By Brent Otchere
OHSWEKEN, Ont. (May 19, 2023) – APC presented the 26th Opening Night at Ohsweken Speedway on Friday night; Ryan Turner, Ken Schrader, Austin Roes, Kyle Wert, and Dusty DeBoer took A-Main wins.
Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars
Dylan Westbrook started on pole, while Allan Downey moved to the outside of the front row when Holly Porter was unable to take the green flag for the 20 lap 360 Sprint Car A-Main. As Westbrook was maintaining the lead, a red flag was thrown due to Liam Martin’s flipped car on lap three. Martin pulled himself out of the wreck unharmed and under his own power. Lap four saw yet another caution, this time for a Darren Dryden spin.
The race resumed with Westbrook opening a commanding lead over the field, however Lucas Smith’s right rear wheel fell off on lap 11 to bring out the third caution of night, leaving Smith to retire from the race. Once the race resumed, Ryan Turner found himself fighting Westbrook for the lead until the final caution of the race came out yet again for a loose wheel, this time coming from Shone Evans’ car.
Westbrook timed the restart perfectly and rocketed ahead of the field, however heartbreak was in the forecast for Westbrook as he suffered a mechanical failure on the last lap which saw Turner pass for the win. Josh Hansen squeaked by for second place over Westbrook, who nursed his ailing car to the final podium spot. Cory Turner and Eric Gledhill rounded out the top five.
UMP VS CDN Modified Challenge
Mario Toniolo and Patrick Lajeunesse lined up on the front row to begin the 25 lap A-Main for the UMP vs CDN Modified Challenge. NASCAR and dirt racing legend Ken Schrader took only four laps to obtain the lead after starting in the eighth position. Schrader had the setup to beat as he was already encountering traffic by lap six, building an eight second gap over the rest of the field.
The race ran smoothly as the drivers raced with respect amongst each other until a caution appeared with seven laps to go, causing Schrader’s huge lead over the field to evaporate. Being a veteran of the sport, Schrader executed the restart brilliantly, rocketing back in front of the pack. Glenn Styres also had a fantastic restart, which saw him enter the top three for the closing laps after running in the top ten for most of the race. Schrader convincingly won the race with by more than three seconds over second place finisher Tim Richardson. The Ohsweken Flyer Glenn Styres took the final step on the podium, while Pennsylvania driver Steve Rex finished fourth, and Toniolo rounded out the top five.
Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars
Tyler Ward and Brett Stratford brought the 28 car field to the green flag for the 20 lap Crate Sprint Car A-Main. Austin Roes quickly put himself in the lead on the first lap after starting fourth. Tanner Podwinski went for a spin in turn two to bring out the first caution of the race. Once the race resumed it was lights out for Roes, as he had a convincing lead over the field while navigating lapped traffic.
With two laps left to go, Roes’ lead was in danger due to a late race caution from Tom Pellezari losing his right front wheel, allowing the field to bunch back up together for a green-white-checkered finish. On the final lap both Rob Neely and Greg Wilson flipped to bring out a red flag and ultimately end the race with both drivers unharmed. After the dust settled it was Austin Roes who took his first career win in the Crate Sprints. The rest of the top five saw Steve Murdock in second, Mack DeMan third, Stratford fourth, and Dale Curran fifth.
Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks
Tyler French started on pole with Kyle Wert next to him for the 20 lap Thunder Stock A-Main. Wert made quick work in the first lap to take the lead from French. Braedan Burning brought out the first caution, suffering a tie rod issue in turn four on the first lap. The restart allowed defending track champion Dave Bailey to improve his track position by optimizing the restart and passing many competitors.
Wert lost his lead to a hard-charging Ryan Dinning, who looked poised to win the race until two untimely late race cautions came about. Wert regained the lead and held off both Dinning and Bailey for the win. Dinning was scored second, Bailey third, Christopher Hale fourth, and Donny Lampman fifth, however Dinning was later disqualified from the race due to a technical infraction.
HRW Automotive Mini Stocks
The front row of the grid featured Mike Evers and Jeff Elsliger to begin the 15 lap Mini Stock A-Main. Elsiger commanded the lead right away until Steve Conway came to a stop to bring out a caution flag. Clinton Barrick took advantage of the restart, allowing him to take the lead after a few laps of green flag racing. Elsliger’s race came further undone as he suffered a flat right rear tire and stopped on the track to bring out a caution flag rather than going into the pits. This ultimately led officials to send Elsliger to the pits for intentionally causing a caution.
