Weekly Racing Series
Race Wrap & Full Results

June 13th: AMP Energy Night

DARTMOUTH DODGE SPORTSMAN
After a “disgusting” opening night at Scotia Speedworld, Dartmouth Dodge Sportsman Series champion Darren Wallage of Oakfield is back in victory lane with a checkered flag.

Wallage put his #3 Blair’s Custom Metals/The Cat Shack Chevrolet at the front and held off all challengers with two late race restarts with under five laps to go to take the win.

The first late restart with five to go in the 38-lap affair saw the leaders funnel into turn one with favorites Harry Ross White, DJ Casey and Tony Leonard getting swept up in an accident.  All three cars involved went to the rear and each finished the event on the lead lap.

The second late restart saw 2012 champion Aaron Boutilier of Porter’s Lake mix it up with Elmsdale’s Chris Dingle in turn three, leaving Boutilier with heavy cosmetic damage to the #4 Ritchie’s Renovations/CARSTAR Collision Ford. Both completed the remaining laps and finished in the top ten in the 19 car field.

As the tides turned behind him, Wallage lined up on the final restart with Three Fathom Harbour’s Brently Pirri. Pirri, who enters his fourth full season at Scotia Speedworld, went to the high side and nearly got by Wallage on the final restart but had to settle for a career best second place in the #37 Porter’s Lake Dental/Pegasus Realty Chevrolet. Behind them was Jordan Veinotte of Porter’s Lake, who started at the back of the 19 car field and worked his way to third in the 38-lap feature.  The #11 Veinotte’s Truck and Auto Ford had to out run a hard charging White, besting the #18 at the stripe by inches for the final podium spot. Casey, of Prospect Road, took fifth place in the main feature.

For Wallage, returning to victory lane was a relief after the first race of 2014.

“Week one was pretty disgusting for us, but we managed to bring it back around,” said Wallage, who ended up sixth in the first Sportsman feature of the season back in May.

Pirri and former Hobby Stock champion Larry Fisher took qualifying heat wins on the night. It was a rebound from night one for Fisher, who discovered a cracked head in his #33 MacPhee Ford Fusion after the first event on May 25th.

White, Wallage, Boutilier and Casey all find themselves within two points heading into Friday’s 50-lap extended feature for the Sportsman cars.

COORS LIGHT TRUCKS
It took two races for “The Legend” Cy Harvey of Elmsdale to find Victory Lane in the Coors Light Truck class at Scotia Speedworld.

The veteran came from the back of the field in the 25-lap feature, outlasted the front runners and held off a hungry rookie to take the win in his #10 truck.

Matt Vaughan of Lake Fletcher paced the field for most of the feature in the #08 Aerotec Engines Chevrolet, before the temperatures rocketed and he had to pit with seven laps to go. It handed the lead to Harvey, who had gapped the field in the late laps, that is, until rookie Cory Leonard of Halifax got up on the wheel.

Leonard closed rapidly on Harvey in the final five laps, got up on his tailgate in the final two laps, even roughing up the former Speedworld Legends champion before missing his marks on the final lap in the final corner, which sealed up the win for Harvey.

In victory lane, Harvey was jubilant, even threatening to do a back flip off the winning truck.
“The racing is great here. Buy a race car, buy a race truck, come out here and try this for yourself,” said Harvey to the fans in the stands after climbing out of the truck.

Leonard came home in second place with Jeff Campbell of Halifax in third, before Campbell flunked post race technical inspection. The disqualification promoted “The Pit Lizard” Jamie Creamer to third after edging out rookie Adam Carter of Lantz. Chris Ainsworth of Elmsdale returned from blowing an engine on week one to finish fifth on his first night with a new motor.
Championship favorites fell like flies on the second week of the season. Jason Fenton of Eastern

Passage, who won on week one, blew a part a motor in the heat race and could not get out on track to collect feature points. Meanwhile, two time champion Dan Smith of Lower Sackville had the rockers lay down on his engine in the feature and would finish sixth on limited power. He did win one of the heat races in the #39 Truck, sharing qualifying wins with Leonard.
The Coors Light Trucks will see an undercard feature for the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour Lockhart Truck Center 150 coming up Saturday at 6pm.

STRICTLY HYDRAULICS LEGENDS
For the second week, Cole Butcher of Porter’s Lake paced his competition in the Strictly Hydraulics Legend division.

