Veteran short track ace Dan McKeage used a bold three-wide pass to get by Larry Gelinas on lap 25 and pulled away to claim the 40-lap NASCAR Pro Series trophy dash Saturday night at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.

McKeage, of Gorham, was the track champion at Beech Ridge in 2010 yet hadn’t won a feature in three years. Gelinas, the 1996 Oxford 250 winner, settled for runner-up honors (over a second behind), while Waterboro’s Curtis Gerry filled out the podium in third. Dave Farrington Jr., of Jay, powered his way from thirteenth on the 18-car grid to secure fourth, and Vassalboro’s Justin Drake came home fifth.

Finishing sixth through tenth Saturday evening were Nick Cusack, Steve Carrier, Robbie Harrison, Dan Winter and Donnie Colpritt Jr. Reigning track champion Reid Lanpher wound up eleventh, with Garrett Hall of Scarborough and Westbrook’s John Peters placed twelveth and thirteenth, respectively.

In Sport Series action, Nick Campbell ran away from the field in a 35-lap contest. The Arundel-based driver led every lap en route to his first victory of 2016. Clyde Hennessey finished a distant second (over four seconds behind), while Gorham-based veteran Sally Gherardi wheeled her way up from eleventh to third at the stripe. Ryan Phillips of Buxton and Westbrook’s David Charest rounded out the top five.

Dave Cameron notched a victory in a hotly contested Wildcat feature. The driver from Alfred edged Naples-based veteran Cole Watson by a mere tenth of a second at the line, while Ed Connolly of Scarborough was glued to Watson’s back bumper in third. Adam Lovejoy (Alfred) and Ray Letellier (Buxton) put in solid efforts to complete the top five.

Lajoie wins K&N Pro Series at New Hampshire

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Third-generation racer Corey LaJoie led the final 34 laps and drove away from the field on a green-white-checkered finish to claim Saturday’s United Site Services 70 for NASCAR K&N Pro Series East teams at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

It was LaJoie’s first series victory since 2012, the year he recorded five wins on the way to earning a runner-up finish in the final point standings.

The victory came 20 years to the week after his father, two-time NASCAR champion Randy LaJoie, won a race on the famed ‘Magic Mile.’ A then-4-year-old Corey was with his father that day.

This time, LaJoie was the elder statesman, as the 24-year-old NASCAR Next driver held off runner-up Todd Gilliland, 16, and 17-year-old third-place finisher Justin Haley for top honors.

Kyle Benjamin started on the pole, led the first 38 laps and faded to fourth at the finish, while Fort Kent native Austin Theriault finished right where he qualified, in fifth, driving the Belgard/Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota Camry.

LaJoie was making his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start of the season, driving the No. 41 CarQuest Auto Parts Chevrolet for Ranier Racing. He started second alongside teammate Benjamin and took the lead from him on lap 39.

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It was sweet redemption for LaJoie, who suffered mechanical failure while running in the top 10 earlier in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series AutoLotto 200. LaJoie had come close to winning a NASCAR K&N Pro Series race at New Hampshire on two previous occasions. He was runner-up to Kyle Larson in 2012, and wrecked late in the running of the 2010 edition while battling for the lead.

Hunter Baize was sixth Saturday night, followed by Harrison Burton, Trey Hutchens, Ryan Preece and Tyler Dippel. With his finish, Haley was able to hold his lead of 40 points over Benjamin in championship standings with five races remaining on the schedule.

Payea claims ACT Propane Plus 150 at Seekonk

Scott Payea held off a hard-charging Dillon Moltz, getting the jump on a late-race restart and hanging on to record his second American-Canadian Tour (ACT) win of 2016 Saturday night in the Propane Plus 150 at Seekonk (Massachusetts) Speedway.

Payea, of Colchester, Vermont, had run a distant second to Windham’s Brad Babb for much of the race’s second half. When the twelveth caution of the night went up, for series point leader Nick Sweet’s spin on lap 141, it set up a showdown between Babb, Payea, Eddie MacDonald and Dillon Moltz.

After Babb got off to a strong restart, Payea began inching back up on the outside as the laps wound down. As Payea drew even with three laps remaining, MacDonald — who started last after arriving from New Hampshire Motor Speedway shortly before the green flag — dove three-wide on the backstretch, and contact among the frontrunners entering turn three allowed Payea to leap out to the top spot.

MacDonald and Babb continued bumping and eventually ended up in the turn two wall to bring out the red flag with two laps remaining. Payea then held off Moltz on the race’s final restart for the victory.

Moltz earned a season-best second-place finish, while Polewarczyk rebounded to finish third. Defending ACT Champion Wayne Helliwell, Jr. drove from the ninteenth starting position up to fourth. Local driver Nicholas Johnson completed the top five. Parent, Ryan Vanasse, Sweet, Bobby Therrien, and Mike Ziter rounded out the top-10. 


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