Saturday night was the first test for the field of almost 20 RPR Street Stocks. Some racers did not make the main event, having car troubles. But those that did were ready to race. In the Street Stocks Matt Stephenson and Josh Dyck were fighting some mechanical issues and did not start the race. Jay 'Racer' Anderson lead the race until tire troubles forced him to pit and lost his lead. In the end the #91 of Chris Bealieu finished in first, # 4 Jeremy Smith in second and #67 Billy Coles finished third. In the Hornet Class Al Chipurda made his way to the lead and was fighting off championship points leader Mike Marshall for the win. Mike finished second and rookie Geoff Metituk finished third.
Overall a greate night of racing with over 1000 people through the gates at the Speedway.
That night the flying destruction show happened at the end of the night with drivers taking turns jumping through a vintage motorhome on the front stretch.
Day 2 started with a lot of fire smoke affecting the temperature and the air quality. We still saw almost 750 people through the gates and the racers really appreciated the support. On Sunday the pace was fast and furious in the RPR Street Class. the #75 of Graham Cook was offline due to an dramatic engine fire the night before, so he took the seat of the car #17 typically piloted ny Johnn Aantjes, who was away helping the evacuation of the Oliver and Osoyoos area due to the wildfires. the #34 of Jeff Turner was also out of the main event due to mechanical issues.
Early in the race a tag team effort between #91 of Chris Bealeau and #11 Yianni Kyrtsos meant they had to go to the back of the lead lap. Later in the event #67 Billy Coles had issues coming out of turn 4 and #4 of Jeremy Smith jumped up over the 67 causing another resuffle of the group. Matt Stephenson #3 legged out to a lead and then right at the last corner 6 cars on the lead lap saw #75 of Graham Cooke overtake Matt for the final checkered flag right at the line. It was a very tight finish with the top cars all finishing within seconds of each other.
The Hornet main event had some surprises. After the 77 of Tracey Anderson got loose in turns 3/4 and collided with #22 Geoff Metituk and the 33 of Pieter Bandenbroek taking them all out of the race, that left the door open to the new driver in the #54 Mauricio Lopez to push his way into the top 3 alsong side winner Al Chipurda and Mike Marshall in second. Lopex, a seasoned racer on road course formerly from Mexico, was slated to drive in a Speedway car all weekend when a head gasket issue ended that move. He then purchased a Hornet car from jordan David and overnight fized that car, passing tech and then placing in the top for the day. We look forward to seeing what this new challenger has to offer in this highly competitive class in August at the Iron Driver Event.
The last event of the night was the Hit to Pass Trailer race, similar to the June Sunshine Bowl. With 9 cars on the track all the racers started around the track from a dead stop. Half the class had trailers attached to them with boats on them. Before ovetaking the car behind has to "nudge" the car ahead and with trailers that leads to some epic crashes and spins. This event always brings out cautions especially as the track team wets down turns 2 for extra fun. In the end Rick Digby was the leader and voted driver of the day. We also want to recognize a special memorial on top of our Gordy Mannes Memorial. In April Fred Bell #54 passed away and on Suday Jedson Long raced in his honour and Alan Skramstad. His family, sister Leslie, and the Hefley County Store wanted to present Jed with a trophy from Fred's collection. "May you all stay safe and win every race"
The next event for stock car racing is Aug 26th for the Iron Driver Event. Only 2 more race weekends until the Championship.
DAY 1
DAY2
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