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June 9th at Flamboro Speedway was a night of great racing excitement; a night of chills thrills and spills, and the first appearance of the speedy Can-Am Midgets. Unfortunately, the full moon also shone on this night and seemed to affect the mindsets of some of the drivers.
The largest field of Late Models, so far this year, took to the track for qualifying, and even then the effects of the full moon were apparent. In The first lap of the first qualifier the #84 of Steve Blight, a visiting car, made contact with regular driver #49 Drew Spicer coming our of corner four. Down the front straight Blight went into the wall right-front tire first, breaking the front end of his car and ending his night with a ride to the pits courtesy of French's Towing. #56 Jeff Stewart went on to win the race. Petey Shepherd was supposed to start poll in the second heat race, but lost his second engine in two weeks in warm-ups, crippling his #7 Monte Carlo. Fellow rookie Kenny McNicol Jr. moved his #77 up to top spot, and after defending his lead against the #9 of Chris Boschler, picked up the checkered flag. Other heat wins would go to the #49 of Drew Spicer and #91 Al Inglis in the second round. During the heats drivers were banging and rubbing bumpers, diving hard into corners, and trying to make holes where they probably shouldn’t have; so by feature time nemesis was expected. Paul Howse started up front, and lead early, while in the back there was a war going on. Al Inglis was hot on the move in the #91, and #9 Chris Boschler was doing the same. There was a 3-wide battle between the #56, #49 and #7t into corner three that could have spelled disaster, but #56 Jeff Stewart pulled ahead and by the other two. In another part of the field #36 Jim MacDonald was in a duel with #19 Trevor Warren, and Warren was repainting the back of the #36. MacDonald got real loose in the corner, and was forced to let off the gas to collect it up, and let the #19 go by. But Warren was not the only car to gain a spot on the #36, Kenny McNicol brought his #77 around and in front of Jackson. Jackson, not realizing that it was Warren, not McNicol, who got him loose, went after the #77, and spun Kenny McNicol in corner two in the next lap. On the restart the unnecessary roughness continued, as #9 Chris Boschler rode the #14 of Justin Fraser up into the wall, and #49 Drew Spicer went to work banging away on the #56 of Jeff Stewart. All of this allowed the #8 of Paul Howse to pull further and further away. A caution was thrown after both the #9 and #14 cars were collected in the corner four wall after having tied up yet again. Justin Fraser rode the #14 back to the pits on the hook, while #9 Chris Boschler also limped pitside with a flat tire. Boschler would return under the same caution, allowing him to continue racing without losing a lap. His decision to continue would be one he would later regret. On the restart Al Inglis in the #91 lead a train of cars under the second place #45 of Sam Hazzlewood. Back in the pack #56 Jeff Stewart was on the move to the front, and #49 Drew Spicer was trying to go with him, around him, or through him. Spicer’s strong aggression would be quite costly, as down the back straight the #49 turned into the wall hard, wrecking the front of the car. If that wasn’t punishment enough, as the rest of the field got by the #49 without problem the #9 Chris Boschler was on the charge trying to get back to the front. Boschler never saw the #49 and ran, full speed, down the back straight and into the rear of Spicer. Both cars were destroyed, and neither returned to action. With a lot of the field now in the pits, the race to the finish was more like hot laps for the front six cars. #8 Paul Howse went on to win the feature, without having to knock on any doors. Finishing second was #91 Al Inglis, followed by #56 Jeff Stewart, #19 Trevor Warren, and #36 Jim MacDonald. As a closing note, although some may have found the banging and aggression entertaining, the wrecks through the night showed that these acts were dangerous, and will not be tolerated. Penalties were issued, and will continue to be issued in the future. The black flag will be thrown for rough driving, and nonsense will not be tolerated.
