Big Dawg race may not return

Nobody has done more for Pro Stock racing in the state of Maine over the last three years than Tom Mayberry. Mayberry, a former racer himself, put together the Pro All Stars Series tour, which has flourished in its three years.

Established and successful Busch North drivers like Dale Shaw of Center Conway, N.H., and Strong’s Tracy Gordon switched allegiances and joined the PASS Tour this past season.

Mayberry, who is leasing Wiscasset Raceway this season, outdid himself Monday with the first 400-lap Big Dawg Challenge at Wiscasset.

Four hundred green flag laps is new territory to Pro Stock drivers in the northeast. It is 150 laps more than the state’s most prestigious race: the Oxford True Value 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway.

And the race itself was a gem. It became a fascinating battle of attrition.

There were some terrific late-race duels at the front, particularly the one between Shaw and Wiscasset’s Scott Chubbuck. Sam Sessions of Norway pocketed the $100,000 winner’s purse by blowing past Dave Gorveatt of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, on a restart with eight laps remaining.

The beauty of 400 green-flag laps is the pit crews take on added importance. And virtually all of the pit crew members are volunteers.

There were 19 cautions, so it wasn’t as though the pit crews had to change tires during green flag racing. But a lot of cars sustained damage and the duct tape and hammers were getting plenty of use in the pits. So the race became more of a team sport than it is during a regular 50-, 100- or 150-lap feature.

Mayberry was a proud father after the race although he speculated that the richest short-track race in Maine racing history may be a one-shot deal. When asked if it would be held again next year, Mayberry said, “I doubt it.

“I’ll give it some thought over the next couple of weeks. We expected 75-80 cars. We based everything based on 75 cars,” said Mayberry, who had just 48 cars vie for the 39 starting positions.

“The whole Pro Stock community support wasn’t there. Obviously, all the regular guys who run with me [on the PASS tour] and support us all the time did it again. But I’m a little disappointed with all the other Pro Stock guys,” said Mayberry. “I don’t know if they got scared off because they didn’t think they could compete with these guys or what.”

But Mayberry was happy with the race itself and the turnout. It was rained out Sunday and rescheduled for Monday.

“I was happy with the crowd. The fans were tremendous. I think it worked out pretty good. We got a few more people today [Monday] that we didn’t get yesterday [Sunday] but there were some people who were there yesterday who couldn’t make it today.

“And I was very proud of the drivers. They did a tremendous job,” added Mayberry. “There weren’t that many cautions the first half of the race and then they got hungry at the end which you want them to do.”

Mayberry is extremely popular among the drivers and they tipped their hat to him for pulling it off and expressed the hope it will return next year.

“I can’t thank Tom and the guys enough for putting everything on the line. Talk about a gamble. I hope these guys made out. For all the people who were dumb enough not to come, it was their loss,” said Sessions.

Here’s hoping there is a second Big Dawg Challenge next year.

Larry Mahoney can be reached at 990-8231, 1-800-310-8600 or by email at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.