Burgess posts second straight win Wildcat points lead at Unity expected to be shuffled after Saturday feature

UNITY – With 10 points separating the top three drivers in Unity Raceway’s Wildcat division, it didn’t take long after the two heat races to realize that the names at the top of the standings could be a little different by the end of Saturday night’s 50-lap feature.

Rick Burgess Jr., who was second in the point standings after a win last week, won the pole in the first heat race.

Bill Bowley, who was four points behind Burgess, started fourth. Adam Gilman, fourth in the standings, had the third starting position. Andy Migliore, 10 points behind Gilman, started fifth. James McGarey, the points leader, was starting seventh.

Burgess emerged from the tight field again this week, and there’s bound to be some shuffling in the standings. The 20-year-old Waterville resident led from start to finish to claim his second straight victory, while Gilman came in second and Henry Mellows was third.

“That’s what we needed right there. We’re coming,” Burgess said after he pulled his Camaro into victory lane and was informed that McGarey finished in fourth place.

“I tried not to think about [the standings],” he added. “Too many bad things happen when I do, so I just try to run my own race every race and do the best I can.”

Burgess was never seriously challenged and ran strong in both the heat and the feature.

“My car handled excellent,” he said. “It’s down on power and I don’t know why. I got enough to win, though, so I’m happy. I’m glad I’m here. … It’s been awesome this year. I couldn’t ask for more.”

While Burgess and Gilman were running 1-2, there was plenty of movement behind them. Bowley and Migliore had been in third and fourth, respectively, and trying to make moves, but got into an incident in lap 34 and were sent to the pits for a lap.

With those two down a lap, Gilman said he didn’t feel anymore at ease because of who he saw in his rearview mirror.

“You have Henry Mellows, who runs consistent all the time, and you could see him coming,” said the 26-year-old from Canaan.

Mellows ran in the middle of the pack until Bowley and Migliore’s trip to the pits gave him some room to move. He overtook Shawn Knox and Marty LeBlanc on the 37th lap, and picked off McGarey on lap 39.

Knox finished fifth overall. Bowley was 18th.

Gilman started third, but early on moved past Keith Fuller, who started next to Burgess.

Gilman may not pick up a spot in the points standings, but his second-place finish may make things closer. He was 62 points out of the top three entering Saturday’s race.

“There isn’t 70 points between fifth and first and it’s going to come down to the last few races of the year to see who finally takes the lead,” Gilman said in victory lane. “Anything can happen out here. It’s a rat race around here.”