Saunders again dominates Sportsman race at Speedway 95

HERMON – Andy Saunders continues to dominate the Sportsman division at Speedway 95.

Saunders of Ellsworth won the pole and led all 35 laps, which included three caution flags, to take the victory Saturday night.

“The car was perfect. It’s been darn near perfect almost every race all year,” Saunders said. “We got up front and kind of slowed down a little bit to take care of the tires so if and when we had to run hard after a restart, there’d be enough car there to do it.”

Gary Bellefleur of Stetson and Ryan Deane of Winterport both spun off turn one after a restart on lap 27. Bellefleur ended up on his side against the wall off the track. Deane was able to continue and Bellefleur came back on the track a few laps later.

Dale Swoboda of Hermon and John Phippen Jr. of Town Hill battled side-by-side for second in the final laps, but it was Swoboda who took the runner-up spot and Phippen was third.

“[Second’s] a lot better than what happened last Sunday. I got totaled on the front stretch. We worked out tails off to get it here tonight. I guess we did a pretty good job,” said Swoboda.

Doug Day of Corinth finished fourth and Carmel’s Don Alexander Jr. was fifth.

The third and final race of the 35-lap Dysart’s Sport Four Series got under way with a three-way tie for the series points lead among Ernie Wallace Jr. of Winterport, Colin Arey II of Greenville and Bangor’s Jason Witts.

Colin Arey II started second and quickly took the lead away from his father Colin Arey on the first lap and led every lap to the checkers.

The elder Arey finished second, Witts was third, Wallace Jr. finished fourth and Newburgh’s Darrin Durrell rounded out the top five.

“I saw my father and Jason coming up on me, but I thought I had it in the bag,” said the younger Arey.

Only six trucks started the four-cylinder Truck feature and it didn’t take long to reduce the field to three.

Kris Watson of Hermon and Old Town’s Marvin Williams got into each other on the backstretch and spun toward the wall. Watson flipped his truck several times, but was able to return to the race, heavily damaged. He was later black flagged for mechanical issues. Rick Eastman of Atkinson also was involved in the crash and suffered front-end damage.

But with only two truck competitive trucks remaining, John Kalel II of Orrington and Clarence McCullough of Kenduskeag made it interesting. They battled for the lead with McCullough taking the top spot for several laps before being held up by the lapped truck of Eastman, which allowed Kalel to take the lead with two laps to go.

Kalel took the win and cut into Watson’s point lead. McCullough finished second, Eastman was third, Phil Richardson of Hermon was fourth and Watson came home fifth.

“The truck was pretty fast, but I don’t think it was fast enough to beat [McCullough], I just caught him in lapped traffic,” said Kalel.

Controversy surrounded the finish of the Strictly Street race. Joe Allen of Levant crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified in the tech garage after the race for suspension modifications.

Corinna’s Andy Migliore earned the win with Glenburn’s Jordan Pearson taking second and Garrit McKee of Dixmont third. Detroit’s Christopher Nickerson finished fourth and Jim Carr Jr. of Clifton wound up fifth.

In the 30-lap Limited Sportsman feature, Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs took the lead from St. Albans’ Greg Morse with 10 laps to go to take the victory. Scott Modery of Hermon finished third, Erik Worster of Lee was fourth, and Winterport’s Joey Doyon finished fifth.

Frankfort’s Ross Robinson dominated the 25-lap Super Street race from start to finish to earn the victory. Steve Moulton of Glenburn finished second, Cherryfield’s Randy Kaler was third, Shane Phippen of Bar Harbor finished fourth, and Joe Legere of Milford rounded out the top five.

Only three weekends of racing remain at Speedway 95.