By Clayton Johns
OHSWEKEN, Ont. (May 24, 2019) – Ohsweken Speedway finally got to kickoff its 2019 season with the Ackland Insurance Friday Night Excitement Season Opener on Friday, May 24. A busy grandstand saw a full pit area of 120 racecars battle in an exciting night of action. When the dust settled, it was Dylan Westbrook who scored the win in the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars and Liam Martin led all 20 laps on the way to victory in the Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Car lid lifter. For the Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks it was defending champion Dave Bailey claiming victory on opening night while Sean Iftody won the HRW Automotive Mini Stock opener in what was also the first race of the Insta-Panels Duel on the Dirt Series.
Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars
Jim Huppunen and Chris Steele started on the front row for the 20-lap Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Car A-Feature. Huppunen grabbed the early lead but fourth-starting Dylan Westbrook jumped to second through the opening two corners. The top two raced nose-to-tail until Westbrook drove under Huppunen off turn four on lap seven and had the lead at the start-finish line. The leaders had worked their way into lapped traffic and on lap nine Westbrook darted through the middle of two slower cars to hold his advantage.
A lap later at the halfway point, Steele and Mack DeMan got passed Huppunen for second and third, respectively. By lap 12, Westbrook had grown his lead to 2.9 seconds, but saw it erased after lap 13 was complete when the caution flag waved for a slowing Cole MacDonald.
There were no lapped cars between Westbrook, Steele and DeMan on the ensuing restart, but Westbrook had no problem establishing a lead again. However, the red flag was displayed on lap 14 when Mike Thorne and Scott Kreutter came together in turn two, sending both cars flipping. Both drivers were uninjured and walked away from their cars under their own power.
The restart with six laps to go proved no problem for Westbrook who drove to the victory by 1.9 seconds over Steele and DeMan. Huppunen and Cory Turner completed the top-five. The victory was Westbrook’s 23rd 360 Sprint Car triumph at Ohsweken, putting him four back of Glenn Styres’ all-time record of 27. Westbrook, Huppunen and Steele won their qualifying heat races to start the night.
Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars
Liam Martin and Caleb Wood paced the field to the green flag for the Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars season opening feature. Martin jumped out to the early advantage that ultimately proved to be the winning move. By lap five, the Binbrook, Ont. teenager held a 1.3-second advantage over Wood, but had to keep pushing as he worked into lapped traffic on lap seven.
At the halfway point, it was still Martin and Wood out front of Jacob Dykstra and Paul Klager. With nine laps to go, Martin was in the thick of lapped traffic and made a move that may have sealed his win. Stuck behind two slower cars, Martin made a daring slice between the two cars off turn four to maintain his lead over Wood. A similar situation arose with 14 laps to go, but Martin was up to the task again and raced away to the checkered flag. Wood, Dykstra, Klager and Dereck Lemyre completed the top-five.
Wood, Trevor Young, Klager and Brian Nanticoke won their qualifying heats to begin the nights while Derek Miller and Brad Herron won the pair of B-Mains.
Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks
Brian Teeple and Ryan Beagle brought the 22-car field of Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks to the line for the green flag. Beagle immediately jumped to the point while fourth-starting Dave Bailey climbed into second. The two drivers battle side-by-side for the first five laps until Beagle regained a brief edge only to have Bailey take the top spot on lap seven.
The first caution of the race came on lap nine for a piece of debris in turn one. Bailey chose the outside line on the restart, which proved no issue for. Beagle, meanwhile, fell into the clutches of Logan Shwedyk who moved forward into second. The top three stayed that way until lap16 as Jonny Lowenberg brought out the caution when he went into the turn three hay bales after it appeared the rad hose let go on his No.14.
On the ensuing restart, Bailey re-asserted his dominance in the division and paced the remaining four laps to start his championship defence with a victory. Shwedyk held off Beagle and Jim Lampman in a hard-fought battle for second while Chris Hale rounded out the top-five. Blake Bomberry Jr., Shwedyk and Beagle scored victories in the qualifying heats earlier in the night. The victory was the 22nd Thunder Stock win of Bailey’s career at Ohsweken, putting him one back of the all-time record of 23 held by AJ Lewis and Ryan Dinning.
