Sprint Cars of New England, USAC Dirt Midget Association co-headline packed racing card
BRADFORD — The Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds will go mad on Saturday night at Bear Ridge Speedway.
The premier division at the quarter-mile clay oval will headline a stacked July 4th celebration card in their annual “Madness” event on Saturday, July 1. The Madness events are a three-segment, double point counting event where the winner is the driver who earns the lowest finishing total in the three events.
The July 1 O’Reilly Auto Parts sponsored event will also feature the second leg of the Sprint Cars of New England Triple Crown and the USAC Dirt Midget Association, along with a large fireworks display.
New Hampshire pilot Derek Graham holds a slim one-point advantage over Richie Simmons in the Sportsman Modified division as they enter the Madness event.
Both drivers have been models of consistency early in the 2017 season as neither have finished outside of the top-five, with Graham sporting a 4.63 average finish while Simmons has claimed one win to post a 4.25 average finish.
Graham took the point lead after the second race of the season, but has seen Simmons slowly chip away at his advantage.
Former Sportsman Coupe champion Terry Williams sits third in the standings entering the Madness event, 20 points back of Graham, while Todd Buckwold is fourth. Allan Hammond currnetly sits fifth in the Sportsman Coupe standings.
Robert Tucker used a win one week ago to jump up to sixth in the Sportsman Modified standings with early season race winner Ryan Christian seventh. Longtime Sportsman Modified regular Mike Dunn sits eighth while D.J. Robinson rides in the ninth spot entering the Madness event. Trevor Rocke holds down the tenth spot despite a disqualification one week ago.
Nearby, rookie Walter J. Hammond leads the newcomers this season as he sits 11th in the championship standings and fresh off a win two weeks ago. Jordan Fornwalt used a win in early June to jump start his season to sit 12th in the standings despite missing three races. Steven Flint, Todd Fenoff, and rookie Mike Ryan sit 13th, 14th, and 15th, respectively.
The Bear Ridge Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe division is much like it’s big brother Sportsman Modifieds and have yet to have a repeat winner in 2017.
Melvin Pierson holds a comfortable 35 point advantage over veteran driver Gene Pierson Jr. with Brian Chaffee closeby in third. Thomas Placey and former champion Jason Colbeth sit fourth and fifth in the standings.
Longtime series racer Adam Whitney picked up his first career USAC Dirt Midget Association win three weeks ago and will lead veteran driver Dean Christensen by eight points into the large July 1 event.
Will Hull leads the Sprint Cars of New England into their Triple Crown weekend event. More on their Triple Crown weekend can be found here.
Bear Ridge Speedway will see the first green flag of their July 1 Independence Day celebration event at approximately 6:00pm.
PHOTO: Derek Graham (10) leads Richie Simmons (34) by a single point entering the double point counting Modified Madness event on Saturday night at Bear Ridge Speedway. (Alan Ward photo)
