MOBIL STRIPING & SWEEPING NIGHT RECAP

June 12, 2009
John Houghton 

 

A SIGHT TO BEHOLD: The APC Late Model field has grown in huge strides this season

Mobil Striping and Sweeping night proved to be a great night for racing at Delaware Speedway on Friday.  Under blue skies and excellent temperatures fans and racers arrived at Canada’s finest short track to participate in the event.

 

Steve Robblee (#28) of Dorchester won the time trials early in the evening in the APC Late Models.  His lap time of 19.030 was good for first place.  Rocket Ron Sheridan (#52) of Mt. Brydges finished second, third was Jesse Kennedy (#10) of Southwold.

 

Scott Lindsay (#20) of St. Marys would win the first APC Late Model feature race of the evening.  The race finished under caution after a series of crashes required the first race to be shortened to 29 laps from the scheduled 30 to allow for cleanup to take place.  The incident that brought the event to an end was a crash where Jim Wiersma (#18) of Dorchester slid sideways into into Drew Spicer (#89) of Innerkip who had spun and was stopped on  the front straightaway.  Mark Watson (#02) of St. Thomas scored his best ever APC Late Model finish with his second place showing, Ron Sheridan (#52) of Mt. Brydges was third.

 

“We did a lot of work over the winter, this car is completely different from what we had last year,” said Lindsay in victory lane.  “A win’s a win, and these are hard to come by, so we’ll take it.  It was a horrible start to the season, after all the work we did, ten laps into the first race we had to cut the front end off [after the crash in the opener].”

 

The second feature race for the APC Late Models was won by Jamie Ramsay (#22) of St. Thomas.  The win was the first ever in the division for Ramsay and his Total Lubricants team.  Mark Watson (#02) of St. Thomas and Rocket Ron Sheridan (#52) of Mt. Brydges mirrored their finishes from the first race, finishing second and third respectively.

 

“I owe this all to my crew and my sponsors.  I didn’t think we’d get her the way things were going at the beginning of the night.  We got some bad luck in the first feature, but got lucky with the dice roll,” said Ramsay in victory lane.  “The guys really worked hard.  I can’t thank them enough.”

 

In the POWERADE Open-Wheel Modifieds the heat race wins went to Gary Brooks (#57) of London and David McCullough (#39) of Glencoe.  In the feature, Jamie Cox (#3) of Dorchester returned to victory lane for the first time since opening night.  Cox started the race in fifth on the inside of the third row.  Cox was able to clear traffic early on and developed a comfortable lead.  For the remainder of the race by David McCullough (#39) of Glencoe attempted to bite into the lead of Cox, but was unable to get close enough to mount a challenge.  McCullough would finish the race in second, Paul Shipway (#88) of Ailsa Craig finished third.

 

“It was about picking the right lane [at the start] and it worked out” said Cox in victory lane. “I found at the end I started backing out a bit.  When you’re that far out in front you start hearing funny noises [in the car].”

 

Michelle Koricina (#99) of Ailsa Craig won her first ever heat race in the Demar Aggregates trucks.  Koricina is a rookie in the division and is new to Delaware Speedway.  Devon Bloemendal (#01) of Delaware won the second heat.

 

In the feature race for the Demar Aggregates Trucks, the Cornering Queen Kathleen Hosang (#16) of Zurich led the early part of the event, pulling to a half-straightaway lead on the rest of the field.  Defending champion Paul Fothergill (#88) of London from Team Ultimate crashed on the back stretch before the halfway point bringing out the yellow flag.  On the restart from the crash Hosang did not have a successful start allowing “The Flying Dutchman” Devon Bloemendal (#01) of Delaware to get around her in turn one.  Bloemendal would go on to win the event.  Jeff Showler (#56) of Mt. Elgin was second, Tom Zagorodny (#77) of Dorchester was third.

 

“This is the best this truck has ever worked,” said Bloemendal in victory lane “this thing is amazing on the outside, and the crew has it working awesome for me.”

 

Following post-race inspection a penalty was assessed by Delaware Speedway officials:

 

Following post-race inspection, truck #01 received a $100 fine and 25 point deduction for an unapproved exhaust component.  It was not deemed to be an advantage of any kind..  The penalty was upheld following the appeal process.

 

In the Throne King’s of the Hill Spectator Race, Jim from Kitchener took his second consecutive win in the popular street-legal-street-driven series.  Driving his black Subaru, affectionately known as “Picnic Table” faced off against “Air Pressure”, the Red Camaro.  The pair last faced each other on August 10, 2007 where Air Pressure took the win.  Jim won Friday’s event in the third round of a best two out of three finale.

 

The next race event at Delaware Speedway is a two-day race weekend beginning on Friday, June 19 with the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series featuring the APC Late Models, POWERADE Modifieds and Delaware Super Stocks.  Gates open at 6:00 pm, racing starts at 8:00.  Then on Saturday, June 20 the Transmisison Direct Enduro series will be running a 200-lap classic event, as well as hosting the Ultimate Sandblasting & Coating Chaos Cars.  Gates open at 6:00 pm, racing starts at 7:00 pm.

Photos / Video Captures Courtesy: Checkered Flag Media