Story By: MARK THOMAS / OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY – OXFORD, ME – Ryan Robbins of Dixfield raced to his first Super Late Model victory Saturday night, headlining the Budweiser Championship Series stock car racing program at Oxford Plains Speedway.
Robbins, a former track champion in the Modified class and a former king of the touring PASS Mods, moved into the region’s top oval track racing division one year ago. On Saturday, Robbins drove around reigning track champion Alan Tardiff of Lyman, and then pulled away from the rest of the field to claim victory in the 50-lap race.
Gabe Brown of Center Conway, New Hampshire continued to impress, driving from dead last on the starting grid to earn second-place honors, using three-wide moves on a couple of occasions to move into contention. The 15-year-old racer has vaulted into championship contention as he seeks his first stock car racing victory after a stellar go-kart career.
Curtis Gerry of Waterboro, twice a winner in Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model competition at Oxford Plains Speedway this season and the reigning Oxford 250 champion, drove from 15th starting position to post a third-place finish.
Super Late Model rookie and multi-time OPS Legends Car champion Austin Teras was the fourth-place finsher, with Gorham’s Dan McKeage rounding out the top five.
Zach Bowie of Greene picked up his first victory in several seasons, winning the 30-lap feature event for the Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Street Stock division. Bowie had challengers throughout the race, most notably from Matt Dufault of Turner, who led the championship standings by one point entering the night’s action.
Dufault chased Bowie under the checkered flag to earn runner-up honors, with Lisbon’s Rick Spaulding next across the finish line. Tyler King of Gray and Norway’s Jordan Russell filled out the top five.
Mike McKinney of Berlin, New Hampshire outran the competition with seeming ease in the 20-lap Bandits main event, posting his first win of the season. McKinney pulled away from an intense battle for second position, involving as many as six cars, entertaining the Holiday weekend crowd.
Buckfield’s Chad Wills helped his championship hopes out with a hard-earned runner-up finish. Kyle Hewins, the unofficial Godfather of the class, claimed the third-place trophy. Adam Sanborn of West Paris and Kurt Hewins of Leeds rounded out the top five.
Dale Lawrence of Lisbon nailed down his first win of the season in the 20-lap Figure 8 race. Lawrence swapped the race lead with legendary Maine Hall of Fame racer Jon Lizotte en route to his second career stock car racing victory.
Kyle Kilgore of South Paris moved to the top of the championship standings with a runner-up finish. Lizotte, in his first start of the season, earned a third-place finish. A pair of South Paris drivers, Greg Durgin and David Smith, rounded out the top-five rundown.
Thomas Brackett of Auburn outran Waterford’s Brady Heath for his third win of the year in the 15-lap Rookie division race.
The Budweiser Championship Series at Oxford Plains Speedway resumes this Saturday night, June 2, with PASS Mods joining the five weekly divisions, including the Super Late Models. Post time is 7:00 p.m. For more information please visit oxfordplains.com or call (207) 539-8865.
Budweiser Super Late Model (50 laps) 1 36 Ryan Robbins, Dixfield; 2 47 Gabe Brown, Center Conway, NH; 3 7 Curtis Gerry, Waterboro; 4 29 Austin Teras, Gray; 5 Dan McKeage, Gorham; 6 54 Ryan Deane, Winterport; 7 61 TJ Brackett, Buckfield; 8 72 Scott Robbins, Dixfield; 9 53 Billy Rodgers, Old Orchard Beach; 10 94 Shawn Martin, Turner; 11 78 Ivan Kaffel, Raymond; 12 60 Tim Brackett, Buckfield; 13 01 Andy Saunders, Ellsworth; 14 03 Scott Moore, Anson;15 77 Bryce Mains, Bridgton; 16 8 Calvin Rose, Jr., Turner; 17 9 Alan Tardiff, Lyman; 18 1 Mike Washer, Norway.
Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Street Stock (50 laps) 1 21 Zach Bowie, Turner; 2 61 Matt Dufault, Turner; 3 36 Rick Spaulding, Lisbon; 4 11 Tyler King, Gray; 5 4 Jordan Russell, Norway; 6 62 Skip Stanley, Oxford; 7 56 Addie McDaniel, Bridgton; 8 09 Mark Turner, Norway; 9 99 George Haskell, Casco; 10 52 Mike Nichols, Livermore Falls; 11 12 John White, Auburn; 12 14 Tyson Jordan, Oxford; 13 33 Andrew Breton, Greene.
Bandits (20 laps) 1 08 Mike McKinney, Berlin, NH; 2 52 Chad Wills, Buckfield; 3 51 Kyle Hewins, Leeds; 4 12 Adam Sanborn, West Paris; 5 54 Kurt Hewins, Leeds; 6 18 Dustin Salley, Poland; 7 11x Cam Childs, Leeds; 8 2 Shaun Hinkley, Oxford; 9 71 Chris Foster, Lisbon; 10 1 Brandon Varney, Mechanic Falls; 11 79 Travis Lovejoy, Waterboro; 12 91 Jamie Heath, Waterford; 13 53 Ryan Hewins, Leeds; 14 77 Rob Crepeau, Minot; 15 24 Travis Verrill, South Paris; 16 1x Kevin Varney, Mechanic Falls; 17 44 Jeff Libby, Auburn; 18 4 Tyler Libby, Auburn; 19 8 Jeremy Lauzier, Rumford; 20 49 Jake Dobson, Hartford; 21 14 Brandon Caston, Casco.
Figure 8 (20 laps) 1 2 Dale Lawrence, Lisbon; 2 4 Kyle Kilgore, South Paris; 3 1 Jon Lizotte, Lewiston; 4 41 Greg Durgin, South Paris; 5 54 David Smith, South Paris; 6 07 Kyle Glover, Oxford.
Rookie (15 laps) 1 3 Thomas Brackett, Auburn; 2 91 Brady Heath, Waterford.