The Late Models were not the only class to suffer from Full Moon Fever. In the Thunder Car qualifiers the same symptoms of aggression and roughness were present. #50 Scott Parker drove away safely with the win, but that was not the case in the next race. In the second heat a war for the lead led to #12 Mike Post spinning in the corners, #43 Dave Habel being rode high into the wall by #6 Jim Ball, and Ball losing a tire. The new leader was #31 Kevin Gallant who would collect the win. Other winners of mad fights for glory were #91 Randy Richard and #12 Mike Post in round two. In the feature the brutality continued, encouraged by Mike Post. The #03 of Jeff Kearnes was out in front in the early going, and young Mark Burbridge was in second in the #27. Charging hard through the pack was the black #12 of Post, who came up on Burbridge's #27 with fierce aggression. Burbridge got tagged by Post and went around in corner one, creating a hazard for all of the on coming traffic that had to swerve quickly to miss him. Mike Post was handed a rough driving penalty and was sent to the back for the restart. The green flag dropped once more and racing continued, with the #50 Scott Parker getting to second, and then moving into the lead bringing with him #91 Randy Richard. The #03 of Jeff Kearnes continued to fall backwards, as he was passed by #31 Kevin Gallant, and sent to fourth. Meanwhile, farther back in the pack, Mike Post was stirring the pot again, this time playing tit-for-tat with #43 Dave Habel. It was deja-vu of the heat races when Jim Ball brought the #6 into the mix, and now three cars roughed it out for position. With two laps to go Scott Parker was way out in front with a large lead over Randy Richard and Kevin Gallant; while further back, Post was still pushing his way to the front. The white flag flew for Scott Parker, one lap to go, and the #12 Mike Post headed pitside with problems, not finishing the race after all that work. Down to the line it was #50 Scott Parker winning his first of the new season, followed by #91 Randy Richard, #31 Kevin Gallant, #38 Randy Rutherford, and #93 Rob Vanderveen.
The Street Stocks, which would usually be the most physical and rough on a regular Saturday night put on some of the cleanest racing of the night, and pretty exciting too. Qualifying was quick and clean, #41 Dave Miskolczi returned to victory lane, as did #11 Manfred Henkel, and #72 Randy “The Rocket” Rusnell. In the feature, it was two cars who were starting the season late, #67 Sean Leslie and #90 Andy Wheller, who raced for the lead early. Wheller fought on the inside to get by the #67 and take the lead from Sean Leslie, and he had the #20 Gary Slama and #14 Jamie Hall right behind him. Andy Wheller baubled the #90 car out of corner two, which gave Gary Slama the chance he needed to pass. Slama capitalized on his opportunity and put the #20 in the lead, but had brought with him the red, white, and blue, #72 Randy “The Rocket,” who was all over him. But as they raced on the distance between the #20 and #72 grew, and “The Rocket” just couldn’t run down Slama. At half there was half a straightaway between the #20 and the #72, and the battle was for third. #41 Dave Miskolczi was dueling it out with the #02 Jim Mannen, when #11 Manfred Henkel arrived on the scene with intentions of joining the party. Now a three car battle for third, Henkel got by the #02 of Mannen, but was held up by the #41. With no caution to bring the field back together, there was no chance for the #72 or any of the guys battling for third to catch the #20. Gary Slama brought the #20 into victory lane for the checkers and a photo with Dave Franks, while #72 Randy Rusnell finished second, followed by #41 Dave Miskolczi in third, then #11 Manfred Henkel and #02 Jim Mannen.
The “Go Four” Mini Stocks, another wild and exciting division, put
on another good show, but raced quite cleanly. Heat wins were split
between the dominating #85 Robert Allerellie, and his new competition the
#77 Bryn Rennie. In the “Go Four” feature #50 Sherri Turner got out
front early, chased by #3 Gunners Desrochers and #10 Duncan Gallagher.
Bryn Rennie was on a mission in the middle, bringing his #77 through traffic
and into contention for the lead. He got his chance when #3 Gunners
Desrochers got a good run on the #50, and as the #3 went to the outside
to make his move, Bryn Rennie brought the #77 down low to make things three
wide for the lead. Rennie drove away with the top spot, leaving the
#50 to fall to the back, and Desrochers to defend second. The “Go
Fours” continued to mix things up while #85 Robert Allerellie picked his
way through the field and up into third, behind the #01 Mark Czuba.
With two laps to go Allerellie was still behind the #01, with #26 Bryn
Sweers right behind him. But there was still a full straightaway
to the #77 of Rennie. It would have taken a miracle for Allerellie
to catch the #77, well, actually, all it took was a caution. Sherri
Turner looped the #50 in corner four to bring out the yellow, and now the
#85, with the #1, would be right on the bumper of the #77, and a Green/White/Checker
finish was on the way. Taking to the inside on the restart, Allerellie
brought the #85 around Mark Czuba’s #01, but in that time the #77 had already
checked out and was running away again. The race ended up finishing
under caution when Duncan Gallagher looped the #10 in corner four.
The feature winner was #77 Bryn Rennie, who snaps the win streak of #85
Robert Allerellie who finished second. He was followed by #26 Bryan
Sweers, #01 Mark Czuba, and #17 Jim Hill.
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