Robblee and Sheridan Put on a Photo Finish!

John Houghton

June 20, 2008

Features only night was an evening of first-time career wins, rookie finishes that felt like wins, and an APC Late Model finish so spectacular you would have to have been there to believe it - - many are calling it the "closest finish in Delaware Speedway history".

The night began with time trials for the APC Late Models and POWERADE Open-Wheel Modifieds.  Rocket Ron Sheridan of Mt. Brydges won the APC Late Model trials with his quick time of 19.005.  The POWERADE Open Wheel Modifieds 19.346 was the fast time for Jamie Cox (#3) of Dorchester.

Before the evening began the drivers unanimously voted at their drivers meeting to give the fans a gift.  Each event for the night would be extended by five laps, making 30-lap feature races for the Challenger Motorfreight Trucks, Peterbilt of Ontario Super Stocks and POWERADE Open-Wheel Modifieds.  The APC Late Models would run a 40-lap feature race.

The first feature race up on the night was the Challenger Motor Freight Trucks.  Mike Arnold (#47) of London led the opening laps before being passed by Devon Bloemendal (#01) of Delaware.  Chad Rijnen (#33) of Thamesford followed closely behind, but was unable to make a pass on him.  Bloemendal would go on to win his first-ever career feature race, Rijnen would settle for second and third was Jeff Showler (#56) of Mt. Elgin.

The Peterbilt of Ontario Super Stocks were up next.  Don Dadson (#1) of Union was the driver to beat out front for much of the race, before later being passed by Ray Morneau (#98) of Windsor.  The caution-free event saw a great performance by rookie driver Kris Lawrence (#28) of London, who after a rough start almost spinning off turn two, was able to rally back for a career-best second place finish.  Third in the race was Jason Lidster (#11) of St. Thomas.

The POWERADE Open-Wheel Modified event saw another first-time winner.  Dan Prudhomme (#96) of Ingersoll cruised to a victory in the 30-lap event.  Prudhomme had stiff competition behind him with Barry Newman (#1) of Springfield finishing second, and third was Mark Watson (#20) of St. Thomas.  The finish was a great rally back for Prudhomme who earlier in the night finished eighth in time trials.  The event once again saw a number of previous champions battling each other further back in the field.

The APC Late Model event was the one that had people buzzing after the event.  Scott Lindsay (#20) of St. Marys led from the outset, until having an incident with Dion Verhoeven (#77) of Kerwood bringing out the yellow and sending both drivers to the back.  Jesse Kennedy (#10) of Southwold got out front but soon found himself with a broken sway bar.  Rocket Ron Sheridan (#52) of Mt. Brydges was running second but got bottlenecked behind Kennedy allowing Steve Robblee (#28) of Dorchester to shoot around the outside.  Robblee and Sheridan would trade position a number of times throughout the event.

The race would see a yellow flag come out as the field headed to the last lap.  This set the stage for the famous Delaware Speedway “Green-Checker” finish.  Robblee led coming to the green, Rocket Ron Sheridan followed closely.  Sheridan was able to get underneath Robblee’s red #28 going down the back straight and when the pair came off turn four they were side by side in a thrilling drag race down the front stretch.  As they crossed the line fans were in awe as they tried to figure out who won.  The drivers too were also unsure who won when both Sheridan and Robblee came to victory lane.  The speedway called on the Checkered Flag Media video team to pull their tapes and go to replay to assist in the determination.  The replay told the tale of one of the closest finishes in Delaware history with Steve Robblee winning by mere inches.  Sheridan would take second, rallying back from the early race incident was third place Dion Verhoeven (#77) of Kerwood and fourth place Scott Lindsay (#20) of St. Marys.

The event also saw a spectacular save by Duke Sawchuk (#5) of Lasalle.  Coming to a restart Chad Rijnen’s #33 spun and ran into the side of Sawchuk sending him into a 360 degree spin.  Heading towards the turn one wall Sawchuk skillfully took control of his car and narrowly avoided disaster in what many feel was the best saves they had ever witnessed.

It was a long time coming but the Throne Kings of the Hill Spectator Race was won by the famous wood-paneled station wagon “Grocery Getter”.  Grocery Getter faced off against the “Red Pirate” in the finals, defeating him in a best two out of three finish.  The next Throne Kings of the Hill Spectators race is Friday, July 11.

The next race event at Delaware Speedway is Friday June 11: the PartSource 141 presented by BX93!  Don’t miss the first big APC Late Model Special of the year.  Fans are encouraged to wear red and white colours and bring signs, flags, and banners to support their favorite driver as well as noise makers for Delaware’s signature “Grandest Grandstand Wave”.  Gates open at 6:00 PM, time trials are at 7:30 PM racing starts at 8:00 PM.  The evening also features the POWERADE Open Wheel Modifieds and Peterbilt of Ontario Super Stocks.