For more info, please visit Barrie Speedway .
by Dave Vokey
OSCAAR driver #61 John Fletcher of Milton captured the 50 lap feature win June 17th
at Barrie Speedway. Extremely warm temperatures greeted the capacity crowd on hand
that witnessed Fletcher take the lead after pole sitter and race leader #22 Glenn
Watson experienced brake failure and spun in corner 1 after leading for the first 41
laps.
Local hero Watson was simply dominant in the early going and was able to pull away
from Fletcher when there were green flag conditions and no traffic out front of him.
Watson got the jump on Fletcher right from the drop of the green as Fletcher would
push high out of 4 to begin the race. Watson was lapping the newly paved 1/3 mile
tri oval in 13.5 sec in the early going opening up a two car length lead on
Fletcher. The races first caution came at lap 8 as #7T Ed Bowlby tagged the front
stretch wall ending the former Barrie driver's night early. On the restart Watson
took off from Fletcher, who now was fending off the #52 of Gary Passer. By the
midway point, Watson had shaved a couple tenths off his lap times, and was now
parading around the circuit in a very fast 13.20 sec. On the move up through the
field was the duo of defending series champ #49 Rob Clarke and #15 Al Shepstone who
both got by #62 Lloyd Ritchie to enter the top 5. At the front Watson and Fletcher
had opened up almost a full straight away lead on Passer who was still running
third. Finally at lap 41, after driving for approx 30 laps with glowing red brake
rotors Watson drove a little hard into 1 and looped it handing the lead to Fletcher.
From there the talented OSCAAR driver drove unchallenged to the victory with a
closing Clarke coming second after getting by Passer in the late stages. Passer
would see a strong run end when he blew something in the motor on the last lap.
Shepstone hung on to finish third, with #89 Drew Spicer and Ritchie completing the
top 5.
Heat wins went to Fletcher, Clarke, Ritchie, and Passer.
In ST. ONGE RECREATION Thunder Car action, 16 year old rookie driver Kyle Baker
charged to the victory after starting from pole position. Baker, son of late model
driver Dwayne got the jump on #59 Devan Craft from the drop of the green. Baker and
Craft battled side by side for the lead over the first 3 laps until the young phenom
Baker cleared Craft to move into the lead. Craft would push up high allowing #49x
Larry Woodward to overtake him and move into second. The best battle was taking
place for third with #66 Jason Holmes and #24 Leonard Johnston involved, with Holmes
moving through to claim the spot after several laps door handle to door handle. The
fast cars of #52 Greg Callow and #00 Darryl St.Onge hooked up together to move
through the field using both the high and low lines to enter the top 5. Baker and
Woodward were home and cooled out on the front until the caution flew at lap 18 as
#97 Brad Holden spun in corner three wiping out the huge Baker lead. On the restart,
St.Onge charged past both Callow and Holmes and into third when the caution again
flew at lap 20. St.Onge was a bullet again on the restart moving around Woodward and
into second place where he would begin his persuit of Baker. The young Baker held
firm to running his line low on the racing surface and managed to fend off every
challenge St.Onge could bring upon him. The caution flew at lap 23 as Holmes spun in
corner 4. At this point due to time restraints the race was halted and the future
star Baker claimed his first ever win in a Thunder. St. Onge wound up second, with
Callow, Woodward and #92 Dan Dixon rounding out the fast five. Heat wins were
claimed by St. Onge, Callow, #44 Dave Doucette, and #11 Eddie Tremblay.
In YANCH HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING Pure Stock action, #26 Bill Walt assumed the
early lead from the pole but was soon passed by #64x Beau Burrows who made a fine
low maneuver going into corner 3 to overtake Walt. Burrows another one of the third
generation racers this year at the high line appeared to be dominant out front
running laps in the 17.5 sec range as Walt continued to hold onto second with #24
Tom Milligan and #84 Jerry Slavish battling hard for third in behind the lead pair.
Milligan was very fast on this night as he won the battle with Slavish, then quickly
would pass Walt to move to second, while in behind there was a fine 3 way battle
between #45 Derek Surerus, #114 Horst Ziebell and #63 Brandon Crumbie. The three
drivers races clean and tough going three wide several times around the tight
confines of the High Line. But this was Burrows night as the 2004 Varney Speedway
champ drove on the record his first ever feature win at Barrie. Milligan brought his
quick VW in for second, with Walt, Sererus, and Crumbie rounding out the top 5. Heat
wins went to Burrows, Milligan, #44 Rick Myer, #3 Ricky Walt, #12 Ed Byers, and #17
Dan Little. #64 California Dave Crumbie captured the B feature, with #16 Bryan Penny
winning the lucky dog award.
FEATURE RESULTS AND STANDINGS
CARQUEST LATE MODELS
STANDINGS TOP-10: 1. Dwayne Baker, 639; 2. Tom Walters, 632; 3. Tim Watson, 629; 4.
Ian Bourque, 627; 5. Gord Shepherd, 621; 6. Robin Jongen, 618; 7. Mike Brown, 584;
8. Dave Lewis, 580; 9. Garry Reynolds, 565; 10. Steve Quesnelle, 564;
ST. ONGE RECREATION THUNDER CARS
HEAT WINS: E. Tremblay, G. Callow, D. Doucette, D. St.Onge
FEATURE: 1. #48 Kyle Baker; 2. #00 Darryl St.Onge; 3. #52 Greg Callow; 4. #49x Larry
Woodward; 5. #92 Dan Dixon; 6. #88 Herb Walters; 7. #49 Frank Davey; 8. #24 Leonard
Johnston; 9. #45 Al Penny; 10. #68 Shawn Cunnington; 11. #44 Dave Doucette; 12. #69
- -; 13. #6 Rick Walt; 14. #66 Jason Holmes; 15. #59 Devan Craft; 16. #11 Ed
Tremblay; 17. #90 Richard Bosschaert; 18. #21 Luke Gignac; 19. #97 Brad Holden; 20.
#29 Corey McKinnon; 21. #7 Brian Murray;
STANDINGS TOP-10: 1. Frank Davey, 762; 2. Dave Doucette, 746; 3. Ed Tremblay, 715;
4. Greg Callow, 705; 5. Herb Walters, 705; 6. Shawn Cunnington, 696; 7. Richard
Bosschaert, 695; 8. Darryl St.Onge, 636; 9. Dan Dixon, 627; 10. Brian Murray, 622;
YANCH HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING PURE STOCKS
HEAT WINS: R. Meyer, E. Byers, B. Burrows, R. Walt, T. Milligan, D. Little
FEATURE: 1. #64x Beau Burrows; 2. #24 Tom Milligan; 3. #26 Bill Walt; 4. #45 Derek
Surerus; 5. #63 Brandon Crumbie; 6. #114 Horst Ziebell; 7. #3 Rick Walt; 8. #9
Brandon Watson; 9. #22 Shawn Murray; 10. #83 Steeve Melson; 11. #17 Dan Little; 12.
#20 Anna Milligan; 13. #92 Ralph Sikes; 14. #35 Nick French; 15. #84 Jerry Slavish;
16. #44 Rick Meyer; 17. #77 Scott Leclerc; 18. #12 Ed Byers; 19. #57 Mitchell Casey;
20. #117 John Crossman; 21. #63x Dave Burrows; 22. #79 Joe Ficker; 23. #25 Darron
McMinn; 24. #64 Dave Crumbie; 25. #90 Jim MacDonald; 26. #97 Thayne Hallyburton;