim a lead he would not relinquish.
Jake Rheaume of Rochester, New Hampshire earned runner-up honors in front of Mike Viens of Seekonk, Massachusetts. Audet bounced back from a later spin to claim a fourth-place finish. Jarod Soucy of Marlborough, Massachusetts rounded out the NEMST top five.
The next event for the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models is scheduled for Saturday, May 11 at Star Speedway in Epping, New Hampshire, with post time set for 4:30 p.m. PASS Mods see action next on Sunday, May 5 for a 1:00 p.m. program at the historic Hudson Speedway in Hudson, New Hampshire. The next event at Oxford Plains Speedway is the rescheduled and revamped opener for the Budweiser Championship Series divisions, with Super Late Models, Street Stocks, Bandits, Figure 8 and Rookie divisions all in action with double feature events. For more information visit oxfordplains.com, proallstarsseries.com or call (207) 539-8865 for more information.
Results from Opening Day with PASS & ACT at Oxford Plains Speedway; Sunday, April 28, 2019, showing finishing position, car number, driver’s name, and driver’s hometown:
Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model (150 laps) 1 94 Garrett Hall, Scarborough, ME; 2 60 DJ Shaw, Center Conway, NH; 3 13 Cassius Clark, Farmington, ME; 4 53 Cole Butcher, Hantsport, NS, Canada; 5 47 Gabe Brown, Center Conway, NH; 6 12 Derek Griffith, Hudson, NH; 7 24 Mike Rowe, Turner, ME; 8 9 Alan Tardiff, Lyman, ME; 9 7 Travis Benjamin, Belfast, ME; 10 2 Ashton Tucker, Lyttleton, NB, Canada; 11 81 Dan Winter, Windham, NH; 12 1 Evan Hallstrom, Northfield, VT; 13 17 Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, MA; 14 51 John Peters, Westbrook, ME; 15 4 Ben Rowe, Turner, ME; 16 9 Shawn Martin, Turner, ME; 17 44 Rusty Poland, Windham, ME; 18 19 Ben Tinker, New Gloucester, ME; 19 7 Glen Luce, Turner, ME; 20 90 Craig Weinstein, East Walpole, MA; 21 61 TJ Brackett, Buckfield, ME; 22 54 Johnny Clark, Farmingdale, ME; 23 8 Calvin Rose, Jr., Turner, ME; 24 88 Brandon Barker, Windham, ME; 25 93 Ryan Green, Berwick, ME; 26 40 Nick Sweet, Barre, VT; 27 7 Curtis Gerry, Waterboro, ME; 28 41 Tracy Gordon, Strong, ME; 29 36 Ryan Robbins, Dixfield, ME; 30 60 Timmy Brackett, Buckfield, ME; 31 00 Bryan Kruczek, Newmarket, NH; 32 59 Reid Lanpher, Manchester, ME; 33 14 Scott McDaniel, Livermore, ME.
American-Canadian Tour Late Model (125 laps) 1 19 Bryan Kruczek, Newmarket, NH; 2 97 Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, NH; 3 5 Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg, VT; 4 58 Jimmy Hebert, Williamstown, VT; 5 9 Chip Grenier, Graniteville, VT; 6 30 Rich Dubeau, Plainfield, NH; 7 Rowland Robinson, Jr., Steuben, ME; 8 19 Dany Trepanier, St-Edouard, QC, Canada; 9 37 Scott Payea, Colchester, VT; 10 78 Quinney Welch, Groveton, NH; 11 7 Dylan Payea, Milton, VT; 12 21 Jean-Francois Dery, Quebec, QC, Canada; 13 5 Tom Carey III, New Salem, MA; 14 Mathiew Kingsbury, Blainville, QC, Canada; 15 2 Stephen Donahue, Graniteville, VT; 16 21 Alexandre Tardif, Notre Dame des Pins, QC, Canada; 17 27 Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Dover, NH; 18 72 Ryan Kuhn, East Bridgewater, MA; 19 29 Joshua Hedges, New Bedford, MA; 20 37 Marc Begin, St-Philbert, QC, Canada; 21 04 Shawn Swallow. Lancaster, NH; 22 24 Steve Fisher, South Burlington, VT; 23 11 Claude Leclerc, Lanoraie, QC, Canada; 24 1 Corey Mason, Groveton, NH; 25 22 Peyton Lanphear, Waterbury, VT; 26 72 Scott Coburn, Barre, VT; 27 64 Christopher Pelkey, Graniteville, VT; 28 36 Joel Hodgdon, Craftsbury Common, VT; 29 86 Marcel J. Gravel, Wolcott, VT; 30 70 Jason Larivee, Jr., West Greenwich, RI; 31 7 Mike Foster, Williston, VT; 32 31 Trent Goodrow, Carver, MA; 33 10 Bryan Mason, Stark, NH; 34 41 Jonathan Bouvrette, Blainville, QC, Canada; 35 00 Jimmy Renfrew, Jr., Candia, NH; 36 21 Reilly Lanphear, Waterbury, VT.
