MERRITTVILLE WHEELED EXCITEMENT ON SEASON OPENER
Thorold, Ontario….Fans waited a long time for the opening night at Merrittville Speedway, and they weren’t disappointed by the show they got on Saturday night. The Candy Man, Mike Dooley played hard and took the first street stock feature of the season, while Dave Ackler brought home the checkered in the dwarf feature. Scott Kerwin led from green to checkered in the pro stock feature, despite many accidents on the track. The sportsman went without a caution in the fourth feature of the evening, and Boyd MacTavish came around for his first ever Merrittville checkered flag in sportsman. Brian Stevens managed to stay out of a multitude of incidents in the modified feature, and hold off Pete Bicknell to take the checkered.
Kirk Wilson and Peter Reid started the feature on the lead row after winning their respective heats. Peter Plante was the first to cause a caution after spinning out in turn two on the first lap. Reid pulled into the lead on the restart, only to have another caution come out on lap three when there were spin-outs in turns two and four. On the restart lap, Kevin Kocarik went hard into the wall in turn four, bringing out the yellow for the third time. Dolph McCready snuck himself up into second spot before the caution came out on lap four. J.T. Miller jumped the guard rails in corner four to bring out the yellow yet again. Kirk Wilson lost his left rear wheel in a tangle with Jerry Deschamps and Rick Champigny on the restart, and had to be towed from the track. On lap seven McCready was leading followed by Reid, Mike Dooley, Jeremy Wilson, and Greg Ayres. Deschamps lost control in turn four on the restart, bringing out the famous yellow flag for a seventh time. The caution left Dooley in second spot behind McCready. Ed Fargnoli went into the wall on lap 10 bringing out caution eight. Dooley and McCready went head to head for the last five laps, but another yellow came out on lap 13 when someone ran across the track for a bumper high up in turn four. Dooley went around McCready for the easy lead and took the checkered, Aaron Vasas came in second, followed by Jason Fontaine, Champigny, and Plante.
Wally Billing took the early lead in the dwarf 15-lap feature, but Dave Ackler quickly moved up to second behind him on the first lap, and passed him across the start finish line. Chris Rimmen started moving up through the field but started falling off the pace on lap five or so. Ackler started running into lapped traffic on lap six, but already had a half lap lead on Billing. Bill Perry was up to third place on lap seven, and was working on second, which he secured going across the start/finish line on lap eight. The field was well spread out with the leaders lapping cars enthusiastically. Ackler held onto it until the end and was followed in by Wrobel, Billing, Wayne Robins, and Perry.
Scott Kerwin won his pro stock heat to take the pole, and take it he did. He ran away with the lead at the green flag and never looked back. The 1st yellow flag flew on lap one as Bill Wade spun out in turn two collecting Shawn Keus and causing some major damage to the 7s car. Butch Zimmerman was also tangled up with them, but he made it back out to take the green on the restart. Rick Baker spun out on the restart in turn two bringing out the yellow for the second time in two laps. Kerwin held the lead throughout the confusion, but Mike Ward came up behind him and was looking for some room to pass. Jeff Dayman and Steve Devos duked it out for third, which Dayman ultimately won and then shot forward to put the moved on Ward for second spot on lap six. Ward fought back and regained second, coming out of turn four on lap seven. Baker spun out again on lucky lap number 13 and Dayman blew up and headed to the pits on the caution. The field was down to eight cars from 12 at the halfway mark of the 30-lap feature. Baker spun out for a third time on lap 19. The yellow came out on 23 as Devos and Zimmerman get into a tussle coming out of turn four. Kerwin held it to the bitter end and was followed in by Ward, Derek Lamere, Dan Gilbert, and Baker.
Boyd MacTavish and Wayne Conn started the sportsman 25-lap feature on the lead row. Conn took the early lead, but MacTavish wouldn’t let him run away with it. John McKinney spun out on the third lap, but managed to get it under control. MacTavish powered to the lead after McKinney lost control and Stewart Friesen moved up to second, getting the better of Conn. Rob Pietz moved up through the field quickly, up to eighth spot after starting tail. Joe Meisel fell back into sixth spot on lap ten, after being in fourth spot. MacTavish put Bill Bleich down a lap on 11 and Meisel was back up to third on lap 12. The top five on lap 18 were MacTavish, Conn, Meisel, Friesen, and Adam Ferri. MacTavish had a half a lap between himself and Conn with five to go, and no one was able to catch him. MacTavish took his first career Merrittville sportsman win and was followed in by Conn, Meisel, Friesen, and Adam Ferri.
Brian Stevens and Paul Ashton started the modified feature on the lead row; Pete Bicknell was slated for the pole but started tail after switching cars. Stevens took the point from the green flag. Chad Brachmann came up to steal second spot across the start/finish line. Brad Gravestock lost control in turn one on the fourth lap bringing out the first caution. The top five were Stevens, Brachmann, Jamie Turner, Ashton, and Todd Gordon. Gravestock managed to turn himself again in turn two on the restart, bringing out the yellow again. Scott Kruger sat in 8th spot for the restart Kruger is only 15 years old and running the top-level cars at Merrittville. Jamie Turner got turned around in turn four on lap seven. Turner was in fourth when he went around and collected a dozen cars with him. Only five cars were able to get around him without any incident. Stevens had to hold Brachmann off on the restart and he managed to do it, but Bicknell started moving up the inside of the track on lap eight, and slid into second on lap 15. Gravestock and Turner went around together in turn one for another caution. Bicknell had a flat and headed for the pits to have it fixed after he had gotten ahead of Stevens. Bicknell started tail again on the restart for lap 18. Robbie Krull moved up to challenge Brachmann for second spot on lap 19 and nailed it on lap 23. The top runners on lap 25 were Stevens, Krull, Brachmann, and Larry Lampman. Scott Wood came to rest in turn one on lap 27 with a flat tire. Krull tried the high line to get around Stevens on the restart; Bicknell was up to fifth by the restart. Krull edged ahead of Stevens on lap 31 coming across the line, but Stevens got it back on 32. They came around for the checkered flag and were side by side out of turn four, but Stevens managed to get Krull by mere inches for the win. Lampman finished third and was followed by Bicknell and Brachmann.
Join us Saturday, May 11th at Merrittville Speedway for some Mother’s Day Eve Madness – Full card of racing plus Ladies Round #1. For information call The Speedway 905-892-8266 or visit www.merrittvillespeedway.com