By Clayton Johns
OHSWEKEN, Ont. (August 23, 2019) – Ohsweken Speedway held another fantastic edition of Friday Night Excitement as Gale’s Auto Aftermarket presented the Gale’s Cash Blast, a $2,000-to-win event for the Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks. A total of 127 drivers signed-in for competition and fans got the chance to meet drivers at pre-race autograph session behind the main grandstand while drivers also had the opportunity to sell their merchandise at the racer’s marketplace. Several fans who supported Kids Race for the Canadian National Autism Foundation by purchasing tickets for the August 16 race were also in attendance. Kids Race tickets will also be honoured on August 30 and September 6.
The big 50-lap event for the Thunder Stocks saw Dave Bailey claim the $2,000 winner’s prize while Logan Shwedyk scored $750 as the runner-up and Ryan Dinning earned $500 for a third-place finish. When the dust settled, it was Dylan Westbrook scoring a win with the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars and DJ Christie who claimed his first victory with the Strickland’s Brantford Chevrolet Crate Sprint Cars. Jonathan Ayrton was also a first time winner in the HRW Automotive Mini Stock feature.
Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks
Jeff Roelofs and Derek Liverance brought the field of Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks to the green flag for the 50-lap and $2,000 to win Gale’s Cash Blast. Roelofs jumped out to the early lead, but was quickly under siege from Mark Bazuin and Ryan Dinning. By lap four, 18th-starting Dave Bailey was up to fourth and two laps later the reigning champion and current point leader had taken the lead over Dinning, Bazuin and Ken Sargent.
The first caution of the race came with nine laps complete when Lee Winger and Mike Thorne tangled in turn three. On the restart, Bailey chose the outside lane with Dinning restarting to his inside. That decision did not pay off as Dinning jumped ahead to lead lap 10. Behind the top four, four cars battled side-by-side for fifth until the second yellow flag for a spun Kyle Andress in turn two. Dinning led again when the green flag waved with his teammate Ken Sargent challenging Bailey for the second spot in the inside lane.
Following another restart on lap 13, Dinning and Bailey battled side-by-side for the lead until Bailey used the outside lane to emerge the leader on lap 17. Dinning stayed close though as the leaders worked into some slower traffic on lap 21.
Following a lap 23 restart, Dinning initially jumped out to an advantage, but Bailey fought back to retake the lead. By lap 30, Bailey had opened a considerable half straightaway lead and 10 laps later it grew to nearly a full straightaway over Logan Shwedyk who had slowly worked his way through the field and past Dinning into second.
With three laps to go, Bailey worked past 10th and 11th-place runners Donny Lampman and Mike Thorne while maintaining his straightaway advantage to score the $2,000 win over Shwedyk, Dinning, Sargent and Trevor DeBoer.
Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars
Jared Horstman and Mack DeMan started on the front row for the 20-lap Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Car A-Feature. DeMan jumped out to an early lead as Horstman struggled to find the handle on the opening lap. Fourth-starting Matt Farnham also made his presence felt alongside second starting Dylan Westbrook.
As DeMan led, Westbrook moved into second with Farnham in third, Mitch Brown in fourth and Horstman rounded out the top-five. On the ensuing restart, a bit of contact in turn two bunched up the field and resulted in Jake Brown spinning across the track and slowly rolling upside down to bring out the red flag. Jake Brown was uninjured.
On the restart, DeMan and Westbrook battled hard for the lead with the two drivers briefly exchanging the lead, but DeMan stayed up front. Before lap six could be completed, Brian Nanticoke made contact with Aaron Turkey in turn four after the latter made contact with the outside wall. The contact led to a second red flag and a restart with five laps completed.
DeMan continued to lead on the restart until he worked into lapped traffic on lap nine which allowed Westbrook to gain on DeMan. By lap 11, Westbrook caught DeMan and passed him at the line just as Mitch Brown spun in turn one to bring out the yellow with Jim Huppunen and Derek Jonathan spinning to avoid. On the ensuing restart, Westbrook took the lead from DeMan while Cory Turner raced into third.
The race ran green for three laps until another red flag on lap 16 when Horstman went hard into the turn three fence. He was okay, but his car was destroyed. One lap following the restart, Turner jumped to second past DeMan just before Huppunen got over the berm in turn three and hit the wall, which ended his night.
The ensuing restart led to more chaos as Scott Kreutter hit the inside wall and broke the left front on his car. As he tried to slow the car and take it to the infield, Jamie Turner was collected and made contact that led to a slow roll and another red flag.
On the lap 17 restart with three laps to go, Westbrook jumped out to a commanding lead and DeMan got back by Turner for second with two laps to go. Farnham scored a fourth-place finish and Ryan Turner claimed a fifth-place result.
Farnham, Kreutter, and Cory Turner won their qualifying heat races to start the night. Steve Lyons won the B-Main.
Strickland’s Brantford Chevrolet Crate Sprint Cars
DJ Christie and Jacob Dykstra paced the field to the green flag for the 20-lap Strickland’s Brantford Chevrolet Crate Sprint Car feature. Christie led the opening lap after Dykstra led off turn two. Before the second lap could be completed, several cars were involved in a turn two incident, including teammates Noelle Teal and Jesse McDonald flipping upside down. Both drivers were okay.
