Merrittville Speedway Race Report for April 29, 2000
By Alexis De Wolfe
The 2000 season at Merrittville Speedway officially opened on Saturday April 29th. Sunny skies greeted race fans and race teams who showed up in record numbers at the Niagara Regions longest running dirt track to see some long awaited racing action.
The first green flag flew to ring in the 2000 season at Merrittville Speedway at 7:30 sharp. In Dwarf car action Jeff Johnson (63) chased down Lee Webber (17) to take the first win in the 2000 season. In street stock action Mike Ward (95) walked away with the first win of the year. Pro-stockers chased Darren Kish (99) around the race track in the feature but he managed to hold onto it to take the checkered flag. Fred Carleton (96) came from the back of the pack to win the sportsman feature, and defending '99 Merrittville Champion Pete Bicknell (42) took the checkered flag in the Modified feature.
Lee Webber (17) took the early lead in the 15-lap dwarf feature with Jeff Johnson (63) chasing him down as Mike Green (3) sat back in third spot. Webber started moving ahead in the third lap as the rest of the pack started to spread out. Dave Russell (88) moved from the back of the pack to clinch fifth spot on lap eight, but couldn't get up any farther. The leaders started getting into lap traffic on this lap that bogged them down a little bit. Johnson made his move on the 11th lap to clinch top spot while Webber frantically tried to get it back from him, but to no avail.
Johnson picked up his first feature win of the season with Webber in second, Green in third, Bill Perry (9) in fourth and Russell rounding out the top five.
Mike Dooley (310) took the lead in the first lap of the street stock feature, only to have it stripped from him on the back straightaway by Mike Ward (95) and Todd Saunders (1) who snuck past him as one. Dooley headed to the pits on the second lap with a flat tire. Ward moved quickly to put some distance between himself and Saunders and ended up with a quarter lap lead on the pack. Chuck Martin (3) kissed the rail in turn four while another driver lost control between one and two bringing out the first caution on lap five. On the restart Rob Knapp (Y2K) moved up into third spot to challenge Saunders for the runner up position. The yellow flag flew once again on lap seven as a car gets turned around between one and two. Saunders challenged Ward for top spot on the restart and secured it coming off of turn four, while Mike Stevenson (15) moved up to third spot. Knapp barreled by Saunders and Ward to take second spot on lap 12 while Saunders spun out in turn four. Darren Zumpe (11) sat disabled up in turn four bringing out another caution.
Ward managed to hold onto the lead but Knapp gave him a run for his money. Ward held it to the green followed by Knapp, Stevenson, Aaron Vasas (6) and Randy Beck (00) rounded out the top five.
Ken Sargent (25) and Don Spiece (88) were the first to take the green flag in the pro-stock feature but Jeff Dayman (5) blew by them on the straightaway to take the early lead. Shawn Keus (7s) brought out the first caution of the feature hitting the wall on lap two. Sargent took the lead on the restart but Darren Kish (99) pulled up behind him. Sargent lost his rear wheel assembly on the back straightaway, taking him out of contention for the win and bringing out the yellow flag for a second time. Kish took the lead on the restart with Spiece moving up to pass, but unable to get the better of him.
Kish came down for the checkered flag first with Spiece in second, Tom Walker (81) in third, Dayman in fourth and Bill Bleich (108) grabbing the fifth spot.
Kurt Sherwood (47) held the pole in the Sportsman feature after winning his heat and took the lead. Brad Rouse (18) hit the barrier in the front straightaway on the second lap bringing out the first caution. Fred Carleton (96) moved up from the back of the pack to clinch second spot on the restart, only to have the caution fly again. On the second restart Carleton clinched first spot and never looked back as he started to fly around the racetrack. Boyd MacTavish (7m) moved up into second spot only to have Sherwood challenge him for his place. Randy Chrysler (21k) moved ahead of 47 on lap eight to take second spot and try to chase down Carleton. Chad Brachman (3) moved up from 11th spot to take fourth spot on lap 13 and moved into third on the next lap. Brachman, the defending champion duked it out with Chrysler for second spot and clinched it on lap 16. Carleton had a half-track lead on the rest of the pack with five to go as Chrysler moved back ahead of Brachman. Chrysler and Brachman were bouncing spots right up until the last lap when Brachman left Chrysler to eat his dust.
Carleton took the first checkered of the season followed by Brachman, Rob Pietz (69), Chrysler and MacTavish.
Brian Stevens (44) started at the front of the pack for the Modified feature, while the rest of the pack went three wide into turns one and two. Stevens lost position on the back straightaway as Larry Lampman Jr. (42L), Pete Bicknell (42) and Scott Wood (38) pulled ahead of him. The yellow flag flew on lap four, slowing the pack down. Bicknell took the lead on the restart with Lampman fighting him for the lead, which he took back on the sixth lap. Stevens and Don McGinnis (20) fought it out for third spot. An accident in turn four brought out the caution on lap 9 as Ken Cosgrove (9), Todd Gordon (8eh) and Andy Green (24) get piled up in the corner. It was the battle of the 42's on the restart with Lampman pulling ahead of Bicknell and the two cars leaving the rest of the pack behind. At the halfway mark Lampman started moving into lapped cars, giving him an edge on Bicknell. The yellow flag came out again on lap 24 as Chris Ricker (13) spins out on turn four almost taking Lampman with him. Bicknell regained the lead on the restart, only to have the red flag come out on lap 29 with a four-car pileup on the front straightaway. Dan Miller (22), Rick Richner (26), Joe Middlemiss (11) and Robbie Krull (123) all get into each other at full speed, as they were not able to see coming off of turn four. Richner was stuck in his car until they were able to peel Middlemiss' car away from him. All of the drivers walked away from the accident, although there is going to be a lot of rebuilding done in the next week. Only 11 cars remained on the track for the restart. Bicknell took the lead on the restart and Lampman just couldn't catch him in the last six laps of the race.
Bicknell is the first winner of the 2000 season followed by Lampman, Billy Krull (z1), Stevens and Rich Vinson (93).
Join us again at Merrittville Speedway next week for Mother's Day Millennium Madness where we will feature a full card and a ladies race.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. with races starting at 7:30 p.m.