Spud adding wrinkles Sportsman series joins race program

A five-race series for Sportsman cars, a concession building, a rest room facility and more space for cars in the pit area are among the new wrinkles at Caribou’s Spud Speedway, which opens its season on May 18.

The track will conduct races every Sunday through Oct. 12 starting at 1 p.m. A practice session will be held this Sunday beginning at 10 a.m.

Greg Veinote bought the track from Ralph Nason last summer and, on July 22, supplied Aroostook County with its first racing action since 2000.

“Things are drying up real well. We’re all real excited to go racing,” said Veinote. “A lot of businesses have come on board [as sponsors].”

He said several business owners took a wait-and-see attitude last year. When car counts and attendance eventually flourished, they signed on as sponsors for this season.

“That has made me feel pretty good. [That tells me] we’re going in the right direction,” said Veinote.

By the end of last season, he had 60-90 cars every week spread over four classes. In fact, there were so many cars in the Northern Lights (four-cylinder cars) class, he had to divide them into A and B divisions.

He will have the same classes this season: Young Guns (youngsters 12-16 years old in four-cylinder cars), Powder Puffs (women), Street Stocks (six- and eight-cylinder cars) and the Northern Lights.

“They will all be street legal cars with a minimum of modifications. We will require a safety roll cage this year,” said Veinote.

He said they have cleared enough pit space for twice as many cars as a year ago.

The concession building will replace portable concession stands, and they will build the rest room facility “as soon as it dries up.” They used portable toilets last year.

The Sportsman series races will be held on May 25, June 29, July 20, Aug. 17 and Sept. 21. The winner of the July race will qualify for the Oct. 5, 100-lap Super Street/Sportsman race at Wiscasset Raceway that will pay the winner $10,000.

He said the Sportsman cars will be similar to the ones on the Pro All-Stars Series tour and he has combined the rules from racetracks in the Northeast “so drivers can come up without having to change a whole lot [on their cars]. We’re really excited about the series.”

There will be a points fund for the Sportsman series, but he said there won’t be a points fund for his weekly classes because the drivers have elected to put that money toward various charities.

He said they will have other special races most Sundays.

They will also have weekly motocross racing (motorcycle races on a dirt course) beginning in June.

Moore enjoys PASS tour

Kelly Moore has won more Busch North races (27) than anybody else.

But the 49-year-old Scarborough native has since retired from the tour and will run most of the PASS North Super Late Model class schedule this year. He ran six of the 15 PASS races last year.

He said his sponsor, NAPA Auto Parts, was “very responsive” to his request to run the PASS series this season.

“I told them [PASS fans] are blue-collar people who buy [NAPA] batteries and windshield wipers and install them,” said Moore, who also pointed out that there are a lot of NAPA stores in Maine and northern New England.

Moore said he got “burned out” on the travel, the pressure and the politics on the Busch tour.

“I’m racing now to have fun and represent NAPA. My free time is more valuable. My business [R.C. Moore transportation] is busier than ever,” said Moore.

“I still love to race. I love the camaraderie and the friendships you build at the track. The competition on the PASS tour is just as stiff as the level in the Busch series. And you don’t have to spend [nearly the amount of] money to do the same thing. There are talented drivers on the PASS tour,” added Moore.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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