BACK AT BRIGHTON: SOUTHERN ONTARIO SPRINTS OPEN FOURTEENTH SEASON ON SATURDAY NIGHT
By Tommy Goudge (May 6, 2009) � A sure sign of spring in Ontario is the opening of Sprint Car racing season. This Saturday night, the Southern Ontario Sprints tour will return to familiar territory when Brighton Speedway hosts the SOS season opener for the tenth year in a row.
Glenn Styres enters the 2009 season as the driver to beat on the SOS tour. Styres claimed his second consecutive SOS points championship and third overall last season on the strength of three feature wins and eight top ten finishes. Overall in his career at Brighton, Styres has claimed seven feature wins, including two last season.
Always a fan favourite at Brighton, Joyceville�s Rick Wilson will try to add to his stellar record at the Northumberland County oval this weekend. In thirty-one career Sprint Car events at Brighton, Wilson has claimed twelve feature victories, along with eleven runner-up finishes. The �Joyceville Jet� had a sub-par season by his standards last year, with only two feature wins in sprint car competition � the all time SOS feature win leader�s lowest total in eight years.
Keith Dempster also has seven career feature wins at Brighton, and 2008 championship runner-up Warren Mahoney has three, but neither have visited victory lane at the Rinaldi family�s facility since the 2003 season. Rick Wilson�s son Kyle is also no stranger to Brighton�s victory lane, since he�s visited that spot on three separate occasions, most recently in 2005. 2008 Rookie of the Year award winner Ryan Hunsinger claimed two feature wins during Labour Day Classic weekend at the Speedway last season.
Finishing the list of active SOS drivers with feature wins at Brighton are Kevin Job, Dick Mahoney and Adam West, each of whom have one career feature win at the track. Mahoney�s triumph came during the 2007 Labour Day Classic weekend, while Job�s victory came just a few weeks earlier in August 2007. West has fond memories of Brighton as the site of his first career sprint car feature win, which came during his championship season in 2005.
Others expected in competition on Saturday night and looking to add their names to Brighton�s sprint car win list include; Chris Jones, Bill Baldwin, April Wilson, Justin Martin, Bob Crawford, rookies Tyler Rand and Paul Pekkonen, and more!
Don�t miss the first Sprint Car event of the Ontario racing season on Saturday, May 9th! Rock 107 and Van Zuylen Tire will present the evening�s activities, featuring the Southern Ontario Sprints season opener presented by Holiday Inn of Trenton, along with Brighton�s popular Canadian Modifieds, Pro Stocks, and Comp 4�s. Make sure to come early and catch Brighton�s new pre-race show, the Lucas Oil Hot Seat, LIVE in the courtyard starting at 6:20 p.m.
WHAT:
Southern Ontario Sprints 2009 Season, Round #1
www.SouthernOntarioSprints.comWHERE:
Brighton Speedway
775 County Road 64
Brighton, Ontario
K0K 1H0
Phone: (613)-475-1102 or toll free 1-(866)-681-1102
e-mail: info@brightonspeedway.com
On the Web:
www.brightonspeedway.comWHEN:
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Pit Gates open @ 3:00p.m., Spectator Gates Open @ 5:30p.m., Sprint Car Hot Laps @ 5:50p.m., Racing @ 7:00p.m.
Tickets: $18 Adults, $14 Youth and Seniors, $4 Children Ages 7-12, FREE Children Ages 6 and Under, $45 Family Pass
** Advance ticket sales are available for all SOS events at Brighton Speedway in 2009. Visit
www.BrightonSpeedway.com for details. **
Please visit
www.SouthernOntarioSprints.com for more news and information about the Southern Ontario Sprints. 2009 marks the 14th year of operation for the Southern Ontario Sprints. Nine Championship Points events are on the schedule this season, plus five special non-points events. Together they create the fourteen race 2009 schedule, brought to you by Wiseco Performance, ASi Racewear, BS&B Radiator, Fatheadz Eyewear, Triple X Race Co., Kenetic Photos, and
www.ImageFactor.ca.
SOUTHERN ONTARIO SPRINTS HISTORY
BRIGHTON SPEEDWAY
SEASON OPENER WINNERS
May 6, 2000 - 5k Keith Dempster
May 5, 2001 - 6 Ryan Coniam
May 4, 2002 - 42 Rick Wilson
May 3, 2003 - 16w Kyle Wilson
May 1, 2004 - 6 Cody Geldart
May 7, 2005 - 30 Adam West
May 6, 2006 - 0 Glenn Styres
May 12, 2007 - 42w Rick Wilson
May 10, 2008 - 42w Rick Wilson
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=9583.msg66872#msg66872
