OPENING NIGHT WINNERS DOUBLE UP AT MERRITTVILLE
By Alexis De Wolfe
Mike Ward (95) and Fred Carleton (96) made it two in a row by winning the Street Stock and Sportsmen features respectively as the month of May kicked off at Merrittville Speedway. Defending Champion Dave Russell (88) took his first feature win of the season with the dwarf cars and Ken Sargent (25) was the first to take the checkered in the Pro Stock feature. Fred Cade (12) dominated the modified field to take the checkered in his event - his first in some three seasons. Christine Porter (30) took the feature win for the ladies race.
In the 15 lap Street Stock Feature, Chris Crawford (4c) and Chuck Martin (3) took the first lap side by side, but Martin pulled ahead on turn four. Mike Dooley (310) sat back in third spot looking for an opening. Darren Zumpe (11z) brought out the first caution flag after getting caught on the rails on turn four. Dooley managed to grab himself second spot before the caution came out on lap three. Todd Saunders (1) grabbed third spot on the restart while Crawford fell back to fourth spot. Martin, Dooley and Saunders started to pull away from the rest of the pack on lap seven. The yellow flag flew once again on lap 10 after a car breaks on turn four. On the restart Dooley got spun around between turns one and two, losing position. Caution comes back out on lap 12 after Zumpe gets rolled over in turn four.
Mike Ward pulled to the lead on the restart, leaving Saunders and Martin to battle it out for second spot. A handful of cars got jumbled together on the start/finish line as the checkered flag flew, but everyone got off the track under their own power. Ward took the checkered for the second week in a row followed by Martin, Saunders, Lloyd Cichocki (8c) and Mike Stevenson (15).
Dave Ackler (7) and Nol King (55) took the green flag together, but Ackler jumped to the front quickly. Dave Russell (88) came from behind to power around the outside of the track and take the lead on the second lap. Bill Perry (9) and Mike Green (3) managed to get ahead of Ackler on lap three as Ackler went too high in turn four. Caution came out on the track after Chris Rimmen (7x) went off the track on lap five. On the restart Russell jumped to a huge lead on the pack, but Perry tried to catch him. Another caution came out on lap seven, as Ackler can't get his car fired again. Lee Webber taking second spot on the restart and trying to run down Russell's huge lead. Ackler smoked his way around the track for the last two laps.
Russell nearly lost top spot to Webber after Webber crossed the line even with Russell's door. Third spot went to Green, followed by Mike Green (3)and Jim Varble (15).
Ken Sargent (25) got off to a great start in the 51 lap Pro Stock feature and pulled ahead of Shawn Keus (7s) and Jeff Dayman (5) at the fall of the green. Keus broke on lap five leaving Dayman with second spot. Sargent increased his lead to a quarter lap on the rest of the track with Dayman, Don Spiece (88) and Tom Walker (81) following him. Walker and Spiece made it around Dayman on lap 12 while Sargent started running into lapped traffic. Spiece avoided trouble on the front straightaway while Todd Zelichowski lost a front tire and nearly cleared out the pack.
Sargent held onto the lead from green to checkered flag and was followed in by Walker, Dayman, Dan Gilbert (400), and opening night winner Darren Kish (99).
Kathy Bates (57K) jumped to the early lead in the ladies race, pulling ahead of Shani Bleich (3) who spun Bates out to take top spot. Christine Porter (3) started making her way up through the pack, as Jackie Walker (81) kissed the wall on the front straight-away. Chrissy Michaud (Y2K) started moving up on Porter for third spot but was unable to grapple it away from her.
Porter took the lead on lap seven and held onto it for the checkered. Porter was followed in by Bleich, Michaud, Danielle Landry (02) and Bates.
Pete Cosco (17c) and Joe Meisel (15) started with the pole for the Sportsman feature. Cosco jumped to the lead with Meisel and Rob Ledingham (9) battling it out for second spot. Ledingham pulled ahead of Meisel on lap three. Dean Hoffman (19) spun out on turn one on lap three to bring out the first caution of the race. He was able to refire his car and make it around to the back of the pack. Meisel passed Ledingham on lap five to take second spot, but Ledingham did not let it go easily. Fred Carleton (96) managed to pull into third spot on lap seven, after starting fourteenth. Carleton maneuvered himself into the top spot on lap nine and start putting a run on the pack. Caution came out on lap 13 as Brad Rouse (18) broke on the front straight-away. Rouse was towed off the track and the race began again. Ledingham tried to get around Carleton on the restart, but Carleton wouldn't give him an inch as he flew to a six-car lead. The yellow flag flew once again on lap 16 as a few cars got tangled up on turn two. On the restart Carleton led, followed by Ledingham and Randy Chrysler (21K). Chad Brachman (3) moved up into third spot to challenge Ledingham for second, but the caution came back out on lap 19 as three cars piled up between one and two. Kurt Sherwood (47) moved up into fifth spot on the restart behind Gary Moreash (124). The yellow flag came out for the last time on lap 23 as Hoffman was spun out on turn four.
It was a two lap dash for the checkered, with Carleton in first, followed by Ledingham, Brachman, Moreash and Sherwood. This was Carleton's second feature win in a row.
Don Turner (39) and Ken Cosgrove (9) had the pole for the modified feature, and ran the first lap side by side before Don McGinnis (2) made it three wide going down the front straight-away and Cosgrove popped to the lead on the second lap. Cosgrove started pulling away from the rest of the pack, with McGinnis sitting back in second spot. Turner and Fred Cade (12) battled it out for fourth spot on lap nine with Cade coming out victorious. Cade set his sights on Cosgrove and started reeling him in. Cade moved into second on lap 15 and almost caught Cosgrove on lap 19. Cade took the lead away from Cosgrove on lap 22 and never looked back. McGinnis and Robbie Krull (123) battled it out for third spot on lap 25 with Krull coming out the top dog.
The race went 35 laps caution free with Cade taking the checkered followed by Cosgrove, Krull, McGinnis and Rich Vinson (93) rounding out the top five. With the event going caution free and plenty of lap traffic, Cade was unaware that he had won, " I thought it was so but I needed the OK just to be sure ... anyway's it's great to be back in Victory Lane," the post-race comments of a somewhat overwhelmed veteran. Join us again next week for Spectator Super Saturday.
May 13th's action will feature a full card plus the return of Spectator one on ones. Gates open at 5:30 with the first action at 7:30. For further information contact 905-892-8266 or visit www.merrittvillespeedway.com.