By Dave Vokey
Mother nature would bless Barrie Speedway drivers and fans alike with a picturesque day for racing on May 24, as sunny skies combined with a beautiful breeze were the backdrop for night three of the 2014 race season. The biggest story to form on the night came in the Wahta Springs Late Model division, as #00 Darryl St. Onge of Barrie would record the win in the 30 lap finale to the evening, recording his first career victory in the track’s premier division in the process. St. Onge, the 2009 Thunder Car track champion would lead flag to flag after starting from the outside pole position, having to fend off a late race charge from 2013 division champ #10 Gord Shepherd of Oro Station. Speaking of Shepherd, he would go to victory lane in the first 30 lap feature on the evening, further extending a streak that has seen the steady wheelman finish no worse than 2nd covering six feature races thus far in 2014.
In the initial 30 lap affair, it was #44 Rob Bromley of Orillia who moved out front early after gaining the advantage on #27 “Smilin” Sam Reckzin from the drop of the green. Reckzin, would quickly find himself trapped to the high side, as the duo of #24 Leonard “The Bandit” Johnston and #49 “Flyin” Frank Davey filed through along the inside line to land in 2nd and 3rd respectively just a couple laps in. On lap 5, Davey would have a look to the inside of Johnston in an attempt to wrestle away runner up positioning, as Johnston would battle back on the high side to eventually catch up with the leader Bromley in what was a great dice in the early stages. Perhaps, the early laps on the outside would catch up with the sleek looking 24 machine of Johnston, as Davey would finally slip past and into 2nd, leading the way for Shepherd to follow, after the latter charged from his 11th place starting position to claim 3rd place just shy of the 10 lap mark. On lap 11, the first lead change would occur, as Davey would snatch the lead from Bromley with a smooth low pass in turn 1, as Shepherd would in turn follow that move to take over 2nd, just a single car length behind leader Davey.
The first caution would appear right at the midway point, as #69 Al “Red Rocket” Inglis would slow after contact on the backstretch ended his race early. Also hitting pit road and done for the race was the 24 of Johnston, who saw a strong run end with mechanical failure. On the restart, Shepherd was quick to power past Davey on the outside line to assume the race lead, with the veteran driver quickly opening up a 3 car length advantage at the front of the field. At his point in the race the best battle on track was now the race for 3rd, as #83 Ian Bourque and #31 Rick Walt began to duel for that position, with Bourque temporarily taking the spot, while a little further in back #12 Dwight Brown was also in the mix, entering the top 5 after the talented veteran would start 10th in the 13 car grid. After another caution period, Shepherd would power out front once again, as Bourque would slide through along the inside line to capture 2nd from Davey who was now locked in a dogfight for third with Walt and Brown. Walt, wold eventually dive to the inside of turn two and execute a cunning three wide move to the low side of Davey and Brown to land in 3rd, with slight contact made with Davey along the way. On lap 27, Davey would see what was easily his strongest Late Model race to date come to an unfortunate end, as the driver would cut a tire and come to rest against the turn 1 wall. This would set up a three lap shootout involving Shepherd and Bourque from the front row, as Shepherd once again moved to the point, with Walt now in 2nd after passing Bourque on the inside line on exit of turn two. On the last lap, Brown would also pass Bourque for position, but it was clear this way Shepherd’s race to lose, as the driver would hit all his marks over the duration, to record the win by 2 car lengths over a determined Walt at the finish. Brown, would get his evening kick started nicely with a solid 3rd place effort, while Bourque and #91 Andre Pepin would comprise the remainder of the top 5.
In the 30 lap finale to the evening, as mentioned earlier it was the 00 of St. Onge who quickly moved out front after disposing of pole sitter Johnston after a tough and clean battle over the first three laps of the race. Also making his presence felt near the front of the field was the 69 of Inglis, as the wily veteran would power around the outside of Johnston entering turn one on lap 4. The Inglis move would open up the necessary room for Walt to relieve Johnston of third, also a pass completed on the high line of the racetrack. At the front of the field, St. Onge was holding Inglis at bay, completing laps of the 1/3rd mile tri oval configuration in an impressive 14.9 seconds while opening up a two car length lead, while Inglis sat comfortably in the runner up post, with Walt, Johnston, and Davey rounding out the top 5 just beyond the 10 lap mark.
