BICKNELL LEADS THE WAY IN MERRITTVILLE MID-SEASON CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thorold, Ontario ..7/5/97... The month of July kicked off at Merrittville Speedway with Quaker State and Slick 50 combining to present Mid Season Championships at the Thorold track. Leading the way was Pete Bicknell of St. Catharines who won the 50 lap Modified main event while other repeat winners were Rob Pietz, Ron Reece and Tony Royston in the Sportsmen, Pro-Stock and Mod Stock Divisions respectively. Tim Knapp was the lone new winner taking the Street Stock feature.
" I had my daughter Darlene draw my starting spot," informs Pete Bicknell, " last time I drew ... I drew pole and lost."
The start of the 50 lap Modified event saw quite a battle between rookie Wayne Conn Jr and veteran Harry Sittler. Sittler took the lead at the start with Conn the new leader along the back-stretch. Sittler regained control along the front-stretch again before Conn retook top spot again along the back-stretch - all before a lap 2 caution slowed the field. Conn was again in control on the restart before another on lap 4 again slowed the pace. Sittler returned to top spot with Doug Gordon the new leader in turn 2. A multi-car incident on lap 5 slowed Gordon's pace with a near caution on lap 7 when Harry Sittler slowed drastically - the entire field missing the broken car. Sittler coasted to the pits but caution did slow the pace on lap 8. Gordon again set the pace on the restart with Pete Bicknell the new leader at the start-finish line of lap 10. Bicknell ran away to a comfortable lead with a lap 17 caution slowing the incredible pace. By lap 25 and the half-way point Bicknell regained a comfortable margin on the field. Lap 26 saw caution slow the field again as Martin Polhill slowed in turn 4 after losing a tire - ending quite a strong return to the front after being involved in an earlier caution. Out front once more Bicknell set the pace until another caution on lap 30. With Bicknell out from in his own race the driver on the move was Scott Wood. Wood too was on the rebound from an earlier incident and was challenging Brian Stevens for second when Steven's engine blew in turn 1 - ending a strong run for the second generation driver. Stevens amazingly kept control of his car as did the entire field through the oil and water left behind. On the restart it was Pete Bicknell out front once again. In the final 11 laps Bicknell was able to pull away to a straight-away lead over Scott Wood with Terry St. Amand, Doug Gordon, and Jamie Turner closing out the top 5. Harvey Hainer, Fred Cade, Wayne Conn, Ken Cosgrove and Chris Ricker closed out the top 10.
"The track was excellent ... lots of bite," relates Bicknell, " from lap 10 on I could run the top or bottom just as well."
Bicknell now lead the Slick 50 Shoot-out Series after the second event with the finale set for Saturday August 30th.
Rookie Ryan Hunsinger was first to lead the 20 lap Sportsmen feature before caution slowed the field on lap 4 after Hunsinger unfortunately slowed with car problems. Scott George was in control on the restart before Rob P{ietz took control on la-p 8. Pietz had opened up a nice lead on the field but caution on lap 13 slowed the pace. Pietz resumed control on the restart and in the last portion of the race pulled away to a lead of almost half a lap. Scott George would hold on for second with Rob Krull, Garry Moreash and Larry Lampman as the top 5. Bill Podwinski, Chad Brachman, Paul Ashton, Bill Baker and Joe Meisel rounded out the top 10.
July 5th's event saw the second '97 visit from Skoal Inc. who are involved in a season long program with the Sportsmen, Pietz, George and Krull received cash bonuses as the top three. The next event for the Skoal Inc. Sportsmen Super Series is Saturday August 30th.
Jack Cassell was first to lead the 15 lap Pro-Stock feature and after a lap 1 caution - Steve Heigl was the new leader. Bill Bleich then took control in turn 2 - setting the pace until Ron Reece took over at the start-finish line of turn 4. Bleich regained top spot in turn 2 of lap 5 before caution again slowed the field on lap 7. Bleich again set the pace on the restart before Reece returned to the top spot in turn 2 of lap 8. In the last half of the race Randy Hollingshead was on the move getting as high as second. At the finish Ron Reece held a 10 car lead over Randy Hollingshead with Ken Sargent, Bill Bleich and Steve Heigl as the top 5. Brian Halliwell, Todd Gordon, Len Wiley, Jarrod Yuhazs and Jack Cassell rounding out the top 10.
Kirk Wilson led the field to the start of the 15 lap Mod Stock feature with Mark Edwards taking control along the back-stretch. Edwards set the pace until Tony Royston took over top spot in turn 4 of lap 7. By lap 10 Royston had pulled away from the pack with the battle for second seeing quite a race between Jeff Kline, Harry Vanderzanden, Kevin Reichel and Mark Edwards. With Royston maintaining a comfortable margin to the finish it was Harry Vanderzanden taking runner-up spot while Jeff Kline, Kevin Reichel, and Mark Edwards closed out the top 5. Rich Ferri, Roger Lacroix, Dave Colavecchia, Kirk Wilson and Ken Hildreth rounded out the top 10.
Tim Knapp was first to lead the 12 lap Street Stock feature with Gord Kostyk challenging at the half-way point. Knapp led the field through lap traffic with Kostyk taking the lead along the front-stretch of lap 9. A lap 11 caution set the pace for a one lap dash to the finish with Gord Kostyk holding a 5 car lead to what appeared to be his first ever feature win. However the winner refused post-race inspection and was disqualified. Tim Knapp was declared winner with Chris Charest, Sam Cooper, Chris Crawford and Jeff Dayman rounding out the top 5. Bob Deswiage, Brian Rorison, , Roger Beaulieu, Jim Heatherton and Rick Simons closed out the top 10.
Merrittville Speedway presents a double-header this week with Best Fuels and Garden City REMAX presenting a full card of racing with the Sportsmen in the spotlight in Twin 15 lap events in addition to the first Ladies Race of the year. Action returns Sunday July 13th with the first ever Motocross Event at the Thorold track. The CMRC sanctionned event is being presented by Clare's Cycle, Dirt Smart, On the Verge and Machine Racing. For further information on Stock Cars or Motocross call 905-892-8266.