July 20, 2013- It was a very busy night at the Brockville Ontario Speedway this past Saturday night. All five divisions were ready to do battle, along with the first appearance of the season for the Patriot Sprint Tour.
The 358 Modifieds have a tight points battle going on between Lee Gill and Danny O’Brien. Both drivers came in to Tackaberry Construction night separated by 17 points and would roll off 13th and 14th on the grid.
Up front a pair of Kingston natives led the field to the start of the 30 lap event. Andy Lloyd and Tim O’Brien charged hard into Turn 1 and O’Brien wasted no time taking over the top spot bringing Stephane Lafrance and Bryan Rogers with him to second and third.
O’Brien would lead the opening five laps until Lafrance used a power move down low in Turn 4 to grab the lead. Once in front Lafrance began to pull away to a commanding lead as Tim O’Brien, Bryan Rogers, Luke Whitteker and Andy Lloyd battled it out from second to fifth.
With all the laps on the speedway it made passing very tough as some of the heavy hitters were caught in traffic throughout the event. Danny O’Brien, Lee Gill and Pat O’Brien did not even crack the top 10 until just past the halfway point, but the one driver who did figure out how to pass was Kyle Dingwall.
After starting 12th he patiently made his way into the Top 5 on lap 17 getting by Andy Lloyd for fifth and was in pursuit of rest of the top five. On lap 20 the first caution flew for Jason Riddell who went off the speedway in Turn 1. On the restart Lafrance made it look very easy as he pulled away from the rest of the field and survived one more caution flag on lap 26 to score his first win of 2013. Bryan Rogers had his best finish of the year to come home second. Luke Whitteker, Tim O’Brien and Kyle Dingwall rounded out the top five.
The first of three appearances for the Patriot Sprint Tour was set to take on “The BOS” as Jamie Collard was looking to become the first repeat winner on the tour this year.
Collard would have the best spot as he took the lead from the pole and would set a torrid pace in the early going with Devin Caron, Michael Parent, Jared Zimbardi and Chris Jones making up the top five positions early on. The first yellow flew on Lap 4 as Kyle Fraser lost the handle in Turn 3. Two laps later Keith Dempster also experienced the same problem bringing out the yellow on Lap 6. The green would come back out and Collard still held the top spot but Turn 3 was about to strike again.
Dale Gosselin made contact with another car sending him flipping wildly over the bank. Gosselin was able to climb out of the car after assistance from medical officials and was taken in the ambulance for observations but would be okay.
When the race resumed Collard still had a great car and would pull away once again but lapped traffic played the great equalizer as Parent and Zimbardi both closed in with 10 to go. The yellow would come out again for Kyle Fraser as he spun in Turn 2. Collard would get the advantage again when the green flag flew leaving Parent and Zimbardi to battle for second and third .
Parent’s great run came to an end as he spun in tricky Turn 3 bringing out the final caution. This set up a three lap dash to the checkers and Collard would pull away for his secnd win of the season over Jared Zimbardi, Devin Caron, Justin Barger and Steve Poirier.
In the 25 lap Sportsman feature Aaron Pugh was looking to get his season back on track after a great stint in the Rookie Sportsman division earlier in the year. He would not disappoint as he took the lead from the outside pole. The yellow flew quickly on the opening lap as Kevan Bennett lost the handle on his car in Turn 4. When the green flew it was Pugh jumping well out in front of the field pulling out to a five car length lead over Sheldon Hoogwerf, Ryan Poole, Dana Aikins and Jon Mills.
Pugh had the fastest car all night long and was looking for his first ever Sportsman win but Hoogwerf was looking to close the gap. On lap 15 Hoogwerf closed to within a car length as the leaders battled lapped traffic but Pugh still held the advantage. Just like in the Modified feature the top drivers were having their struggles getting to the front.
Chris Herbison, Shane Pecore and Dylan Evoy started deep in the field and would break into the top 10 late in the event. On Lap 17 the yellow flew for Jason Shipclark as he spun in Turn 2. When the green flew it was still Pugh well out in front, but the race was far from over. On lap 23 Dylan Evoy was making a run at the top five off Turn 4 and would suddenly slow coming down the front stretch bringing the yellow out for the final time. With a one lap shootout Aaron Pugh played it perfectly and would lead all 25 laps for his first career Sportsman feature win over Hoogwerf, Poole, Aikins, and Mills.
In the 15 lap Rookie Sportsman race Josh Powers used a great move from the outside pole to take away the top spot early on with Tristan Draper and Chris Bakker rounding out the top three. Powers had a great car on this night and would pull out to a half straightaway lead but Draper was on the charge. With five laps to go he quickly closed in on the leader and the battle was on.
