By Clayton Johns
BRIGHTON, Ont. (July 7, 2018) – Cory Turner took full advantage of his pole starting position at Brighton Speedway on Saturday night. Turner started on the front row for round two of the Southern Ontario Sprints 2018 campaign aboard his Hill’s Racing No.97 and held off Mitch Brown through lapped traffic to lead all 25 laps for his second career victory with the Southern Ontario Sprints.
“it got a little hairy there at times,” Turner said in Victory Lane, ” but if you’re going to win Sprint Car races, you better be good in lapped traffic. This car was absolutely phenomenal and these guys just thrashed today to get this thing together. It was just a rocket. I can’t thank Pam, Miles and Alex Hill enough for letting me run their stuff and (the crew) was just phenomenal today. We’re going to have a big party tonight!”
Cory Turner started on the front row with his father, who made the redraw after beating Cory in the first heat race of the night and also won the DockRUs.ca Dash for Cash. Cory jumped to the early advantage, but the caution flag waved before the second lap was complete when Mike Ferrell spun his No.15 in turn two.
On the ensuing restart, seventh-starting Chris Jones of Picton, Ont. made a run forward and moved into third behind Brantford, Ont. driver Mitch Brown by lap five. Cory Turner raced away from the Brown and Jones in clean air with a half straightaway advantage on the one-third mile oval, but encountered lapped traffic on lap eight. Turner was saved from having to move through the slower cars just as Brown had caught the race leader before the caution flag waved on lap 10 as defending series champion Dylan Westbrook spun in turn four.
Brown offered his best on the restart, but remained second ahead of Jones, Jake Brown and Jamie Turner. By lap 17, the top three remained the same with Cory working into traffic again, this time maintaining his lead as he worked through the slower cars.
With five laps to go, two lapped cars separated Cory Turner from Mitch Brown and the race seemed in hand for the driver of the No.97. Then, with 23 laps complete, Cory tried to slide between two slower cars in turns one and two, moving up just in front of Ferrell’s No.15. Slight contact between the front bumper of Ferrell and the tail tank of the No.97 pitched Ferrell sideways and caused contact with Mike Thorne’s No.55. Thorne came to rest on an infield tractor tire, ending his night.
The third and final yellow flag set up a green-white-checkered finish. In clean air, Cory Turner wouldn’t be denied the victory as he drove to the win over Mitch Brown and 2014 series champion Chris Jones.
“We were just second best tonight, plain and simple,” Mitch Brown relayed in Victory Lane. “Good job to Cory. They ran a good race.”
“The bottom was the place to be tonight,” said Chris Jones following the race. “We just put this car back together. It was the car we ran last year and I thought we ran better with it so we put it back together and had a decent run.”
Jake Brown claimed fourth while 13th starting Ryan Turner finished fifth to claim the night’s hard charger. Shawn Sliter, Dylan Westbrook, Tyler Hendricks, Holly Porter and Jamie Turner rounded out the top-10.
The Southern Ontario Sprints continue their 2018 season when they return to Brighton Speedway for Round 3 on Saturday, July 28. Race time is 7:00pm. For additional event information, visit www.brightonspeedway.com.
SOUTHERN ONTARIO SPRINTS RACE REPORT
2018 SEASON EVENT #2 – SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2018
BRIGHTON SPEEDWAY – BRIGHTON ON
ENTRY LIST
(Number Name – Hometown)
0 Holly Porter – Delhi, ON
9 Steve Lyons – Carlisle, ON
10 Mitch Brown – Brantford, ON
11 Jamie Turner – Caistor Centre, ON
11J Chris Jones – Picton, ON
15 Mike Ferrell – London, ON
15aw April Wilson – Joyceville, ON
22 Shawn Sliter – Port Colborne, ON
22x Al Gilletta Jr. – St. Catharines, ON
25 Warren Mahoney – Lefroy, ON
38 Tyler Hendricks – Pain Court, ON
47x Dylan Westbrook – Scotland, ON
55 Mike Thorne – Caledonia, ON
66 Frank Baranowski – Mount Hope, ON
71s Josh Sliter – Port Colborne, ON
84 Tyler Rand – Picton, ON
91 Ryan Turner – Caistor Centre, ON
97 Cory Turner – Caistor Centre, ON
98 Paul Pekkonen – Brockville, ON
110 Jake Brown – Brantford, ON
HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps –1:52.784 – Top 3 redrew for A-Feature starting positions)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 11 Jamie Turner (2)
2. 97 Cory Turner (1)
3. 110 Jake Brown (6)
4. 47x Dylan Westbrook (7)
5. 91 Ryan Turner (3)
6. 0 Holly Porter (5)
7. 9 Steve Lyons (4)
HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps – No Time – Top 3 redrew for A-Feature starting positions)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 25 Warren Mahoney (3)
2. 38 Tyler Hendricks (4)
3. 71s Josh Sliter (1)
4. 66 Frank Baranowski (2)
5. 15aw April Wilson (7)
6. 98 Paul Pekkonen (5)
7. DNF 84 Tyler Rand (6)
HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps – No Time – Top 3 redrew for A-Feature starting positions)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 22 Shawn Sliter (1)
2. 11J Chris Jones (5)
3. 10 Mitch Brown (6)
4. 55 Mike Thorne (3)
5. 15 Mike Ferrell (4)
6. 22x Al Gilletta Jr. (2)
DASH FOR CASH (4 Laps – No Time – Presented by Docks R Us.ca)
1. 11 Jamie Turner (1)
2. 25 Warren Mahoney (2)
3. 22 Shawn Sliter (3)
4. 11J Chris Jones (4)
5. 38 Tyler Hendricks (5)
6. 97 Cory Turner (6)
FEATURE (25 laps – No Time)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 97 Cory Turner (1)
2. 10 Mitch Brown (3)
3. 11J Chris Jones (7)
4. 1-10 Jake Brown (9)
5. 91 Ryan Turner (13)
6. 22 Shawn Sliter (4)
7. 47x Dylan Westbrook (10)
8. 38 Tyler Hendricks (5)
9. 0 Holly Porter (16)
10. 11 Jamie Turner (2)
11. 9 Steve Lyons (19)
12. 66 Frank Baranowski (11)
13. 25 Warren Mahoney (8)
14. 15aw April Wilson (14)
15. 98 Paul Pekkonen (17)
16. 71s Josh Sliter (6)
17. 22x Al Gilletta Jr. (18)
18. 15 Mike Ferrell (15)
19. 55 Mike Thorne (12)
DNS 84 Tyler Rand
A-Feature Lap Leaders – Cory Turner 1-25
Hard Charger – Ryan Turner +8 (13th to 5th)