@FlamboroSpdwy •@CanAmMidgets •Hamilton, ON (August 29, 2016)- With seven different winners in 11 races, Jeff Blackburn became #8 Saturday night as he cruised to Victory Lane at Flamboro Speedway. Having a terrible 2016 season involving cut tires, blown motors, flipping on his lid and leading a race for 19 laps before loosing a tire, Blackburn finally got the winners rewards with a top run with the Lucas Oil Can-Am Midgets. Winning his heat race and leading all 25 laps in this green to checkered feature event, Blackburn was very excited accepting the winning trophy.
“Never give up, said Blackburn, we just kept trying to make it work and finally the monkey is off our backs. There is so many people that helped make this happen. I need to thank my family for all their support, Austin Senkerik, setup man Brandon Hauck, Rich Kenworthy for an awesome motor, Dave and Hazen McIntosh, Darren McLennan and everyone in the Can-Am Midget Club. And a big thanks goes to Lloyds Auto & Truck Clinic and Lucas Oil.”
Blackburn took the lead as the green flag was thrown followed by Ryan Fraser and Adrian Stahle. Steven Murdock was fourth and Rob Neely rounded out the top five. Blackburn was already setting a fast pace and opening up his lead over Fraser. Neely passed Murdock for fourth and set his sites on Stahle. One lap later Neely grabbed the spot from Stahle and headed toward Fraser. With five laps in Neely dove under Fraser in turn three and took over second place. Blackburn now had a ten car lead over the field as the cars raced for position farther back in the field.
Neely stayed strong in second as Fraser and Stahle battled side by side. Darren McLennan now joined the top five. McLennan got around Stahle and Darren Dryden saw the opening and moved into the top five. Stahle stayed on Drydens tail as Mack DeMan was trying to make his way up the field. McLennan passed Fraser with only 9 laps in and looked ahead towards Neely. Dryden fought for position with Fraser as the field went to the half way point.
Blackburn continued his strong lead with Neely slowly closing the gap. McLennan and Dryden had a fierce battle for position with Fraser still close in the mix. With ten laps to go Blackburn had his fingers crossed that this could be his night. Neely remained in second as McLennan and Dryden had inches between them going for the third spot. DeMan passed Fraser for fifth place with 6 laps to go. With Blackburn in the lead and five laps to go Neely remained in second and Dryden got the edge over McLennan for third place. DeMan kept in the top five.
Finally the checkered flag was shown for Blackburn with Neely, Dryden, McLennan and DeMan finishing in the top five. Heats were won by Murdock and Blackburn.
Of Note…Craig Pitchell returned to the track after his crash at Sauble Speedway on July 30th driving the TQ #4 for Peter DeMan, finishing 11th.
The Lucas Oil Can-Am Midgets return to Sauble Speedway on Saturday, September 3rd as their 51st season starts to wind down.
Final finish for the Lucas Oil Can-Am Midgets at Flamboro Speedway on August 27, 2016 was…1. JEFF BLACKBURN, 2. Rob Neely, 3. Darren Dryden, 4. Darren McLennan, 5. Mack DeMan, 6. Ryan Fraser, 7. Adrian Stahle, 8. Barry Dunn, 9. Steven Murdock, 10. James Marche, 11. Craig Pitchell, 12. Corey Whittam (R).
Top Ten in Drivers Points for the Lucas Oil Can-Am Midgets as of August 27, 2016 are…1. MACK DEMAN…1940, 2. Darren McLennan…1888, 3. Ryan Fraser…1850, 4. Rob Neely…1840, 5. Darren Dryden…1835, 6. Adrian Stahle…1810, 7. Steven Murdock…1735, 8. Barry Dunn…1644, 9. James Marche, 10. Adam Racine…1387.
For more information on the Lucas Oil Can-Am Midgets contact Cindy Lorenz at clorenz74@yahoo.com
Discussion about this post