Dark skies threatened Beech Ridge Motor Speedway’s Nascar Nite program on Saturday night, but the show rolled on with the track’s three premier NASCAR Nite divisions taking to the track.
The Sport Series division was up first on Saturday night, with Parker Varney taking the early lead in the first 12-lap heat as Devin Curit fell back to fourth.
Chasing the Checkered driver, Charlie Sanborn, was on the move mid-heat, making his way to the inside of Mike St. Pierre for the runner-up spot on lap 6, completing the pass the following lap.
Parker Varney managed to hold off Charlie Sanborn and his competitors, taking home the first heat victory of the night.
After having mechanical troubles last week, Bubba Pelton powered into the early lead in the second Sport Series heat. By halfway, there was a 3-car breakaway at the front of the field. Pelton was able to hold off Alex Lacognata and Joe Pastore for the heat win.
David Oliver and Dalton Gagnon started on the front row in the first Pro Series heat. The heat also marked the return of Travis Buzzell, who was unsure about his future in 2018 after blowing his motor a few weeks ago during a feature race.
Dave Farrington, Jr. took a spin on lap 4 in turn 3, leading to the first caution of the night.
Dave Oliver pulled away once again on the restart. Dan Winter was on the move behind him, clearing Scarborough Texas Roadhouse driver, Donnie Colpritt, Jr., for third on lap 9.
Oliver later sailed into the heat victory, followed by Dalton Gagnon.
Trevor Sanborn powered into the early lead in the second 12-lap Pro Series heat. Dan McKeage also showed strength early, challenging Gary Smith for the runner-up spot on lap 8. McKeage cleared Smith just one lap later, but he was no match for Trevor Sanborn, who took home the heat victory.
Joe Morse pulled away with the early lead in the first 12-lap Wildcats heat, but he later spun on lap 2 in turn 4. His spin collected his competitors Tucker Cole and Dave Cameron, leading to the first caution of the feature.
Wade Kennedy restarted at the front of the field, with Tucker Cole powering his way back into the runner-up spot by lap 5. Cole made his way to the inside of Kennedy on lap 7, challenging him for the lead. He advanced position the following lap, pulling away from the field.
After getting caught up in some trouble early on in the heat, Dave Cameron made his way back into the runner-up spot on lap 10. Tucker Cole was able to hold him off, taking home the heat victory.
Nate Leavitt pulled into the early lead in the final heat of the night. Cody Webster, Cole Watson and Josh Childs made it a 4-way battle for the top spot on lap 8, but Leavitt was able to hold off his competitors, taking home the heat win.
Parker Varney and Charlie Sanborn started on the front row in the 35-lap Sport Series feature. Sanborn pulled away with the early lead as Jason Curtis faded to the back of the pack.
Joe Pastore was on the move early, clearing Bubba Pelton for the runner-up spot on lap 4.
Parker Varney took a spin on lap 8 in turn 4, leading to the first caution of the feature.
Joe Pastore cleared Charlie Sanborn for the lead on the restart, pulling away from his competitors.
Charlie Sanborn and Bubba Pelton started battling it out for the runner-up spot on lap 10, leading a clean, side-by-side battle until Sanborn finally broke free on lap 27, pulling away from Pelton.
Joe Pastore was gone like the wind, taking home his second feature victory of the season. Charlie Sanborn, Bubba Pelton, Terry Merrill and Alex Lacognata followed, rounding out the top five.
Brandon Barker and returning competitor, Charlie Colby, made hard contact on the initial lap of the 40-lap Pro Series feature. Barker then came to a slow in turn 4 the following lap, leading to the first caution of the feature.
Dalton Gagnon pulled away with the lead on the restart, with Wayne Helliwell, Jr. powering into the runner-up spot.
Trevor Sanborn was on a mission early, making his way up to third on lap 13 and later, into the runner-up spot on lap 15. By lap 22, Sanborn had tracked down Dalton Gagnon for the top spot. He advanced position the following lap, pulling away from the field.
Gary Smith took a spin on lap 29 in turn 4, leading to another caution.
Sanborn pulled away once again on the restart as Curt Gerry fell to the back of the pack, suffering from clutch problems.
Bill Rodgers was on the move late in the race, climbing into the fourth spot on lap 38.
Nobody was a match for Trevor Sanborn, who took home his first feature victory of the season. Dalton Gagnon, Dave Oliver, Bill Rodgers and Donnie Colpritt Jr. followed, rounding out the top five.
The #28 of Dave Cameron pulled away with the early lead in the final feature of the night, the Wildcats 30-lapper.
Nate Leavitt and Josh Childs made hard contact on lap 3 in turn 2, sending Childs hard into the dirt. This led to the first caution of the feature.
Cole Watson got into Lewis “Dirty Lew” Anderson on the front stretch on lap 9, followed by Cody Webster taking a spin in turn 1. This incident led to yet another early-race caution.
Joe Morse was pushed to the outside line on the restart, losing a handful of spots.
Josh Childs was on the move mid-race, clearing Dan Bean for third on lap 14 and later clearing Tucker Cole on the inside for the runner-up spot on lap 16.
Wade Kennedy made contact with Lewis Anderson on lap 16 in turn 2, resulting in another caution as Anderson went around.
Nate Leavitt, Tucker Cole and Troy Morse got into it on lap 16 in turn 2, resulting in Morse flipping and winding up on his side on the dirt in turn 2. This led to a mid-race red flag, but Morse was able to walk away from the wreck under his own power.
Tucker Cole went hard into the dirt on lap 20 in turn 3, leading to a late-race caution. More chaos continued as Dylan Varney took a spin on the front stretch and Tucker Cole went around on lap 22 in turn 2, bringing out another caution.
After these two incidents, race control implemented single-file restarts for the remaining portion of the race.
While battling for position, Josh Childs got hard into Dave Cameron on the backstretch on lap 24, sending Cameron hard into the turn 3 wall. Cameron bounced off the wall and went sailing through the dirt in turns 3 and 4, coming to a stop in the dirt, just short of the treeline. It was later discovered that Cameron had blacked out behind the wheel and had no recollection of any events after taking the hit in turn 3.
The caution flag waved on lap 26 as fellow competitors and safety crews tended to Dave Cameron. Thankfully, Cameron was able to walk away from the incident under his own power.
Dan Bean got into Lewis Anderson on the front stretch on lap 28, sending Anderson hard into the dirt pile in turn 1.
As Anderson’s car sat on top of the dirt pile, the field remained green and eventually ended under a yellow-caution, with Josh Childs taking home the victory once again.
Cody Webster, Joe Morse, Paul Lund and Dan Bean followed, rounding out the top five.
Everyone was out for blood on Saturday night at Beech Ridge, but just 3 drivers came out on top.
Racing will pick back up again next Saturday, July 28th, for the track’s Season 70 Celebration. It’s going to be an action-packed night of racing, with 70-lap features for each division.
We hope to see you there!
Thank you again to Drown Excavation and Four Season Synthetic for their endless support for Chasing the Checkered. Contact Drown Excavation for all of your demolition and excavation needs and Four Season Synthetic for all of your oil, lube and filter needs!
