WEEK 9 - LETHBRIDGE FINALLY CONQUERS THE SUNSET BULLRING
June 21 Report by Brian Watt (TQs by Mark Blocksdorf)

Perfect skies and a wonderfully warm day made for some exciting racing all evening long at Sunset Speedway. There was a carnival atmosphere at the great oval as the night's sponsor The Plan Group had their family picnic at the track. All day long there were rides, food, face painting, go cart rides and a great time had by all. The Plan Group is a major sponsor at Sunset Speedway and every year owner Marshall Cohen treats his employees to a great day of fun and racing. Everyone has a great time and I'm sure they look forward to it each spring. Marshall is an avid fancier of speed himself - in 1968 & 69 he was the NHRA Funny Car drag racing champion, and the way he piloted his Viper around the 1/3 mile bull ring you could see his love for cars and speed. The Plan Group is a major electrical, mechanical and data communications provider - their motto is "great people, great service since '55". They are the official points fund sponsor and we hope the support remains many years down the road. Marshall, thank you for your support.

As for the action on the track, we had 4 divisions and the action was fast and furious. The big winners on the night were #95 Ron Lethbridge in the Limited Late Models, #74 Mark Zacchigna in the Thunder Cars, #80 Jim Carter in the 4 Cylinder Road Runners and #6 Jeff Riberty took the touring TQ Midgets feature. They always put on a great show each time they appear at Sunset Speedway.

And there was a special day in the pits as Ken Bemrose celebrated his 47th birthday - congratulations Ken.

CAN AM TQ MIDGETS
Jeff Riberdy, after winning the opening heat, was far back in the pack as the TQs took the green. Randy May led the pack as Riberdy was working his way forward. The first caution flew when James Friesen came to a stop in corner 4. On the restart, Riberdy followed May in second spot then took the position. One more caution slowed the field as Chris Ralph lost an engine. It would not be the only one, as James Friesen also lost a motor on the last lap. Apparently this is not a common problem among TQ Midgets, and 3 additional motors were lost during practice. Riberty would take the feature with May, Paul Smith, Craig Mackereth and Todd Cresswell completing the top five. Riberty also got a heat, along with Mackereth and May. Blair McCann won the B main.
THE LIMITED LATE MODEL DIVISION
There were 18 late models ready to take the green flag for their 25 lap feature event. At the green flag, Larry Vitale and Rick Santigato ran side by side as well as Simon Lloyd and Ron Lethbridge. They went 4 laps in formation until Santagato got lose and went for the wild ride - he collected Lloyd, Chris Morrow and Lambert Yake. On the restart all cars managed to return to the oval in time for the green and the running order was Lethbridge, Yake, Brendan Adams, Vic Parsons and Ron Quesnelle. On lap 10 we had another mishap involving Simon Lloyd and Santagato and a couple of back markers, ending Lloyd's evening. On the restart Lethbridge held the point and looked extremely tough to beat. Yake was second with Adams, Quesnelle, Parsons, Steve Quesnelle and Grant Lloyd in single file. The remainder of the race went green and the order changed very little and as they roared down the front chute to take the checkered flag. The final running order was Lethbridge, Yake, Adams, Ron Quesnelle, Parsons and Grant Lloyd. The heat winners were Simon Lloyd, Yake, Ron Quesnelle and Grant Lloyd. Congratulations to Ron, the crew and the rest of the Lethbridge family on a great feature win - you guys have been getting better each week culminating with this big win, way to go JAR Racing.
THE THUNDER CAR DIVISION
Everyone looks forward to the thunder car feature each time out, as the racing action is always hot and heavy. It's great racing throughout the field and always goes down to the wire at the finish line. On the drop of the green flag, Greg Long fires to the point with Mike Norris, Billy McDonald, Mark Zacchigna and Rick Santagato rounding out the top 5. On lap 4, Norris and Rob Poole get together in turn 1 to bring out the first yellow. Zacchigna wastes little time taking the point away from Long, but Amanda Connolly, Doug Harvey and Frank Davey were on the move. At the half way point, the front 4 were running like a freight train with Zacchigna, Connolly, Harvey, Davey. Mark Adams held fifth place, but was stuck in traffic. Connolly could get right up to Mark but the wily veteran would not give up the point easily. Davey was able to get under Harvey for third. As they thundered down the front chute to take the checkered flag, the top 5 were Zacchigna, Connolly, Davey, Harvey and Adams. The heat winners were Zacchigna, Connolly and Harvey with a pair. Congratulations to Mark and the crew on a great feature win - back to back, but can he three-peat? Stay tuned...
THE 4 CYLINDER ROAD RUNNER DIVISION
With the Phinnemore wave missing in action, the race for the feature was up for grabs. On the drop of the green flag Ted Edwards grabbed the point with Joe Sherman, Albert O'Neil, Jim Carter and Mike Carson rounding out the top 5. On lap 3, David Henderson and Jerry McComb get together and on the restart Sherman wastes little time getting to the point. Carter, Edwards, O'Neil and Robert Snow complete the top 5. On lap 8, Carter took the point away from Sherman with O'Neil, Snow, Adam Tracey and McComb on the move. On this night Carter appears too tough to beat as he pulls away from the field. As they motored down the front chute to accept the checkered flag, the top 5 were Carter, McComb, Sherman, O'Neil and the amazing Adam Tracey. In the heat races, the winners were Sherman, Carter, McComb and James Rodgers. Congratulations to Jimmy and the crew with a fantastic feature win with more to come before the years out.

Once again we would like to thank Marshall Cohen and his company The Plan Group for the night's sponsorship and for his tremendous support over the years. Thank you Marshall - your support is important to us.