PHOTO: Kevin Chaffee doubled up in the season opener at Bear Ridge Speedway, winning both the DIRTcar Modified and USAC Dirt Midget Association features. (Alan Ward photo)

(From track press release)

Harrington takes Coupe win, Viets under observation after frightening crash

BRADFORD — Kevin Chaffee of Fairlee started Bear Ridge Speedway’s 45th stock car racing season off with historic double victories at the KDD NAPA of Bradford season opener on Saturday. “The Fairlee Flier” swept both the Bond Auto Parts DIRTcar Sportsman Modified and USAC Dirt Midget Association victories to begin the year.

With each of the 99ROCK Weekly Racing Series divisions running twin-segment, cumulatively-scored events, Chaffee posted finishes of fourth and first in the Modified class for a total low score of five points. In the Midget division, Chaffee won the first segment and finished second in the final leg for a total low score of three points.

Chaffee won the Modified event only after a tie-breaker with defending track champion Adam Pierson. With each driver tied at five points after the two segments, Chaffee’s better final-segment finish (first) gave him the nod over Pierson, who won the first segment. Pierson, of Fairlee, was one point better than Derek Graham of Woodsville, N.H., in third place. Hometown driver Arnie Stygles of Bradford was unofficially fourth overall, followed by Thetford Center Dan Eastman.

Chaffee out-pointed Scott Holcomb of Granby, Conn., (second in the first segment, seventh in the second segment) and New England Auto Racing Hall of Famer Ray Miller of East Granby, Conn., (sixth, fourth) for the USAC Midget win. Tim Gallant and Kevin Tefft completed the unofficial top five. Chaffee and Jim Mossman of Hollis, N.H., were the segment winners.

“There’s a lot of hard work that went to these cars, between everyone at Seals-It and everyone else,” Chaffee said. “I was up until two o’clock in the morning [working on the cars], and my crew guy Jason hasn’t even been to bed yet. Everybody that’s stood behind me and helped out on the cars, I appreciate them a lot.”

Scott Viets of East Granby, Conn., was involved in a frightening accident at the start of the second segment of the USAC Midget event. Viets was unconscious at the scene of the crash but was awake and alert before being transferred to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, N.H.

Defending champion Josh Harrington of Topsham won the two-segment Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe feature in a tiebreaker over Terry Williams of Wells River. Harrington’s runner-up finish in the final segment was enough to beat Williams’ third-place effort in the same leg for the tiebreaker. Steve Ellsworth, Jeff Robbins, and Jeremy Beckley rounded out the overall top five. Williams and Ellsworth won the segments.

Jason Giguere of Enfield, N.H., posted a win in the A Notch Above Automotive Limited Late Model division over Mike Greene, Brian Chaffee, J.P. Vaillancourt, and Matt Ellsworth. St. Johnsbury’s Kevin Harran won a three-way tie for the Weglarz Property Service Fast Four victory over Tim Martin and Danny Doyle, and Eric Lang of Groton won the KDD NAPA Hornet feature over Brent Warren and Mike Stender.

Bear Ridge Speedway hosts Wells River Chevrolet Night on Saturday, May 12 with a “6:00-ish” start time. General admission is $10 for adults (age 18-61), $8 for teens (12-17) and seniors (62+), and $2 for children. Season passes are also available; Visa and MasterCard are accepted. Bear Ridge Speedway is located on Kidder Road in Bradford, Vt., just off Exit 16 on Interstate 91. For more information, call (802) 222-4052 or visit www.bearridgespeedway.com.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – KDD NAPA of Bradford Night
Bear Ridge Speedway — Bradford
Saturday, May 5, 2012

Pos.-Driver-Hometown
(# – denotes rookie)

Bond Auto DIRTcar Sportsman Modified (30 laps x 2)
1. Kevin Chaffee, Fairlee
2. Adam Pierson, Fairlee
3. Derek Graham, Woodsville, N.H.
4. Arnie Stygles, Bradford
5. Dan Eastman, Thetford Center
6. Justin Comes, Middlebury
7. Bryan King, Corinth
8. Mike Dunn, North Haverhill, N.H.
9. Robert Tucker, East Topsham
10. Richie Simmons, Bradford

Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe (25 laps x 2)
1. Josh Harrington, Topsham
2. Terry Williams, Wells River
3. Steve Ellsworth, Corinth
4. Jeff Robbins, Woodsville, N.H.
5. Jeremy Beckley, Woodsville, N.H.
6. Jesse Smith, Topsham
7. Tim Hodge, Vershire
8. Josh Constantine, East Corinth
9. Mike McGinley, East Barre
10. Buster Kathan, Ludlow

USAC Dirt Midget Association (25 laps, 20 laps)
1. Kevin Chaffee, Fairlee
2. Scott Holcomb, Granby, Conn.
3. Ray Miller, East Granby, Conn.
4. Tim Gallant, Wales, Mass.
5. Kevin Tefft, Wakefield, R.I.
6. Jim Mossman, Hollis, N.H.
7. Dean Christenson, Granby, Conn.
8. Dave Hotchkiss, East Granby, Conn.
9. Joe Krawiec, Bristol, Conn.
10. Matt Covey, Corinth

A Notch Above Automotive Limited Late Model (20 laps x 2)
1. Jason Giguere, Enfield, N.H.
2. Mike Greene, Jr., Pike, N.H.
3. Brian Chaffee, West Topsham
4. J.P. Vaillancourt, Campton, N.H.
5. Matt Ellsworth, Corinth

Weglarz Property Service Fast Four (20 laps x 2)
1. Kevin Harran, St. Johnsbury
2. Tim Martin
3. Danny Doyle, Barre
4. Chuck Simmons, Bradford
5. Rob Gioia, East Thetford

KDD NAPA Auto Parts Hornet (20 laps x 2)
1. Eric Lang, Groton
2. Brent Warren, Salisbury
3. Mike Stender, South Strafford
4. James Fadden, North Haverhill, N.H.
5. Don Reynolds, Springfield