Racers return to Victory Lane
Familiar faces end the night in winner’s circle at Merrittville
Five centres in Niagara Region and one in Haldimand were represented in the Victory Lane Saturday night when Merrittville Speedway opened the Canada Day weekend with the first of two holiday racing programs.
All except J.J. MacDonald of Ridgeville, the pacesetter in the V6 Division, visited the winner’s circle at the Thorold track for the second time this season.
In the showstopper, the 358 Modified feature, Gary Lindberg of Ridgeway had 0.927 seconds to spare when he crossed the finish line ahead of defending points champion Mat Williamson, already a four-time winner this year at his hometown track.
Lindberg, taking advantage of lap traffic, overtook Mike Bowman for the lead with five circuits remaining in the 35-lapper.
Robbie Johnston, the copole sitter in the main event in the Sportsman class, ceded the lead to Brad Rouse of St. Catharines 11 laps into the 25-lap feature. Rouse, whose margin of victory was 3.474 seconds, held off Greg Panunte over the final six laps for the win.
Only 0.019 points separated Brent Begolo of Thorold and Josh Sliter after all 20 laps were completed in the Mod Lite feature. Begolo came into the speedway’s 68th season as the reigning points king in both the Mod Lite and Sportsman divisions.
Another defending track champion who ended Saturday night in Victory Lane was Cole Hardy.
The Welland racer beat out Jay Moulton by 0.351 seconds to place first in the Mini Stock feature.
Dave Bailey became the frontrunner just before the halfway point of the Hoosier Stock feature and remained there the rest of the way for the win. The Hagersville hot shoe beat Rob Murray by 0.430 seconds.
Racing was scheduled to resume at Merrittville last night with a visit by the Action Sprint Tour and Late Model classes, as well as action in the Hoosier Stock and Sportsman divisions.
The program wrapped up with a school bus race and a fireworks display.
Following are the top-five finishers and heat winners from Saturday night’s racing program at Merrittville Speedway: 358 Modified, 35 laps: 1. Gary Lindberg, 2. Mike Bowman, 3. Mat Williamson, 4. Ryan Susice, 5. Fred Carleton. Heat winners: Susice, Bowman, Dalton Slack. Sportsman, 25 laps: 1. Brad Rouse, 2. Greg Panunte, 3. Robbie Johnston, 4. James Michael Friesen, 5. Paul Gaboury. Heat winners: Rouse, Johnston, Ryan Ferri. Hoosier Stock, 20 laps: 1. Dave Bailey, 2. Rob Murray, 3. Bill Bleich Jr., 4. Jason Fontaine, 5. Rob Disher. Heat winners: Bailey, Disher. Mini Stock, 15 laps: 1. Cole Hardy, 2. Jay Moulton, 3. Tyler Lafantaisie, 4. Kyle Haynes, 5. Tony Kelly. Heat winners: Hardy, Lafantaisie. Mod Lite, 20 laps: 1. Brent Begolo, 2. Josh Sliter, 3. R.J. Pietz, 4. Tyler Winger, 5. Chris Perry. Heat winners: Rob Misener, Sliter. V6, 12 laps: 1. J.J. MacDonald, 2. Kevin Conley, 3. Colton Lane, 4. Barry Blanchard, 5. Tina Ronning. Heat winners: Conley, Couture.