OXFORD – Ricky Morse drove outside of polesitter Jason Larrabee on lap 12 and held off veteran Timmy Brackett to earn a spot in Victory Lane on Saturday in the Trophy Dash for the Late Models at Oxford Plains Speedway, only to have the win taken away when he failed the post-race inspection with an illegal carburetor spacer.

Brackett was declared the winner, becoming only the second repeat winner in the Late Model division this summer, joining Travis Adams.

Brackett came from outside the top 10 to challenge during the middle stages, taking second by lap 16. Donnie Wentworth, one of the hottest drivers all summer at Oxford, powered his way up from 15th on the 19-car grid to claim third, while Adams, the defening champion, and Jeff White completed the top five.

Dottie Patria, Guy Childs, Calvin Rose Jr. and Rick Spaulding were also feature winners on Megaprize Night at the 3/8-mile oval.
Morse, of St. Albans, would have been the ninth different winner in 12 races this year. With no cautions to slow the pace, the Late Model feature ran off in short order. Finishing sixth through 10th were Shawn Knight, Ricky Rolfe, Jimmy Childs, Kenny Harrison and Scott Luce. Morse’s margin of victory was less than a half second, and all but five cars finished on the lead lap.

“It can be easy when you start up close to the front,” Morse said after starting fifth. “I’d like to congratulate Tim and Donnie on their good runs, I saw them coming and knew they’d be a threat if they got to me. I’m getting old, but my crew chief and oldest son, Josh, he keeps at me to keep going. Next year, we’re going to let him pilot this thing a little bit.”

In earlier feature action, Patria powered around the outside of Tori Burgess on an early restart and easily pulled away for her sixth victory of 2009 and 13th in the last two seasons. Burgess held off Lewiston’s Missy Morgan for second, while Missy Blash and Annie Chartier completed the top five.

“It’s nasty-hot inside that race car tonight,” Patria said. “Missy and Tori were strong early, but I found some grip on the outside and the car ran great out front. We’ve had another terrific season with six wins, thanks to hard work from my crew. I was boiling out there, but winning makes it easier to cope.”

Childs got the jump over Dan Brown on a restart with just four laps remaining and pulled away to claim the Outlaw feature. The driver from Turner used the outside line to his advantage to get by Brown and survived one more restart with three to go. Steve Moon drove from 19th on the grid to finish second, while Tom Averill was third. Chris Burgess came from deep in the field to claim fourth, while Jerry Freve of Buckfield completed the top five.

Rose had all he could do to hold off points leader Justin Karkos, but managed to record his second straight Mini Stock victory of the season. The rookie hotshoe from Turner drove by Jimmy Childs on lap 21 and kept Karkos at bay in the closing laps.
Defending champion Ashley Marshall came from eighth on the grid to claim third in a wild, caution-filled event. Rookie Jake Burns of Gray ran a solid race to come home fourth, while Larry Melcher completed the top five.

Shane Kaherl brought out the caution twice, the second when he slammed the back stretch wall on lap five. Kaherl was briefly shaken but walked away uninjured.

“That was quite a rough race,” Rose said. “They were thrashing and banging the whole way, I’m just glad we weren’t in the middle of it. The car has been pretty fast the last couple of weeks, it feels good to stay out of trouble and get two straight wins. I hope to carry this momentum right through to the last race.”

Spaulding took a borrowed car and drove it into Victory Lane in the Strictly Stock feature. The rookie from Lisbon led wire-to-wire and survived one restart while posting the win. Skip Tripp battled his way from dead last to challenge Spaulding in the closing laps, but had to settle for second. Mike St. .Germain ran one of the best races of his season and brought the No. 777 machine home third, while division veterans Matt Williams and former champion Larry Emerson rounded out the top five.

“That was the way it’s supposed to go,” Spaulding said. “I didn’t know if we could keep Skip back there, but we pulled it off. I have to thank Nick Hoyt for letting me use this car, it sure ran great out there tonight.”

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