As Alan Wilson made his prospective winning move to the outside Friday night in the 40-lap Pro All Stars Series Modified feature at Oxford Plains Speedway, Sessions’ car caught the inside grit and gravel on the backstretch. The Norway veteran took a hard left-hand turn and slid off the edge of his home track.

The resulting third caution flag of the night made for an anti-climactic finish as Hebron’s Wilson held off Mike Carignan of Somersworth, N.H., to successfully defend his title in the race.

Wilson owns more than 50 wins in a distinguished OPS career that includes three Charger championships, many Pro Stock victories and a near-triumph in the TD Bank 250.

“I guess he spun his tires a little bit and he was gone,” Wilson said of Sessions. “I hated to see that happen. I’d rather finish second than have that happen.”

Travis Buzzell of Hollis was third, followed by Andy Shaw of Center Conway, N.H. and Poncho Darveau of Washington at the front of the 18-car field.

Sessions led from lap 3 until his fateful excursion on lap 36.

“Sometimes you can try a little too hard I guess. I think mine was getting better the longer the race went on and his might have gone away a little bit,” Wilson said. “That’s why I was saving a little bit for the end.”

PASS and its open-wheel division highlighted a nine-feature card to kick off TD Bank 250 weekend.

Other winners were Kurt Hewins (Strictly Stock) and brother Kyle Hewins (Outlaw ‘B’); rookie George Fortin (Mini Stock); Guy Childs (Outlaw ‘A’), Jeff Hebert (Runnin’ Rebel), Kevin Oliver (Sport Truck), Tasha Dyer (Ladies) and Gerard Cote (Renegade).

Kurt Hewins has been preoccupied lately with trying to get his Late Model for a one-shot challenge at the TD Bank 250 on Sunday.

That didn’t show Friday, when he took the lead from Rick Spaulding on Lap 13 and held off Zach Bowie for the 30-lap Strictly win.

“I’ve been in the garage for two weeks straight until 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning,” Hewins said. “I just hope we can get in Sunday, but this is pretty good, too.”

Hewins took a big bite from the division point lead of Matt Williams, who was beset by a mid-race tire problem.

Bowie’s second was his best in the division. Rookie Ryan Robbins overtook Hewins’ son, Ryan, late in the race to claim third.

Fortin, the top Mini Stock rookie, and Rob Greenleaf, the division’s runaway point leader, produced the best finish of the night in their 30-lapper.

After taking the lead from Jimmy Childs on a lap 10 restart, Fortin held off Greenleaf on another resumption with eight laps to go.

Greenleaf stayed in Fortin’s tire tracks and got just enough room to make his room to the inside at the white flag. The cars were nearly dead-even at the line.

Fortin returned the favor and reclaimed the top spot in Turn 2. When the leaders got back to the fourth corner, Greenleaf tried to repeat his dive to the low line. But Fortin blocked his progress and prevailed by three-quarters of a car length.

“We’ve worked on this car every week for eight months to get up here,” Fortin said.

Butch Keene edged Calvin Rose Jr. for third.

The Outlaw ‘A’ feature was a virtual Childs family reunion. Elder statesman Guy took over from son Mike with five to go, then held off great nephew Josh for the victory.

Matt Dufault was able to crash the party with a strong run on the outside, overtaking Mike Childs for third,

Kyle Hewins recovered from a near-disaster when the field stacked up on an aborted initial start. He spun to the infield without making contact with anything and was able to catch the field for the second try.

From there, he needed 11 circuits of the 20-lap distance to catch David Whittier and deny the young driver his first career win,

It was the second win of the season for Hewins, a rookie in this division after winning the 2009 title and numerous checkered flags in the Runnin’ Rebel class.

He‘s in a car owned by his Leeds neighbor Billy Childs Jr., last year‘s Outlaw champion and now a recent Late Model winner and contender in Sunday‘s TD Bank 250.

“I’ve got to thank Billy. He isn’t racing tonight, so he can really pay attention to this,” Hewins said. “We’ve got it going good. I‘d like to be in the other (high-point) race.”

Third-place Josh Toothaker matched Whittier with a career-best effort.

Hebert and his team turned a lousy night at the track into a terrific one in a hurry. After the engine expired in his car during practice, Hebert was offered a proven but well-worn car formerly driven by Corey Beaulieu.

“We went and picked it up, threw the windshield in, got here in time to race and went out and had some fun,” Hebert said.

Hebert grabbed the lead from Derek Cook on a lap 10 restart and left the field in his wake. Dustin Salley prevailed in a splendid scrap for second with Nate Dubuc.

Oliver was awarded the win when Farrar’s truck failed inspection. Dyer beat the Ladies in Josh Childs’ Outlaw for the fourth straight time. Cote took the lead from Will Dunphy late in the 10-lap Renegade rumble.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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