Cole Claims Memorial, McLellan Conquers Late Models
Saturday's action was washed out by rain but as the sun rose on Sunday morning, it was evident that the night skies would be clear and the roar of engines would fill the air for another night of Invitational racing at Varney Motor Speedway. The pits were full Sunday as many cars from other area tracks made the trek to the highbanks to tackle the fastest paved quarter mile oval in the province.
Honoring the memory of past Street Stock competitor 'Super' Dave Gray, Sunday night featured the annual Super Dave Gray Memorial race for the Street Stocks. With two heat race wins on the night, #93 Bill Cole of Hanover would start on the pole with #06 Bill Keill of Chatsworth on the outside of the front row. At the drop of the green, Cole would take command entering turn one and would begin build up a lead that would eventually make the difference in the race. Moving into the second spot, #19 Brian Wilson of Rockwood would try to keep pace with Cole as the laps ticked by. Cole would stake himself to a half a striaghtaway lead by the midway point of the race and cruise onto the victory. Wilson maintained the second spot. With one of his best runs at Varney, #38 Al Kusik of Durham not only finished in the third spot, he was able keep #99 Jamie Hunt of Hanover in the rear view mirror. Hunt; not accustomed to running outside of the top three; was forced to settle for fourth. Keill rounded out the top five in this annual highlight for the Street Stocks.
Setting the table for the upcoming Fall Classic at the end of this month, Varney Motor Speedway saw an awesome turnout in the Late Model division as new drivers continue to show up to gain valuable practice time for the annual 'big-money' shoot out. Four different drivers picked up checkered flags in the heat races as the field took to the track for the feature race. On the pole, #12 Justin McLellan of Mt. Forest led the pack to green with #66 Cole Weber of Mt. Forest along side. McLellan jumped out front to take the lead early in the race and, along with Weber, #76 Tyler Williams of Southampton and #96 Monty Kelly of Mitchell, would form a single file four-car train and start to pull away from the rest of the pack. With the field running sigle file and spread out around the track, Weber would spin coming off turn four while running in the second position. The caution flag would come out for the first time bunching the pack up for the restart. McLellan would take the green with Williams along side and the two would thrill the fans with intense side-by-side racing for several laps. The caution flag would fly once again for a spin in turns three and four involving #2 Ed Peterson of Clinton. Again, McLellan and Williams would restart next to each other and, in one of the best battles for the lead all year long in any division, raced nose-to-tail and side-by-side. With five laps to go, the two would pull away from the rest of the field. Williams would get to the inside of McLellan a few times but, McLellan was always able to pull ahead. Willimas closed in on the back bumper as the white flag came out and, in a last ditch attempt at the win, dove to the inside coming off of turn four. Willimas would get alongside McLellan but could not win the race to the stripe. McLellan hung on for what may have been his hardest fought win of the year with Willimas in second. Working his way steadily throught the field, #98 Steve Smith of Durham finished third as Kelly and Late Model points leader #81 Chris Van Dusen of Guelph rounded out the top five. Heat races were won earlier in the night by McLellan, Van Dusen, Weber and Williams.
The Stock 4 feature race turned out to be a caution filled affair that rewarded many of the survivors with their best finishes of the year. On the pole, #88 Jason Tolton of Guelph led the field to the green with #51 Clark Hartman of Waterloo along side. Hartman would take the early lead on the outside and lead a five car pack that included Tolton, #9 Dennis Cremasco of Arthur, #26 Ben Melenhorst of Stayner, #14 Billy Melenhorst of Stayner and #86 Bob Tolton of Guelph down the backstretch and away from the rest of the field. J. Tolton would take a turn out front and in a rare miscue, Hartman would lose traction in turn two and spin out of the second position, bringing out the yellow flag and putting the Stock 4 points leader to the back of the pack for the restart. J. Tolton held the lead on the restart over Ben Melenhorst but would get out of the groove in turn four drifting towards the wall as several cars squeezed by pushing the leader back in the running order. Ben Melenhorst, Billy Melenhorst and B. Tolton would pull away from the pack with the two Melenhorsts swapping the lead. Meanwhile, Hartman, who had to restart from the back after the race's first caution, had worked his way up to the fourth position. Two more cautions would fly for spins first involving #19 Tessa Cremasco of Arthur and #7 Charles Embro of Hanover on the backstretch, and then one involving #99 Craig McLean of Cambridge and #24 Thomas Harquail on the front stretch. The final caution came out when, battling for the second spot, B. Tolton and Billy Melenhorst got together on the back straightaway sending both cars up into the fence and ending their nights early. After a lengthy clean up, Ben Melenhorst and Hartman would take the green for a two lap shootout. While Hartman's march through the field was impressive, he was unalbe to complete the comeback as Ben Melenhorst held on for the win. Hartman finished second with #38 Sherry Smart of Hanover, #72 Rick Schwartzenburg of Guelph and #91 Bruce Moran of Brampton rounding out the top five. Heat races were won on the night by J. Tolton, D. Cremasco, Hartman and Billy Melenhorst.
