MANCHESTER — Reid Lanpher has taken a step up in competition and in doing so he has thus far held his own.

After placing fourth the second weekend of April in the Granite State Pro Stock Series feature as a part of the annual Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway in Thompson, Conn., the 16-year-old Manchester native took seventh in a 49-car field at the AIM Recycling Pro All Stars Series North Super Late Model 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway Sunday, April 19.

“I was really excited about our finish at Oxford. It was great,” Lanpher said. “…We made the show and started 16th out of 36 cars because they sent quite a few home (in qualifying). We drove up to a seventh-place finish. We were pretty excited about that.”

Lanpher once again plans to race in the pro series Saturday nights at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, as well a few legends car events on Thursday nights along the way. He does, however, plan to add a few more races in the PASS North series as well.

“It’s going to be a real busy year,” Lanpher said. “We’re trying to race against that competition. It’s a little step up from weekly racing at Beech Ridge.”

Lanpher will be on his home track this Saturday at Beech Ridge for the Southern Maine Chrysler Dodge Jeep 150, and he also said he plans on running in PASS North races July 5 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sept. 20 at Beech Ridge and Oct. 3 at Oxford Plains.

Lanpher also said that there is a “good chance” that he competes in the Oxford 250 Sunday, Aug. 30. He cited the way he started the season, as well as some additional help through sponsorship that has increased his confidence that he will race in the prestigious event.

“We’re not positive,” he said, “but that’s the plan right now.”

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After posting a sixth-place finish in his first race in his new car April 19 at Oxford Plains, Farmington’s Cassius Clark said Thursday he was pretty pleased with how the car has worked out thus far.

“It was pretty good to get out there for the first time with the new car,” Clark said. “We made a lot of progress.”

Clark said they set the car up similarly to how they had the last car, which was wrecked at Speedway 95 in Hermon on Aug. 25 moments after the race’s conclusion. The 2013 PASS North series champ is also hoping to build on his last performance when he returns to the track this Saturday at Beech Ridge.

“They should have a pretty good turnout car-wise and everything, similar to Oxford,” Clark said. “Hopefully we learn from Oxford, get it going a little bit better and hopefully we end up in victory lane.”

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Frank Moulton is a former late model champ at Unity Raceway but has not competed there since 2013 after the uncertainty the track has faced over the past few years.

That will change for the 25-year-old driver, though, with Unity set to begin a full season’s worth of racing starting May 17.

“I’m excited to go back there,” Moulton, who began racing at Unity when he was 13-years old, said. “I think it will be good and it’s my favorite racetrack. It’s the only place where you can race side by side really in the state.”

Moulton is one of a number of former drivers that have been drawn back to the track thanks to a revitalization led by new manager Nick Huff that began towards the end of last season. Moulton, for one, has been encouraged by the direction in which the track has gone.

“Anything that opens it up is good,” Moulton said. “I think Nick isn’t trying to do too much. As he builds it up I think it will be better.”

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley

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