Nearing the midway point, the man on the move was the 10 of Shepherd, as the talented pilot would complete a pass of Davey for 5th with a clean inside move in turn one. Shepherd’s charge towards the front would not end there however, as the driver would soon complete a pass of Johnston low in turn three on lap 15, while a little further in back Davey was coming under heavy fire from the 12 of Brown in the race for 6th, with Davey holding firm and being able to maintain the spot. Another driver on the move was now the 31 of Walt, who relieved Inglis of 2nd, with the latter then falling back into the clutches of Shepherd who soon took third with a clean outside pass midway down the backstretch. With the all the tight racing in behind him leader St. Onge began to increase his lead with each passing lap, now holding a half straightaway lead over the Walt/Shepherd duel forming in behind him, with Shepherd now moving into 2nd with a inside pass of Walt with just three laps remaining. Over the duration of the race, the staunch lead St. Onge had built up would just prove too much for the oncoming Shepherd to overcome, as St. Onge paraded to victory by 5 car lengths at the finish. Shepherd, would cap off a solid point night with a runner up finish, while Walt, Inglis, and Johnston would round out the fast five.
In Triple Sick Skin Tattoo Thunder Car action, it was #00 Luke Gignac of Port McNicholl who went to victory lane in the 30 lap main, marking his second feature win of the season in just three feature races. The race would begin with #55 Shawn Goggins moving to the point early, after gaining the advantage on #7 Joel Hamilton from the drop of the green. Also on the move early was the duo of #64 Ryan Semple and #21 Desi Walt, as that pair would check into 2nd and 3rd respectively after filing past the 7 of Hamilton along the inside line. Another driver to watch in the early going was #16 Bryan Penny as the division sophomore would split a gaggle of traffic in turn two to claim 4th on the runner order. On lap 7, Penny would make a slight slip up in turn 2, as the driver would drift high in that corner as the duo of #22 Jason Elliott and Gignac would slip past, dropping Penny back to sixth in the running order. At the front of the pack, Goggins was holding a slender lead on the 21 of Walt who had made her way past the 64 of Semple just a couple laps prior to assume runner up positioning. Semple, would quickly fall back into the clutches of the duo of Elliott and Gignac who both worked their way past their fellow competitor along the inside line in turn two.
Approaching the midway mark, the strong #16 Monte Carlo SS of Penny was once again putting on a charge, passing Semple in turn two to take control of 5th place. Penny, would soon find himself locked in another tight duel, as last weeks feature winner #12 Jim “Polish Prince” Beleskey would pass his counterpart with an impressive low move midway down the backstretch. On lap 21, the lead duo of Goggins and Walt would encounter heavy lapped traffic, with Elliott and Gignac closing in on that pair as the laps began to wind down. On lap 22, Elliott would give the 21 of Walt a knock out of turn 2, quickly grabbing the inside line to take over 2nd place. The first caution would appear on lap 24, when rookie driver #3 Jim Morrison would spin in turn 3. On the restart, Goggins and Elliott would battle door to door for the race lead, with Gignac taking over 3rd from Walt and then working to the inside of Elliott to advance to second in the running order. On lap 26, the caution flag again would appear when Elliott tried to pass Gignac to the inside on exit of turn 2, with Elliott having to get hard on the brakes to avoid spinning Gignac after slight contact was made between the pair. This turn of events would force the field to check up and scramble, as the 12 of Beleskey would spin the 21 of Walt as a result of the action up ahead, with both Beleskey and Walt send to the rear deemed involved cars. On the ensuing restart, Gignac would power into the race lead around the outside of Goggins, who was in turn passed by the 16 of Penny for runner up positioning. Goggins, would actually get crossways out of turn two forcing a pile up along the backstretch that would collect Semple, Walt, and #11 Adam Misener.. With two laps remaining, Gignac would again find the race lead, with Elliott checking into second and Goggins and Penny locked in a duel for third. Goggins, would once again get partially crossways out of turn 2, forcing Penny to have a slight brush with the wall on the exit of that corner while running on the high side, thus halting Penny’s march towards podium positioning.. It was clear this race would belong to Gignac however, as the longtime division veteran would record the win by a slender margin over Elliott at the checkered. Goggins, would match a career best feature result in coming home 3rd, while Penny and #37 Robbie Sikes would round out the top 5.
