Ok time for the 20 min rundown.. Awesome night of racing, probably the best night of the season from an on track action standpoint. The night did get off to a slow start in the first two PS heats however, as they were littered with several early caution periods. Of the 4 features run this evening, three of them went caution free, with the only exception being the 30 lap LLM finale that had 2 caution periods.
Ok onto the racing.. In the first LLM 30, it was the current point leader #69 Al "Red Rocket" Inglis taking the checkered after being chased to the finish every step of the way by the duo of #57 Ron Quesnelle and defending track champ #10 Gord Shepherd. Quesnelle, actually looked to be a bit quicker than Inglis (who looked a little off his usual pace) over the closing 5 laps but was unable to negoiate his way around his fellow competitor. Quesnelle, would give Inglis a couple nudges out of corner 2 over the duration, in an attempt to free up the preferred inside lane but was unsucessful. Displaying a true show of sportmanship and class, Quesnelle would also afford Inglis the luxury of gathering it up howver, after getting him slightly crossways racing out of corner 2, as the duo were clicking off laps just a shade over 15 seconds. Inglis, would take the lead from pole sitter #6 Keith Maiato on the inside of corner 3 just shy of the 10 lap mark, with Quesnelle quick to follow through to claim 2nd. The trio of Inglis, Quesnelle and Shepherd would come to the checkered in nose to tail fashion, with Inglis notching his 6th feature win of 2010.. #22 Rob Inglis would continue his string of solid runs, coming home with a 4th place finish, as #8 Dave Lewis rounded out the top 5.
In the 2nd 30 lapper it was Shepherd taking the win, after outduelling early race leader #5 Steve Quesnelle on a lap 9 restart. Shepherd, would open up about a 2 car length advantage at the front as #22 Rob Inglis began to work to the outside of Steve Quesnelle, eventually completing an outside pass down the backstretch on lap 12. Quesnelle, would continue to get shuffled further back in the running order, with Al Inglis and Ron Quesnelle also working their way past the #5 Triple Sick Skin Tattoo and Piercing Monte Carlo SS.. Really strong run for the #22 of Rob Inglis in this one, as the ever improving driver was able to hold off his cousin Al in coming home with a runner up finish.. Al Inglis would cap off his earlier feature win with a 3rd place showing, while #57 Ron Quesnelle, and #8 Dave Lewis made up the rest of the fast five..11 cars showed on this night, with track co owner Jim Payetta making his LLM debut in one of the school cars. Jim did a pretty nifty job of driving the #16 actually, after secumbing to mechanical difficulties in the first feature race. Jim only spun out once in the 2nd 30 and didnt look a bit out of place. ;D ;D And no I'm not just saying that cause he signs the cheques!! ;D
Once again the best race of the night was the 40 lap caution free Thunder Car feature.. 2nd week in a row caution free for the Thunder Car division, and the 4th time this season they've raced caution free in just 8 feature races. If you havent seen a Thunder Car feature at Barrie this season I'd suggest you do so immediately, as the racing is just simply awesome and very clean so kudos to those gentlemen/ladies once again..
Once again a first time feature winner was crowned as #24 Leonard Johnston took the checkered in his well prepared Chevy Impala SS.. Johnston, would built up a rather large full straightaway advantage, after disposing of #67 Jeff Smith on lap 5 with an inside pass in corner 3. Johnston, would see his large lead evaporate over the closing laps however, as a very quick #3 Ken DenHollander was quick to find his bumper, after the latter put on a miraculous drive from his 9th place starting position to claim 2nd at the finish..#10 Rick Walt would finish 3rd as a substitute driver in the car normally campaigned by Ray Shepherd. Point leader #12 Jim "Polish Prince" Belesky would finish 4th on this evening, as #9 Chris Burrage rounded out the list of top 5 finishers..
Really thrilling race to watch with a ton of meaningful passing amongst the top 7-8 cars.. Everytime I looked up from writing notes the order amongst the top 5 had changed, and Leonard's win marks the 4th first time feature winner on the season.. Now Leonard did claim two feature wins in the 2008 season, but lost it both times in the tech shed.. Not that he needs to be reminded of that turn of events!!lol 😉 All that said nice to see Lenny bag a win, especially on his sponsors night. 13 cars took green with the return of #34 "Pistol Pete" Marquardt in a car campaigned by Richie Bosschaert during the 2004-2006 time period.
Heat wins went to the hard charging #14 of Thayne Hallyburton with a pair, Johnston, and Belesky.
Bit of a shout out to young #92 Teri-Lynne Dixon who is doing a nice job keeping her nose clean, as she seems to be making rather large gains in the speed dept. week in and week out.. Way to go LIL MISS DIXON!!! 😉
The 20 lap PS main would also go green to checkered, with #88 John Mitchell taking his first feature of the season and 2nd career feature victory in his quick Mustang.. Mitchell, would be chased every step of the way by #99 Drew Stieler who finished 2nd.. Nice rebound week for CRO's own CHARGER #90 Jim MacDonald who came home in 3rd, after some mechanical issues the week prior. Point leader #15 Will Davies would finish 4th, with impressive newcomer #91 x Andre Pepin completing the top 5.
It appears Mitchell is returning to the PS division on a full time basis, while also preparing another Mustang for his father Mike to race. Large shout out to the 91x of Pepin, who in only his 2nd night of racing at the track kept a clean car under him all night long to record the 5th place feature result, after finishing 3rd and 4th in his two heat races..
Heat wins went to Davies with two, Stieler, and MacDonald.
There you have it...... FROM THE CHEAP SEATS
thanks dave 🙂 i definatley have a great bunch of guys to run with 🙂
A little off topic, but did get the news last night...
Barrie is letting 4 crew members in for free, for each driver registered with a NASCAR licence. This is great, for me lol, since ima crew member! But...
that is alot of money Barrie is loosing at the pit gate, plus they have increased the payouts. Along with tire and gas giveaways in the meetings, one has to wonder how in the heck they are paying for all of this??
I guess 1,800 bucks to run the school car for a night helps?
I had heard two totally different things than what you did Charlie regarding both the school car and the letting 3 or 4 crew members in for free deal.. I thought it was the crew members themselves had to purchase the Nascar licence (or at least be Nascar members) then they wouldnt be charged upon entering the pit gate?? Really that deal would pay for itself for the prospective crew member if he/she was gonna be at the track for at least 4-5 nights of racing?? But I wasnt in the drivers meeting so I dont know the full dealio.. Maybe someone that was can enlighten us a bit further??
As for the school car I heard it was more like 500 to rent for a night but you had to also pay for any damage incurred?? But then again I'm not really in the loop when it comes to such things either..
Ya Dave even if I have to pay for a membership at this point of the year, it still is to my bennifit. 10 nights left or racing, even if we loose 2 to rainouts its still 8 nights.
8 nights at 22 bucks entry fee is 176
membership is what 115 tops?