On the ensuing restart, Christie opened a 10-car length lead over Dykstra within five laps while Blaine Barrow raced into third ahead of Hannah Ferrell and Nick Sheridan. By lap eight, Christie worked his way into lapped traffic and worked efficiently through the front half of the field to maintain a half straightaway advantage over Dykstra. The lead was erased though on lap 12 when the caution flag waved for debris in turn one as the side panel came off the nose wing of Jordan Hill’s No.28.
When the race restarted, Christie had one lapped car between he and Dykstra on the restart. Christie got an excellent restart and was able to open a big lead but, Dykstra clawed away until Christie got into traffic with two laps to go. Dykstra got to within a car length coming to the white flag, but a strong run off turn four allowed Christie to hold the top spot and drive to his first career win at Ohswken. Dykstra settled for second while Hannah Ferrel, Jesse Costa and Liam Martin rounded out the top-five.
Blaine Barrow, Dykstra, Lucas Smith and Nick Sheridan won their qualifying heats to begin the nights while Steven Beckett and Noelle Teal won the pair of B-Mains.
HRW Automotive Mini Stocks
Christopher French and Rob Twitchett were on the front row for the HRW Automotive Mini Stock 15-lap Feature. Mike Evers in his No.265 eventually jumped forward into the lead by the time of a lap six caution when point leader Kyle Wert spun at the bottom of turn two and two laps later dropped out of the race with a mechanical issue, which appeared to be a rear-end problem.
On the restart, Evers jumped back out to the lead while Twitchett, Tim DeBoer and Mike Hillar battled hard for second. Then on lap eight, contact at the front of the field resulted in Evers being turned sideways into the concrete blocks at the bottom of turn two and Hillar collected.
That handed the lead to Tim DeBoer on the restart with Paul Longboat restarting to his outside. DeBoer led the next three laps, including following a lap 10 caution when Jason Tolton went hard into the turn one wall. DeBoer and Longboat fought hard for the lead as the two drivers each sought out their first win, but DeBoer’s night came to an end on lap 13 when he suffered a flat tire. Longboat then drove the final two laps to hold off Jonathan Ayrton and score his first career win. Ayrton finished second with Jeff Elsliger, Matt Nuell and Dusty DeBoer rounding out the top-five. However, Longboat was disqualified following the race after his car failed to make the minimum weight, handing Ayrton his first career Ohsweken Mini Stock win.
Kevin Thorne, Aidan Nigh, Tim DeBoer and Dusty DeBoer raced to heat race victories, meanwhile Ayrton and Ken Hamilton scored checkered flags in the B-Mains.
Up Next at Ohsweken Speedway
Ohsweken Speedway returns to action on Friday, August 30 for Pinty’s Delicious Food Back to School Backpack night! Kids in attendance have the chance to receive an Ohsweken Speedway backpack filled with school supplies donated by various Ohsweken race teams. The race will be broadcast live on MavTV Canada at 9:00pm EST as part of Pinty’s All North Racing. All four Ohsweken weekly divisions are in action, including the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars, Strickland’s Brantford Chevrolet Crate Sprint Cars, Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks and HRW Automotive Mini Stocks. Pit gates open at 5:30pm and spectator gates open at 6:00pm. Race time is 7:30pm and adult admission is just $14 and children 12 and under are $3 or less. For additional event information, visit www.ohswekenspeedway.ca.
Ohsweken Speedway
Ohsweken, ONT
Friday August 23, 2019
Winged 360 sprint Cars
Feature:
1. 47x-Dylan Westbrook
2. 17x-Mack Deman
3. 13-Cory Turner
4. 7NY-Matt Farnham
5. 91-Ryan Turner
6. 10-Mitch Brown
7. 9-Steve Lyons
8. 7-Caleb Wood
9. 88h-Josh Hansen
10. 5d-Shane Ross
11. 1-Holly Porter
12. 21j-John Burbridge Sr
13. 67-Pete Richardson
14. 9b-Scott Burk
15. 84-Tyler Rand
16. 49k-Scott Kreutter
17. 11-Jamie Turner
18. 0-Jim Huppunen
19. 17-Jared Horstman
20. 81-Derek Johnathon
21. 45-Curtis Gartly
22. 15-Dan Nanticoke
23. 68-Aaron Turkey
24. 10-Jan-Jake Brown
Winged Crate Sprint Cars
Feature:
1. 45-Nick Sheridan
2. 5-DJ Christie
3. 5d-Jacob Dykstra
4. 4-Hannah Ferrell
5. 52-Jesse Costa
6. 29-Liam Martin
7. 49L-Lucas Smith
8. 56-Dereck Lemyre
9. 1eh-Paul Klager
10. 12-Brad Herron
11. 20-Johnny Miller
12. 8-Steven Beckett
13. 74-Rob Neely
14. 14-Eric Gledhill
15. 43-Darren Dryden
16. LS50-Adrian Stahle
17. 28-Jordan Hill
18. 70-Bailey Heard
19. 3b-Blaine Barrow
20. 2-Travis Hofstetter
21. 51-Trevor Young
22. 14t-Noelle Teal
23. 88-Jesse McDonald