HRW Automotive Mini Stocks
Bobby Tolton and Sean Iftody were on the front row for the HRW Automotive Mini Stock 15-lap Feature. Iftody took full advantage of his front row starting position and grabbed the point position on the opening lap. Third-starting Kyle Wert challenged Iftody up front on lap five, but then fell back into a battle for second with Dusty DeBoer and Wayde Thorne at the halfway point of the 15-lap affair.
The only caution came on lap 11 for debris in turn three. Iftody was not troubled by the restart, however, Wert didn’t fair so well and fell off the pace and pulled into the pits on lap 12. That handed the second spot to DeBoer who was in no position to track down the lead with just two laps remaining. The win was Iftody’s second at Ohsweken as DeBoer, Thorne, Kyle Haynes and Jonathan Ayrton completed the top-five.
Dusty DeBoer, Kevin Thorne, Ayrton and Mike Sarantakos raced to heat race victories, meanwhile Nick Masi and Matt Nuell scored checkered flags in a pair of B-Mains.
Up Next at Ohsweken Speedway
Ohsweken Speedway returns to action on Friday, May 31 for Victory Gamez Friday Night Excitement and will make history with its first ever live television broadcast on MavTV Canada as part of All North Racing presented by Pinty’s. All four of Ohsweken’s weekly divisions will be in action, including the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars, Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars, Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks and HRW Automotive Mini Stocks. The Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks race will count as their first home track race for the Insta-Panels Duel on the Dirt Series. Grandstand admission is $30 per car load (max 6 people) as we try to #FillTheO. Pit gates open at 5:30pm and spectator gates open at 6:00pm. Race time is 7:30pm. For additional event information, visit www.ohswekenspeedway.ca.
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Ohsweken Speedway Race Report
May 24, 2019
Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada
Friday Night Excitement presented by Ackland Insurance
Total Entries – 121
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Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars (25 Entries)
A-Feature (20 laps – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [3]; 2. 80-Chris Steele, [2]; 3. 17X-Mack DeMan, [4]; 4. 14H-Jim Huppunen, [1]; 5. 13-Cory Turner, [6]; 6. 1-Holly Porter, [5]; 7. 91-Ryan Turner, [8]; 8. 10-Mitch Brown, [13]; 9. 94-Todd Hoddick, [17]; 10. 15-Dan Nanticoke, [16]; 11. 1-10-Jake Brown, [11]; 12. 87X-Shone Evans, [15]; 13. 5D-Shane Ross, [9]; 14. 68-Aaron Turkey, [25]; 15. 9-Steve Lyons, [19]; 16. 88H-Josh Hansen, [10]; 17. 11-Jamie Turner, [14]; 18. 9B-Scott Burk, [24]; 19. 43-Scott Sherk, [21]; 20. 49-Scott Kreuter, [7]; 21. 55-Mike Thorne, [18]; 22. 90-Travis Cunningham, [22]; 23. 0C-Cole MacDonald, [23]; 24. 46-Kevin Pauls, [20]; 25. 81-Derek Jonathan, [12]
