News Director 
Column By: AMY HARROP / RPW – SCARBOROUGH, ME – Excitement filled the air as fans flocked to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway on Thursday night for the Thursday Night Thunder season opener. With a new season came a wave of new faces on the track and in the garage, but plenty of familiar faces and fan-favorites as well.
Thursday Night Thunder at Beech Ridge hosts 8 different divisions: Legends, Mad Bombers Junior Varsity, Mighty Trucks Junior Varsity, Beetle Bugs Junior Varsity, Ladies League, Mad Bombers Varsity, Mighty Truck Varsity and Beetle Bugs Varsity. Junior Varsity divisions are for drivers in their 1st-3rd year of competition, whereas Varsity divisions are for drivers that have surpassed their 3rd year of competition. There are no qualifying heats on Thursday nights, therefore lineup’s are decided by random draw. After the starting fields were set, the Legends were the first division to take to the track.
Leading the field to green was the #70 of Tyler Braunschweig, followed by Zachary Godbout, Roger Edgecomb and Trevor Sanborn. Braunschweig initially pulled away from the field, but Trevor Sanborn was in hot pursuit. By lap 3, he had made his way up to second place from fourth, but he was hungry for more. By lap 5, he had found his way around Tyler Braunschweig for the top spot. Fan-favorite Kevin Girard Jr. turned heads as he broke the top 5 on lap 5, looking for even more. The #77 machine went around on lap 7, bringing out the caution. The field was unable to get another full lap in before another on-track incident occurred. This accident included a handful of cars that made contact and spun around in turn 1 — this accident notably involved Girard, who had to restart at the tail-end of the field. Sanborn pulled away again at the restart, not looking back. Girard made his way up to fifth again on lap 12 after a pass in turn 3. He was still in hot pursuit of the leaders, but Sanborn was too fast for anyone to catch, lapping cars by lap 22. Sanborn ran away with the feature win after 25 laps of competition, followed by the #70 of Braunschweig, the #18, #78 and the #19 of Kevin Girard Jr.
The Mad Bombers Junior Varsity division was next on the track. Wade Kennedy led the field to green, followed by Mad Bombers’ newcomer Jamie Savoie, Cameron Jones, and #92 and #56 machines. Wade Kennedy immediately took control of the field as Jamie Savoie fell back to mid-pack. Jimmy Dean was making moves, making his way up to fifth place after a lap 3 pass in turn 4. The #92 and #00 machines went around in turn 1 on lap 8, bringing out the caution. After the field went back to green, it was smooth sailing for Jimmy Dean, who went on to capture the victory in the feature. Following him were the cars of Woodsome, Wear and Johnson.
The Mighty Trucks Junior Varsity division took to the track next for their 15-lap shootout. There were only 8 trucks in the feature, lead by the #69 of John Curtis. Following Curtis were Will Potter, Tanner McDougal, Travis Gosselin, Nick Calvert, Jared Kimball and Robert Ferguson. Curtis initially pulled away with the lead, but McDougal and Calvert were hot on his heels for the top spot. Travis Gosselin brought out the first caution when he stalled his machine on turn 2 on lap 1, bringing the field back together. Calvert was able to get a major jump on the restart, enabling him to jump into the lead. A competitive caution came out on lap 10 to bring the field back together and make the finish more competitive. The #69 of Curtis had trouble on the restart, falling back to 3rd place. Calvert was able to score his second career victory, followed by McDougal, Curtis, Kimball and Ferguson.
The Junior Varsity Beetle Bugs division took to the track next, led by Chris Case, Nate Caldwell, Jim Emmons and Alex Parachanian. On lap 1, Alex Parachanian went hard into the dirt in turns 3&4, drawing out the first caution. On the restart, Nate Caldwell found the outside of Chris Case and took the lead in turn 1. On lap 4 in turn 2, Chris Case found the lead once again. Another competition caution was brought out on lap 7 to bunch the field back up. Case pulled away from the field at the restart, eventually scoring his first career victory over Alex Parachanian and Nate Caldwell.
The Ladies League took to the track next with their 15-lap feature. Holly Gain and Courtney Cameron led the field to green, followed by Shelby Brannon, Sarah Libby and Betty Nelson. Defending Ladies League champion Kaitlyn Leavitt started the feature in 6th. Courtney Cameron passed Gain for the lead in turn 4 of lap 1, pulling away from the field. By lap 4, Betty Nelson had found her way to second place after making a pass to the outside of Shelby Brannon in turn 1. Betty found her way to the top spot after passing Courtney Cameron on lap 7, eventually pulling away from the field. By lap 8, the top three cars had pulled away entirely from the remainder of the pack. A competition caution was brought out on lap 10 to bring the field back together, but Betty Nelson reigned victorious, taking home the win. Following her were Brannon, Leavitt, Cameron and Gain.
The Mad Bombers Varsity division took to the track next, with some drivers making the quick change to use the same cars as those in the Ladies’ League. The #31 of Ed McConologue led the field to the green, followed by Chris Burgess and Todd Lovejoy. McConologue took the early lead from Burgess as the #5 of Jason Gammon made a hot pursuit for second place. By lap 10, the #2 of Todd Lovejoy had also found his way up to third place. A competition caution was brought out on lap 14, with the #5 of Jason Gammon pulling away at the restart. Gammon ran away with the win, followed by the #27 machine, Libby, Lovejoy and Kennedy.
The 7-man Mighty Truck Varsity Division took to the track next, with Mark Grantham leading the field to green. He was followed by Kris Knox, Brian Darling, Jeff Gillette, and David Lamson. Lamson spun out early in turn 1 on lap 1, drawing out the caution. Grantham maintained the lead at the restart, but Keith Petrin had made his way up to third and he was fighting for more. By lap 6, Petrin, Grantham and Darling were in a 3-way battle for the top spot. Petrin made his way to the outside of both cars on lap 7 in turn 4, breaking away from the pack as the 2nd-4th place drivers battled for position. Petrin went on to win the feature, followed by Grantham, Darling, Knox and Gillette.
The Varsity Beetle Bug Division took to the track last, fielding a 4-car pack. Dave Moreau led the field to green, followed by Todd Hubbard, Gerard Cote and Randy Pimpare. The 10-lap shootout began with Moreau pulling away from the field with Hubbard at his heels. Moreau stole the heat victory, but Cote made moves as he stole 2nd place from Hubbard, who fell back to third place. The final finishing order was Moreau, Cote, Hubbard and Pimpare. This was Moreau’s first victory in over 3 years.
The first night of the 2017 Thursday Night Thunder brought both fresh faces and seasoned veterans to the track for one exciting night of competition. Join us next Thursday, June 22nd, for another night of racing fun! Adult admission is only $7. Racing action begins at 7:00 pm!
