Raceway hoping to rev it up Bullwinkle’s looks for July 4 ignition

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Doug Whitney said he has heard rumors that his Bullwinkle’s Raceway in Greenville Junction is shutting down after July 4.

There is no truth to it.

“We’re going to race a full race card through September,” said Whitney, who turned an old lumber yard into a quarter-mile dirt track five years ago.

He speculated that the rumors surfaced because they have had three of their six race cards wiped out by rain so far.

There are six classes of racing every Saturday, beginning at 4 p.m., and there is a special July 4 card which will begin at noon.

Whitney said the bad weather and the fact schools didn’t let out until last week have kept car counts down so far this season along with the high gas prices.

“We usually have 46 cars but we were down to 28 last weekend,” said Whitney. “Hopefully, things will improve. They usually do. The July 4 weekend is usually a big weekend for us.”

Whitney owns a lounge in town, the West Cove Lounge, and he said business really picked up last weekend as it did at other restaurants and bars. That bodes well for Bullwinkle’s Raceway, he said.

“People are starting to show up. The previous six weeks were slow,” said Whitney.

The Saturday race card features Little Enduros, Big Enduros, Powder Puffs (ladies class), Youth Class (ages 10-15), Super Streets and Pick-up Trucks.

Whitney said the track itself is in “good shape.

“It gets better every year we use it. We’ve been getting rid of the rocks and stuff,” said Whitney.

The July 4 card will feature a 150-lap Claimers Race.

“Whoever wins the race earns $1,000 but they have to give us their car and somebody can buy the car for $300 or less,” said Whitney. “If they elect to keep the car, they don’t win anything.

“What we’re trying to do is make sure people don’t spend much money on their cars to try to keep the field even,” explained Whitney.

They have to be four-cylinder cars and they can’t be turbos, said Whitney.

“We’ve had pretty good success with it. Last year, 36 cars started the race,” said Whitney.

There will also be heat races.

There will be a feature for vehicles three-quarter ton or less hauling a boat on a trailer; a demolition derby and a Whatever Race for half-ton pick-ups and “anything below that.

“We’ve got a hearse coming [in the Whatever Race division],” said Whitney who expects plenty of station wagons and mini-vans.

All competitors during the Saturday racing must have a helmet, a window net, a five-point (seat belt) harness and a fire extinguisher. A roll cage is required in the Super Street and Truck classes and is optional in the others.

For the July 4 races, drivers must have a helmet, a window net and a DOT-approved seat belt and a fire extinguisher.

The Whatever Race will be run clockwise and the track will be watered down before that race and the Demolition Derby to reduce their speed, according to Whitney.

There have been a pair of two-time winners so far in Milo’s Joey Spack in the Little Enduro class and Diane Stephen of Dover-Foxcroft in the Powder Puff division.

Admission is $5 for adults and free for youngsters 15-under.

Kyle Busch will run PASS race

Nextel Cup driver Kyle Busch, currently 10th in the points chase, will run the 200-lapPASS North Super Late Model race on Saturday night at All-Star Speedway in Epping, N.H.

The Cup, Busch and Busch East series drivers will be in New Hampshire over the weekend for races at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Busch will drive Steve Perry’s No. 51 car in Saturday night’s PASS North race at the quarter-mile track.

Busch is no stranger to New England as he has run the previous two TD Banknorth Oxford 250s at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Busch is currently driving for Hendrick Motorsports, but will be without a ride after this season as Dale Earnhardt Jr. will replace him next season.

Farmington’s Cassius Clark became the latest PASS North Super Late Model winner as he took the checkered flag at the Forbes Chev-Olds 200 at Scotia Speedway in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Saturday night. He is the fourth different winner in five races so far.

Farmingdale’s Johnny Clark has won a pair of races with Turner’s Mike Rowe and Joey Porciello of Lee, N.H.