Connor James Wins Battle Brandt Graham Wins War At LOSC Finale At Flamboro Speedway
By Randy Spencer for Flamboro Speedway - Bennett Chevrolet Flamboro Speedway welcomed the Lucas Oil Sportsman series for their final race of 2017 and the points race like our home series was close making for a nail biter to the very end. Defending champion Brandt Graham led Chad McGlynn by eight points and two fifty lap features would decide the 2017 champ.
Time trials would get the evening underway for twelve cars that would qualify four at a time for six laps each. The weather was warm and sunny and a little humid so the track record of 16.005 set last September by Mike Hrynuik might be challeged. Early on time were 16.3 - 16.6. The top point cars ran last and leader Graham got cose setting the fast time for the night at 16.090. The fast five draw would take place in the pits prior to the first feature to set the top five.
Racing got underway with the Budget Tire Pure Stocks up first. Twelve cars took the green with Leo Labarbera and Mark Thorne pole for this one. Labarbera led lap one but Wayde Thorne in the 43 car would be the new leader next time past. Points leader Doug Moir started ninth but before long he was on Thorne's tail. The two would battle throughout but Moir couldn't get past and Thorne picked up the first checkered flag of the night.
Next up was the first feature for the Klotz Auto Repair & Engine Machine Shop Mini Stocks. Mike Gilmour and Matt Young were pole Gilmour led lap one. Jake Gilbert started third and by lap two he was the new leader and would start to put some distance between himself and the rest of the field. A caution on lap nine as the 45 car of Kaitlyn Wallace spun out of two. On the restart, Gilbert would once again be the leader followed closely by Nick Roth in the 71 and Matt Young. Gilbert continued to lead and would come home the winner.
The Pro Four Modifieds were up with Gillian Hils and Linc Erison leading the field to green. Erison started well leading the first five laps but the top car this year by far is the 15 of Dan Nanticoke. He would get by Erison down the back stretch and would get out to a huge lead winning this one going away.
The Lucas Oil Canadian Vintage Modifieds were back in town with a lucky thirteen cars signed in. Jeremy Barton and Ron Easton were on the pole but T.J. Marshall would be the leader first time past the line. Marshall started to breakaway from the second and third place cars of Steve Trendell and Jason Keen. Those two and 1-2 in ponts and have battled all year. The field was back to even as the 12 car of Darren Dryden was around in four on lap 15. On the restart Marshall continued to lead but Keen moved to second. A green-white-checkered finish was in the cards as Dryden was around again in four on lap 18. Marshall continued to lead as the checkers flew followed by Keen and Trendell.
The first 50 lap feature for the LOSC was up and the top five had changed slightly when the fast five draw took place. Qualifying saw Brandt Graham, Connor James, Kevin Gallant, Chad McGlynn and Doug Cathcart set the fast five. After the re-draw the starting order was Gallant, Graham, Cathcart, McGlynn and James. Gallant led lap one. The first caution came out on lap ten. On the restart Gallant continued to lead with McGlynn close behind. Another caution two laps later and this time McGlynn was the leader on the restart. Gallant tagged the wall on lap 24 and he slid back to fourth and eventually retired to the pits on lap 31. McGlynn once again led on the restart with Graham on his bumper. These two have had a feud on recently and some hard feelings apparently. This was evident as Graham would take the lead with about five to go and heading into three with a few laps left, McGlynn would take Graham out sending him into the wall as both cars hit the wall. Graham would exit his car in three and run to four to confront McGlynn. Both cars were penalized to last running position and not DQ'd as usually happens. That gave the lead and caution-checkers victory to Connor James who was just 17 points back of the leader going in. The final 50 lap race would be for all the marbles and be very exciting!!
After a brief intermission we got into round two of features. Pure Stocks hit the track with Paul Ditner and Mark Dennis up front. Wayde Thorne won the first feature but would be a no show as he was having troubles getting the car started. Ditner led lap one. Eric Crow would be the leader on lap two with Courtney Scott up to second followed by Gary Slama. The 90 car of Slama would take over second out of four on lap ten and would be on Crow's bumper until lap 18 when going into three he got past and would take the checkers.