Kyle Rothwell enjoyed a brief time in the lead until the final caution came out with one lap to go; Dusty DeBoer made a superhero move on the restart, splitting the two leaders after they made contact and driving on to win the race. Tristan DaSilva finished second, Mike Sarantakos third, Wayde Thorne fourth, and Fabio Olivieri fifth.
Up Next at Ohsweken Speedway
Oakwood Transport presents Trucker Night at the Races on Friday, May 26, plus Duel on the Dirt Home Track Points Night # 1 for the Thunder Stocks and Mini Stocks. Visit www.ohswekenspeedway.com for more information.
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Ohsweken Speedway Statistical Report
Friday, May 19, 2023
Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada
APC Presents The 26th Opening Night
Total Entries: 149
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Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars (25 entries)
A-Main [Started] 25 laps – NT
1. 15-Ryan Turner[7]; 2. 88H-Josh Hansen[6]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[1]; 4. 17X-Cory Turner[8]; 5. 7-Eric Gledhill[13]; 6. 70-Baily Heard[10]; 7. 68-Aaron Turkey[14]; 8. 77T-Tyeller Powless[11]; 9. 90-Travis Cunningham[17]; 10. 12DD-Darren Dryden[15]; 11. 19D-Allan Downey[3]; 12. 94X-Scott Hall[22]; 13. 46-Kevin Pauls[21]; 14. (DNF) 70M&M-Dave McKnight Jr[18]; 15. (DNF) 87X-Shone Evans[5]; 16. (DNF) 71-Mike Bowman[25]; 17. (DNF) 49L-Lucas Smith[16]; 18. (DNF) 21K-Kyle Phillips[20]; 19. (DNF) 21-John Burbridge Jr[19]; 20. (DNF) 0-Glenn Styres[12]; 21. (DNF) 10-Mitch Brown[4]; 22. (DNF) 9-Liam Martin[9]; 23. (DNF) 11-Jamie Turner[23]; 24. (DNS) 1-Holly Porter; 25. (DNS) 15F-Mike Ferrell
Hard Charger – Mike Bowman +9
Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – 1:52.184
1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[6]; 2. 87X-Shone Evans[2]; 3. 15-Ryan Turner[7]; 4. 7-Eric Gledhill[4]; 5. 12DD-Darren Dryden[5]; 6. 68-Aaron Turkey[8]; 7. 94X-Scott Hall[1]; 8. 11-Jamie Turner[3]; 9. (DNS) 15F-Mike Ferrell
Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – 1:54.641
1. 10-Mitch Brown[1]; 2. 19D-Allan Downey[2]; 3. 70-Baily Heard[3]; 4. 9-Liam Martin[6]; 5. 0-Glenn Styres[7]; 6. 90-Travis Cunningham[5]; 7. 21K-Kyle Phillips[4]; 8. 46-Kevin Pauls[8]
Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – 1:56.846
1. 17X-Cory Turner[5]; 2. 88H-Josh Hansen[6]; 3. 77T-Tyeller Powless[2]; 4. 1-Holly Porter[7]; 5. 49L-Lucas Smith[3]; 6. 21-John Burbridge Jr[4]; 7. 70M&M-Dave McKnight Jr[8]; 8. (DQ) 71-Mike Bowman[1]
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UMP VS CDN Modified Challenge (22 entries)
A-Main [Started] 25 laps – NT
