OHSWEKEN, Ont. (June 8, 2018) – A busy night at Ohsweken Speedway had 126 cars signed in across four divisions as the Rochester Knighthawks Lacrosse Club presented Friday Night Excitement on June 8. A smooth track made for an excellent night of side-by-side racing in both Sprint Car and Stock Car divisions. When the dust settled, it was Dylan Westbrook taking the victory in the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars, Holly Porter took the win with the Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars, Logan Shwedyk scored a win in the Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stock wins and Nick Masi claimed a checkered flag in the HRW Automotive Mini Stock Feature.
KOOL KIDZ-CORR/PAK 360 SPRINT CARS
Curtis Gartly and Stan Zanchin started on the front row for the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Car Feature. Zanchin drove to the point in the first two corners, but fourth-starting Dylan Westbrook grabbed the lead by the time the field hit the backstretch. By lap five, Westbrook had already hit lapped traffic, but on lap six made a rare mistake when he drove off the top of turns three and four, allowing Mack DeMan to take the lead and Jim Huppunen to get by as well. On lap seven, Westbrook got back by Huppunen for second before a caution waved on lap eight when Huppunen spun in turn one and Mike Thorne spun simultaneously in turn four.
DeMan held the lead for a lap on the restart before he went off the top in turns one and two, allowing Westbrook to retake the point and Cory Turner to grab the second spot. A lap later, the race was red flagged when Tyler Hendricks endured a violent flip down the backstretch. He was uninjured.
On the restart with 11 laps to go, Turner dove to the inside of Westbrook for a slide job in turn one, but couldn’t break the momentum of the No.47x. A lap later, Mikey Kruchka nosed beside Turner for second, but Turner held the spot.
On lap 14, Westbrook made his way back into traffic and Turner began to close the gap. With five to go, Westbrook tried to pass the lapped car of Dan Nanticoke off turn four, and the two made contact. The incident caused the front end to collapse on Nanticoke’s car and he coasted into turn one just ahead of the leaders and DeMan was unable to avoid the slower car and the two cars collided in an ugly wreck.
After the carnage was cleaned up, Turner attempted another pair of slide jobs to take the lead from Westbrook on the restart, but couldn’t take the top spot. Westbrook drove away from Turner, who surrendered the second spot to Kruchka on lap 19 when he got over the banking in turn three and four. Westbrook’s rear-end broke just as he drove off turn four to the checkered flag, but lasted long enough for him to claim his fourth-straight win this season. Kruchka, Cory Turner, Chris Steele and Ryan Turner rounded out the top-five.
STRICKLAND’S GMC CRATE SPRINT CARS
Dereck Lemyre and Holly Porter started out front of the 24-car field for the Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Car 20-lap Feature. Porter jumped out to the early advantage while Lucas Smith grabbed second and Ryan Hunsinger raced forward to third in the opening laps. They raced that way for six laps until the first caution of the race for a Trevor Young spin in turn one.
On the ensuing restart, Porter continued strong and established a 1.9-second advantage over Smith when the race reached halfway. Behind the top two, Shone Evans made his way forward and stole third and fourth, respectively, from Hunsinger and Jesse Costa by lap 11. Porter found her way into traffic on lap 12 which allowed Smith to close the gap. The advantage was reduced to just three car lengths when the top two crossed the line with five laps to go, but Porter navigated the remaining lapped traffic flawlessly while Smith got hung up on a slower car with three laps to go.
The slowdown for Smith was enough for Porter to drive away to her seventh career Crate Sprint Car win at Ohsweken. Evans, Hunsinger and Costa completed the top-five. Rob Neely was the Hard Charger, advancing 12 positions to a 10th-place finish after qualifying via the B-Main.
MIDDLEPORT MECHANICAL THUNDER STOCKS
Aaron Rewutzsky and Donny Lampman started on the front row for the 20-lap Feature that showcased 28 cars in the starting lineup. Lampman led the opening lap before Rewutzsky grabbed the lead while a number of drivers got together behind them on the opening lap, but continued and a caution was avoided. Last week’s winner Ryan Dinning and point leader Dave Bailey both suffered damage and were required to retire to the pit area, at least temporarily, eliminating them from win contention.
Logan Shwedyk used the opening four laps to move his way forward from the eighth starting spot and by lap five tracked down Rewutzsky and took over the top spot. At the halfway mark, Shwedyk had opened a lead of more than two seconds despite having to work through lappws traffic. Shwedyk continued the dominating performance over the final 10 laps to outpace Ryan Beagle, who had an equally impressive driver forward from ninth to score the runner-up finish.
