by Tommy Goudge (May 16, 2008), Ohsweken, Ontario –
Clear skies greeted fans and racers for Opening Night presented by Corr/Pak Merchandising at Ohsweken Speedway on Friday night. When all the races were in the books, 3 familiar faces and 1 new one had graced Engine Pro Racing/Melling Performance Pumps/Ferrara Valves Victory Lane. Glenn Styres won the Corr/Pak Sprint Car feature, Cody MacPherson took the checkered flag in the ESSO Thunderstocks, Abel Castelein was victorious in ESSO Mini-Stocks, and newcomer Karl Sault took home feature win honours in the inaugural Fun Stock feature.
32 drivers signed in to compete in the first ever event for Ohsweken’s new Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Car division on Friday night. With a very strong field of local teams, and invaders from New York and Michigan also on hand, the competition was intense throughout the evening. Many very fast drivers found themselves in the B-Main, and only the top 5 transferred to the big 20 lap feature. Salamanca, New York’s Jared Zimbardi (Sprint Car #35) and Ohsweken Speedway co-owner Glenn Styres (Sprint Car #0) paced the 20 car field to the green flag, with “the Ohsweken Flyer” getting ahead of “The Juice” and setting sail out front. Styres last won a Sprint Car feature at the Brighton Speedway on May 6, 2006 and it was obvious he did not want the winless streak to go any longer. The other front-runners were never too far behind during the non-stop affair, and when Styres encountered lapped traffic, Zimbardi and a hard charging Fred Cade (Sprint Car #12c) began to close in slightly on Styres while they waged a spirited battle for the second position, but they could not catch the orange and white #0 car. Cade eventually prevailed for 2nd, leaving Zimbardi to settle for 3rd in front of Rob Pietz (Sprint Car #69ez) and Styres’ team-mate Keith Dempster (Sprint Car #5).
Dave Dykstra (Sprint Car #5d) took the B-Main while Styres, Zimbardi, John Riegling (Sprint Car #1a), and Pietz collected wins in the 4 heat races. Kyle Patrick (Sprint Car #33k) flipped hard in turn 1 at the start of the 4th heat race and was checked over by the track medical staff due to pain in his knee and ankle. Kyle will recover from his bumps and bruises, but the same cannot be said of his once-beautiful sprinter, which suffered a badly damaged frame in the incident.
The ESSO Thunder-Stock feature was also closely contested, with 2007 Merrittville Speedway Thunder-Stock 2nd place points finisher Cody MacPherson (Thunder Stock #777) starting on the front row, and Vince Fargnoli (Thunder Stock #55f) to his outside. MacPherson took the lead at the start and led all 15 laps, but defending track champion Brad Bacher (Thunder Stock #3) had the high groove working well while moving up from his starting spot inside row 3 and was in hot pursuit of MacPherson’s #777 after a caution bunched the field. Bacher could not track down MacPherson before the checkered flag flew however, while Shane Pierce (Thunder-Stock #88), Fargnoli, and Glen Leinen (Thunder Stock #9) rounded out the top 5. Heat Race victories went to MacPherson and Fargnoli.
A fine field of 28 ESSO Mini-Stocks were in the pits for opening night to contest the first feature event of 2008 on the Ohsweken clay. Rick Robinson (Mini-Stock #05) and Chris Hess (Mini-Stock #7x) brought the field to the green flag, with Robinson getting the early lead, but defending Ohsweken and Merrittville champion Abel Castelein (Mini-Stock #28) quickly advanced from his starting spot outside row 3 to contend for the lead. Castelein and Robinson raced side-by-side for a number of laps before Castelein finally got ahead of the #05, which is shared throughout each season by drivers Robinson and David Goodacre, with a few laps to go. It was a special moment in victory lane as Matt Castelein was there to congratulate Abe. Heat wins went to Mitchell Brown (Mini-Stock #10) Mike Evers (Mini-Stock #265), and Jim Swing (Mini-Stock #40). Kelly Hallett arrived late to the track and did not contest a heat race, forcing the #88 to the tail of the feature, but at the completion of the 15 lap feature the great-looking black and green machine was found all the way up in the 7th position. Rookie Wyatt Van Wart ran steadily in his first race at Ohsweken, starting 21st and finishing 16th in his #04 Volkswagen.
