Shepherd and Quesnelle Check into Winners Circle at High Line ---------------- by Dave Vokey
Barrie Speedway's would enter the final month of the season in fine style on Aug 17, as all three divisions featured many hotly contested and sportmanlike on track battles throughout the evening on Air Liquide Night. The evenings big winner's in the track's featured Wahta Springs Late Model division were ironically enough the top two in the season long point standings, as #10 Gord Shepherd of Oro Station and #57 Ron "The Dominator" Quesnelle of Penetang each would capture a 30 lap feature race win. Point leader Shepherd would take the opening 30 lap feature race, and followed that up with a 5th place showing in the 30 lap finale to the evening, while Quesnelle would rebound nicely after a hard crash into the turn 1 wall at the midway point of the first affair, to take his Sunrise Toyota Camry to victory lane for the third time this season.
In the initial 30, it was #74 Roy Manary of Gravenhurst who burst out to the lead from pole positioning, as #5 Mike "The Hulkamaniac" Langley alertly found the inside line to land in 2nd, with an impressive side by side battle shaping up for third involving #24 Leonard "The Bandit" Johnston and #44x Rick "Big Dog" Meyer of Orillia, as Johnston was able to take the position with a clean inside move between turns 3&4 just a couple laps in. Also fast on the move was the 10 of Shepherd, as the 2009 division champ landed in 4th place by lap six, and began to pressure Johnston for 3rd, with Johnston remaining game and able to momentarily fend off the stern Shepherd charge. Johnston, would seemingly feel the heat from behind, as the rookie stalwart, would pull along the top side of Langley for 2nd but was unable to make the pass stick. This turn of events would open up the necessary room for Shepherd to take 3rd, with a smooth inside pass of Johnston as the duo raced into turn three on lap 10. Just two laps later, it was another front runner who found Johnston's back bumper, as #14 "Hurricane" Thayne Hallyburton of Hillsdale executing a cunning inside move to claim 4th in the running order.
Nearing the midway mark, Shepherd had now got to the inside of Langley for second, with the two drivers racing door handle to door handle, with neither giving an inch, as leader Manary was remaining poised on the point and holding a two car length lead on the afore mentioned duo. With Langley and Shepherd locked in a heated battle for 2nd, Shepherd would eventually gain the advantage, with Hallyburton pulling along the high side of Langley in an attempt to wrestle away 3rd. Unfortunately, as Hallyburton took to the high side, Quesnelle was right there as well, with the ensuing contact between the pair sending Quesnelle for a hard lick on the outside retaining wall in turn 1, thus ending the 2011 track champ's race early, and sending Hallyburton to the tail of the field as an involved car. This turn of events would bring the strong Progressive Waste Solutions/ Montana's Cookhouse #10 of Shepherd to Manary's outside for the restart, as Shepherd quickly powered to the point after finding the necessary traction to make the outside pass work on the exit of turn 2. Manary, would soon fall back into the clutches of Johnston for 2nd, as the latter took the position on lap 16 on the outer groove in turn one. Nearing ten laps remaining the man on the move was #91 Andre Pepin of Midland, as the silky smooth driver would work past Manary for third, with #69 Al "Red Rocket" Inglis tucked in the pocket behind that duo. On lap 20, Inglis would get to Manary's inside between turns 1&2 to progress to 4th in the running order, as leader Shepherd was now clear of Johnston by 3 car lengths at the front of the pack. Inside of five laps remaining, Pepin was cranking up the heat on Johnston, as Pepin would slot into runner up positioning with a clean pass in turn 1, as Hallyburton was also now nearing the front after his earlier misfortune, passing Manary to claim 5th place. Over the duration, Shepherd soldiered on at the point with laps in the 14.9 second range, with the talented wheelman able to hold off the oncoming Pepin to take his 8th feature win of the season by 3 car lengths at the checkered. Last weeks winner's Pepin and Johnston would finish 2nd and 3rd respectively, with Inglis and Hallyburton rounding out the fast five.
In the 30 lap nightcap to the evening, it was #44 Mike Meyer who burst out to the point early after getting the jump on the 5 of Langley from the drop of the green. An early caution would fly when the 24 of Johnston drifted high in turn 2 after losing several positions, tagging the wall on exit, with a ultra alert display of driving turned in by the 69 of Inglis who got hard on the binders to avoid hitting Johnston and thus avoiding further catastrophe. This would bring the 57 of Quesnelle to youngster Meyer's outside for the restart, as Quesnelle would quickly take the point after a brief two lap battle with Meyer, as the duo of Manary and Inglis would work around Langley on the top side to check into 3rd and 4th respectively. On lap 6, Inglis would make an inside pass on Manary for 3rd in turn three, with Hallyburton soon following that move to land in 4th, as Manary continued to hold down the final top 5 position.
Just shy of the ten lap mark the duo of Inglis and Hallyburton would work around the 2nd place car of Meyer, as leader Quesnelle was beginning to check out, now holding a near full straightaway lead at the front of the field. On lap 13, Hallyburton would begin to make his presence felt, getting to the inside of Inglis for 2nd, as Meyer and the 91 of Pepin were now lock in an impressive side by side dice for 4th, with the duo of Shepherd and Manary racing nip and tuck behind that pair. Quesnelle, was able to increase his lead with each passing lap, as the duo of Pepin and Shepherd would finally work past the 44 of Meyer, as the rookie put on a game battle, in what was one of his better efforts thus far this season. It was crystal clear this race would belong to Quesnelle however, as the driver would notch the win by a wide margin over Hallyburton at the stripe. Inglis, would cap off a slid point night in finishing 3rd, as Pepin and Shepherd comprised the remainder of the top 5.
