Story By: ASHLEY MCCUBBIN / FLAMBORO SPEEDWAY – FLAMBOROUGH, ONT – While ensuring everybody was social distancing through the pits, the action was hot and close on-track with several great battles for position. In the end, it’d be Kyle Steckly, Gillian Hils, Daryl Henwood, and Darren Dryden scoring the victories in their respective divisions.
Mini Stocks
Will Gibbons won the first heat ahead of Craig Kamrath, Nolan Gould, Kevin Bridge, Allan Lankin, Ryan D’Antimo, Kaitlyn Wallace, Chandler Bos, Rob Harrison, and Mike Hooper.
Chris Pendlebury was victorious in heat two ahead of Tyler Lewis, Matt Young, Mike Brown, Ryan D’Antimo, Connor Maltese, Shawn Taylor, Rob Welles, and Carol Dawson.
Karl Sault capped it off by winning the third and final qualifier ahead of Kyle Steckly, Wayde Thorne, Andy Kamrath, Tyler Junkin, Jason D’Antimo, Brock Baker, Mike Thomson, and Bryan Penny.
Following the invert, Mike Brown started pole ahead of Andy Kamrath, Matt Young, Nolan Gould, Karl Sault, Chris Pendlebury, Tyler Lewis, Kyle Steckly, Will Gibbons, Wayde Thorne, Kevin Bridge, Craig Kamrath, Allan Lankin, Ryan DiBello, Tyler Junkin, Kaitlyn Wallace, Ryan D’Antimo, Jason D’Antimo, Rob Welles, Chandler Bos, Shawn Taylor, Mike Thomson, Rob Harrison, Brock Baker, RJ Croteau, Carol Dawson, and Mike Hooper.
Andy Kamrath grabbed the early lead ahead of Brown and Gould, with Pendlebury alongside Gould for third on Lap 2. Gould would use the lap car of Dawson as a pick, allowing him to hold off Pendlebury. Gould then got alongside Brown for second, with contact taking place, sending Brown around with Gibbons catching the edge of his car, utilizing it as a ramp and getting some air for the caution.
The first attempt at a restart saw the second caution due to an incident in turn one involving Taylor and Sault. The second attempt went cleanly, with Andy Kamrath holding serve as Steckly moved into second, with Pendlebury alongside Gould for third. Pendlebury got the spot on Lap 7, bringing Gibbons and Bridge through with him.
Steckly’s drive to the front was complete on Lap 9, as he’d take the top spot, with DiBello pulling into the infield a lap later with a problem. The third caution then came out on Lap 11 for D’Antimo going around in turn three.
Steckly got a good restart to keep the top spot, leaving Kamrath and Gibbons to battle for second ahead of Pendlebury, Bridge, and Gould. Gibbons got the spot on Lap 13. Bridge would then run into issues six laps later, slowing to bring out the yellow flag on Lap 22.
Steckly got another good restart to continue leading as Gibbons ran second ahead of Pendlebury, Sault, and Andy Kamrath. The leaders would find themselves arms-deep in lap traffic through the run, with Steckly getting stuck behind some of the slower cars. This would allow Gibbons to close the gap, ultimately making his move off of turn four. The pair would make contact in the process with six laps to go, with the caution coming out shortly thereafter for Harrison going around in turn one.
Steckly got a good restart, enabling him to get away, leaving Sault and Gibbons to battle for second ahead of Pendlebury and Thorne. Gibbons tried to go for the bump-and-run, with the pair making contact while side-by-side. His attempts would not allot him to get by, as Sault held got the runner-up spot, with Pendlebury slipping through to take third.
Kyle Steckly led the rest of the way en route to scoring the victory ahead of Karl Sault, Chris Pendlebury, Will Gibbons, and Andy Kamrath. Wayde Thorne finished sixth, followed by Nolan Gould, Craig Kamrath, Tyler Junkin, and Mike Brown. Kaitlyn Wallace finished 11th, followed by Tyler Lewis, Ryan D’Antimo, Matt Young, Connor Maltese, Brock Baker, Jason D’Antimo, RJ Croteau, Rob Harrison, and Carol Dawson. Allan Lankin finished 21st, followed by Rob Welles, Kevin Bridge, Ryan DiBello, Chandler Bos, Shawn Taylor, Mike Thomson, and Mike Hooper, with Penny failing to take the green flag.
