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There was a lot of racing action from September 8th, and here’s how it all went down:
Dwarf Cars – #2 John Sharp and #43 Ken Scott raced to the winners’ circle in qualifying, but it was the #00 of Greg Belyea that claimed the prestigious parking spot in victory lane at the end of the feature. Belyea held off the hard charging Smith boys, as well as the notorious John Sharp who tried everything to catch the #00. Sharp would finish second, with #14 Ron Smith and #15 Jim Smith in third and fifth.
Street Stocks – Chalk up another one for the Rocket from Burlington. Randy Rusnell drove his #72 to victory lane once again, further padding his point lead and getting one lap closer to his second consecutive Street Stock Points Championship. But nothing is finalized yet. There are still some bumps to be had along the way, and #45 Dave Bennett and team #20 of Sean Warren and Gary Slama is where I would look for them to originate. Bennett has been pouring on the heat lately, and led a train of cars to Rusnell’s rear bumper in the feature. In that line was Sean Warren, who moved through the ranks to squeeze inside Bennett and steal second. That was the order they finished, Warren second in the #20 and Bennett third in the #45. Finishing up fourth was another driver who has really started to shine in this half of the season, #95 Kevin Benish. Benish has been a little more aggressive of late, and driving well to claim some top five finishes. A feature win for this young driver may not be far off.
Go Fours – Who is Brad Bacher? Last Saturday the Go Fours found out just who he is, and what he can do in the #5 Go Four Mini Stock. Like most weeks, Robert Allerellie had snagged the lead and was running away out front in the #85, and the rest of the field were battling amongst themselves for positions of second and back. But Allerellie suffered some mechanical problems, possibly caused by that bad smack with the wall from the week before, and was forced to head pitside. Now, behind Allerellie a violent battle for second had been fought between Flamboro hotshoe #77 Bryn Rennie and a little silver #5 car, driven by Brad Bacher. Bacher got in front of Rennie and held on to the lead, surviving a green, white, checker finish caused by the spinning #75 of Scott Mast. So Brad Bacher went on to win, with Bryn Rennie in tow in second, and another visitor, the feature winner from the previous week, #19 Dennis Cremasco. Ken Turner finished fourth in the #22, and Ron Larkin Jr. rounded out the top five in the #73.
Thunder Cars – Randy Rutherford continues to thrive in the #38, having another good show last Saturday night, while point leader Kevin Gallant continues to struggle in the #31. After losing an engine in the #31 a couple weeks before, Gallant just hasn’t been able to gather the power to drive as aggressive as he had earlier in the year. On the other hand, Rutherford continues to be more aggressive in his driving, getting to the front more often, engaging in battles with some pretty tough drivers. This week his foes were the #6 Jim Ball and #89 Shawn Chenoweth. On a restart out of corner four Chenoweth, running second, passed the #38 before the green flag was dropped. This threw off Rutherford, and in the split second it took him to hit the gas, Chenoweth was by and had brought Ball with him. The front three pulled away and would finish in that order, with Chenoweth taking a one spot penalty for jumping. Jim Ball was declared the feature winner, with Shawn Chenoweth finishing second, and Randy Rutherford finishing third. Behind the leaders, #10 Ray Gowan got ahead of #91 Randy Richard, rounding out the top five.
OSCAAR Super Late Models – Another heated duel, a rivalry for Flamboro
domination, and exciting racing was what the Star Choice OSCAAR Super Late
Models brought to the track. You may recall that a few weeks ago,
at the Don Biederman memorial, the raging battle for the lead between Rob
Clarke and Stu Robinson Jr., where after 61 laps Robinson’s #68 was still
ahead of Clarke’s #49, making him the third winner of the event.
Well September 8th was payback night for Rob Clarke, he was determined
to reclaim his crown as the dominant car at Flamboro, and once again park
the #49 on the front straight with two checkered flags. An interesting
start to the feature, after heated qualifying action, the top cars were
at the front, Clarke was on the poll, and Robinson Jr. was beside him on
the outside. When the green flag dropped the #49 and #68 took off
from the field, leaving the #34 of Al Thompson to lead the rest of the
field. The first caution of the race was thrown when Petey Shepherd,
yes the same 15 year-old driver of the #7 Flamboro Late Model, looped the
#7 Super Late into the corner four wall. There was some mild damage
to the rear of the car, but Petey got it rolling, took it to the pits for
a quick inspection, and then returned to the race without losing any laps.
On the restart it was apparent that there was a man on a mission entering
the top five, and that man was John Fletcher in the #61. He had raced
from the back and was now running fifth, but the excitement got to him
and, racing hard, Fletcher drove the #61 into the corner a little too hot,
a little too fast, and he looped it around in corner two forcing the second
caution of the evening. A tough break for Fletcher, after some contact
with the #90 while in corner two, a gear oil leak was found on the #61
and he was forced to retire pitside. That was the second strong show
for the #61, and the second time where mechanical problems cost him a shot
at the win. Come Octoberfest Weekend John Fletcher would not be an
unreasonable pick for the feature win. He’s due. But back into
this race, Rob Clarke was still out front, and Stu Robinson Jr. was still
parked on his bumper. Al Thompson ran third, and then there was a
gap back to the #69 of Mike Bricknell. Bricknell had gotten by the
#18 of Ray “Greasy” Gowland, bringing with him #2 John Owen. And
guess who was back inside the top ten, and moving up, Petey Shepherd.
Staying clean and running a smooth line, Shepherd had made his way through
the field and up to Gowland’s #18. Out of corner two Shepherd brought
the #7 inside and by Ray Gowland, claiming seventh spot. But even
in seventh Petey Shepherd could not out run the leaders, as Stu Robinson
and Rob Clarke came by to put the #7 down a lap with less than 10 to go.
At five to got they were still spread out, then there was a caution in
the closing laps that set up a green, white, checker finish. It had
been a pattern throughout the night. There was no change for the
leader, and the hard charging Gary Passer, who had gone to the back of
the pack and now raced his way into fourth, lost his spot to Mike Bricknell.
Down to the checkers it would be Rob Clarke who would once again pull the
Spencer Steel #49 into victory lane, with #68 Stu Robinson Jr. still glued
to his bumper. #34 Al Thompson finished third, #69 Mike Bricknell
fourth, and then #13 Gary Passer. Finishing just outside the top
five, after having that scrub with the wall earlier, was Petey Shepherd
in the #7.
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