In Canestoga Property Maintenance Thunder Car action, it was defending track champ #10 Rick Walt of Hawkestone who took his Shellswell Racing/ Shepherd Trucking Monte Carlo to victory lane to record his division leading 5th feature win in the season in a fast paced and caution free feature. The race would begin with #12 Jim "Polish Prince" Belesky of Carthew Bay and #16 Bryan Penny of Angus doing battle from the front row, as Belesky would find the point after a tough and clean side by side dice with Penny. Quickly finding the inside line in 3rd was provincial heavyweight Walt, as the talented pilot would soon relieve Penny of 2nd, with Penny now trapped to the high side and in turn shuffled by the fast duo of #39 Travis "The Enforcer" Hallyburton and #44 Dave "The Deuce" Doucette, who claimed 3rd and 4th respectively. On lap 5, leader Belesky would just slightly wash up in the track in turn 2, as Walt was quick to stick a nose inside to take over the race lead.
Belesky, would continue to get filed further back in the running order, as the former 2 time track champ was passed to the inside by the duo of Hallyburton and Doucette, slotting Belesky back into 4th place where he would soon find a challenge from #00 Darryl St. Onge of Barrie, as the talented duo soon found themselves locked in a door to door dice for that position. On lap 14, St. Onge would work past Belesky, with a clean low move in turn 1, while at the front of the field Hallyburton was now welded to leader Walt's back bumper, searching high and low for a way past. The duo of Walt and Hallyburton would move out to a half straightaway lead on the 3rd place car of Doucette, who now had the 00 of St. Onge on his tail approaching 5 laps remaining. On the last lap, Hallyburton would try one last ditch attempt to pass the super staunch Walt ride, pulling to the inside of his fellow competitor while racing out of turn 4 to approach the checkered. It was not to be on this evening for Hallyburton however, as Walt was able to fend off all challenges in taking the win by a single car length at the line. Hallyburton would finish in 2nd, while Doucette, St. Onge and Belesky would round out the top 5. Unfortunately Hallyburton would get caught up in the post race technical inspection, wiping out his strong finish, thus ending a long streak of top 5 feature race results.
Four different heat race winners came in the form of Walt, Hallyburton, Doucette, and St. Onge.
In the 20 lap St. Onge Recreation Pure Stock main, it was #10 Doug Butler of New Lowell who checked his South Barrie Collision Center/Century 21 {Cheryl Ferguson} Nissan into victory lane for the 3rd time this season in a feature race. With the win, Butler would close the distance to point leader #77 Mike Gettliffe of Orillia, as a scant six points now separate the pair coming into this weekend's race card. After a couple of complete restarts were called before the race was a lap old, it was #83 Sean Sikes moving out front early, after gaining the advantage on #31 Gil Brooks from the drop of the green. On lap 2, it was #06 Ryan Hardy who took control at the front of the field, with the fast moving duo of #15 Will Davies and Butler checking into 2nd and 3rd respectively, after that duo would start 12th and 17th in a deep and talent laden 19 car field. On lap 6, it was Davies turn to take over the race lead, moving around Hardy on the outside of turn 2, a move that was quickly followed by the 10 of Butler.
On lap 7, Butler would move around Davies on the outside entering turn 1, as the trio of Gettliffe, #9 Charlie Smith, and #400 Justin Holmes rounded out the top 5 at the midway point. Smith, would soon slip past Gettliffe for 3rd on the low side of turn 2, with Butler now checked out on the second place car of Davies by nearly a half straightaway at the front of the pack. Butler, would then run into heavy lapped traffic by lap 15, once again allowing 2010 track champ Davies to close in on his back bumper, as Smith sat welded to Davies back bumper in search of any type of a slip up from his close friend and fellow competitor for second place positioning. Just outside the top 5, an impressive battle was taking place between Hardy and #57 Ryan Toon for 6th place as the two went wheel to wheel in search of that position. In the late stages, Smith would work past Davies for 2nd, but it was clear nobody had anything for the strong and front running Butler however, as the driver notched the win by nearly a full straightaway over Smith at the checkered. Davies, would turn in an impressive showing in coming to the line in third, while Gettliffe and Holmes rounded out the top 5.
Heat wins went to #09 Dean Curry with a pair, Butler, and Holmes.
PIT NOTES -------------------- A new yet somewhat familiar face would make his first start of 2013 in the Wahta Springs Late Models , as #34 Stoyan Zutich returned to the track after a 2 year hiatus from behind the wheel. Zutich, would turn in a strong showing in his return to the track, keeping a clean car under him all night long, while falling just a single lap down in both 30 lap feature races. Also making a return to the Pure Stock ranks was 2005 track champ #3 Brian Murray, as the former Thunder Car pilot would take a turn behind the wheel of the #3 Nashville North?Brand Do Construction Mustang normally campaigned by Randi Seguin. Murray, would turn in a strong top 10 showing in his return to the division he once owned. Be sure to join us this coming Saturday Aug 24 as all three divisions are back in action!! Pit gates open at 2pm, with spectator gate open for business at 5pm, and green flag slated to fly at 6:30pm sharp. With only three points nights remaining for both the Thunder Cars and Pure Stocks expect the action to be highly competitive as those point chases are among the closest anywhere in the province!!!
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