Winterfest An Icy Success!
January 30, 2011
By: Mark Rinaldi

Brighton Speedway kicked off the 2011 schedule with an action packed day on the fully iced oval.  The beautiful weather was a bonus as over 50 competitors took to the slick surface for a day of fun and excitement.  With twelve divisions of four wheelers and snowmobiles competing over 500 fans watching the slippery fast action were awed when the Ice Bikes hit awesome speeds and the track announcer,  Elaine Burke labeled them the “Sprint Cars of Ice Track Racing”.

With the sun warming the stands and pits, competitors began the events shortly after 11am for an awesome day of racing.  First up of the line were heat events beginning with youth four wheelers and the action didn’t stop all day long except for short breaks just to plow the track off from time to time.  Most of the divisions were fast paced and closely contested, there were a number of spills that kept the fans entertained and on the edge of their seats.  Shawn Lambert of Trenton had what could be considered the wipe out of the day as he dumped his Arctic Cat off of turn one in the 800cc snowmobile class!   

A great turn out of youth ATV’s was on hand for some fierce competition but what made the race unique was the two young lady’s that dominated the action!  #17 Sarah Rafferty of Huntington and Brianna Baha of Brighton battled back and forth all day with Baha taking the heat win while Rafferty took the feature win with Baha right on her tail back bumper!

The final event of the day saw the enduro cars take to the track for an exciting 30 lap race!  #77 Bernie Rehbergen took to the lead early after the green flag was dropped and the fans saw 3 cars skid of the track in turn one on the very first corner!  Bernie lead most of the way but was not uncontested as #19 Corey White made a strong challenge and actually took the lead midway through the race.  After numerous laps of close racing Rehbergen gave White the old bump and run for the lead and never looked back until the checker flag dropped on lap 30!

“The weather was fantastic, the track held up great, the on track action was awesome and we do it all again in two weeks” says track general manager Angie Rinaldi!  “We are looking for an even bigger and better day on Feb 12th when we hit the slick track again!”.  It would not be possible to put this event on without the support of our great sponsors that include Trenton Glass & Windows, Battlefield Equipment Rentals, Larry's Towing, Bill's Johns, Rock 107, Dave McDonald Homes, Cornerstone Builders, Percy Boom River Rats, Image Landscaping, Star 93.3, Motosports of Trenton, First Place Trailers and Klotz Canada.

Be sure to join us on February 12th at 11 am when we heat up the ice again with some great racing!  Snowmobiles, ATV’s, Motorbikes and cars will take to the iced up oval for the final time in 2011 and the action is sure be hot in the cool winter month.  For complete details visit www.brightonspeedway.com or email infobrightonspeedway.com.

2011 OVAL ICE RACES RESULTS

FINISH: JANAURY 29TH

30 LAP ENDURO

1.      #77 Bernie Rhebergen, Brighton

2.      #68 Dan Cooper, Orono

3.      #03 Matt French, Frankford

YOUTH ATV

1.      #17 Sarah Rafferty, Huntington

2.      #194 Brianna Baha, Brighton

3.      #24 Noah Whaley, Trenton

KID ATV

1.      #105 Tristen Penuck

2.      #7 Memphis Davy, Frankford

3.      #97 Connor Rafferty

2 & 4 WHEEL DRIVE OPEN ATV

1.      #15 Kirk Handley, Picton

2.      #21 Jeff Chandler, Oshawa

3.      #44 Patrick Corwan, Oshawa

2 WHEEL DRIVE ATV

1.      #15 Kirk Handley, Picton

2.      #21 Jeff Chandler, Oshawa

3.      #17 Shawn Waite, Bayside

4 WHEEL DRIVE ATV STUDDED

1.      #97 Kyle Butcher, Foxboro

2.      #29 Steve Lowe

3.      #99 Rene Aubertin, Plainfield

YOUTH SNOWMOBILES

1.      #100 Jamie Mitts, Belleville

2.      #88 Kyle Rhebergen, Brighton

601 – 700 SNOWMOBILES

1.      #117 Shawn Waite, Bayside

2.      #100 Jamie Mitts, Belleville

3.      #12 Sean Lambert, Trenton

501 – 600 SNOWMOBILE

1.      #9 Wayne Slute, Oshawa

2.      #100 Jamie Mitts, Belleville

3.      #88 Kyle Rhebergen, Brighton

701 – 800 SNOWMOBILE

1.      #117 Shawn Waite, Bayside

2.      #103 Dave MacDonald, Belleville

3.      #12 Sean Lambert, Trenton

ICE BIKES

1.      #4 George Jemes, Whitby

2.      #6 Jason Shields, Port Hope

3.      #779 Andrew Low, Ajax