Chenoweth, Laking, Tyson And McFerran Big Winners Frostoberfest At Flamboro Speedway
By Randy Spencer - For many years the year end Oktoberfest races at Bennett Chevrolet Flamboro Speedway were something every racer and fan would mark on their calendars. The prize money was top notch and the best racers from around the province were on hand. The same could be said for Frostfest, a fairly new season ending race for Thunder Cars and Mini Stocks sponsored by Mike Schmidt and the gang at London Recreational Concrete Pools and Spas. Well this year they came up with a new idea. Combine the two to make a huge racing weekend. Combined with that the popular Late Model Series, the Grisdale Triple Crown sponsored by Bill Grisdale and his crew over at Grisdale Racing Products was added to the weekend after the APC series was the top series at Ontario paved tracks this past summer. Put that all together and you have a ginormous weekend that would be known as Frost-Oberfest. The racing would take place October 2nd and 3rd but as per usual at this time of the year, the weather is always un-predictable.
Racing got underway Friday night the 2nd with the Pure Stocks up first for their three qualifying heats to set the positions for the feature. In race one, Sam Heibein and Courtney Scott were on the pole. Heibein who has had a great year shot out to a big lead and was up to a half track lead at one point. A tight battle between the top runners and lapped traffic played a part but as the checkered flag flew is was Sam Heibein with the win. In race two, some exciting three wide battles taking place. A great battle between Matt Young and Derek Jackson took place and it was Young picking up the win. In the final heat, the 31 Keara Gallant and 59 of Peter Becker got tangled down the back stretch on lap one and Gallant was unable to continue. Regular season points champion Andy Wheller got by Jason Tolton in turn three on lap six and held on for the win.
Mini Stocks were up next. Forty nine drivers were signed in and that would definitely mean some would go home unhappy. That would also be the case in race number one for a top competitor this year at Flamboro. The green flag dropped and Chad Corcroan took the lead off the start. Some exciting three wide action behind the leaders was shaping up. On lap two heading out of turn two, four cars were in tight and it appeared the 03 of Jake Gilbert got a little loose, got into the 85 of Ryan Babin who made a right turn into the 51 of Clark Hartman. Hartman also made a right turn and rode the wall and was up and over the wall. A long red flag delay as Hartman's car took out part of the fence. Fortunately Hartman was ok but his car was done. It took well over an hour to remove the car from the wall, repair the fence and move cement barricades in place so we could safely resume the race. On the restart, Bobby Tolton would take the lead but battle close with Corcroan as the two trade the lead back and forth. When the checkers flew it was Corcoran coming home victorious. Race two saw Andy Kamrath and Nick Clarke up front. Kamrath wasn't really challenged and picked up the win. In the third heat, Brandon Crumbie and Fred Jordan battled with Jordan leading he first four laps but Crumbie would take the lead and hold on for the victory.
Thunder Cars hit the track for the three qualifying heats. Jeremy Bean started along side Jason Legge. Bean led lap one but Steve Ecker got by and got out to a big lead and picked up the win. Heat two had Mike Troback and Bob Parsons on the pole. A great battle ensued between Kenny McNicol Jr., Mark Burbridge and Ken Grubb. A very exciting finish was shaping up and as the cars barreled out of turn four heading for the finish McNicol managed to beat out Burbridge by mere inches at the line. In heat three, Bobby Mercer got out to the lead early on and managed to hold off all comers including Shawn Arnott to win the final qualifier.
The Pro 4 Modifieds hit the track for their qualifying heat. Twelve cars took the green and an early caution saw Bill Pearsall and Linc Erison sent to the back. Ryan Hunsinger in the 8 was battling with Mark Lucas and Brian Nanticoke. A late caution brought the cars back to even but Hunsinger managed to hold the lead and take the win.
The Ontario Modifieds had fourteen cars out and would race two heats. Nick Lees and Gary Elliott battled early and some exciting bumper to bumper action throughout. At the finish it was Lees holding off the veteran Elliott who for those of you counting was making his 1200th career racing start on this night. Heat two saw some more exciting action. Rick Warnes led lap one while John Baker Jr. took the lead away on lap two. Chad Strawn would lead next and put some distance between himself and the rest of the pack picking up the checkered flag.
The first feature of the night would be for the Pure Stocks. Sam Heibein and Matt Young, a couple of tough competitors who battled each other hard all year were on the pole for this one. A caution on lap one as the 59 of Peter Becker got tangled with Michael Kenny. A frustrating last half of the season for Kenny had come to an end as he couldn't continue. The next lap saw another caution as cars jockeyed for position coming out of turn four as a big mess ensued. On the restart Derek Jackson and Andy Wheller were battling each other hard. Wheller's car was sparking quite badly but continued. Jackson held off Wheller and Wayde Thorne to win the London Recreation Pure Stock feature race.
