THOROLD, ON — Merrittville Speedway capped off the Civic Holiday weekend with the August 4 Canadian Grand Nationals, welcoming 122 cars into the pits. The night’s main event was a 44-lap Get Well Soon Stew 44 358 Modified feature honouring injured Niagara native Stewart Friesen. Gary Lindberg of Ridgeway, Ontario completed a dominant weekend, taking the win and sweeping the Modified doubleheader. Other winners on the night included St. Catharines’ Cody McPherson in the DIRTcar Sportsman, Thorold’s Brent Begolo in the Modified Lites, Hagersville’s Dave Bailey in the Hoosier Stocks, and Port Robinson’s Cierra Keus in the 4 Cylinders.
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In the 358 Modifieds, Justin Sharp and Todd Gordon led the field to green for the extended 44-lap feature. Gordon led early, but it was Lindberg who surged to the point on lap five. A caution on lap 13 slowed the pace after a three-car incident involving Luke Carleton, Brad Rouse and Dave Flannigan Jr. Tempers flared when Carleton and Rouse came together again shortly after, prompting a red flag as crews intervened on pit road. Once order was restored, Lindberg was untouchable. He built a massive 10-second lead over Gordon and lapped all but six cars en route to victory.
Cody McPherson continued his stellar 2025 campaign in the Sportsman division, taking his 10th win of the season at Merrittville. Starting third, McPherson took the lead on the opening lap and never looked back. A rash of early cautions prompted single-file restarts from lap eight onward. McPherson comfortably handled a green-white-checkered finish and led all 25 laps to beat Jacob Chevalier and Billy Bleich Jr.
In the Modified Lites, Ashton Anderson led early, but it was Brent Begolo who made his way from eighth to the lead by lap eight. A pair of cautions, including one with three laps to go, weren’t enough to derail his charge. Begolo powered to his second win of the year, followed by Shawn and Dillan Sliter.
The Hoosier Stocks produced plenty of action with a full field chasing a $1,000 top prize. Steve Shaw Sr. led early before Mark Fawcett took over on lap seven. Dave Bailey then made his move, passing Fawcett after the restart and holding the top spot through one final caution. Bailey went on to claim his 10th win of the season at Merrittville, with Kyle Pelrine and Jason Fontaine rounding out the top three.
The 4 Cylinder feature ran caution-free as 28 cars took the green. Josh Dmytrow led early, fending off pressure from Cierra Keus, Alex Riley and Rob Goulding. Just past halfway, Keus made her move and surged to the front, with Riley following into second. Keus then pulled away to earn her third win of the year. Goulding, Dmytrow and Hana Rothwell completed the top five.
RACE RESULTS — August 4, 2025
358 Modifieds – GARY LINDBERG (5), Todd Gordon, Nelson Mason, Darrell Farraway, Shayne Pierce, Tommy Flanigan, Pete Bicknell, Jay Mallory, James Friesen, Dave Flanigan Jr., Scott Wood, Fred Carleton, Derek VanMil, Bill Gill, (DNF) Justin Sharp, (DNF) Brian Page, (DNF) Brad Rouse, (DNF) Luke Carleton, (DNF) Paul Gaboury
Qualifying Heats – Nelson Mason, Darrell Farraway, Justin Sharp
DIRTcar Sportsman – CODY MCPHERSON (10), Jacob Chevalier, Billy Bleich Jr., Tyler Puchalski, Curtis Friesen, Noah Mamo, Matt Sharpe, Matteo Panunte, Nigel Pendykoski, Ryan Barrett, Daniel McKay, Taylor Vanderzanden, Boyd MacTavish, Austin Seburn, Brad Overbeeke, Jeff Panunte, Madyson Rouse, Elijah Knutt, (DNF) Cameron Olm, (DNF) Trevor Pitt, (DNF) Chris Hawkins, (DNF) Doug Walsh Jr., (DNF) Matthew Jessome, (DNF) Mitch Dumont
Qualifying Heats – Ryan Barrett, Jacob Chevalier, Taylor Vanderzanden
Modified Lites – BRENT BEGOLO (2), Shawn Sliter, Dillan Sliter, Ashton Anderson, Sean Iftody, R.J. Pietz, Ryan Anderson, Anthony Kelly, Rob Misener, Cohen Corbett, Tyler Winger, Leroy Buscumb, Greg Zack, Nick Sarantakos, Roger Pardis, Dave Cornish, Ryleigh Sliter, Josh Sliter, Cole Hardy, Bella General, Olschewske Jr., Evan Leonard
Qualifying Heats – Brent Begolo, Tyler Winger, R.J. Pietz
Hoosier Stocks – DAVE BAILEY (10), Kyle Pelrine, Mark Fawcett, Jason Fontaine, Steve Shaw Sr., Gofast Teeple, Zack Bleich, Clinton Nicholls, Brock Gregory, Spencer Smolders, Kacey Huffman, Dave Small, Chris Crowe, Dustin Duga, Nick Cameron, Rob Disher, Jeff Larmet, Dylan Peckham, Nathan MacWhirter, John Overholt, (DNF) Rob General, (DNF) Rob Murray, (DNF) Jeff Bean, (DNF) Kevin Kocarik, (DNS) Tyler French
Qualifying Heats – Nick Cameron, Kyle Pelrine, Gofast Teeple
4 Cylinders – CIERRA KEUS (3), Alex Riley, Rob Goulding, Joshua Dmytrow, Hana Rothwell, Jason Tolton, Jeremy Cooper, Sierra Robison, Mason Anderson, Clinton Barrick, Austyn Werstroh, Ken Hair, Steve Robison, Braden Keus, Ray Cerenzia, John Trivieri, Brendan Lefrancois, Jonathan MacWhirter, Olivier Larocque, John Lubeck, Randy Alway, Richard Hadler, Joe Stevenson, Sam Iftody, Steven Boverhof, (DNF) Tony Kelly, (DNF) Nick Bowman, (DNF) Jay Moulton
B Feature – Randy Alway, Sam Iftody, Tony Kelly, Jonathan MacWhirter, Olivier Larocque, John Lubeck, Steven Boverhof, Joe Stevenson, Jay Moulton, Nick Bowman, Jack Reid, Savannah Fontaine, James Marshall, Connor Chambers
Qualifying Heats – Ken Hair, Jason Tolton, Alex Riley
