The 50^th Anniversary Season continued – Saturday, July 15^th – at Canada’s Toughest 3^rd of a Mile Paved Oval. Another perfect forecast greeted the touring Ontario Modifieds Racing and Eastern Ontario Legend Series, along with the home track Thunder Car, Organics & Glass Late Model and a 50-lap main event for the Battlefield Equipment Rental 4Fun teams at Peterborough Speedway.

Main event action got underway with a 20 lapper for the Thunder Cars, as Anthony DiBello and James Townsend brought the field to the line. DiBello broke out to an early lead, with Bailey Jacobs rolling into the second spot. There were a dozen laps showing on the scoreboard, when a yellow flag – for an incident on the backstretch – brought the pack together. Jacobs – who had restarted on the outside line – surrendered his runner-up position to Townsend, who would get close to DiBello, but was unable to get past. Jacobs, Dan Archibald and Rob Richards followed the lead duo across the line.

Former home track 4Fun runner Andrew Massey and Miles Tyson brought the Trailers Plus Eastern Ontario Legends Series from the staging area, with Tyson grabbing an early lead from the outside line, as teammates Cole Ledson and Jamie Riberdy slipped into 2^nd and 3^rd. A yellow flag with just 3 laps complete slowed the pace and Matt Haufe – who had started 6^th – took the lead on the restart. Cole McFadden, who has had several strong runs lately, moved into 2^nd before there were 10 laps on the board, but quickly gave-up the spot to Ledson. A red flag for a mechanical issue with Terry McClelland’s #64 machine gave drivers time to plan their late race attack. Ledson took the lead from Haufe with 20 complete, but had it taken away again as the white flag waved, as the driver of the #88 ride took his 7^th straight win. McFadden was 2^nd, with Ledson, Riberdy and Adam Cuthbertson – steering Andrew McFadden’s #02 – taking 5^th.

Jack Horner and Tyler Betts paced the Organics & Glass Late Models to the Great Canadian RV green flag for a 30-lap affair. Betts took an early lead, but a yellow flag for a 3^rd turn incident with 6 laps complete slowed his charge. Former track and Autumn Colours Classic Dan McHattie would mirror the leader’s every move, but couldn’t wrestle the top spot away from Betts. Another yellow – with just 10 circuits remaining – gave him another shot at the top spot and the pair ran side-by-side for a few laps, before Betts regained his advantage. Last week’s feature winner Bryan Mercer used the low-line to his advantage, stealing the runner-up spot from McHattie and the trio ran to the checkered flag in that order. Horner logged a strong 4^th place finish, with Mike Meyers 5^th.

With 25 laps on the board, Mark Gordon and Randy Hollingsworth brought the 13 Ontario Modifieds Racing Series – powered by Torque Builders Inc. – teams to Canada’s Toughest 3^rd of a Mile Paved Oval. Gordon took the lead at the drop of the green flag and had built-up a 7 or 8 car length advantage. Brad Stevenson and John Baker Jr. – who had each come from the middle of the pack on the initial start – were mounting a charge to the front and slipped into 2^nd and 3^rd spots respectively. When the lead duo came together with less a handful of laps remaining, Baker Jr. – the reigning series champion – looked to be on the way to his first win of the year. Stevenson – using Peterborough Speedway’s ‘Gentleman’s Rule’ – took responsibility for the incident, giving the lead back to Gordon. The driver of the #52 machine held-off J.B.J. to become the tour’s first repeat winner in its 6 2017 events. Stu Robinson Jr., Connor James and Linc Brown completed the top 5.

With 50 laps to settle the score and bragging rights to the winner, the Battlefield Equipment Rental 4Fun teams rolled out for their 50^th Anniversary 50 lap feature with Colin Parkes and ‘Pops’ MacDonald on the front row. Former track champion Ryan Oosterholt took the lead with 4 laps on the board. Several yellow flags would tighten the running order and a red flag – for a 2^nd rollover by Glen Harrington – brought proceedings to a temporary halt. Track clean-up and safety crews rushed to the scene, where Harrington – who was shaken-up, but uninjured – was removed from the wreck. Oosterholt held-off a hard charging Sean Kennedy for the win, with Jeremy and Jake Kelly following the lead duo across the line. Dave Feeney was 5^th. 

Heat race wins went to Bailey Jacobs with a pair, Anthony DiBello and James Townsend in the Thunder Car division. Matt Haufe, Adam Cuthbertson, Wes Cuthbertson and Cole Ledson won Eastern Ontario Legends qualifiers. Tyler Betts and Jack Horner took the Organics & Glass Late Model preliminary rounds, with Connor James, Brad Stevenson, Stu Robinson Jr. and John Baker Jr. taking OMRS checkered flags. Griffin Powell, Malcolm ‘Pops’ MacDonald, Colin Parkes and Jake Kelly earned Battlefield Equipment Rental 4Fun heat wins.

Kenny Ohno set fast time during King of the Hill, lapping the track in 18.17 seconds in his Honda Civic.

Bullring bullet points: Lisa King of Wasaga Beach, Ontario pocketed $566 in the 50/50 draw…2015 Thunder Car rookie of the year Bailey Jacobs was celebrating his 20^th birthday at the track, while 4Fun driver Keith Parkes and his wife Denise marked the occasion of their wedding anniversary…After a hard crash last week, Sean Kennedy’s crew – led by his father Dave – spent some long hours getting the #9 machine ready for action…It was a tough night for Kevin Buscher, who was making his first start of the year. His #39 Late Model made hard contact with the 3^rd turn retaining wall in the opening qualifying heat and was sidelined for the night.

Next on the 50^th Anniversary Season schedule at Peterborough Speedway is the Country 105 Mid-Summer Bash, with a 50-lap main event for the Thunder Cars and action with the Jiffy Lube Mini Stocks, Trent Lakes Complete Plumbing Renegade Trucks, Organics & Glass Late Models and the Ontario Modifieds Racing Series. Pit gates open at 3:00, with the spectator grandstands unlocked at 5:00 and qualifying heats underway at 6:00.

Full schedule details and the latest news about the tight, tricky bullring on Mount Pleasant Road, west of the Liftlock City can always be found by logging onto www.peterboroughspeedway.com, liking the Peterborough Speedway Facebook page or following the track on Twitter. Fans can also download the free app on their Smartphone.