Outlaws jump back into fray

UNITY -- After a full two-month layoff, the PASS Outlaw Late Model North Series teams will finally have a reason to pack the racecars into the haulers and hit the road..

The division has not raced since Gary Norris Jr. of West Gardiner took his first career Pro Stock win of any kind -- at Unity Raceway on July 9. They'll be back at Unity this Saturday night for the fourth Hight Chevrolet 100 at the .333-mile track.

Albion's Matt Lee got off to a fast start this season, winning two of the first three races. Both wins came at Unity. Lee has led the points virtually from the outset, and owns a 28-point lead over Jay Sands of Seabrook, N.H., heading into the weekend.

There are just three events left, but Lee has to like his chances to win the first Outlaw championship in PASS history. Two of the races, including Saturday's, are at the track Lee used to call home. He has 51 career wins at the facilty.

Norris has been strong at Unity, too. Like Lee, he used to call Unity home on a weekly basis, and now he's got a win and a third-place finish in three starts at the track this season. He's also, by virtue of the long layoff, the North Division's most recent winner.

Skowhegan's Mike Harnish battled Lee as Lee took his second Unity win in June, before a fuel pick-up problem relegated Harnish to eighth-place. Scott Chubbuck of Brunswick, who was at Unity for the series opener in April, could also show up Saturday night with one of the Jay Cushman-owned Fords.

Let's not forget Benton's George Fernald Jr., who has to be due for some good luck. He had the dominant car at Unity in April, settling for second place when the handling on his No. 91 -- with the Outlaw body and Batman paint scheme -- went away during the feature.

Oxford Plains Speedway got the jump on competition this week by announcing a portion of its 2007 racing schedule.

As expected, the 34th TD Banknorth 250 will be held on July 22 -- a scheduled off-weekend for the Nextel Cup Series. Oxford Plains owner Bill Ryan said he expects to lure Cup drivers to the race -- a Late Model event for the first time -- yet again. Ricky Craven, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, J.J. Yeley and Denny Hamlin have all competed in the TD Banknorth 250 over the last three summers.

"We expect to see more cars and more fans from across the region than we have ever seen before," Ryan said. "We also expect to see some of our friends from NASCAR Nextel Cup enter again this year. The 34th running of this race is going to be super."

The race will be part of a five-race Oxford Late Model Challenge held at the track in '07, one that will pay out more than $300,000 to teams that compete. It's reminiscent of the old Oxford Open events in the 1970s and 80s.

Two American-Canadian Tour races, one on April 28 and another on Oct. 6, will be part of the series, as will two open competitions on June 9 and Aug. 11. There will be a point fund for the top 30 teams in the series.

With rain postponing the scheduled PASS Super Late Model North Series race at Montmagny, Quebec last weekend, Farmingdale's Johnny Clark took the chance to head over into New Brunswick with his Johnny Clark Motorsports team.

Clark competed in the $60,000 Irving Oil 250 at New Brunswick International Speedway and finished sixth, the last car on the lead lap. Former Nextel Cup Series and current Craftsman Truck Series driver Johnny Benson finished one spot behind Clark.

That's quite a performance for the JCM team, which has turned things around since not qualifying for the TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway back in July. Clark won the Atlantic Cat 250 at Scotia Speedworld in Halifax, Nova Scotia last month.

The defending champion of the event, Chubbuck, led some early laps before settling for 11th place.

HOT LAPS: After being plagued by a controversy surrounding engine rules throughout this season, PASS management is getting a jump on sorting things out for next year. The series has invited area Pro Stock and Super Late Model teams to a meeting on Friday night in Portland to try and begin hashing out a more consistent rules package for '07. ... Wiscasset Raceway will take the green flag under the lights for the final time this Saturday. The final two shows of the season -- scheduled for Sept. 16 and 23 -- are set for 2 p.m. starts. ... PASS will try for a third time to get in the New England Dodge Dealers 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough this Sunday. Twice the race has been rained out. Forecast for Sunday: a few showers.

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