Chubbuck’s strategy enables success at Unity Raceway

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UNITY – Albion’s Matt Lee knew he had his hands full with Wiscasset’s Scott Chubbuck in the 35-lap Pro Stock feature at Unity Raceway Saturday night.

Lee had taken the lead from fellow Albion native Steve Nelson on the 11th lap and Chubbuck stayed on his rear bumper until lap 30, when he squeezed underneath him and Chubbuck held him off over the last five laps to claim the checkered flag by one and a half car lengths.

Nelson finished third in the 14-car field.

“He was on me. I knew all I had to do was make one mistake and he was going to capitalize. And I made one,” said Lee, who is the points leader in the pro stock class at Unity. “I wanted to make him go by me on the outside but he got underneath me fair and square. That’s all it took.”

The 34-year-old Chubbuck, who has already locked up the pro stock division at Wiscasset Raceway, said he would have tried to pass on the outside “but it looked like Matt was pushing up in the middle [of the track] so there was no chance for me to get out there. I just kept the pressure on and waited for my time on the bottom.

“I had my nose inside him a couple of times earlier but I would have had to have made contact with him so I backed out. I waited until he could see me and accelerated past him,” said Chubbuck.

Chubbuck’s win was his seventh overall at various tracks this season. He was driving a 2000 Camaro.

“Scott’s one of the best drivers in the state. If you can come up and drive with him [you’re doing well],” said the 34-year-old Lee, who drove a 1999 Monte Carlo. “I enjoy racing Scott. It was a nice clean race.

“First would have been better but second ain’t bad,” added Lee.

Nelson, who is sixth in points, said he was satisfied with his third.

“We didn’t have anything for those two tonight. Maybe next week [we’ll be better]. We’ll tweak on the car a little bit. At least we didn’t get wrecked,” said the 47-year-old Nelson.

“We’ve been struggling to get the car going. It hasn’t been handling [well]. It hasn’t helped that we’ve been wrecked every other weekend. We can’t get the car dialed in,” added Nelson. “There hasn’t been a lot of respect down here this year. Everybody has been putting the bumper to everyone else.”

Lee’s second-place finish will boost his points lead over Winterport’s Patrick Thibodeau, who didn’t race Saturday. Lee led Thibodeau by 60 points entering the race.

Andy Saunders and Craig Anderson headed to the pits after just one lap because they collided during a hot laps practice session before the race and their cars were damaged.

In earlier races, Fairfield’s Joe Ritchey won the closest duel of the evening as he withstood a late challenge by Vassalboro’s Ed Drake to win the Sport Four race by half a car length.

It was Ritchey’s first visit to victory lane this season.

Points leader Willy Rood of Albion was third.

Waterville’s Ricky Burgess Jr. posted an impressive win in the Wildcat race, crossing the finish line almost half a lap ahead of runnerup Bill Bowley of Canaan.

Burgess took the lead on the first lap and cruised.

Keith Fuller was third.

Another impressive winner was Vassalboro’s Robert Green in the Charger class. He led from start to finish and won by 25 car lengths.

Clinton’s Tim Gerow was second and Tony Faulkingham was third.

In the Peanut division classes, it was Sidney’s Chet Hanscom and Shane Smith crossed the finish line one-two in the A group.

Hanscom, whose victory was his eighth of the season including six in the A group and two in the B bracket, is a 2000 graduate of Oakland’s Messalonskee High School while Smith is the sophomore at the school.

Dexter’s Ryan Davis, running just his second race of the season, took third.

In the B group, Benton’s Andy Turbovsky claimed his second trip to victory lane followed by Sidney’s Dixon Smith and Winslow’s Paul Shorette II.

Turbovsky drove to victory in bowling shoes.

“I can feel the pedals better with the thin soles in bowling shoes,” said Turbovsky.