By T.J. Buffenbarger
OHSWEKEN, Ont. (September 17, 2016) – Parker Price-Miller avenged his final lap defeat one year ago at the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals by winning the 2016 edition Sunday night at Ohsweken Speedway. Price-Miller had a torrid race for the lead with Jessica Zemken and three time Canadian Nationals champion Steve Poirier for the victory driving the Hills Racing Team car.
“I don’t know how I didn’t mess up those last five laps. I was nervous the entire race. Jessica (Friesen) and Steve (Poirier) are obviously pretty good here, and I was just doing everything I could to hold them off,” said Price-Miller.
Price-Miller held on over the final laps despite having brake issues towards the end of the race.
“We thought we had brake issues at the shop today, but figured they were fine. Then with about five laps to go they got really squishy and having to use my wing and getting the car sideways to slow me down.”
Price-Miller was well aware of Poirier under him over the closing laps.
“I was pretty nervous when I saw (Poirier) down there a few times, but I was driving the crap out of it. I didn’t care what I had to do to win”
Price-Miller and Friesen started on the front row for the 35-lap main event. Price-Miller led the field through turns one with Friesen pressuring using the bottom of the race track. Behind them Shawn Donath got around Steve Poirier for second off turn two.
Friesen continued to put pressure on her teammate Price-Milelr for the lead, taking the top spot on lap three. Poirier started to work on Donath for third while Mitch Brown and Dustin Daggett raced side by side for fifth. Brown took the spot on lap four.
Friesen opened up a sizable lead by lap eight pulling away using the bottom of the track before Price-Miller duplicated her line. Then on lap eight Price-Miller slid off the track in turns three and four and allowed Friesen to pull away.
Just as Friesen entered heavy lapped traffic Patrick Vigneault hit the wall down the front stretch while Brandon Wimmer flipped down the backstretch to bring out the red flag on lap nine. Both drivers exited their cars from separate incidents under their own power.
Friesen pulls away from Price-Miller at the restart. Daggett sweeps into fourth around three and four. Price-Miller quickly closed the gap to Friesen and swept to the outside to take the lead on lap 15. Price-Miller and Friesen continued to race for the lead with Friesen retaking the top spot on lap 17.
Friesen and Price-Miller racing back and forth allowed for Poirier to close in third spot and create a three car race for the lead through traffic off of turn two when the caution appeared on lap 19 when Chris Steele slows on the front stretch and did not get far enough into the infield.
Friesen had a great restart as Poirier tried to keep pace in second. By lap 19 Poirier had closed back in on the back bumper of Friesen with Price-Miller in tow. Price-Miller got a run on the top of turns one and two to take second from Price-Miller off two turn, Price Miller crossed over to challenge with Poriier holding the spot. While racing for second both Poirier and Price-Miller started to catch Friesen with 10 laps to go.
Price-Miller got a run of four on lap 27 to take the lead off turn four, but Friesen passed him back in one and two, only to be passed again in three and four on lap 28.
Then on lap 29 Poirier moved past Friesen and put pressure on Price-Miller for the lead. With Five laps to go Price-Miller and Poirier were racing for the lead while Friesen and Daggett raced for third.
With three laps to go Price-Miller extended his lead by sweeping around a large group of slower cars. This gave him the advantage needed to win the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals feature over Poirier, Friesen, Daggett, and Chuck Hebing.
12th Annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals
Ohsweken Speedway
Ohsweken, Ontario
Sunday September 18, 2016
Qualifying Flight #1: 1. 67X – Parker Price-Miller, 14.854; 2. 28FM – Steve Poirier, 14.890; 3. 18 – Ryan Susice, 15.001; 4. 55 – Mark Smith, 15.120; 5. 123 – Yan Bilodeau, 15.214; 6. 47X – Dylan Westbrook, 15.362; 7. 53 – Shawn Donath, 15.384; 8. 45 – Chuck Hebing, 15.401; 9. 01K – Mikey Kruchka, 15.546; 10. 3G – Brandon Wimmer, 15.598; 11. 0A – Amber Balcaen, 15.603; 12. 38 – Tyler Hendricks, 15.703; 13. 47 – Kyle Drum, 15.789; 14. 22 – Shawn Sliter, 15.790; 15. 19K – Paul Kinney, 15.851; 16. 5D – Dave Dykstra, 15.859; 17. 3R – Shane Ross, 15.883; 18. 5C – Conor Mahoney, 16.164; 19. 69K – Cole MacDonald, 16.235; 20. 31 – John Burbridge, 16.308; 21. 18S – Josh Shantz, 16.373; 22. 10PC – Paulie Colagiovanni, NT.
