Scarborough,Maine-Bill Rodgers won the Pro Series 40 lap main event on Saturday night at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in a drag race to the finish line on the final lap. Getting to the point was a journey though as Rodgers started deep in the [...]]]> Bill Rodgers wins Pro Series at Beech Ridge in thrilling style.

Scarborough,Maine-Bill Rodgers won the Pro Series 40 lap main event on Saturday night at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in a drag race to the finish line on the final lap. Getting to the point was a journey though as Rodgers started deep in the 18 car field. Steve Jones jumped from the pole position to lead the opening 18 laps as Bob Gahan was never more than a foot off from his rear bumper. Dan McKeage cleared traffic and began to close on the leader as the race hit the half way point. McKeage blew into the lead on lap 18 and was pulling away from the field until Rodgers and Tyler King made contact with each other while racing for second place. The result was a caution flag and a hard wall banger for King and Rodger getting to line up in second place for the restart. Rodgers went to the lead on lap 20 with Aaron Ricker right on him as McKeage was shuffled back to third. Ricker took the lead on lap 22 with a bold move as Rodgers tried to fight back to the top spot. A late race caution flag waved on lap 36 setting up a 4 lap brawl for the win. Rodgers nosed in front from the outside but Ricker was hanging very tough on the low side and Trevor Sanborn and Dan McKeage were looking to make it 3 wide. With the white flag waving for the final laps, Rodgers led by inches as the tire smoke started to appear not only from the 2 leaders but also from third and fourth runners as they dashed to the finish line. Rodgers came off turn 4 for the win inches in front of Ricker with Sanborn diving to the inside of Ricker to get third place at the line. McKeage was fourth by about 1 foot. Charlie Colby took fifth place. The Sport Series feature race also had its share of fireworks and hard feelings on Saturday night. Frank Wear got the win but it was far from easy. Andy Field led from the pole for the opening 10 laps until Jason Larrabee took over. Larrabee led until Wear arrived on the scene by working the bottom groove to take the lead on lap16 with Don Colpritt moving to second place. This is where the entire structure of the race changed. Colpritt led the field to the green flag with Wear to his outside and Corey Bubar behind him in third. As the field took the green flag Colpritt left the inside open just a crack and Bubar decided it was enough to try and drive into the hole, the end result was Bubar and Colpritt making contact going into turn 1 with Colpritt having to slow down to try and keep his car under control. As he lifted Wear had no place to go and bumped Colpritt after he checked up sending Colpritt into a spin. Bubar inherited the lead with Wear in second but it still was not over. With the final laps unfolding, Colpritt was slow on the track riding out the finish but Bubar and Wear were closing down on him to put him a lap down. As Bubar went to pass Colpritt he was intentionally taken out of the lead by Colpritt handing the lead and the win to Wear but Bubar did hold on for second place. Sally Gherardi was third with Jason Larrabee and Doug Wolf next. Keith Stuart won the Wildcat feature race for the second time this season. Chris Warming led the first 6 laps before Stuart took over but Warming would go back to the front on lap 10. Stuart wrestled the lead back at lap 18 and went to victory lane. The heated battle in this race was for second place as at the finish line, Warming would get the spot by inches over Brian Caswell. Dan Bean was fourth and Alby Ovitt fifth. The Road Runner race was won by Evan Armington in a close finish decided by the transponders. Taylor Lampron led 18 laps until Armington pulled to her outside with just 2 laps to go. The 2 young drivers raced side by side for the final 2 laps with Armington getting to the finish line 3/100 of a second sooner than Lampron in second. Ryan Phillips was third followed by Ray Dinsmore and Dave Cameron

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