So when Alexander parked his car after his final practice run, he emerged from the car and told Lamb to go get changed so he could turn some laps at his home track.
“I put my practice tires on, and all said and done, Garrett still went out and put it P1 in final practice,” Alexander said. “His first ever laps (at Beech Ridge) and second time in a super late model and he went fastest in final practice by over a tenth.”
Now all that was left was the 100-lap super late model finale, where Alexander started sixth after a runner-up finish in his heat race. He quickly made his way to second and began to chase down Gerry, the 2017 Oxford 250 winner at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway.
Soon the duo was joined by Doiron, who used a three-wide move during a restart to steal the lead. Some drivers might have been dismayed by the sudden change in fortune, but Alexander was more determined than ever.
While Doiron may have snuck by for the lead, Alexander cleared Curtis for second. Doiron was the mouse, Alexander was the hungry cat.
Multiple restarts followed, but each time Doiron held the upper hand. Finally, during a restart with roughly 20 laps left, Alexander saw an opportunity. Gerry, who had been all over him for the runner-up spot, had faded a few car lengths back. That opened the door for Alexander to pounce.
“I knew that was the biggest gap I’d had all night. So if there was a time to go after Joey, that was going to be it,” Alexander said. “I took that chance to try and run down Joey. I didn’t know if I had enough.”
Rather than try to work the bottom and find a way to Doiron’s inside, Alexander tried the top. It took him six or seven laps, but Alexander eventually got alongside Doiron and completed the pass on the next lap.
“I think I was able to make him use it up down low more than he wanted to,” Alexander explained. “I got a really good run off of two. I went from his quarter, right wheel-to-wheel and cleared him the next lap.”
Alexander survived two more restarts after making the pass for the lead, beating Doiron to the finish line by more than two seconds. At that point, the emotional flood gates opened.
“I just knew that I had to scream like hell and celebrate it because there was so much emotion built up and that very well could be the last time that anybody gets to do that at Beech Ridge,” Alexander said. “So I wanted to make sure I gave everybody something to cheer for.”
Cheer the fans did. Alexander said he’s never had his picture taken so many times in his life, but he stayed for every photo, signed every autograph and spoke with everyone who wanted to talk.
If this was the last race at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Alexander wanted to make the moment last as long as possible.
“I know already there are pictures out there I’ll never see from that night and I’m OK with that,” Alexander said. “It’s cool that that many people wanted to hold on to that moment.”
The future of Beech Ridge remains unknown. There has been no timetable announced for the destruction of the track, so it’s entirely possible that racing may go on next year or even longer while plans for the redevelopment of the property are made.
But if it was the last race in the storied history of Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Alexander knows it’s his job to make sure the story of the final night of racing at the Maine speed plant lives on for years to come.
“If that is that is the end of it, then it is my job for the rest of my life and the rest of my racing career to…I have to wear that and carry it on,” Alexander said. “If I just blow it off like it was nothing, then that’s doing a disservice to everybody.”