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SHERIDAN, MATTHEWS WIN LATE MODEL FEATURES John Houghton July 24, 2009
“Rocket” Ron Sheridan (#52) of Mt. Brydges and Steven Matthews of New Liskeard came out on top in the two APC Late Model feature races on Friday evening at Delaware Speedway on Bedell’s Food Services and Siskinds the Lawfirm night. While Sheridan won the first race on the night, Sheridan’s story of victory would be short lived as events unfolded throughout the evening. Steven Matthews won the APC Late Model time trials early in the night. His winning laptime was 19.129 seconds. Second in time trials was Ron Sheridan, third was Jonathan Urlin (#4) of London whose primary sponsor, Siskinds the Lawfirm was on hand in a private area in turn one.
On the restart, the field had a near miss as Kirk Hooker (#38) of Blenheim made contact with Jon Urlin (#4) of London from behind. Urlin was able to save the car from any impact and damage and avoided the yellow. Caution would fly on eleven for a spin involving Matt Robblee (#32) of Dorchester. By lap seventeen Ron Sheridan was joined up front by Steve Robblee (#28) of Dorchester. The pair would battle in a duel that has been repeated countless times between the two veteran drivers. This round went to Sheridan who took the win. Robblee finished second, third was Kirk Hooker (#38) of Blenheim. “You know, he [Robblee] started ahead of us a few nights ago [and won],” said Sheridan in victory lane. “He was behind me, I had to slow up a little a bit in the turns, the car was pushing a little. He’s got a lot of straightaway speed there. It was fun, I was driving good trying not to make a mistake. He runs fast but I also know he runs clean. We ran him clean a few weeks ago and a couple times previous.”
The second race started with a full inversion of lead lap cars from the first race. Marc Jacobs (#8) of London started from the first position but was quickly passed by Doug Stewart (#2) of London. As the field came around and completed lap one a number of drivers spun in turn one including Shawn Thompson (#72) of Ailsa Craig, Jonathan Urlin (#4) of London, Chad Rijnen (#3) of Thamesford, Rick Emery (#14) of Ruscom, and Gary Elliot (#9) of Waterdown. No significant damage came about because of the crash. On lap four the caution would fly again when David Elliot (#37) of Acton had a flat tire in turn four. The race resumed with Steven Matthews (#15) of New Liskeard in the lead. On lap eleven the second major incident of the night occurred when Mark Watson (#02) of St. Thomas and previous race winner Ron Sheridan (#52) of Mt. Brydges tangled on the front straight. Sheridan expressed his displeasure in Watson’s pit a short time later as Nascar Whelen All-American Series officials kept the peace. Steven Matthews (#15) was out front on the restart being chased by Steve Robblee (#28) of Dorchester. Robblee was fighting hard to take the lead as tough nights for both Kennedy and Sheridan meant a great points opportunity. The opportunity would not come as on lap nineteen Robblee would spin off turn two after making contact with the back of Matthews car and suffering a mechanical failure. Matthews would go on to win his first-ever Delaware Speedway feature race. Second was Kirk Hooker (#38) of Blenheim, who was carrying a special Bedell’s Food Services sponsorship on his car, third was Scott Lindsay (#20) of St. Marys.
Coming into the night Matthews was leading the Nascar Whelen All-American Series provincial standings. The rankings put drivers from Delaware Speedway up against drivers from Ontario’s other NASCAR Sanctioned facility, Barrie Speedway. Matthew’s win will no doubt bolster his case for a provincial championship win. In Delaware Speedway points, with both Sheridan and Robblee having tough nights, Robblee still leads the points standings with Sheridan just eleven points back.
“We’ve been out a few times this year,” said O’Connor in victory lane. “Looks like the boys have been working real hard at it, the car worked nice. I want to thank the whole crew and Dale Timmermans for all the help over the past few weeks. It was nice to start third, and I knew once I had the chance to get up there I had to go. I had guys like Jeremy Reid and Darrel Lake behind me so I had to go.” Jason Lidster (#11) of London came into the night in the points lead, but after failing to start his heat race and ending up in last place for the feature slipped to fourth position. Lidster is still just twelve points back from the lead, Steve Smith is in front of him by just one point. As for the points leader, Jeremy Reid (#76) of Kerwood and Darrell Lake are now tied for the lead.
“It was a perfect night for points for us,” said Showler who also won his heat race earlier in the evening. “The truck was running good tonight. I felt the #16 [Hosang] coming strong at the end and #55 [Gary Adriaensen] was strong too.”
Steve Book (#64) of Brantford was the winner of the Transmission Direct Enduro Challenge. Second in the race was Jeff Coward (#11) of Ilderton, third was Steve Arrand (#37) of London. Twenty-nine cars participated in the 30-lap race which thrilled fans with a just a small taste of the action the Transmission Direct Enduro drivers participate in during their Saturday events. The next race event is Friday, July 31 sponsored by Hayter Walden Publications and Phone Guide Access Pages. The racing lineup features the POWERADE Modifieds, Delaware Super Stocks, and Demar Aggregates Trucks. The evening will also feature the wild Ultimate Sandblasting and Coating Chaos Cars running their obstacle course following the final feature race. Gates open at 6:00 pm racing starts at 8:00 pm.
Photos: checkeredflagmedia.com
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The first APC Late Model race started with Ron Sheridan getting the lead from Steven Matthews (#15). As the field came around to put lap three in the books, Mark Watson (#02) of St. Thomas and Jesse Kennedy (#10) of Southworld made contact exiting turn two and crashed along the front stretch. The incident collected several drivers including Rick Emery (#14) of Ruscom, Jamie Ramsay (#22) of St. Thomas, David Elliott (#37) of Acton and Matt Robblee (#32) of Dorchester. The crash would effectively end Kennedy’s evening of competition.
In the Delaware Speedway Super Stocks, Scott O’Connor (#9) of London won the feature race while substituting for D.J. DeJesus, the regular driver of the #9. Darrel Lake (#77) of London finished second, third was Steve Smith (#84) of Arkona. The final laps of the event were nail-biters as Lake closed in on the back bumper of O’Connor, and a heavy battle for third position on back ensued. The race had one caution involving Brad Clarke (#52) of Thedford and Jared Shield (#7) of London.
