Frank Snow leads all 35 laps to claim the first of two main events Saturday.
OXFORD – Forty times, Frank Snow has turned the leisurely victory lap at Oxford Plains Speedway following a feature race, but never in a Pro Stock.
Not until Saturday night, that is.
Snow, a relative newcomer to the track’s premier division after a championship-caliber career in Late Model Stock, Charger and Street Stock competition, led all 35 laps to capture the first of two main events at the 3/8-mile oval.
Two early caution flags slowed the event, which were rescheduled from the race program abbreviated by rain on May 31. After a brief mid-race challenge from Poncho Darveau, Snow extended his lead to about a dozen car lengths at the finish.
This is Snow’s third full season in the Pro Stock ranks.
“Not bad for an old man, huh? I’m just having fun out here. What else can you do when you get old?” said Snow, one of two unabashed members of the 50-something crowd in the top five. The other seasoned racer, Al Hammond, edged his nephew, Brad, for fourth.
Darveau held off Billy Whorff for the runner-up slot.
Whorff had the final say, however. He drove to the inside when Darveau and Scott Robbins made slight contact while racing for the win in the second half of the doubleheader and walked away with the victory — his first in a dozen years, most of it spent away from the driver’s seat.
“It’s great racing with these guys. It’s great competition, and that’s what we come here for,” said Whorff. “I stayed low because I saw those guys having trouble on the outside, and that put me in the right place at the right time.”
Gary Drew settled for second, with Robbins and Darveau collecting their cars and filing into third and fourth, respectively. Jeff White finished fifth in the caution-free finale.
Ricky Morse and Travis Adams have combined to win seven of the eight LMS features in 2003 after splitting their division’s two 30-lap tangles.
In the other held-over feature, Morse surged from the back of the pack without the benefit of a restart and passed Chris Bowie with three laps remaining for his speedway-best fourth checkered flag. Bowie and third-place Perry Tucker each notched their first podium finish of the campaign.
Bowie led the nightcap until the halfway point, when he and Buddy Leavitt collided while battling for the top spot. That handed the advantage to Adams, who ruled the ensuing restart and pulled away by one-third of a lap over Ron Henry, John Donahue, Shawn Martin and Jeff Moon.
“I didn’t start on the front row this time,” said Adams, who pulled off his first two victories in similarly one-sided fashion. “We just missed that accident and ended up coming out with the lead. We’ll take
it.”
Carey Martin, Chris Coolidge and Butch Keene also inhabited the winner’s circle in accompanying features.
Martin dominated his second straight Limited Sportsman feature, albeit with a mirrorful of division point leader and best friend Kenny Harrison for the second half of the 25-lap encounter.
“In this class, it’s all a matter of who gets to the front first and who gets (fastest) off the corner,” said Martin.
The three-time track champion dedicated the victory to his grandfather, who died Friday.
Dana Grover, David Raymond and Tommy Ricker completed the top five.
For the fifth straight week, an apparent Strictly Stock winner was disqualified. Guy Childs was the culprit for the second time this season, on this occasion accepting the trophy and checkered flag before refusing the mandatory technical inspection.
That elevated Coolidge, who was elated when he thought he’d only finished second. Coolidge heaved a stuffed monkey over his shoulder and across the frontstretch from victory lane to symbolize the end of a lengthy run of miserable luck. Ben Tinker, Kim Tripp, Peter Hafford and Billy Childs Jr. followed Coolidge in the new finishing order, showing the way in a 36-car field slowed by three lengthy caution periods.
Like Coolidge, Keene’s season in the Mini Stock division has featured extreme highs and lows. The defending four-cylinder champion reached the summit once again in Saturday’s 20-lapper, catching early leader Rich Sirois and then passing him with three circuits to go for his second triumph of the spring.
Sirois claimed second for his first trophy of the season ahead of Dennis Scribner, last week’s winner Jimmy Childs and steady Mark Collins.
koakes@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