The Pro 4 Modified feature was next. Ten cars took the green with Chris Maxwell and Linc Erison up front. Dan Nanticoke took the lead off the start and led all the way for the feature win.
The Mini Stocks were up next for round two of their qualifying races. Miles Tyson and Mike Gilmour were on the pole for this one. Great battles up front as Tyson battled Bobby Tolton, Tim Tolton and Jake Watson. Tyson showed he was on a mission and picked up the win. Heat number five had a couple of racers that battled tooth and nail all season, many times ending with someone in the fence. Hudson Nagy was on the inside with 2015 Mini Stock champion Russ Aicken on his outside. Aicken got out to the lead early. Nagy battled Rodney Rutherford proving to be a great battle. Nagy, Rutherford and Andy Kamrath provided some exciting three wide action. Kamrath got up to Aicken and the two waged a side by side battle. Kamrath made a late race push and got by Aicken to pick up the win. The final race of the night would be the final Mini Stock heat as we were up against a time curfew. Mark Dasilva lined up beside Blair Wickett to take the green. Wickett showed why he dominated when he raced Falmboro this year and held off Brandon Crumbie for the checkered flag.
That brought to an end of racing on the night. The next day rain in the area made it impossible to race and the Sunday was the same. Racing would be postponed until October 24th. Rain that day forced racing until the next day and although a bit cool the skies had cleared and we were ready to go racing and finish off the season in grand style.
The afternoon got underway with Time Trials for the Late Models to set the field for the first race of the Grisdale Triple 50's. Twenty six cars were signed in and the top three times went to Michael Gold, Billy Schwartzenburg and Steve Laking.
Round two of qualifying for the Thunder Cras were the first racing action of the day. Shawn Chenoweth, Matt Bentley and Cayden Lapcevich were the top three cars in this one. Chenoweth and Bentley battled early. Chenoweth as he did quite often this season pulled away from the pack. That set up a battle between Lapcevich and Bentley. Some banging and crashing was taking place further back in the field between Jager McMaster and Darryn Wright. Both took healthy runs at each other and were disqualified by the starter. Chenoweth held off Lapcevich and Bentley for the win. Thunder Car heat number five saw some three wide action off the start. Brad Collison, Mark Burbridge and Coltin Everinghan wasted little time battling for position in this one. Lap two saw Everingham go around bringing out the caution. Ken Grubb got out to a big lead looking like he was out for a Sunday drive. The battle was for second and third as Burbridge and Kenny McNicol Jr. traded positions back and forth. At the checkered flag it was Grubb followed by Burbridge and McNicol. The final qualifier for Thunder Cars saw Shawn Hewitt and former Flamboro regular Dennis Cybalski on the pole. An early pile up as Hewitt spun the 07 of Dan Archibald. On lap 7, former Flamboro Speedway multi time champion Randy Russnell took the lead. He showed he hasn't forgotten his way around the one third mile oval picking up the checkered flag.
The Mini Stock consi was up and just six cars would qualify for the first of two features later in the evening. Nick Clarke and Dave Goodacre started out front. Clarke led the first four laps. Paul Boyd who wasn't out for the first night of qualifying got by Clarke on lap five and picked up the win.
The first of two 25 lap Ontario Modified features were up and Rick Warnes and Chris Burrows. Randy Hollingsworth spun in turns 3-4 early on and Chad Strawn couldn't avoided and his race was done. Gary Elliott and John Baker Jr. got involved down the front stretch bringing out another caution. Chris Burrows and Rob Warnes were waging a nice battle and Warnes got by Burrows in turn four on lap 11. Warnes began to pull away and got out to a considerable lead and took the checkered flag in feature one.
The Thunder Cars ran their consi next. Just seven cars in this race with Brent Wheller and Justin Collison out front. Collison held off all comers and took the checkered flag.
The first of three 50 laps features for the Grisdale Late Models saw Michael Gold and Billy Schwartzenburg out front for this race. Steve Laking got by Gold and took the lead on lap seven. Gary Elliott and Chad Corcoran (making his first late model start) got involved bringing out a caution. A few laps later Paul Howse, making his first Flamboro Late Model start since October of 2014, got involved with Nick Goetz in turns 3-4 bringing another caution. A few more minor cautions but the race for the lead was almost a one man show as Steve Laking held off Gold and Shawn Chenoweth and picked up the first 50 lapper.
