Weekly Racing Series
Race Wrap & Full Results

September 26th - Season Finale

DARTMOUTH DODGE SPORTSMAN
While Aaron Boutilier (Porter’s Lake) was busy storming to the front to win his second consecutive feature of the season, it was Russell Smith Jr (Lakeside) riding along to his first championship in the Dartmouth Dodge Sportsman Series at Scotia Speedworld.

Boutilier started from the back of the 19 car field and methodically worked his way to the front of the field, avoiding most of the late race fireworks to put himself in position to win the event. The #4 Carstar Collision Centre Ford made the winning move with under ten laps to go, passing Harry Ross White (Noel Road) for the win. HOSS, who went winless in the 2015 season, had to settle for second while Smith Jr came home in third.

Wayne Miller (Kennetcook), who won his heat race and led the most laps in the feature, finished fourth on the afternoon with Phil Barkhouse Jr (Hammonds Plains) completing the top five. Jordan Veinotte (Porter’s Lake), who was seventh in the feature, won the second of two heat races for the Dartmouth Dodge Sportsman.

Smith’s final point tally was 1118 points, 52 more than Barkhouse in the championship standings. White was third at the end of the season, 10 points behind. Travis Roma (West Chezzetcook) and Pete Miller (Kennnetcook) both entered with a shot at second place in the standings, but a subpar showing compared to White and Barkhouse in the final race has the two finishing fourth and fifth in the standings, respectively. Alex Painting Jr (Stewiacke) defeated Matt Moore (Falmouth) for the Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie of the Year.

STRICTLY HYDRAULICS LEGENDS
After a roller coaster season, Cole Tanner (Shubenacadie) ended his Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie season on a high with his first career Strictly Hydraulics Legend win on Saturday afternoon.

Tanner took the lead after the green flag and escaped the pack early in the feature. The lead Tanner built after a couple early cautions was impressive, one that second place driver Cory Hall (Jolicure, NB) could not overcome. As the #2 Overall Experience Dodge crossed the line, the excited Tanner momentarily lost control of his car and made contact with the outside wall after the finish line.

Hall, who was running for an overall championship in the division, finished second. Emily Meehan (Rawdon Gold Mines) continued to hold her hot hand with a third place run in the final oval feature of the season for the Legend cars. She bested her brother Adam Meehan (Rawdon Gold Mines) and Danny Harvey (Lantz) for the final podium position.

Harvey and Tylor Hawes (Porter’s Lake) each won heat races in the 12 car field.

Jarrett Butcher (Porter’s Lake) entered the final feature of the season with a 13 point lead on Hall after Hall failed to finish the heat race. A sixth place finish in the 25-lap feature sealed the title for Butcher in his first full-time season in Legend cars at Scotia Speedworld. The championship is the fourth consecutive for Butcher Racing in the class after Jarrett’s brother Cole won the previous three championships. Jarrett is now a three time champion at Scotia Speedworld after previously winning two Hydraulics Plus Bandolero championships.

COORS LIGHT TRUCKS
History was made Saturday as Dan Smith (Lower Sackville) became the first four time consecutive champion in any division in the 28 year history of Scotia Speedworld by winning the 2015 Coors Light Truck championship.

Smith almost sent off 2015 with a win, as he raced “The Legend” Cy Harvey (Elmsdale) hard for the final feature victory of the season. Smith and his #39 Glen Stone Excavating Chevrolet got to the bumper of the #18 Harvey Racing Chevrolet in the middle of Turns Three and Four coming to the white flag but could not muster enough to get around the cagey veteran for the win.

In third at the end of the feature was Tony Leonard (Goodwood), who had a tussle with Jason Fenton (Eastern Passage) with seven laps to go in the feature. A disagreement for position ended with Fenton sending Leonard for a spin in the first corner on Lap 18, ending the night for the #3 Truck. Adam Carter (Lantz) led the opening laps of the race and looked poised for a podium finish but had to settle for fourth, ahead of Megan Parrott (Beaver Bank). Parrott won the Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie of the Year Award in the class.

Matt Vaughan (Lake Fletcher) won the heat race but a broken sway bar early in the feature ended his hopes for a third feature win to close the season. Vaughan would ultimately edge Leonard’s #74 truck for second in the standings by a single point.

CHICKENBURGER LIGHTNING
Scott Thibodeau (Williamswood) held off Deven Smith (Lakeside) and the challenge of lapped cars to win his third feature of the 2015 Chickenburger Lightning season.

Thibodeau had to battle with Smith in the late stages of the race as they bobbed and weaved their way through lapped traffic like a well choreographed ballet routine. Thibodeau fended off all challenges and obstacles late in the race to come home with the win over Smith. Marc MacMillan (Glenholme) performed strong in the feature, running up front and coming home with a third place finish. The #188 of Darrell Sullivan (Harrietsfield) once again charged hard at the end of the feature but came up short with a fourth place finish. Tom Stewart scored another top five finish as he edged out the Cavalier of Chevy MacDonald in a battle of Stewiacke for fifth.

Marshall Bezanson and Deven Smith each won heat races to begin the afternoon. Smith’s heat win came when Richard Patrick (Halifax) and Thibodeau came together in Turn Three on the final lap, eerily similar to the move made a week prior in the final lap of the main feature where Patrick got into Turn Three too hot and collected Thibodeau. Smith also got the win in that feature on a last lap pass.

Deven Smith is the third brother from the Smith family, joining Russell and Jorden as champions in the Chickenburger Lightning class.  The championship is the first for Deven at Scotia Speedworld, winning the title by 40 points over Thibodeau. Adam Smith of Antrim, who debuted a new car on the final afternoon of the season, capped off his year with the Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie of the Year Award.

HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDOLERO OUTLAWS
While light in numbers, the action was frantic up between the three competitors in the Hydraulics Plus Bandolero Outlaw division.

Wyatt McCulloch (Stewiacke) entered with the point lead and exited with not only his first track championship at Scotia Speedworld but also his third feature win of the season. McCulloch raced hard with Luke Ettinger (Kennetcook) and Dylan Sutherland (Beaver Bank) for the final victory of the year. The three swapped spots throughout the 15 lap feature to close off the season.

Ettinger, who is unsure of his plans for the 2016 season after graduating from a Bandolero car, would finish his Bandolero career with a win in the final heat race of the season. Like his championship rival McCulloch, the #62 car also picked up three wins on the year.

McCulloch’s margin of victory will go down in the division as 29 points.

HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDOLERO BANDITS
While the end of the season may not have finished as well as Josh Langille (Coldbrook) would have liked, it still came to a close in victory lane with his first championship.

Langille battled all season long with Austin MacDonald (Pictou) for the track title and with MacDonald holding the hot hand heading into the final race of the year, Langille would have to do what he had done all season long by staying consistent to score his first Hydraulics Plus Bandolero championship.

While MacDonald won the battle on Saturday, Langille would come on top with the war.
MacDonald won his fifth feature in seven races at Scotia Speedworld on Saturday to draw the season to a close, passing Langille in Turn Four in the final laps of the feature after the #18 car went wide in the final corner. Sam Rogers, the Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie of the Year, would also sneak by Langille for second with the elder Langille brother taking third in the 15-lap feature. Owen Mahar (Hubley) and Austin Tanner (Shubenacadie), two rookies who battled all season for the top freshman honors, would come home fourth and fifth, respectively, in the final feature of the season.

Heat wins in the 14 car field went to Colton Noble (Upper Nine Mile River) and fan favorite Danny Chisholm (Canning).

The final margin in the point standings will go down as an eight point win for Langille over MacDonald.