Shawn Chenoweth Dominates In Canada Day APC Feature Event At Flamboro Speedway
By Randy Spencer - The date many had circled on their calendar was finally here. Canada Day typically has been a highlight on the schedule at Bennett Chevrolet Flamboro Speedway and this year wouldn't be any different. The APC Pro Late Model series was back for their second race at Flamboro this year and the fourth in the series thus far. After an eventful race June 26th at Delaware Speedway, many of the top running cars were questionable for the event but all had hard working crews repair their cars and were back out for the big race.
Time Trials for the APC 100 were up first. Twenty Seven cars would hit the track for two laps each to set the field. Shaun McWhirter set the fast time of 15.633 and hat would hold for a short time until the Meineke 23 car of Shawn McGlynn would set a new fast time at 15.344 much to the delight of many in attendance. The time held until Mike Bentley would set the new fast time with a 15.293. Five cars later Mark Watson turned a lap of 15.198. The 27th car to qualify was the 9 of Brandon Watson and he would save the best for last with a high water mark of 15.180 to set the field.
APC Time Trials (Fast lap time) : #9 Brandon Watson 15.180, #3 Mark Watson 15.198, #51 Mike Bentley 15.293, #23 Shawn McGlynn 15.334, #89 Shawn Chenoweth 15.338, #721 Dan McHattie 15.345, #17 Joshua Stade 15.352, #82 Dale Shaw 15.359, #22 Jamie Cox 15.381, #86 Billy Schwartzenberg 15.425, #44 Steve Laking 15.440, #81 Andrew Gressel 15.512, #22M Chris Mitchell 15.549, #8 Jason Parker 15.561, #48 Dwayne Baker 15.567, #97 Trevor Collver 15.568, #31 Shaun McWhirter 15.633, #27 Matt Box 15.645, #99 Linc Brown 15.736, #10 Tom Gibbons 15.738, #54 Kevin Allen 15.379, #2 Rick Burbridge 15.824, #21 Matt Pritiko 15.858, #15 Matt Lockwood 15.869, #26 Terry Baker 15.980, #29 Steve Cashmore 16.010, #49 Jason Wood 16.200
Racing got underway the Mini Stocks and Thunder Cars who were both running twin 25 lap features invitational style with 19 Mini's and 16 Thunder Cars signed in. Nice to see some old faces return including Samantha Shaw, Billy Zardo III and younger brother Lane Zardo among others. Several drivers from other tracks also made the trip. The first Mini Stock feature saw Samantha Shaw line beside Rich Schwartzenburg. Schwartzenburg led early on but Shaw showed she didn't forget how to get around the one third mile oval and soon took the lead. Shaw and Schwartzenburg led early but one of the visiting drivers from Sunset Speedway, Danny Benedict got by and moved into second followed by Clark Hartman and Nick Roth in Russ Aicken's 71 car. Shaw had a bit of a push and was high in the corners. Shaw and Benedict battled for the lead exchanging the lead on a couple of occasions. Benedict finally got by and Shaw and the 81 car give Benedict a shot in the bumper. Roth moved up and was battling with Hartman and Shawn Taylor. Shaw had a flat and retired to the pits just past the half way mark. Benedict was racing Flamboro for the first time and built up a half track lead. The other Schwartzenberg, Billy, who was doing double duty came out of no where and Benedict and Schwartzenberg were on rails as the two battled. As the cars made their way through lapped traffic the feature winner was the 54 of Danny Benedict followed by Billy Schwartzenberg and Clark Hartman.
