From Greg Calnan
Brighton, ON — (May 17, 2014) — “Life is good right now”. Those were the words of race winner Mitch Brown at Brighton Speedway on Saturday night. The Brantford, Ontario native started on the pole of the 25 lap main event and picked up his first career Southern Ontario Sprints win. The victory comes just two weeks after he helped lead the Pro Fit Corvairs to the OHA GOJHL Jr. B Hockey Sutherland Cup.
Brown started on the pole and led the field to green for the first feature of the 2014 season. The red flag flew quickly though as Kyle Fraser flipped in the second turn of lap 1. The start of the race took three tries before the drivers settled down and began to log laps.
Brown led every lap of the affair, however lapped traffic would make life difficult for the lead group. Rick Wilson started third and gave chase throughout the race, but was never able to catch the #10B.
A caution on lap 19 for a spin by rookie driver Cory Turner set up a six lap shootout for the win. Brown got a good jump on the restart and distanced himself from Wilson in the closing laps and cruised to the win.
“I have a group of guys here that were a big part of the win” said Brown as he pointed to his crew. The win was the fourth in a sprint car and first away from Ohsweken Speedway.
Runner-up Rick Wilson was pleased with his second place finish. “I don’t think we had anything for him. Our cars were about as even as they could be” said the Joyceville, Ontario driver.
Justin Martin drove to an impressive third place finish in his first race back to Brighton since clinching the SOS title there in 2009. Charlie Sandercock and Glenn Styres completed the top five.
The Southern Ontario Sprints return to action on Sunday, May 18th at Humberstone Speedway for round two of the 2014 season. Race time is 6pm. For more information visit http://www.humberstonespeedway.com.
Entries
0 Glenn Styres – Ohsweken, ON
01 Kyle Fraser – White Lake, ON
2 Brad Lodge – Stouffville, ON
5 Keith Dempster – Alton, ON
7M Justin Martin – St. Thomas, ON
9 Jim Munsie – Pickering, ON
10 Bob Crawford – Sutton, ON
10B Mitch Brown – Brantford, ON
10J Jeremy Hughes – Waterdown, ON
11J Chris Jones – Demorestville, ON
11T Jamie Turner – Caistor Centre, ON
11Z Darren Zumpe – St. Catharines, ON
15 Mike Ferrell – London, ON
15AW April Wilson – Joyceville, ON
19 Cory Turner – Caistor Centre, ON
25 Warren Mahoney – Lefroy, ON
42W Rick Wilson – Joyceville, ON
57 Charlie Sandercock – Carrying Place, ON
66 Frank Baranowski – Hamilton, ON
67 Chris Durand – Port Stanley, ON
71S Shawn Sliter – Port Colborne, ON
77M Jason Martin – St. Thomas, ON
84 Tyler Rand – Picton, ON
98 Paul Pekkonen – Brockville, ON
Heat #1 Results (8 laps)
1. 7M Justin Martin (3)
2. 11Z Darren Zumpe (1)
3. 10B Mitch Brown (5)
4. 25 Warren Mahoney (7)
5. 01 Kyle Fraser (6)
6. 11T Jamie Turner (4)
7. 10J Jeremy Hughes (8)
8. 98 Paul Pekkonen (2)
Heat #2 Results (8 laps)
1. 57 Charlie Sandercock (1)
2. 0 Glenn Styres (3)
3. 84 Tyler Rand (4)
4. 11J Chris Jones (5)
5. 2 Brad Lodge (2)
6. 15AW April Wilson (6)
7. 19 Cory Turner (7)
8. 77M Jason Martin (DNS)
Heat #3 Results (8 laps)
1. 42W Rick Wilson (1)
2. 5 Keith Dempster (3)
3. 9 Jim Munsie (2)
4. 67 Chris Durand (5)
5. 71S Shawn Sliter (6)
6. 15 Mike Ferrell (4)
7. 66 Frank Baranowski (7)
8. 10 Bob Crawford (DNS)
A-Main Results (25 Laps)
1. 10B Mitch Brown (1)
2. 42W Rick Wilson (3)
3. 7M Justin Martin (7)
4. 57 Charlie Sandercock (6)
5. 0 Glenn Styres (0)
6. 5 Keith Dempster (4)
7. 25 Warren Mahoney (10)
8. 11T Jamie Turner (15)
9. 84 Tyler Rand (8)
10. 11J Chris Jones (11)
11. 10 Bob Crawford (21)
12. 2 Brad Lodge (14)
13. 67 Chris Durand (12)
14. 10J Jeremy Hughes (18)
15. 19 Cory Turner (23)
16. 15 Mike Ferrell (17)
17. 11Z Darren Zumpe (5)
18. 71S Shawn Sliter (22)
19. 15AW April Wilson (16)
20. 9 Jim Munsie (2)
21. 98 Paul Pekkonen (20)
22. 01 Kyle Fraser (13)
23. 66 Frank Baranowski (19)
24. 77M Jason Martin (DNS)