FORD/CAA AND A NIGHT OF WINNERS AT MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY

Repeat winners were in Merrittville Speedway’s victory lane on Saturday night with Pete Bicknell taking another modified checkered, Lee Webber the dwarf win and Ken Sargent his fourth Pro Stock win. The Candy Man Mike Dooley brought in his first feature win of the season in the street stock class, as did Joe Meisel in the sportsman main event.

Jeff Cook (1a) took the early lead in the street stock feature. The first yellow came out after Jason Harper (19jr) and Barry Blanchard (31) tangled in turn four. Cook powered to the lead on the restart, but Darlene Gifford (34c) slid underneath him going into the third turn on lap two to take the lead away from him. Cook regained the lead on the next lap, only to have Mike Dooley (310c) scoop it from him coming out of turn two. A. J. Lewis brought out the caution on lap four as his car came to rest in turn four. Dooley held onto the lead on the restart, but Mark Pigeon (5) moved up into second, moving Cook back a few positions. Lloyd Cichocki (8c) broke into the top five on the sixth lap. Caution came out on lap eight as Harper and Dave Vogt (32) lost control in turn four. Lap nine was almost disastrous for the field as they all starting jumbling each other, but somehow they managed to come out of turn four without any major incidents, only a few scuffed tires and dented sheet metal. Rob Murray (93) spun out in turn four on the tenth lap bringing out the caution. Mike Dooley held it to the checkered flag and was followed in by Cichocki, Kirk Wilson (08), Jerry Deschamps (f30) and Pigeon. The checkered flag fell after 12 laps, although the race was supposed to be 15. The drivers stopped on the front straightaway in protest.

Jim Varble (15) and John Wrobel (6) started the dwarf feature in the front row. Wrobel was quick to pull ahead, however Wally Billing (37) came from nowhere to take top billing on the first lap. Scott Billing (31) made a space for himself in second spot after only two laps. Chris Rimmen (7x) moved into fourth and started challenging Wrobel for sixth spot on lap three, and got himself in the position. Dave Russell (88) put a push up the outside of the pack to land in fourth spot on lap four. Lee Webber (17) the 2000 dwarf champion moved into fifth spot on lap six after starting thirteenth. Webber moved into second spot on the front straightaway of lap nine, and into first on the tenth lap. Once Webber was in the lead, he never looked back. Wally Billing had to settle for second, followed in by Jeff Johnson (63), Russell, and Scott Billing.

Brian Halliwell (1a) and Danny Gilbert (400) started the Pro Stock feature up front - Gilbert quickly pulled ahead, but Halliwell was hot on his tail. Tom Emery (22) spun out in turn four and came to rest against the wall on the front straight bringing out the first yellow flag of the race. Jeff Dayman (5), Mike Childrose (18d), and several other cars were collected when the pack put on the binders to avoid running into Emery. Gilbert held the lead on the restart, but Mike Ward (95) got up hot on his tail and made it around him on lap four. Rick Baker (78) lost the handle and collected a good portion of the pack bringing out the yellow once again on lap five. Ward held the lead on the restart, but Ken Sargent (25) was right on his back bumper. The two of them worked side by side for the next five laps before Sargent could secure the lead. The caution came out on lap ten as Brad Malloy (5m) lost control and spun out in turn four. Sargent held it for the remaining laps, and was followed in by Dayman, Ward, Gilbert and Baker.

Pete Cosco (17c) started on the pole and continued to lead early into the 25 lap sportsman feature. The feature sported a full field of 24 cars. Garry Moreash (124) made a run up the outside to secure third spot on the first lap, with Shawn Sliter (71s) sitting in second. Tim Lipsitt (29) lost control and took Jeff Leggett (3L) and Bobby Davidson (73) with him, on lap four, bringing out the first yellow. Sliter almost lost the handle on the restart, putting the rest of the pack in a precarious position behind him, but he regained control and kept up the pace. Bobby Davidson came to rest between turns one and two bringing out the second caution of the race on lap six. Moreash and Cosco battled back and forth for the lead, but Cosco managed to pull ahead coming out of four on lap seven. Darryl Ebersole (66) and Joe Meisel (15) put Moreash between them on the back straightaway and made him fall back going into turn three, sliding him back into fourth position on lap eight. Meisel put a run on Cosco and got around him on lap nine. Meisel managed to put quite a bit of distance between him and the pack after only four laps. Ebersole put a push on to relieve Cosco of second spot, but couldn’t get around him until lap 14. Tim Jones (9) came from back in the pack to move into third spot on lap 20, a lap later he got around Ebersole for second spot. Meisel took home his first feature win this season and was followed by Jones, Ebersole, Moreash, and Wayne Conn (8c). Pete Cosco finished in sixth spot.

Todd Gordon (8eh) took the early lead in the modified feature, but Dan Miller (22) got around him as the field came out of turn four three wide. Miller had the lead, but Ken Winfield (82) didn’t let him go. The yellow came out on lap six as Paul Ashton (3a) and Scott Wood (38) spun out together. Ken Cosgrove (9) shot into second spot on lap nine, just before another yellow came out as Fred Cade (12) was rammed into the wall on the front straightaway. Cosgrove grabbed the lead out of turn two on the restart, but Miller took it back coming out of four. Pete Bicknell (42) who broke into the top five on lap nine, moved into third spot on lap 11, and into second on 13. Bicknell took the inside line on lap 15 and shot ahead of Miller. Further back in the pack, cousins Robbie Krull (123) and Billy Krull (z1) were duking it out for fourth spot, Billy was slightly ahead. Cosgrove moved into position to challenge Miller for second spot on lap 18. A caution came out on the field on lap 28 as Ashton came to rest on the berm in turn four. Bicknell held the lead on the restart and left the battle for second and third behind him. Robbie Krull tried to get around Zoomer with only five laps to go and finally managed to do it. Cosgrove went too high coming out of turn four on lap 33, and fell back to fifth spot. Bicknell won yet another feature, with Miller, Robbie Krull, Billy Krull, and Cosgrove rounding out the top five.

Next Saturday – June 16th – Molson Export Extreme Canadian Super Series presents a Father’s Day Spectacular – Empire Super Sprints make their 2001 Merrittville debut – also on the card – 358’s, Sportsmen, Pro Stocks and Dwarfs. Don’t miss this exciting event – for more information, visit www.merrittvillespeedway.com or call 905-892-8266.