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What an excellent night of racing on June 23rd. After all the talk about June 9th and the goings on there, the drivers answered the call with a great show of racing action. Sixteen Late Models took to the track for hot-laps, but only fifteen would go on to qualify after the #74 John Harper had to cut his debut night short after suffering mechanical problems. Jim McDonald didn’t have a problem putting the #36 in victory lane in the first heat, and Trevor Warren had similar success putting the #19 under the checkers in the second heat. In second round qualifying the #77 Kenny McNicol made a bold effort getting to the front of the pack, but could not beat the #8 Paul Howse. And the fourth heat was won by rookie #57 Rob Maas. In the feature, the #7T Les Szawlowski pulled away out front, while #14 Justin Fraser did battle with, 14 year-old rookie, #7 Petey Shepherd for second. Battles were also heating up in the back of the pack, where another rookie, #77 Kenny McNicol Jr., was mixing things up with #36 Jim McDonald. But while tensions built in the back, the front four had pulled away, and Petey Shepherd was leading the charge on the #7T Les Szawlowski. Shepherd tried the #7T, but was forced to stay a little conservative because of the intense pressure being applied by Justin Fraser in the #14. One slip up, and the #7 would likely have found himself three or more positions backward. A caution came out when, racing side by side, the #56 of Jeff Stewart lost a tire and rode high into the corner one wall with the #91 Al Inglis. Inglis’ #91 kept the #56 off the wall, but suffered a lot of front end damage doing so. On the restart the Late Models scrambled for position. In the back the #8 of Paul Howse was glued to the back end of the #77, while up front Petey Shepherd resumed his work on the #7T. Down the back straight Petey got the nose of his #7 inside the #7T, raced door to door through the corners, and then took the lead as the cars hit the frontstraight. But now the hunter became the hunted, and the pressure was all on the #7 of Shepherd. Another caution came out, this time for debris in corner two, and any gap Petey had created between his #7 and Les Szawlowski, was closed. Shepherd was quick and hard on the gas on the restart, instantly jumping ahead of the rest by almost a dozen car lengths. Everything seemed to be coming to the #7, but once again his safe distance from the rest of the pack was closed when caution filled the speedway. The #77 of Kenny McNiol Jr. had been bumped high in the traffic coming through corner four and had spun into the wall. A tough break for both young rookies, as McNicol was carried to the pits on the hook of the French’s Tow Truck, and Petey Shepherd would have to try and run from the pack again. On the restart Shepherd was again quick to the gas, but the rest of the field had anticipated a quick start and stayed right with the #7. The battle for second heated up again, as Justin Fraser worked by the #7T to put his #14 in front of Les Szawlowski. Petey Shepherd was still a couple car lengths ahead, but had to keep aware of the hard chargers coming quick behind him. #57 Rob Maas was leading a train of top competitors, including #36 Jim McDonald and #19 Trevor Warren. The caution flag would fly one more time, as down the front straightaway the #7T lost control and spun to the infield, right in front of the charging pack of Late Models. Everyone swerved to avoid contact, the most exciting being the #8 Paul Howse and his mad dive to the infield. No caution was thrown because all cars had avoided the mess, but Szawlowski pulled the #7T out of the infield and set his nose on the track as the rest of the cars came flying out of corner four. Szawlowski was black flagged for intentionally causing a caution, and sent to the pits. Now, with three laps to go, a green/white/checker finish on the way, Petey Shepherd would be put to the test. Rob Maas, Jim McDonald, Trevor Warren, and the #0 of Ken Paston were all lined up behind the #7, and were baring their teeth like a hungry pack of dogs. Well, when the green flag dropped, Petey Shepherd ran like a scared rabbit. One lap at a time, Petey Shepherd held his line, and did not allow Rob Maas, whose #57 was right to the bumper of Shepherd’s #7, to get a good run. Down to the checkered flag, for his first feature win in a Late Model, #7 Petey Shepherd, the year 2000 Thunder Car rookie sensation, picked up the victory. He was followed, closely, by #57 Rob Maas, #36 Jim McDonald, #19 Trevor Warren, and the #0 of Ken Paston. Maas was later docked one position for jumping a restart, so the #57 finished third, and the #36 was awarded second. A great Late Model race which redeemed everyone, and picked up the spirits of the struggling Shepherd team who had lost two engines in the two previous race weeks. Could this be the start of Petey Mania 2? Maybe, but watching the #36, #19, and #57, and the imminent return of veterans #48 Gerry Wheaton and #82 Jason Shaw, if Petey does win again one thing will be for sure, he’ll have worked for it, and earned it.
