Marathon weekend
Merrittville season wraps with 50-lap races; 100-lapper highlights Humberstone finale
Hard charger Rob Murray can be a front-runner, too.
The St. Catharines racer, whose previous victories in the Hoosier Stocks division were all comefrom-behind wins, had nowhere to go but back when he started Saturday night’s extra-distance feature in the front row.
Instead of losing ground, as front-runners at the Thorold track are wont to do, especially to drivers like Murray, the 50-year-old Brock University employee held his ground despite two flat tires and raced to his sixth victory of the season.
He dedicated the win to Bruce Hough, a family friend and longtime race fan who died recently.
“And it’s my wife Kelly’s birthday,” Murray said in victory lane.
He singled out his pit crew for praise for keeping the No. 1M Camaro in contention all season.
“Thanks to my crew, they work day and night on this thing.”
The win in the 50-lap Duel of the Dirt combined event on the final night of the Merrittville season was worth $1,000 to Murray.
During the summer Murray, runner-up to two-time points champion Dave Bailey from Hagersville, established a well-deserved reputation for one driver in the speedway’s 8-cyclinder class who could never be counted out.
No matter where he started in the field.
Starting positions for his previous victories were 14th, on Aug. 19; 19th, Aug. 9; 11th, Aug. 5; 12th, July 29; and 19th, July 8.
James Thompson, St. Catharines; Ken Sargent, Fenwick; Bailey; and Jim Lampman, Caistor Centre; rounded out the top five in the feature. Sargent, Rob Hoskins, Harley, Ont., near Brantford; Bailey and Ryan Dinning, Caledonia; were the heat winners.
Sargent was awarded second place after Thompson was disqualified in a post-race inspection.
Final top 10 in Hoosier Stocks points: 1. Bailey, 954; 2. Murray, 837; 3. Kyle Pelrine, Smithville, 790; 4. Lampman, 768; 5. Vince Fargnoli, Niagara Falls, 716; 6. Thompson, 623; 7. Trevor DeBoer, Hagersville, 604; 8. Billy Bleich Jr., Port Robinson; Dave Small, St. Catharines, tied with 588; 10. Bill Podwinski, Caistor Centre, 549.
Cody McPherson was unable to defend his Sportsman track championship, but the St. Catharines driver ended the season at his hometown track on a winning note by taking the checkered flag in a Super DIRTcar Series 50-lapper.
McPherson, who started ninth in a field of 30, led a top five of Brad Rouse, St. Catharines; Brent Begolo, Thorold; Ronnie Davis III, Memphis, N.Y., near Syracuse; and Dave Marcuccilli, Cayuga, N.Y., also near Syracuse; across the finish line.
In his post-race comments McPherson said it was to good to end the season on a victory lane.
“We’ve struggled here this season, which isn’t normal for us,” he said. “To wrap the season up here like this is pretty good, though.”
James Michael Friesen, St. Catharines; Trevor Wright, Smithville; Ricky Thompson, Akwesasne, N.Y., southeast of Cornwall; A.J. Custodi, Lewiston, N.Y.; and Steve Shaw, Merlin, Ont., near Chatham; were the top five in the 10-lap consolation race for nonqualifiers.
Rouse set the pace the night before in a 50-lap feature at Ransomville Speedway.
Rouse, with 928 points on the year, topped the driver standings at Merrittville. Begolo, 898; McPherson, 854; Friesen, 847; Justin Sharp, St. Catharines, 738; Rob Knapp, St. Catharines, 738; Jay Mallory, St. Catharines, 732; Luke Carleton, Port Colborne, 717; Wright, 614; and Dave DiPietro, Ransomville, N.Y.; also finished the top 10.
Order of finish for the 10-lap Novice Sportsman feature was Charley Lynch, St. Catharines; John McKenney, Port Colborne; Gregg Rauscher, Thorold; Scott Sonnenberg, Bethel; and Tucker Wood, Stevensville.
Wood, 12, rookie of the year in Mod Lites this season, was competing in his first Novice Sportsman race at Merrittville.
Ransomville’s Ryan Susice, a regular in 358 Modified racing class at Merrittville and points leader in big blocks at Ransomville, ruined Southern Ontario Sprints Championship Night for visiting drivers by winning the 25lap feature.
“There were so many lap cars, I didn’t know who was leading,” Susise said after earning his second career victory in a Sprint Car feature. “They (Jimmy Huppenen and Dylan Westbrook) left the outside open, maybe some of my experience here paid off.”
Westbrook, Huppunen, Mitch Brown and Cory Turner rounded out the top five.
Six racers competed in the final race in the Eataly Foods Pro 4 Triple Truck Challenge Series. Dylan Llord, St. Catharines; Kyle Tomaski, Dain City; and Mitch Dumont, Welland; went to the green flag 1-2-3 and they crossed the finish line in that order 12 laps later.
Nathan Monahan, Jordan Station; and Jamie Ayers, Sherkston; rounded out the top five.
