OXFORD — Second-generation driver T.J. Brackett took the lead from Shawn Knight on lap 22, survived four restarts and held off former champion Shawn Martin to claim the Q-97.9 Late Model Trophy Dash Saturday night at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Points leader Tim Brackett ran almost as fast as his son, earning a solid third place finish. Last week’s winner, Corey Morgan, converted the momentum built the last few weeks into a fourth place effort, while Tommy Ricker completed the top five.

Corey Williams, Ryan Hewins, Darrell Moore and Kurt Hewins were also feature winners.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in Victory Lane,” the younger Brackett said. “I took quite a few years off from here and raced at Beech Ridge. This is a lot better than Victory Lane down there, I can tell you that. I may not have any sponsors, but I still have a lot of people to thank. First and foremost is my father, I could never be here without him. I’m proud to get a win here tonight, and I’m glad to see Dad have a great run now that he’s in the points lead. First and third makes it a pretty decent night.”

Martin backed up a solid performance the previous week with another solid effort. After a slow start, the Aroostook County native has really turned the corner in recent weeks.

“We tend to be late bloomers for some reason at Team 94,” Martin said. “We’ve got to figure out how to get our program up to speed in the first half of the season. That battle up front tonight, that was short track racing at its finest. I’m sorry to see all those cars wrecked, we need to have that type of driving end right away. There’s really no need for everybody to tear up their equipment like that.”

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Finishing sixth through 10th in the Late Model feature were Carey Martin, Dave Farrington Jr., Ricky Rolfe, J.T. Thurlow and Gary Chiasson. Five cautions slowed the pace, the worst of which brought out the red flag at lap 38 for a multi-car crash on the front stretch. While none of the drivers were injured, it did take out a lot of fast cars. Early leader Shawn Knight and Ben Ashline both had their cars towed away on the wrecker.

With just three more points races remaining, Brackett, Hewins and Marshall will look to sew up their respective divisional titles in the next two weeks.

In earlier feature action, Williams powered around Dwayne Booth on lap four and pulled away to a convincing victory in the Truck division. The driver from Sumner has finished second on several occasions in 2010, but put it all together this time. Walter Knight edged Jerry Stevens at the line for second, while Jeff Schmidt and Herb Farrar completed the top five.

“The truck hasn’t been running all that well this season,” Williams said. “Believe it or not, my girlfriend and I finally got it figured out within the last week. It handled great once I got out front, and it feels pretty good to have held them off tonight.”

Hewins went wire-to-wire in a 20-lap sprint for the Runnin’ Rebel division. The driver from Leeds has been one of the top guns in this entry-level Acceleration Series class, and proved his skills again with a dominant win. Matt Dufault wheeled his way from ninth on the grid to claim second, while Troy Jordan came from outside the top 10 to finish third. Jason Berry and Dustin Salley rounded out the top five.

“It’s a lot easier when you start up front,” Hewins said. “It sure is fun to be on the podium with these guys, they’re pretty fast. I pretty much tried to run away and hide tonight, I knew Matt and Troy would be coming once they broke free of traffic. I figure any time you can finish in front of the big guns, you’re doing something right.”

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Moore got the jump over Calvin Rose Jr. on a lap-19 restart and held off point leader Ashley Marshall to claim his second Mini Stock feature of the season. The driver from Mechanic Falls was the fifth different leader, following Jeff Moon, Kevin Bishop and Rose who all took turns on the point. Marshall added to his lead with a solid second place run, while Rose settled for third. Lewiston’s Jeff Beaule and Nick Coates completed the top five. Moore’s first win of 2010 came back on June 19.

“That was quite a race,” Moore said. “I had my hands full keeping Ashley behind me, he’s always fast but thankfully he ran me clean tonight. We’ve got a ton of talent in this class this year, so any victory is one to be savored.”

Hewins kept his incredible summer hot streak alive by posting his seventh Strictly Stock victory of the season. The veteran from Leeds powered around the outside of Zach Emerson coming down the front straightaway on lap 15 and was never challenged. Emerson hung on for second, while early leader Rick Spaulding came home third. Last week’s winner Jim Davis Jr. backed up his victory with a solid fourth-place run, while former champion Larry Emerson rounded out the top five. Three cautions slowed the pace, none for serious incident.

“There was something on the track in the second groove that didn’t get cleaned up,” Hewins said. “But it was the same for everybody, and we got through it without too much trouble. I think Larry Emerson is upset with me, I was way up underneath him. I didn’t mean to do that, and I hope he’ll forgive me. The car was a rocket again tonight, this is the kind of season every driver dreams about.”


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