Mini Stocks victory three years in the making
Cole Hardy beats one of his mentors for first win of dirt track career
Cole Hardy took a checkered flag Saturday night at Merrittville Speedway, but he refused to take all of the credit for the first victory of his racing career.
While the 22-year-old from Welland was the only one behind the wheel of the No. 7 Volkswagen that won the Mini Stocks feature by nearly two laps, he said his most successful season to date would have been possible without a lot of help from some fellow drivers.
One-time track champion Rob Goulding helped Hardy build a new car over the winter, while Leroy Buscumb, Tony Kelly and Jay Moulton have gone out of their way to share tricks of the track.
“I can’t say enough about those guys,” Hardy said. “There always willing to help out.”
This is especially true of Kelly. The Niagara Falls driver trailed Hardy across the finish line in the 15-lap feature after giving the Mini Stocks sophomore some valuable tips on tire pressure.
“Tony has given me a lot of pointers on how to set up the car. He said, ‘Here, try my setup,’” said Hardy, who in his second full season racing 4-cylinders at Merrittville after spending one year competing in the truck class at New Humberstone Speedway in Port Colborne.
He saved the most praise for his girlfriend, Jordan Purdy.
“She is the biggest, and best, supporter I could have,” Hardy said. “She is always there for me, and I would not be here without her.”
From the main grand stand the margin of victory appeared nearly two car lengths, but that’s not how it looked from Hardy’s vantage point behind the wheel of the front-runner.
“I had no clue at all where anyone else was in the race. Remember, this was the first time I ever had the lead so late in a race,” he said with a chuckle. “I was hoping for dear life that it would finally be my night.
“Even down to the last turn I wasn’t 100 per cent sure I would win.”
Hardy, who last week won the firstever heat of his career, said he heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the checkered flag flapping for him, and for him alone.
“I was finally able to breathe,” he said. “It was so worth building the car over the winter.”
The best night of Hardy’s racing career almost wasn’t. He feared wet weather would wash away the program, as it did Friday night at both Ohsweken and Ransomville speedways, and has done on four occasions at Humberstone.
While it rained heavily at times in Welland throughout the afternoon Saturday, the Thorold track somehow stayed out of the storm’s path.
Talk about isolated showers to the nth degree.
“I was worried this was going to be rained out, too.”
Rounding out the top five in the Mini Stocks feature were Olivier Larocque of Port Colborne, Alex Riley of Thorold and Tyler Lafantaisie of Welland.
Riley remained atop the Merrittville point standings with 444 points, 10 more than Kelly and 44 ahead of Larocque.
In Hoosier Stocks, Dave Bailey of Hagersville returned to victory lane following a two-week absence picking up his sixth win of the season.
Ryan Dinning, Caledonia; Ken W. Sargent, Fenwick; James Thompson, St. Catharines; and Jim Lampman, Caistor Centre; rounded out the top five in the 20-lap main event in Merrittville’s 8-cylinder class.
With the win, Bailey, the reigning champion, increased his lead over Kyle Pelrine of Smithville in the race for the track title. Bailey leads 468 to 376.
Right behind are Lampman, with 372 points; Thompson, 356; and Rob Murray of St. Catharines, 352.
Greg Panunte of Port Colborne won his second of the season in 358 Modified. He led a top five of Mike Bowman of St. Catharines, Mark D’Ilario of Smithville, Chad Brachmann, Sanborn, N.Y., and Larry Lampman Jr. of Port Colborne to the checkered flag in the 35-lap feature.
Top five in 358 Modified points: Brachmann, 520; Mat Williamson, St. Catharines, 488; Gary Lindberg, Ridgeway, 482; and Pete Bicknell, St. Catharines; and Larry Lampman, Jr., each with 472.
Sportsman and Mod Lites had the night off, freeing space in the pit area for the visiting Empire Super Sprints and Round 2 of enduro qualifying.