A-Feature Lap Leaders – Jim Huppunen 1-6, Dylan Westbrook 7-20
Hard Charger – Todd Hoddick +8 (17th to 9th)
Heat Race No.1 (8 laps – Top 6 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [1]; 2. 49-Scott Kreuter, [8]; 3. 17X-Mack DeMan, [5]; 4. 1-10-Jake Brown, [6]; 5. 11-Jamie Turner, [3]; 6. 10-Mitch Brown, [7]; 7. 90-Travis Cunningham, [2]; 8. 46-Kevin Pauls, [9]; 9. 68-Aaron Turkey, [4]
Heat Race No.2 (8 laps – Top 6 Transfer – 2:09. 472)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 14H-Jim Huppunen, [1]; 2. 5D-Shane Ross, [2]; 3. 88H-Josh Hansen, [4]; 4. 91-Ryan Turner, [8]; 5. 87X-Shone Evans, [3]; 6. 94-Todd Hoddick, [6]; 7. 55-Mike Thorne, [7]; 8. 9B-Scott Burk, [5]
Heat Race No.3 (8 laps – Top 6 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 80-Chris Steele, [2]; 2. 13-Cory Turner, [6]; 3. 1-Holly Porter, [8]; 4. 81-Derek Jonathan, [5]; 5. 15-Dan Nanticoke, [3]; 6. 9-Steve Lyons, [1]; 7. 43-Scott Sherk, [4]; 8. 0C-Cole MacDonald, [7]
Ackland Insurance Top Gun: Scott Kreutter
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Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars (35 Entries)
A-Feature From (20 laps – 5:43.273)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 29-Liam Martin, [1]; 2. 7-Caleb Wood, [2]; 3. 5D-Jacob Dykstra, [4]; 4. 1EH-Paul Klager, [5]; 5. 56-Dereck Lemyre, [6]; 6. 88-Jesse McDonald, [8]; 7. 49L-Lucas Smith, [7]; 8. 5-D.J. Christie, [12]; 9. 51-Trevor Young, [3]; 10. 08-Steven Beckett, [16]; 11. 9C-Brian Nanticoke, [10]; 12. 49H-Jerry Hill, [9]; 13. 70-Baily Heard, [24]; 14. 74-Rob Neely, [14]; 15. 3B-Blaine Barrow, [15]; 16. 26-John Verney, [19]; 17. 12-Brad Herron, [22]; 18. 28-Jordan Hill, [20]; 19. 20-Johnny Miller, [23]; 20. 38-Derek Miller, [21]; 21. 83-Spencer Davis, [11]; 22. 22JR-Allan Gilleta Jr, [18]; 23. (DNF) 69-Joshua Hill, [13]; (DNS) 52-Jesse Costa,
A-Feature Lap Leaders – Liam Martin 1-20
Hard Charger – Baily Heard +11 (24th to 13th)
Heat Race No.1 (8 laps – Top 5 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 7-Caleb Wood, [4]; 2. 49L-Lucas Smith, [2]; 3. 5-D.J. Christie, [3]; 4. 74-Rob Neely, [5]; 5. 22JR-Allan Gilleta Jr, [6]; 6. 14T-Noelle Teal, [7]; 7. (DNF) 14-Eric Gladhill, [9]; 8. (DNF) 2-Travis Hofstetter, [8]; 9. (DNF) MK8-Matthew Hill, [1]
Heat Race No.2 (8 laps – Top 5 Transfer – 2:14.503)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 51-Trevor Young, [2]; 2. 88-Jesse McDonald, [3]; 3. 3B-Blaine Barrow, [1]; 4. 08-Steven Beckett, [4]; 5. 26-John Verney, [5]; 6. 12-Brad Herron, [7]; 7. 20-Johnny Miller, [8]; 8. 4-Hannah Ferrell, [6]; 9. 19D-Allan Downey, [9]
