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Street Stocks, Thunders and Go Fours all drew double duty last weekend, running on both the Saturday and Monday shows. Late Models topped the Saturday night program, while the “No Show” All Pro Modifieds once again disappointed fans by failing to run on the Monday afternoon special.
On Saturday night the BOC Welding Gases/Saturn of St. Catharines sponsored Corvette of Rob Munday was finally able to claim that elusive feature win at Flamboro. A trip to victory lane at the end of the night had evaded the #5 Late Model all season, while trips to the wall and the pits had been too numerous. Munday kept his #5 Corvette clear of the 3-wide racing action that took place at the front of the pack early in the race, and also avoided the multi-car pile up in corner four. In between corners three and four, the #46 Monte Carlo of Brandon Mowat got turned sideways with the #70 Monte Carlo of Rob Howard stopping nose to nose with him. It looked for second like everybody might get by but the #9 of Chris Bochsler panic stopped and slid high up to the wall blocking what had been the escape route. The #92 of Steve Thompson got into the back end of Howard and it looked like the worst was over. Then the #4 Eagle Rad Buick of Terry King came flying down the straight away and slammed on the brakes when he saw the wreck in turn three. That sent the car sideways into the back of the #92 of Thompson, driving him under the #70 of Howard and lifting all four wheels of the purple Goodwrench Monte Carlo off the asphalt. The pictures here don’t do the wreck justice. For larger colour versions check-out our website; we’ve got it all there. Once corner four was cleaned up and the congestion was cleared, the only car unable to continue was the #92 of Steve Thompson. It was the #39 of Harry Topp ready to resume the race in the lead. At this time Munday was running in the top ten, but was in the back half. Another wreck, this time in corner two and involving the second, third and fourth place cars, #49 Drew Spicer, #20 Ryan Warris and #7 Petey Shepherd, brought Munday that much closer to the front and gave him the opportunity he needed to get to Topp. Once racing continued Munday got all over the back of #39, finally getting the nose of his #5 inside by the #39, pulling away from Topp to steal the lead with only 2 laps to go. Harry Topp continued backwards and would finish at the back of the top five. Rob Munday won the Feature, followed by #91 Al Inglis, and #8 Paul Howse. Bill Jackson, with a new paint scheme on the #36, finished fourth, just ahead of #39 Harry Topp. Late Models return to Flamboro on September 15th for a race night not included on the schedule and to make up the fog-out from May 26th.
The Thunder Car division is a hotbed for stories this week, dealing with the points leader and a rising competitor. First, points leader Kevin Gallant lost the engine in the #31 Saturday night, taking him out of contention and leaving him some work to do on the Sunday. Gallant, with help from brother-in-law Randy Rusnell, put in an experienced engine named “old reliable” for the Monday show but his luck did not change. On the other side of the coin is driver of the #38, Randy Rutherford. In the last few weeks this man has really poured on the pressure to the regulars up front, and finished second to Ray Gowan on Saturday, beating #29 Steve Cashmore, #43 Dave Habel and #12 Mike Post to the line. On Sunday Rutherford went three wide in the feature to get to the front, and stayed up there for the duration. The #38 crossed the line first under the checkered flag, followed by #89 Bob Chenoweth, #6 Jim Ball, #91 Randy Richard, and #12 Mike Post. Rutherford, after a late start to the season, has climbed to 9th in points, only 23 points back of #93 Rob Vanderveen. Vanderveen has had some of the toughest luck at Flamboro this year, and with things not looking like they’re turning around yet, Rutherford has a real shot at climbing even higher in the points. If you’re looking for a new charger, watch the #38 come to the front. Ray, Kevin, Mike and Dave had better watch their bumpers, another “Randy the Rocket” may be in the making.
In Street Stock action The original Rocket, #72 Randy Rusnell, showed everyone how he earned his title, driving away from the yellow #20 of Gary Slama and the #45 Camaro of Dave Bennett to win the Saturday night feature. It has to be noted though, that while Rocket was in the lead, and running strong, Dave Bennett was able to keep the #45 right to Rusnell’s bumper. Rusnell, Slama, and Bennett are the top three points runners in that order, and though their first 20 races have been run, if they can improve on one of their past finishes, their points will change, and that could make things at the top very interesting. And things did get interesting on Monday. For the past two weeks Craig Albers had been haunted by the #8 of Richard Dyson, who had been involved in two consecutive wrecks with Albers’ #57. On Monday Albers was able to escape the #8, and capture a heat win in qualifying. This was a step in the right direction for Craig after he wrecked his car the week before, and was now currently running a borrowed ride from fellow Street Stocker #5 Jeff Bean. Albers climbed to the top in the feature, getting by #4 Brian Davis. Davis was soon taken out of the picture, after he made some contact with third place running Dave Bennett, sending both drivers to the rear of the field. Albers had been way out in front until the tie-up of the #45 and #4 brought out the caution, and this small event was the undoing of what might have been a feature win for Craig Albers. Jamie Hall brought his #14 right to the back bumper of the #57, and after some follow the leader, he took the lead from Albers as the left front tire on the #57 went down. Gary Slama was right with Hall, and the Rocket was chasing them, but the big runner was Dave Bennett who had raced from the back, up to fourth. Bennett was on fire coming through the field but his hard charging took its toll on the car. With few laps remaining Bennet broke the rear axle in the #45, bringing out the caution and ending his race night. The drivers would finish in the same order they restarted in, with #14 Jamie Hall at the head, and Gary Slama right behind him. Randy Rusnell finished up third, with #4 Brian Davis and #95 Kevin Benish rounding out the top five.
The Go-Fours had a special weekend, with more cars showing up to qualify than any other night(s) this season. After a great battle up front between three of the fastest Flamboro has to offer, #77 Bryn Rennie won the Saturday night feature with #85 Robert Allerellie and #17 Jim Hill in tow. Then on Monday, graced with a 25 lap feature, the Go Fours went to work on figuring out how to beat the #66 of Tony Darmon. Darmon’s little pink BMW with high-compression engine has been absolutely dominant everytime he has shown up to race Flamboro, and this afternoon was to be no different. Darmon lead the way, weaving through the slower traffic as he lapped the back half of the field, but this time he had some company. Dennis Cremasco in the #19 was able to stay with the #66, but just couldn’t muster enough to make a pass. Three Flamboro regulars, Rennie, Hill, and #73 Ron Larkin Jr. battled for the remaining top five positions, and made a real race of it. Tony Darmon did cross the line first, with Dennis Cremasco behind him to finish second. But the #66 did not pass technical inspection after the race, so the win was handed to Cremasco. That made the #73 of Ron Larkin Jr. the second place finisher, Bryn Rennie third, and Jim Hill fourth.
As an end note, we at Flamboro Speedway would like to
thank the MONTGOMERY SUPERSTATIONS sponsored cars of Crash Myers, Ron Larkin
Jr., Rick Ritchie and Dave Larkin for their participation Saturday night,
Montgomery Superstation Night. Their generous donations, two bicycles,
plush toys, and Bulldogs Tickets, were greatly appreciated by our lucky
winners and other fans. Your participation makes our race night and
the race nights of our fans that much better. So, everyone remember,
if you need to make a pit stop, go to Montgomery Superstations on Barton
St. East in Hamilton.
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