Logan Melcher Muscles to Boss Hogg 150 Win at Wiscasset

Logan Melcher scored the biggest win of his career on Sunday, outdueling Sylas Ripley for the Boss Hogg 150 victory at Wiscasset Speedway on Sunday.

After leading nearly all of the race's first 134 laps, Nick Hinckley fell to second place behind Ripley. Hinckley's race ended shortly thereafter, as the No. 15 slowed to a halt, trailing smoke in turns three and four with 13 laps to go.

That opened the door for Melcher, as the caution flag closed the gap from Ripley to the rest of the field. After battling to Ripley's outside for several laps, Melcher cut to the inside of Ripley before taking the lead on the final lap for the victory.

"I am built different! Boss Hogg champion, let's go," said an exuberant Melcher in victory lane. "I hope you guys like that. Me and Sylas were wheeling hard there at the end. I was just digging with a couple of laps to go. You reverse the roles, we'd do it the same way.

"I don't know what to say. I'm the man of many words, the man that doesn't shut up. I don't know what to say, but we just won the Boss Hogg 150."

Melcher has been no stranger to success at Wiscasset this year, in the thick of the track's Pro Stock championship with Hinckley. However, he had his doubts entering the pivotal restart with 13 laps to go before a pep talk from his father and team.

"On the restart, I'm like, guys, I'm not good restarting on the top right now," said Melcher. "My dad and Morgan, our spotter, they said, 'Dude, you're gonna win. You've got the best car. You're the best driver.'

"I was like, alright, I'm gonna wreck it or I'm gonna win it. I almost scuffed the wall on the backstretch a couple of times. I'm bouncing off the chip pretty hard, driving it in deeper than I ever thought I could. I kept dialing rear brake to it and kept working more and more and more and more."

When it came down to the final battle, Melcher leaned on experience he gained on iRacing to pull off the crossover move that led him to Wiscasset's signature victory lane in front of the frontstretch grandstands.

"[Ripley] was running me good," said Melcher. "He pinched me up high once. There was nothing dirty. It was just hard racing, I still had room. I didn't wreck. I'm like, my only move here is a crossover. I'm hitting the chip too hard when I'm really going to gain some space. Every time I gain in the corner, I can't keep it going down the straights, I'm on the chip.

"This man, his name is Dave Greenleaf. He taught me this move on iRacing, because he did it to me a thousand times where he battles on my outside for 10 laps, and all of a sudden I look in my mirror and he's gone, going right under me. If Dave Greenleaf can do it, Logan Melcher can do it. We did it and we won."

While Melcher celebrated his major victory, Ripley was left to wonder what might have been. Making his second start in the event, Ripley will have to wait one more year in his bid to join his father as a Boss Hogg 150 victor.

"We had a good piece all day," said Ripley. "I have to thank Team Hornaday, Maine-ly Concrete, my mom and dad, Ryan Leadbetter, all my team here, Joey Doiron. We'll be back."

Another driver seeking his first Boss Hogg win, Garrett Hall finished third for the second year in a row in the event.

"I guess just made par," said Hall. "I just can never get it. Just kind of ran the car too hard at the beginning of the race. Pretty much drove the car hard the whole run. Just too free, wore out our right-rear tire. We had a really good race. Congratulations to the 41. He drove by me like we were standing still."

Troy Patterson finished fourth, with Kelly Moore rounding out the top five.

Several contenders, including 2024 Boss Hogg winner and newly crowned Oxford 250 winner Austin Teras and 2021 Coastal 200 winner Josh St. Clair, were collected in a multi-car incident after just 18 laps.

Boss Hogg 150 Unofficial Results