Bub Bilodeau and Clyde Hennessey survive crash filled night for Beech Ridge wins.

By Dan Walker Beech Ridge Motor Speedway PR

Scarborough, Maine-Bub Bilodeau and Clyde Hennessey were headline
division winners on Saturday night at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.
Steve Benincasa and Shawn Brackett grabbed the wins in the Wildcat and
Road Runner divisions as the first night race of the NASCAR Whelan All
American Series took place. The headline story of the night will be
the many multi car crashes and caution flags that disrupted the racing
all night long. The 40 lap Pro Series race found Kerry Anderson
setting the early pace until a 5 car crash on lap 2 brought out the
first of what would be 6 caution flags. Tim Brackett would take the
lead on lap 3 but Anderson went back in front on lap later as the
caution waved. Tim Brackett went back to the lead and stayed there
through lap 15 when Bobby Babb went to the outside and powered into
the lead. Brackett took another stab at the lead following a lap 15
caution flag but Babb would take it back 3 laps later. The next
caution flag came out on lap 20 and again Brackett went back to the
lead on the restart but 2 laps later Babb retook what was his as Bub
Bilodeau and Dan McKeage watched the heated action. Bilodeau made a
bid for the lead on lap 23 with success and survived 1 more caution
flag before securing the win. Dan McKeage was second with Tim
Brackett third. Bobby Babb and Kerry Anderson were fourth and fifth
with just 7 cars running at the finish following the carnage. Clyde
Hennessey was the surprise winner of the 35 lap Sport Series feature
race leading just the final 4 laps in taking the win. Dave Lampron
set the early pace until Nate Leavitt took over on lap 6 following a
lap 5 caution. Leavitt stretched out his lead until lap 23 when a
slower car was run over by a front running car setting off a 5 car
wreck and a lengthy caution period. Leavitt went back in front until
the caution waved again on lap 31 setting the stage for a 4 lap fight
to the finish. As Leavitt brought the field to the green flag the
front row drifted high and Clyde Hennessey seized the moment making it
3 wide entering turn 1. Hennessey took the lead on the backstretch
and led the final laps to take the win with Leavitt finishing second
and wondering what had just happened. Russ Morse was third with Corey
Bubar turning in a great run for fourth and Reggie Leeman fifth with
no right side sheet metal on the car at the finish. In what was the
longest race time wise of the night Steve Benincasa literally survived
the 30 lap Wildcat feature for his first win. Gary Babineau led until
the big one occurred on lap 18 as a lapped car running with the
leaders put down a big batch of oil exiting turn 2 of the track. What
ensued was what looked like a slow motion video as the next 12 cars
all piled into the back wall resulting in a 26 minute red flag to
clean up the mess and haul all of the crashed cars to the pit area.
Once racing resumed it was Babineau in front until a mechanical
problem took him out of the race on lap 20 handing the lead to Steve
Benincasa. The final laps were caution free with Benincasa first
followed by Randy Snow and Buddy Poole. Glenn Bradbury and David
Wildes rounded out the top finishers. The Road Runner division was
not to be left out of the crash fest for the evening as before a
single turn of the feature could be negotiated 4 cars went off on the
hook. With that out of the way Ed Pierce would lead until reigning
champion Shawn Brackett took over on lap 8 and cruised to the win.
Pierce was second followed by Trevor Graffam and Dan Bernier. Mark
Hill took down the fifth place position at the finish.