3 Fun Stocks showed up for opening night and ran a 15 lap feature with Karl Sault (Fun Stock #81), Chris Hils(Fun Stock #818), and Steven Hils (Fun Stock #5) finishing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. The inexpensive entry level class is expected to grow as the season moves along.
Friday Night Thunder resumes next Friday, May 23 when Iroquois Poker presents another action packed 4-division event featuring the Corr/Pak Winged Sprints, ESSO Thunderstocks, ESSO Mini-Stocks, and Fun Stocks.
Please visit
www.OhswekenSpeedway.com for more information.
OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY FRIDAY NIGHT THUNDER
ROUND 1 RESULTS – MAY 16, 2008
FUN STOCKS A FEATURE (15 laps):
1. 81 Karl Sault, 2. 818 Chris Hils, 3. 5 Steven Hils
ESSO MINI-STOCKS
Heat 1:
1. 10-Mitchell Brown, 2. 7x Chris Hess, 3. 72 Kevin Hilborn, 4. 397 Brent Hill, 5. 55 Rob Slater, 6. 77x Chris Teal, 7. 777x Steve Hess, 8. 02 Erin Bailey, 9. 04 Wyatt Van Wart
Heat 2:
1. 265 Mike Evers, 2. 05 Rick Robinson, 3. 79 Dan Miller, 4. 11 Mike Giberson, 5. 113 Mark Thorne, 6. 10s James Small, 7. 39 Jim Pochrane, 8. 31 Dave Bailey,
9. 23 A.J. Castelein
Heat 3:
1. 40 Jim Swing, 2. 28 Abel Castelein, 3. 4p Mike Peterson, 4. 14x Ron Cosco, 5. 86 Rick Emberson, 6. 27 Dan Stewart, 7. 14 Kerry Smith, 8. 49 Nick Ruth, 9. 20 Chris Spencer
MINI-STOCKS A-FEATURE (15 laps):
Position # Name (Starting Position)
1. 28 Abel Castelein (6),
2. 05 Rick Robinson (1),
3. 10 Mitchell Brown (5),
4. 72 Kevin Hilborn (7),
5. 113 Mark Thorne (14),
6. 40 Jim Swing (3),
7. 88 Kelly Hallett (28),
8. 79 Dan Miller (
,
9. 86 Rick Emberson (15),
10. 11 Mike Giberson (11),
11. 27 Dan Stewart (17),
12. 777x Steve Hess (26),
13. 397 Brent Hill (10),
14. 14x Ron Cosco (12),
15. 10s James Small (16),
16. 04 Wyatt Van Wart (21),
17. 14 Kerry Smith (19),
18. 49 Nick Ruth (23),
19. 39 Jim Pochrane (18),
20. 20 Chris Spencer (25),
21. 31 Dave Bailey (20) DNF,
22. 4p Mike Peterson (9) DNF,
23. 23 A.J. Castelein (22) DNF,
24. 55 Rob Slater (13) DNF,
25. 265 Mike Evers (4) DNF,
26. 02 Erin Bailey (27),
27. 77x Chris Teal (24) DNS,
28. 7x Chris Hess (2) DNS
ESSO THUNDER STOCKS
Heat 1:
1. 777 Cody MacPherson, 2. 88, 3. 3 Brad Bacher, 4. 55 Mike Thorne,
5. 40 Terry Osmond, 6. 11 Michelle Johnson, 7. 13 Mark Saul
Heat 2:
1. 55f Vince Fargnoli, 2. 62 Brian Pescetti, 3. 8 Ryan Dinning, 4. 1 Chris Dickie,
