By Bill Oldroyd
OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY – May 14, 2004
The second stop in the season for the Southern Ontario Sprints saw the series return to its home track, Ohsweken Speedway in Ohsweken, Ontario. A solid field of twenty-two sprinters was on hand including three drivers who were competing for the first time in a sprint car. Track owner and 2003 SOS Champion, Glenn Styres of Ohsweken Ontario had a clean sweep, winning his Heat race, the Dash for Cash and topping the night off with a victory in the Feature putting him in the series points lead.
Styres success during the races however is not likely what most will remember on this night. During his victory lap, Styres attempted to do his traditional victory donut, which always brings everyone to their feet, cheering. However, things did not go as planned and Styres will now be looking to replace a pair of wings before his next race.
Series veteran, Dick Mahoney from Newmarket, Ontario started the feature from the pole and grabbed the early lead, followed by Adam West of Ridgetown, Ontario. Grand Island, NY native, Tim Phillips had a spin on lap two while running in the third spot forcing him to the rear of the field. Phillips would however fight his way back to challenge for the lead later in the race.
Meanwhile, Styres was making his way to the front in a big way. He started the Feature in the seventh position and by lap two had worked his way up to third spot. Cody Geldart of Mossley, Ontario was also on the charge from his ninth place starting position and by lap three was in fifth place. After a couple of early cautions, Styres found himself in the lead on lap four however things were not going as well for Geldart as he was forced to retire early with mechanical problems.
Dick Mahoney, West, Warren Mahoney of Lefroy, Ontario and Mike Lauterborn from Rochester, NY were involved in an intense battle for positions two through five. This went on for several laps with positions changing on every lap. Billy Krull of Wheatfield, NY had worked his way from the eleventh starting position to join the battle on lap six making it a five-way fight for the top positions. Several early cautions kept the field bunched up resulting in numerous position changes throughout the field to the excitement of the large crowd in attendance.
Lauterborn eventually won the fight for second and then quickly ran down Styres for the lead on lap eight. At the half way point in the race the running order saw Lauterborn in the lead with Styres second, followed by Warren Mahoney and West. Phillips had fought his way back to the fifth position after an early spin and rounding out the top ten were Krull, Bob Crawford of Sutton, Ontario, Gary Evans of Thorndale, Ontario, Dick Mahoney and Jack Dillon from Belle River, Ontario.
The night appeared to belong to Lauterborn as he was pulling away from the field, however a blown motor ended his night, handing the lead back to Styres with six laps remaining. Meanwhile, a four-way battle for the second position was still intense. Phillips was the next driver to take aim at the top spot and was closing in quickly until a late race spin took him out of contention.
After the race Phillips said; “You could wipe the tears of the top of my helmet, I could taste a victory”.
The green came out for the last time with two laps to go and once again, Styres had a challenger. This time it was Warren Mahoney taking up the battle. Several times Mahoney was able to get by Styres on the low side but Styres would fight back each time, taking home his first SOS Feature victory of the season.
Styres said; “I didn’t deserve to win this one! My car was a hand-full all night and I think Lauterborn would have taken the victory if he hadn’t broke.”
Early season mechanical problems are still plaguing several teams, as only sixteen of the twenty-two cars were able to start the feature. On the other hand, a couple of rookies had a very successful first night out. Evans ran a very steady race coming home eighth in the Feature while Jason Haskell of Chatham, Ontario was running in the top ten most of the night and would eventually finish in the twelfth position.
