Clark capitalizes on problems for Unity win

UNITY – Hallowell’s Johnny Clark didn’t have the fastest car during Unity Raceway’s Pro Stock 105-lapper Sunday evening.

“But I’d rather be lucky than good any day,” grinned Clark, who took advantage of late-race problems incurred by Freedom’s Randy Turner and Brunswick’s Scott Chubbuck to take the checkered flag and pocket the $3,500 winner’s share.

Clark took over the lead for good before a lap-80 restart when Turner was forced to give up his top spot to pit and get some power steering fluid, which had been leaking.

“The car was awesome. We had everybody covered. It’s terrible. The power steering line goes under the rear end of the car and when the rear end goes up and down, it tends to loosen the line up. It’s not usually a problem,” explained Turner who returned to the track in 10th place but made his way up through the field to finish third.

Turner was seeking his third win in as many races this season.

The 80th-lap caution was caused by Chubbuck’s spin on turn four which, according to Clark, was caused by the steering fluid leaking from Turner’s car.

Chubbuck was running second to Turner at the time.

Oakland’s Jeff Burgess wound up finishing second. Bangor’s Gary Smith finished fourth and Chubbuck, who got tangled up in a lap 85 wreck, battled back to finish fifth.

Clark, who finished fifth in a Pro All-Stars Series race Saturday night in New Hampshire, was debuting a new Chevy Monte Carlo.

“The car was real good for 50 laps. We just needed the race to stay green. We didn’t need the cautions. The way our tires were set up, the cautions hurt us pretty bad,” said the 25-year-old Clark who admitted that Turner and Chubbuck were faster than he was.

However, he said the car didn’t require any adjustments, just tire pressure changes.

Clark, the defending PASS points champion, will run his older Monte Carlo in Monday’s PASS Community Pharmacies 150 at Hermon’s Speedway 95.

Burgess was elated with his second-place finish, saying “we started out the day getting wrecked in practice so we had to take the whole nose off. The sway bar got ripped off and we just put it back together. We had no practice until the feature. Four new tires and go. The car wasn’t bad considering we didn’t have any practice.”

Burgess tried to close in on Clark but couldn’t overtake him.

“I knew Jeff was coming and I knew he was going pretty good but I was confident I could hold him off,” said Clark.

There were five cautions and several potential contenders went home early with car problems including Morrill’s Travis Benjamin and Unity’s Ralph Nason.

Fifteen cars started the race which was the first in the Triple Crown Series for the pro stocks.

In the other races, Fairfield’s Joe Ritchey stalked Waldo’s Seth Raven until he finally passed him on lap 20 and pulled away in the 25-lap Super Sportsman feature for his first win of the season. Raven and his crew had to repair his car after it was damaged during Saturday night racing.

“My car kept getting worse and Joe’s kept getting better,” said Raven, who finished second.

Sidney’s Chris Thorne, Orrington’s Mike Harnish Jr. and Chelsea’s Dan Trask rounded out the top five.

In the Super Streets, Anson’s Mark Dodge and his crew repaired their car after wrecking it on Saturday night and he drove it to Victory Lane. He outlasted the father-son team of Mickey Landry Sr. and Mickey Landry Jr., also from Anson.

It was Dodge’s second win.

Mickey Landry Sr. had his first top three finish of the season after returning from an aneurysm he suffered last July that left him hospitalized for a month.

Nate Weston of Madison and Hal Stratton of Belgrade rounded out the top five.

In the Late Model Pro Fours, Vassalboro’s Ed Drake won his third straight race after winning eight in the Super Sportsman division a year ago.

Judd Derbyshire of Mount Vernon, Paul Shorette of Winslow, Jim Dennis of Benton and Starks’ Steve Rackliff completed the top five; Kevin Nutting of Fairfield won the Mini-Truck feature followed by Justin Drake of Dover-Foxcroft, Darren Doucette of Oakland, Mike Rackliff of Starks and James Towers of Rumford. The Mini-Stock feature was claimed by Oakland’s Reggie Bickford followed by Rome’s Seth Wills, Unity’s Frank Moulton, Ken Lord of Smithfield and Burnham’s Carl McAlpine.