Winning weekend
Hoosier Stocks racer firing on all 8 cylinders at Niagara dirt tracks; Ryan Sucise leads 358s
Dave Bailey remains on track to defend points championships at three speedways on the area racing circuit.
A starting position of ninth in a 19-car field Saturday at Merrittville Speedway didn’t keep the Hoosier Stocks hotshoe from Hagersville from winning his eighth feature of the season.
Bailey didn’t have to pass any cars to get to victory lane the following night at New Humberstone Speedway in Port Colborne. The co-pole sitter with Smithville’s Kyle Pelrine, Bailey used the outside lane to jump into the lead on the first lap and remained the front-runner the rest of the way in the 20-lap Street Stocks feature to earn his fourth win of the season.
At Merrittville, Bailey, the defending champion at the Thorold track as well as at Humberstone and Ohsweken speedways, was 3.032 seconds faster than St. Catharines’ Rob Murray crossing the finish line in the 20-lap Duel in the Dirt Series race.
Murray, who was seeking his fourth win in a row and fifth in sixth starts in the Thorold track’s 8-cylinder class, was even more impressive than Bailey in the hard-charging department. Murray went to the green flag 12th in the starting field.
With the 60 points for the win, Bailey increased his lead over Murray to 852 to 721 in the race for the track championship. Bailey, whose home track is Ohsweken, where he is seeking to extend his reign as Thunder Stocks champion to three years, is in his second full season competing at Merrittville.
Kyle Pelrine, Smithville; Jim Lampman, Caistor Centre; and Dave Small, Port Colborne; rounded out the top five in Saturday night’s feature. Bailey, Vince Fargnoli, Niagara Falls; and Tanner Podwinski, Vineland; were the heat winners.
Closest finish on Employment Niagara Night at Merrittville was in Mod Lites, while the most-dominating performance was in Novice Sportsman.
Tyler Winger of Fort Erie beat Jeffrey May of Mount Hope, Ont., near Hamilton, by 0.170 seconds for his second Mod Lite victory of the season.
Rob Misener, Welland; and May won the qualifiers, while Steven Beckett, Fonthill; R.J. Pietz, Port Colborne; and Brent Begolo, Thorold; rounded out the top five.
Begolo, who has competed in Merrittville’s Sportsman class for the past several seasons, is the points leader in his first year competing in Mod Lites. He leads Pietz 712 points to 622.
In the 10-lap main event in Novice Sportsman, Merrittville’s newest division, Gord McIntosh of Smithville outraced David Mamo of Ridgeway by 6.155 seconds.
Current points leader Gregg Rauscher, Thorold; Paul Cunningham, Niagara Falls; and Scott Sonnenberg, Bethel; also finished in the top five.
Rob Knapp, Niagara Falls; Brad Rouse, Cody McPherson, both of St. Catharines; and Rob Goulding, Port Colborne; were the top five after results from the 25-lap Sportsman feature were declared office.
Heat winners were Jay Mallory, St. Catharines; Rouse and Knapp, whose margin of victory in the main event was 0.851 seconds.
Rouse leads McPherson, the defending track champion; 868-806 in the points race. Begolo is third in the standings, with 782 points.
Ryan Sucise of Ransomville, N.Y., car owner Randy Slack’s driver for hire for the spec engine-powered No. 3RS, took the checkered flag for the second time this season in Merrittville’s 358 Modified racing class.
Sucise, a Friday night regular at Ransomsville, edged Thorold’s Scott Wood by 1.199 seconds to earn the third-ever win for the No. 3RS at Merrittville. Billy Dunn drove the car into the victory lane in its debut season at the track two years ago.
Rounding out the top five in the 35-lap feature were Gary Lindberg, Ridgeway; Chad Brachmann, Sanborn, N.Y.; and Tommy Flannigan, St. Catharines. Wood and Todd Gordon, Ridgeville; won the heats.
Brachmann, the 2015 track champion at Merrittville, is the current points leader, with 948. Mat Williamson, St. Catharines; and Lindberg have 890 and 888 points, respectively.
A gap of 0.210 seconds was more than enough to give Jay Moulton of St. Catharines his second victory of the year in Mini Stocks, Merrittville’s 4-cylinder division.
Current points leader Tony Kelly, Niagara Falls; Austyn Westroh, Niagara-on-the-Lake; Alex Riley, Thorold; and Garnet Wilson, Canfield, Ont.; trailed Moulton across the finish line to complete the top five.
Tom Neale, St. Catharines; and Cole Hardy, Welland; set the pace in the qualifiers.
Following are results from Saturday night’s features at Merrittville Speedway: Sterling Silver Trophy for the S&W Service Centre Sportsman:
Rob Knapp, Brad Rouse, Jay Mallory, Cody McPherson, Robert Goulding, Luke Carleton, Charlie Lynch, Dave Flannigan Jr., Justin Sharp, Dave DiPietro, James Friesen, Trevor Wright, Robbie Johnston, Chris Bellamy, Brent Begolo, Chris Storm, AJ Custodi.
