CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – The peak of the 2024 stock car racing season on Prince Edward Island has arrived. The end of July and the beginning of August feature three consecutive weekends of high-octane Saturday night action under the lights at Oyster Bed Speedway, two of which will welcome visits from big regional touring series that will host crucial races for their championships.
To begin the exciting run, the East Coast International Pro Stock Tour returns to Oyster Bed Bridge on Saturday, July 27 for the BJ’s Truck Centre 150, round six of 10 on its 2024 schedule. As the monkey in the middle between the prestigious IWK 250 and Summer Clash 250 races, the action is set to ramp up as 20 of Atlantic Canada’s best Pro Stock drivers enter the back half of the 2024 season.
While a regional crowd comes to town, they will join a local crowd that will enjoy house class action from the Chris’s Bobcat Services Four-Fun Mini Stocks, Moore Well Drilling Outlaws, and Gauthier’s Auto Repair Street Stocks. The Outlaw division will be crowning a champion in Super Series competition with its final 40-lap feature of the season.
Event Information
Date: Saturday, July 27, 2024 at 6 pm
Gate Times: Pits and grandstands open at 12:30 pm
Classes: Pro Stocks (ECIPST), Street Stock, 4-Cylinder Outlaw, Four-Fun Mini Stock
Ticket Prices: Adults $30 | Youth (8-15) $10 | Children (7 and under) FREE | Pits $40 with waiver
Tickets can only be purchased at the gates on race day. Cash, credit, and debit are accepted.
EWaiver link: https://os.speedwaiver.com/
Rain Date: Sunday, July 28 at 2 pm
Past active Maritime Pro Stock Tour winners at OBS: Greg Proude #29 (5x), Darren MacKinnon #18 (2x), Robbie MacEwen #40, Jarrett Butcher #54, Cory Hall #83
2024 PRO STOCK TOUR NIGHT STORYLINES
Can Nova Scotia’s Pro Stock Stars Successfully Invade Island Turf… Again?
20 drivers will look to etch their name in the history books, some for the first time, some again, as an East Coast International Pro Stock Tour winner at Oyster Bed Speedway. With a group mixed between championship contenders in the tour, drivers doing a “test and tune” for Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series action the weekend after, and part-time stars, the 2024 edition of the BJ’s Truck Centre 150 could be one of the best in history.
The BJ’s Truck Centre 150 begins the back half of the 2024 Pro Stock Tour season and will be the first of many crucial races for drivers chasing after a championship. It’ll be the second consecutive year of the tour making just one visit to P.E.I. The list of past winners in Pro Stock Tour action at Oyster Bed features some of the biggest names in Maritime racing history, including Jonathan Hicken, Cole Butcher, Dylan Blenkhorn, John Flemming, and Wayne Smith.
Jarrett Butcher (#54) is the defending winner of the BJ’s Truck Centre 150 and is also currently the Pro Stock Tour’s points leader with two wins and four podium finishes in five races. Butcher won the first two races at Speedway 660 and Scotia Speedworld and recently fell just short of claiming an illustrious IWK 250 win, which instead went to Craig Slaunwhite.
Young phenom Austin MacDonald (#13) is second in points and will make his first-ever run at Oyster Bed. Mike Rodgers (#41), Nicholas Naugle (#08), and rookie Gage Gilby (#25G) are within a six-point bubble battling for third place. Naugle has one win at Scotia Speedworld this year while Rodgers and Gilby are still seeking their first career Pro Stock Tour win.
Jordan Veinotte (#11) and Russell Smith Jr. (#88) are separated by one point for sixth. Smith Jr. could be a dark horse after finishing second in last year’s BJ’s Truck Centre 150 and recently earning the IWK 250 pole. This Saturday’s race will be Canada’s Ironman Gary Elliott’s (#36) first of back-to-back weekends racing at Oyster Bed.
Half of the field features Prince Edward Island-born drivers; six have won an Oyster Bed Speedway championship and three have won in Maritime Pro Stock Tour action at Oyster Bed. “Screaming Demon” Greg Proude is the winningest for the latter fact, with five Pro Stock Tour wins at his home track. His latest win came in 2022. His most recent win at Oyster Bed was in Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series action in 2023.
Two-time Late Model champion Robbie MacEwen (#40) and two-time Pro Stock 100 winner Darren MacKinnon (#18) join him on the list. MacEwen hasn’t won a feature race since 2019 while MacKinnon has finished second in three of the last four Pro Stock/Late Model races at Oyster Bed.
Troy Burke (#01) has his eyes set on a long-awaited return to Pro Stock action after health issues kept him out of the car to start the year. The 2022 Oyster Bed Speedway Pro Stock champion came agonizingly close to a first career Pro Stock Tour win in 2023 until late contact with MacKinnon dropped him back to fifth.
