Curtis Gerry of Waterboro won the PASS Super Late Models Oxford 250 Qualifier race Sunday at Oxford Plains Speedway. (Jennifer Bechard photo)
OXFORD — Curtis Gerry continues to confound the competition at Oxford Plains Speedway.
The second-generation Waterboro driver, who burst into the spotlight with his stunning Oxford 250 win last summer, continued his domination at the track Sunday, taking the lead from Cassius Clark on a restart with 21 laps remaining and holding on for victory in the Pro All Stars Series 150. It was Gerry’s fifth straight win in PASS competition at Oxford Plains dating back to last summer’s history-making win.
“It’s hard to believe,” said Gerry, who admitted to having lost count of how many consecutive PASS races he’s won at the track. “It’s just so hard to believe.”
Clark, of Farmington, had to settle for second after leading 120 laps and building an advantage of more than five seconds over his closest pursuer in the middle stages of the event. Manchester’s Reid Lanpher finished third.
“It’s magic,” Lanpher said when asked to describe Gerry’s recent run of success. “They have a really good program going. It’s not like he’s leaps and bounds better, but he is consistently better. I mean, good for him.”
Gerry started 11th in the 35-car field and appeared not to have enough to challenge Clark for the win when he failed to clear Clark on a lap 123 restart. But Gerry got another shot just seven laps later in the caution-marred race (10 cautions in all), and he made it count.
He put a bumper in front of Clark at the start-finish line as the pair raced to the green flag, and he was able to drop down in front for the lead as they completed lap 130.
Clark had two chances late from the outside groove on restarts, but Gerry’s car was simply too good exiting turns two and four for Clark to get back to the front.
“I just got tight,” Clark said. “We just rode around the whole race and got tight at the end. That’s it.”
Gerry thought when he was running in third and watching Lanpher inch away from him with 50 laps remaining that his day was already over.
“I still thought when I passed (Clark) that he’d work his way under me and back by me. He was a tick faster than I was,” Gerry said of taking the lead. “I got so loose at the end, but those guys got looser than I did. All those restarts helped me, but didn’t help him, I guess.”
D.J. Shaw of Center Conway, New Hampshire, finished fourth. Two-time Oxford 250 winner Travis Benjamin of Morrill finished fifth after needing a provisional to start 31st in the field.
Lanpher, who finished second to Gerry in last summer’s Oxford 250, said that racing Gerry at the front of the field has just become the norm.
“It’s just part of a PASS race at this point: ‘Where’s the 7 car?’” Lanpher said
It will be more of the same when Gerry returns as the defending champion of the Oxford 250 on Aug. 26 and tries to become the sixth driver to win the race in back-to-back years.
Gerry knows that everyone is watching him, too. In fact, when Shaw made a bold move to the inside less than 30 laps into the race to make it three-wide for fifth with Gerry and polesitter Lonnie Sommerville, Gerry sensed that he was already being sized up.
“They all tell me that, too,” Gerry said. “They’re friendly and all, but they all do say that they’re wondering where I am, where I’m going and where I am during the race. It feels good to have that much attention on you, but it’s stressful on the other hand.”
Gerry has won all three PASS races at Oxford Plains in 2018.
Spectators enjoy the PASS race Sunday at the Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway. (Jennifer Bechard photo)All 35 cars line up at the beginning of the PASS race Sunday at the Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway. (Jennifer Bechard photo)Travis Benjamin (7) of Belfast rounds a corner Sunday at Oxford Plains Speedway. (Jennifer Bechard photo)Cassius Clark (13) of Farmington takes the lead ahead of Ray Christian (93) of Uncasville, Connecticut, on Sunday at Oxford Plains Speedway. (Jennifer Bechard photo)Reid Lanpher (59) of Manchester, Derek Ramstrom (35) of Worchester, Massachusetts, and Mike Rowe (24) of Turner race Sunday at Oxford Plains Speedway. (Jennifer Bechard photo)Johnny Clark (54) of Hallowell rounds a corner ahead of Kelly Moore (47) of Scarborough on Sunday at Oxford Plains Speedway. (Jennifer Bechard photo)
Send questions/comments to the editors.
