I don't know why I'm even gonna attempt this but here is my best attempt at a very sleep deprived 20 min rundown.. Pretty solid crowd on hand welcomed in the last race night of May, and the on track action was at a fevered pitch on this night, as 2008 track champ #19 Keith McLeod took the first LLM 30 lap feature, also notching a 3rd place showing in the 30 lap finale to the night.. #48 Dwayne Baker took home the feature win in that 2nd 30, marking the 4th time this season he's captured at least one segment of the twin features.
In the first 30, it was McLeod who moved into the early lead from outside pole, leading the way for #57 Ron Quesnelle to follow through into 2nd on the high side of pole sitter #33 Dave Lewis. Also on the move early was the stout #02 Lake Simcoe Heating & Air/Hitch House Dodge Charger of Shawn Murray, as the Alliston pilot would also move around Lewis, leaving the 33 year veteran now to fend off the challenge of #2 "Hometown" Mike Brown for 4th in the running order. Brown, was quick to dispose of Lewis, setting up a great battle for 5th, as another strong rookie #14 "Hurricane" Thayne Hallyburton was also now in the picture up front.
Approaching the midway point several of the strong cars (Inglis, Shepherd, and Baker) were still mired mid pack, as Quesnelle had an inside look on leader McLeod on the exit of turn two, but McLeod was able to hold the point with steady laps in the 14.7 sec. range. On lap 18, Hallyburton would pass Lewis for position, with Inglis, Shepherd, and Baker looking in turn to follow the Halllyburton along the outside groove. After breaking away by a couple car lengths, McLeod again found Quesnelle knocking at his back bumper, with Shepherd making an inside pass of Inglis to enter top 5 positioning further back in the pack. McLeod, was able to fend off the Quesnelle challenge over the duration, taking the win by a slender margin at the finish.. 2011 Pure Stock champion Murray would have his first ever podium in a LLM (as called by yours truly the week before..lol) in coming home a steady third. Hallyburton, would also impress, recording a career best 4th, while Shepherd rounded out the list of fast five finishers in the caution free affair.
In the evenings finale it was #54 Randy Bull who moved out front, after getting the jump on #74 Roy Manary from the drop of the green. Also on the move in the early stages was the duo of Lewis and Inglis, as they too would power past Manary on the outside line. Inglis, would look low on Lewis on sucessive laps, when the first caution appeared as Hallyburton came to rest along the frontstretch, after a cut tire from contact with the 57 of Quesnelle between 1&2. On the restart Bull and Lewis set a torrid pace from the front row, as Inglis and Shepherd were running in 2x2 fashion in the pocket in behind.
On lap 8, Lewis would get crooked out of 4,( it looked like he over corrected) thus side slamming Bull entering 1, forcing his fellow competitor to overcook said corner, as Lewis moved into the lead. Shepherd, was now in the runner up post giving chase, as Inglis was forced to check up to avoid Bull in behind. Just one lap later, Shepherd would work underneath Lewis in turn 3, as Baker followed that move, after he got around both Bull and Inglis who still werent quite up to speed. The caution would once again fly on lap 13, this time for an incident in turns 1&2 incident involving Quesnelle and Murray, with both drivers summoned arrears as involved cars. This turn of events set the stage for a Shepherd/Baker battle from the front row, as the two Port City built rides battled a solid 6 laps door handle to door handle before Baker would clear Shepherd.. If you think the duel would be done there you'd be wrong however, as Shepherd battled back to pull even with Baker along the inside, but then Shepherd would have a slight slip up in turn 2 a short while later, allowing Baker to control the point once again. Further back in the pack, Bull was cranking up the heat on Lewis for 5th, with Bull's gorgeous Randy's Tree and Landscaping Camaro SS executing a bump and run move out of 2, in what was perhaps a moment of poetic justice. With Baker and Shepherd now clear by 5 car lengths, McLeod and Inglis were having a dogfight for 3rd, exchanging that position on sucessive laps in that was a great display of tough, clean short track racing inside of two laps remaining.. But this one belonged to Baker, as the Stayner resident brought home his division leading 4th feature win of the season. Longtime rival Shepherd finished 2nd, with McLeod, Inglis and Bull comprising the remainder of the top 5..
Well there's the LLM for now, to be continued but first I need a coffee and ciggy break... 😉
Sorry for the bit of a delay but as promised here's the rundown for 4 bangers and Thunders..
In the 30 lap Canestoga Sprayers and Ashphalt Repair Thunders it was #10 Rick Walt who charged to the win for the 4th week in succession.. The real story on the night was the performance of Walt's cousin #21 Desi Walt however, as the young upstart led for virtually the entire feature, until the current point leader made his way past with just 3 laps remaining, relegating the younger Walt to a 2nd place at the checkered.
The race would start off with #72 "Pistol" Pete Marquardt taking the lead from the pole, as Desi Walt would file into 2nd early on, getting past #55 Shawn Goggins to the low side. Racing nip and tuck behind the top 3 in the early going was the duo of #80 Doug Shakell and #39 Travis Hallyburton. The race's first caution came early on lap 2, as Rick Walt came to a halt in turn two. After a brief time on pit road Walt was able to continue, not really losing any positions along the way. On the restart, a bit of a stack up occured as #00 Darryl St. Onge got loose entering 1, and lost a couple spots along the way, while Marquardt and Desi Walt battled for 4 or 5 laps door to door at the front. By lap 13, Walt had cleared Marquardt at the front of the field with laps in the 16.3 sec. range, while further in behind #44 Dave "The Deuce" Doucette made a nice clean pass of Hallyburton low in turn 3, to take over 4th place.
