LAMPMAN EMERGES FROM MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY FOG FOR FIRST WIN
by Bruce Bonham
THOROLD, ON - June 7 — After knocking on Victory Lane’s door with three solid seconds in five features this season, Larry Lampman Jr. feels much better after his 35-lap modified main event at Merrittville Speedway Saturday.
In one of the most dramatic races at the 52-year-old speedway – which new owners Pete Bicknell and Randy Williamson celebrated its official grand opening in special pre-feature ceremonies – Lampman led with three laps left when certain winner Randy Chrysler’s engine blew on Lap 30, and Rob Pietz, leading, tapped the Turn 4 guard rail.
Heavy fog engulfed the speedway and became a major factor for Lampman, Pietz and three-time winner Scott Wood.
“About half way through the race (running in the top five), vision got really bad,” said the popular Port Colborne pilot, explaining to 2,300 fans that this win was the milestone his team has been trying to attain all season.
“It was very hard to see in the final 10 laps, hard to find the (track’s) cushion. I was out of tear-offs (from his helmet’s visor), everything got wet and blurry, “ Lampman said.
Pietz, in his strongest mod rookie run, lost his lead when clipping the Turn 4 guard rail on Lap 33. On the final, foggy lap Wood, chasing Lampman, dove for a piece of the Turn 4's inside groove also tapped the wall and was bumped by Pietz, careening both to mid-pack finishes.
Brian Stevens cleared the mixup to finish second, while Todd Gordon, on a good run, could see well enough to take third.
Wayne Conn’s win streak continued as he flagged his fourth straight Saturday night 25-lap win.
“Four wins is what we want. We want to dominate this series,” said Conn after the sportsman skirmish and before the fog rolled in.
“Really It’s a combination of a lot of things. The crew, the car ... it’s all working well on this fast track.”
By the 14th lap, Conn, who started 15th in the 24-pack, slid by Adam Ferri, and easily went the distance, keeping Ferri in arrears, despite three late-race cautions. Tim Jones of Hamburg, N.Y. matched his best finish with a solid third.
Rob Murray and Dolf McCreadie own the street stock series with three 15-lap feature bullets each.
This time it was Murray’s turn to take the checkered flag, while McCreadie, who arrived in second after nine hard-fought laps couldn’t catch the winner. Mike Dooley continues to produce top-five score sheets with another third.
The action-packed dwarf cars spent more laps realigning the field after four cautions then the 15 circuits it took for Wayne Robbins to maintain his top spot.
On the final lap, starter Barry Davidson flew both the checkered and red flags when Derek Breden tangled with visiting little car driver Jason Corliss, flipping his racer off Turn 1. He was uninjured.
Jeff Johnson buzzed his way to second, while Mark Brighton maneuvered passed a spinning Scott Billing for third.
The Mark brothers’ four cylinder show continued with Norm chalking up his third 15-lap win after dicing early with Jeff.
Norm made a Lap 5 pass for the lead, then struggled with Larry Erskine in a side-by-side battle the final two laps. Robbie Rouse caught Jeff for third.
Next Saturday is the 30-lap Father’s Day Sportsman special, presented by Boltworks, who’ll stage a contest to guess the number of bolts in needed to attach the track’s all-new grandstands. First 200 fathers receive a special gift.
Tail Pipes: Several former speedway owners came to Merrittville for the new owners’ grand opening front-stretch ceremonies after qualifying heats, including original track builder Johnny Marino, 82, Ken Kavanaugh and the Irvine Family ... Thorold mayor Robin Davidson said she well remembers coming to the speedway in her youth, presented the Bicknells and Williamsons with a special plaque and cut the ribbon to begin the track’s new era ...Over 100 Lakeport Secondary students accompanied the anthem-playing 16-member school band for a night at the races ... When the temperature plummeted, the resulting blanket of fog, according to speedway rail birds, was the worse ever seen ... The Wood and Pietz crews said they couldn’t see the Turn 4 mod feature mayhem from pit side ... Dan Miller who was to take the year off mod racing, rolled out a new Bicknell 2003X and finished sixth ... Sportsman contender Stewart Friesen’s engine was solid after losing three motors the last four races and also flagged sixth ... Randy Chrysler engine let go with five laps left. The Tuscarora, N.Y. former sportsman champ won his first mod main at Ransomville Friday.
RESULTS
Modified (35 laps): Larry Lampman, Brian Stevens, Todd Gordon, Richie Vinson, Paul Ashton, Dan Miller, Boyd MacTavish, Brad Rouse, Rick Richner, Ken Winfield, Joe Meisel, Robbie Krull, Don Turner, Rob Pietz, Scott Wood, Randy Chrysler, Brad Gravestock, Jamie Turner, Pete Cosco, Tim Murdock, Chris Ricker, Gary Kruchka, Dwayne Winfield, Jason Boyle.
Heats: 1. Todd Gordon; 2. Larry Lampman; 3. Pete Cosco.
Sportsman (25 laps): Wayne Conn, Adam Ferri, Tim Jones, Billy Willard, John McKenney, Stewart Friesen, Dereck Lemyre, Dean Hoffman, Mike Kruchka, Darren Zumpe, Brad Malloy, Lee Mallory, Don Spiece, Billy Bleich, Mike Ward, Blair Young, Dennis Giancola, Doug Spiece, Darrell Ebersole, Jason Harper, Bobby Davidson.
Heats: 1. Adam Ferri; 2.Billy Bleich; 3. Bob Davidson.
Street Stocks (15 laps): Rob Murray, Dolf McCreadie, Mike Dooley,.Gerry Deschamps, Kirk Wilson, Kevin Kocarik, Peter Reid, Jeff Cook, Rick Champigny, Rick Simons, Ron Kingsbury, Ed Fargnoli, Don Johnson, Terry Lament, Greg Ayres, Dave Gifford.
Heats: 1. Rick Simons; 2. Rob Murray.
Dwarf Cars (15 laps): Wayne Robbins; Jeff Johnson, Mark Brighton, Dave Ackler, Scott Billing, Ray Webber, Chris Rimmen, Dave Russell, Wally Billing, Bill Perry, Ken Robins, Justine Sharp, Rob Knapp, Kellie Mason, Greg Balyea, Derek Breden, Jason Corliss, Mike Brubacker, Rob Breden, Dave Arnold.
Heats: 1. Mike Brubacker; 2. Mark Brighton.
Four Cylinder (15 Laps): Norm Mark, Doug Erskine, Robbie Rouse, Jeff Mark,. Rick Beales, Glen Leinen, Gord Bates, Dave Bitner, Craig Erskine, Alex Wheeldon, Mike Giberson, Trevor Goulding, Larry Erskine, Vic Mealing, Bob Brown.
Heats: 1. Jeff Mark; 2. Norm Mark.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CALL MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY - 905-892-8266 - or check out our Web sit: www.merrittvillespeedway.com.