The Pro Stock class, which features the fastest and most expensive race cars in the state, has been enjoying a revival.
Several years ago, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough was the lone track offering the class.
Wiscasset Speedway dropped the class after the 2004 season; Unity Raceway got rid of it after the 2005 season; Oxford Plains Speedway dumped it after the 2006 season; and Speedway 95 eliminated it after the 2007 season.
Spud Speedway in Caribou hasn’t had the class for several years.
But Beech Ridge owner Andy Cusack admitted his Pro Stock class was in jeopardy seven or eight years ago.
“We were down to 12 cars, and that wasn’t good for us,” Cusack said. “So I met with the drivers and told them if [the Pro Stocks] were going to survive, they had to help us find more cars. They knew other racers. I had to be upfront with them. I had to tell them the truth.”
And they came through.
“Bub Bilodeau had a spare car [and offered it to another driver],” Cusack said.
The car counts gradually increased. Today, the Pro Series is very healthy.
Beech Ridge had 25 cars to open the season last Saturday night.
Cusack said the Pro Series division has continued to prosper for a number of reasons.
“We’re the only NASCAR-sanctioned track in Maine,” Cusack pointed out. “There are only about 60 [NASCAR-sanctioned tracks] across the country. That has given us the ability to pool money from a bunch of [nationally known] sponsors.”
It also provides him with bonus money for the Pro Series point champion and the state track champion in the Pro Series.
The Pro Series point champion earns $2,000, and the state track points titlist pockets $3,000.
Because there isn’t another NASCAR-sanctioned track in the state, the Pro Series points champion usually pockets both bonuses ($5,000).
Cusack added that they try to make it fun for the drivers, and there usually is a large crowd.
“If you were in a rock band, you’d rather play in front of a bunch of people, not a few,” he said.
They also have their own track points fund that is divided up among the top drivers at the end of the season.
Beech Ridge is one of three tracks with Pro Stocks, currently, as new owner Doug White brought them back to Wiscasset in 2007 and current Wiscasset owners Richard and Vanessa Jordan, who bought the track in 2012, continue to run them.
Tom Mayberry, Pro All-Stars Series founder and president, bought Oxford Plains Speedway in October 2013, and Pro Stocks returned in 2014.
In addition, John Albert, who will be leasing Spud Speedway, intends to bring the Pro Stocks back. Nick Huff, who is leasing Unity Raceway this season, will hold three Pro Stock races as part of a series.
And Speedway 95’s Del Merritt said he will “have to watch [the Pro Stock class]” to see whether it might be a good fit for his track.
Cusack said he isn’t concerned that the other tracks are running Pro Stocks.
“I think we would be fine, even if we were the lone dinghy in the ocean,” Cusack said. “We’d still have what we have today for cars.”
Speedway 95 Late Model class progressing
The Late Model class at Speedway 95, the track’s top class, slowly is gathering cars.
Speedway 95 owner Merritt had four Late Model cars for each of his first two weeks of racing and was contemplating several changes, but the increase in cars — though it has been minimal — has him willing to wait it out.
The Late Model division is 95’s top class.
They had six during the third week and seven last weekend, and Merritt expects them to be in the “dozen” range Saturday night, when the first 50-lap Late Model series race will be held.
Racing starts at 7 p.m.
There are three races in the series.
“Things are picking up. Things are looking better,” Merritt said.
He said several drivers skipped Speedway 95’s Saturday night race in order to run in Sunday’s Coastal 200 at Wiscasset Speedway, including Harrington’s Andrew McLaughlin and Winterport’s Ryan Deane. He expects both to be back Saturday night.
McLaughlin finished second and Deane wound up 12th in the 25-car field.
Merritt also anticipates Corinth’s Lloyd Nickerson to race after Nickerson wrecked his car in practice last Saturday.
Merritt said he doesn’t want to begin another campaign like he did this one and will mull ways to avoid a repeat.
“We have all kinds of options. We don’t want to start another season with four [Late Model] cars,” he said. “Maybe we’ll do the same as Wiscasset and split up the classes so each class races every other week rather than every week. That gives them a break.
“Maybe we’ll start a couple of weeks later, if need be,” Merritt added. “But the weather seems to be a little colder this year than in previous years.”
Speedway 95 opened May 2.
He also would consider starting the races earlier than 7 p.m.
In addition to the 50-lap Late Model series race, there will be races in the Sportsman, Street and Sport-4 classes.