Two For Two As The “Jet” Buzzes Ohsweken In Southern Ontario Sprint Action
For Immediate Release: (Ken Pelkie for SOS)
The green flag dropped at Ohsweken Speedway Friday night as the 2007
season swung into action. The Southern Ontario Sprints were the
headlining attraction as the “Joyceville Jet” Rick Wilson found his way
into victory lane. Rob Pietz turned in his best performance ever at
Ohsweken in a sprint car as he run down the high flying Wilson in the
closing laps to the cheers of the huge crowd but could not quite
complete a pass on the high flying veteran.
In a post race interview Wilson stated “I got hung up behind a couple of
lapped cars and lost a lot of ground. I didn’t have enough gear in the
car to run the bottom of the track but the car was good on the top. Rob
must have been going good to get beside me but I could have pushed a bit
harder if I had to. It has been a while since we have won here at
Ohsweken and that feels pretty good. I race at a lot of different track
but this one is the smoothest that I race on anywhere” concluded Wilson.
For the second week in a row, pole sitter Craig Downie grabbed an early
lead at the drop of the green from the 24 car starting field and set the
early pace. Warren Mahoney, Kevin Job, Bob Crawford and Kyle Patrick
lined up to chase the leader through the early stages of the twenty lap
event.
The first of four cautions waved on lap two as Keith Dempster lost the
handle on the 5 at the exit of turn two. As the field took the green
flag to restart the event the second caution flew as Glenn Styres in the
Ohsweken Speedway team car to Dempster looped in the same spot in turn two.
When the green flag reappeared, Downie continued to set the pace as Job,
Mahoney, Patrick and Wilson gave chase. The five ran this way until the
third caution of the event appeared as Joel Lehman came to a stop in
turn two.
Downie once again set the pace as the green reappeared on the speedway.
Patrick and Wilson quickly moved around Job to claim second and third
with Patrick overhauling Downie at the completion of lap seven. Wilson
slipped by Downie on lap eight and Patrick continued to lead until
entering the first turn on lap nine. The right front wheel left the 33k
machine as Patrick was able to maintain control and limp to a stop in
the exit road in turn two.
With Wilson now the leader, the green flagged wave one last time. Job
and Crawford moved around Downie on lap eleven as Pietz entered the top
five. On lap fourteen, Pietz gained second spot and set sights on the
leader Wilson. Downie began to show signs of mechanical problems as
Dempster was closing in on the top five. Pietz was able to pull along
side Wilson during the final laps but the determined Wilson held on to
capture his second win of the season. Following Pietz were Job,
Crawford, and Dempster completing the top five. Warren Mahoney finished
sixth with Downie hanging on for seventh. Styres, Fred Cade, and Adam
West rounded out the top ten.
Heat races were won by Warren Mahoney, Kyle Patrick, Rick Wilson, and
Bob Crawford. Jamie Collard captured the “B” Main.
Next up on June 8th the series will return to Ohsweken Speedway Friday
night before moving back to Brighton Speedway the following night, June
9th.
Be sure to come out to a speedway near you as the series continues on
it’s 2007 tour and for all of the latest news and information on the
Southern Ontario Sprints be sure to log on to the official website at
www.southernontariosprints.com.
Results: 32 cars in Pit
Heat #1
1/ 25 - Warren MAHONEY (Lefroy, ON)
2/ 0 - Glenn STYRES (Ohsweken, ON)
3/ 21x - Kevin JOB (Campbellville, ON)
4/ 27H - Tom HUPPUNEN (Fenwick, ON)
5/ 21j - John BURBRIDGE (Simcoe, ON)
6/ 37F - Jamie COLLARD (Princeton, ON)
7/ 83 - James WHITTAKER (Lynden, ON) *R*
8/ 22 - Jim PORTER (Grand Island, NY)
Heat #2
1/ 33k - Kyle PATRICK (Tilbury, ON)
2/ 30 - Adam WEST (Ridgetown, ON)
3/ 94 - Stan ZANCHIN (Fort Erie, ON)
4/ 26 - John WATSON (St. Thomas, ON)
5/ 4Z - Joel LEHMAN ( Elora, ON)
6/ 15 - Mike FERRELL (London, ON) *R*
7/ 5M - Brad MALLOY (Niagara Falls, ON)
8/ 15aw - April WILSON (Joyceville, ON)*R*
Heat #3
1/42W - Rick WILSON (Joyceville, ON)
2/71 - Craig DOWNIE (Burlington, ON)
3/ 11m - Joe MIDDLEMISS (Chippawa, ON)
4/ 05 - Mark SWAIN (Port Perry, ON)
5/ 71Jr - Jason PIETZ (Gasline, ON)
6/ 29 - Daryl TURFORD (Mitchell, ON)
7/ 79 - Dick MAHONEY (Newmarket, ON)
8/ 69 - Garry EVANS (London, ON)
Heat #4
1/ 10 - Bob CRAWFORD (Sutton, ON)
2/ 5 - Keith DEMPSTER (Alton, ON)
3/ 69P - Rob PIETZ (Gasline, ON)
4/ 12c - Fred CADE (Niagara Falls, ON)
5/ 9JR - Tim ZACH (Dain City, ON)
6/ 10m - Rob MIDDLEMISS (Niagara Falls, ON)
7/ 81 - Derek JONATHON (Lockport, NY)
8/ 14 - Bill BALDWIN (Courtice, ON)
“A” MAIN
1/ 42W - Rick WILSON (11)
2/ 69P - Rob PIETZ (12)
3/ 21X - Kevin JOB (7)
4/ 10 - Bob CRAWFORD (5)
5/ 5 - Keith DEMPSTER (6)
6/ 25 - Warren MAHONEY (2)
7/ 71 - Craig DOWNIE (1)
8/ 0 - Glenn STYRES (9)
9/ 12c - Fred CADE (16)
10/ 30 - Adam WEST (10)
11/ 37F - Jamie COLLARD (21)
12/ 21J - John BURBRIDGE (17)
13/ 9JR - Tim ZACH (20)
14/ 94 - Stan ZANCHIN (3)
15/ 11m - Joe MIDDLEMISS (4)
16/ 05 - Mark SWAIN (15)
17/ 83 - James WHITTAKER (24)
18/ 15 - Mike FERRELL ( 22)
19/ 10m - Rob MIDDLEMISS (23)
20/ 4Z - Joel LEHMAN (18)
21/ 26 - John WATSON (14)
22/ 33K - Kyle PATRICK (
23/ 71Jr - Jason PIETZ (19)
24/ 27H - Tom HUPPUNEN (13)
KENETIC Photos Hard Charger after May 18th:
1 Jamie COLLARD 20
2 Rick WILSON 19
3 Rob MIDDLEMISS 11
4 Mike FERRELL 11
5 Rob PIETZ 10
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=6044.msg24941#msg24941
