Winterport is popular for street night racing Dragway expands format to seven events

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When Winterport Dragway manager Derrick Cunningham implemented street night racing last year for imports and compact cars, he hoped it would be well-received.

But he never expected to have 140 cars at one show and to average 90 cars per night for the four evenings while having 400-500 fans in the stands.

So he has expanded the racing to seven nights this season with the first one slated for June 19.

The scheduled opener last week was rained out.

The street night racing is in addition to the regular Sunday afternoon card of racing which features five classes.

The street night racing, explained Cunningham, is like “The Fast and the Furious” (movie).

“It was designed to provide a safe environment for people to do their racing instead of downtown Bangor or on back roads,” explained Cunningham.

“We were amazed by the turnout last year. We were shocked. We never thought we’d get that kind of crowd or the participants that we had,” Cunningham said.

The street night racing is flexible and tailored to the racers.

“They can do what they like. They can race for bragging rights [against a friend]. They can race a best-of-three. They can try to be the fastest car out there [against all the other competitors],” Cunningham said.

They do have a trophy race and a money race and there will also be a burnout competition which involves racers spinning and burning rubber with their back tires.

“We try to mix it up,” said Cunningham.

He said they distributed a lot of flyers, worked with a bunch of automobile clubs and posted notices on the Internet to generate interest for the street night racing.

“The Dynamic Performance Auto Club in Bangor was a huge help,” said Cunningham.

He also said they kept the prices low for the Saturday night racing and that proved beneficial.

“We charged $10 to race and $5 to get in,” said Cunningham.

The only criteria, according to Cunningham, is the cars have to be “registered, insured and inspected.”

The Sunday racing has already been postponed twice, but they will try again this Sunday.

Gates will open at 8 a.m., time trials start at 9 a.m. and the elimination heats will get under way at 12:30 p.m.

“We’re hoping to get around 70 cars a week,” said Cunningham who will offer five classes: Super Pro, Pro, Bikes and Sleds (motorcycles and snowmobiles), Pro Street and Street Trophy.

The June 19 street night opener at the one-eighth mile track will be held in conjunction with the Dynamic Performance Car Show at Bass Park in Bangor.

“There were 250 cars at the show last year and 140 of them came racing after the show,” said Cunningham.

“We’ll start racing at 2:00 and go until 8:30,” said Cunningham.

Cosmetic improvements to the facility have been made, including “paving the entrance to the track,” according to Cunningham.

Busch North, PASS tours racing

The Busch North Series will move to Lime Rock Park (Lakeville, Conn.) for a Saturday race beginning at 10:35 a.m. while the Pro All-Stars Series tour heads to Canaan Fair Speedway (N.H.) for a Sunday 150-lapper beginning with time trials at 1:30 p.m.

Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, N.H. leads the Busch North series points after two races with 328 points followed by Mike Stefanik of Coventry. R.I., and Scarborough’s Ryan Moore (325); defending two-time points champ Andy Santerre of Cherryfield (323) and Joey McCarthy (320) of Randolph, N.J.

There have been three different race winners on the PASS tour and Farmingdale’s Johnny Clark leads with 650 points followed by defending two-time champ Ben Rowe of Turner (644), Bangor’s Gary Smith (640), Falmouth’s Scott Mulkern (632) and South Paris’ Sam Sessions (612).

Tide partners up with kids camp

Newburgh native Ricky Craven’s Tide racing team has become a partner with the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a camp in Randleman, N.C., which offers weekly sessions for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Tide will supply the camp with new appliances and provide Tide laundry detergent and Downy dryer sheets to the facility. It will also provide the Tide NASCAR racing simulator and slot car game for the Junction’s recreational facilities.

Tide has been affiliated with several charities over the years including Give Kids the World, a resort for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families whose wish it is to visit Orlando, Fla.

“We are thrilled to add Tide to our list of corporate partners. Tide has a long history in racing and as a great community partner,” said Victory Junction executive director Brian Collier in a press release.