Heat race wins went to Gignac, Elliott, Beleskey, and Walt.
In the St. Onge Recreation Pure Stock division, it was the defending track champion #77 Mike Gettliffe of Orillia who would record the victory in the 25 lap feature for his first feature win of 2014. The race would begin with #18 Tim Gagne moving out front, closely pursued by the duo of #24 Richard Butler and #3 Randi Seguin. An early caution would fly just a few laps in when #88 Charlie Smith would catch fire entering turn 3, bringing about the season’s first red flag. Unfortunately the 3 of Seguin would hit pit road at this point, with her evening done as the victim of mechanical gremlins. On the restart, it would be #68 Brandon Crumbie who took the race lead, after a daring 3 wide move, splitting the duo of Gagne and Butler in turn two. After another early caution, Crumbie was once again in control, with Butler making a nice inside move in turn 3 to take over 2nd from Gagne as an alert #06 Ryan Hardy would follow that pass to notch 3rd in the running order. Also on the move on lap 5 was the 77 of Gettliffe, as the driver charged from his 12th place starting position to pass Hardy for third after an impressive dice between the two drivers.
Gettliffe, would then file past the 24 of Butler to assume 2nd place shortly after, while race leader Crumbie was steadily pacing the field with laps in the 16.8 second range. Gettliffe. would soon close to within a car length, while a little further in back #09 Dean Curry would execute a pass on Bulter inside of turn one to advance to 3rd. On lap 13, Gettliffe would make the winning move, passing Crumbie on the inside line, while a little further in back 2013 division runner up #10 Doug Butler was beginning to make noise, passing father Richard to move into 4th place. Butler, would then dispose of Curry for third, getting to the inside of his fellow competitor in turn 4, and completing the pass as the duo raced into turn 1 just a short while later. Butler, would then close in on Crumbie with 3 laps remaining, quickly taking over runner up positioning with a low pass in turn 2. Unfortunately for Butler with laps would run out before he could find the back bumper of the steady race leader Gettliffe, as the latter would record the win by 2 car lengths over Butler at the checkered. #68 Brandon Crumbie would finish the race in 3rd, with Curry, and #57 Ryan Toon comprising the rest of the top 5. Unfortunately, Crumbie would get caught up in the post race technical inspection for his ride being a little too light, bringing Curry to 3rd, Toon to 4th, with Richard Butler slotting into the 5th place position.
Heat wins went to Gettliffe and Doug Butler with a pair each.
PIT NOTES ———- A new yet somewhat familiar face would make his 2014 debut in the Wahta Springs Late Models, as #5 “The Hulkamaniac” Mike Langley would make his first start of the season in his newly prepared Dodge Charger. Langley, would adjust to the new whip nicely, keeping a clean car under him all night long en route to 11th and 12th place feature results.. Barrie Pure Stock competitor #06 Ryan Hardy would also take to the track Friday night at the newly renovated Full Throttle Motor Speedway, recording a 7th place finish in the feature event. Be sure to join us this coming Saturday May 31st when all three divisions are back in action to round out the season’s first month of competition.. Pit gates are open at 2pm, with spectator gates commencing for business at 5pm and green flag slated to drop at 6:30pm sharp!!!
