LANCASTER, NY (June 4, 2017)- Ten Canadian Lucas Oil Can-Am Midgets travelled to Lancaster Speedway in New York State this weekend where they were met by ten of their American counterparts. Banding together, two nations united to create one great show as Mack DeMan, Lucas Oil Can-Am Midget defending champion earned his first win of 2017. With three races under the Lucas Oil Can-Am Midget series belt, DeMan already has acquired two, second place feature finishes, two heat wins and a second place heat finish. DeMan, said his car was “really good” as he “worked the track to put pressure on Stahle”. DeMan thanked family and sponsors but took the time to let the fans know how much he appreciated them coming out and supporting them and short track racing.
The Lucas Oil Can-Am Midget feature saw a fury of excitement in the feature as the #48 of Darren McLennan brought out the caution on the drop of the green for a spin in turn 2. McLennan proved to have had a difficult night as he spun out in the same turn during his heat race toppling onto his lid crushing the wing. With determination, perseverance and no obvious mechanical damage McLennan decided to stay out and complete his heat finishing seventh,and was able to repair the damages before the feature.
Caution on the restart flew again for a spin in turn 4, this time it was the red hot #26 of rookie Lucas Munsie. Munsie was able to quickly regain the field for the restart.
Pole sitter Steven Murdoch lead the field, single file, for the restart but gave up the lead to Adrian Stahle on lap 2 coming out of turn 4 as DeMan, who started in the sixth position, eased his way past Barry Dunn to claim second. With Dunn in the third spot, Ryan Fraser found himself up one position in fourth while Steven Murdoch fell back to fifth.
The third caution of the night flew on lap 4 when the #26 of Lucas Munsie collected the # 49 of Dominique Smith in turn 1. As the two drivers tangled the #11 of Greg Richardson had nowhere to go and was collected in the carnage. All three cars were heavily damaged and were out for the night.
Lap 6 saw our final caution of the night when the # 2X of Vinnie Christiano Jr spun on the back stretch.
With the final restart set, Stahle was set to lead the pack, DeMan was second, Barry Dunn was third, Ryan Fraser was fourth and Andy Jankowich topped the fifth position.
Stahle, who proved strong, lead for 12 laps all the while defending his lead from the relentless pursue of DeMan, as DeMan was on the rear of Stahle entering and exiting every corner trying to find his way around.
DeMan’s pressure and patience finally paid off on lap 15 when Stahle made an error taking turn 3 low, catching the dirt, and getting loose. Heading into turn 4 DeMan found an opening going to the inside of Stahle capitalizing on his error and taking the lead.
Once out in front it wasn’t long before DeMan pulled away from Stahle with sights on lapping the rear of the field. As the laps wound down to this wild Lucas Oil Can-Am Midget feature, the #01 of AJ Hessler battled hard to keep DeMan from putting him a lap down at the drop of the checkers, while Stahle had a firm hold on the second position, Andy Nye was able to make it past Andy Jankowick for third and Adam Racine was solid in fifth.
Heat races were won by Mack DeMan and Darren Dryden.
The Canadian Lucas Oil Can-Am Midgets would like to extend a hearty Thank you to all the American drivers who came out and joined us in putting on a great race. We are happy to have any one of you join us on the track any time.
The Lucas Oil Can-Am Midgets will be off next weekend but return to Flamboro Speedway June 17, 2017.
Final finishes for the Lucas Oil Can-Am Midgets on June 3, 2017 are… 1. MACK DEMAN, 2. Adrian Stahle, 3. Andy Nye, 4. Andy Jankowick, 5. Adam Racine, 6. Barry Dunn, 7. Ryan Fraser, 8. Brandon Zavarella, 9. Darren Dryden, 10. Mark Schultz, 11. Darren McLennan, 12. Steven Murdoch, 13. Arik McGruder, 14. AJ Hessler, 15. Vinnie Christiano Jr, 16. Patrick Smith, 17. Vinnie Christiano III, 18, Dominique Smith (R), 19. Greg Richardson, 20. Lucas Munsie (R).
Top 10 in Driver Points for the Lucas Oil Can-Am Midgets on June 3, 2017 are 1. MACK DEMAN-517, 2. Adam Racine-508, 3. Ryan Fraser-493, 4. Adrian Stahle-472, 5. Darren Dryden-415, 6. Barry Dunn-413, 7. Steven Murdoch-371, 8. Darren McLennan-371, 9. Dominique Smith-307, 10. Lucas Munsie-289
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