PASS Mods (40 laps) 1 64 Matty Sanborn, Windham, ME; 2 34 Spencer Morse, Waterford, ME; 3 44 Justin Larsen, Peru, ME; 4 21 Mike Carignan, Lebanon, ME; 5 33 Billy Dixon, North Waterboro, ME; 6 16 Patrick Sullivan Poland, ME; 7 13 Ryan Nelson, Oxford, ME; 8 2 Randy Sanborn, West Baldwin, ME; 9 14 Mark Napolitano, North Yarmouth, ME; 10 85 Jariet Harrison, Freeport, ME; 11 7 Spencer Vaughn, Canton, ME; 12 10 Kate Re, Lovell, ME; DNS 87 Dan Bryan, Conway, NH.
Honey Badger Bar & Grill Street Stock Series (50 laps) 1 85 Kenny Harrison, Durham, ME; 2 1 Billy Childs, Jr., Leeds, ME; 3 2x Gary Babineau, Hollis Center, ME; 4 64 Skip Stanley, Oxford, ME; 5 4 Jordan Russell, Norway, ME; 6 51 Kyle Hewins, Oxford, ME; 7 55 Kurt Hewins, Leeds, ME; 8 58 David Whittier, Oxford, ME; 9 61 Shawn Austin, Norridgewock, ME; 10 09 Ryan Ripley, Rockland, ME; 11 99 George Haskell, Casco, ME; 12 6 Shane Tatro, Levant, ME; 13 20 Danny Wear, Buxton, ME; 14 2 Ajay Cates, Lyman, ME; 15 67 Michael Haynes, Livermore Falls, ME; 16 52 Mike Nichols, Livermore Falls, ME; 17 36 Matt Rickards, Anson, ME; 18 6 Brian Dolloff, Jr., Jay, ME; 19 61 Matt Dufault, Turner, ME; 20 17 Jim Davis, Sabattus, ME; 21 79 Travis Lovejoy, Waterboro, ME; 22 47 Brian Caswell, Buxton, ME.
North East Mini Stock Tour (50 laps) 1 10 Jimmy Childs, Leeds, ME; 2 18 Jake Rheaume, Rochester, NH; 3 85 Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA; 4 19 Zach Audet, Norridgewock, ME; 5 42 Jarod Soucy, Marlborough, MA; 6 90 Desmond Skillings, Antrim, NH; 7 04 Justin Faford, Westminster, MA; 8 34 Roger Ducharme, Foster, RI; 9 78 Brady Romano, Livermore Falls, ME; 10 55 Nick Anderson, Oxford, MA; 11 17 Andrew Farnham, Baldwin, NY; 12 54 Mitch Bombard, Willimantic, CT; 13 95 Cale Skillings, Antrim, NH; 14 43 Dana Shepard, Putney, VT; 15 33 Erin Aiken, Claremont, NH; 16 33 Matt Sonnhalter, East Thetford, VT; 17 71 Matt Boucher, Andover, NH.
Sources: Oxford Plains Speedway PR