18 INEX Sanctioned Legend cars took to the 3/8’s mile oval called Beech Ridge Motor Speedway for round one of the 12-race Thunder Series on Thursday Night. Timmons had hoped for a good draw for the opening night race, but his hopes were downed as he pulled 13, putting him in the 13th position, meaning he had no time to waste in getting to the front.

On the start, Timmons quickly moved past Aaron Lewis, Tyler Jordan, and Dan Hutchens by the first turn. Timmons followed Waterford Speedbowl regular Art Moran II in his #90 as they were picking cars off one by one. Timmons, on lap 6, was trying to move past Massachusetts General Hospital Brain Surgeon Chris Ogilvy for eighth spot, when Chris’ #64 Coupe drifted sideways up the racetrack. Timmons and Ogilvy made slight contact, sending Ogilvy around. Jim Manchester slowed for the spinning 64, but as he slowed Evan Beaulieu made contact with his right front tire, sending Beaulieu’s 56 into a barrel roll just outside of turn two. As this was happening, the #33 of Alan Smith slammed hard into the spun car of Ogilvy.

The red flag waved for clean up. seven laps later the caution flew again as the 27 of Kevin Hutchens spun right in front of Timmons, but Timmons avoided him. Timmons sat seventh with 10 laps to go. two laps later, he found himself fifth as he and Moran passed the 21 of Chris Sargent and the 10 of Ed Getty. Timmons chased the #90 for the final six laps, trying to find a way past him. Timmons found the hole on the last lap going into turn three. He pulled even with Moran off of turn four, and won the drag race to the line for fourth place. Bob Weymouth took the win, with Max Zachem a close 2nd. Former NELCAR and Beech Ridge Thunder series champion Steve Fox in his #88 coupe came home third.

2 Nights later, the Legends were back in action for the fourth and final time at Speedway 95. In practice Timmons was fast from the get-go, only a tenth off of the winner of the previous two races, Max Zachem.

The heat race wasn’t a great one, as Timmons started seventh and could go no where, as he just beat #29 Tyler Jordan for sixth.
Due to NELCAR’s handicap system, Timmons sat on the pole for the 25-lap feature. To his outside was Beaulieu in the 56, who wasn’t all that slow in the early practices. Timmons knew he had to be on his game, and he was as he got the early lead from Beaulieu, and was starting to pull away. Timmons had opened the gap to six or seven car lengths as it looked like Timmons would be just far enough ahead of Zachem to hold off for the win. 

Timmons would be denied as caution flew on lap 14 for a Brad Eddy spin, thus bunching up the field. On the re-start, Timmons got the nose, but another quick yellow flew for a Charlie Buxton wreck on the back stretch. As Timmons and Beaulieu slowed for the yellow, Zachem apparently didn’t see it as he piled into Timmons’ Left Rear tire, sending Timmons into Beaulieu. Beaulieu jumped Timmons’ right front tire, causing him to catch some air and spin two 360’s in front of the field.

Everyone got their spots back with minor damage, but on the next start, it was Beaulieu and Zachem getting the top-two spots. Timmons kept those two in check, but he just couldn’t pass Beaulieu, settling for a third place finish. Zachem went on to make it three NELCAR Tours wins in a Row.
"Without that yellow, I think we might have had ourselves a feature win tonight" Timmons said in the post-race interview, "But that’s racing." Timmons sits 5th in points still, only 12 back of fourth place Buxton, and 56 out of the lead.

NELCAR Tour action is off until July 4th at the Lee USA Speedway, but Timmons will be in action at Beech Ridge on Thursday night at 7-o’ clock for round two of the Beech Ridge Thunder Series.

Photos By Chris Roy and Brenda Meserve
 

After a week off, the NELCAR legend car tour was ready to rock at Maine’s Center for Speed, Wisscasset Raceway.

