`95′ seeks answers for small turnout> Midweek features will need more drivers

The crew at Speedway 95 had everything it needed to put on an outstanding 100-lap sportsman show: a big-money payoff, a night with no other tracks running, and a couple of thousand fans in the stands.

So where were the drivers?

When the starting grid for Wednesday night’s Walker Sportsman 100 pulled out onto the one-third-mile oval, it numbered a dismal 17.

Track officials had hoped for 25 to 30 cars to take the green flag. Del Merritt, one of the track’s three owners, admitted he was disappointed.

“I think we survived it fine, but I really believed in my heart that we could get 25 to 30 cars out there,” said Merritt. “Maybe we expected too much. I don’t know.”

With a track-record $11,000 purse and a raceless night elsewhere set up to attract the drivers, the stage was set. But the reasons the drivers weren’t there were many. could be figured out tenfold? or more.

Some drivers, including Speedway 95 regulars such as Kim Gray of Bar Harbor, Aaron St. Peter of Milford, and Clint Philpot of Hermon, missed the race because of mechanical problems. Another 95 regular, Bob Leach of Islesboro, missed the race because of family obligations.

Other drivers such as Jimmy Burns of Winslow, Art Beam of Levant, Steve Nelson of Albion, Marty Leblanc of Madison, Kenny Wright of Woolwich, John Albert of Limestone, and Ritchie Harris of Caribou are staples of sportsman racing in central and northern Maine. But where were they?

Drivers who are considered “from away” miss the races for a variety of reasons, ranging from mechanical problems to not having a competitive car to a feeling of not being treated fairly at the track.

“I think a big part of it is they’ve got such a reputation for not running a tight show,” said Stan Meserve of Unity, a longtime racer. “If you come in as a stranger, you don’t know what to expect.”

Meserve said part of the problem is a variation from the rules and track officials not wanting to lay down the law.

“They try to be everybody’s buddy,” Meserve said. “It’s just a little home town thing, but if a driver is going to travel up from Portland, he wants to know the deal when he leaves home.”

One other problem, Meserve added, is scoring.

“We still don’t know where we finished the race,” he said.

All in all, Meserve said, the track is getting better.

“Oh yes, they do try, but they have to be hit in the face with it,” Meserve said.

The track has loosened its tire rules in hopes of getting drivers from other tracks to make the trip up or down I-95 to race.

Merritt figures the Wednesday night, while a good night because no other tracks are racing, may have kept some people home because it was a school night and folks with younger children were scared off by a possible late-hour finish.

“Maybe if we bumped it back a few weeks, once school was out and tourists came in, we might have gotten a bigger crowd,” Merritt said.

Speedway 95 will try again on Wednesday, Aug. 24, with the Intown Auto 100.