5. 2 Lee Winger, 6. 9 Glenn Leinen
ESSO THUNDER STOCKS A-FEATURE (15 laps):
Position # Name (Starting Position)
1. 777 Cody MacPherson (1),
2. 3 Brad Bacher (5),
3. 88 Shane Pierce (3),
4. 55f Vince Fargnoli (2),
5. 9 Glenn Leinen (13),
6. 55 Mike Thorne (7),
7. 8 Ryan Dinning (6),
8. 40 Terry Osmond (9),
9. 62 Brian Pescetti (4),
10. 1 Chris Dickie (
,
11. 2 Lee Winger (12),
12. 11 Michelle Johnson (10) DNF,
13. 13 Mark Saul (11) DNF
CORR/PAK MERCHANDISING SPRINT CARS
BS&B RADIATORS Heat Race #1:
1. 0 Glenn Styres, 2. 5m Brad Malloy, 3. 11j Chris Jones, 4. 94 Stan Zanchin, 5. 5d Dave Dykstra, 6. 71c Chris Hettinger, 7. 20 Jeff Daniels, 8. 9jr Tim Zack DNS
BEST WESTERN CAIRN CROFT HOTEL Heat Race #2
1. 35 Jared Zimbardi, 2. 32 Justin Barger, 3. 5 Keith Dempster, 4. 22 Jim Porter,5. 6n Dain Naida, 6. 66 Frank Baranowski, 7. 69r Kris Root DNF, 8. 71jr Jason Pietz DNF
GRISDALE RACING PRODUCTS Heat Race #3
1. 1a John Riegling, 2. 12c Fred Cade, 3. 19jr Rob Ledingham, 4. 21x Kevin Job,5. 71 Craig Downie, 6. 01jr Barry Beck, 7. 7 Jim Price DNS,
8. 31 John Burbridge Jr. DNS
AWESOME RACEWEAR Heat Race #4
1. 69 Rob Pietz, 2. 21 John Burbridge, Sr., 3. 10 Bob Crawford,
4. 77x Ryan Hunsinger, 5. 47x Louie Carufel, 6. 33k Kyle Patrick DNF,
7. 81 Derek Jonathon DNS, 8. 01 Mikey Kruchka DNS
B-MAIN
1. 5d Dave Dykstra, 2. 6n Dain Naida, 3. 47x Louie Carufel, 4. 9jr Tim Zack, 5. 71jr Jason Pietz, 6. 20 Jeff Daniels 7. 71c Chris Hettinger, 8. 31 John Burbridge, Jr., 9. 01 Mikey Kruchka, 10. 7 Jim Price, 11. 66 Frank Baranowski, 12. 01jr Barry Beck, Jr., 13. 71 Craig Downie DNS, 14. 69r Kris Root DNS
SCRATCHED AFTER HEATS:
81 Derek Jonathon (mechanical),
33k Kyle Patrick (crash),
21 John Burbridge, Sr. (mechanical)
CORR/PAK MERCHANDISING SPRINT CAR A-FEATURE
1. 0 Glenn Styres (2),
2. 12c Fred Cade (6),
3. 35 Jared Zimbardi (1),
4. 69 Rob Pietz (7),
5. 5 Keith Dempster (4),
6. 5m Brad Malloy (9),
7. 6n Dain Naida (17),
8. 21x Kevin Job (15),
9. 22 Jim Porter (12),
10. 11j Chris Jones (5),
11. 19jr Rob Ledingham (11),
12. 47x Louie Carufel (18),
13. 5d Dave Dykstra (16),
14. 77x Ryan Hunsinger (14),
15. 1a John Riegling (3),
16. 94 Stan Zanchin (13) DNF,
17. 10 Bob Crawford (10) DNF,
18. 32 Justin Barger (
DNF,
19. 9jr Tim Zack (19) DNF,
20. 71jr Jason Pietz (20) DNF
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