Pure Stocks
Wayde Thorne won the first heat ahead of Keara Gallant, Ethan Marco, Connor Parkes, and Brian Gamble to transfer to the main event. Peter Inglis, Ben Dennis, Brandon Feeney, and Russ Couture rounded out the field.
Gillian Hils scored the second qualifier victory ahead of Leo Labarbera, Jo Lawrence, Bill Brekelmans, and Andy Wheller to transfer to the main event. However, post-race, Labarbera was light over the scales, allotting for Steve DeLeeuw to earn the final transfer spot.
Andrew Shilling, Austyn Jennett, and Ben Gruntz rounded out the field. The heat featured some contact, with Gruntz riding wide off of turn four, resulting in Shilling getting into the outside wall; Shilling would then make contact, spinning Gruntz going into turn one.
Kyle Novis won the third heat ahead of Kris Khan, Dale Lucas, Nic Ramsay, and Reece Bourgeois to transfer to the main event. Karlie Wilman and Kyle Johnson followed, while Ang Novis ran into mechanical issues.
Steve Finnegan was victorious in the fourth qualifier ahead of Jordan Morris, David Rockwood, Doug Wilman, and Courtney Scott to transfer to the main event. Kyle Lucas, Len Sterritt, and Rueben Fluit rounded out the field.
Phil Givens won the last heat ahead of Kenny McNicol, Kris Lawrence, Bobby Mercer, and Stan Cook to transfer to the main event. Cole Ecker, Calvin Reesor, and Tegan Stanley rounded out the field.
The b-main would see its first caution on Lap 4 when Reesor spun Feeney, followed by another six laps later involving Jennett getting into Ecker. Kyle Lucas took the victory ahead of Labarbera, Shilling, Sterritt, and Flutt. Unfortunately, Flutt was disqualified, taking away his final qualifying position. Couture finished sixth, allowing him to move up into the field. Marco finished sixth, followed by Reesor, Feeney, Karlie WIlman, Johnson, Ecker, Jennett, Gruntz, Ang Novis, and Dennis.
Come feature time, Jordan Morris started pole ahead of Wayde Thorne, Kyle Novis, Gillian Hils, Keara Gallant, Jo Lawrence, Phil Givens, Kenny McNicol, Stephen Finnegan, Kris Khan, Connor Parkes, Bill Brekelmans, Dale Lucas, David Rockwood, Kris Lawrence, Brian Gamble, Nic Ramsay, Bobby Mercer, Peter Inglis, Steve DeLeeuw, Reece Bourgeois, Doug Wilman, Kyle Lucas, Leo LaBarbera, Stan Cook, Len Sterritt, Andrew Shilling, Russ Couture, and Courtney Scott.
Morris would break out to the early lead ahead of Hils, Jo Lawrence, McNicol and Thorne, as Givens and Novis battled for sixth. Givens would get the spot on Lap 4, passing Thorne a lap later to break into the top-five. The first bit of contact took place on Lap 6, with Couture sending Gamble through the backstretch grass; there’d no caution.
At the front of the field, Morris continued to pace the field ahead of Hils, Lawrence, McNicol, and Givens. Givens would then get by McNicol for fourth on Lap 15.
At the halfway mark, Jo Lawrence made his move for the top spot, passing Hils for second, before getting alongside Morris for the top spot a lap later. Lawrence moved into the lead on Lap 23, with Hils alongside Morris for second, ahead of Givens, McNicol, and Khan. Their battles were cut short, though, with the race’s first caution coming out on Lap 27 for Wilman overheating in turn one. On the same lap, his teammate Shilling ran into mechanical issues as well.
The restart brought forth battling through the pack, with Wheller getting sent into the backstretch grass. He would return back up on the track, making contact with Novis and Finnegan in the process, with all three getting into the turn three wall for the second caution on Lap 29.
The second restart was clean with Jo Lawrence initially getting away ahead of Hils, Givens, McNicol and Morris. Hils would then get alongside Lawrence for the lead with eight laps to go, taking the top spot. Lawrence now ran second ahead of Givens, Morris and McNicol, as Finnegan and Labarbera made contact down the backstretch. Khan would then get by McNicol for fourth on Lap 37.