In practice, Timmons and Evan Beaulieu played cat & mouse, staying right nose to tail darting in and out of traffic, pacing the first round. Timmons’ car stayed consistent, as he was ready for his first career race at the decently banked 3/8 mile.

Timmons and the 17 of Terry Kirk led the second and high-point heat to the green. They battled side by side, wheel to wheel for five of the eight laps, when finally Timmons was in the clear and was unchallenged from that point on, taking the qualifying race win.

Timmons knew the heat win was nothing to bank on, as, due to his prior top three at Speedway 95, he had to come from the rear of the 13 car field and better yet, the race was only 20 laps. Timmons made quick work of the 72, 7, 19, 29 and 17 cars, as he found himself sitting 6th on lap two. The inside line looked to be the one rolling, so Timmons took the preferred line and drove up beside the 56 machine that Timmons has found himself constantly battling no matter what kind of division. The inside train started to fall back, as not only Beaulieu, but also the 20 of Max Zachem and the 99 of Buxton passed Timmons for position. Timmons was boxed in behind the former champ, Bob Weymouth in his 399 car, as he struggled to get by early leader and pole sitter, Ed Getty in the #10 sedan. Timmons finally had enough and just set outside of the 399, almost in the third groove, and moved by him as well as the 10 for fifth place. By the time he tried to reel the 56 and 99 back in, it was too late and checkers flew with Max Zachem taking down the win. "I had better than what we showed tonight, fourth maybe even a third place car." Said Timmons in post-race technical inspection. "But this is Wiscasset and it’s tough to pass here, so I guess I can’t complain about another top five."

The top five is Timmons’ fourth top five in six races. And he finds himself sitting 5th in points, 45 out of the lead and 10 out of fourth spot. The 38 crew gears up for the toughest weekend all season, with three races in three nights. Thursday Night Thunder opens at Beech Ridge Thursday night. Then it’s off to Unity for a Friday night show, then another 45 miles up the road to Speedway 95 for a Saturday night show.

Photos By Chris Roy
 

After a weekend off, the NELCAR Legends tour was back in action for a Memorial Day weekend double header. Race #1 was the season debut at the track known as "Maine’s toughest oval," Unity Raceway.

Right out of the box, Timmons was fast. No changes were made to the car for the heat race. Timmons started 6th in the 12 lap qualifying stint. Timmons battled for 4th place late in the heat with opening day winner Charlie Buxton in his #99 blue couple. Timmons thought he had the edge coming to the checkers, but was forced to slow, as Max Zachem’s car appeared to lose power right in front of Timmons.

By virtue of NELCAR’s handicap system, Timmons sat on the pole for the 25 lap main event. The green flag flew and it was the 17 of Terry Kirk getting the advantage, but it didn’t take long for Timmons to roll back past Kirk for the early lead. Timmons had sole possession of the top spot until lap 4 when the 399 of Bob Weymouth, qualifying race winner, challenged Timmons for the lead. Timmons and Weymouth battled wheel to wheel for 6 laps or so until Weymouth surrendered to Timmons, and settled be hind him. At the halfway mark, it was Max Zachem of Preston Connecticut making the charge for the lead, and he was not to be denied as he took the top spot away. Yellow flew on lap 19 for an accident involving Patrick Stewart and Adam Ricci.

The re-start saw Zachem & Timmons lead the 11 car field to the 6 lap shootout. Zachem got the jump on the start as Weymouth followed suit. Weymouth cleared Timmons the next lap, putting Timmons back to third. With two laps to go, Zachem saw his chances of win #2 slip away into the dirt banks of Unity Raceway, as he spun off the back straight away, surrendering the lead to Weymouth, and 2nd to Timmons. Weymouth crossed the line 3-4 car lengths ahead of Timmons who survived a late race challenge from Evan Beaulieu aboard his 56 machine. Timmons and crew were more than happy with the 2nd place run, but knew this meant they were coming from the rear of the 2nd race of the weekend, at Hermon, Maine’s Speedway 95.

