From Mark Mckeon
Canaan, NH — (August 31, 2012) — Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Matt Robie of Hill, NH spanked the field with a wire-to-wire victory in the Sprint Cars of New England feature at Canaan Dirt Speedway Friday.
The victory repeated Robie’s romp last week at Canaan and makes him both the only back-to-back winner and the only three time SCoNE winner this season. Dan Douville came from seventh to finish second. Clay Dow used a third place finish- his third consecutive podium- to capture the Canaan Track Championship for the Sprint Cars of New England sponsored by Casella Resource Solutions.
Robie’s reprise came on opening night of SCoNE Triple Crown Weekend and if he’s able to run the table by winning tonight at Bear Ridge Speedway and tomorrow at Legion Speedway, he’ll pocket well over $3,000.
Starting on the pole for the 30 lap event by virtue of selling the most Triple Crown sponsorship laps, Robie formed a two car breakaway with Nick Berry which lasted until lap 23 when a broken torsion bar caused Berry to spin twice, bringing out the only yellow flags of the event. On the restarts, Robie held off Dow and Douville for the win.
Scariest moment of the night came on the first lap of the first heat when Will Hull flipped in turn two. He was uninjured but his car was heavily damaged. With assistance from other crews and borrowed parts, he was able to start the feature and finished seventh.
Three time and defending NEMA Midget Champion Randy Cabral made his Sprint Car debut in the SCoNE guest car. He looked good in the heat and was progressing in the feature until sidelined by a flat right rear tire. He pronounced the experience “a blast” and hopes to return.
Post time for tonight’s program at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT is “6:00ish” and the first green flag is scheduled to drop at the Legion Speedway in Wentworth, NH Sunday afternoon at 5:00.
SCoNE Feature (30 laps) 1. Matt Robie, 2. Dan Douville, 3. Clay Dow, 4. Chris Donnelly, 5. Chris Dow
ns, 6. Tyler Rich, 7. Will Hull, 8. Butch Valley, Jr., 9. Lacy Hanson, 10. Bruce Kimball, 11. Randy Wimert, 12. Nick Berry, 13. Randy Cabral, 14. Jake Williams.