@FlamboroSpdwy • Hamilton, ON (August 27, 2015)- The common sentiment of the night this past Saturday at Bennett Chevrolet Flamboro Speedway..."Is there a full moon tonight?"
Lately that seems to be more common, but after all we're in silly season now. With just four racing events remaining until Championship Night, things are getting a little crazy. Three of the four points races are close. In Late Models, David Elliott leads Dale Shaw by a mere eight points. In Mini Stocks, Russ Aicken leads Hudson Nagy by seven points and in Pure Stocks Andy Wheller leads Michael Kenny by 45 points. The only race that is a wider margin is in Thunder Cars where the team of Brad Collison and Shawn Chenoweth have a 78 point lead over Shawn Arnott. One thing to remember however.
All it takes is one missed night or someone not able to start the feature(s) and things can change drastically. So make sure you don't miss any of the action over the final five weeks, if the past few are any indication, we're in for one heck of a finish!!
Racing action got underway at 7pm sharp and the Grisdale Late Models were finally making their return after a six week hiatus. It was also one of the most popular nights on the schedule, Meet the Drivers Night. Pure Stocks were up first and the division that has shown a big increase in car counts and some of the most exciting action all year, continued that on this night. Derek Jackson and Wayde Thorne were on the poll for this one and the two shot out and broke way from the pack early. Like last week, Jackson led from the start but a penalty for jumping the start made that all for not as the final flag flew. On this night however, no jumped start and Jackson bolted out and raced hard with Thorne for 15 laps but held him off and picked up the victory.
In Mini Stocks, Rick Robinson and Jake Gilbert led 16 cars to green. Early on one of the top runners of late Clark Hartman took a hard hit from the rear and hit the wall hard out of turn two. Hartman exited his car to survey the damage and was not happy with the 71 of Russ Aicken. I personally didn't see how it started so can't comment but Hartman wasn't happy. The car took some heavy damage to the front and rear and was finished for the night.
Talking to Clark later he told me, "I'm doing fine but the car is bent bad. Don't think it will be ready for Saturday. Both ends of the car are bent."
He said he'll survey the damage through the week to make a better determination on his status. On the restart, some exciting four wide action, something that we've seen a lot of lately in some classes. Blair Wickett made his return after missing the final feature last Saturday when his dad Chris had to be taken to hospital. Wickett got out to a big quarter track lead. The race proved to be for second through fourth as Gillian Hils, Rodney Rutherford and Scott Mast battled early. Hudson Nagy soon joined the party as he made his way to the bumper of Mast's car. Aicken, who had to retreat to the rear of the pack after the incident with Hartman, made his way quickly to the front and was on the bumper of his rival Nagy. The two got by Hils on the outside and were now setting their sights on the leader as a caution on lap 15 tightened the field.
One lap later, Aicken spun coming out of two with a right front flat. He had to retire to the pits and with a dnf. As the cars took the checkers it was Blair Wickett with the win followed by Nagy and Rutherford.
Thunder Cars were next and nine took the green. One of last weeks big winners, Mark Burbridge was not in attendance this night. Mitch Milljanovic and Shawn Chenoweth were on the pole. Chenoweth got out to a huge lead, a half track by race end. Once again the real battle was for second through fourth as Brad Collison, Shawn Arnott and Kevin Gallant battled each other hard and tight. The checkers flew and it was Shawn Chenoweth with the win.
Sixteen Late Models were eagerly waiting this night. Steve March and Matt Lockwood were up front for this one. An early caution as Kevin Albers and Jeff Ruddy spun. Dale Shaw and David Elliott got by March on the restart and the race was on. The two sparred and were tapping each others bumper, trying to get the other loose to make a run for the lead. Elliott was leading Shaw and this would continue for several laps.
Nick Roth had someone get into him sending him into a spin bringing out a caution on lap 14. Elliott was still leading and by this point Brad Corcoran had made his way up to third behind Shaw. Corcoran soon took over second and was looking to make his way to the lead. With four laps to go, Corcoran made his move and got by Elliott down the back stretch to take over the lead and pick up the checkered flag.
The last race before intermission was the ten lap heat race for the Pro 4 Modifieds. Robert Mercer led early but the #8 of Craig Shaver got by out of two on lap six and took the lead and would hold it till the end. Brian Nanticoke followed Shaver through and finished second.
That brought intermission and hundreds of fans flooded the track to meet their favorite drivers, collect some autographs and other goodies. Thanks to all the drivers for their donations for the kids, door panels and other great prizes. Big thanks to Fireball Racing for the boys and girls bikes, back packs and other great prizes. Fireball Racing is always a great supporter of racing here at Bennett Chevrolet Flamboro Speedway!!