Hoosier Stock: Dave Bailey, Rob Murry, Kyle Pelrine, Jim Lampman, Dave Small, Vince Fargnoli, Andrew Reece, Brad Sheehan, Trevor DeBoer, Blake Bomberry, brian Teeple, Donny Lampman, Billy Bleich Jr., Tanner Podwinski, Kevin Pauls, Steve Shaw, Robin Mortensen, James Marr, Bill Podwinski. Central Fabricating & Welding
Mini Stocks: Jay Moulton, Tony Kelly, Austyn Werstroh, Alex Riley, Garnet Wilson, Sam Iftody, Cole Hardy, Vincent Pagnotta, Jeremy Smith, Mike Giberson, Sean Iftody, Trevor Want, Tom Neale, Jason Coutu, Dan McKay.
Novice Sportsman: Gord McIntosh, Dave Mamo, Gregg Rauscher, Paul Cunningham, Steve Sonnenberg, Ian Porter. Wood Motor Company Modified Lite: Tyler Winger. Jeff May, Steven Beckett, RJ Pietz, Brent Begolo, Craig Martin, Tucker Wood, Ray Sliter Jr., Ryleigh Sliter, Rob Misener, Randy Giroux, Marty de Moel. Pinty’s Delicious Foods 358 Modifieds: Ryan Susice, Scott Wood, Gary Lindberg, Chad Brachmann, Tommy Flannigan, Tim Jones, Mat Williamson, Todd Gordon, Fred Carleton, Greg Panunte, Steve Lewis, Jim Zimmerman, Pete Bicknell. Southern Ontario Sprints visit Port
The Southern Ontario Sprints visited Humberstone on Sunday night, and Dylan Westbrook visited victory lane.
Westbrook, from Scotland, Ont., southwest of Brantford, led Cory and Ryan Turner across the finish line for his fifth A Main feature victory in a row and his eighth win on this year’s tour.
Cody McPherson of St. Catharines led the field from flag to flag in Humberstone’s 25-lap Sportsman feature to pick up his second win of the season.
Also going flag-to-flag to earn victory No. 2 of the season was Niagara Falls’ Danny Wurster in the Pro 4 Truck class.
Paul Grigsby of Springville, N.Y., the co-pole sitter in the Late Models feature, set the pace for all but two laps as he earned his first Humberstone win since September 2015.
In Mini Stocks, Port Colborne’s Olivier
Larocque visited victory lane at his hometown track this season following a feature that ended in controversy.
There was contact between Evan Curtis of St. Catharines and Larocque approaching the checkered flag. While Curtis was the first to cross the finish line, Larocque was declared the official winner and Curtis sent to the rear of the field for rough riding.
Following are feature results and heat winners from Sunday night racing at Humberstone. The program was sponsored by Zanchin Truck & Trailer: Southern Ontario Sprints: Dylan Westbrook, Cory Turner, Ryan Turner, Chris Jones, Jim Huppunen, Jamie Turner, Shawn Sliter, Frank Baranowski, Travis Cunningham, Warren Mahoney, Adam West, Holly Porter, Brad Knab, Steve Lyons, Curtis Gartley, John Burbridge Jr, Jim Porter, Josh Sliter, Mike Ferrell, Stan Zanchin. Qualifying winners: Westbrook, Turner, Jones. PC Works DIRTcar Sportsman:
Cody McPherson, Darrell Farraway, Brad Rouse, Chad Chevalier, Jay Mallory, Adam Leslie, Tom Richau Jr, Emily Puchalski, Jordan Cosco, Luke Carleton, Tyler Puchalski, Gord McIntosh, Dave Flannigan Jr, Dylan Davidson. Did not start: Chris Storm. Qualifying Winners: Chevalier, Emily Puchalski. Maple Leaf Foods RUSH Late
Models: Paul Grigsby, Chad Homan, Sam Pennacchio, Rob Pietz, Jeff Dayman, Colton Ledingham, Tim Gillespie, Mike Greene, Ken Winfield, Stan Zanchin, Jay Liverance, Ted Tremblay. Qualifying winners: Homan, Pennacchio.
JC Auto Street Stocks: Dave Bailey, Billy Bleich Jr, Jason Fontaine, Kyle Pelrine, Jim Lampman, Barry Beck Jr, Bryce Richardson, Champ Champigny, Kevin Pauls, John Overholt, Ryan Dinning. Did not start: Brian Teeple. Qualifying winners:
Bailey, Bleich.
Cosco Haulage Mini Stocks: Olivier Larocque, Jason Coutu, Cole Hardy, Jonathan Ayrton, Leroy Buscumb, Kyle Rothwell, Kyle Haynes, Mike Sarantakos, Brandon Iudiciani, Patrick Abrahamson, Fabio Oliveri, Sean Iftody, Brian Teeple, Kevin McPherson, Evan Curtis, David Hoyle, Jay Moulton, Sam Iftody. Qualifying winners: Moulton, Larocque, Rothwell. Mike Knapp Ford Pro 4 Trucks:
Danny Wurster, Craig Vlasic, Dylan Llord, Terry Ronning, Taylor Vanderzanden, Mitch Dumont, Nate Monahan, Kevin Conley, Jesse Sonnenberg, Kyle Tomaski, Frank Perry. Qualifying winners: Wurster, Llord.
Notes: A total of 88 cars and trucks were signed in pitside ... With his hot lap time of 13.434 seconds, Dylan Westbrook broke the previous 360 Sprint Car track record of 13.507 seconds held by Bobby Breen, set in 2009.