Track goes back in time
Wall of fame induction, Vintage Car race highlight Reunion Night at Merrittville Speedway
A meander down memory lane along the frontstretch was followed by a full-throttle blast from the past on the track Saturday at Merrittville Speedway.
After Neil Sharp and Lee Webber were inducted into the L. St. Amand Enterprises Wall of Fame, and Bill Sargent and Howard Schram received CAA Niagara dedication to racing awards, fans were treated to a Vintage Car race.
Mark Shadwell, piloting a 1941 Willys coupe, led a field of 15 across the finish line that featured body styles from different eras.
Bill Willard Jr. drove a 1934 Ford coupe while Wayne Kendrick’s ride on Reunion Night at the Thorold track was a souped-up version of a 1973 Gremlin.
It was a surprised Shadwell who had his picture taken in victory lane. In his post-race comments he admitted that he thought Willard would be the one winning the 15-lapper.
“It’s kind of surprising to be here,” Shadwell said. “He’s a good runner here, he’s tough to beat.”
All of the vintage cars, including some that didn’t compete in the feature, were lined up behind the grandstand before the race. Fans had a chance to admire the cars, many of them built by the drivers and all featuring old-school paint schemes, and mingle with the drivers.
No need for CAA this week.
What a difference a week makes
Just ask Tyler Winger. Last week the young Fort Erie racer slammed into a wall and had to be towed into the pits, no doubt feeling like the pits, with nine laps remaining in the Mod Lite feature.
Not only did Winger finish the race this week, he paced the pack from flag-to-flag to earn his first victory of the season.
Brent Begolo, Merrittville’s driver of the wheel and the current points leader, placed second, by 1.696 seconds, in the caution-free, 20-lap feature.
Winger, a graduate of the speedway’s karting program, said time spent in karts was well worth it now that’s racing on the outside track.
“These cars are really wild,” he said of Mod Lites. “You’ve got to go smooth, just like in karts.”
“It’s a good transition car.”
Helping hands applauded
Jay Moulton used a competitor’s advice as words to win by in the 15lap Mini Stocks feature.
In a thrilling finish that remained in doubt heading into the final turn, the St. Catharines driver held on for a 0.08-second victory over a hardcharging Tony Kelly, the current points leader.
“Tony (Kelly) always told me that when he or someone else was right behind `Not to worry about it,’” Moulton said after taking his first checkered flag of the season.
That freed Moulton to come up with a winning strategy to deny Kelly a second last-lap win in a row.
“I was able to take advantage of lapped car to pinch Tony off.”
The Niagara Falls driver wasn’t the only one in the speedway’s closeknit Mini Stocks community to help Moulton. Welland’s Kyle Rothwell lent him a spare after Moulton encountered tire problems in the qualifying heat.
Rob Goulding, a Port Colborne driver who has since moved up the Sportsman from 4-cylinders, also was singled out for praise by Moulton in his victory lane comments.
“And thanks to Rob Goulding for building me an awesome car.”
Rothwell, Cole Hardy, also from Welland, and Tim Neale, St. Catharines; rounded out the top five. Rothwell, Garnet Wilson and Austyn Werstroh were the front-runners in the qualifiers.
Final-pass victory
Like the Mini Stocks feature, the main event in Merrittville’s Sportsman class also went down to the wire.
But the order of finish in the 25-lap race was different, with the front-runner unable to hold off a hard charger for the win.
James Michael Friesen, racing in a borrowed ride for the night, overtook fellow St. Catharines driver Justin Sharp following a restart seven laps into the feature.
Friesen continued to set the pace for much of the race and headed into the final lap apparently on his way to a close victory over Brad Rouse.
At least that’s how fans in the main grandstand saw it.
What Rouse, the current points leader and also from St. Catharines, saw was a chance to execute his race plan to completion.
“We kept up our plan. We stuck to the bottom, and we kept getting looser,” Rouse said after earning his third win at his hometown track.
“We came in with a game plan to run our own race.”
Begolo, Thorold; Cody McPherson, St. Catharines; and Rob Knapp, Niagara Falls; also placed in the top five, while Robbie Johnston, Lockport, N.Y.; Dave DiPietro, Ransomville, N.Y.; and Chris Storm, Thorold; finished first in the heats.
Seven-lap shootout
A historic Merrittville Speedway racing trophy that disappeared for several years until it was discovered in Alabama is going back to the U.S.
Chad Brachmann of Sanborn, N.Y., the current 358 Modified points leader, held off Erick Rudolph of Ransomville, N.Y., in a seven-lap shootout to win the Jerry Winger Memorial.
This is the second time in as many years that a hotshoe from western New York has set the pace in a 50-lapper that honours the memory of a young up-and-coming racer who died in 1959. Last time Rudolph took home the trophy.
Brachmann, who earned his second win of the season in the track`s most-competitive division, led Rudolph by nearly half a straightaway in the late going, but he kept losing those leads, as well as the momentum, following restarts in a caution-filled race that wrapped up the evening.
Rounding out the top five were Pete Bicknell, St. Catharines; Ryan Susice, Ransomville; and Gary Lindberg, Ridgeway; with Rudolph and Larry Lampman Jr., Port Colborne; winning the heats.
Starting order for the 17-car field was determined by a draw that took place along the frontstretch and featured young fans holding the slips of papers the drivers selected.
Lindberg, who started first; and Bicknell were the co-pole sitters, much to Lindberg`s chagrin.
“Sometimes, it’s better to start a little further back, so you can see what’s ahead of you,” he said with a chuckle.
Notes: Drivers in the Hoosier Stock and Novice Sportsman classes took the night off … Brent Begolo was honoured as driver of the week after winning the Mod Lite and Sportsman features on July 8 … Saturday night’s program was sponsored by the Timber Mart locations in Fort Erie and Welland … Winger won a points championship in 1957 and was diagnosed a year later with the fatal disease the would claim his life. Merrittville retired the No. 10 in its top division following Winger’s death in 1959. Since then no car can have that number in what is now known as the 358 Modified racing class.