HERMON. Maine — Dean Clements of Brooks had never won a feature in his three years of racing at Hermon’s Speedway 95 so when he finally did win Saturday night, it made sense that he would crank out more doughnuts than a Tim Horton’s.
Celebratory doughnuts are the circular burnouts race winners perform after winning a race.
Clements did one on the front stretch and another on the back stretch in front of 785 fans in the grandstands after holding off Prospect’s D.J. Moody and Sullivan’s Asa Jones in a close finish that saw all three cars within one car-length of each other as they took the checkered flag in the Street class.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet. A cold beer will help it sink in,” said Clements, who ran in the now-defunct Sportsman class for two years before coming over to Streets this season.
He didn’t start racing until he was 44 years old.
“I had always wanted to do it. I never had the money to do it,” Clements said. “But I paid my house off three years ago and I said ‘I’m going racing.’”
Moody certainly made him earn it by trying to duck underneath him and slide by him.
“I tried the best I could. My car was still a little loose on the bottom and he squeezed me pretty good. But I like Dean, Dean races good. It was a fun race,” Moody said.
“He used me up good. But he treated me real well and I appreciate that,” Clements said. referring to the fact Moody didn’t try to spin him out.
“Hard work and perseverance pay off,” Clements added.
Rounding out the top five behind Clements, Moody and Jones were Greg Pung of Franklin and Jeff Alley of Machias. Eight cars started the race.
In the Sport Fout division, Cody Farnsworth of Orono started second but used the outside groove to take the lead right away and go on to notch his third win of the season to go with two seconds.
The 16-year-old, who will be a junior at Orono High School in the fall and was a sprinter and 400-yard runner on the Red Riots’ Class C state champion track team, said his car was “amazing.
“You couldn’t ask for a better car,” said Farnsworth, who is the grandson of Pat’s Pizza owner and manager Bruce Farnsworth.
“I’m going to start working there this summer,” Farnsworth said, adding that “I eat there almost every day.
His favorite pizza?
“Buffalo chicken,” said Farnsworth, who has been racing for only a year and a half.
Brock Worster of Kingman was second, 10 car-lengths behind Farnsworth in the seven-car field and completing the top five were Donny Silva of Hudson, Gary Richards of Exeter and Lewis Batchelder of Dixmont.
The second in a three-race series in the Late Models was claimed by John Curtis Jr. of Hermon who had won the first series race to open the season. It was his third win in five races but first since the second race of the season.
“I hadn’t replaced my inside tires until this week,” said Curtis, who started second in the 50-lap race and led the final 47 laps. “The car was OK although I still had nothing on the bottom.”
Curtis said he was worried about all of the restarts but survived two of them to cross the finish line three car-lengths ahead of Kris Matchett of Skowhegan in the 11-car field. Scott Modery of Hermon was third and rounding out the top five were Dana Wilbur of Frankfort and Deane Smart of Bradley.
Matchett had an opportunity to win it on a restart with seven laps to go but couldn’t get around Curtis.
“I think I timed that restart just right,” Curtis said.
“It was hard to get around on the bottom although I raced the entire race on the bottom because my car went better on the bottom than it did on the top,” Matchett said. “I thought I might have more for [Curtis] on the last restart.
“The car was good for two of three laps on the restarts but then it got tight and started pushing bad,” Matchett said. “John had the preferred groove, We tried to make it work on the top but we couldn’t make it stick.”
Todd Lawrence of Levant ran second for most of the race but soon after a lap 36 restart, Modery gave him a little bump to move him out ot the way and Lawrence gradually slid back before getting tangled up in a wreck with Wayne Parritt Jr. of Steuben and got slammed in to buy Dale Swoboda, who couldn’t avoid him. Parritt had won the previous two Late Model features.
“I got a little rough with [Lawrence]. He turned me on the back stretch last week and didn’t have much of an excuse for it so I gave him a little rub in the back. I didn’t turn him, I just wanted to race him,” Modery said.
In the 50-lap touring Outlaw Super Series race it was Ricky Burgess of Waterville who sailed to an easy victory after taking the lead on lap three.
“I’ve got a great car under me,” said Burgess, who added that he loved racing at Speedway 95. “This is a great place.”
Steve Kimball of Holden, the former Steve Moulton, finished second in the six-car field with Shawn Hanmel of Bangor, Duane Seekins of Stockton Springs and Derek Lacadie of Eddington rounding out the top five.
“I lost my power steering halfway through the race. And I need a better engine,” said Kimball, who took his late father’s name. “I should have done it 40 years ago.”
Seekins was running third when his engine blew up on lap 41.
A fireworks show was put on after the race to celebrate July 4 early since there won’t be any racing next Saturday night.