WISCASSET — As opening days go, Josh St. Clair would have a hard time imagining a better one.
The Liberty racer wired the field in a romp Saturday, claiming the season-opening 40-lap Super Street feature at Wiscasset Speedway. St. Clair won his heat race to earn the pole position for the main event and then dusted the other 19 drivers on the track.
St. Clair had built a lead of more than six seconds over runner-up Ryan Ripley before the race’s only caution coincided with the checkered flag in front of a packed house.
“This is a car I have a bunch of history with,” St. Clair said. “This is the one I ran through the mid-2000s. We turned it into a Super Street, and the thing’s still fast. There’s no better way to start.”
Westport’s David Greenleaf finished third in his first podium finish since winning the Thunder 4 Mini track championship in 2019.
Greenleaf may have thrown himself into early championship contention, but it was a pair of part-time drivers who stole the show Saturday.
Jim Bulkeley, of Cherry Valley, Mass,, makes adjustments in the pits on his son Nick Bulkeley’s Legend car Saturday at Wiscasset Speedway. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
St. Clair won three of his seven starts in a Super Street in 2022 and has now won exactly 50 percent of his Super Street races since the start of last season. Ripley, who started on the outside pole, made his first appearance in the division since winning the track championship in 2010.
Ripley competes regularly in Wiscasset’s Modified and Late Model divisions.
“I was 15 the last time I drove one of these, so it’s been a little while,” said Ripley, now 27, who noted that a portion of the original chassis was used back in the late 1990s. “Wheeling one of these things is like riding a bicycle, I guess. They’re a lot of fun. You can wheel them a little bit more than a Modified or a Pro Stock. They’ve changed quite a bit (over the years).”
Defending Super Street champion James Osmond and Noah Haggett rounded out the top five Saturday. Kenny Harrison, Brett Osmond, Jason Oakes, Nicole Benincasa and Kevin Sherman finished sixth through 10th, respectively.
Greenleaf was excited to have taken a step forward with his program. He failed to crack the top five at any point last season and recorded only four top-10 finishes in 12 starts.
“I had nothing for Josh and Ryan, but we’ll get there,” Greenleaf said.
There was nothing about his dominant performance Saturday that left St. Clair wanting — at least not with his Super Street.
“In (the Pro Stock), I wish I was just a tick faster,” St. Clair said, despite winning his heat race in that division, too, earlier in the afternoon. “Nick (Hinkley) and Kevin (Douglass) are both really good, and we’ll see what happens. I’m starting on the front row in that and it’s a big help, but I don’t know if it’s going to be enough.”
NELCAR Legends racers compete in a heat race Saturday at Wiscasset Speedway. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
St. Clair finished 2nd in the 40-lap Pro Stock feature. He was forced to start last in the 13-car field when the transponder on his car, used for timing and scoring, was not registering with race control during pace laps.
Douglass, the reigning Pro Stock track champion, started third, took the lead on lap 5 and paced the field all the way to the checkered flag. Hinkley and Jamie Wright finished third and fourth, respectively, with a pair of rookies finishing behind them.
Gorham’s Dan McKeage Jr. finished fifth, and Farmingdale driver Matt Beers was sixth in his first career Pro Stock start.
“I don’t have my brother this year, and Mike Landry really stepped up to spot and help me out,” said Douglass, of Sidney, who won six of 12 starts in 2022. “It worked out (today). I got the lead early and then it was just about maintaining the gap and doing what you can.”
Josh Hall won the 25-lap 4-Cylinder Pro Stock feature event over Ben Burgess, while the Thunder 4 Mini win went to Zach Audet of Skowhegan. Jacob Byrnes won the 25-lapper for the visiting NELCAR Legends.
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