Mini Stocks were next and Mike Hooper and Kaitlyn Wallace led sixteen cars to green. Wallace led one. An early caution as Mike Gilmour was sideways out of two and the 84 of David Gallinger had no where to go and ran into Gilmour. Neither were able to continue. On the restart Matt Young was the new leader. A new engine seemed to be just what he needed as he was fast on the night. Young would lead for several laps until he and the 86 of Erik Dalla Riva got into each other through 3-4 on lap 12 but no caution. A few laps later Dalla Riva was around in two and caution flew. On the restart it was Rich Schwartzenberg now leading. He was out front and looked like he might win this one but spun through 3-4 on the last lap and that allowed Jake Gilbert to get past and go two for two on the night.
The Pro Fours were next and Mike Westwood and Linc Erison led the field to green. Westwood led early but the 15 car of Dan Nanticoke once again was the class of the field and would take the lead on lap four and ran away and hid from the rest of the field.
The Canadian Vintage Modifieds were next up with Darren Dryden and Bob Gilbert on the pole. Dryden led lap one and started to build a big lead. The field would be back to even as the 57 of Steve Trendell was around in three on lap 12. That wouldn't faze Dryden as he would once again build a healthy lead and win by a fair margin over T.J. Marshall and Jason Keen. Dryden has raced a lot of different divisions this year and with good equipment comes some good results. Congratulations Darren!!
The final race of the night was the second 50 lapper for the LOSC. Alvin McNicol and Brent Wheller were up front for this one. McNicol led early and a caution on lap ten as McNicol, Kevin Gallant and Doug Cathcart were involved. McNicol was black flagged s an invovled car but refused to move. He eventually was given the choice to move or be disqualified and would head to the rear of the field. Connor James would take the lead followed by Brandt Graham. Chad McGlynn's title hopes came to and end on lap 22 as he made his way to the pits. James continued to lead and Graham seemed to be happy with second knowing he would likely be the champ if he finished where he was. A few tries to take the lead but as the checkers flew it was Connor James picking up the win and overall winner on the night and the 2017 LOSC points champion wuld be Brandt Graham.
That brought to a close another exciting night of racing at Bennett Chevrolet Flamboro Speedway. Join us next Saturday, September 23rd for Championship Night where we will crown six champions. The Grisdale Late Models will return with the Budget Tire Pure Stocks, the Klotz Auto Repair & Engine Machine Shop Mini Stocks, the Ray's Auto Centre & Towing Super Stocks, the Pro Four Modifieds and the Lucas Oil Canadian Vintage Modifieds. The Pro Four's and CVM will run three features, the rest will run two. Pits open at 4pm, front gates at 5pm with racing at 630pm. Check the website,
www.flamborospeedway.ca for all the details and the points standings, some are really tight so that will be an all or nothing night for many drivers!!
Thanks to Mike Kiers,
www.cableguyphotos.com for the great pictures!!
