OXFORD – Joe Hutter was feeling lucky on a warm summer night. The Oxford native was running in fourth place in the late stages of Saturday night’s Strictly Stock 100 at Oxford Plains Speedway, when he received a surprise gift.
Race leader Sumner Sessions spun out of contention on lap 90, with the second- and third-place cars also spinning as they exited turn four.
Hutter drove through the fracas to take over the lead, then held on to notch his first win of 2005.
“I guess I was just in the right place at the right time tonight,” said Hutter. “I feel bad for Sumner, he had this thing won until he spun. I’m glad I was in a place to capitalize, this feels great to be standing here.”
The event was slowed by five cautions and saw three different drivers lead a lap or more.
At the drop of the green, Keith Stuart led the field down into turn one. Skip Tripp, winner of his qualifying heat earlier on, came from 11th on the grid to take over the point on lap 21, then Guy Childs of Turner worked lapped traffic to his advantage and claimed the lead just two laps later.
As David Vaughn and Tripp battled for the lead through turns three and four on the 43rd circuit, Sessions sailed out around the outside and beat the duo to the stripe.
That put the Norway driver up front, where he stayed until lap 90 when the race took its dramatic swing. As Sessions worked into turn three, he made contact with another car and spun out of contention. After leading 47 laps, his run up front was over in an instant.
Tommy Tompkins, Chuck Colby, Steve Bennett Sr,. and Rich Sirois were also feature winners.
And for the first time in 2005, the program ran without a threat of rain in mild temperatures, much to the delight of those in attendance.
Sirois recorded a wire-to-victory in the 30-lap Mini Stock feature. The Leeds driver started outside the front row and outraced polesitter Craig Moore into turn one, then easily held off all challengers and survived a restart to notch the victory.
Don Mooney stayed within sight of Sirois the entire distance, but settled for second, while OPS veteran Bill Childs Sr. finished third. Craig Wade of Peru and Jim Childs completed the top five respectively.
Bennett held off a hard-charging Kenny Harrison to capture the 35-lap Limited Sportsman feature. In one of the night’s most competitive races, Harrison, who was gunning for his third straight win, ran the outside lane for several laps and threatened to pull it off. Divisional strongman Carey Martin ran his usual smooth race to finished third, while Jerry Harrison and Doug Poland rounded out the top five.
Colby came from deep in the field to grab his second win of the season in the 40-lap Late Model Stock feature. Travis Adams grabbed the early lead and checked out on the field. The top four cars quickly separated themselves from the field as Colby was working his way toward the front. Carey Martin ran up front all night and claimed second, while Jon Brill finished third. Adams faded slightly in the waning laps and claimed fourth while Donnie Wentworth completed the top five.
Tompkins took the lead from early race leader Kevin Colby and held on to notch his first victory in the Oxford Networks Pro Stock feature. Tompkins had the crowd on its feet with a thrilling, side-by-side performance as he dogged Colby for the lead. After struggling through the first couple of races, the Pro Stock teams ran with only one caution in the high-speed, 50-lap affair. Andy Shaw worked his way up from 11th on the grid to claim second, while former division champion Ricky Rolfe finished third. Tim Brackett of Buckfield and Topsham’s Bill Whorff Jr. rounded out the top five in a clean, competitive race.
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