Weekly Racing Series
Race Wrap & Full Results

July 18th: Twin 50s Night

THUNDER
Stevie Lively of Shubenacadie knows how to perform under pressure situations. In big races, or when the point championship is on the line, Lively and his #32 Bud’s Top Soil Honda Civic team are usually found near the front of the field.

Friday night’s Thunder 50 was no exception, though he had to work hard to collect the big win.
Lively took the lead from Dave Matthews (Kennetcook) as the two swapped the lead numerous times up front in the closing laps. Scott Williams (Dutch Settlement) lost the lead to Matthews with 15 laps to go after Williams had led the first 35 circuits of the race. Matthews was looking to make the final lead change of the race in his favor on the last lap, but fell a bumper short to Lively at the line on Lap 50.

The top seven ran in tight formation for the full second half of the event, with the top four running most of the final 15 laps side by side in one of the most exciting races seen region wide this season.

For Matthews, the second place finish is his fifth consecutive in six races and will extend the point lead with the consistency. Point leader Matthew Warren (White’s Lake) muscled his way around Tim Webster (Beaverbank) in turn two on the final lap to take third with Webster hanging on for fourth at the stripe. Williams, who had a brake caliper come loose in the final 20 laps, and “The Ironman” Drew MacEachern (Darmouth) finished side-by-side for fifth with Williams edging out the two-time feature winner in 2014 for the spot.

For the sixth consecutive feature, the Thunder cars ran caution free. This makes 175-feature laps the class has gone this season in feature racing without a caution period.

Heat wins in the 17-car field went to Williams and Webster.

LIGHTNING
In a caution free affair, it was an early move by “Rational” Richard Patrick (Halifax) that put the #141 Covey’s Auto Recyclers Dodge in control to take the first Lightning 50 win of his career.

Patrick made a three-wide move on the inside of Richie Moore (Elmsdale) and Mike Brown (Urbania) as the field approached the Lap 15 mark in the feature. The move stuck for the point leader and he held the lead until the finish of the event. Brown held on to the second place position with last week’s winner Deven Smith (Lakeside) taking third.

One of the fastest drivers on the race track was Tim Horton’s at the Airport rookie Steve Matthews (Bedford) in the #198 Fast Eddie Racewear Neon. The wire-to-wire green flag run trapped Matthews in traffic early in the race and he had to settle for a hard charging fourth at the finish. Terry Moore (Elmsdale) finished fifth in the Mark Campbell owned #150 Dodge Neon.
Terry Moore and Smith made sparks fly in the heat race as the two exchanged blows in their qualifier, which resulted in race officials parking both cars on the last lap of the race. Question remains - is the rivalry over or did it end with the checkered flag Friday?

Heat race wins in the 20-car field went to Brown and Richie Moore.

With Scott Thibodeau (Williamswood) pulling off with three laps to go due to overheating in his #169 Ranpro/Airlok Neon, it is expected Patrick will hold a bigger point lead heading into this week.

HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDOLEROS
While it seemed like the kids were playing musical chairs behind the top three, the leaders in the point standings rose to the top when it came to the feature for the Hydraulics Plus Bandoleros.

Up front, Adam Meehan (Rawdon) recorded his second win of the season and took a slim one point lead in the championship over second place finisher Cole Tanner (Shubenacadie). Braden Langille (Shubenacadie), who celebrated his birthday and was a winner in New Hampshire the weekend prior, brought his #51 car home in third.

The top three endured a handful of caution flags in the 15-lap feature, including a pair for the next chapter in the rivalry of Cory Hall (Jolicure, NB) and Luke Ettinger (Kennetcook), which saw race officials set the pair back twice in the feature. Megan Parrott (Beaverbank), who recorded a heat race win, backed in up by leading laps in the feature and finishing fourth, while Nathan Blackburn (Timberlea) turned in a strong fifth place run in the feature.

Braden Langille joined Parrott as a heat winner in the 14 car field.

COORS LIGHT TRUCKS
Jason Fenton (Eastern Passage) vowed he was going to “win ‘em all” following a mechanical failure that knocked him out of the championship picture in the Coors Light Truck class.

He did just that on Twin 50 Night, sweeping his heat and the feature in the class.

Fenton and “The Legend” Cy Harvey (Elmsdale) went at it early in the race and swapped the lead on a pair of mid-race restarts. Fenton edged out Harvey and drove away to pick up his third feature win of the 2014 season.

Behind them, two-time and defending Coors Light Truck champion Dan Smith (Lower Sackville) and leading Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie of the Year Cory Leonard (Halifax) swapped paint on a few occasions in the closing laps for the third place spot, with the rookie edging out the veteran for the position. Matt Vaughan (Lake Fletcher) completed the top five, ahead of “The Pit Lizard” Jamie Creamer (Spryfrield), who drove the #00 truck for “The Animal” Jeff Campbell.

Heat wins went to Ross Moore and Fenton’s #3 Halifax Garage Builders/Cutting Edge Construction/Hodgson Trucking Chevrolet.