Cole Watson tops Strictly Streets at speedway
Maine's fastest track, Wiscasset Speedway, wrapped up racing for the month of June on Saturday night with Group 2 in action, plus the return of the Amsoil Nelcar Legends. The Norms Used Cars Strictly Streets had the spotlight race for the program supported by the Late Model Sportsman, Outlaw Minis, and Modifieds. Cole Watson of Naples had the hot hand on the night, running to his first points win at Wiscasset over Montville's Bryan Robbins and Jonathan Emerson of Sabattus. Other winners included Corey Hall, Mark Lucas, and Zach Audet. As of press time, the Late Model Sportsman victor remains listed as unofficial pending a mandatory engine inspection.
In the 35-lap spotlight feature for the Strictly Streets, #45 of Cole Watson lined up at the pole position with Chesterville's Kim Knight in her #00 alongside. Knight would grab the lead through the early laps while Watson followed closely in 2nd. Watson retook the lead on a lap 13 restart and never looked back, rolling into victory lane to grab his first points win at Wiscasset. He was a previous winner of the Top Gun Strictly Shootout. Bryan Robbins was the big mover in the race, picking his way up from 12th to finish 2nd. He made the move of the race with 8 laps to go as he jumped from 4th up to 2nd exiting turn 4 in a spirited battle with Jonathan Emerson and Knight. Emerson, the 3rd generation racer from Sabattus stayed in the top 3 the entire race and rolled his #24 car in to claim the 3rd place trophy. His father Zach Emerson and point leader Michael Haynes filled out the top 5.
It had been nearly a month since the Amsoil Nelcar Legends had made an appearance. The brought a healthy field of 18 cars onto the track for their 25 lap feature with Zachary Godbout and Bob Weymouth leading the pack to the green. Weymouth held the lead until young hot shoe Austin Teras took the lead away. That lead held up for a few laps but was soon passed by Corey Hall who followed him through traffic from 8th. Hall made his drive down from New Brunswick, Canada worth his while as he survived one mid-race caution and held off a late charge from Teras to secure the victory. Teras settled for the runner-up finish and Weymouth took third. Defending champ Kevin Girard Jr was one to watch as he worked the traffic like a champ, starting 18th and finishing 4th. Casey Call of Pembroke, NH also had a strong run from 16th up to 5th.
Eighteen drivers took to the track for the 35 lap feature for the Wood Pellet Warehouse Late Model Sportsman division with Windham's Steve Minott and Waldoboro's Will Collins making up the front row. As usual, there were only a couple cautions to slow the action. Collins held the lead through the first 10 laps until defending champ Chris Thorne blasted up from his 10th starting position to grab the lead. He was followed by the point leader Nick Hinkley from his 17th starting spot. Hinkley reached 2nd by lap 15, but Thorne had built up a comfortable half straightaway advantage. A late race caution set up a green-white-checkered dash for the win with Thorne leading the way across the stripe first, ahead of Hinkley & Collins. Unfortunately, Thorne's victory was short lived as his car did not pass post-race inspection for excessive left side weight. The win would then be bumped up to Hinkley, however, the win remains unofficial as Hinkley's engine was pulled for mandatory inspection as a result of his 3rd win. Collins would go home with the 2nd place trophy and Wiscasset's Brandon Bailey would notch his 3rd straight podium in 3rd, after starting 16th. The top 5 was completed by Liberty's Ryan St Clair and Montville's Tyler Robbins.
The Kennebec Equipment Rental Outlaw Minis had their last tune-up race before their 75 lap Mini Madness race on July 8th. Former champ Jimmy Childs lined up on the front row with Whitefield's Jake Hendsbee for the 25 lap tilt. The race looked well within Childs' control through the first 8 laps but things took a major turn just a lap later as he suddenly slowed on the backstretch, handing over his lead to Hendsbee and bringing out the only caution of the race. Hendsbee held the lead on the ensuing restart long enough to get to turn one and from there it was the Zach Audet Show. The defending champ, who had missed a race with a blown engine, charged his way up from 10th to grab the lead and from there easily drove to his 3rd victory of the season. The win came at an expense however as he found (upon his required engine inspection) that he had cracked the block in yet another power plant. Hendsbee ran his best race in the Outlaw Mini's and posted his first podium finish in 2nd. May Driver of the Month and Outlaw Mini point leader Brent Roy ran another solid race and claimed his 5th podium finish in as many races. Shawn Kimball and Tim Collins finished in 4th and 5th respectively.
The Midcoast Region Napa Modifieds finished out the evening's program with a 30 lap feature. With just 7 cars answering the bell, it was easy pickings for defending champ Mark Lucas of Harpswell. He started from the pole position and held off a pair of early race restarts. From there he cruised to his 2nd modified checkered flag of the season (Lucas is also a 2-time Super Street winner so far this year). Former champ Allan Moeller of Dresden turned in a solid performance in 2nd and took over the points lead in the process as Adam Chadbourne succumbed to mechanical problems. The previous winner Joe Williams had an eventful race, helping to bring out the race's 2 caution flags only to bounce back each time and roll into victory lane for 3rd.
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