Qualifying Flight #2: 1. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 15.030; 2. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 15.154; 3. 1-10 – Jake Brown, 15.245; 4. 1Z – Jessica Friesen, 15.326; 5. 14 – Coleman Gulick, 15.431; 6. 80 – Chris Steele, 15.477; 7. 0 – Glenn Styres, 15.487; 8. 33K – Kyle Patrick, 15.507; 9. 11R – Chase Ridenour, 15.508; 10. 97 – Cory Turner, 15.517; 11. 14H – Jim Huppunen, 15.529; 12. 49 – Scott Kreutter, 15.605; 13. 91 – Ryan Turner, 15.605; 14. 2 – Kyle Sauder, 15.625; 15. 51 – Bryan Howland, 15.640; 16. 77X – Alex Hill, 15.953; 17. O1 – Kyle Fraiser, 16.031; 18. 28 – Phil Gressman, 16.095; 19. 2W – Lee Winger, 16.235; 20. 6 – Curtis Gartly, 16.440; 21. 9 – Steve Lyons, 16.512.
Qualifying Flight #3: 1. 79 – Jordan Thomas, 14.851; 2. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr. , 15.215; 3. 10B – Mitch Brown, 15.237; 4. F55 – Alex Vigneault, 15.245; 5. 2A – Dave Axton, 15.332; 6. 35 – Jared Zimbardi, 15.370; 7. 49X – Carson Macedo, 15.452; 8. 24 – Devon Caron, 15.567; 9. 11 – Jamie Turner, 15.750; 10. OO – Dane Lorenc, 15.755; 11. 17 – Jared Horstman, 15.865; 12. 61 – Parker Evans, 15.890; 13. 42W – Rick Wilson, 16.054; 14. 36 – Matt Billings, 16.107; 15. 11J – Chris Jones, 16.169; 16. 27Z – Stan Zanchin, 16.313; 17. 15AW – April Wilson, 16.397; 18. 98 – Joe Trenca, 16.402; 19. 67 – Chris Durand, 16.464; 20. 17 – Dain Naida, NT; 21. 87 – Jason Barney, NT;
Heat Race #1 (10 Laps): 1. 67X – Parker Price-Miller, 2. 18 – Ryan Susice, 3. 0A – Amber Balcaen, 4. 123 – Yan Bilodeau, 5. 38 – Tyler Hendricks, 6. 22 – Shawn Wilter, 7. 01K – Mikey Kruchka, 8. 5C – Conor Mahoney, 9. 31 – John Burbridge, 10. 5D – Dave Dykstra, 11. 47X – Dylan Westbrook. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (10 Laps): 1. 53 – Shawn Donath, 2. 28FM – Steve Poirier, 3. 3G – Brandon Wimmer, 4. 55 – Mark Smith, 5. 45 – Chuck Hebing, 6. 3R – Shane Ross, 7. 10P – Paulie Colagiovanni, 8. 69K – Cole MacDonald, 9. 19K – Paul Kinney, 10. 18S – Josh Shantz, 11. 47 – Kyle Drum. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (10 Laps): 1. 1-10 – Jake Brown, 2. 14 – Coleman Gulcik, 3. 0 – Glen Styres, 4. 11R – Chase Ridenour, 5. 14H – Jim Huppunen, 6. 51 – Bryan Howland, 7. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 8. 91 – Ryan Turner, 9. Steve Lyons, 10. 01 – Kyle Fraiser, 11. 2W – Lee Winger. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (10 Laps): 1. 1Z – Jessica Friesen, 2. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 3. 80 – Chris Steele, 4. 49 – Scott Kruetter, 5. 97 – Cory Turner, 6. 2 – Kyle Sauder, 7. 6 – Curtis Gartly, 8. 77X – Alex Hill, 9. 28 – Phil Gressman, 10. 81 – Derek Jonathan, 11. 33K – Kyle Patrick. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #5 (10 Laps): 1. 49X – Carson Macedo, 2. 10B – Mitch Brown, 3. 79 – Jordan Thomas, 4. 17 – Jared Horstman, 5. 97 – Cory Turner, 6. 2A – Dave Axton, 7. 42W – Rick Wilson, 8. 67 – Chris Durand, 9. 11J – Chris Jones, 10. 15AW – April Wilson. DNS: 87 – Jason Barney. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #6 (10 Laps): 1. 35 – Jared Zimbardi, 2. F55 – Alex Vigneault, 3. 24 – Devin Caron, 4. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 5. 61 – Parker Evans, 6. 98 – Joe Trenca, 7. 00 – Dane Lorenc, 8. 27Z – Stan Zanchin, 9. 36 – Matt Billings. DNS: 17X – Dain Naida. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
