TWO SECOND GENERATION DRIVERS SCORE FEATURES FOR DAD IN FATHER'S MERRITTVILLE EVENTS
Thorold, Ontario ... It was a great Father's Eve night of racing at Merrittville with two second generation drivers sharing the limelight on the Pen Center presented event.
Don Spiece of Port Robinson won the 15 lap Pro Stock event while Modified Rookie Todd Gordon on a special event in the Dwarf Cars. The 5 lap event coordinated by Rick Kavanagh featured former racing fathers and their sons or daughters in the same event.
Other winners included Alex Whalen, first time 99 winner Bill Podwinski and Pete Bicknell in the Street Stock, Sportsmen and 358 Modified divisions.
In the 35 lap 358 Modified feature it was a pair of second generation drivers that led the field to the green with veteran Brian Stevens out-dueling rookie Todd Gordon for top spot. With Stevens out front - another driver on the move in the early going was that of Bill Krull. Stevens and Krull soon pulled away to a lead of some 20 car lengths on the field with Krull the new leader on the back-stretch of lap 8. Krull then pulled away to a 10 car advantage with Stevens closing in on the leader once more to lap 25.
Krull seemed to be losing his tires with caution slowing the field for the first time on lap 26. Krull regained the lead on the restart before another caution on lap 27 again slowed the sophomore driver's pace. On the restart it was Krull once again but the new challenger was Pete Bicknell. Bicknell chose the inside groove and took control of top spot out of turn 2 on lap 30.
Through to the finish Bicknell also managed to pull away from the field and at the checkered flag, Bicknell was followed by Jim Begolo who made a late race charge to take the runner-up spot. Krull held on to third spot with Ken Cosgrove and Brian Stevens closing out the top 5. Scott Rick Richner, Joe Middlemiss, Wayne Conn, and Rob Krull closed out the top 10.
Ken Walsh was first to lead the 25 lap Sportsmen feature with a couple early cautions on laps 3 & 5 slowing his pace. Just as another caution slowed the field on lap 6, Bill Podwinski became the new leader. Podwinski set the pace on the restart but again on lap 7 caution fever slowed the field once again. The two early leaders, Walsh and Podwinski were side-by-side on the restart with either driver in control until Podwinski found an advantage and top spot along the front-stretch of lap 8.
Soon Bill Willard would join the leaders but out front once again would be Walsh as the race neared the halfway mark. A tremendous race for top spot ensued. By lap 16 Walsh managed to open up a lead of some 3 car lengths but as the race wound down both Podwinski and Willard stayed in the battle. One car high ... the other low in probably the best race for the division of the season.
At the finish it was Ken Walsh out front with Bill Podwinski and Bill Willard settling for second and third respectively. Unfortunately Walsh was found to be underweight post race so Bill Podwinski was declared winner with Willard second. Chad Brachman, Randy Chrysler, and Fred Carleton rounded out the top 5 while Greg Panunte, Garry Moreash, Pete Cosco, John McKenney, and Andy Imbeault closed out the top 10.
The 15 lap Pro Stock feature saw a veteran and a rookie take the field to green with Todd Zelichowski racing Chris Buttigieg to the initial lead. It was the rookie that took control early though. Caution would slow the field on lap 3 with Buttigieg still in control on the restart. The real battle early on was for runner-up spot with Ken Sargent, Shawn Keus and Don Spiece all racing for position. Just as Sargent took control of the runner-up spot, misfortune struck the leader as he lost control of his car and spun out of top spot. Ken Sargent was the new leader on the restart with Don Spiece soon to challenge. The two ran side-by-side until Spiece took over top spot on lap 9.
Spiece's pace was slowed for caution on lap 10. On the restart it was Spiece out front once again and in the dash to the finish - the second generation driver opened up a lead of 4 car lengths on Sargent. Tom Walker, Ron Reece and Shawn Keus closed out the top 5 while Chris Buttigieg, Todd Zelichowski, Darren Kish, Brian Halliwell and Jarrod Juhasz.
Another second generation driver - Bruce Colbert was the early leader in the 12 lap Street Stock feature with two early cautions slowing the field. By lap 5 point leader Dave Gifford had raced his way into the runner-up spot and was now challenging for the lead. Lap 5 saw Gifford take control. Colbert held on to the runner-up spot despite having his hood blow up to block the windscreen making visibility a problem. Eventually Whalen overtook Colbert and now challenged Gifford with Whalen taking control on lap 6. Through to the finish Whalen opened up an advantage of 5 car lengths on Gifford with Adam Ferri, Mike Ward and Mike Stevenson as the top 5. Aaron Vasas, Rob Knapp, Phil Rudachuk, Brian Huffman and Greg Ayers closed out the top 10.
Ray Webber was the early leader of the 15 lap Dwarf Car feature with two early cautions slowing the largest field of the season as the Canadian Dwarf Cars were part of the field for the first time. On a lap 2 restart the leader Webber slowed in turn 4 and on the next restart the new leader was Jim Varble. On the move in the early going was Dave Russell who took control on lap 5. A few other incidents slowed the event with Russell in control until Howard Manges began to challenge just after the half-way point. Manges took control passing Russell on the inside on lap 11 before one last caution slowed the field on lap 14.
In the one lap dash to the finish Manges pulled away to a 3 car lead over Dave Russell, Nol King, Jim Varble, and Lee Webber while Jeff Johnson, Greg Balyea, John Workable, John Sharp and Bill Perry rounded out the top 10. Balyea was the first Canadian Member Car across the line.
One final event celebrated Father's Day with a special 5 lap Match race in Dwarf Cars. In the field were former drivers Jeno Begolo, Lyndon Wood, Terry Edwards and Dave Halliwell while the second generation was represented by Jim Begolo, Scott Wood, Tammy Willard, Todd Gordon and Brian Halliwell. The fun event was won by Todd Gordon.
The month of June will conclude with the Hamilton Bulldogs AHL Hockey Club presenting a full card of racing plus a Celebrity/Media Challenge Event. Also on the card will be a Photo/autograph Session with all the drivers at intermission. Gates will open at 5:30 with the first heat at 7:30. For further information call 905-892-8266 or visit www.merrittvillespeedway.com.