Liam Martin and Mack DeMan take Ohsweken Wins

By Brent Otchere
OHSWEKEN, Ont. (September 8, 2023) – Epic Racewear presented Championship Friday at Ohsweken Speedway on September 8; Liam Martin, Mack DeMan, Dave Bailey, and Ken Hair took A-Main wins, while Mike Bowman, DeMan, Bailey, and Ryan Hillar clinched 2023 track championships.

Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars
Liam Martin started on pole with Scott Kreutter next to him for the 25 lap 360 Sprint Car A-Main. The race began with Martin and Shone Evans swapping the lead several times. Martin got the best of Evans on lap nine, while points leader Mike Bowman was working his way through the top five. A caution appeared with 10 laps left due to D.J. Christie who came to a stop after suffering a flat right rear tire. Martin held onto the lead on the restart and stayed up front to pick up the victory. Dylan Westbrook charged from row seven, but ran out of time in his pursuit of the leader; Westbrook made a valiant last-lap attempt before settling for second, followed by Bowman third, Ryan Turner fourth, and Chuck Hebing fifth. Bowman finished his rookie 360 Sprint Car season by securing his first 360 Sprint Car championship with the podium finish.

Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars

The front row of the grid featured Joshua Hill and Mack DeMan to begin the 25 lap Crate Sprint Car A-Main. The race suffered a chaotic start when multiple drivers collided on the first lap; the red flag appeared when fuel leaked onto the track, but everyone emerged without major injury. DeMan resumed his lead and never looked back as he led every lap to pick up the victory and secure the division championship. Brett Stratford crossed the finish line next in second, followed by Jesse Costa third, Austin Roes fourth, and Steve Murdock fifth. DeMan entered the night just four points ahead of Costa, and the championship fight came right down to the final lap as Costa charged forward from row five to finish third.

Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks
Travis Whittal and Kacey Huffman brought the field to the green flag for the 25 lap Thunder Stock A-Main. Ken Sargent enjoyed an early lead, quickly setting the pace ahead of the field. Title contenders Dave Bailey, Ryan Beagle, and Kyle Wert were neck-and-neck as they raced up to the front of the pack, however an unfortunate turn of events was in store for Beagle when Sargent spun in front of the field. Beagle was one of the drivers collected as the field scattered to avoid a crash, and damage was too severe to continue his phenomenal championship bid. Mark Fawcett led after the restart until Bailey overtook him in the closing laps. Wert attempted a late charge, but ran out of laps to catch Bailey before spinning out of third place. Bailey took his third win of the season and secured his seventh consecutive Thunder Stock title. Rounding out the top five were Trevor DeBoer in second, Fawcett third, Logan Shwedyk fourth, and Rodney Rutherford fifth.

HRW Automotive Mini Stocks
Wayde Thorne started on pole with Steve Miller alongside him to start the 20 lap Mini Stock A-Main. Thorne enjoyed a healthy lead over the field, but there was plenty of action in the pack as multiple cautions appeared throughout the race. Ashton Dickie saw his championship run blow up quite literally as he suffered a blown engine on lap 14 and collected John Lubeck when Dickie slowed on the front stretch. Ken Hair took advantage of the situation and asserted himself into the lead, going on to take his second consecutive win. Next to finish were Tim DeBoer in second, Alex Riley third, Jeff Elsliger fourth, and Nick Erskine fifth. The championship chase went down to the final lap as Mike Sarantakos and Ryan Hillar were still in the hunt; Hillar finished 11th, which was just barely enough to clinch the championship by two points over the seventh place finishing Sarantakos.

Northern Sprint Car Nationals Tickets and Camping Available Now!
The best Sprint Car racers from the Northeast region and beyond will converge on Ohsweken Speedway this Friday, September 15, and Saturday, September 16 for the Northern Sprint Car Nationals/Northern Crate Nationals weekend. Tickets and reserved campsites are on sale online at www.ohswekenspeedway.com or by phone at 519-717-0023. DIRECT TICKET & CAMPING LINK: https://www.showpass.com/o/ohsweken-speedway/
________________________

Ohsweken Speedway Statistical Report
Friday, September 8, 2023
Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada
Epic Racewear presents Championship Friday
Total Entries: 123
________________________

Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars (28 Entries)