The caution would again appear on lap 17, as St. Onge had a brush with the backshoot wall just on the exit of turn 2, with front runner #77 Brian Murray going pitside at this same moment. This time on the restart it was Marquardt who took control, after another solid 5-6 laps door to door with Desi Walt. This is where the race would turn interesting, as Rick Walt was now back at the front running in 3rd, when leader Marquardt got crooked out of 2, and again out of 4, allowing the 10 the opening he needed to power past, just after Rick had just worked past cousin Desi for second one lap prior. A stellar race would soon sour for Marquardt, when he went around in turn 1, ending what was shaping up to be a career best finish. This set the stage for an all Walt battle from the front row, with Rick getting the edge on Desi after one lap side by side. Over the duration, Rick Walt was able to escape by 2 car lengths, as Doucette was inching ever closer to the 2nd place car of Desi Walt. Out of the last corner, Doucette would give Walt a slight nudge in an attempt to get her loose, but it was not to be for the driver of the 44.. Give the win to Rick Walt, 2nd to Desi Walt, as Doucette, #24 Leonard Johnston, and the defending track champ #12 Jim "Polish Prince" Belesky rounded out the fast five.
Four different heat winners came in the form of Rick Walt, Johnston, Belesky, and #39 "The Enforcer" Travis Hallyburton...
Coffee break #2... Four bangers and Legends to follow..
Part three as promised..
The St. Onge Recreation Pure Stocks easily had their most entertaining feature of the season as a collective group. A season high 22 cars took feature green, in a race that saw Singhampton's #09 Dean Curry take the feature win, ending a string of early season bad luck. For as many times as I slag the 4 banger drivers for having caution riddled features, this one went 20 laps green to checkered and likely was the best race of the night. The race would start off with #14 Billy Melenhorst moving out front early, after getting the jump on #63 Jamie Cairns from the initial green. Melenhorst, would soon find company behind him however, with Curry moving to 2nd adound Cairns, who then found himself locked in a 3 wide battle with #1 Ralph Sikes and #77 Mike Getliffe for 3rd place. Sikes, would eventually claim that spot with a cunning bonzai like 3 wide move to split his two fellow competitors. On lap 3, Curry would power his Neon to the point, making an inside pass of Melenhorst entering turn 1. Also on the move towards the front was the 49 of Larry "Doc" Woodward, as the longtime veteran of many divisions moved from his 7th place starting position to claim 3rd by lap 7.
At the midway point, Curry was steadily pacing the field with laps in the 17.1 sec. range, with #15 Will Davies and #9 Charlie Smith entering the top 5 a little further back, after that pair disposed of the 1 of Sikes. At this point the strong cars of #11 Adam Misener, #28 JP Rosevear, and #57 Ryan Toon were still mired mid pack and looking for racing room. Over the duration, the top 5 would remain basically unchanged, with the exception of the 9 of Smith passing Davies on the inside of corner 1, to move to fourth in the running order.. At the checkered it was Curry taking his first Barrie feature win, with Melenhorst, Woodward, Smith, and Davies making up the rest of the fast five.. I actually think Curry won one two years back but had it negated in the tech shed, so it was nice to see the popular and sportsmanlike driver bag a legit win..
As with the Thunders, there were 4 different Pure Stock heat winners and they were Melenhorst, Toon, Misener, and #400 Justin Holmes..
I actually wanted to post at least results last night, now for the reason I didnt.. The Ontario Legends series.. 🙂 I'm usually an encouraging supporter of new series/clubs visiting Barrie, but this one really stunk the joint out.. There were like 7 or 8 cautions for a 25 lap feature that took the better part of an hour to complete.. In fairness, in years past the Legends have been pretty good with only 2-3 cautions and one time even racing caution free... not the case here.. What made it even worse was (and I dont know what handicapping system they use) that they decided to start the top 2 cars (Cuthbertson and Warbutton) who had earlier won all four prior heats between them, from the 3rd and 4th starting spots respectively, in a 15 car field.. That to me was a puzzler, as it would of produced way better racing to see them come from the back.. Not much eventful passing but for Warbutton working around early race leader #12 Wes Cuthbertson, who had just prior relieved #33 Paul Pierik of the point. It took Warbutton five laps to find the front, and he was soon passed from there by the #79 of Adam Cuthbertson on the outside entering turn three.. One lap later, defending series champ Warbutton would retire to the infield with mechanical issues.. At the checkered it was Adam Cuthbertson taking what I believe to be his 2nd Barrie win, while Pierik, #15 Rick Cook, #4 Bill Mason, and #27 JR Pierik rounded out the top 5.
Now back into the headline, it should be a very tight race in the LLMs as McLeod should be on top by 12-15 points over his next closest rival.. The 57 of Quesnelle, 69 of Inglis, 48 of Baker, and 10 of Shepherd should be really tightly bunched in the race for 2nd if my inclinations are correct.. Should be interesting to see how it all shakes out when this week's points are posted!!!! 😉 Up next its Walker Logistics night and I'd be looking for the Thunders of Belesky and Goggins to have a good night representing their sponsor... That's all I got....... FROM THE CHEAP SEATS..