Drivers Continue Dominance In Week 3 Of Thursday Night Thunder At Beech Ridge

Story By: AMY HARROP / RPW – SCARBOROUGH, ME – After a cancelled Thursday Night Thunder last week due to inclement weather, both fans and competitors were more than ready to get back to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway for a full and exciting night of Thursday Thunder racing.

The Legends division was the first to take the stage, with Ed Getty leading the field to green. Following him were the #77 of Doucette, the #78 of Campbell, Parker Varney and Tylar Braunschweig. The #78 machine propelled to the front, leading the first lap of competition. But, the #70 of Braunschweig was moving quickly through the field, pushing himself to the 2nd spot by lap 3. By lap 4, there was a 4-car breakaway with the top 4 cars all fighting for position. The #64 Ledoux machine spun around in turn 3 on lap 4, bringing out the caution. After the restart, Kevin Girard Jr. had comfortably made his way up to 4th place by lap 6, searching for more. Trevor Sanborn was also moving up through the field quickly, making his way up to 3rd place by lap 9. On lap 11, Trevor Sanborn made a move to the inside of the #47 car for position, capturing the runner-up spot. But, just 3 laps later on lap 14, the #21 went around in turn 2, drawing out another caution. By lap 22, there was a 3-way battle for the top spot between the #47, #i29 and #19. Girard was able to come out on top, securing the lead in turn 3 on lap 23. Girard went on to win the feature, followed by Sanborn, Burgess, Campbell and Braunschweig.

The Mad Bombers JV division took to the track next, led by the #53 of Seth Leeman. Following Leeman were Bob Wilson, Kaleb Bean, John McConologue and Danny Wear. Seth Leeman quickly shot out to the lead upon the start of the feature, but he got bent out of shape in turn 3 on lap 1, sending Kaleb Bean to the lead. By lap 2, Danny Wear and Kaleb Bean were side-by-side, battling it out for the top position. Danny Wear managed to find his way around Kaleb Bean on lap 3, securing him the top spot. Noticeably struggling this week was Jimmy Dean, who has displayed dominance in the first two weeks of Thursday Night Thunder. Dean, a usual competitor at the front of the pack, fell to the back of the main pack by lap 10, struggling to find momentum. A competition caution was waved on lap 13, bringing the field back together. At the restart, Kaleb Bean made it a 3-way battle for the top spot alongside Danny Wear and Ed Johnson. Wear nearly went around in turn 2 on lap 13 while battling for position, but he was able to save his car and continue his fight to the front. Wear found himself on the outside of Kaleb Bean once again on lap 17, eventually clearing him for the top spot on lap 18 in turn 3. Jimmy Dean and Wade Kennedy went around in turn 2 on lap 24, leaving Dean with nowhere to go as he made hard impact with the dirt. No caution was brought out and Danny Wear went on to win the feature, followed by Kaleb Bean, Scott Eck, Garrett Lamb and Brandon Johnson.

Travis Gosselin led the Mighty Truck JV division to green in the next feature, followed by Potter, Ferguson, Curtis and Kimball. Travis Gosselin shot out to the early lead, but Nick Calvert found his way to Gosselin’s back bumper on lap 4, challenging for the top spot. Calvert eventually cleared him in turn 4 on lap 4 for the lead. The #22 of Tanner McDougall was showing strength, breaking the top 4 on lap 7 after starting dead-last in the feature. Calvert extended his lead, leading the pack by ½ of a straightaway by lap 10. McDougall further developed his voyage to the front, breaking the top-3 on lap 11 after passing Ferguson. A competition caution was brought out on lap 14 to bring the field back together, but nobody was a match for Calvert. Calvert went on to win the feature, followed by Tanner McDougall, Robert Ferguson, Jared Kimball and Will Potter.

The Junior Varsity Beetle Bug division took to the track next, with the #45 of Chris Case searching for his 3rd consecutive race win. Derek McKeen and Jim Emmons started on the front row, followed by the Darryl Quinlan, Alex Parachanian and Brandon Lizotte. McKeen took off with the early lead, but trouble was brewing. The #20 of Hunnewell went around in turn 4 on lap 4, drawing out the caution. McKeen once again pulled away with the lead at the restart. On lap 6, the #12 of Quinlan went around in turn 3, causing the #45 of Chris Case to get backed up, losing some time on the race track. No caution was brought out and Chris Case made his voyage back to the front, closing in on the leaders on lap 11. At the front of the pack, the #21 of Alex Parachanian had made his way to McKeen’s door on lap 17, eventually clearing him for the top spot on lap 18 in turn 4. Parachanian went on to win the feature, followed by Derek Mckeen, Chris Case, the #14 and Jim Emmons.

