SCARBOROUGH – Harold “Bub” Bilodeau, a three-time NASCAR Pro Series champion at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, died Saturday night of an apparent heart attack immediately following the conclusion of his 40-lap feature race.

Bilodeau, 53, of Standish, ran near the front of the pack throughout the race before finishing sixth, according to a speedway spokesman.

After the checkered flag, Bilodeau exited the track through the Turn 2 pit gate, the official said. When Bilodeau’s car stopped shy of its pit pad, a member of his crew looked through the driver’s side window and found Bilodeau unresponsive.

Speedway rescue personnel removed Bilodeau from the car and performed life-saving measures, but were unable to revive him.

The Pro Series feature was the next-to-last scheduled race of the evening. Rain forced postponement of the final event, the spokesman said.

Saturday was the second race of Bilodeau’s 35th season of short-track competition in Maine.

He was best known as the driver of the No. 7, 9 and 87 late models at Beech Ridge, where his career was near its peak at the time of his death. Bilodeau won back-to-back championships in 2007 and 2008.

Mike Rowe of Turner dethroned him last season. The track official said that Rowe and Bilodeau spent several laps racing side-by-side early in Saturday’s feature. Rowe went on to finish second.

The spokesman added that Rowe, who participated in an on-track autograph session after the race and was unaware of Bilodeau’s death, was “devastated” by the news.

Trevor Sanborn, 22, of Parsonsfield, won the main event for the second straight week.

“The only thing that I can think of is that it just feels weird. You never, ever expect something like that to happen, and when it does it’s a total shock,” Sanborn said.

“I knew Bub really well,” he added. “I bought my first car from him in 2003, and he worked with me to help me out and set the car up and all of that. We had our ins and outs over the years, that’s for sure, but I always liked him. It’s really hard to believe that this has happened. We’re all just thinking about his family right now.”

Bilodeau spent most of the 1990s as a weekly competitor at Oxford Plains Speedway, where he was a 12-time feature winner and finished as high as second in the point standings.

He also competed briefly on the American-Canadian Tour and Pro All Stars Series before returning to his home track in recent years.

In a 2009 feature story on NASCAR.com, Beech Ridge owner Andy Cusack said of Bilodeau, “I remember watching him when he was starting out in the street stocks 30 years ago. Now he’s at the top of his game in our top division. He’s a tenacious competitor. He’s serious about what he does on the track. At the same time, he enjoys it and has fun with it.”

Bilodeau’s death was the second by a Maine driver due to a medical condition in the last year.

Warren “Ikey” Dorr III, 56, died of an apparent heart attack in his car during a street stock race at Speedway 95 in Hermon. Coincidentally, Sunday was the one-year anniversary of Dorr’s death.

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