Liberty’s Dave St. Clair used to drive a 10-wheel diesel truck full of potatoes or watermelons to the south, modify his truck, head to a NASCAR track and race it. Then he’d bring a load home with him.

“We used to get the trucks up to 100 miles an hour,” recalled St. Clair.

He meant during the race, not the trip home.

St. Clair said he won twice at Rockingham (N.C.) with his GMC 9500.

“It paid five grand to win. That was big money to us. But we’d spend all of that before we left,” said St. Clair.

The man who goes by the nickname “Boss Hogg,” the name of the villain on the old “Dukes of Hazzard” television show, is just racing his Oldsmobile these days. That’s when he isn’t attending to business at Wiscasset Raceway, which he owns.

The man with an eighth-grade education has done OK.

In addition to the raceway, he also owns Dave’s Auto Parts in Montville and manages to race six to eight times in Florida during the winter before racing his car during the spring and summer months in Maine.

“I started with nothing so there was nowhere to go but up,” said St. Clair, who had a variety of jobs after finishing eighth grade in Appleton.

He loves the challenge of racing.

“I just like to go fast, I don’t know how to explain it,” said the 50-year-old St. Clair. “When the car’s going good, it’s a lot of fun.”

He also likes owning the raceway.

“You have to like it to put up with that many people,” said St. Clair. “I enjoy it 99 percent of the time. All the racers like the track. The layout is a little tough. It’s up on a hill and the pit area is lower than the track. I can’t afford enough fill [to even it out].”

He has made a lot of improvements to the track since buying it in 1991, including paving the track and the pit area.

“The pit area is three times bigger than it was when we bought it. We built some new concession stands and some new bathrooms,” he said.

“We work on it all the time,” added St. Clair who pointed out that there is a lot of general maintenance involved like cutting the grass and painting.

St. Clair has been involved in racing for 33 years.

He used to attend races and after watching one at Unity Raceway when he was 17 years old, St. Clair and friend Jack Light decided to obtain a car and get involved in the sport. Doug Ripley, another friend, also helped out.

During his career, St. Clair has won points championships at Unity, Wiscasset and Speedway 95 in Hermon.

“I don’t race for points any more,” said St. Clair. “We have racing at Wiscasset on Saturday nights so I’m there [overseeing them]. I race somewhere else on Sundays.”

St. Clair’s affair with racing is a “family deal.”

Dave and Sandra St. Clair’s son, Puncin, races at Wiscasset as does son-in-law Jerry Reynolds. Reynolds is married to Tammy St. Clair.

Another kind of family are the guys he has seemingly raced forever: 50-something alumni Ralph Nason and Stan Meserve.

“There aren’t too many of us old guys left,” said St. Clair. “Stan and Ralph have been doing all of the winning lately and I’m hoping it’ll rub off on me. I haven’t won in two years. I’d like to win one this year.”

Wiscasset Raceway

Owner: Dave. St. Clair

Length: .33 of a mile

Featured events: Coastal 150, July 19; Boss Hogg Super Street 100, Aug. 16; 100-lap `Hogg to Daytona’ Pro-Stock race, Sept. 26

Track analysis: Fast track in which drivers can carry good speeds through the corners. That can make it extremely challenging. Drivers have to be careful coming off turn two because the wall comes up very quickly. It has a sense of danger but is considered an enjoyable track by the drivers. Drivers can pass on it and race side-by-side.

APRIL

18: Regular racing series, 2 p.m.; 25: 100-lap pro stock

feature, noon MAY

2: Regular racing series, 2 p.m.; 9: regular racing series (double points) 6 p.m.; 16: 100-lap Limited, 6 p.m.; 23: Bruce Kane Memorial regular racing series, 6 p.m.; 27: regular racing series, 6 p.m. JUNE

6: 75-lap strictly stock, 6 p.m.; 13: regular racing series, 6 p.m.; 20: 50-lap Heavy, regular racing series, 6 p.m.; 27: regular racing series, 6 p.m. JULY

3: regular racing (double points), 6 p.m.; 11: 50-lap lite, 6 p.m.; 18: 100 lap super street, 6 p.m.; 19: Coastal 150, noon; 25: regular racing series, 6 p.m. AUGUST

1: regular racing series, 6 p.m.; 8: regular racing series, 6 p.m.; 15: regular racing series, 6 p.m.; 16: Boss Hogg Super Street 100, 2 p.m.; 22: regular racing series (double points), 6 p.m.; 29: 100 lap strictly stock, 6 p.m.; SEPTEMBER

5: 50-lap limited, 6 p.m.; 12: O’Connor GMC 100 lap super street, 2 p.m.; 19: regular racing series, 2 p.m.; 26: 100 lap Hogg to Daytona Pro Stock, noon OCTOBER

3: Crazy Day 50-lap heavy, 50-lap lites, Demo Derby, hot dog race, power-puff race, noon