BUDDIES BLOGS
Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands
Craig Revelle – June 28, 2009
Almost
every report, I start out by writing about the weekend weather, as it generally
plays a deciding factor in my weekend of racing.
This weekend was no different, as race fans had one eye on the racetrack,
and another on the threatening skies. Friday
Night, Can Am Motorsports Park delayed their starting time because of an early
evening downpour. At Brockville
Speedway on Saturday, rain surrounded the speedway for the second week in a row,
without a trace of rain actually hitting the Speedway.
On Sunday, Cornwall Speedway capped off my weekend, and once again rain
surrounded the track, but only a very brief shower hit the track during the
final qualifying race of the night.
Friday night, after the hour and half
rain delay, the racing began. Big
Block/Small Block Modifieds, Sportsman, IMCA Modifieds, Crate Late Models,
Street Stocks and Thunder Cars filled the evening’s program.
Once the qualifying heats were completed, the teams began to prepare for
the feature events.
The Street Stock feature was the first
event on the schedule. Trenton,
Ontario driver Ron Wadforth picked up the win.
Dave Mannise, Phil Walker, Sid Harmer Sr., and Taylor Caprara rounded out
the top five.
The Crate Late Models rolled onto the
track next and Dale Caswell picked up a convincing win.
Jordan Keruskie and Andy Howard filled the top three spots.
This was Caswell’s fourth win in just seven starts with the Late Model.
The Big Block/Small Block Modified
feature was the next event, and it was first time winner Robby Bellinger taking
the checkered flag. Bellinger held
off Jason Potter to pick up the win. Justin
Haers was third, Bill Gill finished fourth, and fifth spot went to point leader
Billy Dunn. Kingston area drivers
Tim Obrien and Steve Bilow finished 8th and 10th
respectively.
The Sportsman feature was next and as
the cars rolled onto the track, a light rain started falling.
After 11 laps of racing, track officials were forced to postpone the
remainder of the program. The
remaining 14 laps will be run on July 10th, the IMCA feature will run
on July 24th, and the Thunder Cars will race on July 17th.
On Saturday, Brockville Ontario Speedway
hosted Superior Cellular and Sound night, and for the third week in a row, the
BOS avoided the weather that was in the vicinity of the track and was able to
get their show in. Modifieds,
Sportsman, Street Stocks, and Rookies, were on the schedule.
The first feature on the track was the
4cylinder “rookie” division. Team
cars Dwight Feltham and Chris Lloyd led the field to the green flag.
Gerry Oszczakiewicz quickly moved
from his fifth place starting spot and moved into the lead in the early stages.
Lansdowne racer Steve Barber started at the back and methodically worked
his way through the field. At the
end of the 16-lap event, Barber was right on the tail of race winner
Oszczakiewicz. Last week’s winner Josh Kirkland finished third, Benoit
Laroche and Scott Walldorf rounded out the top five.
Heat race wins went to Gerry Oszczakiewicz, and Josh Kirkland.
The
Modifieds were up next, as the set to do battle in their 30-lap event. Ryan Poole and Cage Morin made up the first row as the 23-car
field rolled onto the Speedway. Poole
took the early lead, but couldn’t hold off Jason Riddell.
Riddell led through the halfway point of the event, until Bill Gill made
the pass to take the lead. All this
was happening as Danny Obrien worked his usual magic, working his way through
the field using his preferred outside groove, passing cars at will.
Obrien passed Gill in the final 10 laps and then sailed to his 4th
win of the season at the BOS. Gill
finished second, Riddell was third, Brian MacDonald was fourth, and Mike
Atterley rounded out the top five. Heat
race wins went to Ryan Poole, John Mulder and Bryan Rogers.
After
the feature, Danny Obrien was quick to give credit to speedway owner/promoter
Paul Kirkland and his staff. “The
racing surface here at the BOS has become one of the best surfaces in
NorthEast”, stated Obrien.
The
Sportsman feature was the next event of the night.
Dillon Sallows and Dylan Evoy started on the front row of their 25-lap
event. Evoy took the early lead,
but it was fellow Brockville area teenage Matt Billings making his way through
the field. Billings started 13th
and patiently moved his way up to the lead pack.
By the halfway point of the race, Evoy continued to lead, but it was Dave
Wilgosh, Randy Earl, and Billings mounting a serious threat for the top spot.
Wilgosh got past Evoy for the lead, but he couldn’t hold off Matt
Billings on a restart with four laps to go.
Billings picked up the win, his second of the season at the BOS, and
fourth win of the season in total. Dave
Wilgosh picked up his best finish of the season in second.
Randy Earl was third, point leader Shane Pecore finished fourth and Dylan
Evoy finished fifth. Dillon
Sallows, Dylan Evoy, and Jessica Powers were the heat race winners.
“It
has been a great week for us. We
won Monday night at Can Am, and a win here tonight.
We have a busy week ahead of us for the Mr. DIRTcar series, and this
gives us momentum going into these big races”, says the 16-year-old Brockville
racer Matt Billings after the win.
The
Street Stocks were the final event of the night.
Danny Mocibob and Darrick Eaton filled out the front row as they lead the
field to the green flag. At the
finish, it was Gatineau, Quebec racer Dominic Gauvreau taking the win.
Kevin Fetterly Jr. was second, Steve Billings was third, Bill Code and
Yves Vendette rounded out the top five. In
an impressive form of sportsmanship, former Street Stock driver Dana Aikens, who
has moved up to the sportsman class this season, offered up his old Street Stock
car to Brock Cullen, who blew the motor in his own car last week and was unable
to race. Cullen was second place in
points, and otherwise would have been on the sidelines losing valuable points.
Instead, he drove the borrowed car and finished in sixth place.
Kevin Fetterly Jr. and Nicolas Gauvreau won the qualifying events.
On
Sunday, At the Cornwall Motor Speedway, once again a few raindrops fell, but the
racing was able to continue. Veteran
racer Laurent Ladouceur picked up the win.
Ladouceur battled eventual second place finisher Alain Boisvert in the
closing laps, and won his first feature of the season at Cornwall.
Mitchell Jock was third, Carey Terrance was fourth, and Roy Delorme was
fifth.
In
other racing action around the DIRTcar scene, on Friday night, at the Edelweiss
Speedway in Quebec, Kingston’s Bobby Herrington picked up the win.
On Saturday at Thunder Alley Speed Park, Chris Raabe picked up the
checkered flag.
Coming
up this week, Can Am Motorsports Park will host a double event weekend for the
Empire Super Sprints. On Friday
night, the Big Block Modifieds, SUNY Canton Street Stocks and Pure Stocks will
join the Sprints. On Saturday night the Empire Super Sprints are on the card
again, this time joined by a SUNY Canton Sportsman race, IMCA Modifieds, Crate
Late Models, and Thunder Cars.
On
Saturday evening, the Brockville Ontario Speedway will host a 40 lap Mr. DIRTcar
Sportsman series event presented by Brockville Motor Sales.
It will be a full show, plus the McNamee Vintage cars.
The race at the BOS will be the third stop in 4 consecutive nights of
racing for the Sportsman series. The
teams will travel to the Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, New York on
Thursday, Brewerton Speedway in Brewerton, New York on Friday, Brockville
Speedway on Saturday, and will conclude at Cornwall Speedway on Sunday.
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Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - June 28, 2009
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