Official Results from Event #2 at Ohsweken
Leaf Racewear Heat #1 Wiseco Heat #2
1 Kyle Patrick 1 Cody Geldart
2 Tim Phillips 2 Bob Crawford
3 Warren Mahoney 3 Dick Mahoney
4 Billy Krull 4 Jamie Collard (R)
5 John Riegling 5 Jack Pillon (R)
6 Al Gaukel 6 John Haskell (R)
7 Daryl Turford DNS 7 Steph Christiano (R)
Kenetic Photos Heat #3 Pennzoil Dash for Cash
1 Glenn Styres 1 Glenn Styres
2 Adam West 2 Cody Geldart
3 Mike Lauterborn 3 Adam West
4 Vinnie Christiano 4 Tim Phillips
5 Mark Schulz 5 Bob Crawford
6 Gary Evans 6 Kyle Patrick
7 Les MacMillan
8 Jim Sweers DNS
Signet Tools SOS Feature – Ohsweken Speedway
1 Glenn Styres 13 Daryl Turford
2 Billy Krull 14 John Riegling
3 Warren Mahoney 15 Al Gaukel
4 Adam West 16 Cody Geldart
5 Bob Crawford DNS Kyle Patrick
6 Tim Phillips DNS Mark Schulz
7 Dick Mahoney DNS Les MacMillan
8 Gary Evans DNS Jim Sweers
9 Jack Pillon (R) DNS Jamie Collard (R)
10 Mike Lauterborn DNS Steph Christiano (R)
11 Vinnie Christiano
12 John Haskell (R)
LEAF RACEWEAR AWARD – Glenn Styres
car # SPORTSMAN FEATURE
1st 19j Rob Ledingham
2nd #20 Jay Mallory
3rd 8c Wayne Conn
4th #9 Boyd Mactavish
5th #01 Mike Kruchka
6th #7 Steve Ruddy
7th #56 Dereck Lemyre
8th #44 Lee Mallory
9th #14 Greg Wilson
10th 9j Tim Zack
11th #0x Bernard Nieburg
12th #13 Dennis Giannola NF
13th 91jr Bob Hopton NF
14th #21 John Burbridge NF
15th 20k Rick St. Pierre NF
car # STREET STOCK FEATURE
1st #5 Jeff Burke
2nd #32 Dave Vogt
3rd 24A A.J.Lewis
4th #15 Bill Law
5th #3 Brad Bacher
6th #38 Terry Martin
7th #90 David Brewster
8th #07 Scott McPhail
9th #1 Mike Cripps
10th #40 Terry Osmond
11th 38x Paul Morin
12th #11 Michelle Johnson
Car # MINI STOCK FEATURE
1st #64 DOUG ERSKINE
2nd #111 ROBBIE ROUNCE
3rd 69e Dan Erskine
4th #5 Rick Robinson
5th #11 MIKE GIBERSON
6th #07 BRAD CRONKWRIGHT
7th #148 KEVIN MT.PLEASANT
8th #05 DAVID GOODACRE
9th #86 RICK EMBERSON
10th #265 MIKE EVERS
11th #222 DAVE MAGRIN
12th #23 Andrew Castlien
13th #13 TED HALLETT
14th mt50 SHARI TURNER
15th #14 MARC HALLETT
16th #9 Glen Lienen
17th #191 Gord Bates
18th #67 CRAIG ERSKINE
19th #89 Steve Miller
20th 17H Kevin Soules
21st #79 Dan Miller
22nd #18 Dan DePagter
23rd B52 Rob Wagner
24th #83 Stan Farmer
Car # MINI STOCK CONSI
1st #11 MIKE GIBERSON
2nd B52 Rob Wagner
3rd #9 Glen Lienen
4th #67 CRAIG ERSKINE
5th #89 Steve Miller
6th #18 Dan DePagter NF
7th #77 John Held NF
8th #25 ROY RINNE NF
9th #56 Rob Slater NS
car # Mini Mechanics Race
1st 13 Kelly hallett
2nd 69 Stephen Toth
3rd 23 Scott Watkins
4th 50 Ken Turner
5th 79 Murray Schlurtin
6th O7 Brent Cronkwright
7th 67 Larry Erskine
8th 14 Jeremy Deleeun
9th 5 Jim Canniere
10th 148 Jim Porter
11th 89 Randy Keeton
12th 222 Kevin Magrin
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