Mini Stock Feature #1 : #54 Danny Benedict,#86 Billy Schwartzenberg, #51 Clark Hartman, #76 Shawn Taylor, #36 Hudson Nagy, #50 Chad Corcoran, #71 Nick Roth, #72 Rich Schwartzenberg, #03 Jake Gilbert, #32 Gillian Hils, #38 Rodney Rutherford, #22 Mark DaSilva, #5 Stepheny Dean, #92 A.J. Miller, #05 Dave Goodacre, #79 Kyle Istead, #43 Brian Watson, #73 Jordan Morris (NF), #81 Samantha Shaw (NF)
Flamboro Speedway July 1, 2015 Mini Stock
The Thunder Cars were up for their first feature of the night with Ken Grubb on the pole along side Shawn Chenoweth. Chenoweth was quickly on the loud pedal and shot out to the lead followed by Grubb, Mark Burbridge, Billy Zardo and Lane Zardo. Brad Collison had the 13 car out for the first time this year making three London Recreational cars in the race. Grubb was still sitting second and Burbridge was glued to his bumper while Chenoweth continued to build a bigger lead. Half way through Mark Burbridge and Kevin Gallant retired to the pits. Zardo got to the inside of Burbridge were battling and Zardo would get by as the two rubbed and bumped and Lane followed Billy sending Burbridge back to fourth. Further back Brad Collison and Kenny McNicol Jr. were battling hard and were never far behind Burbridge. Chenoweth caught up to the back of the pack with a few laps remaining and Justin Collison raced his team mate hard. As the checkered flag flew it was Chenoweth picking up another checkered flag followed by Grubb and Lane Zardo.
Thunder Car Feature #1 : #89 Shawn Chenoweth, #36 Ken Grubb, #46 Lane Zardo, #21 Billy Zardo III, #01 Brandon McConnell, #13 Brad Collison, #7 Bobby Mercer, #76 Shawn Arnott, #77 Kenny McNichol Jr., #12 Justin Collison, #08 Derek Martin, #39 Austin Penney, #02 Mark Burbridge (NF), #31 Kevin Gallant (NF), #25 Tyler Liscum (NS)
Flamboro Speedway July 1, 2015 Thunder Cars
The second Mini Stock feature got under way after intermission with Jake Gilbert and Rich Schwartzenburg on the pole. Close side by side action as Gilbert and Schwartzenberg battled early trading the lead back and forth. Gilbert took the lead followed by Roth. Shawn Taylor tried to get by Schwartzenberg but Taylor was clipped by the 72 and his bumper was hanging. Taylor was black flagged and headed to the pits. Roth took the lead and was battling hard to hold off the Schwartzenberg's. Billy was right on Roth's bumper who had lots of power down the straight but Schwartzenberg had it in the corners. Great clean side by side action was "epic" as announcer Rob Howden called it. The cars got into lapped traffic but that wasn't an issue. Schwartzenberg took the lead with about 5 laps to go heading into turn one as Roth bobbled and the 86 took advantage. At the finish it was Billy Schwartzenberg followed by Nick Roth and Hudson Nagy.
Mini Stock Feature #2 : #86 Billy Schwartzenberg, #71 Nick Roth, #36 Hudson Nagy, #54 Danny Benedict, #81 Samantha Shaw, #03 Jake Gilbert, #51 Clark Hartman, #72 Rich Schwartzenberg, #92 A.J. Miller, #22 Mark DaSilva, #5 Stephney Dean, #05 Dave Goodacre, #73 Jordan Morris, #76 Shawn Taylor, #38 Rodney Rutherford (NF), #50 Chad Corcoran (NF), #79 Kyle Istead (NF), #43 Brian Watson (NF), #32 Gillian Hils (NF)
The last race before the main event was the second Thunder Car heat. Shawn Arnott was side by side with Bobby Mercer. Arnott and Mercer took off as the cars settled in. Brad Collison got by Mercer and took over second, with the Zardo's and Shawn Chenoweth close behind. Lane Zardo battled Collison hard and did his best to hold off the Iceman. Coming out of four two drivers got together and locked left and right fronts and came sliding across the front stretch and into victory lane. The cars were off the track far enough for it to stay green. Chenoweth took over second and as the cars took the checkers it was Arnott followed by Chenoweth and Lane Zardo.
