WISCASSET — If there’s not an outside groove to be had at Maine’s fastest speedway, somebody forgot to tell the Strictly Street drivers Saturday.
Liberty’s Josh St. Clair bolted to the high side of the race track shortly after the green flag flew, needing barely half the race to secure the lead and drive off to the 25-lap win on Wiscasset Speedway’s second of two opening days. St. Clair never left the top side of the speedway until passing pole-sitter Scott Eck on lap 14 en route to a 1.2-second win over Dan McKeage Jr.
“A lot of people say that, but theres two- and three-wide racing if the circumstances are right, in these cars, anyway,” St. Clair said.
McKeage got shuffled back a few positions from his fifth-place starting spot in the 23-car field on the initial start, but the third-generation driver from Gorham followed St. Clair to the top midway through the race and made forward progress.
A caution-free feature event didn’t do much to aid McKeage’s bid for a victory.
“Maybe we just needed a couple more laps,” McKeage said. “I kind of screwed up on the start and let (a) car in, so I had to make up another spot. It could have been a different story if I’d had a better start.”
While Eck, of Lisbon, held on for third, Sebago’s Wade Kennedy crossed the checkered flag in fourth after starting 10th on an afternoon when there wasn’t a lot of forward movement from deep in the field.
Reigning division champion Mac Hannan Jr. of Washington completed the top five.
St. Clair said his experience in weekly points racing at the track helped clue him in to the high-side hustle. While drivers draw for random starting positions on opening day, starting lineups for the remainder of the season are set by a system which places high point drivers at the back of the field in order to encourage more competitive racing.
“I think it comes from the handicap racing throughout the rest of the season,” St. Clair said of his willingness to explore the outside lane Saturday. “Maybe not today, but the rest of the season we start in the back and you’ve got 40 laps or so in all of these divisions. You’ve got to get out there and make stuff happen when you can. Getting out there early and getting stuff done when the tires are still there is key.”
McKeage, who also competes in Wiscasset’s Pro Stock division, admitted he was surprised at how good the outside lane was.
“Last year, that might have been true (that the outside groove is slower), but this year it feels a little different in both the Pro Stock and the street stock,” McKeage said. “It felt great. I think we were catching Josh at the end, but I’m happy with a P2 to start the year.”
Late Model Sportsman top honors went to Pittston’s Frank Moulton in the division’s 40-lap feature.
Moulton took the lead on a lap 28 restart and held off Shane Clark of Winterport for his first win since the 2021 season. He inherited the lead when Clark and Jonathon Emerson were penalized for restart infractions and sent back a row, handing Moulton the point he would not relinquish.
“I was catching them, but passing Shane would have been a chore,” Moulton said of his good fortune. “I’ve lost one before that way, so it evens it out, I guess. I think we had the best car.”
Brett Osmond, Ryan St. Clair and Chris Burgess completed the top five in the 23-car field.
Woolwich’s Adam Chadbourne opened the afternoon with the win in the 30-lap Modified division feature, besting Chuck Colby and Brian Treadwell for the win. The victory was the 73rd career win at Wiscasset for Chadbourne.
Kyle Enman won the 20-lap Roadrunner feature.
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