BNS: Beech Ridge race report and results

PTM Racing 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Sunday, June 10

Five races, five faces. There still has not been a repeat Busch North Series winner in 2001. Going back to the end of the 2000 campaign, the last seven races have been won by seven different drivers. In order since NHIS in September 2000, they are: Santerre, Wall, Gordon, Christopher, Moore, Leighton, and Olsen.

Stub Fadden and Mike Olsen, grandfather and grandson, are the second multi-generation family to win in the Busch North Series. The Truex family Martin Sr.and Martin Jr. beat them to it. Stub Fadden won four BNS races, the most recent in 1994. He retired following the 1998 season.

Paul Richardson was the big mover in the point standings, advancing from ninth to fifth. Bill Penfold had the opposite results. After running a solid second and actually leading one lap on a restart, he broke the rear end and finished 30th, dropping out of the top ten in points for the first time in 2001.

The Busch North Series continued its stormy (pun intended) relationship with the weather gods. On a day when a mix of sun and clouds was forecast, thunderheads gathered in the hot and humid midday, and a deluge of rain stopped Bud Pole Qualifying after half the cars had taken time, forcing series officials to cancel qualifying and set the lineup by points. The Beech Ridge Wildcat class gets a gold star for helping to dry the track, just as Thunder Road's Flying Tigers did in the Labor Day monsoon of 2000. The PTM Racing 150 started only 1 hour, 35 minutes late.

Rain returned after the race program, including the Beech Ridge late model feature, was completed, making four Busch North Series races in a row where the haulers have left in a downpour. Yet each of those races has run its full distance and finished under the green flag.

With the lineup set by 2001 Busch North Series points, seven competitors went home disappointed. Among them were the teams of Barry Gommer, who was hoping to make his BNS debut, and four other drivers- Jerry Babb, Tim Brackett, Jeff Hawkins, and Laine Chase- who were set to make their first appearance of 2001. Roger Raymond and Adam Friend, 31st and 32nd in points among teams present, were also forced to sit out the PTM Racing 150. All will receive points for the event based on the order in which they were scheduled to make their time trial runs.

<pre>| UNOFFICIAL 2001 BUSCH NORTH SERIES, NASCAR TOURING POINT STANDINGS (following PTM Racing 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Me., Sunday, June 10)

Pos. Driver Points Starts Wins Top-5 Top-10

1       Mike Johnson    810     5       0       4       5       $21,894
2       Mike Olsen      809     5       1       4       5       $24,179
3       Tracy Gordon    760     5       1       2       5       $22,499
4       Brad Leighton   738     5       1       2       3       $21,465
5       Paul Richardson 700     5       0       2       3       $14,019
6       Kelly Moore     691     5       1       2       3       $20,219
7       Martin Truex    665     5       0       2       3       $14,469
8       Jamie Aube      655     5       0       1       2       $ 7,894
9       Dale Quarterley 641     5       0       0       3       $ 8,644
10      Dave Dion       636     5       0       1       3       $ 8,444
11      Brian Hoar      635     5       0       1       3       $ 9,150
12      Dennis Demers   620     5       0       0       1       $ 7,169
13      Bill Penfold    611     5       0       0       2       $ 7,694
14      Bryan Wall      609     5       0       0       2       $ 7,194
15      Dale Shaw       595     5       0       1       3       $ 9,329
16      Matt Kobyluck   575     5       0       0       0       $ 6,444
17      Kip Stockwell   563     5       0       0       0       $ 6,319
18      Joey McCarthy   515     5       0       0       0       $ 5,885
19      Eddie McDonald  494     5       0       0       1       $ 5,755
20      Mike Rowe       491     5       0       0       0       $ 5,494
21      David Darling   470     5       0       0       0       $ 5,040
22      Bryon Chew      446     5       0       0       0       $ 5,679
23      Barney McRae    443     5       0       0       0       $ 5,149
24      Travis Benjamin 422     5       0       0       0       $ 2,895
25      Dan Koonmen     364     4       0       0       0       $ 2,910
26      Doug Hurst      359     4       0       0       0       $ 2,700
27      Herb Drugg      333     3       0       0       0       $ 2,800
28      Carey Heath     332     3       0       0       0       $ 2,150
29      Greg Schaefer   298     3       0       1       1       $ 4,000
30      Paul Wolfe      285     2       0       1       1       $ 5,350

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