The Lovejoy’s Make It A Family Affair In Beech Ridge’s Victory Lane
Column By: AMY HARROP / RPW – SCARBOROUGH, ME – Fans piled into Beech Ridge Motor Speedway for the third week of NASCAR Nite Competition on Saturday — which also happened to be the season’s first autograph night. Children excitedly awaited the end of the night, where they would be able to visit all the cars on the front stretch and visit their favorite drivers from each division.
The excitement in the air transcended over to the race track, where drivers from each division put on a fantastic show for all track visitors, making it a night full of action-packed racing.
The Sport Series division kicked off the night with their qualifying heats. Notably missing from this week’s competition was last week’s Sport Series feature winner, Charlie Sanborn. Charlie was absent from competition this week due to his graduation from the University of Nortwestern Ohio, but he’s due back for more racing next week. The #48 of Gary Modugno and the #84 of Matt Dow led the field to green, followed by Richard Pelton and Ryan Villacci. From the get-go, drivers were at each other’s doors, battling for position. On lap 2 of the heat, a 3-wide battle for the top spot broke out between Modugno, Dow and Pelton. Pelton was able to break away into the lead on lap 3, never looking back. Pelton took the heat win, but Phillips and Modugno put up a good battle for the runner-up spot. Modugno ended up taking second, followed by Phillips and Villacci. Phil Pinkham led the field to green in the next qualifying heat, followed by Terry Merrill, Reggie Leeman, Mike St. Pierre and Frank Wear. Nick Campbell made his return to the track with this qualifying heat, starting 6th on the grid. Pinkham pulled away from the pack on lap 1, never looking back. Sally Gherardi, who came into the night with a 2-point Sport Series Points lead over Clyde Hennessey, turned heads as she marched her way up to 4th place after starting the heat at the back of the pack. Following Pinkham across the checkered were Merrill, Leeman, Gherardi and Frank Wear.
The Pro Series division took to the stage next, with Evan Beaulieu and Brandon Barker leading the field to the green, followed by Joey Doiron, Nick Cusack and Dan Winter. Coming into turn 1, Beaulieu, Barker and Doiron made it a 3-wide battle for the top spot. Barker pulled away with the temporary top spot, but Doiron was at his heels. Doiron cleared Barker on lap 6 in turns 3 and 4, eventually pulling away with the heat victory. Dan McKeage proved that he had a strong car — fighting his way up to 3rd place at the conclusion of the heat. Brandon Barker, Dan McKeage, Nick Cusack and Jacob Dore rounded out the top 5 in the heat, following Joey Doiron. John Peters lead the field to the green in the 2nd Pro Series qualifying heat, followed by Corey Bubar, Garrett Hall and Gary Smith. Peters immediately pulled away from the pack, but Reid Lanpher was on a mission. Reid marched his way up to second place on lap 5 after clearing Garrett Hall in turn 2. By lap 8, he was at Peters’ door, hungry for the lead. He eventually cleared him on lap 9 in turn 2, pulling away with the heat victory. Peters, Hall, Smith and Mike Rowe followed, rounding out the top five.
The Wildcats took to the stage next. Phil Chapman and Kristina Nadeau started on the front row, followed by Joe Morse, Ray Letellier and Dylan Varney. Nadeau pulled away with the lead, but the battle for second position was a heated one. Travis Lovejoy, Phil Chapman and Joe Morse took on a 3-way battle for the position at the start/finish line on lap 2. Travis Lovejoy pulled away with the spot, eventually clearing Nadeau for the top spot on lap 4 in turn 1. He went on to capture the heat victory, followed by Nadeau, Chapman, Letellier and Varney. Lyman McKeage started in the top spot of the next qualifying heat, followed by Travis Burrows, Chaz Briggs and Lewis “Dirty Lew” Anderson. Burrows pulled away with the lead, but Anderson quickly made his way up to the second spot. By lap 2, Adam Lovejoy had snuck his way into the top 5 — going from last to first in just two short laps. Travis Burrows drove away with the heat victory, followed by Lewis Anderson, Dave Cameron, Adam Lovejoy and Zach Nicholson.
The Sport Series division kicked off the night’s feature races with their 35-lap shootout. Richard Pelton started in the top spot, followed by Gary Modugno, Ryan Phillips, Ryan Villacci and Matt Dow. Pelton immediately pulled away with the lead, but the battle for second place was heating up. Villacci made his way up to second place on lap 11 after battling with Phillips for position for over 7 laps. Due to the close battle for second place, Pelton was able to pull away with a large lead — leaving an entire straightaway between him and the next-best car. By lap 30, Pelton was continuing his dominance, lapping the field. Campbell, who returned to competition after an extremely tough and emotional week last week, spun around in turn 4 on lap 31, bringing out a late-race caution. This gave the field an opportunity to get back together to see if anyone could edge out the #27 of Richard Pelton. Pelton chose the outside line for the restart, hoping to keep an edge over the #08 of Ryan Villacci. He was able to pull away with the victory, but Mike St. Pierre and Ryan Villacci put on a show for the fans as they were door to door coming into the Checkered. Pelton took home the win, followed by Terry Merrill, Ryan Villacci, Mike St. Pierre and Sally Gherardi. Pelton, in Victory Lane, stated, “I’m trying to win them all, but it’s a struggle. This class is tough.”