Billy Bleich Jr., Trevor DeBoer and Jim Lampman rounded out the top-five, but were more than four seconds behind the race winner Shwedyk in their own tightly contested battle. Chris Dickie was the hard-charger, advancing 16 positions to a sixth-place finish after winning the B-Main. Of statistical note, Shwedyk’s race time of 6:41.173 fell 0.045 seconds short of Dave Bailey’s 20-lap Thunder Stock track record of 6:41.128.
HRW AUTOMOTIVE MINI STOCKS
Paul Longboat and Jeremy May lined-up on the front row for the 15-lap HRW Automotive Mini Stock Feature. A lap one caution involving Matt Nuell and Kyle Wert prevented Longboat from taking an early lead. On the restart, Tim DeBoer used the outside lane to lead the second lap while Wayde Thorne drove to the outside of Longboat and the two battled side-by-side for second until the second yellow flag at lap four for a spun Jason Dixon.
Thorne took advantage of the ensuing restart and took the lead from DeBoer while Dale Millard drove into third. One lap later, Millard spun in turn one to bring out the second yellow. DeBoer gave Thorne all he could handle on the restart and the two raced side-by-side until DeBoer claimed the point just as Thorne had mechanical problems on lap nine.
A lap 10 restart followied a Jeremy May spin and allowed Nick Masi to use the outside lane to take the lead from DeBoer. Just as DeBoer was fighting for second, the car broke and darted right in turn one to bring out the final yellow, robbing the No.9 of a top-five finish.
The final restart saw Matt Nuell duck to the inside of Masi for the lead. The two drivers battled side-by-side to the checkered flag, with Masi edging Nuell by 0.065 seconds, or less than the nose of the car, for his second win of the season. Dusty DeBoer, Sean Iftody and Tyler Lafantasie rounded out the top-five.
UP NEXT AT OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY
Next Friday, June 15 the Burger Barn presents the Kids Race for the Canadian National Autism Foundation and Wall of Fame Night. Ohsweken Speedway’s Wall of Fame will see five new members inducted, including Fred Carleton, Kaith Dempster, Kelly Hallett, and Ken & Cheryl Pelkie as Ohsweken Speedway celebrates the past, and looks forward to the future during the track’s 23nd season of racing. All four weekly Friday Night Excitement divisions are in action, including the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars, Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars, Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks and HRW Automotive Mini Stocks. Race time is 7:30pm and adult admission is just $14.
Ohsweken Speedway Live Stream
Can’t make it to the track or don’t live within driving distance? No problem! Check out all of Ohsweken’s weekly Friday Night Excitement action live online for free via the Ohsweken Speedway Live Stream. The stream goes live at 7:30pm EST each race night at www.OhswekenSpeedway.ca.
2018 SEASON
Ohsweken Speedway’s 23rd season of weekly Friday Night Excitement features four divisions of racing, including the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars, Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars, Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks and HRW Automotive Mini Stocks. Visit www.OhswekenSpeedway.com to view the schedule or call (519) 717-0023 for more information.
About Ohsweken Speedway: Founded in 1996, Ohsweken Speedway is a motorsports complex which includes a 3/8 (0.375) mile clay oval track. The facility is owned by the Styres family, and located in the village of Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada. Ohsweken’s weekly Friday night racing program runs from May to September each year, featuring 360 Sprint Cars, Crate Sprint Cars, Thunder Stocks and Mini Stocks. The season finishes each year with the track’ annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals. Ohsweken Speedway also hosts weekly Micro Sprint racing on Thursday nights.
OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY MEDIA
Phone: (519) 717-0023
Email: media@ohswekenspeedway.com
Website: www.OhswekenSpeedway.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/OHSWEKENSPEEDWAY
Twitter: @OhswekenSpdway
Instagram: www.Instagram.com/OhswekenSpeedway
YouTube: www.YouTube.com/user/OhswekenSpdway
Ohsweken Speedway thanks the following partners for their support in 2018: Arrow Express, Kool Kidz Ice & Water, Corr/Pak Merchandising Inc., Renway Energy, Case IH O’Neil’s Farm Equipment, Hoosier Tire Canada, EPIC Racewear, McDonald’s Restaurants of Paris & Brantford, Ackland Insurance, Strickland’s GMC, Lucas Oil Products, Burger Barn, Pinty’s Delicious Foods, Creative Edge Signs & Graphics, Insta-Insulation, Middleport Mechanical, HRW Automotive, and Gale’s Auto Aftermarket.
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