SCARBOROUGH – Steve Berry Jr. of Gorham started the defense of his 2001 NASCAR Pro Series championship in fine form Sunday at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.

Berry took advantage of his pole position, led most of Sunday afternoon’s 40-lap feature, and was the first one to cross the finish line under the checkered flag after a duel with Saco’s David Pinkham. Pinkham finished second. Scarborough’s Richard Pelton won a three-way battle for third against Alan Tardiff of Lyman (fourth) and Scarborough’s David Oliver (fifth).

OTHER BEECH RIDGE RESULTS

NASCAR sport series: 1. Joey Pastore (Gorham), 2. Steve Fogg (Standish), 3. Sally Gherardi (Gorham), 4. Donnie Morse (Windham), 5. Glenn Bradbury (North Waterboro)

Wildcat B feature: 1. Jeremy Morais (Alfred), 2. Lyman McKeage (Gorham), 3. Troy Graffam (Sanford), 4. Phil Chapman (Buxton), 5. Keith Stiffler (Windham)

Wildcat: 1. Dan Wink (North Berwick), 2. Nathan Leavitt (Saco), 3. Jim Lavoie (Alfred), 4. Darin Kilton (Scarborough), 5. Bill Nason Jr. (Old Orchard Beach)

Trucks: 1. Cole Watson (Naples), 2. Wally Henderson (Litchfield), 3. Chris Anderson (Cape Neddick), 4. Steve Coffin (Windham), 5. Walter Black (Buxton)

Lightning bugs: 1. Craig Wade (Peru), 2. Betty Nelson (Biddeford), 3. Melvin Cottle Jr. (East Parsonfield), 4. Tim Caswell (Waterboro), 5. Bill Dagnese (Portland)

Oxford Plains Speedway

At Oxford, after chasing the leaders for much of Sunday’s 35-lap Oxford Network Pro Stock feature race, Alan Wilson made his move with just enough time to spare as he took the lead on the white flag lap and then won the race by half a car length over pole-sitter Scott King.

Gary Drew was third by about the same margin. Seven-time champion Jeff Taylor was fourth and Mike Maietta wound up fifth.

OTHER OXFORD PLAINS RESULTS

Late model stock car (30 laps): 1. Donnie Wentworth, 2. Mike Short, 3. Ricky Rolfe, 4. Tim Cook, 5. T.J. Brackett

Limited sportsman (25): 1. Dana Grover, 2. Doug Poland, 3. Steve Bennett, 4. Troy Morse, 5. Richie Morse

Strictly stock (20): 1. Chris Coolidge, 2. Steve Page, 3. Joe Hutter, 4. Scott Belskis, 5. Billy Childs Sr.

Strictly stock II (20): 1. Larry Emerson, 2. Mark Bowie, 3. Jon Richardson, 4. David Weir, 5. Billy Childs Jr.

Mini stock (20): 1. Butch Keene, 2. Mark Collins, 3. Wayne Parkin, 4. Bobby Mooney, 5. Bill Mooney