On a beautiful Saturday night a capacity crowd poured into the stands to
see the Southern Ontario Sprints presented by Sanderson’s Automotive at
Brighton Speedway for their first trip to the track on the shores of
Lake Ontario in 2012 .
Among the 18 teams that rolled into the pits to compete for the evening
were 2 local late model drivers making their debut as rookie sprint car
stars. Charlie Sandercock had been doing some testing in the #57 and it
showed. Charlie would finish 4th in his first ever sprint car race.
Caley Weese was called up to replace Dick Mahoney in the #79. Dick is
recovering from some off season minor surgery and served as Race
Director for the event.
It was not a great start to the season for #25 Warren Mahoney as he did
a 360 on the tail tank before landing on the top wing in the second heat
race of the night. Track crews righted the #25 and Mahoney continued on
to finish 3rd in the heat, making for some interesting footage for the
TV film crew that was on hand taping the event for a reality TV series
in development featuring the Southern Ontario Sprints.
The #11 of Chris Jones and #30 Adam West would lead the field to green
with Jones jumping out to the early lead. Jones, who won his heat race
earlier in the evening would lead until lap seven when #5 Keith Dempster
would hit the front straight wall hard and flip before coming to a stop
at the flag stand. Dempster was able to walk away but his #5 suffered
heavy damage and was done for the evening. On the restart #07x Dain
Naida pulled into the lead past Jones with #42w Rick Wilson in second
battling with #30 Adam West. Naida’s car suddenly slowed on the back
stretch in front of the field to bring out a caution as he seemed to
coast without power. Naida restarted at the tail of the field, only to
have the problem resurface on the restart forcing him to retire for the
night with terminal driveline problems. On the ensuing restart, the new
battle at the front would be between Prince Edward County Star Jones and
fan favorite “The Joyceville Jet” Rick Wilson. With Wilson at the top
side and Jones running the lower line the two raced side by side in an
intense race where the lead swapped positions a number of times. In
behind them an equally intense battle was thrilling the crowd as #25
“Wiley” Warren Mahoney was up high and rookie Sandercock was down low.
Rick Wilson would pick up his 20th career Sprint Feature at Brighton
followed by #11 Jones and #67 Chris Durand, who equaled his previous
best finish with a 3rd. #57 Charlie Sandercock had a fantastic rookie
drive moving to 4th all the way from his 16th starting spot. #25 Warren
Mahoney rounded out the top five.
NOTES
- Bob Crawford debuted his beautiful brand new Eagle Chassis #10 entry,
however he was unable to start the feature due to shift linkage issues.
- Ron and Judy Ferrell, the SOS merchandise team, debuted the 17th
season merchandise lineup. See them at the SOS booth in front of the
grandstand at all SOS events.
- The fastest tour in Ontario gets back in action for round three of the
SOS schedule Saturday, June 16th at Brighton Speedway.
2012 SOS EVENT #2
Brighton Speedway - Brighton, Ontario
ENTRIES (18 cars)
(Number Name - Hometown)
01 Kyle Fraser - White Lake
2 Brad Lodge – Stouffville
5 Keith Dempster - Alton
07x Dain Naida - Tecumseh, MI
9 Jim Munsie - Newmarket
10 Bob Crawford - Sutton
11 Chris Jones – Carrying Place
15 Mike Ferrell - London
15aw April Wilson – Joyceville
25 Warren Mahoney - Lefroy
30 Adam West - Ridgetown
42w Rick Wilson - Joyceville
51 Lee Ladouceur - Alexandria
57 Charlie Sandercock ® - Carrying Place
66 Frank Baranowski - Mount Hope
67 Chris Durand - Port Stanley
79c Caley Weese ® - Carrying Place
98 Paul Pekkonen - Brockville
HEAT RACES
(top 3 finishers redraw for feature starting positions)
HEAT RACE #1
(8 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 51 Lee Ladouceur (4)
2. 42w Rick Wilson (5)
3. 67 Chris Durand (1)
4. 15aw April Wilson (3)
5. 2 Brad Lodge (6)
6. 66 Frank Baranowski (2)
HEAT RACE #2
(8 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 30 Adam West (2)
2. 01 Kyle Fraser (1)
3. 25 Warren Mahoney (4)
4. 98 Paul Pekkonen (3)
5. 57 Charlie Sandercock ® (6)
6. 15 Mike Ferrell (5)
HEAT RACE #3
(8 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 11 Chris Jones (3)
2. 5 Keith Dempster (5)
3. 07x Dain Naida (4)
4. 10 Bob Crawford (1)
5. 9 Jim Munsie (5)
6. 79c Caley Weese ® (6)
SOS 'A' FEATURE
(20 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 42w Rick Wilson (6)
2. 11 Chris Jones (1)
3. 67 Chris Durand (3)
4. 57 Charlie Sandercock ® (17)
5. 25 Warren Mahoney (
6. 51 Lee Ladouceur (5)
7. 15aw April Wilson (10)
8. 98 Paul Pekkonen (11)
9. 9 Jim Munsie (14)
10. 2 Brad Lodge (13)
11. 79c Caley Weese ® (18)
12. 66 Frank Baranowski (15)
13. 30 Adam West (2)
14. 01 Kyle Fraser (9)
15. 07x Dain Naida (7)
16. 5 Keith Dempster (4)
17. 15 Mike Ferrell (16)
18. 10 Bob Crawford (DNS)
UNOFFICIAL TOP 5 IN POINTS AFTER ROUND #2 (Rank. Number Name Points) 1.
11 Chris Jones 2. 67 Chris Durand 3. 51 Lee Ladouceur 4. 42w Rick Wilson
5. 15 Mike Ferrell
The Southern Ontario Sprints would like to thank their 2012 partners:
Wiseco Pistons, XXX Race Co., Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, The Racer’s
Edge, The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum, ImageFactor.ca,
Kreitz Oval Track Parts, Sanderson’s Automotive and Ontario Oval.com
Find The Southern Ontario Sprints online at:
www.southernontariosprints.comFollow The Southern Ontario Sprints on Twitter: @sossprints
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