The first of two Mini Stock features was the next race to hit the track with Andy Kamrath and Brandon Crumbie on the point. Crumbie took the early lead but Miles Tyson soon took the lead on the next lap. A caution on lap thirteen drew the field back to even and Bobby Tolton would be the new leader. Miles Tyson was right there with a fast car batting Tolton. A caution as several cars spun in turn three on lap 16. Tyson continued to battle Tolton but as the checkers flew it was Tyson picking up the win.
The first Thunder Car feature had the two top cars in the heats up front. Shawn Chenoweth and Kenny McNicol Jr. led the field to green. Once again Chenoweth, who recently sold this car to Hudson Nagy Racing, was out front and was gone. As the race neared completion Chenoweth was in a familiar place as he had lapped almost the entire field picking up the win.
Round two for the Late Models saw a couple of former Flamboro veterans and future Hall of Famers Gary Elliott and Paul Howse on the pole. On lap three, round one winner Steve Laking went around in turns 1-2. It looked like the 24 of Nick Goetz broke loose and the 89 of Chenoweth got into them. Almost 20 green flag laps until another caution as Steve Cashmore went around in 1-2. On lap 27 in turns 3-4, Goetz and Howse made contact and the 27 of Kevin Albers couldn't avoid it and hit the wall hard. On the restart Andrew Gressel took the lead. As the field entered lapped traffic this gave Gressel an advantage and he raced a conservative race and had almost a half track lead as the checkered flag flew.
Round two of the Mini Stocks had 'The Rabbit' Rob Hoskins out from beside Samantha Shaw. An early caution on lap two as Scott Mast and Rodney Rutherford went around in 1-2. Hoskins was leading but on the restart Shaw took the lead away. On lap nine, Brandon Crumbie got past Shaw and was the new leader. A few laps later, Dave Crumbie and Ken Townsend brought out a caution with a front straight altercation. Brandon Crumbie and Brandon McFerran were out front now and started to break away from the field. Tried as he may, McFerran, a former Flamboro regular, could not get by Crumbie and he picked up the win. Miles Tyson and Brandon McFerran ended up in a tie for the overall points championship.
Round two of Thunder Cars got under way with Jason Legge and Shawn Arnott on the pole. Legge raced a strong race and led the first seventeen laps. Brad Collison took the lead in a bunch of lapped traffic on lap 18. A caution of lap 25 as Legge and Cayden Lapcevich got mixed up. A crazy last lap saw the 02 of Mark Burbridge get a flat between turns 1-2, the 7 of Bobby Mercer came to a stop on the back stretch and Collison and Arnott went around in turns 3-4 allowing the 10 of Dennis Cybalski to cross the line first in one of the weirdest finishes around here in a while. Shawn Chenoweth was the overall winner followed by Kenny McNicol Jr. and Randy Russnell toed for second.
Round two for the Ontario Modifieds saw Rick Warnes and Chris Burrows on the pole. Rob Warnes led from start to finish and ran away and hid from the field to pick up the feature win making it a sweep for the 95 team. Nice to see another veteran, Bill Burrows, still living the dream out there.
The final race of the evening would see Round three for the Grisdale Late Models. Gary Elliott and Nick Goetz started pole in this race that seemed to go on forever with many spins and a long red flag delay for clean up just after the half way point. Andrew Gressel turned it on and past Steve Laking out of turn four on lap 35 to take the lead. An hour and forty two minutes after the original green flew, Gressel took the checkers over Laking for the win. Laking however ended up with the overall Grisdale championships with a first and two seconds as compared to Gressel's, two firsts and and fifth.
That brought to a close a very exciting 2015 racing season. All that's left is the Enduro 200 on Sunday November 1st. Check the website for details. The staff and management would like to thank everyone for attending Frost-Oberfest and for your support all season long. Big thanks to all the sponsors especially our two main sponsors for the weekend, Mike Schmidt of London Recreation Concrete Pools and Spas and Bill Grisdale from Grisdale Racing Products. Also thanks to Bennett Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC for being our track sponsor and our division sponsors Ray's Auto Centre and Towing, Klotz Auto Repair & Engine Machine Shop and Bomb Energy Drinks. Also to the many other sponsors, the photographers Derek Smith and Mike Kiers and to all of you fans for your continued support in 2015 and as we look ahead to an exciting 2016 race season!!
A reminder tickets for the 55th Annual Flamboro Speedway and Flamboro Stadium & Speedway Hall of Fame banquet are available by calling John Casale at 905-689-6052. It will be held Saturday, January 30th at the Waterdown Legion. Please check our website for details, www.flamborospeedway.ca
-Photos by Derek Smith and Mike Kiers
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