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ROBBLEE WINS PARTSOURCE 142 Race was a trying one for drivers and equipment John Houghton June 26, 2009
Steve Robblee won the fifth annual APC Late Model Canada Day PartSource 142 Friday evening at Delaware Speedway. The race was an important one for the division, as it was divided into three full points paying segments. Robblee took the lead on lap 23 from Kirk Hooker (#38) of Chatham in the first stage of the race, and hung on to lead the remainder of the event to win all three stages. The caution would fly eleven times over the course of the event making it a trying one for drivers and equipment. In the final segment Mark Watson (#02) of St. Thomas finished second, Rocket Ron Sheridan (#52) of Mt. Brydges was third. Both Watson’s and Sheridan’s finishes are notable as this season is Watson’s first in the division after winning the Powerade Open-Wheel Modified Championship, and Sheridan had struggles throughout the day, ending up on pit road on lap 33 for a flat tire. “We’re really happy to come back in third,” said Sheridan. “To get up to third place, we’ll take that. We didn’t have a real good night for points as far as the first 50 is concerned, but I want to thank PartSource for all their support of this race.” “We were good on the short run,” said Watson “We’ve always said we wanted to race against the best, and these guys are the best. It was tough through traffic [Steve] got through traffic better than me.” “For a guy whose only been in the car for four races in a Late Model, I hate to see him [Mark Watson] a year from now - - he’ll be all over us!” said Robblee. “It wasn’t that tough [to get into the rhythm]. Our car was good on restarts, if you have a bad car on restarts you’d hate to see them.” The points battle is heating up with Robblee in the lead, Jesse Kennedy (#10) of Southwold in second and third, Ron Sheridan (#52). These top-three drivers separated by only eleven points. The APC Late Model division has a week off, before heading into their second J.B.M. Auto Leasing Triple Crown event on July 10. The Demar Aggregates Truck feature race was won by Justin Demelo (#82) of London. Kathleen Hosang (#16) of Zurich was the early favorite out front, dueling with Michelle Koricinia (#99) of Ailsa Craig before being passed later in the event by Demelo. Finishing second in the race was Devon Bloemendal (#01) of Delaware, third was Paul Fothergill (#88) of London. Bloemendal’s finish is especially notable, given that the team had to return to their Mt. Brydges shop after practice to replace their motor. The event was another strong showing for Team Ultimate (Trucks #33, #82, #88), who finished with two trucks on the podium and vaulted the #82 into the lead in owners points. The independent #56 Zed-Air Heating & Cooling truck of Mt. Elgin’s Jeff Showler led the points coming into the night, slipping to second after his fourteenth place finish following a flat tire early in the event.
The next race event at Delaware Speedway is the Night of Destruction on July 3. Tickets are available though the speedway website.
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Scott Nagy (#99) of Strathroy was the winner of the Delaware Super Stock feature. Youngster Jake Ott (#60) of Ayr led the first thirteen laps of the event before being passed by veteran driver Jim Mairs (#5) of London. After taking the lead Mairs faced strong challenges from Jeremy Reid (#76) of Kerwood. The pair battled closely around the track before making contact in turns three and four bringing out the caution. The caution flag would be the final of the race, the event would end on lap 20 as curfew approached. With those leaders classed as involved cars in the incident, the driver in third place at the end of the last full completed lap, Scott Nagy took the win.