Cookson Cleans House in 2023
Max Cookson did some serious sweeping during the 2023 racing season. He won the Oxford Plains Speedway track championship. He won the PASS North Super Late Model championship. He won the PASS National Super Late Model championship. He won the prestigious Boss Hogg 150 at Wiscasset Speedway. Finally, he was voted as the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame Driver of the Year. In 15 PASS North events, Cookson did not finish outside of the top 10 at all. He won one race in the series. He went nine for nine when it came to top 10 finishes in his PASS National Series starts. In weekly competition at Oxford, he won a pair of races. Cookson bested a very accomplished field for the Driver of the Year honors. The other nominees were Granite State Pro Stock Series champion Travis Benjamin, PASS Modified champion and rookie Oxford Pro Late Model Series race winner Brandon Varney, Wiscasset Speedway Driver of the Year and multi- time feature race winner Kevin Douglass as well as Speedway 95 champion and eight-time feature winner Cole Robinson. Each nominee for the Driver of the Year award earned at least one first place vote from the panel of voters.

Back to Cookson – he is not done racing yet. The Palmyra native will be heading to Pensacola, Florida’s Five Flags Speedway next month to compete in the Pro Late Model Snowflake 100. Cookson will drive for Oklahoma car owner Donnie Wilson in that prestigious event. Latest Cup Champ Has Beech Ridge Ties Another driver who had a very successful 2023, albeit on a broader stage, was Ryan Blaney. Blaney recently earned the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship. The Penske Racing driver has ties
to Maine and the now-closed Beech Ridge Motor Speedway from earlier in his career. In 2009, Blaney hauled from his High Point, North Carolina home to Beech Ridge to compete in the PASS 300 Super Late Model event. At the time, he was a sophomore in high school. Blaney’s Maine trip did not end well though as he was credited with a 29 th -place finish after losing a wheel on his #10 car before the race was 50 laps old. Ironically, Blaney would also be associated with Beech Ridge during its final season of operation in 2021. That is when, as part of a promotion with Advance Auto Parts and NASCAR Home Tracks, the Beech Ridge Motor Speedway name was featured as a sponsor on the C-Pillar of Blaney’s #12 Penske Racing Ford in a Cup race at Dover Motor Speedway (DE).

Racing and Candy Mix Well at Trunk or Treat Event
Not All Heroes Wear Capes, but sometimes their followers wear costumes. Maine Vintage Race Car Association officers Dan Walker and his wife Sue recently led the way in putting some smiles on the faces of young boys and girls in Maine through the Track or Treat event held in Gorham, Maine. The event brought dozens of racecars and competitors from all around to set up in a field. They decorated their displays and handed out candy to many young trick or treaters. A good time was had by all. The event was not without its short term and long terms challenges, but that did not stop the Walker duo. Just like Superman and Wonder Woman, they would not let anything get in the way of the mission. The event’s origins go back to the final season of existence at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough. When the track closed, the event’s future was in doubt. The Gorham location was found as a substitute venue and the Walkers went before the town to get the needed blessings to hold the event. The debut in the new location took place last year and was a wild success. This year, the event was originally scheduled for a few days after the Lewiston tragedies. With a gunman potentially on the loose, the Walkers consulted with local law enforcement officials and made the tough decision to cancel the event in the name of safety. At first, it did not appear that an alternative date could be worked out. The Walkers don’t give up though and it was pushed back to this past Saturday. Most of the race teams were still able to come out and the young trick or treaters still had their day of sugary fun.

Tapley is Honored in a Big Way – Poland’s Scott Tapley has probably endured the longest racetrack commutes of anyone in our sport over the past several years. He has filled many roles, usually as a Race Director, for multiple tours, events and tracks throughout New England and even on Long Island in New York. He is currently working with Cris Michaud’s ACT Late Model Tour and the Thunder Road and White Mountain tracks that race under the ACT banner. On Saturday night, Tapley was humbled as his hard work was noticed and rewarded. Michaud presented Tapley with the Tom Curley Memorial Award at the ACT banquet in Vermont.