Heat Race No.3 (8 laps – Top 5 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 1EH-Paul Klager, [1]; 2. 49H-Jerry Hill, [2]; 3. 29-Liam Martin, [5]; 4. 52-Jesse Costa, [3]; 5. 28-Jordan Hill, [4]; 6. 38-Derek Miller, [7]; 7. 43-Darren Dryden, [8]; 8. 45-Nick Sheridan, [6]; (DNS) 24A-A.J. Lewis
Heat Race No.4 (8 laps – Top 5 Transfer – No Time)
1. 5D-Jacob Dykstra, [4]; 2. 9C-Brian Nanticoke, [1]; 3. 56-Dereck Lemyre, [6]; 4. 69-Joshua Hill, [5]; 5. 83-Spencer Davis, [8]; 6. 70-Baily Heard, [2]; 7. 26X-Terry Baker, [3]; 8. (DNF) 29W-Tyler Ward, [7]
B-Feature 1 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 1. 38-Derek Miller, [2]; 2. 20-Johnny Miller, [3]; 3. 26X-Terry Baker, [4]; 4. 45-Nick Sheridan, [5]; 5. 14T-Noelle Teal, [1]; 6. 14-Eric Gladhill, [6]; (DNS) 24A-A.J. Lewis; (DNS) 29W-Tyler Ward
B-Feature 2 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer – 2:45.796)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 12-Brad Herron, [1]; 2. 70-Baily Heard, [3]; 3. 43-Darren Dryden, [2]; 4. 4-Hannah Ferrell, [4]; 5. 19D-Allan Downey, [5]; (DNS) MK8-Matthew Hill; (DNS) 2-Travis Hofstetter
Ackland Insurance Top Gun: Caleb Wood
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Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks (22 entries)
A-Feature From (20 laps – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 1. 49-Dave Bailey, [4]; 2. 53-Logan Shwedyk, [10]; 3. 84RK-Ryan Beagle, [2]; 4. 28-Jim Lampman, [7]; 5. 79-Christopher Hale, [5]; 6. 23-Trevor DeBoer, [12]; 7. 37-Robert Hoskins, [13]; 8. 8-Ryan Dinning, [3]; 9. 11-Gofast Teeple, [1]; 10. 32-Mark Fawcett, [9]; 11. 4-Aaron Rewutzsky, [8]; 12. 24-Blake Bomberry Jr., [6]; 13. 28D-Donny Lampman, [11]; 14. 25-Ken Sargent, [16]; 15. 1-Chris Dickie, [14]; 16. 41-Adam Plazek, [18]; 17. 40-Derek Liverance, [19]; 18. 6R-Jeff Roelofs, [17]; 19. 21X-Mark Bazuin, [22]; 20. 14-Jonny Lowenberg, [21]; 21. 13-Kacey Huffman, [15]; 22. 43-Kyle Andress, [20]
A-Feature Lap Leaders – Ryan Beagle 1-6, Dave Bailey 7-20
Hard Charger – Logan Shwedyk (+8)
Heat Race No.1 (8 laps – Top 6 Transfer – 2:45.087)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 24-Blake Bomberry Jr., [1]; 2. 32-Mark Fawcett, [6]; 3. 23-Trevor DeBoer, [8]; 4. 11-Gofast Teeple, [5]; 5. 37-Robert Hoskins, [2]; 6. 25-Ken Sargent, [4]; 7. 40-Derek Liverance, [7]; 8. 21X-Mark Bazuin, [3]
Heat Race No.2 (8 laps – Top 6 Transfer – 2:46.849)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 53-Logan Shwedyk, [6]; 2. 4-Aaron Rewutzsky, [2]; 3. 79-Christopher Hale, [4]; 4. 28D-Donny Lampman, [3]; 5. 1-Chris Dickie, [7]; 6. 6R-Jeff Roelofs, [5]; 7. 43-Kyle Andress, [1]
Heat Race No.3 (8 laps – Top 6 Transfer – 2:44.472)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 84RK-Ryan Beagle, [2]; 2. 49-Dave Bailey, [5]; 3. 28-Jim Lampman, [4]; 4. 8-Ryan Dinning, [1]; 5. 13-Kacey Huffman, [3]; 6. 41-Adam Plazek, [6]; (DNS) 14-Jonny Lowenberg
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HRW Automotive Mini Stocks (39 Entries)
