This past Saturday, the Norm’s Used Cars Pro Stocks returned to Wiscasset Speedway with a competitive 13-car field. While Kevin Douglass was looking to score his third consecutive victory, Josh St. Clair was still searching for his first Pro Stock win of the season.
The Pro Stock competition kicked off with two 10-lap heat races. Joey Peaslee broke free of Steven Chicoine early into the first heat, pulling away with the lead. Josh St. Clair was also powering through the field, advancing to third over David Getchell on lap 3.
St. Clair continued his pursuit in the coming laps, overtaking Steven Chicoine for the runner-up spot on lap 6. St. Clair then set his sights on Joey Peaslee, pulling to his outside door on the final lap. The two drivers remained door-to-door until the final turn, where Josh St. Clair pulled ahead with the advantage. St. Clair took home the heat victory while Joey Peaslee and Steven Chicoine rounded out the top 3.
Brandon Fowler powered into the early lead over Scott Chubbuck in the second and final qualifying heat. Logan Melcher was also on the move in the opening laps of the heat, challenging Scott Chubbuck for the runner-up spot. Melcher took over on lap 5 as Kevin Douglass followed, then overtaking Melcher for second.
Kevin Douglass began to bite into Branden Fowler’s 1/2 straightaway lead in the closing laps, finally clearing him as the two drivers approached the white flag. Douglass scored the heat victory, followed by Branden Fowler and Logan Melcher.
Following out of car driver introductions, the Pro Stock drivers took to the track for their spotlight 50-lap feature. Josh St. Clair quickly jumped out to the early lead over Steven Chicoine. The top 4 drivers broke away early, splitting the field into 2 different packs.
Trouble was brewing behind the leaders on lap 9 as Nick Hinkley and Joe Harriman collided in turn 4, resulting in Harriman taking a spin on the front stretch. The incident resulted in the first caution of the feature.
Josh St. Clair remained steady on the restart, pulling to the lead once again. Nick Calvert faced a frustrating career first on lap 11 as he made hard contact with the turn 2 wall due to a contact rolling back in his eye, unfortunately obstructing his vision. Nick Hinkley was also caught up in the melee and the incident drew out another early-race caution. After a strong showing in the heat, Branden Fowler parked it on his pit pad under yellow, retiring from the feature.
Josh St. Clair maintained his advantage on the restart as Dave Getchell was forced to the outside, losing a handful of spots. Trouble was on the horizon once again as Joe Harriman and Shane Lane made contact on lap 13, resulting in Shane Lane going for a spin through the turn 4 grass.
Josh St. Clair pulled away with the lead once again, but Kevin Douglass was quickly maneuvering to the front behind the leader. Douglass powered by Nick Hinkley on the outside on lap 16, then ignited a 3-wide battle for third the following lap. Douglass won the battle before moving onto Steven Chicoine for the runner-up spot. Douglass promptly took over second, then set his eyes on Josh St. Clair for the top spot.
Douglass began quickly tracking down St. Clair, cutting down his lead by 1+ seconds by lap 32. Chaos erupted late into the race as David Getchell and Joey Peaslee collided on lap 39, bringing the field together for a final 11-lap shootout.
Josh St. Clair held the slight advantage over Kevin Douglass on the restart, but Douglass was back to his outside door with just 5 laps to go. The two drivers remained side by side until the very end, making slight contact as they rounded the final turn. This sent Josh St. Clair sliding through the grass coming to the checkered.
St. Clair miraculously held onto it, scoring his first Pro Stock victory of the season, which is his fifth overall in just 5 weeks of competition. Kevin Douglass, Steven Chicoine (1st podium finish of the season!), Nick Hinkley and Jamie Wright rounded out the top five.
Josh St. Clair continues to display strength in all 4 divisions that he competes in. You can catch both Josh and his grandfather Dave St. Clair in this weekend’s Coastal 200. Join us for one of the biggest Late Model races in the Northeast! Grandstands open at noon and green flag flies at 2:00 pm. As always, adult admission is just $5 and kids 6 & under are free.
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Until next time!
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