 by
Tommy Goudge (August 21, 2009) – Two
drivers visited Ohsweken Speedway’s Engine
Pro Racing Winner’s Circle for the first
time in 2009 on Gales Auto Aftermarket/ESSO
Speedway Variety night. In a fast-paced
program that finished just after ten
o’clock, Keith Dempster snapped a two year
winless streak in the Corr/Pak Merchandising
Sprint Car division, while Lee Winger edged
out Jamie Cox for the ESSO Thunder Stock
victory. Mitchell Brown was credited with the
ESSO Mini Stock win after Kevin Hilborn’s
#72 failed post race technical inspection, and
Karl Sault won another feature in the Bomber
division. Special Flag Pole and Backwards
races were also run on Friday, with Chris Hils
claiming Flag Pole honours and Steven Hils
winning the backwards race.
CORR/PAK MERCHANDISING SPRINT CARS
The Corr/Pak Sprint Cars were back in action
on Friday night after a week off, and a big
shakeup in the top five championship chasers
was expected, with Kevin Job sitting out due
to engine problems, and Glenn Styres sidelined
as well.
Stan Zanchin and rookie Travis Cunningham led
the field to the green flag, and it was
Zanchin getting the early lead, but he would
not hold it for long. Cunningham made his way
into the lead on lap three and stayed out
front for the next seven circuits while the
rest of the field jockeyed for position.
Fourth place starter Keith Dempster was on the
move early as well, taking over the second
spot with four laps in the books, while Jamie
Collard, Brad Knab, Dain Naida, Mikey Kruchka,
points leader Tom Huppunen, and Kevin Loveys
were also looking good.
The only caution flag of the race flew on lap
eight when Loveys spun to a stop in turn two.
When the race went back green, Dempster wasted
little time and made his way around the
outside of Cunningham into the lead on lap
ten. Cunningham was left to fight off the
advances of Knab, who was having the best run
of his season, while Kruchka and Collard
looked to continue their strong runs of late.
Dempster would go on the claim his first
Sprint Car feature win in over two years,
while Knab finished a season-best second,
followed by Kruchka, Cunningham, and Naida.
Points leader and six time feature winner Tom
Huppunen looked fast early on, but a broken
front wing resulted in a seventh place finish
for Fred Cade’s hired gun.
“It’s about time!” exclaimed Keith in
victory lane while the jubilant Styres Racing
crew mobbed the veteran driver. “Glenn
(Styres) was up in the tower texting me
tonight. He kept saying ‘move up higher’
and it worked!” “These wins are for the
crew,” he continued, “They are the unsung
heroes of racing.”
Heat races for the twenty-one car field were
claimed by Dempster, Naida, and Ryan Hunsinger.
ESSO THUNDER STOCKS
Mark Thorne and Rob Disher led the field to
the green flag for twenty laps of exciting
ESSO Thunder Stock action on Friday, and the
two drivers quickly went to to work racing for
the lead. It wasn’t long before the usual
suspects such as Shayne Pierce, Jamie Cox, and
Billy Bleich began to make their presence
known in the top five, however, but the real
story was with Lee Winger who was up on the
wheel after sitting out a week due to a
suspension.
Winger blasted his way around the outside and
into the lead, while Cox was on the move and
up into second, looking for his fourth feature
win in a row. Cox repeatedly looked to the
inside of Winger as the laps wound down, while
Brad Herron and Shayne Pierce hovered close
behind, waiting for any possible mistake
between the top two drivers. Herron looked to
make it three wide for the lead on a couple of
occasions, but in the end it was Winger
holding on for his first win of the season,
followed by Cox, Herron, Pierce, and Billy
Bleich, Jr.
Heat races for the nineteen ESSO Thunder
Stocks in attendance were claimed by Pierce
and Kyle Magrin.
ESSO MINI STOCKS
The ESSO Mini Stock feature began with Chase
Hess and Mike Giberson on the front row, and
it was Hess getting the early lead, which he
would hold for much of the first half of the
race. While a good battle ensued up front
between Hess and Mike Evers, fans were also
keeping an eye on Mitchell Brown, who was
gunning for his tenth feature win of the
season. Brown would eventually make his way to
the front, but not before Kevin Hilborn and
Steve Hess got their first. Hilborn made a
daring three wide move to take the lead for
good and cross the line first, but his car did
not pass post-race tech inspection, handing
the win to runner-up finisher Brown. Chase
Hess was credited with second, while Steve
Hess got third, followed by Abel Castelein,
and Mike Evers.
Heat races for the twenty-one ESSO Mini Stocks
were claimed by the Hess’, Chase and Steve.
