With two Saturday nights left in the motorsports season, races for championships in three of the top four divisions at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway remain too close to call.

Only in Roadrunners, where veteran Matt Dow of Buxton holds a 56-point lead over teenager Ryan Phillips of Buxton, does a point lead seem safe.

Races for the Pro Series, Sports Series and Wildcat titles could come down to the final lap of the season.

Racing in all four divisions at the Scarborough track ends Sept. 4.

In Pro Series, three drivers are within 24 points of Dan McKeage, who has led the division for much of the season.

“We had a really good point lead, but three weeks ago we had a blown engine and everybody moved up on us,” said McKeage, a 33-year-old from Gorham who is looking for his first championship since winning the Wildcat division in his rookie season 16 years ago. “We’ve got to keep doing what got us there. Make everybody beat us and not beat ourselves.”

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McKeage’s closest pursuers include the defending track champion, Mike Rowe of Turner; Bill Rodgers of Old Orchard Beach; and David Oliver of Standish.

Until the last couple of weeks, Rodgers and Oliver seemed out of the chase.

Rodgers, seeking his first championship in 16 years of racing, pulled within 15 points of McKeage after finishing among the top three finishers in his last two starts.

“I’ve had a good car all year,” he said. “It’s just that the stars haven’t lined up for us until lately.”

Until recently, Oliver, looking for his first Pro Series championship since 2002, also appeared out of contention.

“I kind of threw in the towel for the season about a month ago,” he said. “But it’s now mathematically possible and, if it’s mathematically possible, you’ve got to race for it.”

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In the Sports Series, Chris Smith of Buxton leads Donnie Colpritt of Scarborough by 14 points.

“It would be really comfortable if we had one race,” said Smith, a Scarborough native who won Sports Series championships in 2003 and 2004.

After winning last Saturday night’s 35-lap feature, Colpritt jumped from fifth to second in the standings.

In the Wildcats, Dan Wink of North Berwick holds a 23-point lead over Alby Ovitt of Barrington, N.H.

In 2003, Wink won the Wildcat division at Beech Ridge by one point.

“I hope I win it by a little bit more than one point (this year),” he said. “I don’t want it to be that close. I’ll just do what I can to keep my nose clean and keep the car going in the right direction.”

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Last Saturday night, Wink widened his lead over Ovitt.

“Last week we had motor trouble and finished 13th, and (Wink) finished third,” Ovitt said. “We’ve got the problem fixed now. But we’re going to have to be flawless the next two weeks in order to win it all.”

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com

 


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