TWO FIRST TIMERS FIND VICTORY LANE AT MERRITTVILLE
By Alexis De Wolfe
As the race season is winding down at Merrittville Speedway, the driver's are winding up. Mike Stevenson (15) took his first ever feature win in the street stock class, while Lee Webber (17) took the checkered in the dwarf feature. Ken Sargent (25) was ousted from his winning streak by Pro Stock rookie Jeff Dayman (5). Tammy Willard (77T) won her second Sportsman feature of the season, while Pete Bicknell (42) earned top honours in the 358 Modified feature.
Mike Stevenson (15) took the early lead in the street stock feature, with Todd Saunders (316) looking to take it away from him, but Stevenson was in the lead and never looked back. Bruce Colbert (97) moved into second place on the third lap and started knocking on Stevenson's back door. The yellow came out on lap nine when Saunders and Dave Gifford (34c) got together on turn four, taking them out of third and fourth spots to leave Chuck Martin (3) in third place. Alex Whalen (57k) made his way up from the back of the pack to challenge Colbert for second place. Colbert pushed Whalen off the side of the track on the second last lap and came around just before the checkered and spun Martin around, leaving him behind. Stevenson took the checkered, his first ever feature win. Chris Crawford (4c) finished second followed by Whalen, Lloyd Cichocki (8c), Saunders and Barry Blanchard (31) rounded out the top five.
The Dwarf cars were scattered as they came across the start line for their feature, with Lee Webber (17) taking the early lead followed by Noel King (55) and Howard Manges (0+). On lap ten Dave Russell (88) went from first to third to oust Webber, but Webber battled it back and regained the lead on lap 12. Caution came out on the track on lap 11 when Karen McDonald (02) got turned around the wrong way and Joe Swatland (23) broke up in turn one. Manges jumped the restart, leaving him back two places after the finish of the race. Webber held onto the lead to take the checkered, followed by Russell, Bill Perry (9) and Mike Green (3) finished fourth with Ray Webber (77) closing out the top 5.
Brian Halliwell (1a) and Todd Zelichowski (18) started the Pro Stock feature side by side but Halliwell quickly pulled away from Zelichowski. Ron Reece (11) made a push and passed Zelichowski on the first lap, and Jeff Dayman (5) was quick to follow his lead, leaving Zelichowski back in fourth. The yellow flag came out on lap three for a car stopped on the back straightaway. At the time of the caution Ken Sargent (25) last week's winner was sitting back in 7th place. Reece moved up to take the lead on lap four, with Halliwell chasing him down. Tom Walker (81) ran into the wall on the front straightaway on lap ten but gets going again under his own power. Sargent was up to fourth place on the restart. Caution came back out on lap 14 when Halliwell got himself into the wall, leaving it a one-lap dash for the checkered to decide the race. Herb Hunter (95) spun himself around on the restart between turns three and four and sat waiting for the yellow flag to fall, and a second dash for the checkered. Sargent moved up into second and looked hard to overtake Dayman, but Dayman was unrelenting in his desire for the win and came around to take the checkered. It was Dayman's first Pro Stock feature in his rookie season after quite a career in the Street Stock division. Sargent followed him, who was in turn followed by Reece, Don Spiece (88), and Joe Jamieson (g13) finished out the top five.
Boyd McTavish (7m) jumped to the early lead in the Sportsman feature with Jack McKinney (57) and Andy Imbeault (47) close on his heels. Imbeault took second place on the second lap. A caution came out on lap four and was quickly taken back as a jumble of cars sorted itself out in turn one. A real caution came out on lap nine as Brian Elliottson (54) got into the rail on turn one. Imbeault took the lead on the restart, only to have the caution flag fly again on lap 11 as Elliottson and McKinney get together in turn one. Imbeault had the lead but Tammy Willard (77t) moved up to challenge McTavish for the second place spot, Willard pulled ahead of McTavish on lap 14 and started to hunt down Imbeault. Greg Panunte (99p) moved up to take third away from McTavish a lap later. As the laps started counting down Willard and Imbeault battled it out side by side for the number one spot, as they came around for the checkered door to door, Willard crept ahead by a nose to take the win. Panunte came around in third place followed by Bill Willard (77jr), Chad Brachman (3) rounded out the top five.
Rob Krull (123) took the pole for the modified feature but Harry Sittler (37s) was looking for the number 1 spot on the start. Larry Lampman (44) took second away form Sittler on the back straightaway on the first lap. Don Turner (39) sat back in fourth place holding off the remainder of the pack. Yellow came out on the fifth lap as Pete Cosco (17) breaks up on turn three. Lampman jumped to the lead on the start and Dan Miller (22) finally made it by Turner to take third. The cars just piled up in turn four on lap seven when Fred Cade (12) lost control and collected Scott Wood (38), Joe Middlemiss (11j), and Ken Cosgrove (9). Cade was the only one that couldn't get going under his own power. Krull went wide on the restart and lost second place to Miller. Pete Bicknell (42) found himself suddenly in third spot, challenging for second just after the restart, moving his way up from 19th. Bicknell took second spot on lap 15 and just sat biding his time behind Lampman. Bicknell finally went around Lampman on lap 25 and started putting quite a bit of room between the two cars. Jim Begolo (16) moved up to challenge Krull for fourth and took it with only one to go. Bicknell came around to take his well deserved checkered followed by Lampman, Miller, Begolo, and Krull.
Join us at Merrittville Speedway next weekend for Double Trouble, double points for all classes and a 50-lapper for the Modifieds. Former Point Champion and Pete Bicknell and Jim Begolo - looking for his first ever Merrittville Points Championship will go into the final points night - September 4th separated by the slightest of margins in probably the closest battle in the track's history. Hoosier Tire Night will also feature the final point night for the Sportsmen with Chad Brachman in line for his first ever Merrittville Points Championship as well. Representatives from SKOAL Inc. will be in attendance for the final bonus night for the sportsmen. Rounding out the card will be the Pro Stocks, Street Stocks and Dwarf Cars, Gates open at 5:30 with the first heat at 7:30.