AWAY WE GO!

With the green flag last Sunday, we are well on our way with the 32nd season of racing at Scotia Speedworld.

It is a quick turnaround for Race Two, one of the quickest we’ve had in years for our CARSTAR Weekly Racing Series drivers. With our weekly opener raining out in 2018 and Monster Jam taking place the week after our first race in years previous, this is the first year that we’ve opened the season on a Sunday for all of our divisions then have come back on Friday night with a four night turnaround.

Except for the Toursec Lightning division, that is off on Friday night, everyone is ready to get back at it. Compared to what an opening day could be, there was no attrition. Now, I know Marshall Bezanson got tore up a bit and we had over a handful of drivers who had mechanical problems, but there are a lot of teams breathing a sigh of relief that they haven’t had to burn the midnight oil this week.

The longest nights are likely going to come from the Strictly Hydraulics Legends division teams. We had a few teams with engine problems with their XJs and a handful had small issues to fix. Braden Langille broke a right front ball joint five laps into the feature and did a great job keeping it off the wall when it broke coming out of Turn Four. If you missed that, we happened to have an onboard on the right hand side and you can take a quick look at it here.



Here’s a couple of takeaways that I have from the Season Opener last Sunday at Scotia Speedworld.

• I guess we’ll start with the elephant in the room. We are in the business of short track racing and we are an entertainment venue at the end of the day. Rivalries are great for both ends of that statement. Obviously, the prime example on a mainstream scale was the Earnhardt v. Gordon clash in the 90s. We saw a rivalry renewed with Cory Hall and Adam Meehan, we heard of some other tempers flare in the pit area after the Legend feature and we saw some friendly door-to-door racing on track throughout all the divisions. While Hall and Meehan are both part-time cars and that rivalry will likely spark up again at some point, we might not have to worry about it Friday night. The question is - who will rub someone the wrong way on Friday night to spark a new debate amongst drivers.
  
  
• We saw some aggressive racing for the first race of the year. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. For some, it means they are in mid-season form already as some take a few races to really push the boundaries of their race cars (and other competitors). We saw, at least in one case, that aggression turn into contact and turned into caution periods, which is where that “not necessarily a bad thing” statement has that fine line crossed. Again, first race of the season, those drivers will learn where that line is when it comes to the “edge of out of control.”
  
  
• It was neat to see Rick Stein back out on the track. Rick has taken a hiatus from the drivers seat in recent years but is now back behind the wheel of a Toursec Lightning car. The car is the one that Chevy MacDonald drove last year.
  
  
• Speaking of Chevy MacDonald, the Cobalt made its Lightning division debut on Sunday. MacDonald, in his words, had to do some wheeling to keep the back end under him, but still drove it to a fourth place finish.
  
  
• One more note on the Toursec Lightning division before we move on, I spoke briefly with Travis Keefe after Sunday’s race. They had some hauler issues over the week and while they were working on their truck, they missed the handle on their race car a bit. For most, a ninth place run in a 16 car competitive field wouldn’t be a terrible way to start off the season, but Keefe described to me that the car handled like garbage. Travis has a ton of talent though, and with a week off to massage the No. 145 and work it in a bit, it wouldn’t surprise me one iota to see Keefe on the podium next weekend.
  
  
• The Sportsman division quickly turned into a heavyweight battle between four drivers at the front of the field on Sunday. You had the three previous track champions in Jordan Veinotte, Matt Vaughan and Pete Miller, combined with sophomore driver Deven Smith, duking it out for the win on Opening Day. Veinotte just had a touch more than the other three but the shoe could easily be on the other foot on Friday. You had a handful of others, including Brentley Pirri, Megan Parrott and Richard Salter, who will likely be a part of the equation and win races before this year is done. Once Alex Johnson and Jeffrey Breen get their cars set up and put the mechanical problems behind them, they’ll be up there too.
  
  
• I put Darren Hilchie on another point here because I think he showed the most improvement over the last year when it comes to the Sportsman division. Heck, from the heat to the feature on Sunday he showed massive gains. The No. 85 was not handling good in the heat, you could see that from upstairs. In the feature, Darren was hauling the mail compared to what he was in the heat and had a shot at fifth at the end of the feature as he battled with Megan and Richard.
  
  
• I think we all expected Dave, Darren, Neil and Jesse to be quick on Sunday in the Toursec Thunder division. The pleasant surprises for me were Shay MacPhee and Jason Pickles. Pickles had speed, especially early, and drove to a fifth place finish. MacPhee, who is the reigning Four Cylinder champion at Lake Doucette Motor Speedway, showed promise in his first ever start in a Civic and his first start at Scotia Speedworld.
  
  
• The Hydraulics Plus Bandolero division gave us some of the most exciting racing action all day. The Beginner Bandolero division put on one of the best features of the afternoon. While it was not the outcome Emily Chisholm would have wanted, you had two hungry kids looking for their first career feature victories and they absolutely drove their hearts out to get it. In the end, the day belonged to Miles MacKenzie, who scored the heat win and followed it up with the feature victory.
  
  
• The combined Bandit and Outlaw feature was a touch of controlled chaos at times but those kids put on a great show. With traffic and an increased car count, combined with some of those drivers never racing with each other before, will cause cautions. I know there was some mention about the amount of yellows, but it is really par for the course when it comes to an opening day where you have so many drivers on the track at the same time.
  
  
• Sure, we almost expect the experienced drivers like Colton Noble and Owen Mahar to perform well. I think the pleasant surprises for me in that division was the fourth and fifth place drivers overall in the Bandolero feature. Brooke Dowe drove one of the best races I’ve ever seen her drive in a Bandolero and Jordan Rushton got up on the wheel in the late laps in his No. 2 car. With Opening Day, it gives you an opportunity to look at drivers who have the potential to have a breakout season and I think these two have to be on your radar.

Big thanks to Kyle Gammon and Dylan Langille for helping me out on the call of Opening Day last Sunday. Kyle’s experience in a car provided us with a wealth of knowledge and I think he did a great job on the call. I’m excited for the next two weeks of co-hosts, beginning Friday night with “Rational” Richard and Ken Zwicker. Ken has been around the sport all his life and has had success not only with Richard in the Lightning division but was one of the best drivers to ever strap into a Thunder car in this region. The stories Ken can tell are endless and Richard’s insight will bring the whole program full circle for us on Friday night. While you’re coming for the racing on Friday night, you’ll want to stay for the stories!

Pack everyone into your vehicle of choice and get them to the race track on Friday. If Sunday was any indication, we are in for a great second chapter to this 2019 racing season!

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