Speedway 95 owner Del Merritt expects 40 to 50 cars to compete in the annual Ikey Dorr (Memorial) 100-lap Street Stock race at the Hermon track on Saturday afternoon as part of the season-ending Paul Bunyan Speed Weekend.
There will be a 100-lap Darling’s Late Model and a 95-lap Roadrunner race that will highlight Sunday’s racing.
Racing begins at 1 p.m. on both days.
The Ikey Dorr winner will pocket $10,000 with the second and third-place drivers earning $4,000 and $2,000, respectively.
The Darling’s Late Model victor will take home a check for $6,000. Second place money is $2,500 and third will pay out $1,200.
The Dorr race honors the life of the Wiscasset native and Addison resident who died of an apparent heart attack he suffered during a race at Speedway 95 in 2009. He was 56 years old.
On Saturday, in addition to the Austin Theriault for Congress Ikey Dorr feature, there will be a 50-lap race for the drivers who fail to qualify for the Dorr race along with a 25-lap feature for the Cagerunners.
On Sunday, in addition to the Late Model and Roadrunner features, there will be a 30-lap Sport-4 race, an Outlaw Midget feature and a Demolition Derby to conclude the weekend and season of racing.
The winners in the Cagerunners, Sport-4 and Roadrunner classes will each earn $600 and the driver who takes the checkered flag in the non-qualifier race will pocket $500.
“It’s going to be a great weekend of racing. I’m looking forward to it,” said the 79-year-old Merritt.
Merritt said it has been an “off year” at Speedway 95 due primarily to weather.
“The rain got us quite a bit. We lost six events,” explained Merritt. “We got a later start because of it.
“I wasn’t happy with the car counts. We’ll see what happens another year,” he added.
But, according to the Weather Channel, partly cloudy skies will prevail this weekend with just a seven percent chance of rain on Saturday and 11 percent on Sunday. High temperatures will be 59 degrees on Saturday and 56 on Sunday.
Glenburn native Jordan Pearson won the Ikey Dorr race a year ago after starting 15th. Kenduskeag’s Kris Watson finished second and Brady Creamer of Fredericton, New Brunswick was third.
Pearson won the Street Stocks points championship at Speedway 95 this season thanks to six wins and 11 top-five finishes in 14 races. He tallied 1,384 points with Glenburn’s Doug Day in second with 1,289 points and Franklin’s Mike Overlock in third with 1,188.
Hermon’s Mike Hopkins won the 100-lap Darling’s Late Model feature a year ago with Brenton Parritt of Steuben and Deane Smart of Milford finishing second and third.
Hopkins doesn’t race weekly at Speedway 95, preferring to run a variety of longer distance events including occasional Pro All-Stars Series races.
Farmington’s Donny Blanchard captured the Dysart’s Late Model points title at Speedway 95 with 1,382 points. He won seven of the 13 races and was top five in all 13 events.
Bangor’s Raymond Martin was second with 855 points and Bradford’s Roger Richards was third with 766.
The Sport-4 champion was Jason Morse of Hermon with 1,378 points thanks to four wins and top-five showings in all 13 races. Andrew McTague Jr. of Frankport (1,294) and Darius Miranda of Orono (1,236) were second and third.
Troy’s Horace Crawford (1,444 points), Etna’s Nicholas Bickford (1,352) and Otis’ Jeff Burditt (1,148) finished one-two-three in the Coca-Cola Cagerunner class. Crawford won four races with 12 top-fives in 15 features.
Donny Silva of Hudson triumphed in the Roadrunner class with 854 points. He won six of eight races with seven top-fives. Seth and Doug Woodard of Plymouth followed with 820 and 804 points, respectively.
Winthrop’s Ben Ashline was the Cap’s Tavern Modified Enduro titleist with 856 points based on four wins and top-five finishes in all eight races. Norridgewock’s Zach Audet (832) and Albion’s Spencer Sweatt (808) round up the top three.
The closest points race belonged to the Stars of Tomorrow class where Hampden’s Austin Beale tallied 841 points to edge Winslow’s Carson Bellows by just one point. Etna’s Waylon Giguere was third with 791 points.
Beale had three wins and seven top-five showings in eight events.
The Moody Truck Series title was garnered by Adam Gardner of Orono (858 points) followed by Greenbush’s Jesse Langley (844) and Monroe’s Shawn Chase (810). Gardner won six of eight races and was top-five in the other two.
Southwest Harbor’s Eric Clark won seven of eight races and was a top-five finisher in the other in claiming the Maine Outlaw Midget Series points title with 872 points. Unity’s Anthony Lancaster was second with 814 points and Thorndike’s Barry Tweedie was third with 620 points.
