Driver Spotlight: Adam Sanborn

Photo Credit: Susan Johnson

Since joining the Saturday night series in 2015 the bandits’ class has quickly become one of the largest divisions currently racing at Oxford Plains Speedway. What started as a starter class has now turned in to an entertaining and competitive field filled with rookies, veterans and drivers that are a little bit of both.

Thirty-six year old Adam Sanborn of West Paris also known to race fans as Larry Bandito or Adam 12 is in his sophomore season in the bandits’ class after bringing home rookie of the year last season. Decades older than most of the rookies in that class, he really wasn’t a rookie to racing at all.

Sanborn was born into a racing family with both his parents owning race cars at Beech ridge Motor Speedway driven by the likes of greats Jim Gary and Bob “the bandit” Harrison. Adam grew up in the grandstands at Beech ridge watching his older brother Corey race weekly and as a teenager helped his younger brothers Dale and Trevor dominate in the go-carts at Beech ridge.

In 1998 his own racing career began when his dad purchased a 1979 Pontiac Lemans previously driven by Al Gasset in the Wildcats class at Beech ridge. They turned it into an outlaw and raced in Outlaws inaugural season that raced in Oxford’s Saturday night series.

“That year the class ran 10 races, I ended up bringing home 7 trophies, rookie of the year, 2^nd in points and most laps led. “He explained on how he got hooked on racing.

The following season in 1999 didn’t go as well for Sanborn. They had Conrad Childs build them a new car but after only a few races his season ended when he wrecked and the car was unrepairable. Sanborn sat out the rest of the season, and when life got busy didn’t end up returning to the racetrack.

After an 18 year hiatus from racing, Sanborn returned to the track last season when he was asked by Kyle Hewins if he would be interested in racing one of his bandit cars. Being friends with some of the other guys who were racing in the class: Chachy Hall, Travis Verrill and Shaun Hinkley made it an easy decision.

Adam raced the entire 2017 season in the Kyle Hewins Motorsports number 51 bandits car. He ended up finishing the season with four 2^nd place finishes and two 3^rd place finishes.

“Kyle and Monica are great people that do anything for their friends so I’m happy I was able to bring the KHM team a 2^nd place in points, a 3^rd in the Triple Crown series and secure a rookie of the year all in the same season.”

Sanborn’s favorite moments last season were getting to drive the #129 legend car on the day of the Oxford 250 and traveling to White Mountain Motorsports Park in New Hampshire for the bandits Triple Crown series where he finished in 2^nd on the high banked track.

“The thrill of fast cars, the smell of burning rubber and race fuel.” are Adam’s favorite things about racing and what he looks forward to the most on Saturday nights is seeing excited kids in the grandstands and being able to spend time with his friends/racing family.

Over the off season he decided to become a race car owner instead of renting a car from Kyle Hewins Motorsports who field 3 cars in the bandits the number 51, 52, and 53 cars which are identical to each other.

“I became good friends with Tyler Green last year through racing, car rentals for KHM were going up this season and Tyler happened to be selling his racecar that only has 6 races on it.”

It was a deal he just couldn’t pass up since the car included parts that were enough to build 2 or 3 more cars. The 2018 started off a little rough for Adam with only one podium finish before June 30^th.

On June 30^th Adam Sanborn finally nailed down his first bandits feature win. He led every lap of his heat race and went on to lead all 20 laps of the feature.

“It felt amazing and was such a relief! The car was fast as usual and I was able to hold my own line the whole race.” He said about the moment.

“The win was the only thing I had left to accomplish other than a championship.”

In the bandits division he’s had some pretty stiff competition but he loves racing with the best of the best.

“All of the drivers in that class have done their part of teaching me different lessons one should know. Kyle Hewins is my favorite person to race with.” He admitted before adding

“Not to discredit Shaun Hinckley and Jamie Heath, anytime you can run with those three you definitely have done your homework and earned it.”

Though he came close to winning the championship last year, wins don’t come easy when racing against guys like Hewins and Hinckley

“Winning a bandits championship would be a great achievement. The division has become a fairly stout field with a car count from 20 to 30 every week and about 9 or 10 of them being on the same competition level.”

Sanborn may not be a championship contender this season but he’s still having fun racing in the bandits.

“Racing is an adrenaline rush and I’m only there to have fun, any week I can bring my car home in one piece is a one for me.”

Adam has many people supporting his love of racing including his cousin Shawn and his brothers Corey, Dale, and Trevor Sanborn who also races weekly but in the pro stock series at Beech Ridge.

There’s a great support system at the track as the amount of fans that come to cheer the bandit class on grows weekly.  Vicki Verrill, Deb Smith, Matt Hiscock, Shelly Green, Tracy Tibbitts among others are some of the fans who come and cheer Adam on every week.

Last but not least one of Adam’s biggest supporters is his boyfriend Robby.

“He hates racing but knows how much I love it. He attends as often as he can to capture video but he has to put up with a lot of garage talk and my racing obsession and I couldn’t thank him enough for always wanting me to do whatever makes me happy.”

Along with great supporters he has some great sponsors keeping him competitive this season: Knight’s Archery, Maine Modern Tile, South Paris Portland Glass, Wallace Home improvements and Maine St Supply

.

