|
|
To say that Flamboro ended the season with a bang would be an understatement.
There were many bangs on October 20th, as well as many bumps, spins, and
wrecked machinery that made drivers glad they had the whole winter to fix.
Last chance qualifying was run, as well as qualifying for the Star Choice
OSCAAR Super Late Models. The best were out to play, including #49
Rob Clarke, #68 Stu Robinson Jr., #46 Bill Zardo, and #61 John Fletcher.
All of these drivers were picked as favorites going into the 50 lap feature,
and in the end one of those favorites would raise the checkers high.
But the Supers were scheduled to end the show, the grand finale to the
2001 season. It was the Street Stocks who would kick off the feature
action and get the party started.
Sean Leslie put the #67 out front early to lead the train, but suffered
some serious engine problems that caused him to spin into corner one and
collect four cars. #4 Bill Barfoot inherited the lead, and after
the caution did all he could to keep the charging #20 of Gary Slama behind
him. Barfoot tried a little too hard in corner four, spun to the
infield, and now Gary Slama was put into the top spot. But first
was a hot seat, and there were still changes to be made. Manfred
Henkel climbed to the top and nosed his way inside the #20, and with help
from #14 Jamie Hall, was able to snatch the lead from Slama. Hall
worked on the rear of Henkel’s #11, and then collected on his earlier favor
by moving to steal the lead. Unfortunately for Jamie, at a different
part of the race track a car had slammed hard into the wall and lost the
rad. Water had sprayed all over the racing surface and forced a caution
flag. Jamie Hall was sent to second and forced to try again.
In the closing laps it was the Hall and Henkel show, as Jamie Hall tried
everything he knew to try and get by the #11 again, but he was to be denied.
Manfred Henkel was the winner of the 2001 Octoberfest Street Stock Feature,
followed so closely by #14 Jamie Hall. Gary Slama brought the #20
home in third, #06 Steve Brook finished fourth, and then it was #8 Richard
Dyson in fifth.
The first of the Twin 50 lap features for Late Models was run next, and like a fox to the hounds, a wiley veteran was quick to get the jump to the front. #48 Gerry Wheaton grabbed the lead from the pole but was forced into a restart after a caution for Jason Shaw who had lost the left-rear tire on the #82 and was limping around the track. Wheaton got in front again; with rookie Rob Maas on his tail in the #57 and Todd Nagel nipping at his heels in the #6. But the front line was slowed again when the yellow flew. An ugly wreck had occurred in corner four when #0 Ken Paston got turned around exiting the corner and Trevor Warren’s #19, with no where else to go, piled hard into Paston, nose first. The front of the #19 was destroyed, and two other cars were collected in the carnage. On the restart Nagel was quick to the gas to get under Rob Maas, and as they battled for second Gerry Wheaton sat comfortably in first. The battle for second got ugly, and Maas ended up facing the wrong direction in corner two, bringing out another caution. When the racing continued Todd Nagel was able to work his way by Wheaton to nab the lead, and would run in front for most of the remaining race. There were some mini-duels going on through out the pack, and two cars to watch were #8 Paul Howse and #82 Jason Shaw as they picked their way through the field to gain entrance to the top five. Nagel was still strong out front, but with few laps remaining the #6 started smoking, and he was forced to exit the track. Paul Howse, who had worked to second and by Gerry Wheaton, took over out front, and ran away. Gerry Wheaton would suffer a fate similar to that of Nagel when the engine of his #48 let go and he was forced to leave. #70 Rob Howard was next in line to claim second, but was not given the chance to face Howse for the lead as the race was called under caution with 47 laps complete. Paul Howse won the first 50 lap feature of the night and was followed, at a distance, by the 2001 Kawartha points champ #70 Rob Howard. #82 Jason Shaw pulled one out of his hat finishing third after having tire troubles in the opening laps and starting tail, and he was followed by Flamboro Late Model points champion #36 Bill Jackson, and then #57 Rob Maas.
The Flamboro Thunder Cars put on a great race, but none of them were able to go the distance. In short, #91 Randy Richard dominated out front for most of the race, using great defensive driving to hold off #90 Andy Wheller and #10 Ray Gowan. Behind the front-runners was a mix of 3-wide racing, and wild bids for leadership, but the main show was the battle at the front. But out of nowhere, exploding from the shadows of the mid-pack with few laps to go, #64 Steve Book flew to the front and passed all of the top contenders. Book went on to win the feature, followed later by #91 Randy Richard, #90 Andy Wheller, and then #10 Ray Gowan.
Two visiting classes also engaged in on-track combat for the first time in the 2001 season. The All-Pro Modifieds finally made an appearance, and it was a no-contest situation for the #29 “Action” Larry Jackson who absolutely dominated the feature race, running away from #61 and #99. The there were the Challangers, who had been absent from the schedule until the Octoberfest Weekend. #57 Kyle Donaldson won the feature, stealing the lead early and beating #1 and #4 Terry King to the line.
