The Beach Comes to the Speedworld Friday Night

If you haven’t already, it’s time to get your bronze on this Friday night at Scotia Speedworld!

This Friday night is presented by the fine folks at Coco Beach and we are ready for some of the most intense racing we have seen all season. With the final summer stretch on and the push soon to come from those looking for championships, this is the time to get “hot.” Our racing has been the tightest we have seen in years, just look at the battles we have near the top of the standings heading into Friday:

Jeff Dillman (Middle Musquodobit) leads the Dartmouth Dodge Sportsman Series into action on Coco Beach Night. Dillman, the 2009 champion of the division leads Aaron Boutilier (Porters Lake) by 11 markers and only has 17 points on freshman driver Russell Smith Jr. of Lakeside in the #44 K. Hubley Woodworking and Contracting Dodge. This is the final race before the marquee Sportsman 100 Presented by Dartmouth Dodge on August 12th, so many drivers will use this event as a final tune-up for the longest Speedworld Sportsman race of the season!

Steve Pye (Lantz) used a win last week to extend his point lead to 16 over Dylan Blenkhorn (Truro) in the Coco Beach Legend Cars. Dylan’s father Paul (Truro) runs third in points while Matt Moore (Falmouth) and “The Legend” Cy Harvey (Elmsdale) are locked into a duel for fourth place in the popular class. The 25-lap features have come down to the last sets of corners each time out this season and Friday night should be no exception!

JP Arsenault (Church Point) and Dan Smith (Lower Sackville) continue to exchange the lead week after week in the Scotia Speedworld Truck class. The two now only have one point between them with the long-haul driver in the #4 leading the 2010 Most Sportsmanlike Driver in the #39. Vernon Brown (Antrim) picked up his first career Truck class feature win last week.

Matthew Warren (White’s Lake) made a statement last week by picking up the win in the Lumbermart Thunder car feature. Warren, who had just taken the point lead from Dave Matthews (Kennetcook) the week before now finds himself 13 points up on the #99. Tylor Hawes (Sheet Harbour), who finished third last week enters Coco Beach Night third in points, 9 points up on veteran Joey Lawson (Porter’s Lake). Andrew Warren (White’s Lake) and 2010 champ Stevie Lively (Shubenacadie) have established themselves as championship contenders within the over-two dozen competitors in the Thunder class.

Jorden Smith (Lakeside) is trying to run away and hide from the rest of his fellow Lumbermart Lightning drivers in the stretch drive of 2011. Smith has himself a 57 points lead on Smith Brothers Racing teammate Nick Hurshman (Lakeside) at this point but with the number of cars we have racing in the class, one small mistake could easily shrink that advantage. Hurshman though finds himself in a battle with “Crazy” Craig Cordeau (Windsor), Jamie Dillman (Carrolls Corner) and Cody Singer (Kennetcook) all within 23 points of second entering Coco Beach Night. Expect over two dozen of “the BEST Four Cylinder Drivers in Atlantic Canada” to bring their “A” game to the track this Friday night!

Is this the night that we will see an up-and-coming Maritime racing star take their first checkered flag or will we see a veteran end a drought on Coco Beach Night? The top dogs in points will look to maintain their leads and fend off all comers. The only way to find out who will come out of Coco Beach Night on top is to be at the Speedworld, starting Friday night at 7pm!

A reminder to all that next weekend in the Atlantic CAT 250 and the Dartmouth Dodge Sportsman 100. The CAT 250 will see Turner, Maine’s Ben Rowe return to vie for another 250 win while the Dartmouth Dodge Sportsman field is scheduled to be the biggest we will see at the Speedworld this season. The Truck class (Friday night) and the Maritime League of Legends Tour (Saturday night) will serve as undercards for the main events. To get tickets, head to TicketAtlantic.com to avoid lineups!

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