Other notable P.E.I. drivers include 2022 Bandolero champion Tanton Wooldridge (#24), Brodie Lewis (#22), Mike Duskey (#28), 2016 Late Model champion Chris Hughes (#32), and 2017 Late Model champion Mark LeClair (#51).
2022 Pro Stock 150 winner Cory Hall (#83) will attempt to remain undefeated at Oyster Bed this season, having won an Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series race back in June.
Championship Trophy to be Hoisted in Outlaw Super Series Action
The Moore Well Drilling Outlaw division is on the verge of a championship battle that could come down to the final race in September. While the year-long battle reaches the halfway point of the season, the Super Series championship will be settled on Saturday.
Brandon Forsyth (#3) holds a 19-point lead going into the finale. After claiming the season-opening feature win and collecting the second most points out of all P.E.I. drivers in the RE/MAX Rumble on Canada Day Weekend, Forsyth is well on his way to hoisting the championship trophy as long as nothing catastrophic occurs. Shane Bridges (#4) and Jordan LeClair (#47) gained massive points in the RE/MAX Rumble and are each 19 points behind Forsyth; they are far from out.
As for the year-long points, there is a tie for the lead between Forsyth and 2022 champion Layton Delaney (#7). Forsyth struggled at the July 13 event with a seventh-place feature finish while Delaney’s fourth place finish plus heat and semi race wins moved him from third to the lead tie in points. It’s not a two-horse race, however, as LeClair is seven points behind the tie.
Harley Cornish (#13) showed great improvement with podium finishes in the feature and preliminary races on July 13, which put him up to fourth in points, 20 back of Forsyth and Delaney. Corey Bridges (#04), who initially struggled in July 13 preliminary action until he nearly stole the feature win, will look to build off momentum and get back in the running for the year-long title.
Shane Bridges (#04) could be set on a comeback for the ages in the year-long standings after recently picking up a triple win. He currently sits eighth in points, 44 behind the lead tie, with one missed event.
Competition Heating Up in Four-Fun Mini Stocks
After much controversy on Fan Appreciation Night, the Chris’s Bobcat Services Mini Stocks returned two weeks later for their Super Series opener and put on a clean show with plenty of non-stop competition. They will look to entertain fans once more with the first supporting class feature this Saturday.
Ricky Bedell (#2) maintained the points lead for the second event in a row with a consistent night and a fourth-place feature finish. Cash Bridges (#69) is set on making a charge for him in the standings after finally claiming his first career feature win on July 13. He currently sits 16 points behind Bedell.
Rookie Austin Corrigan (#10), currently third in points, continues to show strides every race and even ran up front in the early laps of the Super Series opener on July 13 but ultimately fell back in the long run. Veteran Randy MacTavish (#76) and reigning champion Jeff Bridges (#95) will be competitive as usual, while rookie Campbell Stewart (#3) seeks a resurgence after a broken transmission prevented him from starting the July 13 feature.
Fellow newcomer Corbin MacAulay (#17) impressed everyone with a top-5 feature finish in the last event. He’ll look to keep upgrading his speed and momentum, especially with the next Super Series race coming up in early August.
Consistency Holds Strong, Bad Luck Finally Broken in Street Stocks
The Gauthier’s Auto Repair Street Stock points lead has been held by multi-time champion and June 16 feature winner Randy Millar (#77) for quite some time. What’ll make things interesting this Saturday, however, is that Millar has other personal priorities to attend to, thus, Clifford MacIsaac will substitute for him and help keep his car within the title battle.
Meanwhile, behind him, another driver finally broke a streak of horrible luck. Brandon Albert (#37) finally added a 2024 feature win to his resume in his fifth attempt, dominating the 25-lap July 13 feature while barely hanging on over Millar. Albert jumped two positions in points and now sits 24 back of Millar with five rounds left.
Randy Snow (#26) could not keep his Fan Appreciation Night speed going into July, but he has one more event to try and enter August with enough confidence and stability to remain in the championship battle. Andrew Thompson (#4) rebounded solidly from a Canada Day Weekend crash with podium finishes in every race on July 13. Tyler Doucette (#24) has battled through competition adversity for a while and hopes for better long-run speed and improved consistency on Saturday.
More Information: Stay up-to-date on our website and social media pages for more breaking news and updates as they happen across the 2024 season and beyond.
Oyster Bed Speedway can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at @oysterbedspeedway, and @obspeedwaypei on YouTube and X. Merchandise is available at www.obsmerch.ca. Shop Samantha Busch merch is available.
About Oyster Bed Speedway
Oyster Bed Speedway is Prince Edward Island’s premier auto racing facility and features fun and excitement with weekly stock car racing special events throughout the season. The 1/3 mile paved oval is located in Oyster Bed Bridge at the intersection of routes 6 and 7, halfway between Cavendish and Charlottetown on beautiful Prince Edward Island. Website: www.oysterbedspeedwaypei.ca.
