Less than a week after destroying the front end of his car while trying to qualify for the TD Bank 250, Windham teenager Brad Babb will be back on the track for tonight’s American Canadian Tour 150-lap race for Late Models at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough.
“We had to put a new front end clip on it,” said Babb, who graduated from Windham High School last month. “It was a long week of work, but we got it back together.”
Last Sunday, Babb slammed into the wall in front of the main grandstand at Oxford Plains Speedway after colliding with Brett Wheeler of Waterbury, Vt., during the sixth qualifying heat of the 250.
Babb’s father, Bobby, was behind the wheel Friday to test the car at Beech Ridge, the family’s home track for three generations. Under ACT rules, drivers can’t test their cars on the track during the week prior to a race.
“He’s not used to driving ACT cars, but my father thought (the car) was good,” said Brad Babb.
Babb, 18, already has raced twice at Beech Ridge this season. On July 14, he won a 40-lap feature in the Pro Series division. On July 2, he finished second in that same division.
“It definitely helps knowing how to drive on a track,” he said. “You can tell what a car needs when you know your way around the track.”
Babb, ACT’s reigning rookie of the year, is among several young drivers from the Late Model tour who are expected to run in tonight’s race.
Austin Theriault, a 17-year-old from Fort Kent who finished third in the TD Bank 250, also will race, as will Pittston’s Ben Ashline, this year’s top ACT rookie.
ACT is making a stop at Beech Ridge for the third consecutive season.
Joey Polewarczyk of Hudson, N.H., won there in 2010, and seven-time ACT champion Brian Hoar of Williston, Vt., won in 2009, when ACT returned to the track after a long absence.
Racing starts at 6 p.m. In addition to the ACT race, there will be racing in the Pro Series, Sports Series, Roadrunners and Wildcat divisions.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH
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