1. 9-Ken Schrader[8]; 2. 5X-Tim Richardson[9]; 3. 0-Glenn Styres[7]; 4. 27REX-Steve Rex[4]; 5. 14-Mario Toniolo[1]; 6. 07-Curtis King[15]; 7. 51-Mike Freeman[5]; 8. 71L-Dennis Lunger Jr[18]; 9. 28K-Tate O’Leary[10]; 10. 50-Dylan Boyle[11]; 11. 1-Shawn Gregory[12]; 12. 5-Wally Alderdice[14]; 13. 98-Patrick Lajeunesse[2]; 14. 32-Doug O’Blenis[13]; 15. 09-Dan Price[16]; 16. 41-Corey Halbert[17]; 17. 69-Denis Deserrano[19]; 18. (DNF) 2-Leslie Turcotte Mowat[20]; 19. (DNF) 09D-Joel Dick[3]; 20. (DNF) 00-Jim Dale Jr[6]; 21. (DNS) 28-Caleb O’Leary
Hard Charger – Dennis Jr Lunger +10
Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – 2:27.992
1. 9-Ken Schrader[2]; 2. 27REX-Steve Rex[1]; 3. 00-Jim Dale Jr[3]; 4. 28K-Tate O’Leary[6]; 5. 32-Doug O’Blenis[5]; 6. 09-Dan Price[4]; 7. (DNF) 69-Denis Deserrano[8]; 8. (DNS) 28-Caleb O’Leary
Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 98-Patrick Lajeunesse[2]; 2. 51-Mike Freeman[1]; 3. 14-Mario Toniolo[3]; 4. 50-Dylan Boyle[4]; 5. 5-Wally Alderdice[5]; 6. 41-Corey Halbert[6]
Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – 2:19.508
1. 0-Glenn Styres[2]; 2. 09D-Joel Dick[6]; 3. 5X-Tim Richardson[5]; 4. 1-Shawn Gregory[3]; 5. 07-Curtis King[7]; 6. 71L-Dennis Lunger Jr[4]; 7. 2-Leslie Turcotte Mowat[1]
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Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars (34 entries)
A-Main [Started] 25 laps – NT
1. 3S-Austin Roes[4]; 2. 2M-Steve Murdock[8]; 3. 4-Mack DeMan[7]; 4. BS39-Brett Stratford[2]; 5. 31-Dale Curran[10]; 6. 52-Jesse Costa[3]; 7. 00-DJ Christie[11]; 8. 29W-Tyler Ward[1]; 9. 14-Larry Gledhill[15]; 10. 51-Trevor Young[6]; 11. 88-Lance Erskine[23]; 12. 94-Ryan Fraser[19]; 13. 74-Rob Neely[12]; 14. 420-Victor Bomberry[20]; 15. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[13]; 16. 20-Johnny Miller[25]; 17. 2S-Al Sleight[18]; 18. 72-Tanner Podwinski[21]; 19. 97-Sheldon Bender[26]; 20. 2-Travis Hofstetter[17]; 21. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[27]; 22. 14W-Greg Wilson[5]; 23. 28-Cameron Thomson[9]; 24. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[16]; 25. 69K-Ken Hamilton[14]; 26. 5-Tom Pellezari[28]; 27. (DNF) 11-Jeremy Hughes[24]; 28. (DNF) 77E-Ashton VanEvery[22]
Hard Charger – Lance Erskine +12
Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 3S-Austin Roes[1]; 2. 52-Jesse Costa[4]; 3. 51-Trevor Young[5]; 4. 74-Rob Neely[6]; 5. 14-Larry Gledhill[7]; 6. 5-Tom Pellezari[9]; 7. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[2]; 8. 16X-Keegan Baker[8]; 9. 71C-John Cadman[3]
Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 2M-Steve Murdock[4]; 2. 28-Cameron Thomson[2]; 3. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[3]; 4. 2-Travis Hofstetter[1]; 5. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[6]; 6. 88-Lance Erskine[5]; 7. 11-Jeremy Hughes[7]; 8. MK8-Matt Hill[8]; 9. (DNS) 19-Will Marche
Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 4-Mack DeMan[6]; 2. 31-Dale Curran[2]; 3. 00-DJ Christie[4]; 4. 14W-Greg Wilson[8]; 5. 72-Tanner Podwinski[3]; 6. 420-Victor Bomberry[7]; 7. 97-Sheldon Bender[5]; 8. 20-Johnny Miller[1]
