BUDDIES BLOGS
Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands
Craig Revelle
– June 7, 2009
This
past weekend, my racing plans included a stop at the Can Am Motorsports Park in
Lafargeville, New York, followed by a visit to the Brockville Ontario Speedway
on Saturday. For the first time
this season, Mother Nature co-operated with us racing enthusiasts, and we were
blessed with a wonderful weekend of sunshine, which then led to full moon
evenings, and the action on the track did not disappoint, as the evenings got a
little wild crazy at times both nights, especially in the Sportsman class.
On Friday night, I crossed the
1000 Islands border, with newly acquired passport in hand and headed to the Can
Am Motorsports Park. The IMCA
modifieds, Street Stocks, pure stocks, Sportsman, and Big Block Modifieds were
all on the card, with the IMCA having double features to make up for a rainout
earlier in the season.
The IMCA modifieds rolled onto
the track at the beginning of the evening to run there make up feature.
Dale Caswell took the checkered flag, in a convincing win over Ryan
Scott, Mike Cousins, Rick Duskas, and Scott Kosher.
After the regular scheduled
qualifying heat races, it was time for the main events for all classes.
The first event lined up in the staging area was the GM Crate powered
Late Models. The class has now
grown to 5 cars, and it was Dale Caswell piloting his car to victory lane.
If you recall, Caswell already had a win earlier in the evening in the
opening IMCA modified feature, and he wasn’t finished yet.
The next feature to take to the
fast half mile Can Am track was the Street Stock class.
Rod Wadforth had been the man to beat in the previous events in 2009, but
this time it was former Can Am Street Stock champion Dave Mannise in victory
lane at the end of the 15-lap event. The
race was red flagged just prior to the halfway mark as Dave Pope flipped his car
in turn 2. Pope was not injured in
the incident, but the car suffered heavy damage.
Wadforth, Phil Walker, Russ Marsden and Todd Raabe completed the top 5
spots.
The main attraction on the
evening, the Big Block/Small Block Modifieds were next up.
Justin Haers, making the trip from his Phelps, New York home was the
winner, holding off hometown hero Scott Parliament.
The dry slick racetrack played into the hands of Lance Willix with his
very strong small block, finishing third, followed by Billy Dunn, and sophomore
competitor Chris Higgins.
The Sportsman class lined up in
the staging area for their main event, and it was a wild night for the popular
division. 28 cars took the green
flag, for the 20-lap event. Matt
Hulsizer was the race winner followed by a career Can-Am best for Beth
Schneider, a team car to race winner Hulsizer.
Sammy Reakes finished third, followed by Chris Raabe, and a fast charging
Brandon Sweet, who came up through the field after a mid race accident sent him
to the pits for repairs.
The Pure Stock win went to
Shane Ray, and Dale Caswell picked up an Unprecedented third win on the evening
by picking up the IMCA modified win.
On Saturday night, the action
shifted north to the Brockville Ontario Speedway for Luna Pizzeria night. The McNamee concrete Vintage Modifieds joined a regular show
of Modifieds, Sportsman, Street Stocks, and the 4cylinder Rookie division.
The Street Stocks were the
first feature of the evening, and it was a first time Brockville Speedway winner
for the second week in a row, as Massena, New York second-generation racer Kevin
Fetterly Jr. picked up the win. 2008
Street Stock champion Steve Billings finished second for the third week in a
row. Bill Code was third, last week’s winner Brock Cullen was
fourth and Darrick Eaton rounded out the top 5.
The McNamee Concrete Vintage
Modifieds were up next with Wayne Riddell leading the field to the green flag. Jason Powers and Clay McNamee were the big movers as they set
their sights on the Riddell car, and at the end of the 12-lap event, it was
Powers in victory lane with Clay McNamee in hot pursuit.
Riddell finished third, followed by John Gibson and Denzil Billings.
The modifieds were up next, and
it was special evening for everyone at the Speedway. June 7th marked
the 40th Anniversary of the Brockville Ontario Speedway, as they
opened their doors for the first time in 1969.
The competitors were looking to dethrone Brockville Speedway reigning
track champion Danny Obrien who also won the first two events of the season so
far. Spencerville’s John Mulder
led the field to the green, with Andy Lloyd filling out the front row. Todd Stewart was on a mission from the drop of the green flag
moving up quickly from his 8th place starting position by running the
extreme bottom groove and quickly showing he was the car to beat on this night.
At the end of the 30-lap event, it was Stewart with a strong win over
Danny Obrien. Kyle Dingwall was third, Tim Obrien was 4th and
Plesis, New York racer Bill Gill finished 5th.
Pat Obrien, making his comeback after suffering a crash in his Big Block
back in late April returned to the drivers seat for the first time.
