Chubbuck thrilled by Series win> Driver locks up title

HERMON – When Stan Meserve’s Chevy Monte Carlo developed engine trouble on lap 21 in the fourth and final race of the Varney Auto Supply-Varney GMC-Isuzu Sportsman 100 series at Speedway 95 on Sunday, 19 sets of eyes perked up.

Meserve had won the last two series races and was leading the race after winning the pole.

Nineteen laps later, Woolwich’s Scott Chubbock found himself in the lead after second-place Duane Seekins had bumped leader Gary Smith.

Chubbock capitalized as he led practically the rest of the way, holding off a late challenge by Strong’s Tracy Gordon to win his 10th race of the year.

The 29-year-old Chubbock, who is originally from Bath, is a nine-time winner at Wiscasset Raceway.

Chubbock’s triumph also gave him the Sportsman 100 series championship as he amassed 384 points to edge Otis’ Jon Austin by six points. Peter Melanson of St. Albans finished third with 370 points.

Austin got knocked out of contention when his car got bumped by Jackman’s Russ Griffin on lap 33. Griffin was sent to the rear of the pack for rough riding. Austin eventually returned but finished 16th.

Stockton Springs’ Seekins was issued a black flag after the incident with Smith, who spun out, and was also sent to the back of the pack.

Bangor’s Smith guided his Monte Carlo all the way back to a third-place finish. Seekins climbed back to finish fifth behind fourth-place Adam Friend of Detroit.

“When Stan went out, it gave me a lot of incentive,” said Chubbock, who was driving a Camaro. “Nine times out of 10, Stan is going to be faster [than the rest of us].”

Chubbock, who works on destroyers at Bath Iron Works, was destroying the field as he led by as many as 25 car lengths on lap 68.

But he saw his lead diminished by yellow flags on the 70th, 84th and 95th laps. There were seven yellow flags and a red flag in the race.

Gordon made one last-ditch effort to overtake Chubbock and actually nosed ahead on the outside of lap 95 but Chubbock held his ground, stayed low and quickly regained the lead for good.

“The guys [in the pit] told me to stay underneath him because he was a little slower than me,” said Chubbock.

“He lifted me a little and he was faster than I was,” said the 30-year-old Gordon, who was forced to slide higher up on the track by Chubbock.

Chubbock called his win a “big thrill” and said his Camaro ran well throughout the day.

“The engine skipped a little but the car handled really well,” said Chubbock.

Gordon drove the last 80 laps without a hood as the result of an accident on lap 20.

Meserve, who made a hand signal to the other drivers letting them know his car had engine trouble, tried to ease his car out of the way “but the other cars jammed up behind me” causing the minor multi-car jam-up.

“Before the wreck, I was reeling in the leaders,” said Gordon, who drove a Monte Carlo. “But the car never felt right after that.”

For the 40-year-old Smith, an Orono native now living in Bangor, it marked the first time he has finished in the top three in the Sportsman series this year.

“Everything went perfect,” said a happy Smith.