Champs crowned
Dave Bailey completes second tri-track sweep as points races wrap up at New Humberstone
St. Catharines driver James Michael Friesen finished first in the battle, but it was Port Colborne’s Chad Chevalier who wound up winning the war when the race to the track championship wrapped up at New Humberstone Speedway.
Chevalier, a four-time winner this season in the PC Works DIRTcar Sportsman division, the top racing class at his hometown track, edged St. Catharines’ Brad Rouse 779 points to 750 for the title.
Rouse was the division’s top winner this year taking six checkered flags.
Sunday night’s flag-to-flag victory was Friesen’s first of the season at Humberstone. Chevalier placed second in the 25-lap feature.
Track champions were crowned in the speedway’s four other regular racing divisions, with all of these titles awarded to out-of-town drivers.
Hagersville’s Dave Bailey raced to his seventh feature win in the J.C. Auto Street Stock division clinching his second consecutive Humberstone championship and completing a tri-track sweep, also for the second year in a row.
He has already been assured of winning his third straight 8-cylinder title at Ohsweken Speedway and his second in a row at Merrittville Speedway.
Bailey overtook Caledonia’s Ryan Dinning 11 laps into Sunday night’s feature holding off Port Colborne’s Dave Small the rest of the way for the win in the 20-lapper.
Bill Bleich Jr. of Port Robinson finished second in the points race, trailing Bailey 774-712 according to unofficial totals posted on the Humberstone’s website.
Chad Homan of Macedon, N.Y., east of Rochester, led Sam Pennacchio of Niagara Falls across the finish line in the 20-lap main event in the Maple Leaf Foods RUSH Late Models division.
Homan’s seventh win of the season gave him the track championship by a 1,274-1,265 margin over Pennacchio, a three-time winner this season.
No race at Humberstone was closer than the battle for bragging rights in the Cosco Haulage Mini Stocks division, which Welland’s Cole Hardy won by one point over St. Catharines’ Jason Coutu.
In Sunday night’s 15-lap feature Coutu held Hardy to take his second checkered flag of the season, but Hardy wound up the class of the 4-cylinder class despite posting no victories at Humberstone this season.
Dylan Llord of St. Catharines lost ground, though not the lead, on a restart with three circuits to go in the 15-lap feature in the Mike Knapp Ford Pro 4 Tracks division.
Points awarded for Llord’s fourth victory gave him a total of 808 for the season, more than enough to give him his second straight track title.
Port Colborne’s Craig Vlasic and Niagara Falls’ Danny Wurster, each with two feature wins to their credit; wrapped up the campaign with 752 and 742 points, respectively.
Dain City’s Kyle Tomaski, who tied Llord with four victories, placed fifth in overall points, with 700. Finishing fourth in the season standings, with 727 points; was Fenwick’s Taylor Vanderzanden.
Following are feature results and heat winners from Sunday night’s racing program at Humberstone. A total of 82 race cars and trucks were pitside for a program that was completed by 9:25 p.m.
Sportsman: James Michael Friesen, Chad Chevalier, Darrell Farraway, Jay Mallory, Dylan Davidson, Tyler Puchalski, Tom Richau Jr, Emily Puchalski, Jordan Cosco, Brad Rouse, Chris Bellamy, Luke Carleton, Dave Flannigan Jr., Rob Goulding, Steve Shaw, Scott Sonnenberg. Heat winners: Mallory, Friesen.
Late Models: Chad Homan, Sam Pennacchio, Rob Pietz, David Pangrazio, Colton Ledingham, Jeff Dayman, Adam Ferri, Mike Greene, Jay Liverance, Dave Stolzenberg Jr., Paul Grigsby, Ken Winfield, Rob Ledingham. Heat winners: Homan, Pennacchio.
Street Stocks: Dave Bailey, Dave Small, Ryan Dinning, Ryan Beagle, Kyle Pelrine, Billy Bleich Jr, Bryce Richardson, Barry Beck Jr., Donny Lampman, Brian Teeple, Champ Champigny, Mike Miller, Luke Skywalker, John Overholt, Jim Lampman, Jason Fontaine, Derek VanMil. Heat winners: Beagle, Bailey, Fontaine.
Mini Stocks: Jason Coutu, Cole Hardy, Olivier Larocque, Leroy Buscumb, Alex Riley, Austyn Werstroh, Brandon Crumbie, Rob Sauder, Kyle Haynes, Jay Moulton, Mike Sarantakos, Evan Curtis, John Lubeck, Tom Neale, Brandon Iudiciani, Tim Nuell, Trevor Want, David Hoyle, Fabio Olivieri, Chris Laskey, Jeff Elslinger, Sam Iftody, Bobby Tolton, Clinton Nicholls, Dan McKay. Heat winners: Buscumb, Tolton, Werstroh.
Pro 4 Trucks: Dylan Llord, Mitch Dumont, Craig Vlasic, Taylor Vanderzanden, Terry Ronning, Danny Wurster, Nate Monahan, Kyle Tomaski, Jay Dupuis, Kevin Conley, Stephanie Ayers. winners: Vlasic, Llord.
Highlight next Sunday night’s program at Humberstone, weather permitting, is the annual Trevor Wilkens Memorial Safecracker, a 100-lapper that wraps up a threenight, three-track series for Sportsman racers. Action starts Friday night at Ransomsville Speedway with Merrittville the place to be the following night.
Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, Pro 4 Trucks and Vintage Cars also will be racing at Humberstone, with Late Models taking the night off. Gates open at 4:30 p.m, in the pits, 5 p.m. in the grandstands and race time is set for 6:30 p.m.
Racing division parked
Ohsweken Speedway will be removing the small oval from the track’s infield and removing the Bomber division to downsize to four weekly divisions for 2018.
Glenn Styres said the decision to remove one of the track’s week Friday night division was not made lightly.
“We looked at the numbers,” Styres said. “The cost of preparing and maintaining a track for just one division is too high.
“We decided it was time for a change.”
Ohsweken management recognized the developmental role the division played for several drivers since its inception in 2008.
Current Stickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Car driver Jesse McDonald is the all-time Bomber wins leader with 16 victories.
Other drivers who got their feet wet racing Bombers include Crate Sprint Car and Mini Stock driver Davey Boughton, multi-time Thunder Stock and Mini Stock winner Karl Sault, reigning Mini Stock champion Mark Bazuin, Mini Stock regulars Dusty DeBoer, Tim DeBoer, and Patrick Abrahamsson as well as former 360 Sprint Car pilot Jeremy Hughes.
“Ohsweken Speedway would like to thank all Bomber drivers past and present for their contribution to the Speedway over the past 10 seasons,” general manager Clinton Geoffrey said. “The track will be offering each Bomber team with perfect attendance two additional grandstand season passes for 2018.”
Officials are hopeful current Bomber teams can return to Ohsweken in one of the track’s four weekly divisions in 2018, including the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprints Cars, Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars, Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks or HRW Automotive Mini Stocks.