When Adam isn’t racing he enjoys going on adventures with his kids and having cookouts with friends. Adam works full time as a floor installer and his nights are spent doing cosmetology work from his home.

Although the season is far from over Adam is already looking forward to next season.

“Next year Tyler Green will be back on the track as my teammate, we already have a car and will soon be searching for some team sponsorship's.”

You can catch Larry Bandito aka Adam Sanborn in his number 12 bandit car racing at Oxford Plains Speedway on Saturday nights during the Oxford Championship Series.

Morneau makes name for himself on winning NASCAR team

Motorsports racing is one of the biggest sports in Maine but only a handful of guys from Maine have made it to the premier level: NASCAR. Whether you’re a racecar driver or just a pit crew member making it to NASCAR is a dream come true.

32 year old Michael Morneau of Oxford, has been working in NASCAR for 14 years, 10 of them being for Stewart Haas racing in the cup series. As a member of Kevin Harvick’s pit crew he helped them win this year’s All-star race in May.

Morneau grew up in Oxford attending races at Oxford Plains Speedway just down the road from where he lived.

“Racing was something I enjoyed watching as a kid and I enjoyed working on cars”

As a teenager with the help from his father, grandfather, and uncle he raced in the Wednesday night Runnin’ Rebels division with his friend Charlie Hall who today still races at Oxford. When Oxford changed their age limit it ended his racing career and he began changing his focus.

Michael attended Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School where he ended up taking automotive technology with Mitch Green.

“He was a good kid your average teenager, all around good kid to have in your class. He sort of knew what he wanted to do towards his junior year and he worked pretty hard for it.” Green said about Michael’s time in his class.

 Green retired from teaching in 2008 is now the owner of Crazy Horse Racing in South Paris. It was in that class that Michael decided he wanted to pursue a career in motorsports.

“He had racecars in the shop every once in a while, we’d build strictly stock motors and I’d help Mitch and Mickey (Green) on their pro stock which was something I really enjoyed doing.” Morneau explained.

During his senior year of high school Morneau had a setback when he was in a severe snowmobile accident where he had to spend some time in the hospital.

“When he got into a snowmobile accident his senior year and it set him back he was worried he wouldn’t be able to graduate, being a teacher I was able to find a way to help him find a get through it. We became close during the process and I told him it would take some work but we’d figure it out, and we’ve been close friends ever since.” Green said.

He overcame the odds with lots encouragement from family and Green and was able to graduate high school with his class in 2003.

After high school he took a huge risk and moved down to North Carolina where he attended UTI NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, North Carolina. Education is something Michael thinks is one of the most important things you need if you want to pursue a career in motorsports.

“You have to be willing to take a gamble and move south where the racing teams are along with going to a school like Ohio tech or UTI NASCAR technical institute.”

Though NASCAR was his goal he knew that going to college gave him other options if a job in NASCAR didn’t pan out such as working for dealerships like Ford, Audi, Jaguars, etc.

“You always got to have a dream, the pieces lined up just right for me. The industry was booming and teams were hiring so I was fortunate to make it in the following year.”

Michael’s first NASCAR job was working for Haas CNC on the Jason Leffler #00 Nationwide car. He was a crew member for that car until 2009 when he became a crew member for Tony Stewart when he became co-owner of Stewart Haas racing. With Stewart he won his first race the 2009 all-star race and was part of his championship in 2011. He stayed with Stewart’s 14 car until the last 10 races of 2014 when there was a crew member switch and he became Kevin Harvick’s tire carrier. Harvick ended up winning a championship in 2014.

“Mike was always one that once he got his teeth into something he worked hard to get what he wanted, I had no doubt if racing was his sincere interest he would find his way there. “Green explained.

10 years and 34 cup wins later, his journey in NASCAR came full circle when he won the 2018 all-star race with Harvick.

“Winning that race was pretty cool, since my first ever win was the 2009 all-star race with Tony Stewart. The first time we won my wife, mother and grandmother attended and my wife came to victory lane with me, this year when we won I was able to bring my wife and my oldest son Griffin with me to victory lane.” He said about the special moment with his family.

Something that has stuck with Morneau and really helped him in school and during his career in NASCAR is a motto his parents use to tell him “work smarter, not harder.”

“I helped by encouraging and helping him find the avenue to do it what he wanted to do. We talked a lot along the way about pitfalls to stay away from in the motorsports world.” Green said about giving advice to Morneau even after he was no longer his student.

Michael Morneau now calls North Carolina home with his wife and two sons but still has roots here in Maine, His mother is the owner of Polly’s Variety in Oxford, and his cousin is former Ops street stock champion David Whittier whose car Michael actually owned in 2017.

“The thing I like about him is he’s still just Mikey, sometimes people who get to that level change because of the limelight but Mikey is still just Oxford Maine Boy. He’s very respectful to people and I think he genuinely appreciates what he’s got and doesn’t take it for granted.” Mitch Green said about his former student who has managed to stay humble.

“It’s neat being a local from Oxford, like it shows that you can make it in a sport such as racing even coming from a small track like Oxford, it’s been a fun ride.”

Michael learned a lot in his high school auto tech class but most importantly he got a lifelong mentor and friend in Mitch Green who helped him get where he is today pursuing his passion in NASCAR.