2008 Ladies Division champion Rhonda Lyford of Winterport was back in victory lane Wednesday night at Speedway 95 as she led all 25 laps of the first of three extra points races in the Ladies series for 2009. Lyford had to work for the win as she held off a hard challenge from last week’s winner Shelby Kimball from Cornville. Kimball stayed close to Lyford for most of the event, but a loose handling car and a transmission that slipped out of gear with 5 laps to go prevented a close race to the finish. Kimball recovered to finish second, with Nicole Smith of Clifton coming back from an early race spin in turn one to take the third place trophy home. Becky Elston of Carmel and Kayla Allen of Bucksport rounded out the top five. Lyford also won the qualifier, which put her on the pole for the feature event.
Jim Carr Jr. of Clifton continued to be the man to beat in the pick up truck division as he won a hard fought battle over Peter Drake of Holden to tak the win. Drake settled for a second place finish after battling with Carr oft the first half of the event, then having to hold off Dana Harlow of Bucksport at the end. Harlow was up to Drake and challenging to go by when the checkered flag fell. Harlow finished in third, with Hermon’s Brett Crosby and Andrew Crosby finishing fourth and fifth. Carr also won the 10 lap qualifier in the truck division after an 8 lap side by side race with Harlow for the win.
In the Little Enduros, Donnie Blanchard of Bangor kept his Honda out front for the entire 20 lap distance, but had to keep an eye in his rear view mirror as Veazie’s Kyle Gallant was right there, waiting for any opportunity to take the lead away. Gallant kept his black #9 in the second spot all the way and finished there, behind Blanchard. Hermon’s Andrew Crosby had his first podium finish in a long time as he brought the 62 home in third, just a car length or two behind Gallant. Robert Mushero of Scarborough, in a new #72, finished in fourth with Newburgh’s Paul Higgins in fifth. Higgins and Mushero swapped the fourth and fifth positions several times over the final laps, as they raced hard to the finish. Newburgh’s Darren Durrell won the qualifier, but fell back in the feature as his ride appeared to suffer some mechanical ailment in the middle portion of the race.
Duane Walton was again out front when the checkered flag fell on the Big Enduro feature, but his win wasn’t an easy one for a change. Young Ricky Palmer of Winterport kept the pressure on Walton and even led for a couple of laps until he slid high in the marbles off turn four, allowing Walton to gain enough of a lead that Palmer couldn’t seriously challenge him again during the race. Palmer put on quite a driving exhibition as he wrestled with his car, sliding it out of turn four and back under control without losing control or the car. Palmer hung on for a runner up finish, with Shawn McNevin of Newport again finishing in third. Alan Cookson of Old Town finished fourth with Adam Gardner of Kenduskeag coming home fifth.
Wacky Wednesday racing continues on Wednesday July first, with the four regular divisions, and the start of the Racing Stars of Tomorrow division, designed for young racers from 11-14 running for 8 weeks, from July 1 through August 19.