Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

September 28, 2012

Local Motorsports: Wiscasset Raceway's ready for the public after volunteers clean up

By Paul Betit pbetit@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

The new owners of Wiscasset Raceway scheduled a "fun" day of racing for Oct. 20 at the banked oval.

"We want to show that the racetrack is open," Vanessa Brown said. "It's not closed, and it will continue to operate."

Richard and Vanessa Brown of Kingfield paid $130,000 to purchase the track, which has been closed for the past two summers, at a foreclosure auction in July.

"We're still working on plans for next season," she said. "We've got a lot of rules to write, and a lot of decisions to make."

Jordan said the October race also will be held in commemoration as an all-volunteer event that was held last October. That event drew 167 cars in a wide variety of racing divisions.

"We'll look at the list of drivers and hopefully will come up with divisions everybody can race in," she said.

Racing is scheduled to start at 11:05 a.m. on Oct. 20 for mini-stocks, a variety of eight-cylinder racing divisions and four-cylinder enduros.

Entry fee for racing teams is $5 person. Admission fee is $5 per person.

Last Sunday, more than 200 volunteers showed up at the track to participate in a clean-up day, Jordan said.

"They mowed the grass. They painted and fixed the bleachers. They turned a hayfield into a racetrack. It was wonderful," she said.

CHAMPIONSHIPS IN two of the three Pro All Star Series North's racing series will come down to the final race of the season Sunday at Oxford Plains Speedway.

In the Super Late Models, the regional racing circuit's top racing division, only eight points separate Travis Benjamin of Morrill from Cassius Clark of Farmington. Defending champion Johnny Clark of Hallowell trails Benjamin by 54 points.

As of Thursday night, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway regulars Bill Rodgers of Old Orchard Beach and Corey Bubar of Windham were among the 19 drivers entered in the race.

In PASS North's Sportsmen Division, Carey Martin of Denmark will have to counter challenges from Craig Smith of Waterboro and Joe Pastore Jr. of Gorham to claim his third title. Martin leads Smith by 10 points, while Pastore trails the leader by 12 points.

Heading into the final race of the season, Andy Shaw of Center Conway, N.H., holds a 30-point lead over Alan Wilson of Hebron in PASS North's Mods Division. 

THE CHAMPIONSHIP has yet to be decided in American Canadian Tour for Late Models.

This weekend, ACT racers from the United States and Canada are heading to Barre, Vt., to run the 200-lap Milk Run at Thunderbowl, which is a non-point race.

Wayne Helliwell Jr. of Dover, N.H., takes a 12-point lead over seven-time champion Brian Hoar of Williston, Vt., into the final 200-lap race of the season, Oct. 6 at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

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

pbetit@pressherald.com

Twitter: PaulBetitPPH

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