CARSTAR Weekly Racing Series
Race Wrap & Full Results

May 21st - CARSTAR SEASON OPENER

HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDOLERO - BEGINNER BANDITS
In a field of 11 cars, nobody seemingly wanted to keep the lead in the Hydraulics Plus Bandolero Beginner Bandits feature!

The 15-lap feature, which consisted of eight Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie of the Year contenders, saw Matthew Rushton (Dartmouth) cross under the checkered flag first. Rushton took the lead from Dawson Noble (Upper Nine Mile River) on a late race restart and held off the field and a hard charging Brooke Dowe (Bedford) at the line for the victory. Dowe crossed a close second, followed by Nykolas Pothier (Timberlea), Dylan MacMillan (Glenholme) and Noble.

While the field played hot potato with the lead on track, they also played with it in tech.

Following post race technical inspection, Rushton was disqualified on a rules infraction, giving Dowe her first career Scotia Speedworld victory. Every position moved up one, which gave Ayden Christensen (Windsor Junction) his first top five finish.

MacMillan, who led laps and looked strong in the first feature of the season, and Pothier, driving for “The Oval Outlaw” Wayne Smith, took home heat wins.

HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDOLERO - BANDIT/OUTLAW COMBINED
In a furious first Hydraulics Plus Bandolero combined feature, it was the Langille brothers from Coldbrook who would not be denied.

Josh Langille started sixth in the 13 car field of experienced Bandolero drivers and quickly worked his way up through the field and would not look back for his first INEX win of the season. Reigning Scotia Speedworld champion Sam Rogers (Lower Onslow) shadowed Langille for the Outlaw and overall feature win but had to settle for second. Nathan Blackburn (Timberlea) crossed the line in third, but failed post race technical inspection, handing third place in the Outlaw division (and fifth overall) to Canning’s Danny Chisholm.

Austin MacDonald of Pictou, making his return to stock car racing after an off-track accident in July sidelined him for the remainder of 2016, was a happy heat race winner in the Outlaw class.

In the Bandit division, it was a last lap, last corner pass that got the job done for Nathan Langille. Owen Mahar (Hubley) won his heat race and started on the pole in the 15-lap feature. A caution with six laps to go would shrink the lead Mahar built up on his Bandit competitors as he danced on track with the older drivers.

The remaining laps were a battle with Langille, the defending Bandit track champion, edging out Mahar at the stripe. Colton Noble (Upper Nine Mile River), who finished 2016 off strong, began the new year with a podium finish ahead of 2016’s Beginner Bandit titlist Tyler Hutchinson (Lower Onslow).

PULSE HEAVY DUTY TRUCKS
What was misfortune early for Jason Fenton (Eastern Passage) and Adam Carter (Lantz) was Dan Smith’s gift in the Pulse Heavy Duty Truck feature on Opening Day.

Smith, the five-time and defending Truck champion from Lower Sackville, inherited the lead on the sixth of 25 laps in the main feature when the slightest of touches from Carter in second sent he and then leader Fenton for a spin. With both drivers moving to the back, it gave Smith and his newly built #39 Glenstone.ca Chevrolet the top spot, something he would not relinquish.

Cory Leonard (Goodwood) started alongside Smith on what would turn out to be the final restart of the race and drove to a second place finish with Fenton and Carter not far behind in third and fourth. Fifth place belonged to two-time Scotia Speedworld and inaugural Truck division champion Gordie Ritchie (Elmsdale), in his return to the 3/10-mile oval.

Fenton won the 10-lap qualifying heat race and due to his strong run in the qualifier, he will be tied with Smith in the point standings heading into the June 2nd race.

STRICTLY HYDRAULICS LEGENDS
After a rear end failure sidelined Riley Halverson (Kannapolis, NC) from the Maritime of League of Legends Tour race on Saturday, he made up for it on Sunday by spanking the field in the Strictly Hydraulics Legend opener at Scotia Speedworld.

Halverson won his heat race, started up front and pulled away in the second half of the feature for his first win in Eastern Canada. Halverson was driving for Braden and Craig Langille of Shubenacadie in the #51 machine.

