Third Time’s A Charm: Friday Feature Winners All Take Their Third Wins of the Year

July 31, 2009

John Houghton

Delaware Speedway PR

Third time’s a charm turned out to be the phrase of the night Friday evening at Delaware Speedway.  Drivers in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series classes took to the track, with each winner scoring their third race win of the year.  The evening was sponsored by Hayter Walden Publicaions and Phone Guide.

Jamie Cox (#3) of Dorchester won the Powerade Open-Wheel Modified feature race Friday evening at Delaware Speedway.  Cox fought his way through from nearly the last spot on the grid to win the event.  Cox’s break came within ten laps to go when David McCullough (#39) of Glencoe tangled with race leader John Saunders (#70) of London.  On the restart Cox was able to pass Shawn Thompson (#72) of Ailsa Craig to take the win.  Paul Shipway (#88) of Ailsa Craig finished second, third was Barry Newman (#1) of Springfield.

“The car was decent, but it wasn’t that great,” said Cox in victory lane.  “I was just sitting there hoping something would happen, and obviously it did.  Sometimes you just have to sit back and be patient and wait for your opportunities.  I knew I had to bury it into one to [get around Shawn], otherwise I would get stuck behind him, he was fast enough.”

Cox is the points leader in the POWERADE Open-Wheel Modifieds.  He holds a twenty-three point lead over Barry Newman and Paul Shipway.  Those two drivers are tied for second.

Jamie Cox (#3) of Dorchester being interviewed by Chris Soares

The Delaware Speedway Super Stock feature race was won by Jason Lidster (#11) of St. Thomas.  To take the win, Lidster had to pull off a stunning last lap pass on Jumpin’ Jeremiah Rabideau (#51) of Glencoe.  Rabideau took the lead at lap seven from Scott Nagy (#99) of London and held it until being passed in the final corner.  The race also had a last lap crash in turns three and four involving Kris Lawrence (#28) of London.  Rabideau would end solidly in second, third was Darrell Lake (#77) of London.

“The team really came through for me,” said Lidster.  “They worked real hard to figure out what was going on.  It ended up being something silly, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.  Too bad for Jeremiah, we’ll talk a little later [about it].”

The Delaware Super Stock drivers entered Friday evening with a tie for first in points between Darrel Lake (#77) of London and Jeremy Reid (#76) of Kerwood.  While the tie would be broken, it would be replaced by a new tie.  Darrell Lake is now tied for the lead with race winner Jason Lidster.  Third is rookie contender Steve Smith (#84) of Thedford ten points back.

Last Lap Pass: Jason Lidster (#11) of St. Thomas gets to the inside of Jeremiah Rabideau (#51) of Glencoe

The Demar Aggregates Truck race was a wildly exciting race featuring mutiple times where the drivers were racing three-wide around the speedway without incident.  Shawn Johns (#00) of St. Marys was able to get out front early on and faced challenges from Kathleen Hosang (#16) of Zurich.  As the race wore on, the duo were joined by Devon Bloemendal (#01) of Delaware and Paul Fothergill (#88) of London.  The would pass Hosang, however Bloemendal spun his truck in turn three bringing out the caution.  Fothergill was ale to get the lead from Shawn Johns before the checkers flew, Johns finished second, Chad Rijnen (#33) of Thamesford finished third.

“I had an awesome truck tonight, I knew we did in practice,” said Fothergill.  “It feels good to get the win after a bad few weeks and a tough heat race.”

Fothergill’s win tightens the points battle in the Demar Aggregates Truck Series.  Jeff Showler (#56) of Mt. Elgin holds on to the lead by a narrow three points over Fothergill.  Third is Sid Mcdonald (#33) of London sitting fourteen points back from Showler.

The Ultimate Sandblasting & Coating Chaos Cars took to the track following the main program.  The drivers on the evening were Jon Kok in Wednesday, Robert Armstrong in Red Baron, Gary Triska in Blue Thunder, Tyssen Toll in Snot Rod, Spencer Rabideau in Bush Bomb and Cameron Leeson debuting the newest Chaos Car, Born Again.  The final lap of the event came down to Blue Thunder and Bush Bomb.  In the last section of the Chaos Course the pair made contact sending Blue Thunder into the inside wall, and Spencer Rabideau’s Bush Bomb to victory lane.