With rain in the forecast, Timmons and crew make the trek to Speedway 95. For a day that looked a like a possible washout, the skies cleared and it was a beautiful day for racing. The #38 Ford Sedan looked good in the short round of practice they were given, as no changes were made for the qualifying race. Timmons, once again starting sixth, found himself, once again, battling with 99 of Buxton for 4th place. Although this time around, Timmons cleared Buxton, taking fourth in the 12 lap dash.

It was feature time, and Timmons sat 8th in the 10 car field. In the first few laps, Timmons rode behind the 33 of Alan Smith and the 10 of Ed Getty. Coming out of turn 2, Smith’s 33 car drifted up the racetrack, making contact with the #29 Tyler Jordan, sending Jordan off the speedway and done for the day. Timmons took this advantage to drive around the 33 & the 10, as the race stayed green. With 10 to go, Timmons sat 4th with Topsham’s Bob Weymouth hot on his tail. Those two, as well as Unity third place finisher Evan Beaulieu, were slowly running down the 17 of Terry Kirk. When the white flag flew, Timmons saw himself six car lengths behind Kirk. Coming out of turn 2, Timmons found himself less than a car length from Kirk’s bumper. Timmons slid his machine under Kirk going into the 3 turn, and put the power down off of 4, out gunning Kirk and capturing the 3rd spot. The #20 of Zachem got his redemption, as he captured the feature win, with Charlie Buxton in his #99 Ford, behind him in 2nd spot.

The pair of top 3 runs boosted Timmons to 5th in overall points, just 9 points out of 4th, and 36 out of the lead. Timmons and crew are off until June 6th, where they make they’re one and only appearance at the Wiscasset Raceway, followed by three races in three days the weekend after that.

Photos By Chris Roy
 

After a long cold winter of indoor racing, the Timmons crew had to build a Legends car in 3 weeks to be ready for Bangor. The Timmons crew built themselves a strong machine in those 3 weeks, as it was reflected in the team’s valiant 4th place run at Speedway 95 on Sunday afternoon.

Bobby, Crew Chief Dad, Owner Mike, and crew member Brandon trucked up to Bangor on Saturday for a day of practice and a great opportunity for some seat time for the rookie driver. In 6 rounds of practice, Bobby went from 3 seconds off the pace, to almost 3 tenths off the pace set by heavy hitters Terry Kirk, Bob Weymouth, Charlie Buxton, and Evan Beaulieu, in his brand new ride for ’09.
Sunday morning rolled around and it was time to race. The weather couldn’t have been better for an opening day event. Bobby ran 3 rounds of practice on Sunday, where he had found himself in the 17.6’s & 17.7’s which were just a tic off from the leader’s pace.

Timmons, by virtue of being a rookie, had to start shotgun on the field, as well as his other rookie contenders #19 Jim Manchester & #72 of Dan Hutchens. Timmons took to the tough track in 10th position, out of 12 cars. The outside was the place to be, and that’s where Timmons found him self. They took the green flag and Timmons had none of this "you have to run the top groove" as he passed long time off-track friend, on-track rival #27 Kevin Hutchens, & 2008 NELCAR rookie of the year #33 Alan Smith on the bottom groove to take the 8th spot in the qualifier.

Timmons once again took the green in the feature in the 10th starting spot. After a couple of re-starts early on, Timmons found himself in the 7th spot behind #33 Alan Smith. Timmons easily gained 2 spots when #399 Bob Weymouth, & #56 Evan Beaulieu were sent to the tail for misbehaving on the re-start. Timmons and Smith battled side-by-side for numerous laps when Timmons finally just got the nose. At the point of the white flag, Timmons sat 5th with 3rd place in sight. Coming off of the 2 turn, 4th place #10 Ed Getty lost control, and lost the 4th spot to Timmons. Timmons came across the line 4th with 3rd place right in tow.

