Photo Credit: Denny Snider
Varney, ON – It may have been cool sitting in the stands but the action on the track was anything but on Friday night at Full Throttle Motor Speedway.
In the Pro Late Model class everyone was running hard as the drivers work to earn points for starting positions in “The Big One” the race that takes place August 31st with a purse of $40,000.00 and the chance at a $50,000.00 bonus. It will be the richest race in Ontario this year! In feature one it was Cole Weber from New Hamburg in #11 jumping to the lead but with a caution at lap 16 for #00 Trevor Thompson from Elmira, went hard into the wall on the front straight, that would set up a dash for the cash. There were anxious moments on the restart for Cole Weber as he spun his tires coming to the green, allowing #1 Kent Nuhn from Desboro to take the lead. It wasn’t until coming to the white flag that Weber would be able to regain the lead and hold it to the finish, 2nd was Nuhn, third was #77 Alvin McNichol of Exeter, fourth was #17 Kyle Woods of Mount Forest and rounding out the top five was #4 Bruce Hutchinson. In feature two of the night it was # 76 Tyler Williams from Chesley that started on the outside pole and never looked back, as he went flag to flag in this one as the Pro Late Models ran a caution free race. Second was again # 1 of Nuhn, third was # 77 McNichol, fourth went to # 4 Hutchinson and rounding out the top five was # 17 Kyle Woods.
V8 Thunder Stocks would see the return of Billy Alderson Jr in the Alderson Repair / Chuck Lawler #18 machine and in his first time behind the wheel this season he provided some great racing action. In feature one we saw the head to head battle between #17 Tristan Gill, who had won the last five features in this class, on the pole with the # 18 of Alderson starting in the outside pole position. These two great young drivers did not disappoint the fans with door to door racing for most of the race. It was # 17 Gill making it to the line first followed by # 18 Alderson, third was # 27 Mark Fenton from Tiverton, fourth went to # 55 Scott Field from Hepworth and rounding out the top five was the # 6 Rob Wark of Chesley. Feature two it looked like it was going to be all #55 Scott Field as he took the early lead and brought along #27 Mark Fenton, but with only three laps to go the leader came into heavy lapped traffic which hung him up enough to allow the #27 of Fenton room to move into the lead. Fenton was able to hold on till the checker, second went to #55 Field, third was #17 Tristan Gill, fourth #05 Steve Brook of Hillsburgh and rounding out the top five was #26 Aaron Martin of Brussels.
Pure Stocks this week had another great turn out of drivers battling the highbanks as much as each other and continue to be a fan favourite. Nick Clarke in #17 out of Mount Forest is still the car to beat in this impressive class of fast cars and skilled drivers. He again took both feature races. Second in feature one was #01 Travis Farrow of Durham, third went to #14 Luke Bos from Conn, fourth was #71 Justin McKague from Teeswater, and rounding out the top five was #43 Joey Schouten from Mount Forest. In feature two, second this time, went to #14 Luke Bos, third was #01 Travis Farrow, fourth went to #43 Joey Schouten and rounding out the top five this race was #87 Jim McTavish of Arthur.
The Jr Late Models made their first appearance at Full Throttle this season much to the delight of fans and racers alike. Many of these young drivers have never driven a high bank track, and were very impressed by the speed they could carry through the corners. In feature one it looked like local racer Alex Hastie from Durham in #34 was going to show the visitors how to run the highbanks, but after a lap 7 caution for being taken to the wall by the #44 Jacob Campbell, would see Hastie start at the rear on the restart. After the restart it was all #5 Paighton Jacobs from London, showing the boys how to get it done as she laid down some amazing laps for the checker with the #49 Hayden Sim from Kamoka on her bumper, third went to Alex Hastie, fourth was #3 Shane Jacobs and rounding out the top five #87 Bobbie Martin. Feature two of the night saw the #5 Paighton Jacobs, again in a battle for the lead with #49 Hayden Sim but it would be a late race caution that would deign the young lady from London the sweep. It would be a checker flag for #49 Hayden Sim, second went to Alex Hastie from Durham in the#34 Candue Homes Machine, third went to #44 Jacob Campbell, fourth #5 Paighton Jacobs, and rounding out the top five #87 Bobbie Martin.
The Legends, although small in size and numbers this night, did put on an excellent display for the fans. They had some fantastic lap times and also brought in the first out of province car to the speedway this season, #13 Sean McPherson from Riley Center Mich. Along with the #13 there was also #15 Nick Ledson from Cookstown who took both races along with the #14 Cole Smith Ledson who took third in both races.
The last feature of the night was the first 67 lap Enduro Race. When the dust settled on this one it was the familiar face of the #17 Nick Clarke in Victory Lane, followed by the #09 Britton Lundy from Owen Sound and #95 Jonathon Bates from Owen Sound.
Next racing action is this Friday June 20th for Open Wheel Modified, V8 Thunder Stocks, Mini Stocks, Pure Stocks, plus a $200 to-win King of the Hill and of course Crazy Trains! Everything gets going at 7:30. For complete details check the web site www.fullthrottlemotorspeedway.com or Full Throttle on Facebook.
By Doug Townsend