Thunder Car Feature #2 : #76 Shawn Arnott, #89 Shawn Chenoweth, #46 Lane Zardo, #13 Brad Collison, #02 Mark Burbridge, #21 Billy Zardo III, #01 Brandon McConnell, #77 Kenny McNichol Jr., #25 Tyler Liscum, #12 Justin Collison, #08 Derek Martin, #39 Austin Penney, #7 Bobby Mercer (NF), #36 Ken Grubb (NF), #31 Kevin Gallant (NF)
After an extended intermission and autograph session, the drivers were ready and Spencer Lewis announced each driver to the crowd. That familiar call of Gentleman Start Your Engines rang out and the sound of 27 roaring Pro Late Models took over. It was Round 4 of the series presented by Grisdale Racing Products. The cars would take green and the 3 of Mark Watson would lead lap one. The first caution came on lap 6 when Matt Lockwood spun on the front stretch. Matt Pritiko's day would start bad as he had some significant front end damage as well as he got into the 15. One lap later Jamie Cox had a tire go down heading into turns one and two with a mad scramble of cars to get safely around. The 71 of Dan McHattie took the lead. Another caution on lap 12 as Matt Lockwood's day would be over as he hit the wall coming out of two. On the restart, the 51 of Mike Bentley got into the back of Mark Watson sending him hard into the turn one wall bringing out yet another caution. Bentley was shown the black flag as an involved car and would head to the rear of the field for the restart. On the next restart it was Dan McHattie and Brandon Watson out front and they made a lot of contact coming out of four to take the green. On lap 13, a major crash bringing out the red flag as several cars hit hard into the turn three wall. Pritiko's car sustained major damage and his day was done. Once again the same story on the restart, Watson and McHattie banging and crashing with Watson taking the lead. Cautions would breed cautions as Terry Baker spun in turn two on lap 16. The restart was called back as Watson got off a little too quick and it almost proved disaster for the 23 of Shawn McGlynn as a car got into the back of him deeper in the field with another mad scramble for cars to avoid a major wreck. Watson continued to lead followed by McHattie, Chenoweth and Dale Shaw. Watson took the lead on lap 18 and was followed closely by Chenoweth. A caution of lap 28 as McGlynn spun Steve Laking and that collected 4 more cars. Finally the cars put a long string of green flag laps together on the restart. Watson and Chenoweth raced nose to tail for many laps and the 89 just couldn't get passed. But finally Chenoweth made his move and took the lead heading into turns one and two on lap 45. Just past the half way mark Chenoweth continued to pull away. Dan McHattie came out of no where and caught the 89 and was relentless with pressure. Lap 72 saw Josh Stade have a tire go flat and further down the track on the same lap McHattie spun bringing out the caution. On the final restart of the race Chenoweth was on the inside with Dale Shaw on the outside followed by Matt Box. Chenoweth held off Shaw and with a few laps to go he was pulling away. As the checkered flag flew it was Chenoweth followed by Matt Box and Dale Shaw.
2015-07-01 APC Series presented by Grisdale Racing Products Flamboro Speedway Round 4 Highlights
APC 100 Feature : #89 Shawn Chenoweth, #27 Matt Box, #83 Dale Shaw, #9 Brandon Watson, #8 Jason Parker, #81 Andrew Gressell, #21 Shaun McWhirter, #86 Billy Schwartzenberg, #2 Rick Burbridge, #54 Kevin Allen, #17 Josh Stade, #26 Terry Baker, #10 Tom Gibbons, #49 Dwayne Baker, #23 Shawn McGlynn, #99 LincBrown, #22M Chris Mitchell, #71 Dan McHattie (NF), #22 Jamie Cox, #44 Steve Laking (NF), #29 Steve Cashmore (NF), #51 Mike Bentley (NF), #97 Trevor Collver (NF), #49 Jason Wood (NF), #21 Matt Pritiko (NF), #15 Matt Lockwood (NF)
