THOROLD, ON – On April 26, Merrittville Speedway played host to its season opening Spring Sizzler. Despite the chilly temperatures, the event was well attended by fans and drivers with 114 cars in the pits across the 5 divisions. The Southern Ontario Sprints kicked off 360 Sprint Car racing with their opening event, which was won by Mike Bowman of Stevensville, ON. Justin Sharp of St. Catharines, ON took the win in 358 Modified action. The Modified Lite feature went to Port Colborne, ON native Josh Sliter. Jason Fontaine of Port Colborne, ON made it back-to-back trips to victory lane in the Stocks and Ken Hair of Niagara Falls, ON scored the win in the 4 Cylinders feature.
PHOTO GALLERY BY DEREK SMITH / RACEPULSE.COM
Jacob Dykstra and Pete Bicknell led the field to green in the 358 Modifieds. Dykstra jumped out to a sizeable margin early, while Brad Rouse and Justin Sharp passed Bicknell and engaged in a door-to-door duel over the second spot for several laps. Meanwhile Dykstra amassed a nearly four second lead, until lap 19 when he spun from the top spot while trying to dive to the inside of Dylan Davidson to put him down a lap. The spin and subsequent caution moved Sharp and Rouse’s battle to one for the top spot. On the restart, the two drivers traded the top spot back and forth every couple laps over a 10-lap span before Sharp was able to clear to the top spot. Rouse’s great run came to an end seven laps shy of the checkered flag, when he was forced to pull off with a mechanical issue. Bicknell took over the second spot and closed to within two car lengths in the final set of corners but ultimately could not catch Sharp. Sharp captured the flag ahead Bicknell, Gary Lindberg, Scott Wood and Fred Carleton.
In Mod Lite action, Josh Sliter and Leroy Buscumb started from the front row with Sliter getting out to the early advantage. On lap five, Rob Misener spun off turn four, and previous week’s winner Tyler Winger took the lead from Sliter on lap six following the restart. Four laps later, Sliter would take the lead back from Winger, who stayed in lock step with Sliter until a caution of lap 14 for Evan Leonard. The caution erased a six second margin Sliter and Winger held over third place Chris Watson. Sliter continued to lead Winger on the restart until Winger was forced to retire from the race with a mechanical issue with less than three laps to go. Sliter would go on to win his first of the season over R.J. Pietz, Brent Begolo, Sean Iftody, and Anthony Kelly.
The southern Ontario Sprints kicked off their season at Merrittville Speedway with Mike Bowman and Baily Heard out front. The caution fell for the first time on lap 2 with Joe Trenca and Alex Bergeron tangled. Bowman continued to lead after solo spins by Dylan Westbrook and Ashton VanEvery put the field under yellow on lap 10 and lap 12 respectively. On the restart, Darren Dryden, who took over the second spot from Heard prior to the lap 12 incident, kept the pressure on Bowman, even threatening for the top spot while they battled their way through lap traffic until a spin by Matt Farnham in turn four on lap 23 set up a Green – White- Checkered. The single file restart played into Bowman’s favour once again and he was able to pick up his second straight win at Merrittville after taking the Modified Feature win on opening night. Dryden held on for while Heard, who hadn’t raced a Sprint Car since 2023, finished in third, a career best.
Mark Fawcett and Zach Bleich made up the front row for the start of the Stock feature, with Fawcett leading early. On lap 8, Jody Mason stopped on the front stretch leading to a yellow. After another restart on lap 10, Jason Fontaine made an impressive three wide pass to take the top spot away from Fawcett who found himself sandwiched between Fontaine and Bleich. Dave Bailey would hound Fontaine for the final six laps but not be able to get by and Fontaine opens 2025 with back-to-back victories. Bailey, Fawcett, Kyle Pelrine and Bleich rounded out the top five finishers.
After his opening week win, Rob Goulding found himself leading the 4 Cylinders to green alongside Hana Rothwell. Ken Hair would take the lead just before the second caution of the race on lap seven. A caution would fall again on the next lap, just after Randy Always took the top spot from Hair. On the lap nine restart, Hair was able to get back by Alway and held him off for the win. Alex Riley, Goulding and Ray Cerenzia completed the top 5 finishers.
RACE RESULTS –- April 26th, 2025
358 Modifieds – JUSTIN SHARP, Pete Bicknell, Gary Lindberg, Scott Wood, Fred Carleton, Mike Bowman, James Friesen, Shayne Pierce, Todd Gordon, Martin Polhill, Nelson Mason, Luke Carleton, Jay Mallory, Jacob Dykstra, Darrell Farraway, Dylan Davidson, Derek VanMil, Paul Gaboury, Ken Winfield, Nigel Pendykoski, Brad Rouse, Brian Page, Bill Gill, Dave Flannigan Jr.
Heat Winners – Nelson Mason, Scott Wood, Gary Lindberg
Modified Lites – JOSH SLITER, R.J. Pietz, Brent Begolo, Sean Iftody, Anthony Kelly, Cohen Corbett, Chris Watson, Rob Misener, Leroy Buscumb, Rob Misener, Leroy Buscumb, Greg Zack, Roger Pardis, Cole Hardy, Ryleigh Sliter, Dave Cornish, Dillan Sliter, Nick Sarantakos, Jeffery Bernier-Lacombe, (DNF) Tyler Winger, (DNF) Evan Leonard, (DNF) Bella General
Heat Winners – Brent Begolo, Sean Iftody, Tyler Winger
Southern Ontario Sprints – MIKE BOWMAN, Darren Dryden, Baily Heard, Todd Hoddick, D.J. Christie, Jordan Poirier, Ryan Turner, Dylan Westbrook, Allan Downey, Eric Gledhill, Josh Hansen, Travis Cunningham, Cory Turner, Skylar Evans, Scott Hall, Matt Farnham, Alex Bergeron, Ashton VanEvery, Joe Trenca, (DNS) Aaron Turkey
Heat Winners – Kyle Phillips, Darren Dryden, Mike Bowman
Quick Time – D.J. Christie 13.257
Stocks – JASON FONTAINE (2), Dave Bailey, Mark Fawcett, Kyle Pelrine, Zack Bleich, Dustin Duga, Spencer Smolders, Todd Shaw, Jeff Bean, Scott McPhail, Gord Grant, Jackson Maytum, Kacey Huffman, Mitch Petta, Nick Masi, (DNF) Gofast Teeple, (DNF) Chase Kish, (DNF) Jody Mason, (DNF) John Overholt
Heat Winners – Dustin Duga, Jason Fontaine
4 Cylinders – KEN HAIR, Randy Alway, Alex Riley, Rob Goulding, Ray Cerenzia, Mason Anderson, Hana Rothwell, Jeremy Cooper, Dave Wininger, Fabio Olivieri, Clinton Barrick, Olivier Larocque, John Trivieri, Nick Bowman, Savannah Fontaine, Shawn Wilton, Steven Boverhof, Connor Chambers, Richard Hadler, Joe Stevenson, Braden Keus, Jonathan Macwhirter, Brendan Lefrancois, (DNF) Sierra Robison, (DNF) James Marshall, (DNF) Cierra Keus, (DNF) Cameron Olm, (DNF) Joshua Dmytrow, (DNS) Jay Moulton
Heat Winners – Ken Hair, Brendan Lefrancois, Rob Goulding
