By Bill Oldroyd
Ohsweken Speedway – June 4, 2004
Long-time Southern Ontario Sprints competitor and 1997 series champion, John Riegling of Chatham, Ontario captured the feature at Ohsweken Speedway, Friday, June 4th and lead every lap in the process. Riegling found himself sitting in victory lane at the same track that had ended his season one year ago when he had a violent crash coming out of turn four that destroyed his race car. This was the forth round of the season for the SOS and there has yet to be a repeat winner.
Riegling started the feature race on the pole with rookie, Jack Pillon from Belle River, Ontario along side. At the drop of the flag, Riegling jumped into the lead with Pillon following a close second. During the first few laps, Riegling was able to open up a bit of a gap however an early caution would close up the field.
On the restart, Riegling again jumped into the lead and began to pull away. However, the battle for positions back in the field was intense. Young Cody Geldart of Mossley, Ontario started in the eight position and was quickly making his way towards the front. Other drivers that were on the move were last week’s feature winner Keith Dempster from Alton, Ontario, Glenn Styres of Ohsweken and Warren Mahoney from Lefroy, Ontario.
At the mid-point in the race, Riegling was still in control however; Geldart, Styres and Mahoney had all cleared the balance of the field and had their sights on the top spot. Sanborn, NY driver, Curt Sherwood was hanging onto fifth and would eventually finish a respectable seventh, driving the entire race with no power steering. Pillon was still running a strong race sitting in sixth place. He would finish the feature in ninth place and increase his lead in the Rookie of the Year battle.
A couple more cautions would bunch up the field but Riegling would time his move on the restart perfectly each time and open up a gap between himself and Styres, who was now running in the second position. Styres closed the gap down to about two car lengths at the drop of the checkered flag giving Riegling his first victory in five years. Geldart would take the last podium position with Mahoney finishing forth and Billy Krull of Wheatfield, NY making a late race charge to finish in fifth.
A note of interest, Dick Mahoney who had a very serious crash one week ago, destroying his race car, was back in his old car and was able to take home a top ten finish.
Heat race wins on this night would go to Styres, Geldart and Warren Mahoney. The Dash format was modified for this event to give the rookies some track time and a chance to sit in victory lane. Rookie of the Year leader, Pillon proved his worth by taking the checkered in a very well run event. Pillon started the night off with a strong heat race as well with a second place finish. He held the top spot for more than half the race with only Styres able to pass the young driver.
Next up the series travels to Brighton Speedway for the second night of their first double header of the season.
Signet Tool Heat
1. #0 – Glenn Styres, Ohsweken, ON; 2. #18j – Jack Pillon, Belle River, ON; 3. #21 – Tim Phillips, Grand Island, NY; 4. #10 – Bob Crawford, Sutton, ON; 5. #93 – Daryl Turford, Stratford, ON; 6. #12 – Willy Northcott, London, ON; dns #99 – Al Gaukel, Cambridge, ON
Wiseco Heat
1. #6 – Cody Geldart, Mossley, ON; 2. #5 – Keith Dempster, Alton, ON; 3. #79 – Dick Mahoney, Newmarket, ON; 4. #32 – Mark Schulz, Newfane, NY; 5. #33 – Jamie Collard, Princeton, ON; 6. #18 – Stephanie Christiano, Tonawanda, NY
Kenetic Heat
1. #25 – Warren Mahoney, Lefroy, ON; 2. #1a – John Riegling, Chatham, ON; 3. #31 – Curt Sherwood, Sanborn, NY; 4. Billy Krull, Wheatfield, NY; 5. #30 – Adam West, Ridgetown, ON; 6. #17 – Gary Evans, Thorndale, ON; dns #75 – Jim Sweers, Westover, ON
Leaf Racewear Dash
1. #18j – Jack Pillon; 2. #17 – Gary Evans; 3. #12 – Willy Northcott; 4. #18 – Stephanie Christiano; 5. #75 – Jim Sweers; 6. #33 – Jamie Collard
Pennzoil Feature
1. #1a – John Riegling; 2. #0 – Glenn Styres; 3. #6 – Cody Geldart; 4. #25 – Warren Mahoney; 5. #7 – Billy Krull; 6. #5 – Keith Dempster; 7. #31 – Curt Sherwood; 8. #30 – Adam West; 9. #18j – Jack Pillon; 10. #79 – Dick Mahoney; 11. #21 – Tim Phillips; 12. #33 – Jamie Collard; 13. #93 – Daryl Turford; 14. #12 – Willy Northcott; 15. #18 – Stephanie Christiano; 16. #17 – Gary Evans; 17. #10 – Bob Crawford; 18. #32 – Mark Schulz; 19. #75 – Jim Sweers
Did not start #99 – Al Gaukel
LEAF RACEWEAR AWARD – Cody Geldart
car # SPORTSMAN FEATURE
1st 19j Rob Ledingham
2nd 1j Joe Meisel
3rd #19 Greg Panunte
4th #56 Dereck Lemyre
5th 8c Wayne Conn
6th #0x Bernard Nieburg
7th #01 Mike Kruchka
8th #14 Greg Wilson
9th #13 Dennis Giannola
10th #21 John Burbridge
11th #94 Mark Dixon
12th #7 Steve Ruddy NF
13th #44 Lee Mallory NF
14th 9j Tim Zack NF
15th #20 Jay Mallory NF
car # STREET STOCK FEATURE
1st #90 David Brewster
2nd #32 Dave Vogt
3rd 24A A.J.Lewis
4th #5 Jeff Burke
5th #1J Jason Fontaine
6th #20 Lindsey Riley
7th #38 Terry Martin
8th #11 Michelle Johnson
9th #1 Mike Cripps
10th #40 Terry Osmond
11th #15 Bill Law
12th #3 Brad Bacher NF
13th #12 Brad Herron NF
14th #21 Blake Bombery Sr. NS
Car # MINI STOCK FEATURE
1st #86 RICK EMBERSON
2nd #111 ROBBIE ROUNCE
3rd #64 DOUG ERSKINE
4th #265 MIKE EVERS
5th #24 Norman Mark
6th #2 LEE WINGER
7th #191 Gord Bates
8th 27eh Dan stewart
9th #5 Dave/Rick Robinson
10th #148 KEVIN MT.PLEASANT
11th #07 BRAD CRONKWRIGHT
12th #05 DAVID GOODACRE
13th #18 Team #!8
14th #98 Dave Cove
15th #83 Stan Farmer
16th #89 Steve Miller
17th #79 Dan Miller RD
18th #14 MARC HALLETT NF
19th #11 MIKE GIBERSON NF
20th 17H Kevin Soules NF
21st #67 CRAIG ERSKINE NF
22nd mt50 SHARI TURNER NF
23rd #77 John Held BF
24th #23 Andrew & Abel Castelein
Car # MINI STOCK CONSI
1st #265 MIKE EVERS
2nd 27eh Dan stewart
3rd #148 KEVIN MT.PLEASANT
4th #89 Steve Miller
5th #98 Dave Cove
6th #77 John Held
7th #65 Andy Tallach
8th #56 Kevin Slater
9th #222 DAVE MAGRIN
10th 69e Dan Erskine NF
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