Strategy pays dividends
Mini stock driver Kyle Rothwell counted on lap traffic slowing front-runner Tony Kelly
Tony Kelly set a magnificent table for himself, but it was Kyle Rothwell who got to savour the feast.
With two laps to go in Saturday’s mini stocks feature at Merrittville Speedway, and with Kelly all but assured of ending the night in victory lane, Rothwell began making his final push to overtake the frontrunner by playing the odds.
The Welland driver settled comfortably in a groove at the top of the track that was created earlier in the race by none other than Kelly, his counterpart from Niagara Falls. He figured that lap traffic would keep Kelly confined to the bottom of the track.
“If he stayed at the bottom, I figured I could take him from the top,” Rothwell said after winning his sixth of the year at Merrittville.
Rothwell, who also has raced to one victory at New Humberstone Speedway this season, said he began developing the strategy with eight laps remaining in the 20-lapper.
The more lap traffic slowed Kelly, the more confident Rothwell became.
“I knew with two to go I would be hurting his feelings,” Rothwell said in his post-race comments on the front stretch.
The late-charging victory in the final round of the Triple Crown Series was a double win for Rothwell, who also captured the three-race competition.
Kelly’s disappointment didn’t diminish his appreciation of a “well-run race.”
“I still enjoyed that race,” he said.
Like Rothwell, Kelly had a strategy he hoped would carry him to a first-place finish.
“I tried to take advantage of lap traffic, but it didn’t happen,” he said. “He had a better line tonight.”
Jay Moult on of St. Ca th arin es, Tyler Lafantaisie of Welland and Mike Sadusek of Niagara Falls rounded out the top five.
Kelly and Lafantaisie, who won the first two races in the series, finished tied for second in Triple Crown Series points, three back of Rothwell. Hagersville hotshoe Contrary to popular belief at dirt tracks in Brant County and Niagara Region, NASA isn’t missing a rocket and, no, Dave Bailey isn’t hiding it under the hood of Hoosier stock racer.
Suggestions that the Hagersville driver’s No. 49 has somehow become supercharged by sonic boosters are understandable, given his remarkable run lately.
Bailey set the pace in Saturday’s 20-lap feature at Merrittville for his fifth win in a row and seventh victory in eight starts.
“You learn to leave stuff alone,” he said when asked to share the secret of his recent success.
I was flashing back to my first karting win. I was asking myself ‘Is this really happening?’”
Mod lite rookie Tyler Winger
Another factor contributing to first-place finishes at Merrittville, Humberstone and Ohsweken, his home track outside of Brantford, is a tacky racing surface.
“The moisture really helps a lot,” he said. “It feels a lot more like an asphalt track, and that’s what I started on.”
Bailey’s latest win moved him seven points behind two-time defending champion Mark Fawcett in the race for the track championship at Merrittville. The final race of the Hoosier stock season at the Thorold track takes place next Saturday.
Pete Reid, Stevensville; Mark Fawcett, Canfield, Ont.; Kyle Pelrine, Smithville; and Chris Crawford, Welland; also posted top-five finishes.
Bailey, the defending track champ in Ohsweken, is the current points leader at that track as well as at Humberstone.
Despite his remarkable run in 8-cylinders and the chance to take three track titles, Bailey isn’t anticipating moving up to a higher racing class any time soon.
“Not unless somebody has money they haven’t told me about,” he said with a grin.
Ridgeway rookie’s first win
Ridgeway’s Tyler Winger didn’t just overtake Port Colborne’s R.J. Pietz for the win in Saturday’s mod lite feature, he also beat his time table — by at least a year.
The 18-year-old graduate of Merrittville’s karting program figured his first win in a purposebuilt racer wouldn’t happen in his freshman season.
“Maybe in the second or third year, but getting the first win as a rookie is pretty cool,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
Winger’s only lead in the 15-lap feature was over the final two circuits.
“I was flashing back to my first karting win. I was asking myself ‘Is this really happening?’”
Jeffrey May of Mount Hope, Ont., near Hamilton, Josh Sliter of Ridgeway and Steven Beckett of Fonthill finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the feature.
Rouse, Brachmann set the pace
In sportsman, Brad Rouse beat fellow St. Catharines driver Cody McPherson in the 27th Bill Willard Sr. Memorial to win this year’s Sterling Silvr Award.
Defending modified 358 champion Chad Brachmann of Sanborn, N.Y., led Pete Bicknell of St. Catharines, the current points leader, in the final race on Saturday’s five-division program.
Paul Gaboury, Welland; Justin Sharp and Jay Mallory, both of St. Catharines; rounded out the sportsman top five, while Gary Lindberg, Ridgeway; Erick Ransomville, Ransomville, N.Y.; and Mike Bowman, St. Catharines; trailed the two front-runners in the modified 358 main event.
In novice sportsman, Merrittville’s newest class, the top fivewasDaveDipietro,Ransomville, N.Y.; Joey Herrmanns, Alisa Craig, Ont., near London; Pelrine; Trevor Wright, Smithville; and Robbie Johnson, Lockport, N.Y.
Maybe in the second or third year, but getting the first win as a rookie is pretty cool.”
Tyler Winger