From SOS
London, Ontario (May 23, 2011) – After weeks of record breaking wet weather, the skies finally cleared on Saturday to make for a beautiful night of sprint car racing at Brighton Speedway. The fans were ready for the first race of the sweet sixteenth season of the Southern Ontario Sprints and they packed the grandstands for it.
The 2011 SOS season got underway with the #11 of Chris Jones getting the checkered flag in the first heat race with #30 Adam West hot on his heels after charging from the 5th starting spot. Rick Wilson in the #42w claimed the second heat race win ahead of #25 “Wiley” Warren Mahoney.
Mahoney would get his turn in victory lane for a Milligan Construction Dash race win. Mahoney, Jones, Wilson and West charged into the first turn at the drop of the green flag that saw Mahoney and Jones bump, spin and slide over the banking together. Mahoney was able to keep his #25 machine running and came back out on the track. Jones was not so lucky and the race was red flagged to give the track crew time to extract the #11 from the soft ground beyond the track in turn one. Unfortunately, Jones suffered front end damage and was not able to restart the race. On the restart, Mahoney had Rick “the Joyceville JET” Wilson lined up beside him as they crossed the line under the green flag. The two proceeded to put on a heck of a show for the fans with four laps of side by side racing, swapping the first two positions several times before Mahoney took the checkered flag.
Up next was the first SOS feature race of the season with Bob Crawford drawing the pole position in the redraw after the heats. Adam West would start on the outside and it was an all Mahoney row 2 with father, Dick, inside of son, Warren. The green flag flew and Adam “Batman” West swooped into the lead. Meanwhile at the other end of the field, Travis Cunningham, who had been suffering from motor problems all night, started to make his climb through the ranks.
The first caution flag flew when the #2 of Brad Lodge spun in turn 4. On the restart West again led the way with Rick Wilson and Chris Jones now stalking him from close behind. The caution lights came back on again on lap 6 for the #79 of Dick Mahoney going off the track in corner 1. When the race restarted the battle of the night between the #30 of West and #42w of Wilson would begin. Wilson would make gains down the straight only for West to storm back around him in the corners.
Lap 12 would see Travis Cunnigham spin in turn three as Paul Pekkonen rolled to a slow stop in corner 1. The #98 had been jumping out of gear on Paul all night and this time a failure in the rear end took him out of the race. The green light switched back on and so did the action between West and Wilson. Wilson would pull ahead and the crowd would roar, West would then charge back around and a cheer would ring out from Adam’s newest fan, son Aric, born in the off season to Adam and Andrea West.
On lap 14 it was Warren Mahoney spinning and sliding just off the track in corner 2 that would bring out a lengthy caution as the track crew dealt with getting the #25 car back on the track and facing the right direction. When the green flag flew again, the battle for the lead really heated up with Chris Jones joining West and Wilson in the contest for the top position.
The final caution of the night flew as the #2 of Brad Lodge spun again on lap 17. The sophomore jinx struck last years rookie as Lodge ended up facing the wrong way on the back stretch. Rick Wilson would lead the pack past the cone on the last restart and start to finally get a lead on West. While it looked like West would settle for 2^nd , Chris Jones, who had started fifth, snatched the position coming out of turn 4 on the final lap. Bob Crawford ran a solid race to finish 4th and Travis Cunningham worked his way through the field after starting the race last and spinning to round out the top five.
NOTES
– There where no rookies in the field Saturday night leaving the 2011 Rookie of the year title up for grabs for now.
– Doug Banks might be looking for a new co-pilot as the hauler for the 45x team missed the exit on the 401 for Brighton. Thankfully a sharp pair of eyes and a cell phone got the team turned around before they got to downtown Toronto.
– The fastest tour in Ontario gets back in action for round two of the SOS schedule Saturday, June 11th at Brighton Speedway.
2010 SOS EVENT #1
Brighton Speedway – Brighton, Ontario
ENTRIES (15cars)
(Number Name – Hometown)
01 Kyle Fraser – White Lake
2 Brad Lodge – Stouffville
9 Jim Munsie – Newmarket
10 Bob Crawford – Sutton
11 Chris Jones – Demorestville
15aw April Wilson – Joyceville
25 Warren Mahoney – Lefroy
30 Adam West – Ridgetown
42w Rick Wilson – Joyceville
45x Doug Banks – Kingston
51 Lee Ladouceur – Alexandria
66 Frank Baranowski – Mount Hope
71 Travis Cunningham – Grimsby
79 Dick Mahoney – Newmarket
98 Paul Pekkonen – Brockville
HEAT RACES
(top 3 finishers redraw for feature starting positions)
HEAT RACE #1
(8 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 11 Chris Jones (1)
2. 30 Adam West (5)
3. 79 Dick Mahoney (4)
4. 15aw April Wilson (6)
5. 45x Doug Banks (7)
6. 9 Jim Munsie (3)
7. 01 Kyle Fraser (8)
8. 2 Brad Lodge (2)
HEAT RACE #2
(8 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 42w Rick Wilson (4)
2. 25 Warren Mahoney (3)
3. 10 Bob Crawford (1)
4. 51 Lee Ladouceur (2)
5. 98 Paul Pekkonen (5)
6. 66 Frank Baranowski (6)
7. 71 Travis Cunningham (dns)
MILLIGAN CONSTRUCTION DASH
(4 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 25 Warren Mahoney (1)
2. 42w Rick Wilson (3)
3. 30 Adam West (4)
4. 11 Chris Jones (3) dnf
SOS ‘A’ FEATURE
(20 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 42w Rick Wilson (6)
2. 11 Chris Jones (5)
3. 30 Adam West (2)
4. 10 Bob Crawford (1)
5. 71 Travis Cunningham (15)
6. 51 Lee Ladouceur (8)
7. 45x Doug Banks (9)
8. 79 Dick Mahoney (3)
9. 15aw April Wilson (7)
10. 01 Kyle Fraser (13)
11. 25 Warren Mahoney (4)
12. 2 Brad Lodge (12)
13. 66 Frank Baranowski (12)
14. 9 Jim Munsie (11)
15. 98 Paul Pekkonen (10)
UNOFFICIAL TOP 5 IN POINTS AFTER ROUND #1 (Rank. Number Name Points) 1. 42w Rick Wilson 2. 11 Chris Jones 3. 30 Adam West 4. 10 Bob Crawford 5. 71 Travis Cunningham