Unfortunately, Pat was involved in a wreck in the early stages of the
feature, and was unable to resume.
The Sportsman class was up
next, and it turned out to be a marathon. Sportsman
rookies, Dillon Sallows, and Luke Stewart led the field to the green flag and it
was Sallows that jumped out to the early lead.
The dry, slick track was a challenge for some of the competitors who are
not used to such conditions, and after 25 green flag laps, that was mixed in
with 13 caution periods, it was16 year old Brockville racer Matt Billings
picking up the home track win. Randy
Gaudet, who drove to victory on opening night finished in the runner-up position
followed by point leader Adam Turner, Shane Pecore and Sheldon Hoogwerf.
The final event of the night
was the 4cylinder rookie division. Gerry Oszczakiewicz continued his unbeaten streak in 2009 as be picked
up his third win of the season at the Brockville Ontario Speedway.
Oszczakiewicz passed Chris Bakker late in the race to pick up the win.
Bakker finished second, Josh Kirkland, Ron Day, and Dwight Feltham
rounded out the top 5. Lansdowne
racers Frank Mitchell Jr. finish 8th, and Steve Barber finished 12th.
Mitchell was behind the wheel of Steve Barber’s back up car for the
night, as a motor problem on Mitchell’s car was detected earlier in the day.
In other action around the
DIRTcar racing community, on Friday night, Pierre Dagenais was the winner at
Autodrome Edelweiss Speedway. Laurent
Ladouceur, Pierre Mantha, Bobby Herrington and Dan Jalbert finished 2nd
through 5th respectively. At
the Brewerton Speedway it was a Phelps filled top 5, as Chad Phelps picked up
the win over Pat Ward, Ryan Phelps, Tom Sears Jr. and Jimmy Phelps.
On Saturday night, at the
Thunder Alley Speed Park it was the “Teenage Tornado” Chris Raabe picking up
the win over Brandon Sweet. Jeff
Rowe, Mike Trapp, and Christine Martin rounded out the top 5.
Next week, the action once
again returns to the Can-Am Motorsports Park on Friday evening followed by the
Brockville Ontario Speedway on Saturday night for King Edward Auto Parts night. Racing starts at 7:00pm both nights.
Coming up in the future the
World of Outlaw Late Models will be making their northern swing later this
month. On Sunday, June 21st, the popular Late Models will
be at the Cornwall Motor Speedway followed by a trip to the Can-Am Motorsports
Park the following night, Monday June 22nd.
Mark these dates on the calendar, as any race fan will not want to miss
these two evenings of racing.
Modifieds 30 laps: Todd Stewart, Danny O Brien, Kyle Dingwall, Tim O Brien, Bill Gill, David Hebert, Adam Moore, Bryan Rogers, Dave Heaslip, John Mulder, Andy Lloyd, Steve Bilow, Joe Banks, Jason Riddell, Billy Cook, Ryan Poole, Chris King, Gage Morin, Pat O Brien
Sportsman 25 laps: Matt Billings, Randy Gaudet, Adam Turner, Shane Pecore, Sheldon Hoogwerf, Randy Earl, Chris Herbison, Dana Aikins, Tammy Jalbert, Roger Varacalli, Mike Mainse, Jessica Power, Bruce Makinson, Todd Ferguson, Adam Trickey, Tabatha Murphy, Luke Stewart, Joey Evans, Brian Buzzell, Doug O Blenis, Dillon Sallows, Luke Whitteker, Brian Copp, Dave Wilgosh, Dylan Evoy
Street Stocks 15 laps: Kevin Fetterly Jr, Steve Billings, Bill Code, Brock Cullen, Derrick Eaton, Nicholas Gauvreau, Guy Amesse, Danny Mocibob, Steve Kearney, Selena Simzer, Stephane Bussiere, Kevin Jodoin, Jack Code, Brian Billings, Art Brown
Rookies 16 laps: Gerry Oszczakiewicz, Chris Bakker, Josh Kirkland, Ron Day, Dwight Feltham, Chris Lloyd, Brandon Henderson, Frank Mitchell Jr, Taylor McPhee, Ron Tyo, Colin Tracey, Steve Barber, Glen Miller, Scott Walldorf, Richard Barthrolamew, Nolan Swamp
Vintage 12 laps: Jason Powers, Clay McNamee, Wayne Riddell, John Gibson, Denzil Billings, Paul Billings, Brian Comeau, Troy Bergeron, Dave McNamee, John McNamee, Luke McKinnon, Kurtis Martelle.
That is all for this week. Thanks for reading. Please send any comments and suggestions to crevelle@ripnet.comPhoto courtesy of Rick Young - www.rickattheraces.com
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Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - May 30, 2009
Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - May 23, 2009