A-Feature From (15 laps – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 15-Sean Iftody, [2]; 2. 23-Dusty DeBoer, [5]; 3. 46-Wayde Thorne, [7]; 4. 22-Kyle Haynes, [8]; 5. 21-Jonathan Ayrton, [9]; 6. 222-Nick Masi, [21]; 7. 01-Tristan DaSilva, [4]; 8. 188-Paul Longboat, [6]; 9. 9-Tim DeBoer, [23]; 10. 96-Tyler Lafantaisie, [14]; 11. 6-Jason Dixon, [16]; 12. 16J-Jeremy May, [11]; 13. 1-Jason Tolton, [20]; 14. 16-Fabio Olivieri, [13]; 15. 360-Kevin Thorne, [12]; 16. 60-Martin Schroder, [18]; 17. 69-Rob Twitchett, [15]; 18. 21H-Ryan Hillar, [24]; 19. 6X-Mike Sarantakos, [10]; 20. 4-Mark Thorne, [19]; 21. 19-Kyle Wert, [3]; 22. 88-Aidan Nigh, [17]; 23. 26-Tim Nuell, [22]; 24. 13-Bobby Tolton, [1]
A-Feature Lap Leaders – Sean Iftody 1-15
Hard Charger – Tim DeBoer +14 (23rd to 9th)
Heat Race No.1 (6 laps – Top 5 Transfer – 2:14.994)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 23-Dusty DeBoer, [1]; 2. 15-Sean Iftody, [4]; 3. 188-Paul Longboat, [5]; 4. 16-Fabio Olivieri, [3]; 5. 88-Aidan Nigh, [7]; 6. 54-Christopher French, [8]; 7. 93-Andy Ryckman, [10]; 8. 265-Mike Evers, [6]; 9. 79-Steve Miller, [9]; 10. 6R-Tom Cole, [2]
Heat Race No.2 (6 laps – Top 5 Transfer – 2:13.815)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 365-Kevin Thorne, [2]; 2. 46-Wayde Thorne, [1]; 3. 22-Kyle Haynes, [5]; 4. 96-Tyler Lafantaisie, [7]; 5. 60-Martin Schroder, [9]; 6. 26-Tim Nuell, [3]; 7. 96C-Brian Crosgrove, [8]; 8. 19T-Trevor Want, [6]; 9. 11-Mike Giberson, [4]; 10. 11E-Jeff Elsliger, [10]
Heat Race No.3 (6 laps – Top 5 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 21-Jonathan Ayrton, [4]; 2. 01-Tristan DaSilva, [6]; 3. 13-Bobby Tolton, [1]; 4. 69-Rob Twitchett, [9]; 5. 4-Mark Thorne, [5]; 6. 222-Nick Masi, [10]; 7. 05-Dave Goodacre, [8]; 8. 38C-John Cote, [2]; 9. (DNF) 9-Tim DeBoer, [3]; (DNS) 10-Zach Buchwald
Heat Race No.4 (6 laps – Top 5 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 6X-Mike Sarantakos, [3]; 2. 16J-Jeremy May, [6]; 3. 19-Kyle Wert, [1]; 4. 6-Jason Dixon, [8]; 5. 1-Jason Tolton, [2]; 6. 21H-Ryan Hillar, [7]; 7. (DNF) 517-Cody Sommerville, [4]; 8. (DNF) 7C-Cole Hardy, [5]; 9. (DNF) 6W-Brent Walker, [9]
B-Feature 1 (12 laps – Top 2 Transfer – 2:13.707)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 222-Nick Masi, [2]; 2. 9-Tim DeBoer, [8]; 3. 265-Mike Evers, [5]; 4. 79-Steve Miller, [7]; 5. 05-Dave Goodacre, [4]; 6. 10-Zach Buchwald, [10]; 7. 6R-Tom Cole, [9]; 8. 54-Christopher French, [1]; (DNS) 93-Andy Ryckman; (DNS) 38C-John Cote
B-Feature 2 (12 laps – Top 2 Transfer – 2:14.372)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]
1. 26-Tim Nuell, [1]; 2. 21H-Ryan Hillar, [2]; 3. 96C-Brian Crosgrove, [3]; 4. 517-Cody Sommerville, [4]; 5. 19T-Trevor Want, [5]; 6. 11-Mike Giberson, [7]; 7. 6W-Brent Walker, [8]; 8. 11E-Jeff Elsliger, [9]; (DNS) 7C-Cole Hardy