Bright Lights and Big Fun Highlight the Second Week of Peterborough Speedway’s 2015 Campaign
A cool breeze, accompanied by plenty of sunshine welcomed fans for the second week of action – Saturday, May 23rd – at Canada’s Toughest 3rd of a Mile Oval, with the Mini Stock, Paul Davis Systems Thunder Car, Ontario Modifieds Racing Series and OSCAAR Midgets on hand.
Feature race action for the night got underway with a 20 dance for the Mini Stocks, with Gil Brooks and Dwight Lavoie on the front row. Lavoie broke away early, with Donovan Price on his tail. The field had barely scored one lap, when contact between Brooks and Tyler Junkin produced a yellow flag.
On the restart, Kevin Strutt and Brandon Hannah joined the front runners. With 6 laps complete, Price had taken control of the field. After having victory snatched from his grasp by lapped traffic just a week ago, there was no denying Donovan Price his first checkered flag of the year. Junkin rebounded from his early troubles to finish second. Hannah, Strutt and Lavoie rounded-out the top 5.
Howie Crowe and Rob Richards paced the Paul Davis Systems Thunder Cars to the stripe for a 20 lap main event. The front row starters sprinted away early, while rest of the pack played catch-up. Last year’s track champion Anthony DiBello moved to 4th spot with a handful of circuits complete, but Crowe was a man on a mission and claimed his first win of the year. Rob Richards continued his strong, early season run with his second consecutive 2nd place finish. DiBello, hot rookie Bailey Jacobs and Steve Mayhew completed the top 5.
With Randy Hollingsworth and Rick Warnes on the front row, 16 Ontario Modifieds Racing Series rides came from the staging area for a 25 lapper. At the drop of the green flag, John Baker Jr. – a multi-time 2014 Peterborough Speedway Thunder Car winner – took the early lead. With 6 laps down, the yellow flag waved for defending series champion Rob Warnes who cut a tire and slowed to a stop in the 3rd turn. On the restart, former series champion Dwight Brown was fighting JBJ for the top spot. The pace was slowed again after 11 laps entered the record book for a hard crash into the 3rd turn wall, between rookie contender Jamie Wagar and Gary Tryon. Tryon rolled away under his own power, while Wagar was towed from the scene. With the green flying again, so was Dwight Brown as he took the top spot from Baker and although he fought through lapped traffic in the late stages, the win was his. Baker crossed the line second. Brad Stevenson, Donny Beatty and Ryan Dick finished 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively.
23 starters took to Canada’s Toughest 3rd of a Mile Paved Oval for the 25 lap OSCAAR Midget feature to close the night’s racing, with Jody Bound and Brian MacDonald showing the way. After a lap 6 yellow flag, there were several attempts to restart the race that produced lengthy cautions. Things seemed to settle-down, as the pack made it through to a spin by Paul Draganac with 13 laps complete. As field was coming back to speed, a multi-car wreck on the front stretch brought out the red flag. Reports from the scene indicated that all drivers were unhurt. Through the late stages of the event, the Woodland brothers took control of the event. Richard Woodland took the checkered flag after his brother spun coming off the second turn, with Draganac and James Stanley finishing-out the top 3.
In the Mini Stock division, Tyler Junkin and Kevin Strutt took the qualifying heats, while Anthony DiBello and Howie Crowe shared the same result in the Paul Davis Systems Thunder Cars. Brad Stevenson, Nick Lees, Donny Beatty and Josh Gruntz each won an Ontario Modifieds Racing Series preliminary round. OSCAAR Midget heats went to Paul Draganac with a pair, James Rogers and Steve Lastman.
Bullring bullet points: Jody Bound was fighting for top spot in the 3rd OSCAAR Midget heat when his #5 made hard contact with the retaining wall in the second turn but made it back for the main event and was running well before being involved in the front stretch wreck…Defending Battlefield Equipment Rental 4Fun track champion Willow Barberstock returned to Peterborough Speedway in the #62W Ontario Modifieds Racing Series…Nathan Mitchell won King of the Hill in his girlfriend’s Honda Prelude.
Next on the agenda for Canada’s Toughest 3rd of a Mile Paved Oval is the first of the year’s three Toonie Grandstand Admission/Fan Appreciation Night – presented by Pepsi – Saturday, May 30th. Racing will include the Battlefield Equipment Rental 4Fun, Renegade Truck, Earl Ireland Auto Sales Late Model and INEX Ontario Legend divisions. Pit gates will open at 2:00, with the grandstand areas unlocked at 4:00 and racing at 5:00.
Fans can always find the latest news at www.peterboroughspeedway.com or by liking the track on Facebook or following it on Twitter. You can also download the free Peterborough Speedway app on your Smartphone.