Results
LOSC Time Trials : #14 Brandt Graham 16.090, #4 Connor James 16.123, #51 Kevin Gallant 16.286, #18 Chad McGlynn 16.302, #48 Doug Cathcart 16.373, #77 Alvin McNicol 16.679, #61 Brent Wheller 16.680, #8 Adam Martin 16.683, #19 Kevin Trevellin 16.708, #88 Brandon Huras 17.151, #05 Mike Coones 17.268, #43 Bob Merrifield 18.347
LOSC 1st 50 Lap Feature : #4 Connor James, #48 Doug Cathcart, #61 Brent Wheller, #77 Alvin McNicol, #8 Adam Martin, #19 Kevin Trevellin, #18 Chad McGlynn (P-NF), #14 Brandt Graham (P-NF), #51 Kevin Gallant (NF), #88 Brandon Huras (NF), #43 Bob Merrifield (NF), #05 Mike Coones (NF)
LOSC 2nd 50 Lap Feature : #4 Connor James, #14 Brandt Graham, #48 Doug Cathcart, #19 Kevin Trevellin, #61 Brent Wheller, #77 Alvin McNicol, #8 Adam Martin (NF), #18 Chad McGlynn (NF), #51 Kevin Gallant (NF), #88 Brandon Huras (NF), #05 Mike Coones (NF), #43 Bob Merrifield (NS)
LOSC Overall Finish : #4 Connor James, #48 Doug Cathcart, #61 Brent Wheller, #77 Alvin McNicol, #19 Kevin Trevellin, #14 Brandt Graham, #8 Adam Martin, #18 Chad McGlynn, #51 Kevin Gallant, #88 Brandon Huras, #05 Mike Coones, #43 Bob Merrifield
Pure Stock Feature #1 : #43 Wayde Thorne, #23 Doug Moir, #90 Gary Slama, #10 Courtney Scott, #42 Leo Labarbera, #83 Eric Crow, #31 Keara Gallant, #84 Andrea Parsons, #72 Mark Dennis, #61 Paul Ditner, #7 Mat Fraser, #16 Mark Thorne
Pure Stock Feature #2 : #90 Gary Slama, #83 Eric Crow, #10 Courtney Scott, #23 Doug Moir, #72 Mark Dennis, #42 Leo Labarbera, #31 Keara Gallant, #84 Andrea Parsons, #16 Mark Thorne, #7 Matt Fraser, #43 Wayde Thorne (NS)
Mini Stock Feature #1 : #03 Jake Gilbert, #71 Nick Roth, #86 Erik Dalla Riva, #76 Shawn Taylor, #7 Matt Young, #61 Allie Ditner, #72 Rich Schwartzenberg, #5 Jonathan Ayrton, #33 Mike Gilmour, #84 David Gallinger, #45 Kaitlyn Wallace, #77 Mike Hooper, #07 Michael Kenny, #11 Jason Leblanc, #79 Kyle Istead, #13 Bobby Tolton (NF)
Mini Stock Feature #2 : #03 Jake Gilbert, #61 Allie Ditner, #76 Shawn Taylor, #71 Nick Roth, #5 Jonathan Ayrton, #45 Kaitlyn Wallace, #79 Kyle Istead, #7 Matt Young, #13 Bobby Tolton, #77 Mike Hooper, #07 Michael Kenny, #11 Jason Leblanc, #72 Rich Schwartzenberg, #86 Erik Dalla Riva (NF), #33 Mike Gilmour (NF), #84 David Gallinger (NF)
Pro Four Modified Feature #1 : #15 Dan Nanticoke, #93 Dan Petit, #68 Bobby Mercer, #36 Dave Hodgkinson, #23 Linc Erison, #84 Vic Devries, #32 Gillian Hils, #9 David Owen (NF), #91 Mike Westwood (NS)
Pro Four Modified Feature #2 : #15 Dan Nanticoke, #36 Dave Hodgkinson, #93 Dan Petit, #68 Bobby Mercer, #91 Mike Westwood, #9 David Owen, #23 Linc Erison, #84 Vic Devries, #32 Gillian Hils
Canadian Vintage Modified Feature #1 : #15 T.J. Marshall. #18 Jason Keen, #57 Steve Trendell, #00 Ron Easton, #84 Jeremy Barton, #5 Ian McIntyre, #03 Bob Gilbert, #654 Max Wright, #12 Darren Dryden, #80 Amanda Stoner, #92 Sean Gibson, #88 Bll Stoner (NF), #33 Rodney Rutherford (NF)
Canadian Vintage Modified Feature #2 : #12 Darren Dryden, #15 T.J. Marshall, #18 Jason Keen, #00 Ron Easton, #57 STeve Trendell, #5 Ian McIntyre, #84 Jeremy Barton, #03 Bob Gilbert, #92 Sean Gibson, #80 Amanda Stoner, #88 Bill Stoner (NF), #654 Max Wright (NF), #33 Rodney Rutherford (NF)
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=25182.msg117749#msg117749