There have been a couple of great surprises in the Thunder Car division in the last couple weeks. First, the surprising success of the #50, piloted by Scott Parker; and a new car and driver who have had some great beginners luck, the #29 of Steve Cashmore. Cashmore brought the #29 out for the first time on June 16th, and won the feature. Now, on June 23rd he was looking to repeat his success, and started out pretty good with a win in the heats, but Parker put the #50 in victory lane as well. Other heat wins went to #38 Randy Rutherford and #12 Mike Post. In the feature #10 Ray Gowan ran away out front, and #93 Rob Vanderveen with the #31 Kevin Gallant tried to run him down. The man on the move was Scott Parker in the #50, as he got to fourth, passing Randy Rutherford and then parking on Kevin Gallant’s bumper. The battle was for second where the three cars, #93, #31, and #50, swapped paint and positions. At the half, Ray Gowan was still way out in front in the #10, but Kevin Gallant was looking to make a move to second in the #31. Gallant took to the highside to go by the #93, but Scott Parker drove the #50 down to the inside, hanging the #31 out to dry all alone in the high groove, and leaving Kevin Gallant to fall backward. With 5 laps to go Scott Parker drove to the inside of the #93 and took away second, but brought with him a full train of cars that dropped Rob Vanderveen from second to seventh. Out of corner four, Ray Gowan brought the #10 around to the finish line for another feature win for him in 2001. He was followed by #50 Scott Parker, then #12 Mike Post, #43 Dave Habel, and #29 Steve Cashmore.
The Street Stocks, surprisingly, had one of the most tame races of the night. Qualifying wins went to #11 Manfred Henkel, #02 Jim Mannen, #41 Dave Miskolczi, and #72 Randy “The Rocket” Rusnell. In the feature #20 Sean Warren got around the #11 of Henkel early and put a couple car lengths between him and the second place #45 Dave Bennett. After that the Street Stocks strung out around the track, “The Rocket” was extinguished with mechanical problems on the #72, and the Man in Black, #41 Dave Miskolczi was unable to get by Bennett’s #45 to mount a challenge on the #20. Down to the line, Sean Warren won another feature in the #20, and was followed by #45 Dave Bennett, #41 Dave Miskolczi, #4 Brian Davis, and #11 Manfred Henkel.
The Mini Stock feature was the showcase of a great battle for the lead, and qualifying was pretty good too. #85 Robert Allerellie won the first heat, but his victory was shadowed by the great effort by #66 Tony Darmon who raced from seventh to second. Darmon did win the third heat, and Allerellie finished second after starting scratch. #77 Bryn Rennie won the second heat, and #7 Ben Beacock won the fourth. These drivers all started from the middle of the pack, raced to the front, and finished in the top five. Early on in the race the leader was the #26 Bryan Sweers, but he was pushed backward when #7 Ben Beacock led a charge to the front and, with the #66 Tony Darmon in tow, passed the #26 of Sweers. This was to be a most exciting battle for the win. The #66 and #7 swapped paint, positions, numbers, tires, dogs, wives, whatever it took to get in the lead. They raced door to door, bumper to bumper, bumper to door; They raced inside, outside, backside, frontside, they used the whole race track. First the #7 of Beacok was in the lead. Then Darmon made a pass on the inside. Then Beacock would move to the back of the #66 and duck down to the inside and regain the lead. Then Darmon would push by the #7 and take the lead back. This continued for the entire race. With two laps to go Ben Beacock was leading and Darmon had the #66 right to the bumper of the #7. With one lap to go, and the white flag waving in the air, and a four car battle raging behind the leaders, the #66 and #7 raced close through corners three and four, made contact when they came up on some slower traffic, and out of corner four the #7 seemed to stall. Ben Beacock suffered some kind of damage after he made contact with the #66, and coasted across the finish line in second place, giving the victory to Tony Darmon. #77 Bryn Rennie finished third, then #17 Jim Hill, and #85 Robert Allerellie rounded out the top five. Tony Darmon was later given a rough driving penalty for the contact he made with Beacock’s #7 out of corner four on the last lap, so the official winner of the race was the #7 of Ben Beacock. All the car counts at Flamboro Speedway appear to be growing, and as we head into the Canada Weekend, a weekend where King of Hill will be fought for on both nights, the summer competition looks strong, the racing clean and exciting, and the potential great. There’s an All Pro Modified Special on July 1st, the first Kids Ride night on July 7th, and the Can-Am Midgets return to Flamboro on July 14th. The second Late Model special, Twin 25 Lap Features, will be July 21st, and there’s more to come throughout the summer! See you where the action is, at Flamboro Speedway!
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