Wiscasset Raceway, which has been dark since 2010, has a new owner.

Vanessa and Richard Jordan of Kingfield purchased the track and the 35-acre property on West Alna Road for $130,000 at auction Thursday.

“The buyer and the seller were both happy,” said Stef Keenan of Keenan Auction Company. “The buyers plan to re-open it as a race track.”

Just when that happens remains to be seen.

The couple face daunting cleanup costs that could reach as high as $300,000, Keenan said. There is also about $45,000 in back taxes that need to be paid as well.

“There may be $50,00 to $75,000 in testing, too,” Keenan said.

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Keenan added about 40 people attended the auction, which the track hosted. There were “a half dozen bidders.”

Jordan, who runs Jordan Lumber Maine in Kingfield, used to race at the track.

He was listed on the 2010 Late Model driver roster at Wiscasset.

Doug White purchased the track in 2007 for $500,000.

He’s tried to sell it for the same price during the last two years but couldn’t line up a buyer.

White declined comment Thursday.

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The Bank of Maine was scheduled to foreclose on the property had the auction passed without a buyer Thursday.

* * *

Alex Fernald acknowledged he made his share of rookie mistakes at Unity Raceway last season.

The 17-year-old driver isn’t repeating them in the Pro Four division at the track.

“I learned a lot,” he said. “We took the winter and really went over the car. I think it’s made a huge difference.”

After finishing eighth in points last season, Fernald — the youngest driver in the class — enters this weekend alone at the top.

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He has one victory and has never finished outside the top five in 12 points races.

“Last year I lost two motors and made a lot of rookie mistakes,” said Fernald, who graduated from Lawrence High School in June and lives in Benton. “We felt we had a good car but I didn’t think I had much of a chance at points. It’s a tough class. A lot of the guys in the class have been in this class for years.”

Fernald, whose father, George, manages the track, said his goals changed when he followed up one top-five finish with another, and then another.

“We’ve been pretty consistent all year,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes in the second half.”

* * *

Ben Ashline showed up at Oxford Plains Speedway last Saturday intending to run a few practice laps in preparation for the annual TD Bank 250 scheduled for later this month.

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He left with a checkered flag after winning a 40-lap Late Model feature thanks to a late charge from the outside grooves.

Not a bad night for the Pittston driver, who earned his second victory at OPS this season.

“I love that track,” said Ashline, who also won a 150-lap American-Canadian Tour race at OPS on May 20.

Ashline, in preparation for the July 22 TD Bank 250, received permission to run a few practice laps at OPS on Saturday. His plans changed after his arrival Saturday.

“We decided on Friday to go over Saturday and test,” Ashline said. “They had no problems with us practicing. The car was pretty good so we talked to them about running the feature. They wouldn’t let me do it unless I bought tires.”

A long debate and $500 later, Ashline was in the feature.

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“We literally sat there and discussed it,” Ashline said. “We had a decent car. The whole crew, with my mother and father, we all made a decision to race and we scrounged up enough money for tires.”

Ashline started 28th but was in the lead midway through the race. He didn’t make one pass on the inside, instead choosing to make his moves on the outside grooves.

“We stayed consistent,” he said. “It was good all night on the outside. It’s where I like to be anyway.”

* * *

Poncho Darveau returned to Victory Lane — this time in a Pro All Stars Modified car — for the first time since September 2010.

Darveau, a Chelsea native who is the son of Maine Racing Hall of Fame driver Dave Darveau, took the checkered flag in a 40-lap PASS Modified feature last weekend at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.

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“We worked hard on the car all day,” Darveau said. “It’s neat to win again. We just kept adjusting it and adjusting it.”

Darveau, 47, took last year off and raced sparingly in 2010. He won a Late Model feature at Unity Raceway in September that year, but then decided to take some time off.

Now he’s back and driving a car owned by Litchfield native Jeff Rich.

Darveau made his PASS Modified debut June 30 at Canaan, N.H., but wrecked the car just a few laps into the race.

“It was nice to go out and race without incident (last weekend),” he said.

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com


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