Recess Over; Back to Business for Fanfest on Friday

The Monster Trucks are gone. The puddles are dried up. The IWK 250 weekend is over.
That must mean one thing – the mid-season break has concluded and it’s time for us to go back racing!

I don’t really like the term mid-season because technically we have more weekends to go than we’ve ran. We’ve raced a total of six weekends and we have nine to go. Now, I know with some divisions having off weeks that number is a rolling target per say but we have over half the season left. For most, that means they have time to dig out of the hole they may have dug themselves in June.

Before we acknowledge where we’re going on the season, let’s pay tribute to where we’ve been so far in 2018.

Jordan Veinotte moved to the head of the class in the Affordable Fuels Sportsman division after his second straight win the last time out. Veinotte also owns two race wins at Petty International Raceway and is virtually on a four race win streak heading into Friday night. While he’s got the hot hand, he is chased down by a pair of champions in Aaron Boutilier and Matt Vaughan, two title chases that Veinotte had been a part of in 2012 and 2017. Not far back after four races sit Kirk Ryan and Alex Johnson, still well within the championship conversation as we head into Fanfest.

I want to shed the light on the top two Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie of the Year contenders in the class before we move on though. Deven Smith was on the podium the last time we raced and was well on his way to a great finish last Friday night in the Henry’s AutoPRO 150 at Riverside before an incident on the front straight took him out of contention. Megan Parrott has impressed this season and has two top five finishes in four races. The gap between the pair is eight points after four races and they sit sixth and eighth overall. Not only are they making headlines as rookies, they may be in this title fight if the cards fall in their favor. Remember what Matt Vaughan did last year, it is totally attainable and not out of the question to see a rookie champion.

Not to mention, we’ve had 16 drivers that have competed in at least three of the first four races in 2018. Speedway 660’s biggest Sportsman car count has been 16 all season (and that was for a 125-lap race) and Petty International Raceway has been fighting to get a double digit car count. Not to brag, but it is great to see the biggest field of regular Sportsman cars right here in our backyard on a weekly basis.

The Strictly Hydraulics Legends product has been quite intriguing this season. Five races have produced four different winners and the only repeat winner leads the field in Emily Meehan. Meehan, who is having the best Legend car season of her career, cannot rest easy though with Shelby Baker only eight points back and reigning champion Paul Goulden ten points back. Sophomore Andrew Lively shouldn’t be taken lightly either as he’s only 18 points out of the lead.

You’ve got four drivers that, and I don’t like saying this too loud because we’re not halfway yet, are teetering on falling out of the championship conversation with the way the top four have been running. Danny Harvey, Tylor Hawes, Shane Lively and Dylan Sutherland have all had a “mulligan” so to speak so far, that one bad race that reflects more after five races than it will after ten races. Meehan, Baker, Goulden and Andrew Lively haven’t had that off night yet and if they want to contend for the title amongst themselves the pressure will be on in this second segment of the season to keep it that way.

The Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie battle sees Nicole Richard lead Nathan Blackburn by 53 points after five races. Yes, big margin after five races, but Blackburn had motor issues earlier this season and has a goose egg in the point column on one of those nights. With seven Legend races left before any rain outs, Blackburn would have gain an average of eight points per night to catch Richard. Here’s food for thought – Blackburn’s handicap after four races is 88 points per night while Richard’s is 81 after five races. That’s a difference of seven points per night over the first segment of the season – or a gap of 49 points over seven races if Blackburn can keep up that pace in races he has finished. The numbers have this one being close by the end of the year, so keep your eye on it.

Steve Matthews has been fast in the Toursec Lightning division, there’s no questioning that. Whatever Stan Miller and the crew found over the winter though has put that team over the top as one of the fastest cars in the class. Yes, Scott Thibodeau has won the most recent race in the class but isn’t running for the championship this year. Sidenote, Thibodeau’s handicap over three races compared to Matthews with four is only a quarter point difference, so if there was a championship battle between the two it would have been a barnburner.

Richard Drake has one win but hasn’t had the consistency that Matthews and his two victories have had in the first four races and, in turn, has an 18 point hole in the standings. Drake, with a new car, has won the Toursec 50 this year and is determined as anyone to win this championship.

Quite possibly the storyline of the season in Halifax has been Chevy MacDonald. We all knew Chevy could wheel with the best drivers in the region but a Chevrolet product hasn’t been able to stack up in recent years against the Dodge Neons in the division. Whatever Chevy has found with this new car has worked and he’s driven his butt off to get to third in the standings.

David Jollimore has had a solid season as well. Jollimore has a podium run in the first four races and is well within the conversation for the championship early in the going. Keep your eyes on guys like Travis Keefe, Michael Jollimore, Jamie Dillman and Marshall Bezanson as well. We’ve seen a number of drivers reach the podium this year, but do they have enough to topple the three that have owned the checkered flag in recent years? We’ll find out if anyone can capture the flag other than Matthews, Thibodeau or Drake on Friday night.

The Bandolero divisions, presented by Hydraulics Plus, have raced the less of any other division at Scotia Speedworld this season but have put on some of the most memorable shows.

The Outlaw division has seen some exciting racing, breathtaking passes and some hard hits in three events. You’ve got some drivers that want to go to the front on Lap One, you got some drivers that show patience and others that have shown raw speed.

Josh Langille enjoys a ten point lead on Colton Noble but it gets tight behind the No 03 car. Only 14 points separate second place Noble, Danny Chisholm, Nate Singer, Matthew Rushton, Devin Wadden and Sam Rogers. That’s the battle of any in this Weekly Racing Series where the proverbial bomb could go off Friday night and shake up the point standings. Once small slip in these cars with the experience these kids have and the speed they are traveling could trigger a big crash and create headaches trying to make up points.

Owen Mahar was swept up in a wreck during our last race and his Bandit point lead has shrunk to six over Brooke Dowe and nine over Morgan Mosher. The trio races within the Outlaw field and is scored separately, so a wreck in their “race within a race” doesn’t hurt as much as it hurt Sam Rogers in the 11 car Outlaw field, but it can still sting.

The Beginner Bandolero field is one of the strongest crop of young talent we’ve seen in a while and it is led by a kid who has really impressed me over three weeks. Gage Gilby has been smooth and consistent in just four races (including one last year) and it has resulted in two feature wins. Greg McKay, Drew MacEachern and I had this conversation the last time we ran and I think Gilby has the early signs to do big things in our sport. There are kids who take a while getting used to racing while some can just drive the moment they sat their butt in a Bandolero. Sam Rogers comes to mind, Cory Hall is another, Dylan Blenkhorn, etc. I think we’ll be etching Gilby’s name on that list sooner rather than later.

Dawson Noble, Chase MacKay and Opening Night winner Ayden Christensen can all drive and they are proving it in the first three weeks of the season. Noble and MacKay are ready to notch that first feature victory and that might come Friday night. Emily Chisholm has been improving with every lap on track and will be a factor for a win sooner rather than later. These kids have been fun to watch and I can’t wait to see them run it out again for 15-laps Friday night.

We’ll take a look at the Toursec Thunder class next week when they return for CARSTAR Night.
Be sure to show up early for the Fourth Annual FanFest autograph session. The session runs from 6:45pm to 7:15pm with racing beginning shortly after the 7:15pm cutoff. Be sure to pick up your ticket at a sponsor location. I know some are running out or are out, but that’s why you have to be on the ball!

It is going to be a great night to get back down to the business of stock car racing. Let’s do this!

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