Behind the INEX Pro division driver was a war waged by Cory Hall Racing’s Paul Goulden (Shelburne) and Cory Hall (Jolicure, NB) and Maritime League of Legends Tour Atlantic Tiltload 50 winner Adam Meehan (Rawdon). Hall, driving a borrowed car of Goulden’s after his car developed electrical issues on Saturday, was careful around Goulden’s #57 car and ended up finishing behind Goulden in third with a determined Meehan on his back bumper in fourth.  Lantz’s Danny Harvey fought hard to finish fifth in the 16 car field.
Goulden joined Halverson as the heat race winners.

The Strictly Hydraulics Legend field was diverse, featuring drivers from three Canadian provinces and one US state along with five Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie contenders. Kody Quinn (Sydney) and Andrew Lively (Middle Sackville) will exit the first race tied for the freshman award. Gary Bordage (Dartmouth) took a wild ride under one of the race’s many early cautions and was checked out my Scotia Speedworld medical officials after having the wind knocked out of him.

The Strictly Hydraulics Legends will be on track again for their second race of the CARSTAR Weekly Racing Series on June 2nd.

AFFORDABLE FUELS SPORTSMAN
Travis Roma (West Chezzetcook) and his team are typically thrashing on their #38 Ryzer Fabrication/Mike Rushton Snap On Tools Chevrolet to just get it to the race track on Opening Day. By the end of the first feature of 2017, Roma was standing on the front straight with the checkered flag.

But it wouldn’t have been if Jordan Veinotte (Porter’s Lake) hadn’t cut him a break on the last lap, or so says the driver of the #11 Veinotte Truck and Auto Ford.

Roma battled in the mid-stages of the 38-lap Sportsman feature with reigning champion Pete Miller (Kennetcook) after Miller battled with Alex Johnson (Enfield) before contact with Chris Dingle (Elmsdale) sent Johnson to the rear. Roma looked to have control of the race in the second half before a caution with four laps to go bunched the field up one final time.

Enter Veinotte.

Roma and Veinotte battled side by side for two laps before Veinotte tucked in behind Roma. As the field exited Turn Two on the final lap, Roma drifted up the track which gave Veinotte the perfect opportunity to get at the venerable leader. Veinotte got up to his left rear quarter panel, even pushing in the lower rear quarter, but did not push the extra inches to get Roma further out of shape. Roma would hold on the final half lap to take home the win.

Miller, who won the heat race, hung on for third, ahead of Johnson and Darren Wallage (Oakfield). Wallage drove the #60 car for Alex “Kool Aid Man” Painting (Stewiacke) on Opening Day.

TOURSEC LIGHTNING
 Scott Thibodeau (Williamswood) made quick work of the Toursec Lightning 25-lap feature on Sunday, but if it was a 30 or 35-lap feature, he may have had company to battle with for the win.

Thibodeau, who was a championship contender in 2016, won the heat and feature for the four cylinder class on Sunday, but was chased late in the going by Darrell Sullivan (Harrietsfield). Sullivan worked lap traffic and ultimately passed “Rational” Richard Drake (Halifax) with eight laps remaining. Sullivan drove his #188 car hard and was gaining on Thibodeau and the #169 before the laps ran out.

Drake, who won his heat race, finished third but had a quick Greg Snelgrove (Stewiacke) closing in as the laps counted down. Steve Matthews (Bedford) had a strong effort on opening day and would wind up fifth in the 15-car field.

TOURSEC THUNDER
In a classic Toursec Thunder car feature where any one of seven cars could have won the main event, it was former multi-time champion and Thunder on the Hill winner Tim Webster (Beaver Bank) laying claim to the checkered flag.

Webster, who hadn’t won a feature at his home track since 2014, started third behind another two-time track champion in Dave Matthews (Kennetcook). They were joined by Chris Hatcher (Beaver Bank), Mark Williams (Elmsdale), “The Ironman” Drew MacEachern (Dartmouth) and Nic Baker (Middle Sackville) in the opening half of the race as the six slugged it out in one of the most exciting battles all weekend. When the feature began to wind down, Webster would end up passing Matthews and running away from the battle for second to lock down the win.

Matthews, who said after the race that his throttle was sticking intermittently, would be passed by Williams for second and would hang on to third. For Williams, the podium was his first ever in the Thunder division at Scotia Speedworld. Fourth place ultimately belonged to Hatcher with MacEachern in fifth. Baker would be forced to pit road with a flat tire at the halfway point.

Hatcher and Matthews won qualifying heat races.