Bear Ridge Speedway kicks off the 2003 season
by April May Preston
BRADFORD, Vt. -- Fans were ready for racing after the long winter and weren’t disappointed with the full day’s activities that Bear Ridge Speedway’s opening night May 3rd had to offer. Mother Nature was in good form and the day started at Gray’s field in Fairlee, VT with a car show under bright sunny skies. Fans were able to get a close look at their favorite cars and drivers as a strong showing of over 50 cars were on hand for the viewing. Each division was well represented with the overall winners of the day the 17 of Chris Donnelly, the 36 of Brian Whitmore, and the 00 Troy Gray in the 358 Modifieds. In the Sportsman Coupes it was the 15 of Adam Pierson, the 21 of Steve Ellsworth, and the 20 of Tyler Rich. In the Pro Streets the 8 of Dan Eastman, 9 of Rich Glode, and the 26 of Ryan Pierson took home the honors. In the Fast Fours the 34 of Billy Simmons, the 13 of Lenny Garduno, and the 16 of Dean Switzer Jr were the best in their division. Over 250 ballots were handed out as the judging was solely based on fan picks.
Following the car show the cars departed to the track for an afternoon of practice. The first green flag was flown by C.V. Elms at 6:00 PM right on schedule for the start of the 36th season. First on the grid were the Sportsman Coupes with 2 rounds of qualifiers. Peter Greaves and Steve Ellsworth brought the first heat race field to the green and it was apparent that everyone was ready to go racing. At the conclusion Doug Titus walked away with the first checker of the season as the winner of heat one. The second heat saw Louis Cadwell taking the win. In the semi feature Richie Simmons was victorious over the field of eight cars. Simmons started on the pole and held off a hard charging Bob Shepard to win the 12 lap semi feature. In the main feature Steve Ellsworth by virtue of a redraw led the field to the green. After a couple of cautions Lou Cadwell coming from the rear found himself in the first spot and went on to pick up the win in his Ford powered Dirt Coupe.
Modifieds heat winners were Jimmy Ryan and Bryan Whitmore. The 40 lap Twin-State feature was brought to the starting line by Jim Ryan and Troy Gray. They led the field to the start finish line followed by a field of fast Modifieds looking to reach the checkers first in this the first of 15 Twin-State series races. A couple of cautions slowed the pace mixing up the excitement. Gray and Donnelly fought many laps side by side, with Donnelly finally getting by Gray for second behind Ryan. Vince Quenneville came from the rear to pass Ryan on the 31st lap only to be sidelined by a flat tire, giving the lead back to Ryan. But the race to watch this night was still with Donnelly and Gray as they continued to fight for the 2nd place spot. At the finish Ryan was the winner with Gray victorious in 2nd spot over Donnelly, Gene Pierson Jr. was 4th with Vince Quenneville returning from the flat tire to finish 5th.
In the Pro Streets the heat race winners were Rich Glode and Bryan King. The feature was brought to the green by Ryan Avery by virtue of a redraw. For 25 laps Avery held on to beat Ryan Pierson, last years track champion. Anthony Perkins, Dan Eastman, and Robert Goioa, completed the top 5.
In the Fast Fours Dean Switzer Jr. and Chris McKinstry were your heat winners. Andy Johnson by virtue of the redraw started on the pole and led every lap to win the feature holding off Switzer and McKinstry for 2nd and 3rd. Lenny Garduno and Wayland Childs rounded out the top 5.
Next week be sure to be at the Ridge for a full card of racing including the Mekkelsen RV 358 Modifieds, Gilmour Ford-Chrysler Sportsman Coupes, H.O. Taylor Chevrolet Pro Streets and the Journal Opinion Fast Fours when action kicks off at 6:30 the regular scheduled start time. Bear Ridge Speedway is located off exit 16 of I91 on to rte 25 west 1 mile to South Road up the hill to Kidder Rd. On Friday’s don’t forget to check out Sister Track Canaan Fair Speedway located on Orange Rd in Canaan NH just 12 miles from I-89. Mark your calendars for May 18th when the Pro All Stars Series will be hitting the Canaan Asphalt. For more information including the 2003 schedules you can log on to: www.bearridgespeedway.com or www.canaanfairspeedway.com any questions can be sent to aprilmay@earthlink.net