The inspection sticker on Presque Isle native Ryan Stevens’ 1992 BMW had run out.

And he had wanted to try his hand at auto racing.

“So I figured it was time to make a race car out of it,” said Stevens.

And Stevens has been one of the most proficient drivers at Caribou’s Spud Speedway along with Clearview, New Brunswick’s Terri Lunn.

Between them, they have earned 11 checkered flags.

Stevens has six wins in the Street Stock class, including two last weekend, and Lunn has five in the Powder Puff division.

Both made their debuts last summer when new owner Greg Veinote and his wife, Becky, opened the track for the first time since 2000.

“I watched a race last year and that’s all it took,” said Stevens. “When I ran my first race, I was so excited. I was like a kid in the candy store. I always wanted to be a race car driver, and I wanted to prove it to myself [that he could drive a race car].”

Stevens, an auto technician, won a race last summer and finished in the top three in four of his six races.

He has been dominant this year, and the former Presque Isle High School soccer, hockey and baseball player said he expected to have an outstanding year.

“The BMW has been consistent. BMWs are reliable cars,” said the 25-year-old Stevens, who works out religiously to handle the heat and physical demands of auto racing.

He would like to eventually build his own race shop and move up in class.

By the way, he bought another BMW to serve as his street car.

Lunn said she has always enjoyed racing and used to follow her brother, Sean’s, career at Spud Speedway.

Like Stevens, it didn’t take her long in her race car to realize she had a passion for the sport.

“My first time around the track last year, I said to myself ‘This is where I want to be sitting.'”

She bought her fiance’s (Gaylon Smith) aunt’s car, a Mercury Mystique, for $100 even though his aunt thought it was “ready for the rocks.”

“And here we are still with it,” said the 33-year-old Lunn. “The car has been great. I’m just not sure how much longer it can haul us through.”

She said she has been “very surprised” by her success.

“Last year, I had a first, a couple seconds and a couple thirds, but I didn’t push it as hard as I could have. I wasn’t used to the car and I wasn’t used to the track. I was a little nervous,” said Lunn. “This year, I went to the track early to practice and I pushed and pushed to see where I could drive it. It has taken a lot of practice and a lot of determination.”

She said she is grateful to the Veinotes for reopening the track and giving her the opportunity to race.

“They’ve done a fantastic job,” said the Power Puff points leader.

They will race again on Sunday and there will be a special 50-lap Sportsman-Super Street race with the top 10 qualifiers earning berths in an August race at Wiscasset Raceway that will pay the winner $10,000.

Greg Veinote said he expected cars from the other tracks in the state to make their way to Caribou for the race.

Racing begins at 1.

Santerre will race in Canada

Cherryfield’s Andy Santerre, who won four consecutive Camping World (Busch) East championships from 2002-2005, will climb into a race car for the first time in three years on Aug. 31 at Speedway 660 in Geary, New Brunswick.

The owner of Andy Santerre Motorsports, who has Peyton Sellers running for him in the CWE series, will enter the Peterbilt 250.

“The biggest reason I’m doing it is that Kirk Thibeau is a real good friend of mine and he wanted me to do it. Kirk has won the last two 100-lap races up there,” said Santerre.

Thibeau is a veteran pro stock racer from Fort Fairfield.

Santerre said it will also afford him the opportunity to return to northern Maine, where he has a home on Long Lake, and to reconnect with his fans.

“I have a lot of fans in Canada and in northern Maine and they didn’t get a chance to see me race much [because the tracks were so far away]. This is a chance for me to pay them back,” said Santerre.

He will drive a car that has been supplied to him by the track, and it is being readied for the race at Jeff Taylor’s Distance Racing Products Shop in Fairfield.

“Hopefully, I can be competitive. I haven’t been in a car in three years, so I’m a little nervous about it. Two hundred and fifty laps will mean a lot of fatigue for someone who hasn’t been in a seat for three years,” said Santerre, who had 13 wins and 42 top-five finishes in 62 races during his four-year domination in the CWE series. “Hopefully, I’ll get through the whole race without falling out of my seat.”

“I’m excited about it. I know a lot of the guys who race in Canada,” added the 39-year-old Santerre.

He said this will be a “one-shot deal.”

“I have no intention of doing it any more, although I’m not saying I’ll never do it,” said Santerre.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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