OXFORD – Jean Paul Cyr survived multiple restarts and a late-race charge from Roger Brown to capture the ACT Late Model 100 at Oxford Plains Speedway.
Brown, of Lancaster, N.H., had a fast car all night and kept the pressure on Cyr the whole distance. The former ACT champion from Milton, Vt., started on the pole and led every lap to dominate the event.
“Oxford has always been a pretty tough track for us,” he said. “It feels good to finally win one here. Everybody ran me real clean and I had a car that could stay up front. I knew Roger was there, but felt we could hold him off.”
Brown gave it everything he had, but fell just short at the line.
“This is an excellent run for us,” said Brown. “I thought I might have something for Jean Paul there a couple of times, but every time we’d get up along side of him, we’d get another caution.
“It was still a great night, we’ll take second and go on to Seekonk next weekend.”
Jamie Fisher came from 20th on the grid to claim third, while OPS regular Billy Childs Jr. and Dave Wilcox made a stellar drive up from 36th on the grid to round out the top five.
Twelve cautions slowed the event, most for minor incidents. The only major scare came just five laps in when the leaders encountered a car sideways in the backstretch. One car burst into flames upon contact but the driver was uninjured.
Turner’s Shawn Martin ran in the top three during the early going but was involved in that early melee and spun out of contention.
This was the tiebreaker in the ongoing battle between the Vermont-based ACT regulars and the OPS weekly Late Model Stock competitors. While Maine-based drivers ran among the top 10 most of the night, it was a Green Mountain boy on top at the finish.
Shawn Knight, Rick Thompson, Kim Tripp and Jim Robbins were also feature winners on Maine-ly Action Sports night at the 3/8-mile oval. The Oxford Networks Pro Stock division had the evening off to prepare for today’s 32nd annual TD Banknorth 250.
In early action, Robbins took the lead from Craig Moore on the ninth circuit and cruised to victory in the 30-lap Mini Stock feature. The Dixfield driver started fifth and survived one restart to notch the win, while Don Mooney came from seventh to claim second and Dave Mooney finished third. Livermore’s Larry Melcher and Ted Audet completed the top five.
Tripp came from 14th to overtake early leader Skip Turner on Lap 11 and post a win in the first of two 20-lap Strictly Stock features. Turner outraced Ray Pillsbury for second while Jeff Merrill and Tommy Tompkins rounded out the top five.
Thompson battled side-by-side with Ben Alden for several laps before taking control for good on the 16th lap to claim the second Strictly Stock feature. Poland’s Phil Mitchell stayed within sight of the leaders the whole race and finished second, while Guy Childs claimed third. David Vaughn came from outside the top 10 to secure fourth, while Roy Weymouth completed the top five.
Knight posted his third victory of the 2005 season in the 35-lap Limited Sportsman feature. Knight held off a hard-charging Dennis Spencer Jr. to take top honors, while Carey Martin recorded his first third-place finish of the year. Tommy Ricker and Kenny Harrison kept their noses clean throughout the event to fill out the balance of the top five.
Comments are no longer available on this story