The Pure Stocks remained on track after the Meet the Drivers session ready and lined up for their second feature of the night. Csaba Javorszky and Linc Erison were on the pole to lead 17 cars to green. Some fire works early as Andy Wheller and Derek Jackson were beating on each other from the start. Wheller was shown the black flag and subsequently disqualified for rough driving after Jackson was into the wall at the exit of turn four. He was unable to continue and he like Clark Hartman before, showed his displeasure towards Wheller with hands raised in the air. A lengthy clean up ensued and when green finally flew again another caution immediately as the 10 car of Lofton Schuts went around.
Csaba Javorszky and Wayde Thorne had some great side by side action but it would lead to a red flag as the two got involved just under the starters stand, causing Javorszky to get around into the wall and over on to his roof and over again as he entered turn one. It was the first night in the car for Javorszky and perhaps the inexperience was a factor in the outcome. Happy to say he was ok. Another lengthy delay to clean this one up. On the restart as the cars were heading into turn one, Mike Larkin's night came to an abrupt end as he was sent sliding into the wall. The car sustained quite a bit of damage and yet another delay.
Fifty three minutes to run this one, definitely not the norm for this division. Wayde Thorne continued to lead throughout and Linc Erison who was racing for Tyler Mayhew finished a strong second.
Mini Stocks were up next for their final feature on the night. Gary Slama, a veteran of Thunder Car racing was out for his first night in a Mini Stock. He lined up along side Shawn Taylor who was hoping to put his bad luck behind him. This one started bad on lap one as the cars exited turn two, several got involved with the 92 of Paul Oliver taking a hard hit bringing out another red flag. Oliver seemed to have the most damage although the 22 of Mark DaSilva was unable to continue after losing a right front wheel and Russ Aicken's bad luck on the night continued as he sustained some damage and had to settle for his second dnf of the night.
On the restart, the 75 of Scott Mast was running third but got high in turn four, tagged the wall and eventually retired to the pits. Shawn Taylor was running not bad but still not where they wanted to be. Blair Wickett and Rodney Rutherford got by him to take the lead on lap eight. The two battled for a few laps but Wickett took the lead and would pick up another feature win, his second of the night, third in the past four. The 76 of Shawn Taylor told me later he was down on power after they found out, " that they were off a tooth on our timing" and it seems like that could have been there issue of late. They're hoping for the best now they have that behind them.
Thunder Cars hit the track led by Justin Collison and Mitch Miljanovic. A couple of separate incidents off the start as the 14 of Rob Istead went around in turn four. Shawn Arnott was shown the black flag by the starter and was sent to the rear of the field. On the restart, Shawn Chenoweth shot out to the lead. The battle for second and third was once again the story as Bobby Mercer and Kevin Gallant battled. Chenoweth had increased his lead to a half track at this point. Justin Collison brought out a caution of lap 15 as he lost a right rear tire.
Not sure what was up on this night but loose tires are not very common and it was happening far too much on this night. The race resumed without incident and Chenoweth picked up his second consecutive Thunder Car win on the night.
The Late Models roared onto the track for their final 30 lap feature on this night. Nick Roth lined up along side Steve Adams for this one. Roth would lead the first four laps but David Elliott would get by out of four on the fifth lap. Elliott shot out to a big lead. Roth and Matt Lockwood waged a nice battle for second and third. The race was going along at a nice clip but on lap 24, Steve March and Steve Adams got involved and spun in turn four. In turn two the leaders had an incident as Roth, Lockwood and Dale Shaw went around. Shaw made a quick trip to the pits to make sure everything was ok and was back out. He would make his way to the front quick and before long a nice battle between Roth, Brad Corcoran, Lockwood and Shaw ensued. Corcoran got past Lockwood and took over third. A caution came out on lap 26 as Roth slowed down the back stretch and came to a stop in three and four.
On the restart Elliott continued to hold off the pack but Corcoran got by Trevor Monaghan for second. When the checkers flew that was the top three finishers.
The final race of the night was for the Pro 4 Modifieds. Dan Petit led lap one but the 8 of Craig Shaver and 9 of Brian Nanticoke got by to take over first and second. The two ran away and hid from the rest of the pack and as the final checkered flag of the night was waved it was Craig Shaver winning his second race of the night.
That brought to a close another exciting action packed night of racing at Bennett Chevrolet Flamboro Speedway.
Please make plans to join us -- THIS SATURDAY AUGUST 29TH, IT'S THE ANNUAL DON BIEDERMAN MEMORIAL NIGHT. ALSO FEATURING THE OSCAAR SUPER LATE MODEL SERIES. 50 LAPS FOR THE OSCAAR SUPER LATE MODELS PLUS THE OSCAAR MODIFIEDS, OSCAAR HURRICANE MIDGETS, THUNDER CARS, MINI STOCKS, PURE STOCKS AND THE PRO 4 MODIFIEDS. RACING STARTS AT 3 P.M. ALSO WE HAVE OUR ANNUAL VISIT FROM THE HIGHWAYMEN CAR CLUB ON THE MAIN GRANDSTAND SIDE OF THE TRACK FOLLOWED BY A PARADE LAP DURING INTERMISSION.
