Event 18 - ZACCHIGNA CROWNED THUNDER MID SEASON CHAMP
August 9 Report by Brian Watt

Last Saturday night August 9th we finally had little or no threat of rain although there was rain all around us we had some of the best racing Sunset Speedway has seen in years. All three classes were on top of their respective games as even the heats were hotly contested but the features were magnificent. The night’s sponsor was ROCK 95 and the fun team ladies handed out t-shirts and trophies to all the evening’s winners. ROCK 95 has been a great sponsor over the years and we look forward to their participation for many years to come. The feature winners on the night were #74 Mark Zacchigna as he took the 35 lap mid season championship for thunder cars which was a feat considering the state of his purple pavement eater mustang as the rear of the car was completely destroyed in an altercation last week, #97 Derrick Tiemersma subbing for Simon Lloyd in the Limited Late Model and #21 Rob Deasy in the 4 cylinder road runners that’s three in a row for the yellow CRX blur. It was nice to see a few old friends back to race as #72 Ron Tracey made his 2003 debut in the familiar yellow Fine’s Home Hardware who he wanted to thank for their support and all the fans who phones or dropped by his shop to see how he was coming along. Ron’s shop burned down last Christmas and he lost his race car in the fire and he has been working until midnight since rebuilding the shop so the car had to wait but it’s great to see you back Ron. We also had the #4 of Ron Farnes in the late model, #46 Rob Harrison in the 4 cylinder as part of the hooligan race team, we had #8 John Carlisle in the thunder car Jr replica colour scheme, #21 Don “jake” Jacobson back and it was nice to see ALSTAR performer Derrick Tiemersma substituting for Sunset regular #97 Simon Lloyd away for the night with buddies and doesn’t he capture the 25 lap feature not a bad replacement Grant way to go guys. The Plan Group points races in the late model and thunder car classes are extremely close and the points become hard to achieve as we move down the back stretch of the 2003 race season as these points championships will not be settled until the last race night.

With only 6 points separating the top 4 in the point’s race each position is voluble points as this will be decided on the last point night. On the drop of the green flag by starter Doug the 00 of Andrew Cole jumped to the early lead with #74 Mark Zacchigna right on his tail while #19 Greg Long, #15 John Hitchen and #45 Rob Poole round out the top 5. As the laps rolled along Cole was extremely strong as he held off Zacchigna who was welded to Cole’s back bumper while Poole, #16 Amanda Connelly and #51 Mark Adams were the fast 5. On lap 8 Zacchigna found a crack in the armour of Cole to take the point while Poole got around Connelly with Adams and #49 Flyin’ Frank Davey round out the top 6. We went 28 green flag laps before the caution flew as #33 Rob James and Hitchen got together looping their mounts with Zacchigna out front with Connelly and Poole side by side and back in the field a tremendous battle was taking place as Cole was a head of Adams and #94 Doug Harvey side by side and Davey and #3 Ernie Fummerton side by side great racing throughout the field. This set the stage for a seven lap shoot-out as the green flew Zacchigna took off with Connelly taking over Poole third with Cole, Harvey, Fummerton and Davey looking to move up. As the cars roared down the front chute to take the checkered flag from Doug the running order was Zacchigna, Connelly, Poole, Davey, Cole, Harvey and Adams. The heat winners were Cole, Adams, Zacchigna and Connelly. Congratulations to Mark and the crew on a great feature victory a major feat considering the state of the mustang that was hooked from the track the previous week great job Mark. It was great to see a strong effort from the 00 machine as Andrew was strong all night long.

THE 4 CYLINDER ROAD RUNNER DIVISION

As the cars rolled onto the track to take the green flag the car to watch out for was the black Neon #90 of Darren Lloyd who won both his heats and was starting on the pole. On the drop of the green Lloyd grabbed the early lead while #26 Ted Edwards, #88 James Rodgers, #00 John Cole and #22 Bob Phinnemore round out the top 5. As the laps ticked down Lloyd’s lead was precarious as Phinnemore and #21 Rob Deasy had caught him and were applying a great deal of pressure to the #90 Neon while Edwards and #9 Mike Carson were in pursuit. At one point the 3 lead cars were 3 wide for 2 laps with non giving an inch, finally Deasy and Phinnemore were too much for Lloyd and got by and were side by side for a few laps but finally Deasy grabbed the lead. At the half way point Deasy was the leader with Phinnemore, Lloyd, Carson and Edwards the fast 5 and they stayed in this order until lap 18 when disaster stuck the 90 machine as the right front wheel sheared right off the car causing the car to hit the turn 4 wall and Darren was not hurt but the Neon had extensive front end damage. The new order was Deasy, Phinnemore, Carson, Edwards, #8 Rob Snow, Rodgers and #80 Jim Carter. As the laps ticked off Deasy was too much for Phinnemore as Bob could get close but the Honda CRX would pull away when he got close and as they sped down the front chute to accept the checkered flag from starter Doug the running order was Deasy, Phinnemore, Carson, #6x Ricky Walt and #6 Aaron Martyn. In tech lane the #9 of Carson was DQ’d so everyone moved up one position so Snow was awarded 5th. The heat winners were Lloyd with 2, Bob Phinnemore and Deasy. Congratulations to Rob and the crew on a great feature win that’s 3 in a row, way to go guys. Tough luck to Darren Lloyd as he had a strong car all night but lady luck was not in his corner on this night as while running 3rd in the feature lost the front right wheel and kissed the wall see you next week Darren.

Once again we would like to thank the fun team girls on their participation and for ROCK 95 on their sponsorship it’s always great when they are in attendance. I would like to say to the drivers in all classes congratulations on the show that was the best racing seen around here in many years take a bow and keep it up as you guys are the best show in Ontario in all 3 classes the word is on the street.