Gilian Hils picked up the checkered flag ahead of Phil Givens, Jordan Morris, Kris Khan, and Kenny McNicol. David Rockwood finished sixth, followed by Nic Ramsay, Bobby Mercer, Bill Brekelmans, and Kyle Lucas. Dale Lucas finished 11th, followed by Stephen Finnegan, Connor Parkes, Len Sterritt, Courtney Scott, Reece Bourgeois, Stan Cook, Steve DeLeeuw, Peter Inglis, and Leo Labarbera. Kyle Novis finished 21st, followed by Andy Wheller, Doug Wilman, Andrew Shiling, Russ Couture, Kris Lawrence, Keara Gallant, Mark Thorne, Brian Gamble, and Joe Lawrence.
Canadian Vintage Modifieds
After running into issues in his last appearance, Daryl Henwood scored the Canadian Vintage Modified feature victory this past Saturday.
The heats started off messy as Chance Isherwood overdrove turn three, spinning around Rick Willigar. John Karley won the first qualifier ahead of Jerrid Morphy, Rodney Rutherford, Jake Gilbert, Quintin Murdock, Willigar, Patrick Ruelens, and Isherwood.
T.J. Marshall won the second heat ahead of Daryl Henwood, Mike Klotz, Joe Arseanault, Bill Pearsall, and Jeff Kells.
Come feature time, things got messy from the drop of the green flag with Joe Arsenault and Jeff Kells going around on the front stretch.
The second attempt to start the event was cleaner with Daryl Henwood grabbing the early advantage ahead of Mike Klotz, Rodney Rutherford, and TJ Marshall, as John Karley and Jerrid Morphy battled for fifth. Marshall would challenge Rutherford for third on Lap 3, getting the spot a lap later as Morphy took over fifth. The race’s second caution would come out on Lap 5 for Bill Stoner going around on the backstretch.
Henwood got a good restart to keep the top spot as Marshall and Klotz battled for second. Marshall got the spot on Lap 7 ahead of Klotz, with Rutherford and Morphy side-by-side for fourth. Morphy got the spot a lap later, bringing Gilbert and Karley through with him. Gilbert would get by Morphy on Lap 18 for fourth, only for Morphy to pass him back a lap later, as Rutherford headed pit side with issues.
Daryl Henwood paced the rest of the way en route to winning ahead of TJ Marshall, Mike Klotz, Jerrid Morphy, and Jake Gilbert. John Karley finished sixth, followed by Rick Willigar, Joe Arsenault, Quinton Murdock, and Bill Pearsall. Rodney Rutherford finished 11th, followed by Patrick Ruelens, Bill Stoner, Chance Isherwood, Heath Penny, and Jeff Kells, while Amanda Stoner failed to take the green flag.
T.Q. Can-Am Midgets
The afternoon started off a little messy, with Brody Rickwood going around while challenging Paul Harrison on Lap 6. Daniel Hawn scored the victory in the first heat ahead of Darren McLennan, Dominique Smith, Harrison, David Mather, and James Stanley.
Darren Dryden won the second qualifier ahead of Jeff Blackburn, Luc Munsie, David Miller, Craig Pitchell, and Cory Whittam.
Come feature time, David Miller started pole ahead of Darren McLennan, Luc Munsie, Darren Dryden, Jeff Blackburn, Daniel Hawn, Paul Harrison, Domique Smith, David Mathers, Craig Pitchell, Brandon Hauck, Cory Whittam, James Stanley, Cassidy March.
Miller grabbed the early lead ahead of McLennan and Dryden, with Dryden getting the runner-up spot on Lap 2, bringing Munsie, Blackburn and Hawn through with him. Dryden made his move on Lap 5, taking the top spot ahead of Miller, Munsie, Blackburn, and Hawn. The race’s first caution came out on Lap 12 for Blackburn slowing with a issue.
Dryden got a good restart to keep the top spot, with Hawn moving into second, as Miller and Hauck ran side-by-side for third. Hauck took the spot on Lap 14 ahead of Miller and March. The race would be slowed to a caution five laps later for Whittam going around in turn four.
The first two attempts at restarting the event saw the yellow flag return for Pitchell. The third attempt also saw the caution, this time for McLennan stalling on the frontstretch. The fourth attempt saw another spin for Pitchell, ending his race early.
The fifth attempt went cleanly, with Darren Dryden getting the win ahead of Daniel Hawn, Brandon Hauck, David Miller, and Darren McLennan. Cory Whittam finished sixth, followed by Dominique Smith, Paul Harrison, Luc Munsie, and James Stanley. Cassidy March finished 11th, followed by Craig Pitchell and Jeff Blackburn, while Brody Rickwood and Dave Mathers failed to take the green flag.