Peterborough Speedway point battles get even closer
Pair of Pro Challenge Series main event wins for Tim Norris on busy racing night
For some, time is running out; while others are just beginning to feel the real excitement. The 2018 Hot August Nights Racing Series continued Saturday as the Hoosier Racing Tire Ontario Outlaw Super Late Models and Ontario Pro Challenge divisions joined the hometown Jiffy Lube Mini Stock and Super Stock classes at Peterborough Speedway.
Nearly 20 Mini Stock runners left the staging area for a 20-lap feature that had Josh Bullen and Ember Junkin on the front row. Bullen jumped-out to an early lead, but the pace was slowed quickly when the yellow waved for a backstretch incident with just a single circuit on the board. A second caution, three laps later shuffled the deck.
Using the gentleman’s rule, current point leader Ryan Oosterholt accepted responsibility for the spin and took a spot at the back of the pack for the restart. When the green waved again, Bullen kept the lead and hung-on for his first win of the year. Kevin Strutt, Junkin, Andy McCann and Nolan Gould completed the top 5. Oosterholt was seventh at the checkered flag.
Strutt, Oosterholt, Gould and McCann scored Mini Stock heat race wins.
The Ontario Pro Challenge Series checked in for a pair of 25 lap feature events. Mike Norris and Peter Hattin started on the front row for the opening round, with tour point leader Tim Norris taking the lead with eight laps complete and recording another win. Bryan Stevanus, Sean Warren, Mike Norris, Hattin, Rick Seeley, Mike Johnson and Julia Caprichio were next across the line.
Officials inverted the starting field – putting Johnson and Seeley on the front row – for the second headline tilt. Tim Norris scored a second win on the night, over Warren, Stevanus, Johnson, Mike Norris, Seeley, Hattin and Caprichio. Both Pro Challenge features ran caution-free.
Paul Boundy and Mark Gordon led the 15 Super Stock drivers to the Great Canadian RV green flag that would also have championship implications. Gordon used a crossover move to the inside line and took the lead on the second lap. The driver of the No. 25 machine would move out to a healthy advantage before the first caution flag – on lap 14 – for an issue that involved his son, Kyle.
Mark Gordon – who started the night with the point lead – encountered mechanical issues on the restart and pulled behind the wall. Boundy took over at the front of the field, with a hungry pack of title hopefuls on his tail. When the checkered flag waved, Bailey Jacobs had taken his second straight win. Rob Richards, Howie Crowe, Sean Walker and Boundy rounded-out the fast 5. Jacobs – who also picked-up a heat race victory – unofficially takes over the Super Stock point lead.
Kyle Gordon, Boundy and Marlie Owen also had Super Stock qualifier wins.
Jake Sheridan and Jordan Howse paced the starting field to the stripe as the Hoosier Racing Tire Ontario Outlaw Super Late Model Series made its Peterborough Speedway debut. Sheridan grabbed an early lead, with former Autumn Colours Classic champion Ryan Kimball moving into the second spot. Howse,
John Cadman and Glenn Watson joined the fight, until Watson pulled his No. 22 ride onto pit lane due to mechanical issues with only 15 laps complete.
The front-runners caught slower traffic and began lapping the backmarkers with about 17 laps on the board. Kimball used the lapped traffic to close on Sheridan but couldn’t take over the spot. A yellow on the 41st lap gave the field a chance to regroup but didn’t change the eventual outcome. Sheridan took the win, leading all 75 laps. Kimball, Cadman, Howse and Justin Holloway were next across the line.
Action returns to the Mount Pleasant Rd. track on Saturday as the Trailers Plus Ontario Legends and Ontario Modifieds Racing Series – powered by Torque Builders Inc. – join the home track Battlefield Equipment Rental Bone Stock, Super Stock and Late Model divisions for the year’s final Summer Toonie Night – presented by Pepsi – featuring $2 spectator grandstand admission.
Pit gates open at 1:30 p.m., with general admission seating unlocked at 4 p.m. Racing starts at 5 p.m.
NOTES: Racers weren’t the only winners on the night. Phillip Broom, of Hampton, claimed the $434 prize in the night’s 50/50 draw…. There were several driver changes in the Jiffy Lube Mini Stock division, including Neil Hannah taking over the No. 71 of Steve Brier and Brian Penney wheeling James Campbell’s No. 17…. Julia Caprichio pulled a different type of double-duty. In addition to driving her own Pro Challenge machine, she served as spotter for her father Dario in the Super Late Model main event.