Dykstra Takes Action Sprint Tour Opener At Merrittville

Allan Downey and Nick Sheridan were on the front row for the first AST Crate Sprint Car event of 2021, and Downey opened up an early lead while several drivers began to charge to the front from deep in the pack. Downey was working to get through slower traffic when Dale Curran spun to bring out a yellow flag with 11 laps complete. Dykstra was up to second for the restart after starting eighth, and drove into the lead shortly thereafter.

Dykstra’s lead was short-lived however, as Lucas Smith had used the tricky outside groove to charge through the field from 14th on the grid. Smith and Dykstra swapped the lead several times, but Dykstra was the leader at the stripe when the second yellow flag of the race appeared for a spin by Dave McKnight with 19 laps complete.

Dykstra was able to open a gap on the restart before Smith reeled him back in, but Dykstra stayed ahead to claim his fifth career AST win and tie Josh Hansen atop the all-time list. Smith settled for the runner-up spot, followed by Nick Sheridan, row six starter Jesse Costa, and Steven Beckett.

“I felt pretty strong on the bottom and I was able to roll through (turns) one and two pretty well,” observed Dykstra in victory lane. “I saw (Smith) coming around me and thought I should try it, but I just didn’t like it; I wasn’t too comfortable so went back to the bottom, kind of rolled the middle and kept the wheelspin to a minimum.”

Row eleven starter Brett Stratford, Downey, Darren Dryden, DJ Christie, and Terry Baker rounded out the top ten. Heat race wins were claimed by Steven Beckett, Nick Sheridan, Jacob Dykstra, and DJ Christie, while Derek Miller won the B-Main.

The Action Sprint Tour’s next event is scheduled for Saturday, July 31 at Humberstone Speedway. Visit www.actionsprinttour.com for more information.

Action Sprint Tour
Race Report – Saturday, July 10, 2021
Merrittville Speedway
Thorold, Ontario, Canada

Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – 2:09.486
1. 08-Steven Beckett [3]; 2. 84-Dan Ferguson [1]; 3. 2-Steve Murdock [2]; 4. 51-Trevor Young [7]; 5. 56-Dereck Lemyre [6]; / 6. 50LS-Adrian Stahle [5]; 7. 7-Eric Gledhill [8]; 8. 69-Joshua Hill[9]; 9. 48M-Andrew Marshall [4]

Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – 2:14.714
1. 45-Nick Sheridan [1]; 2. 19D-Allan Downey [4]; 3. 4-Jesse Costa [3]; 4. 70MM-Dave McKnight Jr [7]; 5. 31-Dale Curran [5]; / 6. 20-Johnny Miller [2]; 7. 3S-Austin Roes [8]; 8. MK8-Matt Hill [9]; 9. 77T-Tyeller Powless [6]

Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – 2:12.393
1. 5D-Jacob Dykstra [4]; 2. 45G-Curtis Gartly [1]; 3. 49L-Lucas Smith [2]; 4. 74-Rob Neely [3]; 5. 48-Lance Erskine [5]; / 6. 38-Derek Miller [7]; 7. 14T-Noelle Teal [6]; 8. 4B-Darrell Pelletier [8]

Heat Race 4 [Started] 8 laps – 2:16.986
1. 5-DJ Christie [1]; 2. 12DD-Darren Dryden [6]; 3. 94-Ryan Fraser [2]; 4. 26X-Terry Baker [7]; 5. 14-Larry Gledhill [3]; / 6. 49C-Cody Smith [4]; 7. BS39-Brett Stratford [5]; 8. (DNS) 9C-Brian Nanticoke

B-Main [Started] 12 laps – 3:32.820
1. 38-Derek Miller [1]; 2. BS39-Brett Stratford [10]; 3. 3S-Austin Roes [3]; 4. 50LS-Adrian Stahle [2]; / 5. 7-Eric Gledhill [4]; 6. 69-Joshua Hill [8]; 7. 77T-Tyeller Powless [12]; 8. 14T-Noelle Teal [7]; 9. 20-Johnny Miller [6]; 10. 4B-Darrell Pelletier [11]; 11. 49C-Cody Smith [5]; 12. MK8-Matt Hill [9]; 13. 48M-Andrew Marshall [13]; 14. (DNS) 9C-Brian Nanticoke

A-Main [Started] 25 laps – NT
1. 5D-Jacob Dykstra [8]; 2. 49L-Lucas Smith [14]; 3. 45-Nick Sheridan [2]; 4. 4-Jesse Costa [12]; 5. 08-Steven Beckett [5]; 6. BS39-Brett Stratford [22]; 7. 19D-Allan Downey [1]; 8. 12DD-Darren Dryden [6]; 9. 5-DJ Christie [7]; 10. 26X-Terry Baker [9]; 11. 45G-Curtis Gartly [11]; 12. 84-Dan Ferguson [10]; 13. 51-Trevor Young [4]; 14. 94-Ryan Fraser [15]; 15. 3S-Austin Roes [23]; 16. 38-Derek Miller [21]; 17. 48-Lance Erskine [19]; 18. 74-Rob Neely [16]; 19. 2-Steve Murdock [13]; 20. 31-Dale Curran [18]; 21. 14-Larry Gledhill [20]; 22. 70MM-Dave McKnight Jr [3]; 23. 56-Dereck Lemyre [17]; 24. 50LS-Adrian Stahle [24]
A-Main Lap Leaders – Allan Downey 1-12; Lucas Smith 17-18; Jacob Dykstra 13-16, 19-25
Margin of Victory – 0.999 seconds
Hard Charger – Brett Stratford +16

Up Next:
Humberstone Speedway – Port Colborne, Ontario – Friday, July 30, 2021

ACTION SPRINT TOUR MEDIA
Website: www.actionsprinttour.com
Facebook: ActionSprintTour
Twitter: @ActionSprints
Instagram: @actionsprinttour
YouTube: GForceTV

About the Action Sprint Tour fueled by Pinty’s: Founded in 2018, the Action Sprint Tour is a traveling Winged Crate Sprint Car Series based in Ontario, Canada. Action Sprint Tour cars are powered by GM 602 crate engines modified specifically to fit a Sprint Car chassis. The championship winner will be rewarded with $5,000 and a Pinty’s VIP package for the 2022 Bristol Dirt Race, while 10th place in the championship standings will pay $1,000. The 2021 Action Sprint Tour is made possible with the support of Pinty’s Delicious Foods. Visit www.actionsprinttour.com for more information.

By Tommy Goudge