Curtain Comes Up on a New Month of Action at Peterborough Speedway
The first action for the month took the green flag – Saturday, July 5th – at Peterborough Speedway.
Main event battles got underway with a 20-lapper for the Jiffy Lube Super Stocks that had Dylan Wills and the birthday boy, Clayton Reed on the front row. Wills took the early race lead, with Kyle Gordon and Paul Boundy making up the top 3. By the time the scoreboard showed 6 laps complete, his No. 28 machine had built-up a 4-car length advantage. The trio of Wills, Gordon and Boundy were locked in a breakaway as the laps rolled away. In the closing stages of the main event, fans started to get the feel they were watching a developing Cinderella story. Wills ran consecutive times, hitting his marks lap after lap. At the checkered flag, he had claimed his first career victory in the caution free feature. Gordon, Boundy, Donovan Price and Reed followed the race winner to the line.
23 Battlefield Equipment Rental Bone Stock starters John Bates and Alex Dallaire came to the line with 20 laps to settle the score. After the original green flag saw an early race yellow, the starting line-up was set to go again, hopefully with a different result. Bates took early control of the field and following a caution for an issue in the 3rd turn, he had started to work through slower cars at the back of the pack with 8 laps on the scoreboard. Dallaire – who came into the night 2nd in the Bone Stock point standings – spent nearly the entire race distance as the slice of bologna in sandwich between race leader Bates and point leader Tegan Stanley tried every trick in the book to get around the No. 12 car, but to no avail. Bates scored the win over Dallaire, Stanley, Sam Arnott and Christen Lavalle.
With John Baker Jr. and Chad Strawn on the front row, the historic first GEN-3 Electric OMRS SportsMod Peterborough Speedway feature came to the stripe. JBJ, who had logged Super Stock and Modified wins during his career took the early race lead, with Rob Richards taking 2nd from his starting spot behind Baker. The pilot of the No. 63 machine had built-up nearly a 10-car length advantage, with Strawn reclaiming the runner-up spot near halfway. Backmarkers became an issue for the lead duo with 11 laps on the scoreboard. Strawn made numerous attempts on Baker using the outside line but could only get close to the race leader. A last lap charge saw the No. 35 car get alongside Baker, who took the race win by mere inches over Strawn. Richards, Ethan Thompson and Glenn Morris completed the top 5 in the caution free tilt.
Stacy Switzer and Mark Gordon brought the Trent Lakes Complete Plumbing Renegade Truck field from the staging area for a 20-lap headliner. It didn’t take long for early race leader Mark Gordon to feel the heat of good friend and points chase challenger Howie Crowe. The driver of the No. 62 machine used the outside line to move to 4th and was running 2nd with only 6 laps on the scoreboard. A yellow flag for an incident in the 2nd turn slowed the pace, but the lead duo remained in control of the field. Not even a green, white checkered finish would change the race outcome. Gordon too the win over Crowe. Switzer, Shawn Murray and Alex McGibbon rounded out the top 5 finishers.
Front row starters Brody Coates and Lucas Finnegan brought the field of 16 to the Great Canadian RV green flag to kick-off the local leg of the SPS Junior Late Model Rumble. The pack got off to a solid start with Finnegan, Brayden Cappuccitti and Oliver Gibbons led the early stages and began working through backmarkers with just 4 laps on the scoreboard. A yellow flag for a frontstretch incident with 5 laps complete and saw Finnegan assessed a penalty for jumping the race’s initial start. Back under the green flag, Finnegan wasted no time in taking control of the field and survived a late race caution to pick-up the win. Hudson Sellers, Coates, Gibbons and Lyla Sikma rounded out the top 5.
Following post-race inspection, track officials found an issue with the No. 26 car of Lucas Finnegan, which was found to be running the incorrect carburetor for the engine. With Finnegan’s disqualification, Hudson Sellers has been declared the race winner, with a revised top 5 of Brody Coates, Oliver Gibbons, Lyla Sikma and Carter Cappuccitti.
Qualifying for the main events saw preliminary round wins for Clayton Reed and Mark Gordon in the Super Stocks. Tegan Stanley had a pair of Bone Stock checkered flags, with others going to Alex Dallaire, Zachary Cheng, John Bates and rookie of the year contender Jacob Stavropoulos. It was the first heat race win for the driver of the No. 03. John Baker Jr. and Chad Strawn shared the OMRS SportsMods heat race wins. Howie Crowe and Mark Gordon each had a pair of Renegade Truck triumphs. SPS Junior Late Model Rumble opening rounds went to Brayden Cappuccitti, Troy Purvis, Lucas Finnegan and Oliver Gibbons with a pair.
All finishing positions are unofficial and subject to scoring review and post race inspection.
Bullring bullet points: During the 2nd Junior Late Model qualifying heat Kaeden Beatty made hard contact with the frontstretch retaining wall. The driver was checked on the scene and found to be uninjured. His No. 86K machine was finished for the night…Steven Oakes made his first start at Peterborough Speedway in the No. 53 Bone Stock, with Dylan Ephgrave taking his inaugural laps in the No. 77 Junior Late Model. Mike Sinopoli made a 2nd straight start in the No. 35 Super Stock…With soaring temperatures, the track’s new ice cream stand Whips n’ Licks was very popular with the crowd.
Track officials announced some changes to the posted schedule during the pre-race driver’s meeting. The New Country KX 105.1 Mid Season Bash, Saturday, May 12th line-up will now include the SwitchTire Mini Stock, Trent Lakes Complete Plumbing Renegade Truck, KOD Disposal Late Model and Junior Late Model divisions, with a 50-lap main event for the Ontario Outlaw Super Late Models. King of the Hill will be the night’s intermission feature. Spectator gates open at 5:00, with racing at 6:00.
OMRS SportsMods have swapped positions with Renegade Trucks in next week’s race schedule.
Get the latest track news and complete schedule information anytime by checking www.peterboroughspeedway.com or the venue’s various social platforms and pages throughout the year.