Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

AUTO RACING NOTEBOOK

White trying to get back on track

By Bill Stewart bstewart@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

BY BILL STEWART

Staff Writer

Jeff White enjoyed a strong start but a disastrous finish at the 37th annual TD Bank 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway on July 18.

And the Winthrop driver is still paying for it now.

"We're still rebuilding the car," he said. "It's going to take a massive amount of money to fix it. We messed it up pretty bad. We bent the front clip, bent the rear clip and I damaged half my front end after about 189 laps."

White was pushed up against the wall coming out of turn two and never recovered to finish the race. He had been running in the top 10 early in the race.

"Right now we're trying to get it back going," White said.

White plans to run at Oxford a few times before going to Thunder Road in Barre, Vt., for an American-Canadian Tour race Sept. 5.

• • •

The ACT has invited 40 Late Model drivers to test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway next month.

The test sessions, which are scheduled for Aug. 17-18, are in advance of the second annual ACT Invitational at Loudon on Sept. 18.

Pittston driver Ben Ashline said "it would be a dream" to receive an invitation to the test, which will give the ACT a better feel for which drivers should return to Loudon in September.

The ACT will invite more drivers this summer and will bring as many as 60 drivers to Loudon.

"The ACT more or less chooses who will go," Ashline said. "It would be pretty big. It would be great exposure. We're praying for an invite. It would be a dream to race there."

The ACT Invitational coincides with the return of the Sprint Cup series at Loudon.

"We'll see what happens," said Ashline, who has qualified for all three ACT races he's competed in this summer.

• • •

Nate Weston is back at Unity Raceway, and it's almost like he never left.

The 47-year-old Madison resident is racing in the track's Super Street division for the first time since 2006. Weston won the points championship that year, and he's in position to do it again.

"It's been a return to Unity," Weston said.

Indeed it has for Weston, who has bounced around a bit during the last four years.

In 2007, Weston raced the Pro All Stars Series Sportsman circuit, in which he finished third in points. In 2008 he raced at Wiscasset Raceway. Last year Weston returned to the PASS Sportsman class, but he failed to finish in five of nine races.

"We kept blowing up seemingly every single race," Weston said. "We're really glad to shake the bad luck of last year and race at Unity. I wanted to race locally and not travel, and there's a good fan base at Unity so we decided to go back."

In eight races this season, Weston has four victories, two second-place finishes and a third.

"It's been pretty much a dream year," Weston said.

• • •

After failing to qualify for the TD Bank 250, A.J. Picard hopes to return to Unity this weekend.

"We had a fast car but we changed a bunch of things and the car didn't handle too well," Picard of Palmyra said. "We'll try it again next year."

Picard is also juggling a hectic schedule, working for Pike Industries.

"We're doing the 295 work seven days a week," Picard said. "It makes it tough to get to the track."

• • •

Left turns: Chelsea native Mike Wilson leads the Monsta Mini series at Unity with 626 points. Lance Chapman of Benton ranks second with 605. Andy Turbovsky of Winslow leads the Wildcat division at Unity with 607 points, just six ahead of Chris King of Burnham. Scott Luce of Strong is third in the Late Model series at Oxford Plains Speedway with 255 points. He trails Tim Brackett (266) and Tommy Ricker (272). ... Chris Thorne of Sidney finished 10th in an ACT race at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway last weekend. Thorne is ninth in points in the Pro Series at OPS.

Bill Stewart -- 623-3811, ext. 515

bstewart@centralmaine.com