Sizing Up The Shriners Classic

If everything falls into line like it sounds it is going to, this Friday’s Shriners Classic for Sportsman has the potential to be an instant classic.

For starters, track management has made this event a show points race. Like the Affordable Fuels 100 is, with a number of part time cars expected to compete, this protects our full time cars from taking a huge point hit against those visiting teams. Every driver who races will receive 100 championship points. Some think it is good, some think it takes away a challenge but nevertheless it creates even more of a special event vibe.

So, throw points and handicap out the window this Friday. Drivers will draw for starting position in their heats and will have 50-laps in the feature to get it done to get their name on the snowglobe trophy.

We have the potential to have five former champions in the field. When I asked them last week during the Fanfest autograph session, Darren Wallage had mentioned that Adam Carter may drive the car during the show point events. Wallage is the only driver who has competed at Scotia Speedworld this season that has won the race in the past.

We are expecting the reigning champion Travis Roma to compete for the first time in 2018 as he tries to defend his trophy. It wouldn’t surprise me to see two-time race winner Russell Smith Jr and 2010 winner Colby Smith to compete on Friday night after their impressive performances this season up the road at Riverside. I spoke to Tony Leonard on Tuesday and he was on the fence about competing but he is a champion of the event in 2001.

So, if you add those four as potential entries plus the 18 that have competed this season at Scotia Speedworld, including the likes of Fred Schofield and Frankie Fraser, that gives you 22 potential drivers that would be racing in the Shriners Classic on Friday.

Craig McFetridge and the Dulux Paints Bayers Lake team with driver (and former Toromont Cat 250 winner) Dylan Blenkhorn have had this race on their bucket list since the start of the year. Jeffrey Breen was making plans to be at this race the last time I spoke to him. Phil Barkhouse Jr is bound and determined to win this race and I’ve heard that Larry Fisher has put a push on to try and get his car ready to race on Friday night.

Without adding names that could potentially make the drive down to Scotia Speedworld, that is a potential of 26 drivers on our radar for Friday night.

Here’s the thing though. Yes, those eight drivers I’ve mentioned above are strong and if you put those eight alone on the race track it would make a very entertaining feature. The Affordable Fuels Sportsman regulars are going to be extremely tough to beat and I believe the winner could come from that talent pool which would give us a new champion of the race.
To put this into perspective though, Jordan Veinotte finished sixth last week in the 38-lap main event for the Sportsman division. It’s not that Jordan had missed the setup after winning the previous two races, he got boxed in trying to get to the front. I use boxed in as a light term, because the competition he was racing with was quick and easily could have been battling with Pete Miller for the win if the race played into their favor.

When you look at this class after five races, you have four different winners. Veinotte is the only two time winner with Matt Vaughan, Kirk Ryan and Pete Miller each having a single victory. While we’re not talking about points this week, it should be mentioned that point leader Aaron Boutilier has five top five feature finishes but no feature wins. Boutilier is joined by Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie Deven Smith, Darren Wallage and Frankie Fraser as drivers with a podium finish but not a win in the first five races.

There are eight names that have to be considered as favorites to win this race, seven of them have never won the Shriners Classic and in the case of Deven Smith, he’s never won a Late Model feature.

Behind those eight drivers are two more than have multiple top five finishes but no podium feature finishes in 2018. Alex Johnson has three top fives but no top threes while rookie Megan Parrott has two top five finishes in her first Sportsman season. Are they ready to win? Stock car racing can be an unpredictable sport, so never say never.

Handicapping the “rest of the field” is difficult because this group has a lot of talent stacked into it. Guys like Fred Schofield, Richard Salter, Brentley Pirri, Tony Mason, Alex Painting, Joey Livingstone and rookies Darren Hilchie and Bernie fall into that group for the statistical purposes above. Joey Livingstone had one helluva run going last week in the feature before getting tangled up with Matt Vaughan. Richard Salter won a heat last week and showed lots of speed. Fred Schofield has some speed in that No. 05 car and is a former feature winner in a Sportsman at Scotia Speedworld. Darren Hilchie has shown tons of improvement since May, Brentley Pirri is close to breaking back onto the podium. There’s no weak link in this chain.

Oh, and besides the Shriners Classic, we have racing in four other divisions too!
The Hydraulics Plus Bandolero product speaks for itself. These kids have put on a great show all season long.

Yes, the Beginner Bandoleros have put up a few more cautions than their more experienced counterparts but they are still learning and their on track product continues to get better. Gage Gilby is showing that he’s almost ready to move up but still needs some time to work on his race craft in the Beginner division. Emily Chisholm impressed me by not only leading the most laps last week but being able to cross over Gage when he made the initial move for the lead. Chase MacKay and Dawson Noble are still digging in search of their first wins. These kids are our future and I can tell you that after what we’ve seen so far this year, our future is bright.

The Outlaws and Bandits continue to put on a high speed thrill show, racing within inches of each other and on the edge of out of control. If you do not believe me, head over to the TCM Facebook Page (facebook.com/timscornerca) and take a look at the onboard video footage we shot last Friday night from Owen Mahar’s car. Trust me, you’ll get a new appreciation for what these kids can do at high speeds.

It goes without saying, the gloves are off in the Toursec Lightning class. We saw a few weeks ago that Marshall Bezanson and Matthew Barkhouse didn’t quite see eye to eye as they raced up front. Last week, Jamie Dillman waited on Steve Matthews after they had a set to and tried to drive him through a light pole on the back straight. Racing should not be about the negative but it reminds me of the “boys have at it” promo that NASCAR pulled a few years back. It appears management is letting these guys have some leash which will ultimately have fans paying more attention to the entry level stock car division. Let’s just hope they don’t let it get out of hand!

Hey, how about Travis Keefe last Friday night? I don’t have any favorites, but it is hard to root against Keefe. He’s cut from the same cloth that Steve Matthews and Rational Richard are. These guys are not only super talented but they are great individuals off the race track. Keefe has a great personality that is infectious and his emotions showed in victory lane. These races are hard to win, some have been trying for years, decades even, to put their car in victory lane. It took Keefe three years and it was well deserved last Friday night as he held off Barkhouse and Chevy MacDonald.

Then there is Chevy driving a Cavalier back to a podium finish for the first time in a while, but we’ll discuss that later.

Finally, before we close this, the Toursec Thunder division is back for the first time in over a month on Friday night. Fourteen points separate the top five with sophomore Neil Miousse leading the pack over a strong Chris Hatcher, Jesse Deveau, Darren Flemming and reigning champion Dave Matthews. They’ve raced four times with four different winners and don’t be surprised if Matthews makes it five on Friday night. Nic Baker is due, David Hibbs has been strong in his limited starts since he returned and it’s great to see Joey Lawson back in the class. Not to mention guys like Drew MacEachern, Jason Pickles, Greg McKay and Richard Ramsay will be looking to remind the field they are here to play after their mid-season break.

This is going to be an excellent night of racing. If you do not have plans to get to the track yet for the Shriners Classic, you will want to put it in your day planner for Friday now.
Until then, keep the hammer down and we’ll see you at the track!