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Military members can attend Wiscasset Raceway for free on Sunday

Have uniform, will travel.

And will get into races for free.

As part of its ongoing "Operation Recognition" program this season, Wiscasset Raceway will allow all current members of the military with a valid military I.D. to get into this Sunday afternoon’s races for free with their immediate family members.

ON PIT ROAD: Sanborn, Sprint Cup and soggy shoes

It's Thursday again. That means it's time to roll the old Mini Stock out of the garage, wipe the dust off and shake down the setup with a spin around the dirt track at the end of the street. With that, here's the latest list of notes collected in a dog-eared notebook over the last few weeks...

* EVERY TIME A non-Sprint Cup-affiliated team wins a NASCAR Camping World East Series race, it should be celebrated, particularly by fans who lament the significant changes the series has undergone in the last few years.

When the CWES was still a northeastern-based series, Matt Kobyluck’s Mohegan Sun team was one of the better funded teams there was. These days, with Cup teams putting East cars on the dyno every day – every day! – it’s impossible for "regular" guys to keep up.

ON SITE: Bill Whorff Jr. back at the Oxford 250

Bill Whorff Jr. has a history both in the TD Banknorth 250 and in extra-distance Late Model events.

But on Saturday afternoon, the man who won the Coastal 200 at Wiscasset Raceway earlier this season and finished 2nd in the Oxford 250 to his son 2 years ago, was at a loss for words.

"We've put sway bars, springs, we've changed everything," Whorff said. "Tonight we're going to put it up on blocks and start from front and go right to rear. We're going to take everything apart and make sure we don't have anything bent or out of whack somewhere. We've tried everything all day and we haven't improved."

ON SITE: Rain in victory lane at Wiscasset Raceway

Welcome to Wiscasset Raceway, my new home for rain.

Used to be Unity Raceway filled that bill for me, but now it's this place apparently, Last time I was here, a PASS North Series feature was shortened 27 laps by rain, and -- wouldn't you know it -- on my way here tonight it started pouring like a banshee.

At 6:25 p.m., the track made the official word to cancel the program. It's the 5th rainout of the year for Wiscasset already.

ON PIT ROAD: Cups, combinations and curious decisions

It's Thursday again. That means it's time to roll the old Mini Stock out of the garage, wipe the dust off and shake down the setup with a spin around the dirt track at the end of the street. With that, here's the latest list of notes collected in a dog-eared notebook over the last few weeks...

* I"M HEARING THAT there will be "fewer" big races on the Wiscasset Raceway schedule in 2009.

The track is expected to do away with many of the automatic qualifiers for the Street Stock and Sportsman Nationals events in October, races held as part of the season-ending championship weekend for PASS at Wiscasset.

Dave St. Clair won't go back to Wiscasset Raceway

There are a lot of new things going on with Dave St. Clair.

He's got a clean-shaven look. He's got his first win at Unity Raceway in a long time.

And he won't be going back to Wiscasset Raceway.

Corey Williams returns to PASS North this weekend

Corey Williams will pull double duty of a different kind on Saturday.

Williams, a Boothbay native and the PASS South Series points leader, will run in the 75-lap PASS North event at Thompson International Speedway. Williams will drive the No. 29 Ford of longtime PASS owner Jay Cushman.

Williams was slated to be at Thompson anyway. He works at Andy Santerre Motorsports, which fields cars in the NASCAR Camping World East Series for Peyton Sellers.

Modifieds rained out at Wiscasset Raceway

Wiscasset Raceway has rained out Saturday night's program.

Heavy mist, drizzle and fog moving into the coastal area and forced the postponement of the Wiscasset Ford 100 for the True Value Modified Series.

The race has been rescheduled for Aug. 9.

ON SITE: Look out for the golf carts, dude

Some things never change.

Despite all the new signage, logo placements and vibrant color schemes, it's still the same old New Hampshire. How do I know this?

Because it took all of 3 minutes of being in the infield this morning before I was nearly run over by another one of those golf carts on steroids.

ON PIT ROAD: Goats, Ganassi and Gunk

It's Thursday again. That means it's time to roll the old Mini Stock out of the garage, wipe the dust off and shake down the setup with a spin around the dirt track at the end of the street. With that, here's the latest list of notes collected in a dog-eared notebook over the last few weeks...

* YOU GOTTA RESPECT a guy that goes by the name, "The Goat."

And we're not talking Billy Buckner here. We're talking "The Greatest of All-Time," as in Ricky Carmichael. See, Carmichael knows a thing or two about winning in motorsports.

ON SITE: D.J. Shaw rains on PASS North Series parade

It may not have happened quite the way D.J. Shaw dreamed it up, but then, at the same time, it was exactly what he'd always dreamed of.

The recent high school graduate from Center Conway, N.H., fought off the challenges of his PASS North Series competition and heavy rains to take his 1st career PASS North win in the Steel's Real Rods and Customs 125 at Wiscasset Raceway on Sunday. Heavy rains shortened the race distance to 98 laps.

