It was a long week for Calvin Rose Jr., but it was worth it.
The racer from Turner woke up Sunday morning with a torn-up race car. By Saturday night, that car was shining under the lights in Oxford Plains Speedway’s victory lane after winning the 50-lap Super Late Model feature.
“It felt amazing,” Rose said. “It meant a lot, not just for me, but for my team. After last week, we were all pretty bummed but we all worked all week on getting it back together, so this was a good way to bounce back.”
Rose was involved in a major late-race wreck during a 100-lap qualifier race at Oxford Plains the week before. He and his team got the car looking good again for Saturday’s weekly racing action, but then ran into more trouble at the track.
“We showed up to test and immediately got hit with engine problems,” Rose said. “We got that part good enough to race.
“Greg (Letourneau, Rose’s father-in-law) made the call to make some big changes before the heat (race) to try and get the car to rotate better and everything we did seemed to work. We made a quick move to take the lead and win the heat. Feature time, we were able to pull away and hold a comfortable gap and just conserve the car until the end (for the win).”
Rose bested runner-up Ryan Littlefield, and Dennis Spencer Jr. rounded out the podium. Division points-leader Dave Farrington Jr. was fifth, with his closest competition in the standings, Kyle DeSouza, right ahead of him in fourth. Curtis Gerry, third in points, finished sixth. Rose sits fourth in points.
“It’s been a pretty good year otherwise. We have five (top-three finishes),” Rose said. “Been working on our own setup and my dad has been doing all of the tires this year. Whole team works well together. We’ve been having fun for sure.”
In other Saturday night racing at Oxford Plains, Shawn Knight won the Street Stocks feature for his division-leading sixth victory of the season. Points-leader Jordan Russell, who had been tied with Knight with five victories, was the runner-up. Jeff Libby won his second Bandits feature of the season to try and whittle away at Alex Mowatt’s points lead over him. Mowatt was fourth, with brother Luke finishing second in the feature. Maddy Herrick won the eighth Rookies division feature of the season to pad her points lead. Larry Lizotte won the Figure-8s feature.
FAST FRIDAY
Jonathon Emerson won for the first time this season in The Oxford Acceleration Series’ Outlaws division as part of Friday night racing at Oxford Plains Speedway. Emerson bested points-leader Brandon Varney.
Adam Oneil won for the second time in Runnin’ Rebels, beating Dylan Cook. AJ Smith and Addie McDaniel, who entered the night tied for the points lead, finished sixth and seventh, respectively. McDaniel had won the past two features and was previously the only multi-time winner in the division this season.
Breeanna Spaulding won her eighth Ladies division feature of the season, with Chloe Kiley the runner-up. Kasie Kolbe, last week’s winner and second in points behind Spaulding, was third.
Other winners included: Jeremy Decoster (Cruisers), Brad Weismann (Sport Trucks) and Jason Cyr (4-Cylinder Figure-8s).
SMAC AT WISCASSET
Wiscasset Speedway had some special guests Saturday night, with the 350 SMAC (Super-Modified Atlantic Charter) series taking to the track along with the regular Group 2 divisions.
Jeffrey Battle captured the checkered flag in the Patriot 45 feature for the 350 SMAC drivers, with Chase Locke and Windham native Bobby Timmons rounding out the podium.
Other winners included: Ryan Ripley (Late Model Sportsman), Adam Chadbourne (Modifieds), Chad Wills (Strictly Streets) and Jimmy Childs (Outlaw Mini).
BIRTHDAY RACING AT BEECH RIDGE
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway celebrated its 73rd birthday Saturday with special 73-lap features for its Pro, Sport and Wildcats series. Alan Tardiff won in the Pro Series, Chris Smith was the victor in Sport Series, and Chaz Briggs captured the checkered flag in the Wildcats division.
Other winners included: Dustin Salley (Beetle Bugs), Dean Hanscom (Mad Bomber Varsity), Brandon Williams (Mad Bomber JV), Jeff Gillette Jr. (Mighty Trucks).
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