Timmons was more than happy with his top-5 effort, far surpassing his expectations. Although early in the year, Timmons sits 4th in overall points, 1st in Semi-Pro points, and 1st in rookie of the year standings. Timmons and crew make the haul back to Bangor next Sunday. Qualifying starts at 2 p.m.

Photos by Chris Roy

Timmons nails down #2 of ‘09

After Bobby came up just short of win #2 on Feb 8^th, he was back redemption on March 1^st. Bobby was a bit off the mark in practice and in the qualifying heat, but they made some changes and were quick in the feature.

Bobby sat on the outside pole for the feature. On the drop of the green, Dave Putnam took the early lead. Corey Bubar and Adam Lachance passed Bobby in the early goings. Bobby worked back into 2^nd shortly and was on the hunt for Dave. It looked early that Dave would sail off into the sunset with an easy win. As the laps quickly wound down, Bobby was seeing more and more of Dave. They were running a blistering pace of 7.9 seconds around the tight 1/10^th mile oval. Bobby had narrowed the lead from ½ a lap to ½ a straightaway. With 21 laps to go, leader Dave Putnam lost it going into turn one, bringing out a much-needed yellow but also giving Bobby the lead.

Bobby wouldn’t look back as early leader Dave Putnam pulled off, pretty much sealing the deal. Bobby won the race by over ¾ of a lap. In victory lane he did the “Kyle Busch Bow.” Bobby will be running the 5^th and final race at Victory Lane on March 15^th. 

Timmons Wins $250 at Victory Lane

PORTLAND ME; Portland Maine was the place to race for Bobby Timmons and team as they ran Race #2 of the Victory Lane WKA Indoor Winter Blast Series. Timmons was making his 4th career flat kart start, driving the 1998 Phantom Banshee owned by Walt Dearborn of Dearborn Kart Shop. With the help of Walt, and Ray Linds, Timmons ran the heavy class with a box stock animal motor, lent to them from Linds.
After a decent day of practice on Saturday, the team started Sunday with a little practical joke, as Bobby and crewman/cousin Kevin saran wrapped competitor Dave Putnam’s kart. After the joking was done, it was race time. Timmons was at the top of the speed charts in the 1 and only practice of the day. With a little adjustment to the kart, it was race time.

Bobby drew 7th starting spot in the 9-kart field for the 25-lap qualifier. Timmons started on the bumper of one of New England’s top kart drivers, "Flyin" Ryan Arsenault. At the drop of the green, Timmons glued himself to Arsenault, which in just 1 lap, they found themselves 2nd and 3rd. A few laps later Timmons made the move past Arsenault, ran down early leader Mike Panciocco, and nailed down the qualifier win, giving him the pole for the A-Main.

Timmons took the initial lead from the get-go and never looked back. Bobby shook outside pole sitter Nick Hadden going into turn 1, which had found Arsenault20right on Timmons’ back bumper. After a couple of early yellows, Timmons got the edge on Arsenault and Dave Putnam took advantage, passing Arsenault for 2nd. Dave could run with Bobby but his kart faded away and it looked as though Dave would settle for 2nd. A long green flag run spread the field out, as Timmons had stretched his lead to almost ½ of the tight 1/10th mile. With 13 laps to go, the race was halted do to Dave Putnam making hard contact with the inside barrier. A restart with 13 to go had Bristol Connecticut’s Todd Asklar, who had come from the rear of the field, sitting on the outside pole. Timmons got the edge as none other than Arsenault was right on the bumper of Timmons again. Arsenault stayed within inches of Timmons, but just couldn’t find a way by, as Timmons went across the line to pick up his first flat kart, money, and indoor race win, all in one. Bobby had the whole section of people in turn 4 cheering him on as he cashed in for $250 for the win. In later action, teammate Evan Beaulieu picked up the Sr. Champ Flathead victory. Timmons will look to defend his victory on February 8th. Practice begins at 9:30, and racing at 11:30.