B-Main #1 (12 Laps): 1. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 2. 38 – Tyler Hendricks, 3. 49 – Scott Kruetter, 4. 01K – Mikey Kruchka, 5. 51 – Bryan Howland, 6. 61 – Parker Evans, 7. 9 – Steve Lyons, 8. 11 – Jamie Turner, 9. 2A – Dave Axton, 10. 19K – Paul Kinney, 11. 27Z – Stan Zanchin, 12. 81 – Derek Jonathan, 13. 15AW – April Wilson, 14. 5C – Conor Mahoney. DNS: 17X – Dain Naida, 47 – Kyle Drum. (First two finishers transferred to the A-Main)
B-Main #2 (12 Laps): 1. 55 – Mark Smith, 2. 17 – Jared Horstman, 3. 3R – Shane Ross, 4. 123 – Yan Bilodeau, 5. 2 – Kyle Sauder, 6. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 7. 00 – Dane Lorenc, 8. 91 – Ryan Turner, 9. 47X – Dylan Westbrook, 10. 36 – Matt Billings, 11. 42W – Rick Wilson, 12. 11J – Chris Jones, 13. 6 – Curtis Gartly, 14. 2W – Lee Winger, 15. 69K – Cole MacDonald. DNS: 87 – Jason Barney. (First two finishers transferred to the A-Main)
B-Main #3 (12 Laps): 1. 14H – Jim Huppunen, 2. 45 – Chuck Hebing, 3. 97 – Cory Turner, 4. 11R – Chase Ridenour, 5. 98 – Joe Trenca, 6. 77X – Alex Hill, 7. 10P – Paulie Colagiovanni, 8. 5D – Dave Dykstra, 9. 22 – Shawn Sliter, 10. 31 – John Burbridge Jr, 11. 28 – Phil Gressman, 12. 01 – Kyle Fraiser, 13. 18S – Josh Shantz, 14. 67 – Chris Durand. DNS: 33K – Kyle Patrick. (First two finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Dash (5 Laps): 1. 67X – Parker Price-Miller, 2. 1Z – Jessica Friesen, 3. 28FM – Steve Poirier, 4. 53 – Shawn Donath, 5. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 6. 1-10 – Jake Brown, 7. F55 – Alex Vigneault, 8. 0A – Amber Balcaen. (Finish determined the first eight starting positions for the A-Main)
Little Feature (15 Laps): 1. 49 – Scott Kruetter, 2. 51 – Bryan Howland, 3. 123 – Yan Bilodeau, 4. 01K – Mikey Kruchka, 5. 61 – Parker Evans, 6. 11R – Chase Rideour, 7. 3R – Shane Ross, 8. 5D – Dave Dykstra, 9. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 10. 2 – Kyle Sauder, 11. 77X – Alex Hill, 12. 10P – Paulie Colagiovanni, 13. 9 – Steve Lyons, 14. 00 – Dane Lorenc. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 67X – Parker Price-Miller, 2. 1Z – Jessica Zemken, 3. 28FM – Steve Poirier, 4. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 5. 45 – Chuck Hebing, 6. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 7. 14 – Coleman Gulick, 8. 18 – Ryan Susice, 9. 10B – Mitch Brown, 10. 51 – Bryan Howland, 11. 55 – Mark Smith, 12. 17 – Jared Horstman, 13. 79 – Jordan Thomas, 14. 14H – Jim Huppunen, 15. 49X – Carson Macedo, 16. 01K – Mikey Kruchka, 17. 123 – Yan Bilodeau, 18. 61 – Parker Evans, 19. 53 – Shawn Donath, 20. 47X – Dylan Westbrook, 21. 1-10 – Jake Brown, 22. 0 – Glenn Styres, 23. 0A – Amber Balcaen, 24. 49 – Scott Kreutter, 25. 24 – Devon Caron, 26. 38 – Tyler Hendricks, 27. 35 – Jared Zimbardi, 28. 80 – Chris Steele, 29. 3G – Brandon Wimmer, 30. F55 – Alex Vigneault.