CAISTOR CENTRE, Ont. (August 27, 2018) – Team Turner Racing had another strong night of 360 Sprint Car racing last Friday night at Ohsweken as all three drivers earned top-10s on the team’s annual post-race “Corn Roast” night. Ryan Turner led the way in his Kingpin Farms/Burger Barn No.91 with a fourth-place finish. Cory Turner earned a seventh-place result behind the wheel of the KT Gas & Convenience/Silo Wireless No.97 while Jamie Turner was 10th in his Charlie Bee Honey/Mudcat Entertainment Centre No.11.
Both Ryan and Cory Turner started the night with explosive runs in heat race action as they claimed eight-lap victories to start the night. Ryan outran point leader Dylan Westbrook to secure the victory. Jamie Turner was fifth in his heat.
“The car felt like a rocketship all night,” Ryan said. “We kind of took what we learned from South Buxton last week and applied it at Ohsweken and it really seemed to work. The car really seemed to be favourable to the changes. In the heat race, it was a dream to drive. I felt like I was barely even on the wheel.”
Both Ryan and Cory qualified for the redraw where they pulled the sixth and eighth starting positions, respectively. Ryan quickly marched his way forward to second where he set out to track down Westbrook, who had grabbed the early lead.
“We felt really good early on,” Ryan said. “I could put the car pretty much anywhere. I don’t know if we quite had anything for Westbrook early, so I was hoping to get into some lapped traffic and see what happened.”
Meanwhile, Cory ran mid-pack and was embroiled in a battle for seventh with Jake Brown and teammate Alex Hill. Just behind, Jamie battled for a spot in the top-10.
“Jake and I traded a lot of sliders Friday night,” Cory said of his battle with Brown. “I had him at the white flag (for sixth) and he ended up getting back by me. I could have been a little meaner with him in turns three and four. He snuck around the top of me. He and I probably throw more sliders at each other than anybody and we’ve never come together, so it’s good.”
A long red flag at lap nine allowed an Open Red where each driver was allowed one crew member at the car to make adjustments. The focus was on air pressure adjustments and discussing the best line around the racetrack.
“We were just trying to get the car better and he was telling me where I should run,” Cory said of his mid-race conversation with crew member Nathan Jackson. “I probably should have been higher into turn three, but the bump there really upset the car. He was also telling me what was going on up front and what was going on behind me.”
When racing resumed, Ryan maintained the second spot initially, but eventually fell back to his final finishing position of fourth after damage to a front-end suspension part.
“The car was really driveable until we bent a right-front shock with about eight laps to go and it really seemed to mess up the handling on the car,” Ryan said. “Otherwise I thought we had a second-place car.”
Jamie Turner won his race-long battle to grab a spot in the top-10 as he crossed the finish line in 10th.
“We were pretty good in the Feature,” Jamie said. “I was happy to miss two accidents right in front of me. The first one was really close and the second one was close enough.”
Following the race, the team hosted their annual Corn Roast in the pits with everybody in the pits invited to join the Turners for a post-race snack. The event is a family tradition that started by the family racing patriarch, Don Turner, during his Modified days at Merrittville Speedway. Now, Team Turner Racing hosts the event in his honour.
“The corn roast was awesome,” Ryan said. “We got a lot of people out that we don’t normally see throughout the year. To run well on corn roast night was great and to continue a tradition that has been going on for a long time in our family was fun.”
“I’d like to thank everybody that came and helped us out and I hope everybody had a good time,” added Jamie. “We make in an open invitation to everybody, so we’re glad a lot of people came over.”
Up Next
Team Turner Racing has it’s busiest week of the season on tap next with four Feature races scheduled for the upcoming Labour Day weekend. The team will be in action at Ohsweken Speedway for double Features on Friday, August 31 as they make-up the rained out July 27 Feature. Then, they’ll head east to Brighton Speedway for the Labour Day Classic weekend for back-to-back nights of action with the Southern Ontario Sprints on September 1-2. Cory Turner enters the big weekend as the SOS point leader and second in points at Ohsweken.
“I’d like to win the SOS points and finish second at Ohsweken,” Cory said. “That’s our goal now. We just have to keep finishing races and finishing up front on the podium. We’re excited about it.”
With so many races in such a short time period, all three drivers will be relying heavily on their Team Turner Racing, Burger Barn Racing and Hill’s Racing crews to keep them prepared for each dose of on track action. When the do strap in, each driver will be trying to take it one race at a time.
“It’s really the only way to look at it,” Jamie said. “It’s going to be a busy one. We’re hoping we can get all four races in. We’ve got a really good crew, so I’m sure they’ll get us through it all.”
Race time at Ohsweken Speedway is 7:30pm. For additional event information, visit www.ohswekenspeedway.com. Race time at Brighton Speedway is 7:00pm on Saturday night and 6:00pm on Sunday night. Additional event information is available at www.brightonspeedway.ca.
SEASON STATS
11 Jamie Turner – 16 Starts: 0 Wins, 0 Top-5s, 6 Top-10s
91 Ryan Turner – 16 Starts: 1 Win, 9 Top-5s, 12 Top-10s
97 Cory Turner – 19 Starts: 2 Wins, 9 Top-5s, 14 Top-10s
TEAM TURNER MEDIA
Website: teamturnerracing.ca
Facebook: facebook.com/TeamTurnerRacing
Twitter: @11TeamTurner19
YouTube: Youtube.com/RacingTeamTurner
MAILING LIST
Join the Team Turner Racing mailing list by emailing claytonjohnsmedia@gmail.com with the subject “Turner” to be added to the list.
TEAM TURNER PARTNERS
Team Turner Racing is proud to partner with several dedicated marketing partners for the 2018 race season, including KT Tobacco, Charlie-Bee Honey, Mudcat Entertainment Centre, Braemar Building Systems, Pyett Spring & Alignment, DSE Performance, Gale’s Auto Aftermarket, Plazek Auto Recyclers, Malabar Super Spice, V&R Recycling, Country Event Services, JNE Recovery, Skyway Lawn Equipment, Total Coatings, KT Gas & Convenience, Six Nations Bingo, Silo Wireless, CJ Mulholland Mattress Factory, Truck Toppers, iC Super Computers, Silverdale Gun Club, Bryan’s Farm Supply, Beamer Farms, The Powerhouse, Hitchman Trailers, Barlow Farms, Mac Tools, V&R Hose & Hydraulics, RCM Racing Equipment, JLB Mobile Mechanical, Tetra-Chem Industries, Wix Filters, Mayhew Graphics, ImageFactor.ca, and Clayton Johns Media.
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