Long John 150 to close ’04 Maine racing season Unity Raceway hosts Triple Crown Series finale

The final major auto race of the season will be held at Unity Raceway Sunday as the Long John 150 will be run with a $6,000 paycheck awaiting the winner.

The race had been scheduled for Saturday but a rainy forecast forced it to be pushed back a day.

Heat races will begin at 12:30 and the race itself will probably start around 4 p.m. as there will also be a full card of other features.

“We’re going to have 45-60 cars [for the Long John 150] and it should be a great race. There will be a lot of passing. The track is in very good shape,” said John Crawford, the track manager.

The race will also be the final event in the pro stock Triple Crown Series at Unity and the winner of that three-race series will pocket $2,000.

Unity’s Ralph Nason has won the last two Long John 150s.

Freedom’s Randy Turner, who won the pro stock points championship this season, leads Scarborough’s Larry Gelinas by four points in the Triple Crown Series and Fairfield’s Jeff Burgess is 14 points behind.

In addition to Nason, Turner, Gelinas and Burgess, the field will also include the likes of Pro All-Stars Series champ Johnny Clark of Farmingdale, Mike and Ben Rowe of Turner and Wiscasset’s Scott Chubbuck.

Crawford said there will be 32 cars in the starting grid, including two provisionals.