Ok while I'm bored this morning drinkin the morning coffee, thought I'd do a few pre race musings heading into week 4 at Barrie, and then will post the results in same thread later tonight.. Really close battle in the LLM this year to date, as a mere 21 points separates the top 5 drivers. Also the margin is only 5 points between the top 3 of Shepherd, Baker and McLeod.. I really got a feeling this year could go right down to the wire in this division point chase, and could rival the 2006 season when we had 4 drivers (Walters, Tim Watson, Baker, and Gaunt) with a legit shot at winning on the last night..Again I will say it, that was truly the race that got away due to weather!!! GRRRRR...Could be a very interesting night on track tonight as the drivers should be itchin to go, having not raced since June 6th. In comparason to the 21 points between the top 5 in Lates, the next closest race comes in Thunders, where St.Onge leads Elliott by those same 21 points. Our own "Polish Prince" checks in at 3rd, just 27 back of St.Onge.. St.Onge has won 2 of 3 features, with #44 Dave Doucette taking the other, and hes my pick tonight just due to a preferred starting spot after misfortune in weeks 1&3. In Pure Stocks #2 Ben Melenhorst also holds 2 feature wins and a 24 point lead over Mike Meyer, with Kyle Lethbridge just 30 back in 3rd, after having won the last June 13th feature. Melenhorst has earned 346 of a possible 360 points, while St.Onge had earned 345 out of 360 possible. Both drivers look to be well on their way to track titles thus far in 2009, but that's why we race it"s a long season..LOL St. Onge hasn't finished out of the top 5 all season in a heat or feature race.. In fact his worst is a 4th in a heat on two occasions. Melenhorst, doesnt have anything worse than a 2nd in a heat or feature, save for a 6th place in the June 13th main when he got caught up in traffic. Now I know the Pure Stocks and Thunders have had one more race night to date, but just thought it interesting how much closer the LLM division is this year compared to the others... What I'm thinkin is that first 25 lap feature counts solely for Nascar Whelen All American Series points and NOT the Barrie home track points.. Does anyone know if thats correct or not?? Should be a really good night of racing regardless, weather is beauts!!! I'm just interested to see if the LLM will drive super agressively being off for 2 weeks right off the get go, or if they'll bide their time and really race it out in the second feature as its a little more lucrative according to the payouts posted on the Barrie site... Also only Shepherd, Baker, and McLeod have won features to date so will this be the night that trend breaks as well??? My guess would be yes !!! ......... Opinions appreciated!!LOL
I am pumped to get back on the track! New paint job!
Well I dont wanna know cause I'll see it at the track but might it be painted the same as a certain Sprint Cup point leading driver with the same # as you Thayne??? That's my guess... and you never answered my question homey!!! Will this be the night someone outside of Shepherd, Baker, McLeod wins a feature??? Bowlby came close the last time out, he might be a bit of a darkhorse again. And to my knowledge that would be a first Barrie feature win if that happened, although Ed did race there in the mid 80s when I was away from the track, so not 100 percent of that either.
who won at barrie tonight?
Ok 20 min rundown time again!!LOL First off all I can say is WOW!! What a night of racing, very clean with a ton of meaningful passes.. Best night of the season to date, which is saying something cause the previous 3 were pretty good as well... Only 5 cautions for all 4 features combined, although a couple of the PS heats were a bit rough.. Where to start???LOL Ok 35 lap finale won by first time Barrie feature winner #6 Keith Maiato, who drove a great race up front surviving the challenges of both #20 Bowlby and #88 Matthews over the late stages.. First ever feature win for Maiato after spending the previous 3 years at Sunset.. Baker really closed in on the 6 over the last few laps and finished 2nd pinned right to his bumper. Great dice for third as well with Matthews and #9 Brandon Watson exchanging that spot in the late going.. Matthews would pull off a well executed bump and go move out of 2 on the last lap to get the spot.. Watson finished 4th, with McLeod 5th..Bowlby faded a little after a really solid run and finished 6th or 7th if I was guessin. First 25 lapper won by the 10 of Shepherd for the third time in as many weeks.. Gordie seems to own those 25 lappers, but has had some pretty good draws for heat race starting spots, and won said heats which sets up a nice position for him to start those 25 lappers.. But credit to where its due, in week 2 he also had to pass both McLeod and Baker (not an easy chore at all)to win. The 10 is simply a rocket this year.. 2nd was McLeod, 3rd Lewis, 4th Matthews, and 5th Reynolds in that 1st feature..Good night for newcomer Matthews with 2 top 5's (3 if you include the heat race), in only his 2nd night of racing the sleek lookin McColl Racing Ent/Matthews Motorsports #88.. Heat races went to Shepherd and Lewis. Thunder feature won by #44 Dave "The Deuce" Doucette from outside pole.. That car seems to be back to its normal form after mechanical issues in week 1&3.. The 84 of Slavish finished 2nd, but got caught up in the post race technical inspection and was DQ'd (not sure of the exact infraction however) So that turn of events bumped 3rd place finisher St. Onge to 2nd, with #9 Chris Burrage, #14 Thayne Hallyburton, #12 Jim Belesky making up the rest of the top 5. Heats to St. Onge with a pair, Doucette, and #22 Jason Elliott.. Pure Stocks was won by #2 Ben Melenhorst for the 3rd time in 4 feature races.. Ben charged from 18th on the grid to take the lead with 3 laps remaining from the 98 of Stieler.. Stieler and #16 Bryan Penny had a great late race door to door for the lead, but that ended when Penny got loose out of 2 (dont know if he had help or not) and lost several positions finishing 7th or 8th at the end if I was guessin.. Stieler hung on for 2nd,and that's the 2nd week in a row he finished the bridesmaid...3rd was Meyer, 4th Burtoo, and 5th #37 Robbie Sikes... Heats to Melenhorst with 2, #4 Mike Meyer, and the 98 of Stieler.. Car counts were 19 LLM, 17 Thunders, and 27 Pure Stocks..And alas a few of my predictions came true with Doucette winning in Thunders,and we did indeed see someone winning a LLM feature outside of the BIG 3 of Shepherd, Baker, and McLeod with the super impressive Maiato victory.. He seems to really have the car figured out and heard he even got some set up tips for Barrie from none other than Tom Walters I had heard... So once again due to these forcasts I made this morning I have once again proven myself to be the "AYATOLLAH of SHORT TRACK a ROLLA""lmao... Well there you have it...... FROM THE CHEAP SEATS..... Once again feel free to comment!!!!!