Dylan Davidson celebrates Canada Day with first win
Fourth-generation driver sets the pace in 40-lap Sportsman feature at Merrittville
The 21 other drivers in the field competed in the première race Monday night at Merrittville Speedway after starting their engines and stomping down on the gas.
Dylan Davidson celebrated Canada Day by sparking a firecracker and riding it to Victory Lane for his first win in the Sportsman division at the Thorold track.
He needed 24:43.589 to complete the 40-lap feature, and his margin of victory over fellow St. Catharines driver Cody McPherson was 0.737 seconds.
Though only 18, the fourthgeneration racer is already in his fourth season racing Sportsman after three years in Mod Lites. Before that, he earned valuable seat time in Merrittville’s karting program. Davidson, whose family’s racing roots date back to 1954 when great-grandfather Bob Davidson Sr. competed in his first race, took his first career checkered flag in Sportsman with a hard-charging performance. He moved into third place just past the halfway mark, overtook Brad Rouse for second on Lap 25 and passed McPherson with five laps to go for the win.
Another St. Catharines driver who took the Canada Day cake with a victory in a 40-lapper was Brad Sheehan. He led a field of 26 across the finish line in the Hoosier Stock/Duel on the Dirt combined race with 0.19 seconds to spare.
With the 358 Modified, Mini Stock and V6 divisions taking the night off, two visiting classes helped fill the void on a special holiday racing program that wrapped up with a school bus race and a fireworks display.
Eighteen Late Models started the 30-lap main event with Kyle Sopaz of Trenton, Ont., finishing the fastest of all them. He beat David Pangrazio, the feature winner the night before at New Humberstone Speedway, by 0.587 seconds.
The Action Sprint Tour visited Merrittville for the second time this season and, as was the case in Round 1, Josh Hansen set the pace. His margin of victory in a field of 23 that featured former Merrittville Mod Lite racers Paul (The Beamsville Bullet) Klager and Steven Beckett was 1.111 seconds.
The top five and heat winners from Monday night’s program at Merrittville Speedway:
Sportsman, 40 laps: 1. Dylan Davidson, 2. Cody McPherson. 3. Brad Rouse, 4. Brent Begolo, 5. Greg Panunte. Heat winners: Chad Chevalier, Rouse, Panunte.
Hoosier Stock, 40 laps: 1. Brad Sheehan, 2. Wade Purchase, 3. Chris Hale, 4. Rob Murray, 5. Steve Shaw. Heat winners: Justin Ramsey, Dave Bailey, Jason Lungaro. Consolation winner: Ryan Beagle.
Late Model, 30 laps: 1. Kyle Sopaz, 2. David Pangrazio, 3. Rob Pietz, 4. Charlie Sandercock, 5. Jim Dale. Heat winners: Tim Gillespie, Pietz, Sopaz.
Crate Sprint, 20 laps: 1. Josh Hansen, 2. Liam Martin, 3, Matt Farnham, 4. Jacob Dykstra, 5. Paul Klager. Heat winners: Jeff Farnham, Jerry Hill, Klager.