Mini Stocks, Mod Lites and 358 Modifieds took the final night of the Merrittville Speedway off.
Chad Brachmann, Sanborn, N.Y., won his second 358 Modified points championship and first since 2015.
Tony Kelly, Niagara Falls; and Begolo won track championships in Mini Stocks and Mod Lites, respectively.
Winning weekend
Cody McPherson went the distance – and then some – Saturday at Merrittville, and he went double that the following night at New Humberstone Speedway.
In both cases the St. Catharines driver ended the racing season at the respective dirt tracks in the winners circle.
McPherson followed up a victory in a 50-lap Sportsman feature in Thorold by withstanding challenges from two points champions in the 100-lap Trevor Wilkins Memorial Safecracker Sunday night in Port Colborne.
Chad Chevalier of Port Colborne, who topped the Sportsman driver standings at Humberstone this season, was locked in a backand-forth battle with McPherson for most of the marquee race on the season-ending program.
Chevalier overtook McPherson for the lead with eight laps remaining in the marathon, but McPherson reclaimed the pacesetting position three circuits later and hold for the win, his second in a row and his fourth of the year at Humberstone.
Brad Rouse, who dethroned McPherson as track champion at Merrittville this season, fellow St. Catharines racer Jay Mallory and Luke Carleton of Port Colborne rounded out the top five. Rouse and Ron Davis III won the qualifying heats.
Smithville’s Kyle Pelrine, the pole-sitter for the 20-lap Street Stock feature, took the early lead, but his – and the field’s – hopes for a checkered flag after Hagersville’s Dave Bailey moved into first exciting Turn 4 on the second lap.
Bailey, who just completed taking track titles at Humberstone, Merrittville and Ohsweken for the second year in a year, never looked back racing to his eighth win of the year in Port Colborne and his sixth in a row.
Caledon’s Kyle Haynes, one year removed from topping the point standings in Humberstone Mini Stocks, jumped into the lead from the outside pole position racing to a flag-to-flag victory for his second win of the season.
In Pro 4 Trucks, Danny Wurster of Niagara Falls and Mitch Dumont of Welland battled for the lead until Wurster had a flat right front tire with three laps remaining in the feature. The win was Dumont’s second of the year.
Dave Charczuk’s run at the front of the field in the Vintage Cars feature came to an end when his racer experienced difficulties in the late going.
Rick St. Pierre went on to score the victory, while Kevin Laws won the qualifier.
Following are results from Sunday night’s program at Humberstone Speedway:
PC Works DIRTcar Sportsman: Cody McPherson, Chad Chevalier, Brad Rouse, Jay Mallory, Luke Carleton, Emily Puchalski, Dave Flannigan Jr., James Henry, Brianna Ladouceur, Tyler Puchalski, Jordan Cosco, Tom Richau Jr., Jessica Power, Brian Bellinger, Rob Goulding, Dylan Davidson, Steve Shaw Jr., AJ Custodi, Dan Ferguson, Ricky Thompson, Adam Leslie, Scott Sonnenberg, Chris Bellamy, Ron Davis III, Chris Cunningham, Rob Knapp, Dave DiPietro, Dean Scott. Heat winners: Rouse, Davis. JC Auto Street Stocks: Dave Bailey, Jim Lampman, Justin Ramsay, Kyle Pelrine, Jason Fontaine, Barry Beck Jr, Billy Bleich Jr, Ryan Dinning, Dave Small, Adam Wells, Andrew Reece, Teeple, John Overholt, Greg Wilson. Heat winners: Ramsay, Bailey. Cosco Haulage Mini Stocks:
Kyle Haynes, Leroy Buscumb, Nick Massi, Matt Nuell, Craig Vlasic, John Lubeck, Olivier Larocque, Chris Laskey, Sam Iftody, Brandon Iudiciani, Mike Sarantakos, Tom Neale, Cole Hardy, Jay Moulton, Tim Nuell, Dan McKay, Evan Curtis, Fabio Olivieri, Brian Smith, David Hoyle, Jason Coutu. Heat winners: Haynes, Buscumb, Nuell. Mike Knapp Ford Pro 4
Trucks: Mitch Dumont, Kyle Tomaski, Nate Monahan, Mike LaBelle, Jamie Ayers, Taylor Vanderzanden, Terry Ronning, Billy Smith, Danny Wurster. Heat winner: Wurster.
Next Sunday at Humberstone is the annual Eve of Destruction presented by ATTR Metals. Demolition derbies, an enduro, boattrailer race and a children’s Power Wheels Demolition Derby round out the program.
Gates open at 9 a.m. in the pits, 10 a.m. in the grandstands with the show getting underway at noon.
Notes: A total of 81 race cars and trucks were pitside for a program that wrapped up at 9:47 p.m. ... Brian Bellinger’s broke the track record set by Rouse by 15.671 seconds.
There were so many lap cars, I didn’t know who was leading. They (Jimmy Huppenen and Dylan Westbrook) left the outside open, maybe some of my experience here paid off.” Ransomville’s Ryan Susice