Pit strategy key for Irving Oil 150
Copyright © 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
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 | Mike Lange |
To pit or not to pit. That will be the dilemma for drivers and crew chiefs in Saturday's Irving Oil 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.
In last year's race, Mike Johnson of Salisbury, Mass. pitted with the rest of the contenders, took fresh tires, and ran down the leaders to win. This spring, the same Mike Johnson took the lead early, never ventured to pit road, and won again.
The NASCAR touring division makes its second and final visit of 2002 to the Cusack family's popular one-third mile oval on Aug. 24 with Bud Pole qualifying at 5:15 p.m, and the Irving Oil 150 at approximately 9 p.m. The Beech Ridge Pro Series, Sport Series, Wildcat, Lightning Bug and Truck divisions are also on the evening's agenda. Johnson, who has driven his Ford to victory lane in two of the last three Busch North races at Beech Ridge, says there are no trade secrets to mastering the historic oval near Portland.
"I wish I was holding a bunch of secrets," he said. "We've had good luck there. My crew chief, Jason Janvrin, seems to find a pretty good setup. The couple of times we've won it's been due to strategy, like not pitting the last time. I don't know that it will work every time."
Tracy Gordon of Strong and Dale Shaw of Center Conway, N.H. have each won three Busch North Series races at Beech Ridge, Johnson has won twice, and single victories have been scored by Kelly Moore of Scarborough, Andy Santerre of Cherryfield, Dave Dion of Hudson, N.H., Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, N.H., Olsen and Quarterley. So Saturday night's victor could be anyone's guess.
Finally, if someone wanted to cheer a hometown hero, Moore would be the obvious choice. His race shop is less than a mile from Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and he won the first race held on the oval after it was converted from dirt to asphalt in 1987.
l l l A special tribute will take place at Unity Raceway Saturday night in honor of Albert Skip Lowe, who passed away from an apparent heart attack last weekend. Lowe was in the pits with his grandson, Budweiser Super Sportsman driver Jake O'Brien of Jackson, when he was stricken. Although he had health problems recently, Lowe was a fixture at Unity Raceway for a number of years. Donations in his memory are being accepted at the Marsh River Masonic Lodge in Brooks or through the Bum Basketball League in Jackson. l l · The race doesn't appear on any motorsports schedule. Nevertheless, the Moose River Valley Enduro in Jackman on Sept. 1 is expected to attract a full field of the four-cylinder, strictly-stock racers. The reason: $1,000 to win a 50-lap race. Rules are similar to the Enduro class at Speedway 95 in Hermon and the Lightweight Demons at Wiscasset Raceway. No tires with spikes or special grips are allowed and all glass has to be removed from the vehicle except for the windshield. Last year, when the race paid $500 to win, 41 cars started and Erv Wallace of Jackman took the checkered flag. He held off Wayne Ripley of Libery in the final laps with Bob Ifill of Greenville finishing third. The one-third mile dirt track is near the Border Riders Snowmobile Club on Route 201 and Hall and Smith Energy in Jackman has more information at 668-3192. Mike Lange can be reached at mdlange@tdstelme.net or editor@gwi.net.