NASCAR Night At Beech Ridge Had Something For Everyone

Column By: AMY HARROP / RPW – SCARBOROUGH, ME – Saturday night in Scarborough, Maine, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway hosted their 2017 NASCAR Nite season opener, drawing out a crowd of racing enthusiasts from all over the state of Maine. Excitement and chatter filled the stands as people filed into the track, ready for a new race season to begin.

During pre-race, cars and teams from all three division spread out throughout the large pit area, with drivers conversing with their own teams, other drivers, racetrack personalities and working tirelessly on their own cars as the clocked ticked closer to showtime.

Drivers from all 3 divisions eventually lined up in the our area, ready for their qualifying heats to began. Qualifying heats began promptly at 7:00, with the Wildcat division up first with 2 12-lap qualifying heats — the lineup for the qualifying heats was done by random draw. 5-time Wildcat champion Cole Watson dominated the first qualifying heat, landing him on the pole for the feature race. Fan favorite Lewis “Dirty Lew” Anderson was in the second qualifying heat, along with Chaz Briggs, Adam Loveoy and Dave Cameron. Cameron went ahead to win the second heat, landing him on the outside front row for his feature.

Next up was the Sport Series qualifying heats, with Sally Gherardi displaying dominance as she started on the front row, eventually leading all laps of the heat, securing her the pole for the future. The second Sport Series heat brought us the return of Charlie Sanborn III — the 3rd generation driver announced he is running a full-time season (minus one race) for the first time in a few seasons, after completing his education at the University of Northwestern Ohio. The #1 car of Sanborn got into an on-track incident with Matt Dow at the beginning of the feature, eventually bringing the car into the pits. The #8 of Clyde Hennessey went on to win the feature, securing him a spot on the outside front row for the feature.

Main event qualifying heats came next, with the Pro Series field taking the stage. This heat included the #21 of David Oliver, Garrett Hall, Mike Rowe and Dan Winter, all of which are experienced drivers in the division. This heat also marked the return of Evan Beaulieu to Beech Ridge — who took a two year hiatus from weekly competition at Beech Ridge. Garrett Hall pulled away with the win, but Nick Cusack managed to turn heads as he made a match to the front of the field from the back of the pack. Next up was the second qualifying heat, which was jam-packed with talented drivers, including Corey Bubar, “Naughty” #40 Dan McKeage, John Peters and fan-favorite Reid Lanpher, who’s been making moves all over the East coast, searching for dominance. The qualifying heat started with a hiccup, with the field having to redo the restart. This led to some contact as the field suddenly came to a slowdown — with John Peters and Reid Lanpher getting some damage. With parts hanging underneath the rear end of his car, Lanpher led his way to a win in the heat, securing him the outside pole in the feature.

The lights illuminated at the speedway as the Wildcat division took to the track with their feature with Cole Watson, Dave Cameron and Lewis Anderson leading the field to green. Adam Lovejoy turned heads as he navigated his way through the field after starting the race in the back of the pack. Lewis Anderson and Chaz Briggs battled for third place, and then Anderson had a later battle with the #2 of Adam Lovejoy. Dave Cameron managed to hold off Cole Watson for the victory. In his Victory Lane speech, Cameron thanked his friends and family for their support and dedicated his win to his step-father, who is in remission after battling cancer.

Next was the 35-lap Sport Series feature, with Sally Gherardi and Clyde Hennessey leading the field to green. Sally and Clyde were nose to nose in the beginning laps, but Sally kept her edge, leading the field. Sally retained this dominating performance until lap 25, where Hennessey found the rear bumper of her car once again. By lap 27, the two were side-by-side crossing the start/finish line. The feature ended with a stellar finish, with Gherardi beating out Hennessey by a nose — at best. She exuded confidence in her post-race interview, saying that she “Knew it was coming.” and that she “…didn’t expect anything else.” After leading all the laps in both her heat and feature, there was nothing not to be proud about.

The racing concluded with a 40-lap main feature from the Pro Series. Garrett Hall and Reid Lanpher led the field to green, followed by defending Pro Series champion Curt Gerry and Brandon Barker. At the conclusion of lap 1, Lanpher and Hall were still side-by-side, with Lanpher finally clearing the #94 car in turns 3&4 on lap 2. By lap 23, Lanpher was lapping the field one by one. The field was spread out all over the racetrack by lap 25 as Lanpher continued his dominance. Curtis Gerry caught up to Reid’s rear bumper by lap 34, when Lanpher got held up by lap traffic. The cars in the rear of the field weren’t making it easy for the leaders, battling to keep their laps. Although the two were close, Gerry ran out of time and Lanpher led the field to the Checkered. Garrett Hall, Gary Smith and Mike Rowe rounded out the top 5. In his post-race interview, Lanpher thanked Curt Gerry for his clean racing and praised his race car and team, saying, “I had a good handling race car — this thing has just been fast since day one.”

The first night of weekly competition began with dominating performances by both Sally Gherardi and Reid Lanpher. But, there are still 14 weeks of competition left — leaving drivers and teams plenty of time to fine tune their cars and grow as competitors.

Come out to the next event — June 3rd at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine. Qualifying heats begin at 7:00 pm.