The top two cars in in the Super Street Stock feature stayed stuck together for the entire race. On the pole, #61 Ched Eden of Varney and on the outside, #76 Shawn Arnott of New Hamburg. Eden would taek the lead with Arnott and #83 Scott Way of Fergus close behind. Eden and Arnott would put some distance between themsleves and Way just after the midway point of the race. Trying to find a way past Eden, Arnott would try to get ot both the inside and outside in the turns but, Eden would shut him down with each attempt. Arnott was fast enough to win but, Eden would keep him in the rear view enroute to another feature race win. Arnott finished second with Way third and #85 Matt Clarke of Mt. Forest fourth. Heat races were won by Eden and Way.
Another full field for the All Pro Modified feature race saw #8 Gary McLean of Conn lead #4 Aaron McLean of Conn to the green flag. Gary would take charge with Aaron close behind. The two would set a blistering pace as #2 Dale McArthur of Durham and #1 Ted Paterson of Mt. Forest battled for third. There would be one caution in this race for a spin in turn four involving the feature race winner from two weeks ago, #34 Terry Pardy of Mt. Forest. Gary McLean would take the lead on the restart with Aaron McLean in second. Patterson would charge past McArthur for third. Gary McLean would storm on to the win with Aaron McLean second, Patterson third, McArthur fourth and #39 Dave McCullough of Glencoe rounding out the top five. Heat races were won by G. McLean and McArthur.
The Markdale Salvage Crushers picked up their second feature race in a row after winning what turned out to be a 'last man standing' race. Four trains started the Trains feature but, only one would finish as the Crushers stood triumphantly in victory lane. The Redneck Special picked up the win in the heat race earlier.
This night also featured the final Women's Challenge race for 2010. Katherine Brown picked up the win but, the season long overall points went to Kari Way who finished third. Katie Parsons finished second.
Next Saturday night, racing continues at Varney Motor Speedway however, the green flag drops at 5:00 pm for the next two weeks. There is still plenty of time to take in the excitement at Varney Motor Speedway as the highbanks feature racing on Saturdays through the month of September. For detailed information on the track's schedule, visit www.varneymotorspeedway.com.
Jody Buschlen - Track Announcer/Varney Motor Speedway
Race Results For Sunday, September 5, 2010
STOCK 4 - FEATURE
Pos Driver Car #
1 Ben Melenhorst 26
2 Clark Hartman 51
3 Sherry Smart 38
4 Rick Schwartzenburg 72
5 Bruce Moran 91
6 Jessie Way 92
7 Charles Embro 7
8 Dave Gray Jr. 55
9 Tessa Cremasco 19
10 Glen Vendergeld 32
11 Phil Givens 77
12 Tim Tolton 35
13 Dennis Cremasco 9
14 Luke Freeman 28
15 Thomas Harquail 24
16 Bob Tolton 86
17 Billy Melenhorst 14
18 Scott Schluter 73
19 Jason Tolton 88
20 Craig McLean 99
STREET STOCK - FEATURE
Pos Driver Car #
1 Bill Cole 93
2 Brian Wilson 19
3 Al Kusick 38
4 James Hunt 99
5 Bill Keill 06
6 Tanya McDougall 26
7 Dave Gray Jr. 5
8 Alvin McNicol 77
9 Kyle Fox 58
SUPER STREET STOCK - FEATURE
Pos Driver Car #
1 Chad Eden 61
2 Shawn Arnott 76
3 Scott Way 83
4 Matt Clarke 85
Varney Late Model - FEATURE
Pos Driver Car #
1 Justin McLellan 12
2 Tyler Williams 76
3 Steve Smith 98
4 Monty Kelly 96
5 Christopher VanDusen 81
6 Kent Nuhn 09
7 Nick Roth 11
8 Josh Stade 17
9 Jeff Lotspeich 85
10 Jason Ritchie 61
11 Dan Lawler 66
12 Tommy Robb 89
13 Ed Peterson 2
14 Brian McLean 47
ALL PRO MODIFIED - FEATURE
Pos Driver Car #
1 Gary McLean 8
2 Aaron McLean 4
3 Ted Patterson 1
4 Dale McArthur 2
5 Dave McCollough 39
6 Less Eccles 27
7 Dean Scott 19
8 Terry Pardy 34
9 Bill Burrows 65
10 Mike Ford 04