CANAAN, N.H. – Clay Dow of Barnstead, N.H., took advantage of the pole position he earned by selling the most sponsored laps to score a flag-to-flag victory in the opening night of the Sprint Cars of New England Triple Crown at Canaan Dirt Speedway on Friday.

Dow surrendered the lead briefly to Jim Lowrey of Tilton, N.H. after getting bottled up in lapped traffic, but an ensuing caution flag negated the pass.

“We really needed this,” a smiling and relaxed Dow said after his win. “We’ve had a rough season - we blew a motor up earlier this year, we blew a motor up last year, and it feels good to be back in victory lane.”

The victory was no walk in the park for Dow, who worked hard both on and off the track. “We made some major adjustments during intermission,” he explained. “We changed the stagger, we put some rounds in various areas, we changed the wing, we changed tires - we did a lot of things. It brought the car back to the way it was the last time we raced here and I could go where I need to. I had bite wherever I went – wherever I needed to go, the car would go with me.”

The 30 lap event was slowed by caution flags on laps 10, 19 and 20, which gave Dow some breathing room from lapped traffic ahead, but caused the lead he had built up to evaporate. It was only the fourth start of the season for Dow, who has not finished outside the top five all year. His last win came in 2009.

“The Fairlee Flier,” Kevin Chafee of Fairlee, Vt., came from fifth to finish second, occasionally getting close to Dow, but never getting close enough to mount a serious challenge. Dan Douville of Bridgewater, N.H., was third, while a pair of Sprint Car rookies – Lowrey and Tyler Rich of Lyme, N.H., completed the top five.

The second leg of the Triple Crown is tonight, Saturday September 3 at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, Vt., and the third leg is this Sunday at Legion Speedway in Rumney, N.H., starting at 3:00 pm.

SCoNE Feature (30 laps) 1. Clay Dow, Barnstead, N.H., 2. Kevin Chaffee, Fairlee, Vt., 3. Dan Douville, Bridgewater, N.H., 4. Jim Lowrey, Jr., Tilton, N.H., 5. Tyler Rich, Lyme, N.H., 6. Chris Donnelly, Piermont, N.H., 7. Mark Cole, Lebanon, N.H., 8. Hull, East Montpelier, Vt., 9. Jake Williams, Center Tuftonboro, N.H., 10. Lacey Hanson, Orwell, Vt., 11. Bruce Kimball, Lebanon, N.H., 12. Shawn Berry, Center Ossipee, N.H., 13. Matt Robie, Hill, N.H., 14. Bob Giuliani, Middletown, N.H., 15. Robby Bodwell, Sanford, Maine, 16. Brandon Valley, Center Ossipee, N.H.. Heat winners: Cole and Chaffee.