Unity’s shift has raceway in high gear

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Unity Raceway owner Ralph Nason wanted to free up weekends for families to pursue a variety of activities so he decided to consolidate his Thursday and Saturday night race cards into one Friday night program this season.

So far, so good.

“Everything is up over last year. Car counts are good and we’re having some fun,” said Ralph Nason Jr., Ralph’s son and the man who manages the track with his wife, Angie.

“We should have gone to Friday nights a long time ago,” said Ralph Jr. “What we’re hearing from our fans, and we’ve asked them to fill out a survey in the program, is that they like having the option of doing what they want to do on weekends.”

They had some Saturday afternoon races earlier this season, but car counts and attendance weren’t good so the Nasons have scrapped a pair of Saturday afternoon races at the end of the season.

“There’s no sense to do it. School is back in session and you’ve got football, soccer and field hockey. They’re big on Saturday afternoons,” said Nason Jr.

In consolidating the entry-level Thursday night shows and the experienced Saturday night racers, the Nasons put together a race card that includes seven features in addition to the heat races.

Nason Jr. said they have been getting around 14 cars in their Super Street Class (Camaros and stock-appearing metal bodies), 10-11 in their Pro-Fours for competitive four-cylinder cars, 26-28 in the Monster-Minis for four-cylinder trucks and mini stock cars that run together, 12-14 in the Women’s Peanuts Class for basic four-cylinder cars, 16 in the Men’s Peanuts Division, 12-16 in the Wildcat Division (full-bodied V8 sedans), and 15-16 in the Teen Thunder Class for youngsters 101/2-17 years of age with no previous racing experience.

Nason Jr. pointed out that they have husband-and-wife teams that drive the same car in their respective Peanut Division races, the Wildcat division has “grown the most,” and the Teen Thunder Class has been the “most exciting to watch.”

“A couple of [teens] have enough skill level where I could see them doing something way bigger than this down the road,” said Nason Jr.

Every other week, the Nasons also have a ramp race where cars must run up a ramp that is 16 inches high with at least two tires for every one of the five laps. Usually, at the checkered flag, they go up the ramp with all four tires, Nason Jr. said.

They also occasionally have a four-wheel long jump where cars go up the ramp and go airborne with the winner being the car that travels the farthest before landing.

Nason Jr. said the Friday night crowds have been in the 750-1,000 range. The track can hold 2,500.

He said they have lowered their admission prices from $12 to $8 and their pit passes from $20 to $15.

UNITY RACEWAY

Start time: 7:30 p.m.

Racing divisions: Super Street, Pro-4, Monsta-Minis, Women’s Peanuts Class, Men’s Peanuts Class, Wildcat, Teen Thunder

Benjamin gets full-time mechanic

Morrill’s Travis Benjamin has had a frustrating season in the Pro All-Stars Series Super Late Model Northern Division.

He has run among the top five in several races only to have a late-race wreck or mechanical problem result in a poor finish.

He is currently running eighth in points with two top-three finishes, both thirds.

However, he is upbeat about the rest of the season now that he has hired a full-time mechanic in Kevin McDaniel.

The 28-year-old Benjamin, who finished sixth in points last season despite not registering a top-three finish, said McDaniel should make a significant difference.

“He has been around quite a bit. He has helped win a lot of races. He has worked with Tracy Gordon and Dale Shaw and he was on the E.J. Prescott [Craftsman] Truck team,” said Benjamin. “If you look at all the top teams, the Rowes [Ben and Mike] and the Clarks [Johnny and Cassius], they have full-time people. That’s where we’ve been getting beat. That’s what we’ve been missing the past two years.”

Benjamin hasn’t had full-time mechanics previously.

In addition to providing his expertise, McDaniel will also enable Benjamin to concentrate on driving the race car.

Benjamin explained that between working on the car and driving the hauler, he would be tired when he got to the track.

“Now I just have to show up and focus on driving,” said Benjamin.

His last three races epitomized his season.

“I was running fourth and got a flat tire and wrecked at Thompson [Conn.], [the next race] I was going for the lead on lap 105 of a 250-lap race and we got taken out, and in the last race, we started in the back and got caught up in a wreck,” said Benjamin. “Our finishes haven’t shown how well we’ve been running.”

But he reiterated he is optimistic about the future and things are going very well off the track: wife Heidi gave birth to the couple’s first child, son Kaiden, a month ago.

Moore happy about victory

Waldoboro native and Scarborough resident Kelly Moore, the winningest driver in the Busch North/East series with 27 victories, posted his first ever Pro All Stars Series win last Saturday at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, N.H.

“It felt great. I’ve won a lot of races, but every time you win, there’s a feeling of accomplishment. The best part is I feel good for the guys who work hard on the car,” said the 48-year-old Moore.

Moore is running selected races this season, saying, “I’m trying to relax. I don’t want to do a lot of traveling. I want to race when I want to race.”

He enjoys racing on the PASS tour.

“It’s a great series. [PASS President and founder] Tom Mayberry and all the people [associated with PASS] have treated my guys really fairly so far. They’ve been very cordial to us,” said Moore, who plans to race again when PASS North runs at Wiscasset Raceway on Aug. 19.

“That’s the first place I ever sat in a race car,” said Moore, who added that he is grateful to sponsors NAPA Auto Parts of Maine and Bill Dodge Auto Group for sponsoring his team.