BROWN WINS ART HILL MEMORIAL AT OHSWEKEN; HUPPUNEN, COX, AND SAULT ALSO VICTORIOUS

by Tommy Goudge (August 7, 2009) – Mitchell Brown has been the driver to beat all season in the ESSO Mini Stock division at Ohsweken Speedway, and continued his winning ways Friday night in the forty-two lap Art Hill Memorial race. In Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Car action, Tom Huppunen won another feature, while Jamie Cox took ESSO Thunder Stock honours for the second week in a row, and Karl Sault won the Bomber feature. The first annual Ohsweken Speedway Hot Dog Eating Contest went to an eat-off, where Rodney White prevailed as the first champion of the event.

ESSO MINI STOCKS
A tribute to the only driver to lose their life in the history of Ohsweken Speedway began the forty-two lap Art Hill Memorial feature race for ESSO Mini Stocks, and Mike Taylor and Paul Goodale paced the field in the missing man formation. When the green flag fell, Goodale got the early lead, but all eyes were on defending race winner Mitchell Brown, who was quickly advancing from sixth on the grid. Brown wasted no time getting into the lead, but behind him Kevin Hilborn and Abel Castelein were on a mission. Brown was into lapped traffic and putting cars between himself and Hilborn and Castelein when the yellow flag flew on lap seventeen for Mark Saul, who hit the backstretch wall. 

While the cars were circulating under caution, Abel Castelein suffered a flat right rear tire and was forced to pit. The defending track champion made it back out for the green flag and quickly made his way back to third, and then second as he made his way around Hilborn. By this time, Brown’s lead was insurmountable however, and he cruised to the win, his ninth of the season at Ohsweken. Castelein settled for second, followed by Hilborn, twentieth place starter Steve Hess, and Goodale. Heat races for the twenty ESSO Mini Stocks in attendance were claimed by Mike Evers, Castelein, and Brown.

CORR/PAK MERCHANDISING SPRINT CARS
Stan Zanchin and Kevin Loveys made up the front row for the twenty lap Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Car feature, but it was sixth place starter Ryan Hunsinger blasting his way to the front and leading the first lap. Points leader Tom Huppunen also advanced early on, and was into the runner-up spot behind Hunsinger by the time the third lap was completed, followed by Kevin Job and Mikey Kruchka who were into third and fourth by lap four, and Glenn Styres, who found fifth place on lap five. They would hold those positions and dice through lapped traffic through much of the middle portion of the race, until Hunsinger got tangled up in lapped traffic and spun in turn two on lap fifteen, collecting Styres in the process. Styres would get upside down, but both drivers were able to climb from their badly damaged machines uninjured.

With the leader Hunsinger out of the race, Huppunen inherited the lead, but Job and Kruchka weren’t about to give up. Kruchka had won his heat earlier in the evening and was one of the fastest cars on the track in the feature, running fast in the outside groove. Kruchka’s night came to an end in turn two during lap eighteen, however, as the sophomore sprint car driver jumped the cushion in turn two and flipped wildly. Kruchka emerged uninjured from his first sprint car flip, but was done for the night.

Back under green for a two lap dash to the finish, Job could not catch Huppunen, who cruised to his sixth feature win of the season, while Job settled for second followed by Dain Naida, Dave Dykstra, and Jamie Collard. Heat races for the twenty Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Cars were claimed by Kevin Loveys, Dave Dykstra, and Mikey Kruchka.

ESSO THUNDER STOCKS
Chris Dickie and Mike Thorne paced the ESSO Thunder Stocks field to the green flag, but points leader Shayne Pierce wasn’t wasting any time in his quest to increase his slim seven point margin over Billy Bleich. Pierce led much of the event while wild action ensued through the field.

Jamie Cox made his way through the melee and into second, where he began to run down Pierce. Cox was about to challenge for the lead when the caution flew for Mark Thorne, Kyle Magrin, and others with fourteen laps in the books. When the green flew, Cox went to work on Pierce but struggled to find a way past, while Jeremy Bean quietly began to catch both of them. With the white flag flying, Cox finally found some traction in the bottom groove and was able to nose ahead of Pierce at the line for his second feature win in a row. Pierce once again settled for second, followed by Bean, Bleich, and seventeenth place starter Brad Herron. Heat races for the nineteen ESSO Thunder Stocks in attendance were won by Chris Dickie, Shayne Pierce, and Lee Winger.

BOMBERS
Points leader Karl Sault got the lead early in the twenty lap Bomber feature and looked to be on his way to another victory, but lapped traffic came into play as usual on the tight infield oval, allowing Steve Hils to close in and bid for the lead. Hils would make a last ditch effort on the last lap, but came up short while Sault took his fourth feature win of the season and second in a row. Hils settled for second, followed by Mike McDonald, Derek Martin, and Shawn Ireland. Steve Hils claimed the Bomber heat race.

NEXT WEEK AT OHSWEKEN
Friday Night Thunder resumes on Friday, August 14 when Trailers By Jim Bray presents the ASCS Patriot Sprint Cars, ESSO Thunder Stocks, ESSO Mini Stocks, Bombers and Christmas in August! Be sure to bring a new unwrapped item for our Toy Drive!

Friday Night Thunder at Ohsweken Speedway offers affordable family entertainment just a short drive away from most mid-western Ontario locations. Friday Night Thunder Adult General Admission for this special event is just $15, while Seniors and Students are $8, and kids 12 and under are FREE! Please visit www.OhswekenSpeedway.com for more information. On Friday night, gates open at 6:00p.m., with the first race at 7:45p.m.