Heat Race 4 [Started] 8 laps – 2:01.930
1. 29W-Tyler Ward[2]; 2. BS39-Brett Stratford[7]; 3. 69K-Ken Hamilton[3]; 4. 2S-Al Sleight[1]; 5. 94-Ryan Fraser[5]; 6. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[6]; 7. 07-Brandon Mowat[8]; 8. (DNF) 99-Joshua Hill[4]
B-Main [Started] 12 laps – 3:08.866
1. 11-Jeremy Hughes[2]; 2. 20-Johnny Miller[6]; 3. 97-Sheldon Bender[3]; 4. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[1]; 5. MK8-Matt Hill[5]; 6. 16X-Keegan Baker[4]; 7. 19-Will Marche[10]; 8. 07-Brandon Mowat[9]; 9. (DNF) 99-Joshua Hill[7]; 10. (DNS) 71C-John Cadman
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Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks (36 entries)
A-Main [Started] 20 laps – NT
1. 19-Kyle Wert[2]; 2. 8-Ryan Dinning[11]; 3. 49-Dave Bailey[12]; 4. 79-Christopher Hale[6]; 5. 28D-Donny Lampman[10]; 6. 24R-Rodney Rutherford[19]; 7. 23-Trevor DeBoer[9]; 8. 84RK-Ryan Beagle[7]; 9. 53-Logan Shwedyk[17]; 10. 93K-Mike Klazinga[25]; 11. 28-Jim Lampman[8]; 12. 97-Ron Loggie[5]; 13. 96-Steve Shaw Jr[15]; 14. 55-Mike Thorne[21]; 15. 19T-Trevor Want[26]; 16. 93-Melissa Miller[14]; 17. 72-Marcel Gaudet 72G[24]; 18. 5G-Gord Grant[23]; 19. 427-Tim Phalen[13]; 20. 32-Mark Fawcett[20]; 21. (DNF) 11-Gofast Teeple[16]; 22. (DNF) 07-Scott McPhail[18]; 23. (DNF) 26-Tyler French[1]; 24. (DNF) 196-Tyler Lafantaise[28]; 25. (DNF) 11R-Bryce Richardson[4]; 26. (DNF) 25-Ken Sargent[27]; 27. (DNF) 17W-Travis Whittal[22]; 28. (DNF) 21Z-Braedan Burning[3]
Hard Charger – Mike Klazinga +15
Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – 2:42.096
1. 49-Dave Bailey[3]; 2. 97-Ron Loggie[2]; 3. 21Z-Braedan Burning[1]; 4. 427-Tim Phalen[6]; 5. 53-Logan Shwedyk[9]; 6. 55-Mike Thorne[8]; 7. 196-Tyler Lafantaise[10]; 8. 93K-Mike Klazinga[7]; 9. 76-Jamie Goudge[5]; 10. (DNF) 25-Ken Sargent[4]
Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 84RK-Ryan Beagle[4]; 2. 19-Kyle Wert[1]; 3. 79-Christopher Hale[9]; 4. 93-Melissa Miller[7]; 5. 07-Scott McPhail[6]; 6. 17W-Travis Whittal[5]; 7. 19T-Trevor Want[2]; 8. 03-George Grosul[8]; 9. 45-Brad Simpson[3]
Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – 2:40.863
1. 28D-Donny Lampman[1]; 2. 8-Ryan Dinning[7]; 3. 28-Jim Lampman[9]; 4. 96-Steve Shaw Jr[4]; 5. 24R-Rodney Rutherford[8]; 6. 5G-Gord Grant[6]; 7. 17-Robert Disher[5]; 8. 96O-John Overholt[3]; 9. 21-Blake Bomberry Sr[2]
Heat Race 4 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 23-Trevor DeBoer[5]; 2. 11R-Bryce Richardson[3]; 3. 26-Tyler French[7]; 4. 11-Gofast Teeple[2]; 5. 32-Mark Fawcett[1]; 6. 72-Marcel Gaudet 72G[4]; 7. 43-Kyle Andress[6]; 8. (DNF) 13-Kacey Huffman[8]
B-Main [Started] 8 laps – 2:42.381
1. 93K-Mike Klazinga[5]; 2. 19T-Trevor Want[2]; 3. 25-Ken Sargent[12]; 4. 196-Tyler Lafantaise[1]; 5. 17-Robert Disher[3]; 6. 13-Kacey Huffman[8]; 7. 03-George Grosul[6]; 8. 45-Brad Simpson[10]; 9. 43-Kyle Andress[4]; 10. 96O-John Overholt[7]; 11. 76-Jamie Goudge[9]; 12. 21-Blake Bomberry Sr[11]
