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Canada Day weekend brought a lot of racing action to the asphalt oval of Flamboro Speedway. On the Saturday night, June 30th, six classes of racing did battle around the track, but were robbed of the big finish; a demolition derby, when the skies opened up and rain covered the speedway. Then, on Sunday, July 1st Flamboro held it’s Canada Day special, and finally got in the long awaited demo derby.
The Saturday night Late Model show was great. The pits were once again full of eager drivers, including the new faces of former challenger drivers #4 Terry King, #20 Ryan Warris, and #39 Harry Topp. Through four heats of qualifying, four different drivers would have their pictures taken in victory lane. Gerry Wheaton in the #48, #82 Jason Shaw, #8 Paul Howse, and #56 Jeff Stewart all held a checkered flag high, but only one would repeat the action at the end of the feature. The action in the feature started early when, in slippery corner four, where the humidity and oil of the night had gathered, Drew Spicer looped the newly rebuilt #49 and made hard nose-to-nose with #92 Steve Thompson. The next exciting action also came out of corner four, when the #0 of Ken Paston touched the #77 of Kenny McNicol, got squirrelly, touched the #9 of Chris Boschler, and headed straight into the front stretch wall. And if that wasn’t enough, Terry King, with now where to go, came barreling out of corner four and right into the #0. Ken Paston was slow to get out from the car, and later received 8 stitches to his hand, to close a cut he suffered in the wreck. The race after this was fairly tame, as the drivers stretched out around the track, following the “King of Speed” Jason Shaw. Shaw led the train to the end, and in the end parked his #82 in victory lane. Rob Munday brought the #5 home in second, followed by #48 Gerry Wheaton, #56 Jeff Stewart, and #8 Paul Howse.
The Street Stocks did double duty, racing both Saturday and Sunday, as did the Thunder Cars and Mini Stocks. Over the coarse of the weekend only one Street Stock driver repeated a qualifying win; that was #90 Andy Wheller who won two heats on Saturday night. Other heat wins went to #72 Randy Rusnell, #10 Steve Stockford, #45 Dave Bennett, #11 Manfred Henkel, #5 Jeff Bean, and #41 Dave Miskolczi. Out of these drivers, only one would win a feature, leaving the other open to a new driver. On Saturday night the #06 of Steve Brook joined the field, and gave the rest a lesson in speed. Brook took the lead from #48 Wayne Zess early in the race, and proceeded to run with it until the end. Dave Bennett was in hot pursuit near the end, but ran out of time as the feature win went to the #06 of Steve Brook. Bennett finished second, followed by #41 Dave Miskolczi, #72 Randy Rusnell, and #20 Gary Slama. On Sunday there was a similar scenario, but the winning driver was different. Behind the leader there was door to door racing action for second spot, between top runners. Slama in the #20, #72 Rocket Rusnell, the black #41 of Dave Miskolczi, and #02 Jim Mannen, were all in the hunt; But no one would find the prize. #5 Jeff Bean ran away with the lead very early, and led every lap of the Sunday feature. He was far ahead of the three wide passing, and bumping and shoving, that was going on for second spot, and was able to claim his first feature win of 2001. #20 Gary Slama finished second, the #45 of Dave Bennett finished third, then #41 Dave Miskolczi in fourth, and #1 Manfred Henkel rounded out the top five. #72 Randy Rusnell was right in the mix at the front of the pack, but didn’t survive until the end due to contact he made with Bennett’s #45 that sent him spinning across the infield and through the demo ring, and put him a lap down.
The #03 Thunder Car of Jeff Kearns did not have a good weekend. First, on Saturday night Kearns was involved in a wreck with the #50 John Burdick and #43 Art Nicholas, and broke a lot of the front end. After the caution, racing continued up front with the #31 Kevin Gallant, #93 Rob Vanderveen, and the #12 Mike Post. Post worked to the front, moved Vanderveen and Gallant out of his way, and proceeded to run away with the lead. #12 Mike Post won the Saturday night feature, and was followed by #38 Randy Rutherford, #55 Jesse Fair, #6 Jim Ball, and #93 Rob Vanderveen. Then, on Sunday night the #03 returned with a newly built front end and high hopes, but Kearns couldn’t keep the car off the wall. This time in qualifying, the #50 of John Burdick lost the engine down the back straightaway and into corner 3 and collected Kearns’ #03. Almost in the same spot as Saturday, Kearns piled into the wall, wrecking the front end again. A tough break, and a spirit killer for all the hard work and effort the #03 team put into fixing the car in less then 24 hours. At the front of the pack, #31 Kevin Gallant was in a heated battle for the lead with the #6 of Jim Ball, but was unable to find a way around. #6 Jim Ball won the Canada Day Thunder Car feature followed closely by #31 Kevin Gallant. Mike Post finished third in the #12, then #38 Randy Rutherford, then the #91 Randy Richard.
#85 Robert Allerellie overcame the speedy #26 of Bryan Sweers by half way in the feature, and ran away from the field with a dominant lead to win the Saturday night feature. Bryan Sweers finished second, then #73 Ron Larkin Jr., #1 Craig Beckner and #3 Gunners Desrochers. On Sunday Allerellie was still quick, but coming from fifth was too much for the 3-cylindered #85. The man in front was Barry Westman in the #71, who was busy trying to fend off the hard charging #73 Ron Larkin Jr. Westman was successful in his methods, and went on to capture his first feature win of 2001. Larkin Jr. finished second in the #73, and #17 Jim Hill finished third. Robert Allerellie ended up fourth in the #85, and Bryan Sweers rounded out the top five in the #26.
Our King of the Hill competition continued on Canada Day weekend, running the elimination tournament on both days. Saturday night 16 cars signed up to do battle, including Late Model driver #48 Gerry Wheaton who took out his sponsors’ Orangeville Rad work truck. The final round came down to a Honda Prelude and a Firebird. Glen Hils and Greg Overholt ran door to door around the track, and out of corner four they were still side-by-side. Down to the line, Greg Overholt put his Firebird ahead of Glen Hils’ Honda Prelude by a bumper, becoming the second crowned King of the Hill. Then on Canada Day, the defeated Hils returned to the tournament, his third attempt, and made it to the final round, seated against Derek Martin in his 1981 Monte Carlo. Around the track for one more time, Glen Hils brought his Prelude down to victory lane to be crowned the Canada Day King of the Hill! The excitement continues July 14th, when another King of the Hill will be crowned, and past Kings will return to defend their titles.
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