Beech Ridge Motor Speedway hosted their annual “Super Saturday” this past weekend, one of the most anticipated racing events of the season. The night would feature 125 laps for the Pro Series, 100 laps for the Sport Series and 50 laps for the Wildcats division. With Oxford Plains Speedway having an off week, a handful of new drivers made the trip to Scarborough to race in the 125 lap Pro Series feature, including Ben Tinker and young gun, Ivan Kaffel.
The night started out with the typical 12 lap heats for the division. But, instead of heats being sorted by points (low points heat first, followed by high points) position, heat positions were decided by random draw due to the race being a blanket points race. Dave Farrington, Jr. took off with the early lead in the first heat with Dave Oliver in tow. Oliver made his way to Farrington’s inside on lap 3, eventually clearing him for the lead on lap 5. Josh Childs pulled to the outside of Craig Weinstein on lap 5, challenging him for third. He cleared him on lap 8, settling in behind the leaders. Dave Oliver took home the heat victory, followed by Farrington and Childs.
Ivan Kaffel and Nick Cusack started on the front row in the second Pro Series heat. Cusack pulled away early, but the competition was hot on his heels. The top 3 went 3-wide on lap 1 in turn 4, with Kaffel being shuffled to the rear of the pack. Mike Rowe made his way to the inside of Nick Cusack on lap 3, challenging him for the top spot. Trevor Sanborn was also on the move mid-heat, challenging Bill Rodgers for third on lap 6.
Nick Cusack, Mike Rowe and Trevor Sanborn went 3-wide for the lead again on lap 8, with Cusack holding onto the spot. Trevor Sanborn powered into the runner-up spot and later made his way to the inside of Nick Cusack on lap 10, challenging him for the top spot. Cusack was able to hold him off, scoring his first heat victory of the season. Mike Rowe rounded out the top 3.
Once the fields were set, it was time for the 125 lap feature. Dave Oliver and Nick Cusack went head-to-head on the initial start, with Oliver finally clearing him for the spot on lap 4. Both Nick Cusack and Trevor Sanborn caught up to Dave Oliver by lap 17, initiating a 3-way battle for the lead. The battle had settled down by lap 22, with Nick Cusack and Trevor Sanborn settling into line behind Oliver.
Dave Farrington, Jr. was also on the move, challenging Corey Bubar for fifth on lap 48. Bubar held him off, later clearing Mike Rowe for fourth on lap 50. The leaders were settling a blistering pace, catching the tail-end of the field by lap 60. After battling it out for position for a handful of laps, Farrington finally cleared Mike Rowe for fifth on lap 65. Josh Childs took a spin on lap 69 in turn 1, leading to the first caution of the feature. Trevor Sanborn came to a slow on the backstretch coming to the restart, having to be pushed to the pits after having a strong showing over the course of the night.
Dave Oliver elected the outside line for the restart, with Nick Cusack starting on his inside. Cusack powered away with the lead on the restart, but Farrington was quick to challenge him. Donnie Colpritt, Jr. took a spin on lap 73 in turn 2, leading to another caution.
Nick Cusack held the edge on the restart, but both Farrington and Corey Bubar were on his toes. Josh Childs and Bill Rodgers made contact while battling it out for position on lap 100, with Rodgers taking a hard slide into the turn 4 dirt and leading to another caution.
Dave OIiver powered by Corey Bubar on the restart, moving back up to third. Ivan Kaffel was all over Ben Tinker for fifth place on lap 119, hungry to capture a top five. Farrington and Cusack continued to battle it out until the very end, with Cusack edging out Farrington at the finish line by a .037 margin of victory and snapping a winless streak in absolutely spectacular fashion. Dave Oliver, Corey Bubar and Ben Tinker (scoring his first top 5 of the season in his SLM) rounded out the top five.
The Pro Series put on a spectacular show for the fans, racing a hard and clean race over the course of 125 laps. Nick Cusack and Dave Farrington, Jr. put on a Heck of a race over the course of the last 25 laps and pulled off what may be one of the closest finishes of the season. This builds more excitement for the division as the season continues to roll on.
Check out my full Wildcats recap here and my full Sport Series recap here.
The speedway will attempt to start the Thursday Night Thunder season (again!) this coming Thursday, June 27th. The racing action begins at 7:00 pm, adult admission is only $7 and kids 12 and under get in free!
NASCAR Nite is back to its regular programming next Saturday, June 29th. The racing action begins at 7:00 pm, adult admission is only $12 and kids 12 and under get in free!
As always, thank you to my website sponsors Texas Roadhouse Scarborough, Four Season Synthetic and Drown Excavation. Your support is much appreciated!
