THE GREAT CANADIAN RACE WEEKEND

August 29-31, 2008

John Houghton
Delaware Speedway PR

DAY #1

Friday evening began with a brief demonstration by the Krown Body Maintenance Junior Racing League.  Prior to the demonstration the drivers held an autograph session along with a special presentation from Krown Body Maintenace.  In the presentation Krown Corporate as well as the local dealers presented a cheque for $4,200 to the Krown JRL scholarship fund.  Following the presentation the drivers ran an exhibition of the newly designed “JRL Super Course” which used the whole speedway in a road course configuration.  Mickey Brydges (#55) of London was the first across the line in the non-points exhibition race.

The Transmission Direct Enduro All-Star race took on a new format in 2008 resembling an old style Street Stock event complete with heats, B-Feature with transfers and a final A-Feature.  The initial heat races were won by Steve Lovie (#141) of Dutton and David McCullough (#39) of Glencoe.  The B-Feature race would see only six drivers receive transfers to the final feature.  Ed Jefferies (#9) of Appin won the race to claim a transfer to the back of the A-Feature.

The Final A-Feature was a storybook tale for the “Mean Green” #15 of Dave Goertz of Arkona.  Goertz started from the back of the pack on a points provisional and was able to cut his way through the entire field and get by Steve Book (#64) of Brantford for a hard fought win.  Making Goertz’ story even more remarkable was that he missed the feature transfer because of a driving error (mistaking a passing room flag for the checkers) and was further involved in an early race crash in the B-Feature race in turn 3.

“Asleep at the wheel.  I thought [the flagman] Sharpie was wavin’ the checkers, but it was just a flag to move over,” said Goertz.  “We got bumped around in the b-feature, and the guys worked on the car and got it back where it was.  I wasn’t getting impatient, we [Steve Book and I] were just running hard.”

In the Peterbilt of Ontario Super Stocks Jeremy Reid (#76) of Kerwood won his first ever feature event.  Reid had to pass previous event winner Jim Mairs (#5) of Thedford and then faced challenges from Ray Morneau (#98) of Windsor and Darrell Lake (#77) of London.  Lake would finish second, Morneau third.  “Cowboy” Kris Lawrence (#28) of London was able to rally for another strong fourth place finish, Brad Clarke (#52) of Thedford was fifth.

“Everybody raced me clean and I’m pretty happy with that,” said Reid in victory lane.  “I just tried to concentrate and keep as fast as I could.  It was pretty exciting.  We’ve been working hard at it and I’m glad it finally happened.”

The evening ended with the $1000 to win Throne Kings of the Hill Nationals in support of the Make-a-Wish Foundation.  The final round came down to Justin DeMello in his red new-style Camero against a new challenger: a 1997 Dodge Viper GT.  In the best two out of three final the Camero won the first round with the Viper winning the second round.  In the final shootout DeMello’s was able to take his Camero to the win.

“[The outside] gripped a lot better tonight,” said DeMello after the event.  “You just have to hold on and keep it there for the win!”

DAY #2:

The second day of the Great Canadian Race Weekend was presented by PRO-MA Performance Products & Maple Leaf Foods.  The day would feature the return of Cascar-Type vehicles in the Ontario Sportsman Series along with great competition from the Challenger Motor Freight Trucks and POWERADE Open-Wheel Modifieds.

Sean Dupuis (#7) of LaSalle proved to be the driver to beat in the OSS event winning the time trials, first feature race and second feature race.  One of the most wild incidents in the event took place during the second feature race when Steve Robblee (#28) of Dorchester and Steven Matthews (#88) of New Liskeard tangled entering turn three sending Robblee into the wall.

“I had a blast today,“ said Dupuis after becoming the first driver to win both OSS events in the same day.  “I had a brake problem in the first fifty.  The guys fixed it, and then we had a power steering problem.  I almost gave up but we kept racing!  I appreciate everyone coming out.”