A late caution flew for Jamie Young who blew a right rear tire, he would return to the field before the next restart.
When the green flew, Draper saw an opportunity and made the pass for the top spot as the field exited Turn 4. Once in front nobody was catching Draper on this night as he cruised to his second win in a row and third of the season over Powers. Jamie Young would charge from sixth to finish third on the final lap.
The Street Stock division has not seen a repeat winner in seven events this season and Danny Mocibob was looking to become the next new winner as he rocketed to the lead from the outside pole over Steve Kearney, Alex Gagnon, Brock Cullen and Darrick Eaton.
Mocibob had one of the fastest cars on the speedway as he led the opening five laps before the yellow flew for Perry Comeau who had spun off Turn 4.
On the restart Alex Gagnon was on the charge from his sixth starting spot and would take the lead from Mocibob with just six laps remaining. Gagnon has not won yet this season and appeared to have the win in his back pocket until he spun off Turn 1 with three laps to go bringing out the yellow again.
This would leave three-time, and defending, track champion Kevin Fetterly Jr. out front and was looking to win for the second time. When the green came back out Fetterly would make it look as easy as he became the first two time winner of the season with Brock Cullen, Danny Mocibob, John Gifford and Steve Kearney rounding out the top five.
The Rookie division always provides some great racing action and this night was another great battle in the 15 lap affair.
Geneva Sheffield and Tyler Markell started on the front row but it was Corbin Miller stealing the show as he raced out to the early lead. Miller has been in a close points battle all year long with Quincy Roberts and it came right down to those two drivers as they raced for the top spot all night. Tyson Slinger, Ron Day and Geneva Sheffield, continuing her season best run, completing the top five.
The yellow flew on lap 10 for Tyler Markell as he spun in Turn 4. When the green flew Miller was looking to claim his first win since opening day and despite many late race challenges from Roberts it was Miller taking his second win of the year over Roberts, Slinger and Day. Sheffield, who experienced rear end issues with her race car, came home fifth.
Next week NAPA Auto Parts will be on the card for the second annual Brockville Ontario Speedway Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Three legendary drivers and two patrons of the sport will be honored during next week’s full program. The first green flag drops at 7pm.
358 Modifieds:
STEPHANE LAFRANCE, Bryan Rogers, Luke Whitteker, Tim O’Brien, Kyle Dingwall, Bobby Herrington, Lee Gill, Danny O’Brien, Jason Riddell, Luke Stewart, Ryan Arbuthnot, Andy Lloyd, John Mulder, Roger Levesque, Joe Banks, April Wilson, Dave Austin, Pat O’Brien
Patriot Sprint Tour:
JAMIE COLLARD, Jared Zimbardi, Devin Caron, Justin Barger, Steve Poirier, Tommy Wickham, Etienne Girard, Jason Barney, Jeff Cook, Chris Jones, Glenn Styres, Alain Boisvert, Lee Ladouceur, Tyler Rand, Michael Parent, Keith Dempster, Patrick Vigneault, April Wilson, Mitch Brown, Kyle Fraser, Paul Pekkonen, Dale Gosselin, Rick Wilson
Sportsman:
AARON PUGH, Sheldon Hoogwerf, Ryan Poole, Dana Aikins, Jon Mills, Shane Pecore, Kenny Polite, Jessica Power, Chris Herbison, Doug O’Blenis, Kurtis Lee, Bruce Makinson, Jason Cummings, Jonathan Ferguson, Tabatha Murphy, Brian Copp, Steve Savoie, Dylan Evoy, Kevan Bennett, Steve Barber, Jason Shipclark
Rookie Sportsman:
TRISTAN DRAPER, Josh Powers, Jamie Young, Chris Bakker, Jeremy Coulter, Jasmine David
Street Stock:
KEVIN FETTERLY JR., Brock Cullen, Danny Mocibob, John Gifford, Steve Kearney, Darrick Eaton, Travis Andrews, Alex Gagnon, Peter Jordensen, Perry Comeau, Selena Simzer
Rookie:
CORBIN MILLER, Quincy Roberts, Tyson Slinger, Ron Day, Geneva Sheffield, Josh Kirkland, Mike Best, Yan Raccine, Mike McGonegal, Randy Massey, Kurtis Daye, Tyler Markell, Colin Tracey, Smantha Henderson, Tim Rhoden
From: BOS
{fcomment}
Discussion about this post