Wiscasset driver Chubbuck has car, will travel

There was a television show in the late 1950s, early 1960s entitled “Have Gun, Will Travel.” Richard Boone was the star of the series. He was a wealthy, mysterious man who doubled as a well-dressed gunman.

If Wiscasset’s Scott Chubbuck starred in a series about his life, you could call it, “Have Car, Will Travel.” He is a successful stock car driver who doubles as a race car builder.

The 31-year-old Chubbuck will be running in his 39th, 40th and 41st races of the season this weekend and he will enter those races with 11 wins and the pro stock points lead at Wiscasset Raceway.

Most drivers would be thrilled with 11 wins. But Chubbuck, who races all over the state and New England region, has had 14 wins in each of the last two seasons.

Still, he is happy with his 1998 campaign.

“I usually have one bad month a year and I had it in May this year. But we’ve been consistent ever since,” said Chubbuck, a Bath native who graduated from Morse High School in 1986.

Chubbuck enjoys racing but is quick to add, “I like working on the cars just as much as I enjoy driving them. We aren’t one of the biggest-financed teams and when we win a race, we feel good about it because, a lot of times, we beat people with a lot more money.”

Chubbuck, who also happens to be a shipbuilder at Bath Iron Works, figures he works on his Chevy Monte Carlo with his seven-man crew at least three hours a night.

“So many drivers just show up at the racetrack and go from there. We do our homework during the week. We go to the race with a plan,” said Chubbuck.

The car is owned by his crew chief, Harold Hinkley. Hinkley and Chubbuck have been together for five years.

Hinkley, according to Chubbuck, has played a vital role in his success.

“If the car needs something, he’ll get it for us. He keeps me motivated to race,” said Chubbuck, who also praised his crew.

Hinkley, in turn, said Chubbuck has the ability to “relate to what the car is doing.”

Veteran stock car driver Stan Meserve called Chubbuck a “good racer.

“He has a real good attitude. He really likes to race,” said Meserve.

Chubbuck, a divorced father of two, developed an interest in racing at an early age because his uncles, Mike and Roger Patterson, used to race.

He actually began racing when he was 20.

“I used to build all of my cars,” said Chubbuck. “This winter, I built a couple of cars that are racing in the Street Stock division at Wiscasset.”

Chubbuck would love to nail down his third Pro Stock title at Wiscasset this season and intends to race at Oxford Plains Speedway next season.

“I’d like to win a points championship up there,” said Chubbuck.

Would he ever consider giving the Busch North series a try?

“If somebody came along and said `Hey, will you drive my car?,’ I’d do it in a heartbeat,” said Chubbuck. “But so few people get noticed. I’m not headstrong for it. The reality is I like doing this. This will be fine.”