After 14 years of racing hard and trying to win every race he was in. Alan Cookson Jr of Old Town finally made it to victory lane in the Big Enduro division at Speedway 95 in the 2009 Wacky Wednesday season opener. Cookson started on the outside pole, with Dwayne Walton of Carmel on the pole. Walton powered out to the early lead, but ended up in the pit early when the right front brake rotor disintegrated on his Ford Thunderbird, causing the right front wheel to fall off on the 14th lap. Cookson took the lead from there, and crossed the finish line first. Shawn McNevin of Newport finished a close second, with Winterport’s Ricky Palmer in third. Walton ended up fourth with John McCullough of Hudson fifth.

2008 Ladies Division champion Rhonda Lyford of Winterport picked up where she left off and led the Ladies feature from green to checker. Behind her, Nicole Smith of Clifton pulled a surprise pass with two laps to go to finish in second, ahead of Danielle Deluck, who finished third. DeLuck was riding in second for most of the race when Smith saw the 2 to go sign from the flagman. She immediately dove to the inside of Deluck going into turn one and made the pass for the second spot. Deluck tried to fight back, but her old tires just weren’t up to the task. Amy Houde of Howland finished fourth with Becky Elston of Carmel in fifth.

Veteran racer Jim Carr Jr. of Clifton led the way in the truck division’s return to Wednesday night racing after a couple of years in the Saturday night show. Carr led from the green to the checker, with a hot contest for second and third going on behind between Peter Drake of Corinth and Dana Harlow of Hampden. Drake finally held off Harlow for the second spot, with Harlow finishing third. Hermon’s Andrew and Brett Crosby finished in fourth and fifth respectively.

The Little Enduros got off to a good start for the season with a competitive field of cars and drivers looking for that opening night win.  Darren Durrell of Newburgh came ready to race and paced the field to the checkered flag. Another Newburgh racer, Paul Higgins chased Durrell for the entire distance, closing in on Durrell during the final two laps as they worked their way through slower traffic. Durrell was able to weave his way through the pack and hold Higgins at bay to pick up the win. Higgins was second with Bob Seger Jr. of Winterport in third. Andrew Crosby of Hermon drove to a fourth place finish with Ken Ogden of Seal Cove in fifth. The Little Enduro drivers also participated in the evening’s final event, the Double O race. Kyle Gallant of Veazie picked up that win, followed by Bob Mushero of Scarborough and Winterport’s Bob Seger Jr..