After three year hiatus Maine man racing again

Episode 324

July 19, 2020

It was April 2016 at Maine Indoor Karting (MIK) in Scarborough, when I met Evan Beaulieu on the track for the first time. He along with several of his friends were at the track for some Friday evening racing.

The racers in the third race of the evening in which I placed 6th. From left to right Bryan Dodge, Brunswick, Kyle Franklin, Durham, race winner Evan Beaulieu, Durham, me, Josh Saxton, Harpswell, Zachary Dehahn, Brunswick, Tyler Walter, Bowdoinham, and Noah Kenney, Harpswell. (Ryan Cote photo)

I raced in three races he was in and beat him only once when he got bottled up in traffic. The margin was less than .2 seconds. In the other two races he beat me by 17 seconds and by over a lap in the second win. He set the 4th fastest time for the month in that race. I remember trying my best to keep him behind me by blocking and using up as much of the track as I could without making a blatant move.

He zoomed by me after nudging my rear bumper and that was the last I saw of him until after the race was done. I developed my healthy respect for his driving abilities firsthand!

Evan, 27 years old, living in Durham, Maine returned to Beech Ridge Speedway Saturday July 18th when the track opened for the first time in 2020. He had been away from Super Late Models for three years while he got married (to Lindsey Laverriere) and built a new home.

Evan and Lindsey Beaulieu in front of their new home constructed in large part by them. Evan is a building supply salesman for Hancock Lumber. Hancock has been a longtime sponsor of him. (Lindsey Beaulieu photo)

With his crew at the track he admitted that he was a little rusty, however, the touch was still intact when he finished the 75-lap feature in fourth place. Natural talent and a good race car can sometimes yield a good result.

The #56 Evan Beaulieu Super Late Model with its loyal pit crew, returns to racing at Beech Ridge Speedway. Nitro Designs, a company owned by Beaulieu did the graphics. (Bradford Laverriere photo)

Beaulieu commented, “Been almost three years since my last race in the Super Late Model. We do plan on running all the races yes! And it was just great to be back in the car, we had a few timely cautions and I figured the car out about halfway through the feature and we had good pace at the end. Definitely something to build on!”

Beaulieu got his start racing karts on the kart track at Beech Ridge Speedway which utilized the front stretch and a portion of the infield. “I started in karts at Beech Ridge actually,” said Beaulieu. “We then went to Richmond Karting Speedway.”

A younger Beaulieu in one of the karts with which he got started in racing. (Beaulieu Family photo)

He soon advanced in his racing career moving up to Legends Cars, powered by a four cylinder motorcycle engine. That was where he met Wyatt Alexander and his family recalling, “The Alexander’s we met as they wanted to get into Legends and we kind of helped them get started. They came and watched us race at Orange County Speedway in North Carolina, I ran my Legends Car on Saturday and they raced their kart at the kart track on Sunday and we went to watch.”

First place in Legends Car at Beech Ridge Speedway. (Jamie Williams Finishline Photography)

The two friends, Evan Beaulieu, left and Wyatt Alexander confer at the season opener at Beech Ridge Speedway, Scarborough, Maine, Saturday July 18. Beaulieu was like a mentor to the younger driver and remains a friend to this day.. (Brenda Meserve photo)

 

Evan Beaulieu captures first in the mid-weight class at the ninth annual Dave Thomas 100 fundraiser at Maine Indoor Karting. (Lindsey Ellison photo)

The DT 100 Fundraiser at Maine Indoor Karting was held ten years. The Durham racer entered several times and won his class once. He also raised over $1000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the charity for which the DT100 was organized. The race brought together some of the finest racers in New England for the event.

And WAR makes their season debut

Wyatt Alexander Racing (WAR) #96 in action at Beech Ridge Speedway. The team made their 2020 racing debut with an eighth place finish. (Brenda Meserve photo)

Wyatt Alexander made his 2020 driving debut at Beech Ridge Speedway Saturday evening. UpNorth Motorsports will once again this season be following this race team with solid roots in “the County”.

Wyatt had this to say about the initial race in the seven race series, ” We ended up seventh. Our car was OK all day just missed it a little in the feature which was hard to handle on a hot slick track which amplified the handling big time. Started 8th, ran as high as 5th and pitted to make an adjustment that just didn’t work.”

Team owner Brett Alexander, left,  confers with crew chief Bob Alexander regarding the set up for the #96 Super Late Model driven by Wyatt Alexander at Beech Ridge Speedway. (Brenda Meserve photo)

Crew Chief (and Grandfather of Wyatt) Bob Alexander remarked , “I believe we finished in seventh place. The handling was not where Wyatt wanted it. The #96 car was pretty fast early on in the 75 lap feature but fell back at the end. Overall great day! Any day at the race track is better than a day working. We are looking forward to going back to Beech Ridge next Saturday.”

Chasing the Checkered Amy Hinton-Harrop’s Beech Ridge Speedway Season Opener race report can be found here:

http://chasingthecheckered.com/2020/07/long-awaited-beech-ridge-season-opener-brings-excitement-to-scarborough/?fbclid=IwAR1BJVX99oG2uiG-uixH4HdJGP66dzSve3vpG0LYnmN46nDmLBALtVemG8g

Kody Swanson make stock car debut

Five-time USAC Silver Crown Champion, Kody Swanson, made his ARCA Series debut at Iowa Speedway in the Fatheadz Eyewear Chad Bryant Racing Ford. The racer placed eighth in his first race. It was not his first time in the car. He tried the car at Daytona a couple years ago during ARCA open practice. Swanson had this to say about his ARCA debut, ” The amount of support we’ve received this week has been overwhelming. Thank you all for pulling for us, to Chad Bryant Racing for the opportunity, to Fatheadz Eyewear & everyone who helped make it come together. I’m thankful for all of the effort put in by this team, and feel like I learned a lot today, but still a lot more to go.” (Jordan Swanson photo)

Kody Swanson in the #22 battles in the turn at Iowa Speedway during the Shore Lunch 150. in the photo is fifth place finisher Taylor Gray in car # 17, third place Bret Holmes in car #23, and seventh place Max McLaughlin in the #1. Ty Gibbs won the race. Chad Bryant Racing #22 is the same team that Derek Griffith races part time with in 2020. Griffith has won the Firecracker 200 at Spud Speedway in 2018 in his Pro All Stars Series (PASS) #12G car.(Chad Bryant Racing photo)

Oxford 150 winner and Oxford 250 announcement

July 18th Oxford 150 eventual winner Curtis Gerry # 7G leads Derek Ramstrom on the outside. Ramstrom went on to finish fourth. Trailing the action is runner up Dave Farrington in the #23. After the race PASS Director/Promoter Tom Mayberry met with the racers (35 in the SLM race!) to announce that the Oxford 250 will be run with or without spectators August 28-30, 2020. As of today 58 entries have been received. (Sandy Haley photo)

Let’s go racing,

Tom Hale

Soli Deo Gloria (Deuteronomy 6:5)

 

 

 

 

Tom Hale

About Tom Hale

Tom wrote 14 years as freelancer for the Bangor Daily Sports covering motorsports in Maine. Now blogging and concentrating on human interest stories about people and places in racing. He races Champ Karts and owns HTF Motorsports in remote Westmanland, Maine