A-Main [Started] 25 laps – NT
1. 9-Liam Martin[1]; 2. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[13]; 3. 71-Mike Bowman[7]; 4. 15-Ryan Turner[9]; 5. 45H-Chuck Hebing[12]; 6. 87X-Shone Evans[4]; 7. 45-Nick Sheridan[6]; 8. 10-Mitch Brown[21]; 9. 49L-Lucas Smith[5]; 10. 17X-Cory Turner[16]; 11. 68-Aaron Turkey[11]; 12. 7-Eric Gledhill[8]; 13. 0-Glenn Styres[18]; 14. 70-Baily Heard[10]; 15. 1-Holly Porter[22]; 16. 12DD-Darren Dryden[17]; 17. 19D-Allan Downey[20]; 18. 46C-Ryan Coniam[14]; 19. 52-Scott Kreutter[2]; 20. 46-Kevin Pauls[23]; 21. 77T-Tyeller Powless[15]; 22. 81-Derek Jonathan[24]; 23. (DNF) 5-DJ Christie[19]; 24. (DNF) 15GG-Garrett Green[3]
Hard Charger – Mitch Brown +13

Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – 1:52.047
1. 7-Eric Gledhill[2]; 2. 15GG-Garrett Green[1]; 3. 49L-Lucas Smith[4]; 4. 68-Aaron Turkey[5]; 5. 77T-Tyeller Powless[6]; 6. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[9]; 7. 5-DJ Christie[10]; 8. 19D-Allan Downey[8]; 9. 21-John Burbridge Jr[3]; 10. 46-Kevin Pauls[7]

Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – 1:55.520
1. 87X-Shone Evans[2]; 2. 9-Liam Martin[1]; 3. 70-Baily Heard[3]; 4. 15-Ryan Turner[6]; 5. 12DD-Darren Dryden[4]; 6. 17X-Cory Turner[8]; 7. 88H-Josh Hansen[5]; 8. 1-Holly Porter[9]; 9. 81-Derek Jonathan[7]

Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – 1:58.943
1. 45-Nick Sheridan[9]; 2. 52-Scott Kreutter[1]; 3. 71-Mike Bowman[6]; 4. 46C-Ryan Coniam[3]; 5. 45H-Chuck Hebing[7]; 6. 0-Glenn Styres[5]; 7. 10-Mitch Brown[4]; 8. 94X-Scott Hall[2]; 9. 11-Jamie Turner[8]

B-Main [Started] 12 laps – 3:01.748
1. 5-DJ Christie[1]; 2. 19D-Allan Downey[4]; 3. 10-Mitch Brown[3]; 4. 1-Holly Porter[5]; 5. 46-Kevin Pauls[10]; 6. 81-Derek Jonathan[8]; 7. 94X-Scott Hall[6]; 8. 11-Jamie Turner[9]; 9. 21-John Burbridge Jr[7]; 10. (DNF) 88H-Josh Hansen[2]
________________________

Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars (31 Entries)

A-Main [Started] 25 laps – NT
1. 4-Mack DeMan[2]; 2. BS39-Brett Stratford[3]; 3. 52-Jesse Costa[9]; 4. 3S-Austin Roes[7]; 5. 2M-Steve Murdock[5]; 6. 45-Curtis Gartly[21]; 7. 20-Johnny Miller[20]; 8. 88-Lance Erskine[15]; 9. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[16]; 10. 24A-AJ Lewis[10]; 11. 29W-Tyler Ward[6]; 12. 16X-Keegan Baker[12]; 13. 74-Rob Neely[22]; 14. 28T-Cameron Thomson[13]; 15. 26-John Verney[8]; 16. 20L-Treyten Lapcevich[26]; 17. 97-Sheldon Bender[4]; 18. 2-Travis Hofstetter[17]; 19. 94-Ryan Fraser[27]; 20. 99-Joshua Hill[1]; 21. MK8-Matt Hill[24]; 22. 51-Trevor Young[23]; 23. (DNF) 71C-John Cadman[18]; 24. (DNF) 5-Tom Pellezari[19]; 25. (DNF) 00-Greg Smulders[25]; 26. (DNF) 14-Larry Gledhill[11]; 27. (DNF) 69K-Ken Hamilton[28]; 28. (DNF) 72-Tanner Podwinski[14]
Hard Charger – Curtis Gartly +15

Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – 2:02.517
1. 99-Joshua Hill[1]; 2. 52-Jesse Costa[3]; 3. 3S-Austin Roes[9]; 4. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[2]; 5. 24A-AJ Lewis[8]; 6. 71C-John Cadman[4]; 7. 45-Curtis Gartly[5]; 8. 51-Trevor Young[7]; 9. MK8-Matt Hill[6]; 10. 11W-Jeff Earl[10]; 11. (DNS) 24K-Kiana Teal

Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – 2:01.729
1. 26-John Verney[2]; 2. 29W-Tyler Ward[4]; 3. 16X-Keegan Baker[1]; 4. 2M-Steve Murdock[8]; 5. 72-Tanner Podwinski[6]; 6. 14-Larry Gledhill[10]; 7. 20-Johnny Miller[5]; 8. 74-Rob Neely[9]; 9. 94-Ryan Fraser[7]; 10. 00-Greg Smulders[3]

Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – 2:03.663
1. 97-Sheldon Bender[1]; 2. 4-Mack DeMan[3]; 3. BS39-Brett Stratford[7]; 4. 28T-Cameron Thomson[4]; 5. 88-Lance Erskine[6]; 6. 5-Tom Pellezari[2]; 7. 2-Travis Hofstetter[9]; 8. 20L-Treyten Lapcevich[8]; 9. 69K-Ken Hamilton[5]; 10. 14B-Broden Weiler[10]

B-Main [Started] 12 laps – NT
1. 74-Rob Neely[2]; 2. 51-Trevor Young[1]; 3. MK8-Matt Hill[4]; 4. 00-Greg Smulders[8]; 5. 20L-Treyten Lapcevich[3]; 6. 94-Ryan Fraser[5]; 7. 69K-Ken Hamilton[6]; 8. 11W-Jeff Earl[7]; 9. 14B-Broden Weiler[9]; 10. (DNS) 24K-Kiana Teal
________________________

Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks (32 Entries)

A-Main [Started] 25 laps – NT
1. 49-Dave Bailey[16]; 2. 23-Trevor DeBoer[12]; 3. 32-Mark Fawcett[5]; 4. 53-Logan Shwedyk[11]; 5. 24R-Rodney Rutherford[20]; 6. 28-Jim Lampman[6]; 7. 28D-Donny Lampman[15]; 8. 55-Mike Thorne[9]; 9. 79-Christopher Hale[8]; 10. 97-Ron Loggie[10]; 11. 37-Robert Hoskins[18]; 12. 19-Kyle Wert[17]; 13. 8-Ryan Dinning[7]; 14. 93K-Mike Klazinga[13]; 15. 93-Melissa Miller[22]; 16. 25-Ken Sargent[4]; 17. 427-Tim Phalen[14]; 18. 13-Kacey Huffman[2]; 19. 43-Kyle Andress[26]; 20. 21Z-Braedan Burning[23]; 21. 6X-Marshall Bellamy[28]; 22. 03-George Grosul[21]; 23. 47J-Jody Mason[27]; 24. (DNF) 76-Jamie Goudge[25]; 25. (DNF) 17W-Travis Whittal[1]; 26. (DNF) 84RK-Ryan Beagle[19]; 27. (DNF) 41-Adam Plazek[3]; 28. (DNS) 26-Keith Haine
Hard Charger – Dave Bailey +15

Heat Race 1 [Started] 10 laps – NT
1. 49-Dave Bailey[11]; 2. 25-Ken Sargent[4]; 3. 8-Ryan Dinning[6]; 4. 55-Mike Thorne[7]; 5. 53-Logan Shwedyk[8]; 6. 427-Tim Phalen[10]; 7. 24R-Rodney Rutherford[14]; 8. 93K-Mike Klazinga[9]; 9. 37-Robert Hoskins[13]; 10. 13-Kacey Huffman[3]; 11. 11-Gofast Teeple[5]; 12. 03-George Grosul[2]; 13. 76-Jamie Goudge[16]; 14. (DNF) 14-Mitch Petta[12]; 15. (DNF) 93-Melissa Miller[1]; 16. (DNF) 6X-Marshall Bellamy[15]

Heat Race 2 [Started] 10 laps – 3:16.916 NTR
1. 32-Mark Fawcett[4]; 2. 23-Trevor DeBoer[8]; 3. 84RK-Ryan Beagle[13]; 4. 28-Jim Lampman[5]; 5. 19-Kyle Wert[11]; 6. 79-Christopher Hale[6]; 7. 41-Adam Plazek[3]; 8. 28D-Donny Lampman[10]; 9. 97-Ron Loggie[7]; 10. 17W-Travis Whittal[2]; 11. 43-Kyle Andress[1]; 12. 96O-John Overholt[9]; 13. 21Z-Braedan Burning[12]; 14. 69G-Brian General[15]; 15. 47J-Jody Mason[14]; 16. 26-Keith Haine[16]