BOMBERS
The Bomber division featured its largest field
ever on Friday night, thanks to the addition
of the Flag Pole race later in the evening.
Many drivers chose to take part in both
events, including eventual Bomber feature
winner Karl Sault, who managed to put enough
lapped cars between himself and second place
finisher Lee Hils to take the feature win with
ease. Lee Hils settled for second, followed by
Steve Hils, Shawn Ireland, and Brittany
Gyorkery.
In the Flag Pole portion of the show, it was
2008 Bomber feature winner Chris Hils claiming
the feature win, followed by Steve Hils and
Chris Cairns.
FRIDAY NIGHT
THUNDER 2009
ROUND 14 RACE REPORT – AUGUST 21, 2009
OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY
OHSWEKEN, ONTARIO
EVENT SPONSORS:
GALES AUTO AFTERMARKET AND ESSO SPEEDWAY
VARIETY
Race Start: 7:45 P.M.
Race End: 10:05 P.M.
CORR/PAK MERCHANDISING SPRINT CARS
HEAT RACES (Top 4 Redraw For Feature Starting
Spots):
BS&B RADIATOR Heat Race #1
1. 5 Keith Dempster (Alton), 2. 18 Kevin
Loveys (Hamilton), 3. 27 Jamie Collard (Burford),
4. 38 Brad Knab (Arcade, NY), 5. 7 Kyle Moffit
(South Dayton, NY) DNF, 6. 67 Chris Durand
(Port Stanley) DNF, 7. 1k Jessica Zemken (Sprakers,
NY) DNS. Time – 1:51.812
BEST WESTERN CAIRN CROFT HOTEL Heat Race #2
1. 6n Dain Naida (Belleville, MI), 2. 71
Travis Cunningham (Grimsby), 3. 14h Jim
Huppunen (Fenwick), 4. 94 Stan Zanchin (Fort
Erie), 5. 84 Tyler Rand (Consecon), 6. 23
Steve Garry (Dundas), 7. 71x Tim Zack (Wainfleet)
DNF. No Time
GRISDALE RACING PRODUCTS Heat Race #3
1. 77x Ryan Hunsinger (Brantford), 2. 47x
Louie Carufel (Port Huron, MI), 3. 01 Mikey
Kruchka (Hamilton), 4. 12c Tom Huppunen
(Fenwick), 5. 5d Dave Dykstra (Port Colborne),
6. 90 James Evans (Beamsville), 7. 31j John
Burbridge, Jr. (Simcoe). Time – 1:55.041
CORR/PAK MERCHANDISING
SPRINT CAR FEATURE (20 laps)
Position. # Name (Starting Position)
1. 5 Keith Dempster (4)
2. 38 Brad Knab (3)
3. 01 Mikey Kruchka (6)
4. 71 Travis Cunningham (2)
5. 6n Dain Naida (7)
6. 27 Jamie Collard (5)
7. 12c Tom Huppunen (11)
8. 14h Jim Huppunen (12)
9. 5d Dave Dykstra (15)
10. 1k Jessica Zemken (21)
11. 90 James Evans (18)
12. 18 Kevin Loveys (10)
13. 94 Stan Zanchin (1)
14. 47x Louie Carufel (9)
15. 77x Ryan Hunsinger (8)
16. 84 Tyler Rand (14)
17. 23 Steve Garry (17)
18. 31j John Burbridge, Jr. (20) DNF
19. 71x Tim Zack (19) DNS
20. 7 Kyle Moffit (13) DNS
21. 67 Chris Durand (16) DNS
No Time
ESSO THUNDER STOCKS
HEAT RACES:
Heat Race #1
1. 88 Shayne Pierce (Wainfleet), 2. 17 Rob
Disher (Grimsby), 3. 37 Jeremy Bean (Stoney
Creek), 4. 108 Billy Bleich, Jr. (Port
Robinson), 5. 44 Jamie Cox (Cambridge), 6. 11
Michelle Johnson (Caledonia), 7. 55 Mike
Thorne (Caledonia) DNF, 8. 00 Robbie General
DNF, 9. 31 Dave Bailey (Hagersville) DNF
Heat Race #2
1. 24k Kyle Magrin (Hamilton), 2. 83 Lee
Winger (Caledonia), 3. 12 Brad Herron
(Brantford), 4. 40 Terry Osmond (Cambridge),
5. 13 Mark Thorne (Waterford), 6. 8 Ryan
Dinning (Caledonia), 7. 32 Rodney Rutherford (Waterdown),
8. 88k Ed McNamara (St. Catharines), 9. 1
Chris Dickie (Brantford)
ESSO THUNDER STOCKS A-FEATURE (20 laps)
Position. # Name (Starting Position)
1. 83 Lee Winger (7)
2. 44 Jamie Cox (10)
3. 12 Brad Herron (9)
4. 88 Shayne Pierce (8)
5. 108 Billy Bleich, Jr. (6)
6. 37 Jeremy Bean (5)
7. 24k Kyle Magrin (3)
8. 8 Ryan Dinning (12)
9. 31 Dave Bailey (18)
10. 17 Rob Disher (2)
11. 13 Mark Thorne (1)
12. 88k Ed McNamara (14)
13. 40 Terry Osmond (4)
14. 18 Amanda Stoner (19)
15. 00 Robbie General (17) DNF
16. 1 Chris Dickie (15) DNF
17. 11 Michelle Johnson (11) DNS
18. 32 Rodney Rutherford (13) DNS
19. 55 Mike Thorne (16) DNS
ESSO MINI-STOCKS
HEAT RACES:
Heat Race #1
1. 7x Chase Hess (Ohsweken), 2. 28 Abel
Castelein (Cayuga), 3. 10 Mitchell Brown
(Brantford), 4. 14 Paul Goodale, 5. 86 Rick
Emberson (Paris), 6. 05 David Goodacre
(Brantford), 7. 27 Dan Stewart (Hamilton), 8.
