RACE RESULTS AND WRAP

Race Wrap: June 8th

HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDOLEROS - BOUDREAU BRINGS THE HEAT, WINS SECOND STRAIGHT

The long haul to Scotia Speedworld continues to pay off for Chipman, New Brunswick’s Cole Boudreau as the youngster reeled off another dominant win on Friday night. Boudreau wasted no time making his way to the front of the field in the 15-lap main event and pulled away from the field in the late laps in his #00 State Farm Insurance/Target Window and Door Bandolero. The battle was for second place as Cole Tanner (Shubenacadie) took the spot over a hard charging Luke Ettinger (Kennetcook). Adam Meehan (Rawdon) brought his car home in fourth place while Braden Langille (Shubenacadie) finished in fifth in the feature.

Freshman driver Craig MacDonald (Waverley) scored his first ever heat race victory on Friday night, sharing heat race glory with Heat #2 winner and 2011 champion Jarrett Butcher (Porter’s Lake). Butcher was poised for a top five finish before spinning in the second half of the race, relegating the #3 UAP Traction/Top Construction Bandolero to an eighth place run in the feature.

Boudreau, who is only running a partial schedule at the Speedworld this season, leads the point standings unofficially by four points over Tanner with Ettinger close behind heading into Strictly Hydraulics Night.

JACK DANIEL’S TRUCKS - SUTHERLAND SCORES BIG

Derek Sutherland (Dartmouth) joined the ranks of the Jack Daniel’s Truck division mid-way through the 2011 and quickly caught on to the exciting, fast paced racing put on by the drivers in the division. Less than a full season after joining the class, Sutherland found himself in Scotia Speedworld victory lane in a big way, doubling down on Week Two of the season. Sutherland drove his #5 Maritime Fleet Services Chevrolet to victory over Jason Fenton (Eastern Passage) in the 20 lap feature with Week One winner Dan Smith (Lower Sackville) placing third. The battle for third in the closing laps was intense with Smith holding off Vernon Brown (Antrim) and Truck freshman Kyle Gammon (Middle Sackville) for the spot.

With the 2011 Jack Daniel’s Truck champ JP Arsenault (Church Point) finishing sixth in the heat race and main feature, it will move Fenton to second in points behind Smith. Sutherland, by winning the heat and feature, also inserts himself into the early point picture with Brown, Gammon and Ryan Goldsmith (Italy Cross) not far in the standings. The tailgating action continues this Friday on Strictly Hydraulics Night.

DARTMOUTH DODGE SPORTSMAN - BARKHOUSE BACK IN VICTORY LANE

In the closest finish of the night, the fans were left on the edge-of-their-seats in the final laps of the Dartmouth Dodge Sportsman Series 38-lap feature. A late caution (which sidelined then third place driver Harry Ross White of Noel Road) set up a five lap shootout and ensuing duel between leaders Phil Barkhouse Jr. (Beaverbank) and Mike Alexander (Cole Harbour). The two exchanged the lead at the line thrice in the last five laps with Barkhouse, in the #54 Dartmouth Metal and Bottles Impala, edging out to take the win with a lap and a half remaining. Alexander, who was hanging tough on the outside of Barkhouse for three laps after the final restart, had to settle for second on the night. Mike Banks (Middleton) rebounded from a spin on Opening Day to finish a strong third as he and Fred Schofield (Windsor) battled it out for the final podium spot. Completing the top five was Jordan Veinotte (Porter’s Lake).

Barkhouse started off the evening by winning Dartmouth Dodge Heat Race #1 while Week One winner Aaron Boutilier (Porter’s Lake) took top honors in the second heat. Boutilier was running in the top three in the early stages of the feature before heading to the pit area with apparent rear-end troubles. He returned to the track for a couple laps only to be shown the mechanical flag by race officials for a swaying rear end in his #4 Carstar Collision Centre Ford Fusion. Boutilier finished 14th in the feature and would lose the point lead in the exchange to Veinotte, who recorded his second consecutive top five of the season. Banks and Boutilier complete your unofficial top three in the standings as the series will enjoy an off-week prior to returning for Media Night on June 22nd.

ACE LUMBERMART LIGHTNING - NEW CAR, SAME OLD SMITH STORY

Jorden Smith (Lakeside) showed up at Scotia Speedworld this week with a new car after his primary was destroyed one week prior at Petty International Raceway, but that didn’t stop him from once again dominating the ACE Lumbermart Lightning car division feature on Night Two. Smith started deep in the field and picked his way up through, making his way by then leader “Crazy” Craig Cordeau (Windsor) with less than ten to go in his Rent a Center Dodge Neon. Mike “The Outlaw” Umlah (Stewiacke) charged his way to the front and wound up finishing second after a late pass on Cordeau for the spot. Cordeau rebounded from a mechanical failure at the Season Opener to finish third on Friday night, besting Jeffrey Breen (Antigonish) and Mike Brown (Urbania) for the spot.

Marc MacMillan (Glenholme) went from being out of the feature early at the Season Opener to winning Heat One the on the second night of racing, joining Smith and “The Pit Lizard” Jamie Creamer (Spryfrield) as winners in the qualifying events. Creamer made things exciting as his #194 went for a ride in Turn One on Lap One of the feature, which ended with Creamer on his roof after skidding off the track and turning over. Creamer was okay, in fact he came back on track two laps later and finished the race! The ACE Lumbermart Lightning cars are back on track Friday as a part of Strictly Hydraulics Night.

ACE LUMBERMART THUNDER - FROM BLOWN MOTOR TO BLOWING AWAY FIELD, HAWES TAKES FEATURE

Sheet Harbour’s Tylor Hawes certainly made things exciting in the ACE Lumbermart Thunder car 25-lap Main Feature on Friday night as the four cylinder veteran sponsored by MacDonald Fencing took the win on Week Two of the season. Hawes made daring two and three wide passes as he made his way through the field, one of those passes was on Kyle MacMillan (Hammonds Plains) in the last half of the feature to take the lead and eventual win. Lapped traffic would close up the top six with five laps remaining, but Hawes kept all his competition behind him as he navigated the slower traffic near the finish. MacMillan held on for second with ’11 ACE Lumbermart Thunder champion Dave Matthews (Kennetcook) finishing third on an off-night for the Strictly Hydraulics Legends. Stevie Lively (Shubenacadie) would wind up taking home fourth place with Dwayne Flemming (Truro) and Drew MacEachern (Dartmouth) nipping at his bumper for the spot as the field closed up in the laps leading to the checkers.

Like Matthews, Andrew Warren (White’s Lake) capitalized on a Legend car off-weekend to hop in his #85 Honda Civic to win a heat race on Night Two. He was joined in qualifying victory lane for the Civics by Ross Harvie (Kennetcook) and Matthews. With MacMillan’s second straight runner-up finish in the feature, it moves him into a tie for the point lead (for the first time in his career) with ’10 ACE Lumbermart Thunder champ Lively. Lively, MacMillan and the rest of the Thunder car drivers will get back at it this Friday evening during Strictly Hydraulics Night at Scotia Speedworld.