**RAIN DATE SUNDAY AUGUST 30TH- CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR NEW TIMES**
-Please check the website, www.flamborospeedway.ca for more details including the schedule, Admission Prices for the grandstands and pits and updated point standings for all divisions.
-Make sure you follow us on twitter as well @flamborospdwy
-Thanks to Mike Kiers for the great photos!
Unofficial Results
Pure Stock Feature #1 : #29 Derek Jackson, #7 Wayde Thorne, #90 Andy Wheller, #44 Sam Heibien, #10 Lofton Schuts, #53 Mike Larkin, #79 Caroline Kelly, #74 Csaba Javorszky, #24 Linc Erison (-1J), #42 Leo Lebarbera, #31 Keara Gallant, #69 Roger Lessard, #77 Kevin Jackman, #07 Micheal Kenny, #17 Blair Mayhew, #5 Courtney Scott
Pure Stock Feature #2 : #7 Wayde Thorne, #24 Linc Erison, #10 Lofton Schuts, #44 Sam Heibien, #31 Keara Gallant, #42 Leo Labarbera, #69 Roger Lessard, #77 Kevin Jackman, #79 Caroline Kelly, #17 Blair Mayhew, #07 Micheal Kenny, #5 Courtney Scott, #53 Mike Larkin (NF), #74 Csaba Javorszky (NF), #29 Derek Jackson (NF), #90 Andy Wheller (NF)
Mini Stock Feature #1 : #97 Blair Wickett, #36 Hudson Nagy, #38 Rodney Rutherford, #75 Scott Mast, #03 Jake Gilbert, #32 Gillian Hils, #22 Mark DaSilva, #92 Paul Oliver (-1J), #42 Rick Robinson, #76 Shawn Taylor, #4 Gary Slama, #05 Dave Goodacre, #11 Nolan Quinton, #5 Rob Twitchett, #71 Russ Aicken (NF), #51 Clark Hartman (NF)
Mini Stock Feature #2 : #97 Blair Wickett, #38 Rodney Rutherford, #76 Shawn Taylor, #36 Hudson Nagy, #03 Jake Gilbert, #4 Gary Slama, #32 Gillian Hils, #42 Rick Robinson, #5 Rob Twitchett, #05 Dave Goodacre, #11 Nolan Quinton, #75 Scott Mast (NF), #22 Mark DaSilva (NF), #92 Paul Oliver (NF), #71 Russ Aickens (NF), #51 Clark Hartman (NS)
Thunder Car Feature #1 : #89 Shawn Chenoweth, #13 Brad Collison, #76 Shawn Arnott, #31 Kevin Gallant, #7 Bobby Mercer, #14 Mike Gilmour, #77 Mitch Miljanovic, #12 Justin Collison, #5 Karl Sault
ThunderCar Feature #2 : #89 Shawn Chenoweth, #31 Kevin Gallant, #14 Mike Gilmour, #76 Shawn Arnott, #7 Bobby Mercer, #77 Mitch Miljanovic, #5 Karl Sault, #12 Justin Collison (NF), #13 Brad Collison (NF)
Late Model Feature #1 : #05 Brad Corcoran, #37 David Elliott, #83 Dale Shaw, #15 Matt Lockwood, #86 Kenny Forth, #9 Jeff Ruddy, #52 Steve March, #41 Steve Adams, #29 Steve Cashmore, #17 Nick Roth, #4 Trevor Monaghan, #28 Al Maclean, #5 Linda Stenhouse, #27 Kevin Albers, #74 Al Bowman, #11 Dave Osborne
Late Model Feature #2 : #37 David Elliott, #05 Brad Corcoran, #4 Trevor Monaghan, #83 Dale Shaw, #27 Kevin Albers, #29 Steve Cashmore, #52 Steve March, #9 Jeff Ruddy, #86 Kenny Forth, #15 Matt Lockwood, #5 Linda Stenhouse, #17 Nick Roth (NF), #41 Steve Adams (NF), #74 Al Bowman (NF), #11 Dave Osborne (NF), #28 Al Maclean (NS)
Pro 4 Modified Heat : #8 Craig Shaver, #9 Brian Nanticoke, #91 Robert Mercer, #23 Linc Erison, #93 Dan Petit
Pro 4 Modified Feature : #8 Craig Shaver, #9 Brian Nanticoke, #23 Linc Erison, #93 Dan Petit, #91 Robert Mercer (NS)
From; Randy Spencer for Flamboro Speedway
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