by Greg Calnan
(Saturday, August 8, 2015) – Brighton, Ontario – The Southern Ontario Sprints returned to action at Brighton Speedway for the eighth race of the 2015 season and when the 25 lap feature was completed there was a new face in victory lane. Cory Turner topped Glenn Styres and Mitch Brown for his first career sprint car win.
Styres and Charlie Sandercock led the 17 car field to the green flag in the main event. In his quest for his 50th career sprint car win, Styres bolted away from the field and paced the race until a lap 3 caution for a broken front end on the Darren Zumpe #11z.
After the restart Warren Mahoney was involved in a lap 5 incident that saw him tumble down the frontstetch. He was able to walk away uninjured, but was finished for the evening.
Two additional cautions slowed the opening 12 laps of the race, during this time Turner began to move his way toward the front and made his way to second.
The final restart of the event came with 13 laps to go. Styres continued to lead, however Turner kept pace and the two raced side by side for the next 4 laps. On the 16th circuit Turner cleared Styres on the backstretch and began to pull away from the 5 time champion. Lapped traffic closed the gap between the top two in the final laps, however Turner was too strong and held on for a popular first win. Title contenders Styres and Brown finished 2nd and 3rd while Jamie Turner and Chris Jones completed the top five.
The win was not only the first in a sprint car for the third generation driver, but also the first for the three car Team Turner Racing team.
The Southern Ontario Sprints continue their doubleheader weekend at Humberstone Speedway on Sunday, August 9th for round nine of the 2015 season. Race time at the Port Colborne, Ontario facility is 6:30 pm.
SOUTHERN ONTARIO SPRINTS RACE REPORT
2015 SEASON EVENT #8 – SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2015
BRIGHTON SPEEDWAY – BRIGHTON ON
ENTRY LIST
(Number Name – Hometown)
0 Glenn Styres – Ohsweken ON
01 Kyle Fraser – White Lake ON
5 Keith Dempster – Alton ON
10 Bob Crawford – Sutton ON
10b Mitch Brown – Brantford ON
11j Chris Jones – Picton 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 – Trenton ON
66 Frank Baranowski – Mount Hope ON
71s Shawn Sliter – Port Colborne ON
91 Ryan Turner – Caistor Centre ON
98 Paul Pekkonen – Brockville ON
HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps – Top 3 redrew for A-Feature starting positions)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 11j Chris Jones (1)
2. 10b Mitch Brown (3)
3. 42w Rick Wilson (2)
4. 25 Warren Mahoney (6)
5. 01 Kyle Fraser (5)
DNF. 15aw April Wilson (4)
No Time.
HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps – Top 3 redrew for A-Feature starting positions)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 11t Jamie Turner (2)
2. 57 Charlie Sandercock (4)
3. 19 Cory Turner (3)
4. 91 Ryan Turner (5)
5. 15 Mike Ferrell (1)
6. 71s Shawn Sliter (6)
Time – 1:42.285
HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps – Top 3 redrew for A-Feature starting positions)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 0 Glenn Styres (1)
2. 5 Keith Dempster (2)
3. 66 Frank Baranowski (3)
4. 98 Paul Pekkonen (6)
5. 11z Darren Zumpe (5)
6. 10 Bob Crawford (4)
No Time.
A-FEATURE (25 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 19 Cory Turner (3)
2. 0 Glenn Styres (1)
3. 10b Mitch Brown (4)
4. 11t Jamie Turner (8)
5. 11j Chris Jones (7)
6. 42w Rick Wilson (6)
7. 01 Kyle Fraser (13)
8. 71s Shawn Sliter (16)
9. 5 Keith Dempster (9)
10. 66 Frank Baranowski (5)
11. 10 Bob Crawford (17)
12. 98 Paul Pekkonen (12)
13. 15 Mike Ferrell (14)
DNF. 57 Charlie Sandercock (2)
DNF. 91 Ryan Turner (11)
DNF. Warren Mahoney (10)
DNF. 11z Darren Zumpe (15)
DNS. 15aw April Wilson (18)
No Time.
A-Feature Lap Leaders – Glenn Styres (1-15), Cory Turner (16-25)
Hard Charger – Shawn Sliter (+8)
2015 SEASON FEATURE WINNERS:
Glenn Styres – 3 (Brighton Speedway June 20, Ohsweken Speedway July 3, Brighton Speedway July 11)
Mitch Brown – 2 (Brighton Speedway May 16, South Buxton Raceway July 4)
Parker Price-Miller – 1 (Humberstone Speedway May 17)
Chris Jones – 1 (South Buxton Raceway June 6)
Cory Turner – 1 (Brighton Speedway August 8)
UP NEXT:
Sunday, August 9, 2015: Humberstone Speedway – Port Colborne ON