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May 16, 2009 Race Report |
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The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same…..For Some By Spencer Lewis The feature action kicked off in the Mini Stock division, with rising star and provincial powerhouse Doug Butler (No. 10 Jeff’s Towing/South Barrie Collision Nissan) taking the win from the pole position, after qualifying 1st with back to back heat wins. Butler would complete all 20 laps, flag to flag, without challenge. After a 2008 season that saw the New Lowell, ON native capture 4 feature wins, Butler’s triumph came as little surprise to anyone. “I’m ecstatic” beamed Butler in victory lane “We’ve worked hard all winter, and if we want to continue beating some of these higher horsepower cars we just have to stay smooth and work on getting the car to turn”. Butler was followed across the stripe by ‘Mr. White Walls’ Nick Brown, Warren Paxton, Terry Clodd and Brian Love.
Sunset’s opening night also brought the debut of a brand new class to Ontario, the Outlaw Mini Stocks. 3 cars were on hand to take part in the special showcase, which culminated in a 6 lap trophy dash, to determine the first ever Outlaw Mini Stock winner. In the end, Barrie, ON’s Jason Podewils (No. 79 Classic Martial Arts/Midhurst Roofing Ford) rattled off lap times in the mid-pack Thunder Car range, en route to becoming the first ever Outlaw Mini Stock victor.
Darryl St. Onge bested a field comprised of both home track regulars and visiting drivers from across the province. St. Onge (No. 00 Georgian Waste Services/St. Onge Recreation Pontiac) started on the front row, and battled with fellow Barrie Speedway front-runner Flyin’ Frank Davey (No. 49 Bradford Print Shoppe/Barney’s Auto Electric Chevrolet) for the first few circuits, before taking sole possession of the lead. Davey would remain tattooed to the rear bumper of St. Onge, but could only pull within 2 car lengths all race long. The battle of the night took place behind the 2 front-runners, as Sunset’s Mark Adams, Barrie’s Brad Holden and Flamboro’s Nick Roth waged a three-way war for third spot with each car claiming the spot at least once in the dying laps of the race. As the dust settled, it was St. Onge with the win, followed by Davey, Adams, Holden and Roth. “We’ve put a tonne of work into this car” said St. Onge “the car itself is the same, but there’s not one thing on it that’s not different. I’d just like to thank Ron Mace for all the help, and all the wives and kids that let us put the time and work into this thing”. When asked his plans for 2009, St. Onge made it clear he’s simply looking to enjoy the season; “We just want to have some fun. Things tend to get too serious when you race for points. We’ll probably race the full season at Barrie due to sponsor commitments, but any chance I get to make it [to Sunset] I’ll be here, I really like this place”.
‘The Professional’ Rob Poole owns 3 Sunset Speedway Thunder Car championships. He was long considered to be one of the top-5 Thunder Car pilots in the province. For the past 2 seasons, Poole has been fine tuning his skills behind the wheel of a Limited Late Model, and just may be ready for a breakout season in 2009. However, the drama in the Limited Late Model division was unfolding long before Poole even took to the track on Saturday night. All throughout practice, the 2008 division champion, ‘Mr. Excitement’ Chris Morrow battled engine problems. These problems would eventually see the Anten Mills, ON veteran miss his first qualifying heat and drop out of the feature 10 laps early. Though if you were to compare Morrow’s night with that of his on-track rival, he got off easy; Stompin’ Tom Walters closed out the final practice session with a bang, when a last minute carburettor change led to a stuck throttle that sent the 25-time champion into the turn-3 wall at full speed. With his primary car destroyed, Walters was able to borrow Bruce Rankin’s ride, in an effort to put together some opening night points. With the two perennial favourites enjoying less than stellar evenings, an excellent opportunity was presented to some of Sunset’s up-and-comers to make a name for themselves heading into the 2009 season. The first 10 laps of the feature saw a 5-star battle for the lead, between visiting Barrie Speedway driver Gord Shepherd (No. 10 Torbram Electric Supply/Baltic Fuels Ford) and underrated Sunset star Jason ‘Bam Bam’ Witty (No. 19 Georgina Rental/Wayne Winch REMAX Chevrolet). Each lap, Witty was able to out-motor Shepherd down the straightaways, but was unable to make the pass in the corners. As the leaders dove into turn-3 shortly past the half way mark, Witty made contact with Shepherd, sending the #10 around. With both drivers sent to the back of the pack as involved cars, the lead was handed to the third place runner. Enter Rob Poole. ‘The Professional’ had his hands full from jump street, as a battle was being waged behind him between veterans ‘Quick’ Vic Parsons and Stompin’ Tom Walters for second. Walters would eventually make a move to the inside of ‘Quick’ Vic, though the resulting contact left Walters with a flat right front tire, thus ending his problem marred evening. Though Parsons put forth an excellent effort to remove Poole from the lead, the Cookstown, ON driver’s picture perfect restarts and immaculate car control would prove to be too much. ‘The Professional’ held off a strong top-4 of Parsons, Darin Malcolm, Jason Witty and Kevin Cornelius for the breakout win he’s been looking for. “Those restarts were great. I saw Vic and Tom back there, and I was just hoping we could hold ‘em off” smiled Poole “we don’t really get to practice restarts because I’m not really in the lead that much” admitted the 10-year veteran with a laugh. “I’m real happy with this, we’ll keep working at it and we’ll do our best to make a run at that championship this year”.
LEFTOVERS - Warren Paxton’s Mini Stock career continued to flourish on opening night. The youngster made his debut at the tail end of the 2008 season, winning Flamboro Speedway’s Oktoberfest Classic. Thus far, he has yet to finish a race outside of the top-3 - 2008 Sunset Speedway Thunder Car champion, ‘The Cheque Casher’ Herb Walters announced he would make his 2009 on week 2 of the Sunset season. Walters and company worked through the night to have the car ready but simply ran out of time for the car to be at the track on opening night. - Former Mini Stock competitor ‘5 Second Delay’ Jay Cutting made his Thunder Car debut on opening night. The scrappy 2nd generation driver has signed on to driver for car owner Kristi Wolfe in 2009. The Holland Landing, ON youngster started his season out in perfect form, winning the first Thunder Car heat he competed in. - Don’t be surprised to see ‘Sensei’ Bill Gallant make his Thunder Car debut on week 2. The one time Mini Stock powerhouse has been working all winter to put the finishing touches on his new car and should be ready for Saturday night. |