Jones makes motorsports hall of fame

CARIBOU, Maine — Spud Speedway’s “Door to Door Since ‘64” 50th anniversary awards banquet was held Saturday, featuring a “story swapping hour,” followed by the dinner and award presentations.
Track points champions were recognized in each of the classes and a slide show highlighted the evening’s activity.
The Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame Class of 2015 has been announced and it was revealed Saturday that Spud Speedway’s Mark Jones of Caribou made the list. With over 175 candidates, Jones was one of the six who make up the list of this year’s inductees.
Jones, the principal at Caribou High School, raced from 1972-95 with over 83 wins to his credit. He and his fellow inductees will be honored at a banquet at the Augusta Civic Center on April 4, 2015.
In addition to the news about Jones, track owner Troy Haney announced that Bobby Anderson of Limestone, the 2014 points champion in the Street Stock division, has been named as one of the finalists for Maine Racer of the Year. The announcement will also be made at the Hall of Fame banquet in April.
The top three in points for each division were recognized as follows: Aroostook Trusses Northern Lights: first, Matt Lloyd, New Denmark, New Brunswick; second, Ian Rasmussen, New Denmark; and
third, Shawn Dewley, Presque Isle. Aroostook Savings and Loan Street Stock: first, Anderson; second, Jon Dixon, Presque Isle; and third, JR Howlett, Mapleton.
Haney Building Specialties Fast Fours: first, Nate Haney, Caribou; second, Stephen Levesque, Blaine; and third, Matt Lloyd, New Denmark. Coca Cola Outlaw Sportsman: first, Connor Thibeau, Fort Fairfield; second, John Albert, Limestone; and third, Glenn Rasmussen, New Denmark. Blacked Out Window Tint Kid Karts (no points races): participants were Ryder Leavitt, Fort Fairfield; Isaac Rossignol, New Denmark; Gage Theriault, Limestone; and Brayden Thibodeau, Caswell.
Blacked Out Window Tint Junior Champ Karts: first, Damian Theriault, Caribou; second, Brian Searles, Presque Isle; and Landen Leavitt, Fort Fairfield. Blacked Out Window Tint Senior Champ Karts: first, Tyler Raymond, Caribou; second, Tom Hale, Westmanland; and third, Nancy Haggerty, Houlton.
It was a busy year involving the track, beginning with two other former racers, Bobby Alexander and Chink Maynard, getting inducted into the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Augusta last spring. Supporters of the County racers made up nearly a third of the 300 in attendance.
Thursday Nights on Sweden Street began with a motorsports theme. Every class of cars that race at Spud Speedway was represented at a static display at the Caribou Recreation and Wellness Center. The original plan was to have a race car parade to the traditional downtown location; however, rain forced the event to be held indoors. A Pitstop Challenge was held to see which team of five members could change four tires on a stock car the fastest and this event was popular with the spectators.
Racing at the Caribou track was held on the traditional Saturday nights beginning June  21.
The first ever Motorsports Fair was held July 10-13. Each day featured Smokey’s Greater Shows, Lazer Tag and a different motorsports event including a Bomber car race, Monster Truck Show, 100-lap Outlaw Sportsman feature race, Classic Car Show and races by each of the regular race classes. More than 2,000 fans showed up during the four-day event.
The season ended with a Fan Appreciation Day on Sept. 14. Each racing division crowned their season champions in extended lap finales. A Bomber Car race and Demolition Derby put a cap on the season.
Haney stepped down as the race promoter following the season. Haney, of Caribou, purchased the track in 2009 from Greg Veinote of Newburgh. Veinote re-opened the facility in 2007 after nearly a decade of neglect. Failing health forced the Newburgh man to consider selling the track.
Haney plans to continue as the track owner and is seeking an individual or group of persons to continue with stock car racing in 2015 at the Caribou track. He stressed that the three kart racing divisions will be racing again next year.