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HRW Automotive Mini Stocks (32 entries)
A-Main [Started] 15 laps – NT
1. 23-Dusty DeBoer[10]; 2. 01-Tristan DaSilva[12]; 3. 6X-Mike Sarantakos[7]; 4. 4-Wayde Thorne[22]; 5. 16-Fabio Olivieri[9]; 6. 21H-Ryan Hillar[6]; 7. 34-Randy Alway[11]; 8. 2EZ-Vincent Pagnotta[13]; 9. 64-Nick Erskine[8]; 10. 188-Paul Longboat[19]; 11. 114-Kyle Rothwell[3]; 12. 79-Steve Miller[20]; 13. 4A-Mason Anderson[15]; 14. 14L-John Lubeck[4]; 15. 09-Clinton Barrick[5]; 16. (DNF) 27-Niko Hansen[14]; 17. (DNF) 7B-Braden Keus[23]; 18. (DNF) 265-Mike Evers[1]; 19. (DNF) 9-Tim DeBoer[26]; 20. (DNF) 11E-Jeff Elsliger[2]; 21. (DNF) 54-Christopher French[24]; 22. (DNF) 1A-Ashton Dickie[18]; 23. (DNF) 20J-Nathan Joyner[27]; 24. (DNF) 11-Mike Giberson[25]; 25. (DNF) 1-Jason Tolton[17]; 26. (DNF) 88-Steve Conway[16]; 27. (DNF) JR188-Dylaney Longboat[21]; 28. (DNS) 33-Mark Martin
Hard Charger – Wayde Thorne +18
Heat Race 1 [Started] 6 laps – NT
1. 114-Kyle Rothwell[1]; 2. 14L-John Lubeck[6]; 3. 23-Dusty DeBoer[8]; 4. 01-Tristan DaSilva[3]; 5. 2EZ-Vincent Pagnotta[2]; 6. 88-Steve Conway[9]; 7. 188-Paul Longboat[5]; 8. (DNF) 7B-Braden Keus[7]; 9. (DNF) 52-Rick VanKleef[4]; 10. (DNS) 9-Tim DeBoer; 11. (DNS) 9K-Kylie Dixon; 12. (DNS) 11-Mike Giberson
Heat Race 2 [Started] 6 laps – NT
1. 21H-Ryan Hillar[4]; 2. 34-Randy Alway[3]; 3. 6X-Mike Sarantakos[5]; 4. 11E-Jeff Elsliger[9]; 5. 27-Niko Hansen[10]; 6. 1-Jason Tolton[2]; 7. 79-Steve Miller[1]; 8. 76-Shawn Taylor[8]; 9. 4-Wayde Thorne[7]; 10. 20J-Nathan Joyner[11]; 11. 33-Mark Martin[6]
Heat Race 3 [Started] 6 laps – NT
1. 64-Nick Erskine[2]; 2. 16-Fabio Olivieri[9]; 3. 09-Clinton Barrick[1]; 4. 265-Mike Evers[5]; 5. 4A-Mason Anderson[7]; 6. 1A-Ashton Dickie[4]; 7. JR188-Dylaney Longboat[6]; 8. (DNF) 54-Christopher French[8]; 9. (DNS) 84-Jeremy Barton
B-Main [Started] 6 laps – NT
(6 Laps): 1. 4-Wayde Thorne[5]; 2. 7B-Braden Keus[1]; 3. 54-Christopher French[3]; 4. 11-Mike Giberson[11]; 5. 9-Tim DeBoer[7]; 6. 20J-Nathan Joyner[8]; 7. 33-Mark Martin[10]; 8. 84-Jeremy Barton[6]; 9. 76-Shawn Taylor[2]; 10. (DNS) 9K-Kylie Dixon; 11. (DNS) 52-Rick VanKleef
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About Ohsweken Speedway: Opened in 1996, Ohsweken Speedway is a motorsports complex and event centre featuring a 3/8 mile clay oval auto racing track and 1/6 mile clay oval Micro Sprint and Karting track. The facility is owned by the Styres family, and located in the village of Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada. Ohsweken’s weekly Friday Night Excitement racing program runs from May to September each year, featuring 360 Sprint Cars, Crate Sprint Cars, Thunder Stocks, and Mini Stocks, while the facility also hosts weekly Micro Sprint and Kart racing on Thursday nights.