Weekly Racing Series
Race Wrap & Full Results

September 6th: Fan Appreciation Night

HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDOLEROS
Nicholas Naugle (Halifax) has been waiting for this night for nearly two seasons - he is finally a winner in the Hydraulics Plus Bandolero division.

While it was a wild finish behind Naugle and second place Wyatt McCulloch (Stewiacke), the two youngsters showed racing prowess well beyond their years as they led the field on Friday night to the checkered flag. McCulloch, who is the leading rookie in the class and last week’s main feature winner, kept Naugle and his #88 Brycon Construction Chevrolet on his toes throughout the 15-lap feature.

At the finish, it was Luke Ettinger (Kennetcook) coming home with a podium finish in third with sophomore Craig MacDonald (Waverley) getting the best of Cole Tanner (Shubenacadie) for fourth. The two are battling for third in the standings with one race to go next weekend.

Tanner and Ettinger took qualifying heat race victories.
The championship picture got shaken up early as point leaders Adam Meehan (Rawdon), Braden Langille (Shubenacadie) and MacDonald found themselves in a melee off the second corner on Lap Two. Meehan was unable to complete the feature while Langille finished one lap down at the finish.

Meehan will hold a 30 point lead heading into Dartmouth Dodge Championship Weekend, meaning based on a 13 car field, the #6 car would just have to start his heat and feature to take home the 2013 championship, the first of his career.

COORS LIGHT TRUCKS
Jason Fenton (Eastern Passage) reminded us that the #3 truck may be down, but the Halifax Garage Builders, Cutting Edge Construction Chevrolet team is far from out!

After a dust-up in the heat race, Fenton drove his truck to the front and pocketed his second feature win of the season in the Coors Light Truck division at Scotia Speedworld. While Fenton has drove away in the feature, the bigger story out of the race may have been the rookie in the #08 truck as Matt Vaughan (Lake Fletcher) drove an impressive 20-lap feature and brought the #08 home in second. Ryan Goldsmith (Italy Cross) did what he had to do and got some separation on Dan Smith (Lower Sackville) to gain some ground in the point standings as he finished third to Smith’s fifth. Vernon Brown (Antrim) took home fourth in the feature.

Goldsmith also won his heat race while Larry Vaughan (Lake Fletcher) took the first heat.

Goldsmith closed the gap from eight to three points on Smith heading into Finale Friday. The wildcard in this battle may be Fenton, who sits a dozen points out of Smith for the title. With Goldsmith and Fenton yet to win a Scotia Speedworld track championship, you better believe they will be hungry Friday when the Trucks hit the track in chase of defending champion Dan Smith.

STRICTLY HYDRUALICS LEGENDS
In a race that resembled more of a hockey game than a Strictly Hydraulics Legends feature, it was Danny Harvey (Lantz) that caught on fire at the end of the feature en route to his second victory of the season - literally.

Harvey and his #4 NGH Industrial Services/Curtis Customs Legend held off his Uncle Cy Harvey (Elmsdale) and the defending champion Cole Butcher (Porter’s Lake) in the late laps for the win. The Harveys went side-by-side for many laps at the end of the race for the lead before Danny edged out over Cy. Butcher was able to get a line to make his way past the #37 at the finish to take the runner-up spot over “The Legend,” who got third at the stripe.

Completing the top five in the feature were Maritime League of Legends Tour point leader Justin MacNeill (Bedford) and Paul Goulden (Shelburne).

Heat races were won by Goulden and Jeff Cruickshank (Hantsport). Cruickshank and Matt Moore (Falmouth) were running for a top three spot in the mid stages of the 25-lap feature when contact sent Cruickshank for a spin. The next lap under caution, sparks began to fly after the two shared blows in their race car. More blows followed as the two proceeded to exit their race cars and tussle on the race track. Both drivers, who were second and third in the points heading into the night, were parked for the rest of the evening.

Butcher will carry a 22 point lead on Cy Harvey heading into Finale Friday.

ACE LUMBERMART LIGHTNING
For the third time in four races, Jorden Smith (Lakeside) found his way to victory lane in the ACE Lumbermart Lightning car division.

Smith, a two-time Lightning champ, has been running a partial schedule in 2013 in the class, took another win in the class to add to his already impressive resume in a Neon. He crossed the line ahead of championship points contenders Marc MacMillan (Glenholme), BJ Nicholson (Beaverbank) and Chevy MacDonald (Stewiacke), who fought at the end for every points they could salvage in the 25-lap feature. Marshall Bezanson (Elmsdale) completed the top five in the main feature.

MacMillan and sophomore Donovan Gaudet (Amherst) won qualifying heat races on the night.
With his heat win and second place finish, MacMillan closes to within five points of the leader Nicholson after being unable to gain ground in the previous two weeks. MacDonald lost ground to the two and will need to come from behind on Friday night to win his first championship. The series concludes on Finale Friday.

ACE LUMBERMART THUNDER
Stevie Lively (Shubenacadie) scored his third feature win of the season Friday night as he took the checkers first in the 25-lap ACE Lumbermart Thunder feature.

Lively, who improved his average finish in the last four races to 1.25 with the win in the feature, passed Brandon Watson (Windsor Junction) on a late restart and held off Dave Matthews (Kennetcook) for the feature win. Watson crossed the stripe in third place but failed post race technical inspection, promoting Tim Webster (Beaverbank) to the podium at the end of the night. Completing the top five included point leader Matthew Warren (White’s Lake) and Drew MacEachern (Dartmouth).

Scott Williams (Dutch Settlement) and Kyle Gammon (Mount Uniacke) each took heat race victories.

Warren carries a 15 point lead on Matthews into Finale Friday. Matthews and Warren battled down to the wire in 2011 with Matthews taking the title by a single point over Warren that year.