The Challenger Motor Freight trucks also entered into competition on Saturday.  Chad Rijnen was able to pull a win, starting from the twelth position.  The win would have been a key one for Rijnen, positioning himself within striking distance of points leader Paul Fothergill “The Black Knight” (#9) of London.  Unfortunately a problem in technical inspection would see Rijnen deducted twenty-five points as well as a monetary fine.  The infraction was in relation to an unapproved component on the control arm of the vehicle.  Second in the race was Devon Bloemendal (#01) of Delaware, third was Jeff Showler (#56) of Mt. Elgin.

A highlight of the day was Robin McCluskey (#44) of London’s first ever win in the POWERADE Open-Wheel Modifieds.  McCluskey started from the first position and held on to take the win, pulling away from Dan Prudhomme (#96) of Ingersoll and Jamie Cox (#3) of Dorchester.  McCluskey has quickly become a popular pick in the POWERADE Modifieds, known for the unique appearance of his racecar and his ability to take the high groove around the race track.

“It’s such an honour to win at Delaware Speedway with all the history here,” said McCluskey in victory lane.  “It’s such a hard track to win on with all the bumps and everything, especially with the modifieds.”

The win became even more special once fans realized McCluskey was running on tires from the beginning of the season on one side of the car, and used tires from the #88 of Paul Shipway on the other side.  McCluskey reported that he is continuing his search for sponsors since moving to London from British Columbia earlier this year.

“I want to thank my girlfriend, Candice, for putting up with all this,” he added.  “as well as my Cameron and my Uncle Dave back in British Columbia.  They’ve all helped out a lot.”

DAY #3:

APC: 300 The Great Canadian Race is a very special event at Delaware Speedway, the premier event for the APC Late Models.  The day began with time trials, which were won by Dan Delisle (#7) of LaSalle with his 18.871 second lap time.

The first 50-Lap race would settle the Delaware Speedway championship.  Duke Sawchuk (#5) of Emeryville would win the event with Dion Verhoeven (#77) of Kerwood in second and “Rocket” Ron Sheridan (#52) of Mt. Brydges in third.  Steve Robblee would finish eighth, but it would be enough to clinch the Delaware championship.

The second 50-Lap race was won by Jon Urlin “Johnny Dangerous” (#9) of London.  Mark Watson (#4w) of St. Thomas, a regular POWERADE Open-Wheel Modified driver made his APC Late Model debut in style, leading much of the event.  Urlin was able to take the lead within five laps to go to earn the win.

“For Mark to step in and run that car like that, it shows how good of a car it is,” said Urlin.  “We were really going for the win here.  I figured if I could get near enough he might make a mistake.  We were able to get up underneath him.”

“Wrinkles” won the Ultimate Sandblasting & Coating Chaos car event at intermission.  The exhibition style event provided the invading APC Late Models from other speedways with turn-around time to get themselves prepared for the final event.  The Chaos event saw plenty of bumping and banging and a photo finish between Snot Rod and Wrinkles for the win.  Snot Rod’s solid finish earned him the inaugural Ultimate Sandblasting & Coating Chaos Car championship.

The final 200-lap race was a bit of a marathon for many drivers seeing numerous caution flags, but more importantly, good hard racing especially in the final 50 laps.  Jonathan Urlin (#9) of London led the early part of the race before pulling on pit road with mechanical problems.  Duke Sawchuk (#5) of Emeryville led entering the competition yellow period at halfway.  As the laps ticked away form the competition yellow second place runner “Rocket” Ron Sheridan made his move getting Sawchuk sideways in turn two.  In the ensuing duel David Elliott (#37) of Acton would follow Sheridan around the high side into second.  The stage was set for a final showdown between Elliott and Sheridan, with Elliott finding himself in a position to attempt a bump-and-run on more then one occasion.  Elliott chose not to take the opportunities settling for second.  Ron Sheridan (#52) of Mt. Brydges would come away with the win in the Great Canadian Race and Elliott in Second, the best ever Delaware Finish for the Flamboro Speedway champion.  Steve Robblee (#28) of Dorchester would finish third and Jonathan Urlin (#9) of London would end up forth, after leading the early part of the race but suffering numerous mechanical problems throughout the day.

“I had nothing for the #52.  We were quicker in the turns, but he ran a perfect line,” said Elliott.  “I’m not the kind of guy to drive through him to pass him - - if I was we would have won!”