Joey Doiron lead the field to green in the Pro Series’ 40-lap feature, followed by Brandon Barker, Dan McKeage, Nick Cusack and Jacob Dore. The initial restart was called off, so the field had to back it down and try again. Doiron had the edge from the beginning, pulling away from the rest of the field. Lanpher, who drove away with the victory in his qualifying heat, found himself stuck in the middle of the pack during the beginning stages of the feature. He eventually found his stride after passing the #56 machine of Evan Beaulieu on lap 8. By lap 12, he had found his way into the top 5, but he wasn’t stopping there. After a battle for position between himself and Dan McKeage, Dore spun around in turn 4 on lap 16, bringing out the caution. Doiron brought the field to the green flag once again after the restart, but Lanpher was in hot pursuit, restarting in 4th place. By lap 33, Doiron and Lanpher were neck and neck, nearly spinning each other out in turn 2 while fighting for the top spot. Neither car was giving up an inch of the track surface. Doiron held the edge over Lanpher, winning the feature by just a few mere inches over the #56 of Reid Lanpher. After the finish was reviewed by track officials, it was decided that Doiron had won the feature by just 1/1000 of a second — a breathtaking finish for everyone on (and off) the track. This was the first win for Doiron, whose car has no title sponsor, since the 4th of July race last year. In his Victory Lane speech, Doiron praised Lanpher for his competitive but clean racing. He laughed, saying, “If he was going by me, he was going by me on the bottom.” He also thanked all of his friends, family and his fiancé for their constant support.
The Wildcats took to the track next for the final (and premiere) race of the night. Travis Lovejoy led the field to green, followed by Kristina Nadeau, Phil Chapman, Ray Letellier and Dylan Varney. Nadeau pulled away with the early lead, but Travis Lovejoy had caught up to her by lap 2, clearing her in turn 1. His older brother, the #2 of Adam Lovejoy, turned heads as he made his way up to fourth place on lap 4 after a 3-way battle for position with Lewis Anderson and Phil Chapman. Dave Cameron violently scraped the wall on lap 4 in turn 3, somehow managing to keep his car on course without bringing out the caution. The same couldn’t be said for Dylan Varney, who brought out the yellow on lap 4 after a spin in turns 3 and 4. Travis Lovejoy decided on the outside line for the restart with the #24 of Ray Letellier taking the restart on the inside. Lap 5 was met with more on-track drama with the #28 of Dave Cameron getting into the #81 of Lewis Anderson, drawing out another caution. The #21 of Zach Nicholson and the #37 of Phil Chapman also received damage from the on-track altercation. This was the second week of on-track issues for Lewis Anderson, following last week’s altercation with Cole Watson, who was noticeably missing from competition this week. Travis Lovejoy once again chose the outside line for the restart, pulling away from Ray Letellier and his big brother, Adam Lovejoy. Adam made his way up to second on lap 7, nipping at Travis’ heels. By lap 20, Adam had found his way to his brother’s door, the two fighting for the top position on the track. Travis edged out Adam for the victory, the two of them crossing the finish line sideways. Following the 2 Lovejoy brothers were Dave Cameron,
Jeremy Morais and Chaz Briggs. Not only are Adam and Travis brothers, Dave Cameron, the third place finisher, is their cousin. It was a family affair in Victory Lane by all means. When asked about how he felt about his big brother racing alongside him for the victory, Travis praised his brother. He commented, “You hate to see that #2 coming in the mirror…he is always fast.” A 1-2-3 family finish is something that you don’t see very often, so even in defeat, Dave Cameron and Adam Lovejoy were able to acknowledge the “cool” factor in the finish and praise Travis for pulling off the win.
After competition, all drivers pulled onto the frontstretch of the track for “Autograph Night”, which is a long-standing Beech Ridge tradition. Children, families and fans alike excitedly made their way from car to car, happy about the opportunity to interact with their weekend warriors. Many fans collected candy, goodies and signed hero cards as they made their way through the sea of cars. Some even jumped at the opportunity to take photos with the drivers and engage in friendly conversation. All drivers, no matter how they performed on the track tonight, were smiling and very interactive with everyone that came their way. In the end, fans are the people that drive the sport. Tonight, all Beech Ridge competitors returned the love/support and dedicated their time to the fans, ensuring that it was a night to remember for many.
Please join us next Saturday (6/17) at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough Maine for the Sport Series 100 and Wildcat 50! Racing action starts at 7:00 pm.
