Liberty’s Josh St. Clair and Hermon’s Mike Hopkins fattened their wallets during the season-ending Paul Bunyan Speed Weekend at Hermon’s Speedway 95 this past weekend.
Outgoing Speedway 95 owner Del Merritt and new owner Ricky Craven were on hand as St. Clair pocketed $10,000 for winning the 15th annual Ikey Dorr Memorial 100-lap street stock race on Saturday. Hopkins captured the Darling’s 100 Late Model race on Sunday, earning him a $5,000 check.
On Saturday, St. Clair and Levant’s Shane Tatro battled it out for the win.
Tatro led from lap 2 to lap 28 before St. Clair wrested the lead from him and held it until Tatro regained the lead on lap 58.
St. Clair regained the lead for good a few laps later and edged Tatro at the finish line.
Mac Hannan from Washington finished third and rounding out the top five were Dan McKeague of Gorham and Kris Watson of Kenduskeag. Watson started 33rd in the 35-car field.
The race is named in honor of the Wiscasset native and Addison resident who died of an apparent heart attack while racing at Speedway 95 in 2009.
On Sunday, Hopkins captured his fifth Darling’s 100 since the event began in 2014.
He started fourth and swapped the lead with Holden’s Steve Kimball in the early going.
On a lap 63 restart, Jonathan Emerson of Oxford went to the front of the pack but Hopkins regained the lead on lap 67 and led the rest of the way.
Another Hermon driver, John Curtis Jr., who was the Speedway 95 Late Model points champion this season, got past Emerson to finish second with Emerson in third. Matthew Burgoine of Stetson crossed the finish line in fourth place and Steuben’s Brenton Parritt wound up fifth.
Parritt had worked his way up from the back of the 16-car field twice.
In the other races on Saturday’s card, Plymouth’s Seth Woodard won the 35-lap Coca-Cola Company Cage Runners feature followed by Hampden’s Eric Worster and Hudson’s Mason Silva. China’s Chip Farrington and Mars Hill’s Alan Rideout completed the top five.
The Wicked Good Vintage League had a pair of 20-lap races with Alan Dakin of Swanville winning the Hobby Class race followed by James Young of Hancock and Addison Bowie of Casco in third. In the Late Models, James Osmond of Warren took the checkered flag with Adrian Williams of Warren and Scott Tucker of Winthrop finishing second and third, respectively.
On Sunday, Trey Brown of Winterport earned his sixth win of the season in the 30-lap Sport-Four feature. Wyatt DiPietro of Rome, Monroe’s Jason Linscott, Frankfort’s Andrew McTague and Brownville’s Roy Hathorn completed the top five.
Passadeumkeag’s Scott Lane won the Maine Outlaw Midgets feature. Morgan Call of Burnham was second followed by Gram Levitt of Swanville, Rick Stymiest of Newburgh and Loring Carter of Sullivan.