Shaw took the lead on lap 38 under caution, after then-leader Scott Chubbuck was unceremoniously booted off the point by Kelly Moore. From there Shaw never looked back, having only to endure a 55-minute red flag rain delay before being declared the winner.

ON SITE: PASS North Series under water

The Steel's Real Rods and Customs 125 is under a rain delay.

D.J. Shaw is leading with 98 laps complete in the PASS North Series rain, and the caution came out for the 5th time for rain.

Unofficially, Cassius Clark, Ben Rowe, Adam Bates and Travis Benjamin round out the top-5.

ON SITE: It's a no-go for Derek Ramstrom

The restrooms are apparently closed here.

Derek Ramstrom's struggles at Wiscasset Raceway continued early Sunday afternoon, as he bent a valve in the engine during his heat race and was finished for the day. He sat out the PASS North Series Steel's Real Rods and Customs 125.

"We're probably done with that car for a while now," Ramstrom said. "I was going down the backstretch on lap 4, and it went 'Pop!' I rode around after that without any power."

ON SITE: Frank Moulton earns 1st career win

When Frank Moulton's car popped out of gear in turn 2 a few laps from the finish, he was understandably "freaked."

After all, the 18-year-old Late Model driver had yet to win a feature race at any level since turning 13, and he'd lost some in pretty dramatic fashion. While leading a race at Speedway 95 late last season, his car exploded into fire in the closing laps.

On Friday night at Unity Raceway, the bad luck finally bit somebody else.

ON PIT ROAD: Big races, big news and big fans

It's Thursday again. That means it's time to roll the old Mini Stock out of the garage, wipe the dust off and shake down the setup with a spin around the dirt track at the end of the street. With that, here's the latest list of notes collected in a dog-eared notebook over the last few weeks...

* ONE OF THE great things about my other life as an outdoors writer is fishing. It puts me in touch with an entirely different type of auto racing fan, the casual fan who doesn't live and breathe every moment of the sport.

For those of us afflicted with the disease that is short-track racing, we're still going to go to races no matter the price of gas or the economic hardships facing teams. But not everybody makes racing the front-and-center part of their entertainment lives.

PASS North Series race rescheduled for Sunday

The rained-out Steel's Real Rods and Customs 125 for the PASS North Series will be run on Sunday, June 22.

The race at Wiscasset Raceway was lost to Mother Nature last Sunday.

Beginning at 2 p.m., the schedule is the same as it was for last weekend. The PASS Sportsman and Modified divisions will join the PASS North machines, and Wiscasset will hold its $500-to-win qualifier for the National Street Stock Championships, to be held in October.

COLUMN: Wiscasset Raceway trying not to crash and burn

John Crawford may have mixed his metaphors, figuratively speaking, but his message was loud and clear as he spoke to racers at Wiscasset Raceway on Saturday night.

He told the story of a driver who had been given a 6-month jail sentence for assault at Waterford Speedbowl in Connecticut. Well, an incident did happen at Waterford last year where a driver who had been spun out of the lead turned his car the opposite direction and tried to ram the offender head-on -- but no jail time was served, no criminal charges filed. That came at Myrtle Beach Speedway last year, when Linwood Brian Roberts was sentenced to jail after being charged with assault for attacking a fellow driver following a race.

Which offense resulted in jail time was irrelevant; it was Crawford's message that carried weight all on its own.

ON SITE: Austin brothers Super at Wiscasset Raceway

For the first time in their respective racing careers, brothers R.J. Austin and Shawn Austin completed a sweep of the top 2 spots in a Super Street feature event at Wiscasset Raceway.

R.J. Austin started from the outside pole and led all but the first 2 laps, moving around Jason Gaboury and rolling to his 1st victory of the season in the caution-free 25-lap event on Saturday night. It took Shawn Austin considerably longer to work past Gaboury, getting there with 6 laps remaining.

Without benefit of a caution period to regroup the field, R.J. beat his brother by a full straightaway on the .375-mile oval.

Johnny Clark loses engine in practice

Trouble found Johnny Clark at Wiscasset Raceway on Saturday afternoon.

At the track to practice in preparation for Sunday's Steel's Real Rods and Customs 125, the 2-time PASS North Series champion Clark -- and winner of 3 straight PASS North races at Wiscasset -- blew a brand new engine and was back at his team's shop in nearby Hallowell preparing the backup car.

It's the first time in a long, long time that Wiscasset has been unkind to Clark, who has won 4 of his last 5 starts overall at the facility. He'd hoped to debut a new car with that new engine this weekend.

Wiscasset Raceway regulars offered extra incentive

So, you want to run with the big dogs, huh?

Back in May, the answer from Wiscasset Raceway's Super Late Model drivers was a collective and resounding, "Not really." Track owner Doug White hopes some added incentive will entice a few more of his weekly competitors to try to run with the PASS North Series on Sunday. Just 3 weekly drivers entered last month's PASS North race won by Johnny Clark.

"There are already 6 or 7 guys who have said they're going to run this one," White said.