Spencer, Roggie, Verne and Marchese Earn Wins on Watertown Savings Bank Night at Evans Mills

Tobi Newcombe, Evans Mills Raceway Park PR – Another beautiful evening greeted fans at Evans Mills Raceway Park as they filed into the speedway on Saturday Aug. 24 for Watertown Savings Bank night. Prior to race time we received the sad news that long time friend and Veteran Race Announcer, John Burr had passed away. A tribute of silence was observed at the start of the program in John’s memory and the flags at the speedway entrance were lowered to half mast. John was present at the very first race at Evans Mills on Aug. 6, 1967 and had spent many years announcing here. We send our deep condolences to John’s Family.

After the heat races in all divisions were completed in timely fashion, a second night of spectator races was held. Eleven cars entered and while an Audi and a Tesla gave it a good run, no one could defeat the Subaru of Chris Rombough who once again was at the top of the field after competition was completed. The spectator races were followed by a Kid’s Poster Party and autograph session on the track, and a significant number of the large crowd filed through the narrow gate onto the track to see the cars and chat with drivers. We discovered that fans as far away as Louisiana, Texas, and Switzerland were in attendance!

The Sport Compacts and Serv Pro Thunder Stocks came out for the first feature of the evening and the crowd buzzed as Andre Roggie brought his #03 to the track for the first time this season. By lap 8, Andre had passed the field using the outside lane and taking advantage of the track compound through the turns. At the finish it was Roggie in first followed by Craig Caskinette in the #19, Chuck Powelczyk in the 17, and Tim Dunn in the 96T. Josh Verne Jr. picked up another feature win in the #200 Serv Pro Thunder Stock class.

In the Fidelis Care INEX Legends class, first time racer Andre Fiorini in the #7 from Canada would take the lead early with Colby Felber in the #14 and Breanne Gilligan in the #33 giving chase. A spin by Gilligan near the closing laps brought out the yellow and set up the cone restart that has been used by Evans Mills since the first of the season. Fourth place runner Josh Marchese in the #31 would take advantage as none of the top three chose the outside lane. On the restart, Marchese was able to get to the lead and picked up another feature win, followed by Felber, Fiorini, and Zach Anderson in the #46.

The Caskinette Ford Modifieds brought another solid field of racers to the track. Unfortunately for Steve Fuchs in the #4, he lost a clutch in hot laps and was unable to compete. Terry Gardner in the 2x also had bad luck, as he was scheduled to start the feature from the pole position but retired with a bad motor. At the start of the 30 lap feature, it was Randy Brunelle with the early lead in the #007. Mike Ramos in the #09 charged from a 5th place start to second and was dogging Brunelle for several laps. There was contact in turn 4 which brought out a caution and both drivers would be sent back. Kreig Heroth in the #6 in his second race of the season at Evans Mills found himself in the lead, but Mason Spencer in the #30 chose the outside lane on the restart and was able to take over the top spot. At the finish it was Spencer, Heroth, and Geoff Sharkey in the #66 finishing third. Brian MacDonald in his first race ever on asphalt finished fourth in the #126 and Brad Winters was 5th in the #92.

In addition to the regular classes, Saturday Aug. 31 will feature a skid plate race Enduro paying $500 to win sponsored by Ray’s Service Center, the first race of its kind in the north country. Rules can be found on the Evans Mills Raceway Park Facebook page & website. It will also be the final night of points sponsored by Christman Fuel Service with Tim Dunn and Craig Caskinette very close at the top of the Sport Compact class. Mason Spencer leads the Caskinette Ford Modifieds, Josh Marchese is in front in the Fidelis Care INEX Legends, and Josh Verne enjoys an insurmountable lead in the Serv Pro Thunder Stocks. With another large 50/50 jackpot of over $1200 to the winner, the crowds continue to grow at Evans Mills Raceway Park.

Be sure to mark Saturday, September 7th on your calendar as a “must attend event” as the Evans Mills Raceway Park & Caskinette Ford has launched a “Racing Away The Hunger” campaign to collect non-perishable food, health and wellness items to be distributed to area school pantries in support of Backpack Food Programs. This program provides easy to prepare meals for students during weekends and holidays to bridge the hunger gap when school meal programs are not available. A trailer will be spotted at the entrance to the Raceway and anyone making a donation will be admitted to the race event for ONLY $2. We hope to see you all Saturday!