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Random Notes from Sunday's ACT Race at OPS By George Campbell There was some fantastic three wide racing at times, one three wide battle for second place early in the event went on for several laps, and surprisingly did not end with a caution! There were only a couple cautions in the race, it was a very clean race overall, with a lot of passing through out the field. There were three racing grooves available for the drivers. Ricky Rolfe put on a great show early racing with eventual winner Joey Pole. Rolfe took the lead from Shawn Martin on lap 30 and held it for over 50 laps until Polewarcyzk got by him the first time. Pole had spent several laps following in Rolfe's tire tracks, circling the track in the outside groove. The two put on a great show with Pole eventually getting the spot on a restart when Rolfe had carburator problems. Tim Brackett was the only other lap leader, he led close to ten laps just after the half way point before Pole took it for good on lap 108. It was nice to see a few of the guys that used to run in the Busch North Series. I was a bit surprised Brad Leighton wasn't in the 55 Irving car he has already won a race with this year, and had another podium finish. Another former Busch North racer was in the seat at OPS, Bobby Dragon. He earned his way into the show with a 4th place finish in a consi heat, and finished the race 15th. There were two other Dragon's in the field, Scott (7th) and Brent (30th). Former Busch North Racer Brian Hoar was one of the drivers that had tire problems in practice, but won the fourth heat race. He had an uneventful race, finishing 11th. Its too bad Eddie MacDonald wasn't in the race, he was busy racing in the Camping World Series race at Iowa Speedway while this one was being run. He finished 18th out there with the Grimm Racing Team. There were several drivers from my hometown, Turner, Maine, in this race, Shawn Martin, Ben Rowe and Glen Luce. Shawn led the first 29 laps and finished tenth. Luce had a solid run, earning a 12th place finish while Ben Rowe struggled a bit finishing 23rd. Rowe had raced in the PASS race in Unity the night before, earning a 6th place finish there. Eleven of the starters were from the state of Maine while Vermont led the charge with 13 racers in the field. But the best finisher was from New Hampshire, as Joey Pole is from Hudson, NH. Joey was one of six drivers from NH in the race. Pole was the only heat winner to finish in the top ten. It was Pole's first ACT win of the year, and fourth of his career. He became the 5th qualifier for the ACT Invitational at NHMS in September. Ten late model teams failed to qualify for the main event. Brent Dragon and Tyler Calhoon received the two ACT provisionals while Corey Morgan got the OPS provisional to round out the 30 car field. |
Last Updated on 05/18/09
By George Campbell or Greg Fish
Email: neracing@neracing.com