The most notable news to come from the winter’s offseason was the reunion of Trevor Sanborn and Richard Moody Racing.
With the season barely a month old, the marriage has already paid dividends. In four races thus far, Sanborn has already taken the No. 44 to victory lane at Thompson Speedway Motorsports
Park in Connecticut and finished in the top five in a Pro All Stars Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon last weekend.
“It’s clicked so well,” said Sanborn, of Parsonsfield. “Really well, honestly. I just felt like I know the race cars and could contribute to that team.”
Sanborn has enjoyed success with his own team over the past few years, winning the Boss Hogg 150 at Wiscasset Speedway in 2020 and a PASS race at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Vermont in 2021. The move away from his own equipment into the RMR stable caught many off-guard.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say they were surprised,” Sanborn said. “The whole reason I went with Rick, I can afford to race locally some, but I can’t run all the events I want on my own. It’s just a good scenario for me.”
Sanborn previously drove for RMR two other times in his career.
In 2006, Sanborn was in the RMR No. 44 as a teammate to Ben Rowe with a pair of top fives in four starts. Eleven years later, Sanborn enjoyed another four races in an RMR car.
He said his previous experience with Moody was paramount to getting this opportunity.
“Rick and I have always gotten along,” Sanborn said. “I’ve never had a disagreement with Rick Moody, not one argument, in all the years we’ve known each other.
“I told him that if he wanted to race with a one-car team, a one-driver team, I’m all in. If you want to go fast and win races, this is a great spot to be in.”
Sanborn isn’t the only driver to spend time in a second car at RMR. Most recently, former Oxford 250 winner Joey Polewarczyk Jr. of Hudson, New Hampshire, spent some time in a car at RMR.
Rowe and RMR ended a long partnership midsummer in 2022, with Polewarczyk driving the familiar No. 4 for the second half of the season. Rowe had been the face of RMR for nearly two decades. He joined the team in 2006 — winning the final three races of the PASS season that year — and piled up five PASS National championships, a PASS North title in 2007, eight top-three PASS North points finishes and 15 PASS wins over a span of nearly 250 races together. The team also won an American-Canadian Tour championship in a Late Model in 2021 together.
Recent years have been lean for RMR on the Super Late Model side, with Sanborn’s win at Thompson on April 8 the organization’s first since 2018 and only its second in seven years.
Sanborn hopes the future is brighter for RMR, and he thinks that the relationship he and crew chief Josh Burchette have built already will pay dividends.
“It’s a good feeling,” Sanborn said. “I told Rick I didn’t want to do this for a year. I told him I wanted him on board for the future, I wanted it to work and I want it to be successful.”
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The PASS North Series gets started in Maine this weekend with Sunday’s Honey Badger Bar & Grill 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway. Nova Scotia’s Cole Butcher, who won last year’s Oxford 250 and swept a PASS doubleheader at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway last month, is the defending winner of the event. Qualifying begins at 1:30 p.m. with the PASS Modifieds and Limited Sportsman divisions also in action … Oxford Plains will also open its weekly racing program on Saturday afternoon, which includes a 50-lap Super Late Model feature. … Wiscasset Speedway will host the first of its two opening days on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. The Pro Stock/Super Late Model, Super Street, Thunder 4 Mini and 4-Cylinder Pro divisions of Group 1 will be joined by the NELCAR Legends. … The Group 2 slate at Wiscasset opens one week later, on April 29. … Speedway 95 in Hermon opens its gates for a practice day for all divisions on April 29 with opening day scheduled for May 6.
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