B-Main [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 03-George Grosul[3]; 2. 93-Melissa Miller[9]; 3. 21Z-Braedan Burning[6]; 4. 26-Keith Haine[12]; 5. 76-Jamie Goudge[5]; 6. 43-Kyle Andress[2]; 7. 47J-Jody Mason[10]; 8. 6X-Marshall Bellamy[11]; 9. (DNF) 96O-John Overholt[4]; 10. (DNS) 69G-Brian General; 11. (DNS) 14-Mitch Petta; 12. (DNS) 11-Gofast Teeple
________________________

HRW Automotive Mini Stocks (32 Entries)

A-Main [Started] 20 laps – NT
1. 5K-Ken Hair[12]; 2. 9-Tim DeBoer[11]; 3. 17-Alex Riley[19]; 4. 11E-Jeff Elsliger[9]; 5. 64-Nick Erskine[18]; 6. 01-Tristan DaSilva[13]; 7. 6X-Mike Sarantakos[10]; 8. 4-Wayde Thorne[1]; 9. 76-Shawn Taylor[15]; 10. 1-Jason Tolton[3]; 11. 21H-Ryan Hillar[8]; 12. 27-Niko Hansen[4]; 13. 4A-Mason Anderson[6]; 14. 54-Christopher French[7]; 15. 9K-Kylie Dixon[25]; 16. 79-Steve Miller[2]; 17. 60-Richard Hadler[20]; 18. 11-Mike Giberson[26]; 19. 14-John Cote[28]; 20. 32L-Grayden Lyons[27]; 21. 88-Rick VanKleef[21]; 22. 16-Fabio Olivieri[17]; 23. (DNF) 84-Spencer Riddell[22]; 24. (DNF) 1A-Ashton Dickie[16]; 25. (DNF) 14L-John Lubeck[5]; 26. (DNF) 69-Rob Twitchett[24]; 27. (DNF) 64E-Doug Erskine[23]; 28. (DNF) 114-Kyle Rothwell[14]
Hard Charger – Alex Riley +16

Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – 2:51.282
1. 4-Wayde Thorne[1]; 2. 1-Jason Tolton[3]; 3. 16-Fabio Olivieri[11]; 4. 11E-Jeff Elsliger[7]; 5. 14L-John Lubeck[5]; 6. 01-Tristan DaSilva[9]; 7. 9-Tim DeBoer[8]; 8. 54-Christopher French[6]; 9. 76-Shawn Taylor[10]; 10. 60-Richard Hadler[15]; 11. 64E-Doug Erskine[12]; 12. 84-Spencer Riddell[14]; 13. 9K-Kylie Dixon[2]; 14. 14-John Cote[16]; 15. 11-Mike Giberson[4]; 16. 555-Tylan Hill[13]

Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 114-Kyle Rothwell[9]; 2. 1A-Ashton Dickie[10]; 3. 17-Alex Riley[13]; 4. 21H-Ryan Hillar[6]; 5. 5K-Ken Hair[8]; 6. 27-Niko Hansen[4]; 7. 64-Nick Erskine[11]; 8. 6X-Mike Sarantakos[7]; 9. 4A-Mason Anderson[5]; 10. 79-Steve Miller[2]; 11. 88-Rick VanKleef[12]; 12. 69-Rob Twitchett[14]; 13. 32L-Grayden Lyons[1]; 14. 33-Mark Martin[15]; 15. 81D-Crystal Soules[16]; 16. (DNF) 265-Mike Evers[3]

B-Main [Started] 6 laps – 2:13.233
1. 88-Rick VanKleef[2]; 2. 84-Spencer Riddell[3]; 3. 64E-Doug Erskine[1]; 4. 69-Rob Twitchett[4]; 5. 9K-Kylie Dixon[5]; 6. 11-Mike Giberson[9]; 7. 32L-Grayden Lyons[6]; 8. 14-John Cote[7]; 9. 555-Tylan Hill[11]; 10. 33-Mark Martin[8]; 11. 81D-Crystal Soules[10]; 12. (DNS) 265-Mike Evers

________________________

Ohsweken Speedway on GForceTV
Can’t make it to the track or don’t live within driving distance? No problem! Check out all of Ohsweken’s weekly Friday Night Excitement action live online for FREE on GForceTV. Just search for GForceTV on YouTube, OHSWEKENSPEEDWAY on Facebook, or visit www.ohswekenspeedway.com to watch.

Ohsweken Speedway Media
Website: www.ohswekenspeedway.ca
Facebook: OHSWEKENSPEEDWAY
Twitter: @OhswekenSpdway
Instagram: @ohswekenspeedway
YouTube: GForceTV

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.