By Bill Oldroyd - Ohsweken Speedway – July 8, 2005 - The Southern Ontario Sprints 10th Anniversary season is now at the halfway point with the completion of the July 8th race at Ohsweken Speedway. The current SOS point’s leader, Adam West of Ridgetown had never won a feature race until last month when he captured the main event at Brighton Speedway. Now that West has had a taste of victory lane, it appears that the rest of the field should be a little concerned. West notched his second career SOS feature win in round eight at Ohsweken Speedway on July 8th. This puts an end to Glenn Styres dominance at his home track as he had won the first three events of the season.

The normally quiet West was very jubilant in victory lane as he climbed out of his car with both arms raised high in the air. “This is awesome! I have a lot of friends and family here tonight and this is just awesome to win again.”

Charlie McCann of London and Bob Crawford from Sutton paced the field to the green in the feature event with Crawford jumping into the early lead. Two early cautions would fly as the number eight machine of Brian Lee from Kitchener was suffering severe handling problems causing him to spin out twice.

Les MacMillan of Belmont started the feature event in the sixth but quickly moved up to take over the second position. MacMillan had been very quick all night and on lap five he made the pass to take over the top spot followed by Crawford and Warren Mahoney of Lefroy.

The third caution of the night came out on lap seven when Jack Pillon of Belle River, Dick Mahoney from Newmarket and Fred Cade of Niagara Falls all tangled in turn one. Pillon’s night was over however both Dick Mahoney and Cade were able to rejoin the race.

By lap seven, Warren Mahoney had taken over second from Crawford with Burlington’s Craig Downie, who was also having strong run, sitting in fourth. West, who started the main event back in ninth spot, had been slowly picking his way through the field and was up to fifth at this point of the race.

At the half way mark on the event, Warren Mahoney was able to get past MacMillan to take the lead with West now running third. The racing action continued to be fast and furious as the lead trio at times were running three wide through the large sweeping corners of the Ohsweken 3/8 mile oval.

The final lead change of the night came on lap fourteen when West drove around the outside of Warren Mahoney. One last caution would fly on lap seventeen when Randy Years of Honeoye Falls, NY spun coming off turn two. Styres would take the green on the restart running in the fifth position, coming from deep in the field. 

West crossed the finish line about five car lengths ahead of Warren Mahoney with Styres putting on a late-race charge to finish a solid third. MacMillan and Crawford rounded out the top five. John Riegling of Chatham also ran well all night finishing in the sixth position. Finishing in seventh was Andrew Reaume from Blenheim, in only his third start in a sprint car. Downie, who also had a strong outing, finished a respectable eighth.

Current dirt modified driver, Boyd MacTavish made his first-ever start in a sprint car and impressed everyone with a solid ninth place finish. Years would recover from his late-race spin to finish in the tenth position.

Heat race victories went to Crawford, Warren Mahoney and Riegling. Warren Mahoney also captured the Fan-Dash for Cash, sharing his victory with fan, Norm Reid. The B-Main winner was Gary Evans from Thorndale.

Next on the schedule will be the second half of the double-header weekend . The series will shift back to Brighton Speedway for their third appearance of the season on the tight 1/3 mile oval. This race will also mark the start of the second half of the 10th Anniversary season for the SOS.

Results: 29-car field

Pennzoil Heat
1. #10 – Bob Crawford, Sutton, ON; 2. #12c – Fred Cade, Niagara Falls, ON; 3. #0 – Glenn Styres, Ohsweken, ON; 4. #2 – Randy Years, Honeoye Falls, NY; 5. #40t – Andrew Reaume, Blenheim, ON; 6. #18j – Jack Pillon, Belle River, ON; 7. #12 – Willy Northcott, London, ON; 8. #20 – Jeff Daniels, Chatham, ON; 9. #75 – Jim Sweers, Westover, ON; 10. #93 – Daryl Turford, Mitchell, ON

Wiseco Heat
1. #25 – Warren Mahoney, Lefroy, ON; 2. #26 – John Watson, St. Thomas, ON; 3. #69 – Garry Evans, London, ON; 4. #32 – Mark Schulz, Newfane, NY; 5. #79 – Dick Mahoney, Newmarket, ON; 6. #71 – Craig Downie, Burlington, ON; 7. #17 – Gary Evans, Thorndale, ON; 8. #27h – Boyd MacTavish, Fenwick, ON; 9. #18 – Stephanie Christiano, Tonawanda, NY

Kenetic Heat
1. #1a – John Riegling, Chatham, ON; 2. #77 – Les MacMillan, Belmont, ON; 3. #30 – Adam West, Ridgetown, ON; 4. #17m – Charlie McCann, London, ON; 5. #31 – Curt Sherwood, Sanborn, NY; 6. #8 – Brian Lee, Kitchener, ON; 7. #22 – Jim Porter, Grand Island, NY; 8. #33 – Jamie Collard, Princeton, ON; dns #5c – Chris Pyle, Cambridge, ON; #83w – James Whittaker, Lynden, ON

Leaf Racewear Dash
1. #25 – Warren Mahoney; 2. #1a – John Riegling; 3. #0 – Glenn Styres; 4. #12c – Fred Cade; 5. #27h – Boyd MacTavish; 6. #71 – Craig Downie; 7. #40t – Andrew Reaume; 8. #12 – Willy Northcott; 9. #31 – Curt Sherwood

B-Main
1. #17 – Gary Evans; 2. #22 – Jim Porter; 3. #27h – Boyd MacTavish; 4. #93 – Daryl Turford; 5. #12 – Willy Northcott; 6. #75 – Jim Sweers; 7. #18 – Stephanie Christiano


Signet Tool A-Main
1. #30 – Adam West; 2. #25 – Warren Mahoney; 3. #0 – Glenn Styres; 4. #77 – Les MacMillan; 5. #10 – Bob Crawford; 6. #1a – John Riegling; 7. #40t – Andrew Reaume; 8. #71 – Craig Downie; 9. #27h – Boyd MacTavish; 10. #2 – Randy Years; 11. #32 – Mark Schulz; 12. #17 – Gary Evans; 13. #12 – Willy Northcott; 14. #17m – Charlie McCann; 15. #26 – John Watson; 16. #79 – Dick Mahoney; 17. #22 – Jim Porter; 18. #93 – Daryl Turford; 19. #69 – Garry Evans; 20. #12c – Fred Cade; 21. #75 – Jim Sweers; 22. #31 – Curt Sherwood; 23. #8 – Brian Lee; 24. #18j – Jack Pillon

dnq - #18 – Stephanie Christiano, #5c – Chris Pyle, #83w – James Whittaker, #20 – Jeff Daniels, #33 – Jamie Collard