OHSWEKEN, ON – The 26th season of racing at Ohsweken Speedway continues Friday, June 9, when Core-Mark presents the annual Late Model Open, plus Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars and Duel on the Dirt home track races for the Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks and HRW Automotive Mini Stocks.
The Late Model Open always attracts an eclectic mix of Dirt Late Model teams from across Ontario; Andrew Hennessy won the 2022 edition of the event, while Rob Pietz, Charlie Sandercock and Kyle Sopaz have also scored Late Model Open wins. Teams from Southern Ontario Motor Speedway and Brighton Speedway will make up the bulk of the field, which is expected to exceed two dozen entries. All four previous editions of the Late Model Open have been won by cars with crate engines and the last three have been won by Brighton Speedway regulars.
Brett Stratford sits atop the Strickland’s Crate Sprint Car standings, with three top-five finishes to start the season, while Dale Curran got his first Ohsweken win last Friday and has the second spot. Austin Roes, Larry Gledhill and Jesse Costa make up the rest of the current top-five.
Dave Bailey took the Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stock win last Friday, but the six-time champion is seventh in the championship standings. Kyle Wert has a narrow eight-point lead over Ryan Beagle, followed by Donny Lampman, Trevor DeBoer and Christopher Hale.
The often-unpredictable HRW Automotive Mini Stock division saw a new face in victory lane last Friday, as Jeff Elsliger took the A-Main win. The standings are still very close, with the top-four separated by just 14 points. Ryan Hillar leads by just one point over Fabio Olivieri, with Mike Sarantakos, Dusty Deboer and Tristan Da Silva holding top-five spots.
Race time is 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 9. Adult grandstand admission is $20 on Friday, while Senior (65+) and Youth (13-17) admission is $15 and Kids (0-12) are FREE. Please visit www.ohswekenspeedway.ca for more information.
OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY ON GFORCETV
Can’t make it to the track or don’t live within driving distance? No problem! Check out all of Ohsweken’s weekly Friday Night Excitement action live online for FREE on GForceTV. Just search for GForceTV on YouTube, OHSWEKENSPEEDWAY on Facebook, or visit www.ohswekenspeedway.ca to watch.
About Ohsweken Speedway
Opened in 1996, Ohsweken Speedway is a motorsports complex and event centre featuring a 3/8 mile clay oval auto racing track and 1/6 mile clay oval Micro Sprint and Karting track. The facility is owned by the Styres family, and located in the village of Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada. Ohsweken’s weekly Friday Night Excitement racing program runs from May to September each year, featuring 360 Sprint Cars, Crate Sprint Cars, Thunder Stocks, and Mini Stocks, while the facility also hosts weekly Micro Sprint and Kart racing on Thursday nights.
- By Tommy Goudge
