ROBBLEE BACK IN VICTORY LANE

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May 23, 2008

John Houghton

Steve Robblee (#28) of Dorchester returned to victory lane on O’Tools Rent or Buy night, Friday evening at Delaware Speedway.  The win is Robbee’s first since returning to full-time competition this year.  A dominant showing saw him pull away from all challengers early in the race.  Robblee led from the outset and was trailed by Scott Lindsay (#20) of St. Marys and Jesse Kennedy (#10) of Southwold in the caution-free race.  Late in the event, Lindsay and Kennedy appeared to be catching Robblee, but the checkers flew before they could get close enough to mount a charge.

 

“I was pacing the car, waiting for the caution to come out,” said Robblee, who did not expect the race to go green the whole way. “I was expecting Scott Lindsay to be all over us and have a great race, but lucky for us we just pulled away!”

 

Lindsay finished second in the event followed by defending champion Jesse Kennedy.  With his win, Robblee takes the lead in the championship points standings with one point over Scott Lindsay.  Kennedy, meanwhile, holds fifth position behind Rocket Ron Sheridan (#52) of Mt. Brydges and Dan Delisle (#7) of Lasalle.

 

The APC Late Models were plagued with a series of incidents in their second heat race of the night causing significant difficulty for several teams.  Scott Menlin (#86) of McComb Michigan, Dan Delisle (#7) of Lasalle, and Steven Matthews of Newliskerd were all involved in crashes.  Delisle and Menlin would return to competition later in the evening, Matthews did not return to competition.

 

The Peterbilt of Ontario Super Stock was a bumper-to-bumper battle between Jeremiah Rabideau (#51) of Glencoe and Jason Lidster (#11) of St. Thomas.  Rabideau led the first half of the race with Lidster’s #11 on his bumper.  As the event wore on Lidster attempted an inside pass in turn four but did not find the space he needed.  He would try again several laps later exiting turn four.  Lidster’s pass was successful, but the two drivers made some side to side contact down the front straightaway.

 

Questions erupted following the race after the Rabidau’s #51 followed Lidster’s #11 to victory lane.  It was revealed in an interview later in the evening that Rabideau’s intention was to pass through giving thumbs up of congratulations to the #11.  Finishing third in the 25-lap race was Andrew Perkins (#3) of London.

 

The Challenger Motorfreight Truck Feature Race was won by Darrell Porter (#8) of Dorchester.  The victory is his first since returning from Australia earlier this year.  It was not an easy win for Porter who had to battle his way to the front along with Jeff Showler (#56) of Mt. Elgin, Paul Fothergill (#9) of London and Chad Rijnen (#33) of London.  Shawn Johns (#00) of St. Marys also led a number of laps in the event before being passed by Showler.  Showler in turn was later passed by Porter.

 

Paul Fothergill (#9) of London finished second in the event.  At one point contact was made exiting turn four between the black #9 sending Porter sideways and into a near wreck.  Porter was able to recover with a skillful save.  Finishing third in the event was Shawn Johns (#00) of St. Marys.

 

The next race event at Delaware Speedway is Friday May 30th.  The event will feature the APC Late Models, POWERADE Open-Wheel Modifieds and Challenger Motor Freight Trucks.  As an added bonus the evening will feature the Friday evening debut of the new Ultimate Sandblasting & Coating Chaos Cars following the APC Late Model feature.  Gates open at 6:00 PM, racing begins at 8:00 PM.

 

This Wednesday, May 28 is the season debut for the Krown Body Maintenance Junior Racing League.  Racing will feature the Junior Division (kids aged 8-12 years old) and Senior Division (kids aged 13-17 years old).  It is expected that thirty drivers will participate in the program this season, making it the single largest year for the Krown Body Maintenance Junior Racing League since its inception in 1997.  Racing begins at 6:30 PM and typically runs about an hour and half.