TIME FOR THE TWINS

It’s one of the most exciting races of the season, the ACE Lumbermart Twin 50s for Thunder and Lightning cars.

These races are huge for our four cylinder contingent at Scotia Speedworld. The two 50 lap races that these drivers will contest this season (the others coming on August 16th) are the longest races of their season.  With it being a point race to boot, it’s a great way to gain extra points on those that don’t have the car or the stamina to make 50 laps.
To sum it up, it’s like their Daytona 500. It’s that big.

It’s an exciting time for our fans of the ACE Lumbermart Thunder and Lightning classes at the Speedworld. For example, Beaverbank’s Tim Webster drove his #86 car back to victory lane for the first time in seven years by taking the checkers first in last week’s Thunder race. On the opposite end in the ACE Lumbermart Lightning division, it is a tight battle between “Rational” Richard Patrick and JR Lawson at the top of the standings while Richie Moore won his second feature of the season last week.

We have had four different Thunder car point champions in the last four years and it looks like we will have a fifth unless Dave Matthews, 2011 champion, can get up on the wheel and take the point lead. For the first time in nearly a year, we will have a different point leader when we leave Friday night. It could be Matthews, maybe Matthew Warren, who already has a feature win to his credit this season, Webster, Kyle Gammon, who has come on strong in recent weeks, or Jordan Pirri, who had Thunder car vet Tylor Hawes sub for him last week. They, along with many others, will be gunning for the prestigious crown on Friday night.

The Lightning class has been delightful to watch this season. While it was history in the class Jorden Smith rack up nine wins last year and Moore grab the couple he did not get, it’s nice to get some new blood in victory lane this season. Patrick and Lawson continue to go back and forth for the lead and while Moore is in a hole in the standings, he continues to rack up points. There are others that have made substantial gains in the class and could be holding a checkered flag before this season is over. Marc MacMillan has been running up front after mechanical problems plagued the first few races of his season. Chevy and Earl MacDonald are also looking for a bit of luck, as is Jamie Creamer. BJ Nicholson continues to make ground on the field and you’d have to believe it’s just a matter of time before the Beaverbank resident finds his way to victory lane.

The list goes on and on of drivers in both divisions that could come out as champions of the ACE Lumbermart Twin 50s on Friday and the best way to find out who ends up on top is to be there in person!

But it’s not only just the Thunder and Lightning boys and girl that are getting ready to put on a show under the Friday night lights. The Coors Light Truck division is back and ready to go and with a tight point battle within the top four, anything could happen on Friday. Ryan Goldsmith is in search of his first championship and leads by only a single point over Dan Smith. Jason Fenton is third, just ten points out of Smith for second, while rookie Robbie Watts sits fourth, just three points out of third. Though they are thinking points, could Friday be the night we see a Larry Vaughan, Vernon Brown or Chris Ainsworth take home their first wins of 2013? It’s going to be exciting to watch as we await to see if we will have our first repeat Truck winner of the season or we can go five for five in the win column!

The Hydraulics Plus Bandoleros will kick off the show on Friday night and while Adam Meehan has the advantage in the standings, it has been Craig MacDonald holding the hot hand the last two weeks. With that said though, MacDonald has only gained six points over the last two weeks on Meehan in the standings which, when you do the math with eight races to go, MacDonald and the rest of the field will continue to need to dig deep in the next few weeks of this summer stretch to close the gap. Braden Langille is itching to get back to victory lane, while Cole Tanner is looking to get back to victory lane and the second place spot in the standings. Luke Ettinger and his LER team have been constantly making gains on their car and could be one to watch as he goes for his first win on Friday!

You can’t count out the likes of Dylan Sutherland, Megan Parrott, Wyatt McCulloch, Nicholas Naugle, Josh Langille, Nathan Blackburn or Michael Cormier either. Each have shown speed in this early season and will look to light it up in the second half. Danny Chisholm will make his third start this week and as he continues to learn the tricks to the Bandolero racing trade, watch for him to make some speed. The eight year old says he can also do Gangnam Style, which I will have programmed sometime throughout the season so we can call his bluff!
We’ll talk more about the Sportsman and Legends, including the first win for Jeff Cruickshank, next week when we preview the 19th Annual Shriners Classic. If you do not have July 26th marked on your calendar - do it now, it will be a special night at the Speedworld.

Be sure to get out and cheer on your favorite four cylinder drivers this weekend and show them your support for their breed of racing in their biggest race of the year!

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