Two races now remained in the 2001 season. The second-last race was the second 50-lap feature race for the Late Models. #7T Les Szalowski started at the front with #7 Petey Shepherd. Shaw, Maas, Howse, and Jackson were all within the top ten as well, and from the get-go the race promised an exciting season finale. Jason Shaw picked his way through traffic to make it to the top three behind Petey, but with Maas on his bumper Jake was unable to mount a serious challenge on the #7 for quite some time. Trevor Warren, who had returned to race with no front bars and an exposed radiator, caught the attention of all the spectators when he spun around and faced the traffic coming out of turn four. Rob Howard’s #70 was headed straight for that exposed front end of the #19 but, thanks to heads-up driving and a bit of sacrifice from Howard, swerved high to the wall to avoid making contact and emptying Warren’s radiator onto the speedway. A few more sporadic cautions followed, but for the most part the front four stayed consistent, until halfway. Jason Shaw had been strong in third and appeared to be holding back a little, but around the halfway point started to fade and allowed Rob Maas to go by. Paul Howse then went by the #82 and it was obvious that the King of Speed was in trouble. The #82 looked like it had lost the bite it once had in the corners, possibly caused by a rough tap with the wall, and now pushed high up the track. Howse replaced Shaw in the front four battles that had heated up and were quite tight. Petey Shepherd was running a smooth line in second but his anxiousness to make the pass for the lead was noticeable as he continued to pound the accelerator a little harder each time he exited the corners, just slightly loosening the rear end of the #7. Rob Maas looked to get by Shepherd and gain one more spot before the end but with Paul Howse knocking on his back door it did not look like Maas would get a window of opportunity. With two laps remaining it was a battle of concentration and anticipation on who was going to make what move. Each driver looked ahead to make that daring last lap pass that could win it all, but all hesitated knowing that the guy behind him was thinking the same. Out of corner four #7T Les Szalowski had a car length on the #7 of Petey Shepherd and would go on to celebrate on victory lane. Shepherd grabbed a respectable second place, with Rob Maas finishing behind him in the #57, and then Paul Howse in the #8. Rounding out the top five was #44 Steve Laking, who had snuck his way to the top quietly, trying to stay below the radar the cement wall which has haunted him so many times before. A great end to what was an excellent season of Late Model racing at Flamboro Speedway, and had the season ended there it would have been on a high note. But the OSCAAR Super Lates were still to run and, not to be out done, put on a show of thrills chills and spills that had fans hearts leaping to their throats, and photographer Dave Franks leaping into the air.
The Super Late qualifying had been pretty tame and clean earlier; all six races had different winners. This, we hoped, was a prelude to what was going to be just as clean and exciting a race as we had seen at the Biederman Memorial and earlier in September. Are hopes proved wrong. It all started in hot-laps when it became a little too obvious that the drivers were over excited about this last race. There was some rubbing and one of the cars, #2 John Owen, was sent spinning through the infield. Now contact is not usually expected in hot-laps, and our photographer Dave Franks had his golf cart parked down between corners three and four, perched on the back of it snapping some great action shots. When Owen spun through the infield he broad sided Dave’s cart, sending “Flash” through the air and tumbling to the ground. We are happy to report that, aside from some minor scrapes, Dave Franks was okay. The same can’t be said for the cart. Dave picked up his camera and finished the night, and told Owens to get back on the track and race. What an odd event to happen at the end of the season. When the green flag dropped Pee Wee Evans took off from the front row like a scared rabbit. The #90 was gone, leaving drivers like Al Thompson, Rob Clarke, Bill Zardo, and John Fletcher in hot pursuit. But only a couple laps into the race the caution flag was thrown. The Passer boys, #13 Gary and #27 Roy, had collided on the back stretch and collected #33 Darren Gillespie. As well the #03 of Shane McGinnis was on the infield with #9 Tony Calitri after they had tied up, and there was a fire under one of the hoods. What an exciting couple of events to start the race. Back under green flag conditions Pee Wee was still running up front, the man on the move was John Fletcher in the #61, and Rob Clarke has his hands full in a driver’s duel with Bill Zardo. Clarke got by Zardo, leaving Big Z to hold off Stu Robinson Jr. who had joined the mix, and was now on his way to the front. It didn’t take to long for the #49 to run down the #90, but Pee Wee Evans was not about to give the lead to Rob Clarke. They battled, there was some light contact, but at that speed there had to be give. Evans was sent spinning to the infield and once again the yellow of the caution light illuminated the track. OSCAAR officials gave Clarke a rough driving penalty that sent the #49 to the rear of the pack, and now the new leader would be the very fast #61 of John Fletcher. Two more cautions followed this one, taking the story to halfway, where John Fletcher was out in front, keeping a couple of car lengths between his #61 and the charging #68 of Stu Robinson Jr. #34 Al Thompson was in third, then there was a gap back to a three car battle for fourth. Rob Clarke was already inside the top ten, and coming quickly. Another caution, this time for Thompson whose #34 was in the wall out of corner four, tightened all the gaps in the field and made for an exciting race with less than 20 laps to go. It took a while to get restarted though, as the excitement of the end of the season got to through the helmets and affected drivers’ abilities to restart cleanly. Finally the green was thrown and more than one lap completed. John Fletche was out in front, keeping distance back to Robinson where Clarke was parked on the doorstep. And then it happened. The event that ended the 2001 season at Flamboro Speedway. Out of corner two the #13 of Gary Passer made contact with Bruce Gowland’s #18, a brand new car that Gowland was racing for the first time. The right-front wheel of the #18 caught the cement. The #18 climbed the wall. Bruce Gowland rode almost halfway down the back straightaway on top of the cement wall, before catching a groove and turning into the catch fence and the spectators. Gowland’s car went nose first into the fence, being stopped only by the bracing cables that are placed in case of such an accident. On the track the Passer boys had ties up again and wrecked the #13 and #27. The backstretch was a mess of debris. The back fence was torn apart. And Bruce Gowland’s car was in shambles. It was time to call it a season. The checkers were dropped, giving John Fletcher his first and only feature win of the 2001 season. Stu Robinson Jr. recorded a second, and #49 Rob Clarke drove in at third, coming back from the penalty that sent him to tail. What a crazy ending to what had been a great season of competition.
Flamboro Speedway would like to thank everyone for their participation
in the 2001 season. To all the drivers, staff, sponsors and fans,
your support and contributions to the 2001 season made our 40th Anniversary
a special one. We look forward to an even better season in 2002.
The Flamboro Banquet is scheduled for December 15th.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|