OSCAAR’s Modified and Hot Rod divisions, along with the Outlaw Midgets, rolled into Central Ontario to join the home track Bone Stock and Super Stocks to wrap-up the month on Saturday, July 26th at Peterborough Speedway.
Front row starters Tegan Stanley and Jacob Stavropoulos brought the 22-car field to the line for the 20-lap Battlefield Equipment Rental Bone Stock feature tilt. Stanley – who came into the night as the Bone Stock point leader – took the early lead, with the driver dubbed “Young Jacob” hot on his tail. The leaders caught the back of the pack with four laps on the scoreboard, with the race slowed by a caution with seven laps complete. The restart saw signs of a high-speed pace lap, with some excellent side-by-side battles that took the pack to the halfway mark. Stavropoulos took the lead from Stanley with only eight laps remaining and, even with the former race leader looking high and low, the driver of the No. 03 held on for his first career feature win. Stanley, Alex Dallaire, Sam Arnott and Mark Griffin rounded out the top-five.
Trevor Thompson and Brian Wilson showed the way as the crowd-favourite OSCAAR Hot Rods rolled from the staging area for a 30-lap headliner. Thompson’s No. 00 grabbed the early lead, but as soon as the green flag waved, the paced was slowed because of an issue in turn four. Thompson maintained his lead on the restart, with a three-wide battle for third stealing the spotlight behind him. After mirroring Thompson’s moves, Steve Book pushed his No. 47 Studebaker into the lead with eight laps on the board. Dan Archibald, Tyler Hawn and Wilson came along, with Wilson falling to fifth. Book held on for a close .019-second win over Archibald. Hawn, Wilson and Thomas Wunsch completed the top-five.
With 20 laps to settle the score, Dylan Wills and Donovan Price were on the front row for the Jiffy Lube Super Stock main event. As he did earlier in the month, when claiming his first career win, Wills grabbed the early race lead. This time he gave up the spot to Mark Gordon with less than a handful of laps on the scoreboard. The driver of the No. 52 showed his strength, with Wills keeping pace. Clayton Reed and Paul Boundy joined the fight, but Gordon was unbeatable. Wills, Boundy, Chad Strawn and Reed followed the race winner to the checkered flag.
Jason Keen and 2024 race winner Wally Wilson held the front row starting spots for the 40-lap OSCAAR Modified feature tilt. A yellow flag – with only a lap completed – brought the field back together, with Keen as the race leader. Steve Trendell was looking for a position around the frontrunner and took control of the field with eight laps on the scoreboard. The top-three were locked in a breakaway that saw them almost a straightaway ahead of the fourth-place runner. A late yellow flag brought the field back together, but Trendell was able to protect his position as race leader. Keen, Wilson, Dale Reinhart and Ryan Dick completed the top-five.
Mike Bradley, in his brother Dave’s No. 15, and Ryan Lusk were on the front row for the 20-lap GSR Outlaw Midget feature. Bradley and Jessica James – in her first Peterborough Speedway start of the year – broke away from the pack on the opening lap, only to have the race slowed by a caution with only a pair of circuits complete. Bradley and James were joined at the front of the field by Mikey Homewood and Jason Metcalfe on the restart. Another yellow flag brought the pack together, with Robin McLean the new leader just before the halfway mark. It was a position he wouldn’t relinquish, as the driver of the No. 97 machine took the win. Metcalfe, Bradley, Rob McCall and Kevin Spiesz filled out the top-five finishers.
Qualifying rounds for the Battlefield Equipment Rental Bone Stocks saw Victoria McLenon take a pair of checkered flags, with the others going to Zachary Cheng and Jacob Stavropoulos. Tyler Hawn, Trevor Thompson, Dan Archibald and Mark Gordon took the OSCAAR Hot Rod preliminary rounds. Chad Strawn and Mark Gordon shared Jiffy Lube Super Stock heat race wins. Chris Milwain, Jason Keen, Steve Trendell and Tyler Bouillon scored OSCAAR Modified opening round wins. Jessica James, Jason Metcalfe, Dave Bradley, Ryan Lusk and Mikey Homewood were the top-five finishers in the 15-lap Glenn Styres Racing Outlaw Midget qualifying round.
All finishing positions are unofficial and subject to scoring review and post-race inspection.
Bullring Bullet Points:
- It was a tough night for OSCAAR Modified racer A.J. Emms, who had his No. 14 ride sidelined for the night after the pre-race practice sessions. The OSCAAR Hot Rod line-up included the No. 47T of 14-year-old Thomas Wunsch, with former OSCAAR Modified rookie of the year Max Beyore Jr. returning to action in his No. 91.
- GEN-3 Electric OMRS SportsMod runner Garrett Yates took over the No. 25 Super Stock ride in place of Kyle Gordon.
- With forecast models showing rain throughout the area, track officials elected to skip the scheduled round of King of the Hill. It will be made-up during the Saturday, August 2nd program.
Next week on the line-up will see the Cottage Country Bash, with free pre-race corn roast. On-track action will include a 50-lap SwitchTire Mini Stock Invitational, plus the Battlefield Equipment Rental Bone Stock, Trent Lakes Complete Plumbing Renegade Truck, KOD Disposal Late Model and Nadeau Collision Junior Late Models. Grandstand gates open at 4:00 p.m., with racing at 6:00.
Staying up to date with Central Ontario’s favourite place to race is easy. Keep checking www.peterboroughspeedway.com or like and follow the track’s various social media platforms and pages throughout the year.
