WISCASSET — A dream start to the 2017 season for Andrew McLaughlin quickly dissolved into one of the most frustrating summers he could have imagined.
After winning the Coastal 200 at Wiscasset Speedway last May, the biggest win of the Harrington driver’s career, the schedule never shaped up quite the way he would have hoped. A wrecked race car a few weeks later had him playing catch-up for the remainder of the season, and good finishes — let alone wins — eluded him. But Saturday night at Wiscasset, McLaughlin appeared to be back in form in his No. 26 as he aims to become the first driver to ever win the Coastal 200 in back to back years.
McLaughlin took the lead at the halfway point and cruised off to a win in the track’s 40-lap Late Model feature, the final weekly race for the division before this year’s Coastal 200 on May 27. A late charge to second from four-time champion Chris Thorne of Sidney knocked away some of McLaughlin’s sizable lead, but it was far too little too late.
“Good thing it wasn’t 10 more laps, huh?” McLaughlin smiled in victory lane after having snapped a nearly year-long winless drought. “It’s always nice to win.”
J.R. Robinson of Steuben made his first start of the season at Wiscasset and finished third after starting 18th in the 23-car field. Rome’s Brandon Fowler and rookie Logan Melcher rounded out the top five.
“You know that there are eight or 10 other cars out there that are pretty close to you,” McLaughlin said. “I don’t have a scratch, these other guys have a couple of bumps. That was the difference tonight.”
The first half of the race was a 90-mile-an-hour chess match, with the inside and outside lanes alternating between moving forward and backward. Thorne was a perfect example of the role track position played: after starting 13th, he dropped outside of the top 15, moved to the top 10 before falling back out prior to halfway and then — as the snarl of traffic around him finally loosened — sped toward the front of the field.
McLaughlin didn’t have to play quite the same game. He started 11th but hopped up into the outside lane and encountered smooth sailing to the top three in less than 15 laps.
“The outside lane started rolling, and that was good. It’s all about track position when there’s 23 cars,” McLaughlin said. “It changes. Last week, there wasn’t much of an outside groove, but tonight it felt real good up there.”
Robinson had the best car through the first half of the event and climbed as high as second, albeit four seconds back of McLaughlin. Tires stressed from charging 16 spots almost entirely under green flag conditions eventually began to fade, and the No. 28 never took a real shot at the leader.
Instead, McLaughlin was under attack from Thorne, who advanced four spots over the final half dozen laps.
“I got hung up in the wrong lane to start on the inside,” Thorne said. “I thought it was going to be the lane to go, but it didn’t. You never know. I think I rode the brake more than the throttle for the first half of the race, but if you’re forced to save your tires I guess that’s a good way to do it.”
In the end they were all chasing McLaughlin, who appeared on his game just in time for the biggest race of the season for Wiscasset’s Late Model division.
“I think it’s shaping up to be a good race in two weeks,” McLaughlin said.
• • •
Victory lane wasn’t quite as easy to find for another driver Saturday night, as reigning Outlaw Mini champion Jake Hendsbee admitted to some issues.
“I didn’t even know where victory lane was at first, it was so crazy,” Hendsbee said.
Hendsbee, of Whitefield, earned his first career Outlaw Mini win at Wiscasset in the 25-lap feature. He finished second five times during his championship season a year ago.
A lap one restart had Hendsbee on the outside pole, and he bolted to the lead and led every lap from there. After mechanical issues in practice on opening day two weeks ago sidelined his own car and left him in a borrowed ride, the win carried an added feeling of satisfaction.
“It feels good,” Hendsbee said. “It’s a huge relief to everyone. It wasn’t as easy as it looked. I worked hard for it, and it paid off.”
Oakland’s Zach Audet finished second. Matt Glidden of Chelsea was third.
• • •
Jonathan Emerson won the 25-lap Strictly Street feature over Brett Osmond and Zach Emerson. Opening day winner Kyle Hewins of Leeds was fourth and five-time division champion Maurice Young of Chelsea finished fifth.
Adam Chadbourne of Woolwich kicked off feature racing with his second straight Modified win to open the season.
Travis Barrett — 621-5621
tbarrett@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TBarrettGWC
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