48 Craig Erskine, 9. 88 Drew Spencer
(Oakville), 10. 9 Jonathan Ayrton (Hamilton)
DNS
Heat Race #2
1. 777x Steve Hess (Ohsweken), 2. 72 Kevin
Hilborn (Brantford), 3. 11 Mike Giberson
(Caledonia), 4. 02 Mike Taylor (Burlington),
5. 265 Mike Evers (Caledonia), 6. 79 Steve
Miller, 7. 77x Ethan Martin (Ohsweken), 8. 113
Mark Maidment, Jr. (Jarvis), 9. 04 Wyatt Van
Wart (Cambridge) DNF, 10. 55 Rob Slater (Dundas)
DNF
ESSO MINI-STOCKS A-FEATURE (15 laps)
Position. # Name (Starting Position)
1. 10 Mitchell Brown (12)
2. 7x Chase Hess (1)
3. 777x Steve Hess (11)
4. 28 Abel Castelein (10)
5. 265 Mike Evers (3)
6. 02 Mike Taylor (5)
7. 86 Rick Emberson (8)
8. 05 David Goodacre (4)
9. 48 Craig Erskine (15)
10. 11 Mike Giberson (2)
11. 79 Steve Miller (7)
12. 88 Drew Spencer (17)
13. 27 Dan Stewart (13)
14. 113 Mark Maidment, Jr. (16)
15. 9 Jonathan Ayrton (20)
16. 6x Mike Sarantakes (21)
17. 14 Paul Goodale (6) DNF
18. 77x Ethan Martin (14) DNF
19. 04 Wyatt Van Wart (18) DNF
20. 55 Rob Slater (19) DNS
BOMBERS A-FEATURE (20 laps)
Position. # Name (Hometown)
1. 81 Karl Sault (Dundas)
2. 181 Lee Hils (Dundas)
3. 61 Steven Hils (Dundas)
4. 113 Shawn Ireland (Burlington)
5. 17 Brittany Gyorkery
6. 13 Kacey Huffman (Dundas)
7. 818 Chris Hils (Dundas)
8. 13c Mark Maidment, Jr. (Jarvis)
9. 03 Bill Rutherford (Waterdown)
10. 20 Brett Rodwell
11. 00 Mark Czuba
12. 15 Brad McCarten
13. 117 Wayne McCarten
14. 88j Jesse McDonald (Caledonia) DNF
15. 31 Dave Hils (Dundas) DNS
FLAG POLE RACE (20 laps)
Postion. # Name
1. 818 Chris Hils, 2. 61 Steven Hils, 3. 00
Chris Cairns, 4. 31 Dave Hils, 5. 20 Brett
Rodwell, 6. 181 Lee Hils, 7. 117 Wayne
McCarten, 8. 03 Rodney Rutherford, 9. 88j
Jesse McDonald, 10. 81 Karl Sault
BACKWARDS RACE (5 laps)
Winner: 61 Steven Hils
UP NEXT @ OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2009
CAFÉ 54 PRESENTS:
TWIN 15’S FOR CORR/PAK MERCHANDISING SPRINT
CARS,
PLUS MOD-LITE STARS TOUR NORTH, AND
ESSO THUNDER STOCKS, ESSO MINI STOCKS, AND
BOMBERS
ADULTS $10, SENIORS AND STUDENTS $8, KIDS 12
AND UNDER FREE!
SPECTATOR GATES OPEN @ 6:00 P.M., RACING @
7:45 P.M. |
