Susice and Rouse score wins at Merrittville
Ryan Susice, from Ransomville, N.Y., won his first S&W Service Centre 358 Modified feature of the season on Loop Paint night at Merrittville Speedway Saturday.
St. Catharines’ Brad Rouse won the main event for the David Chevrolet DIRTcar Sportsman and clinched the David Chevrolet King of the Crates Championship. Dave Bailey, of Hagersville, won his third Hoosier Stock feature of the season. Fort Erie’s Tyler Winger won his first Doidge Builders Mod Lites. Tyler Lafantaisie, of Welland, won his fourth Central Fabricating 4 Cylinder feature of the season, while fellow Welland native Josh Dymtrow won his first Dave’s Auto and Speed Centre V6 feature.
Bill Podwinski and Rob Knapp brought the S&W Service Centre 358 Modifieds to the green flag for their main event with Knapp showing the way. Susice would move into third and would challenge Scott Wood for second place.
Susice would take over second and would go after race leader Knapp. A couple of early race cautions would bunch the field back up. After a Lap 9 restart, Susice would take the lead away and Todd Gordon would move into second on Lap 11. Mike Bowman would move back up through the field and would enter the top five on Lap 15 and would go after Tim Jones for third place.
Bowman would continue his march to take over second from Gordon on Lap 19 and would clear the position on Lap 20. Susice would stretch the lead over Bowman as Pete Bicknell took over third from Gordon. Susice would hold the lead and would go on to score the win, his first of the season.
Rouse and Brent Begolo brought the field to the green flag in the finale of the King of the Crates David Chevrolet DIRTcar Sportsman with Rouse showing the way. Rouse would start to stretch the lead as James Michael Friesen took over second place from Begolo.
Race leader Rouse would hit lap traffic on Lap 10. In lap traffic, Friesen would be able to start to reel in Rouse, who had more than a 1.5-second advantage over the second-place runner. Lap traffic played havoc on the field and would allow Begolo to reel in Friesen for second, while Rouse continued to open up the lead.
Begolo would move into second after battling with lap traffic and would go after Rouse. Rouse would hold off a hard-charging Begolo to score the feature win and would clinch the King of the Crates Championship.
Jason Fontaine and Brad Sheehan were on the front row for the Hoosier Stocks feature event and it was Sheehan taking the lead as Rob Murray moved into second with Billy Bleich Jr., Dave Bailey and Fontaine racing in the top five. Bleich Jr. would take the lead away from Murray on Lap 5.
Bleich Jr., Murray, and Bailey would pull away from Fontaine. Fontaine and Dave Small got together on the front straightaway to bring out the caution on Lap 12. The lead trio of Bleich Jr., Bailey, and Murray battled for the lead off the restart with Bailey taking over the lead on Lap 14. Bailey would go on to score his third feature win of the season.
Cheeseburger Iftody and RJ Pietz were on the front row in the main event for the Dodge Building Centres Mod Lites with Iftody taking the lead from the drop of the green. Iftody and Tyler Winger would pull away from the field.
Winger would take the lead away from Iftody on Lap 9, as Josh Sliter battled with Brent Begolo for third place. Sliter would battle with Iftody for several laps and would reel in Winger for the lead. Winger would hold off Sliter to score the win.
Dan McKay and Tony Kelly led the Central Fabricating 4 Cylinders to the green flag for their main event with Kelly showing the way. Jay Moulton, Tyler Lafantaisie, Austyn Werstroh, and Jeremy Cooper battled for second place. Lafantaisie would take over second and would start to go after race leader Tony Kelly. Lafantaisie would battle with Kelly for the lead and would move into the top spot on Lap 9.
JJ MacDonald and Tina Ronning led the Dave’s Auto and Speed Centre V6 feature to the green flag for their feature event with Ronning showing the way. Josh Dymtrow would clear Ronning for the lead on Lap 3 as Dave Hahl and Kevin Conley battling for third. Dymtrow would start to pull away from the field as Conley continued to pressure Ronning. Dymtrow would go on to score the win over Conley and Ronning. NEWS AND NOTES: A total of 94 cars signed in pit side for the racing action. Fans had the opportunity to see their favourite drivers on track during an autograph session ... The road to the Merrittville track championships continues Saturday, as Fastek Power Tools & Fasteners will present a full Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing Series program. Pit gates will open at 5 p.m., with grandstands opening at 5:30 p.m.