It’s the pits for Dylan Blenkhorn out of championship contention after disqualification

TRURO, N.s.

Dylan Blenkhorn feels the Maritime Pro Stock Tour is treating him unfairly.

“It feels like that,” Blenkhorn, of Brookside, said Tuesday. “I don’t know, I think everyone’s treated as fair as they can, but maybe they do have their favourites. I don’t want to say that but it kind of seems like that.”

On Sunday, Blenkhorn won his fourth race of the season, taking the checkered flag at the Cummins 200 at Petty International Raceway in River Glade, N.B., to increase his lead atop the points standings and move closer to his first tour championship.

Upon tech inspection following the race, however, it was determined the left side of Blenkhorn’s car was overweight, and as a result, he was disqualified, dropping him from first to sixth place in the standings and putting an end to his championship hopes.

“It just seemed like they went out of their way to DQ us,” Blenkhorn, 22, said. “I think they could have treated us a little different. I think they should understand that it was close and we weren’t trying to break the rules…”

The maximum left-side weight of cars on the Maritime tour is 58.0 per cent. Blenkhorn said when his car was weighed following the race the scale read 58.0.

“We were good and I figured they would just let us go ... then we took it off and put it on again and we were over – 58.2, 58.1. It almost seemed like they wanted us to be over. They didn’t work with us, they wouldn’t even listen to our statements.

“It just seems like they’re out to get us, trying to royally screw us, honestly. I don’t get it.”

Efforts by the Truro Daily News to reach Maritime Pro Stock Tour officials were unsuccessful.

Last year, Blenkhorn and his team suffered a similar fate. Again, leading the standings with two races remaining, Blenkhorn was docked 124 points for using titanium axles during a race at River Glade. The penalty dropped him to fourth place and out of the running for a title.

“I’ll take responsibility for that; it was a different kind of deal,” he said. “But I feel like this year the outcome was in their hands and we were treated unfairly.”

Blenkhorn has a huge fan base and is one of the top young drivers on the circuit. He said incidents that have taken place over the past two years have him questioning his future on the tour.

“We spend a lot of our own money and time doing it so it just makes me wonder, am I wasting my time running on the pro stock tour?

“Some days you’ve just got to think, ‘is it all worthwhile or not.”’

Blenkhorn will fulfil sponsor and fan commitments and will drive in the final two races this season – Sept. 9 at Riverside and Sept. 16 at Scotia Speedworld.

“We’re going to hold our heads up high and go out there for our fans and for our sponsors and see what happens,” he said. “We’re just not going to do anything for the tour and I don’t expect they’ll do anything for us, either, so it is what it is.”

Blenkhorn added he has received tremendous support from fans and fellow drivers since Sunday’s ruling.