Butcher and the #5 Atlantic Tiltload/Irving Oil Blending & Packaging Ford started near the rear of the 13 car field on Friday and drove up to the front, wasting little time in getting to the front.
Unlike Week One though, Butcher had to contend with a couple of restarts in the second half of the event, holding off veterans Jeff Cruickshank of Hantsport, Danny Harvey of Lantz, freshman Nicholas Naugle of Dartmouth, just to name a few.

Restarts were no problem for the #5 car, who is chasing his third consecutive championship in the class.

Lapped traffic though became a problem for at least one driver in the closing lap.
When the field came up to lap a slower car, Cruickshank got stuck behind traffic, which allowed Naugle to move around for second, which in turn gave the 16-year old his best career finish in a Legend car at his home track.

Cruickshank had to settle for third, with Harvey and “Miss Rawdon Rocket” Emily Meehan taking fifth.

Heat races were won by Cruickshank, who edged out Butcher by inches at the finish of the ten lap qualifier, and Paul Goulden, who makes the long haul to the Enfield track from Shelburne each week.

The Strictly Hydraulics Legends will stretch their legs for 50-laps this Friday night in an extended feature on Live 105 Night.

LIGHTNING
In one of the most exciting finishes in division history, Scott Thibodeau came out of the night with the checkered flag after all the dust settled.

The night appeared to belong to Donovan Gaudet of Dartmouth. The third year driver won his heat race and led the most laps in the feature and appeared to be on his way to his first feature win before a late race restart bunched up the field.

Following a few intense laps of racing, Gaudet came out of Turn Four in front of the field, looking at the checkers for the first time in his career. Feet later, he ended up going hard into the concrete front straightaway wall, drivers side trying hard to take that win.

A car length or so away, it was Jorden Smith of Lakeside, two time champion of the class, edging out Thibodeau of Williamswood by inches at the stripe for the win. Behind them, Gaudet slid across the line backward, in the wall, to be scored in third. Video replays scored “Rational” Richard Patrick in fourth, Richie Moore in fifth and Week One winner Mike Brown in fifth.

Then came post race technical inspection, where Smith’s #144 car passed through one door with the checkered flag and came out the other side after the race without the trophy.

The failed post race technical inspection by Smith handed Thibodeau his first career feature win at Scotia Speedworld in just his second start back at the track since 2011. Thibodeau had previously run in the Lightning class, before switching to Hobby Stock and a 2009 Debbie Hallahan Memorial Rookie of the Year season in the Dartmouth Dodge Sportsman before taking a few seasons off. It moved Gaudet up to second, his career best finish at the Speedworld and Patrick to third.

Gaudet, Deven Smith and Mark Campbell won heat races on the evening. A huge car count showed up for the night with 25 cars registering for the evening’s racing action in the Four Cylinder class.

The Lightning cars will be a part of the undercard for the Lockhart Truck Center 150 on Saturday night.

HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDOLERO
Some may have been wondering if Shubenacadie’s Cole Tanner forgot how to find victory lane at Scotia Speedworld. It had been two seasons since the #33 Sheehy Enterprises/Eastern Drainage Bandolero had been to the top at his home track.
That changed Friday night, in a big way.

Tanner topped a competitive field of 14 cars to take his first win of the season for the team that typically puts in over 30 races a year round Atlantic Canada. The win was far from easy to achieve though, with a pack of veterans on his bumper in the 15-lap main event.

Defending champion Adam Meehan of Rawdon came home in second while Luke Ettinger of Kennetcook continued to flex muscle early in the season by finishing third. A career run saw Dylan Sutherland of Beaverbank come home with fourth while Braden Langille of Shuenacadie edged out New Brunswick’s Cory Hall for the final spot in the top five.
Heat races were won by Sutherland and Tanner.

“We’ve been struggling here for a couple years, but we finally got it figured out,” said a jubilant Tanner in Victory Lane. “I knew those guys were behind me and I was trying hard not to let them by. Thanks to all my sponsors, my crew and my family. ”

For the first time in track history, the Hydraulics Plus Bandoleros will run an extended 25-lap feature coming up on Friday night.

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The Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour will visit Scotia Speedworld for the second time this weekend, with the Lockhart Truck Center 150 being the highlight attraction on Saturday evening beginning at 6pm. The Coors Light Trucks, and for the first time in over a decade, the Thunder and Lightning cars will play support to the biggest short track touring series in Canada.

Friday night sees extended features for three of the marquee divisions on the Weekly Racing Series slate. Live 105 Night sets the stage for a 50 lap Dartmouth Dodge Sportsman feature, a 50 lap Strictly Hydraulics Legends feature and 25 lap Hydraulics Plus Bandolero feature. Action begins at 7pm.

Until next week, keep the hammer down and we’ll see you at the track!