Ohsweken Speedway – August 27, 2004

The Southern Ontario Sprints ran a make-up feature from the August 13th rain out to start off the night, one that most will not forget.  With a record 32 sprinters in the pits, a huge crowd on hand and double features in all divisions, you knew it was going to be one of those nights.  When all was said and done, the SOS had a new point’s leader and a SOD driver captured the first Annual SOD/SOS Can-Am Challenge title.

Young Cody Geldart of Mossley entered the night just eleven points behind the defending series champion and current point’s leader, Glenn Styres from Ohsweken.  In the make-up feature, Geldart had a dominating run coming from his ninth place starting position to take the victory and move into the SOS series point’s lead.

Styres on the other hand, will likely have nightmares about this race.  In turn one on the first lap, Styres put his sprinter up side down, bring out the first of three red flags during the race.  His crew worked feverishly to make repairs, allowing Styres to rejoin the field for the restart.

Dick Mahoney of Newmarket jumped into the early lead starting from the outside of the front row with Keith Dempster from Alton and Bob Crawford of Sutton running second and third.  Geldart however was on a charge taking over the top spot early in the race with Dempster hot on his tail.  The two battled for much of the race until Dempster broke a steering arm taking him out of the race with only a couple of laps remaining.

On lap nine, the second red flag flew when three cars got together on the front stretch.  Again, Styres was one of the sprinters involved, along with John Riegling of Chatham and Vinnie Christiano Jr. from Tonawanda, NY.  Both Styres and Riegling flipped, putting them on the sidelines for the balance of the race.

At the mid-point of the race, Geldart and Dempster were out front, followed by Kyle Patrick of Tilbury, Crawford and Warren Mahoney from Lefroy.  The last red flag came out on lap fourteen when another three-car accident in turn one saw Gary Evans from Thorndale flip.  On the restart, Adam West of Ridgetown, who was in fifth at the time, made a bold move around both Patrick and Warren Mahoney taking the third position.

The finishing order for the first feature of the night would see Geldart take the checkered and the SOS point’s lead, followed by West, Patrick, W. Mahoney and Crawford rounding out the top five.  Curt Sherwood from Sanborn, NY had his best finish of the season in sixth place followed by Charlie McCann of London, Les MacMillan of Belmont, D. Mahoney and Tim Phillips from Grand Island, NY in tenth.  The top-finishing rookie in this feature was Jack Pillon of Belle River with an eleventh-place finish.

Wiseco Feature

1. #6 – Cody Geldart, Mossley; 2. #30 – Adam West, Ridgetown; 3. #33k – Kyle Patrick – Tilbury; 4. #25 – Warren Mahoney, Lefroy; 5. #10 – Bob Crawford, Sutton; 6. #31 – Curt Sherwood, Sanborn, NY; 7. #17m – Charlie McCann, London; 8. #77 – Les MacMillan, Belmont; 9. #79 – Dick Mahoney, Newmarket; 10. #21 – Tim Phillips, Grand Island, NY; 11. #18j – Jack Pillon, Belle River; 12. #4z – Joel Lehman, Elora; 13. #93 – Daryl Turford, Stratford; 14. #12 – Willy Northcott, London; 15. #71 – Craig Downie, Burlington; 16. #5 – Keith Dempster, Alton; 17. #33 – Jamie Collard, Princeton; 18. #32 – Mark Schulz, Newfane, NY; 19. #17 – Gary Evans, Thorndale; 20. #2 – Vinnie Christiano Jr., Tonawanda, NY; 21. #1a – John Riegling, Chatham; 22. #0 – Glenn Styres, Ohsweken; 23. #27 – Paul Ballantyne, Brantford; 24. #20v – Vic DeVries, Kitchener; #25 – #18 – Stephanie Christiano, Tonawanda, NY