Courtney Cameron started on the pole for the Ladies League feature, followed by Kiyah Gammon, Mary Price, Holly Gain and Sara Libby. Courtney Cameron broke out into the early lead, leading the first lap. On lap 3, Holly Gain went around in turn 1, bringing out the caution. Mary Price propelled herself to the lead on the restart, pulling away from the pack. Shelby Brannon went around in turn 4 on lap 4, but the caution flag wasn’t waved. By lap 7, the #32 of Kaitlynn Leavitt had made her way up to second, but Betty Nelson was right there with her, fighting for the runner-up spot. Leavitt, Nelson and Price went 3-wide for the lead on lap 9 in turn 3. Betty quickly grabbed the lead, but she scraped the wall in turn 3 on lap 10, losing some track position and sending Kaitlynn Leavitt to the lead. Nelson found her stride again rather quickly, finding her way to Leavitt’s back bumper on lap 13. Shelby Brannon once again went around in turn 4 on lap 16, but it remained green. Betty Nelson and Kaitlynn Leavitt faced issues when Betty got into Kaitlynn on lap 17 in turn 3, drawing out the caution. Both drivers were sent to the back of the pack, making the final 3 laps a completely different ballgame for the other competitors. Cameron pulled away with the lead, but Leavitt was charging, marching her way up the outside before settling into 3rd place on lap 18. Courtney Cameron went on to win the feature, followed by Kiyah Gammon, Kaitlynn Leavitt, Sara Libby and Betty Nelson.

The #15 of Eric Cooper led the field to the start of the Mad Bombers Varsity feature, followed by Michael Dearden, Kirk Bean, Betty Nelson and Kaitlynn Leavitt. Cooper shot out into the early lead, but Kirk Bean was at his heels. With lap 5 came some on-track trouble, with Bean, Leavitt, Archer Bernard and others getting into a pile-up in the dirt in turns 3&4, drawing out the caution. John Wolfe shot to the lead at the restart, but the #27 of Chris Burgess was navigating through the field, finding his way up to 3rd place on lap 7. Gammon went on to capture the lead on lap 9, going around Wolfe for the top spot. A competition caution was brought out on lap 19 to bring the field back together, but nobody was any match for Jason Gammon. Gammon went on to win the feature, followed by Burgess, Libby, Wolfe and Lovejoy.

Weismann led the field to green in the Mighty Trucks Varsity feature, followed by Mark Grantham, Matt Curts, Brian Darling and Jeff Gillette. Grantham jumped out to the early lead, but the #1 of Curts was on his heels. Keith Petrin showed strength, navigating up to the third spot by lap 3. Jeff Gillete was also fighting hard, moving up to runner-up spot on lap 4. Gillette later cleared Grantham for the top spot in turn 3 on lap 7. Matt Curtis went around on lap 9 in turn 4, drawing out the caution. Jeff Gillette maintained his lead through the restart, eventually pulling away with the victory. Following Gillette were Keith Petrin, Matt Curtis, and Mark Grantham.

Randy Pimpare led the Beetle Bug Varsity division to the green for the final race of the night, followed by Gerard Cote, Todd Hubbard and Dave Moreau. Pimpare maintained the lead through lap 1, but Gerard Cote was on the move. Cote made his way to the outside of Pimpare on lap 3, scoring the top spot. By lap 10, Todd Hubbard had found his way up to 2nd place, fighting for more. Later that lap, Hubbard navigated to the front spot, capturing the lead. Hubbard went on to win the feature, followed by the #39, Randy Pimpare and Gerard Cote. This was Hubbard’s first Thursday Night Thunder win, and one for the books!

Thursday night was full of great weather, great racing and great family fun! Join us every Thursday at Beech Ridge (weather permitting) for Thursday Night Thunder! Racing always starts at 7:00 PM.