Westbrook, Martin, Bailey and Hils Win Friday Night At Ohsweken

Story By: CLAYTON JOHNS / OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY – OHSWEKEN, ONT – A warm spring night at Ohsweken Speedway saw 110 cars sign in across four divisions for McDonald’s of Brantford and Paris night on Friday.

The season’s second edition of Friday Night Excitement saw 15-year-old Liam Martin of Binbrook, Ont. score his first career Sprint Car Feature victory with the Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars while Gillian Hils claimed her second career HRW Automotive Mini Stock victory. A pair of reigning champions were also winners for the second week in a row as Dylan Westbrook won the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Car Feature and Dave Bailey held off a flurry of charges to win the Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stock main event.

KOOL KIDZ-CORR/PAK 360 SPRINT CARS
The main event for the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars was the final Feature of the night and saw Tyler Hendricks and Glenn Styres start on the front row. Styres grabbed the early lead Hendricks was positioned in second until Styres got out of shape in turns one and two on lap three, handing the lead to Hendricks.

Quickly in tow were fourth-starting Cory Turner and seventh-starting Dylan Westbrook. On lap four. Westbrook dove to the inside in turn one and came out of turn two with the lead and Turner also got passed Hendricks, shuffling his No.38 back to third.

A lap six caution slowed the field before Westbrook and Turner pulled away on the restart. The advantage was erased by the second and final caution on lap nine. The ensuing restart saw Turner give Westbrook all he could handle as he drove to his outside and ran alongside the No.47x for the next two laps.

Westbrook eventually used his preferred track position in the bottom groove to pull away to a 1.8-second advantage with five laps remaining. The win was Westbrook’s fifth straight in weekly competition at Ohsweken, dating back to August 2017. Turner earned his second-straight second-place finish while rookie Mack DeMan was on the podium for the first time with a third-place result. Chris Steele earned a fourth-place finish in his season debut and Hendricks rounded out the top-five. Turner and Westbrook also won the qualifying heats.

STRICKLAND’S GMC CRATE SPRINT CARS
Jesse Costa and Brad Herron were on the front row for the Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars 20-lap Feature. Herron took the early lead after Costa slowed on the opening lap before getting the car back in gear and settling into sixth. Fifth-starting Liam Martin quickly made his way into second and on lap six was right on Herron’s tail tank in a battle for the lead.

Martin made his move for the point on lap eight and took the lead off turn two. At the halfway mark, the top-three of Martin, Harron and Shone Evans broke away from the rest of the field and worked into lapped traffic just as the caution waved for a stopped Steven Beckett in turn four.

Following the restart, Martin opened a lead of 1.4 seconds over Harron, Evans, Costa and Holly Porter by the time the lap counter showed five laps to go. The advantage was erased by the second caution on lap 16. Martin had to be strong on that restart and then three more the final yellow set up a green-white-checkered finish.

Herron threw everything he had at Martin on the restart and pulled alongside him on the inside momentarily but the 15-year-old youngster was able to fend off the veteran for his first career Sprint Car win. Costa, Porter and Lucas Smith completed the top-five. Porter, Evans and Hannah Ferrell scored heat race wins while Ryan Hunsinger won the B-Main.

MIDDLEPORT MECHANICAL THUNDER STOCKS
Dave Bailey and Jim Lampman lined-up on the front row for the Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stock Feature and wasted little time beginning a battle for the top spot. Bailey held the top spot in the bottom lane while Lampman worked the outside groove at Bailey’s right-rear quarter-panel.

Bailey pulled away to a 10 car-length advantage by lap five while Lampman was left to battle Billy Bleich Jr. for the second spot and behind them Ken Sargent, Ryan Dinning and Trevor DeBoer battled for fourth.

A trio of caution on laps 8,11 and 12 kept the running order the same and the field close and tested Bailey repeatedly. On the final restart at lap 14, Bailey had his hands full with Lampman, but managed to create a gap of roughly five car lengths, leaving Lampman to fight for second with Bleich and the quick-moving Mark Bazuin.

Bailey went largely uncontested over the final two laps to secure his second-straight win to open the season, while Bazuin claimed second ahead of DeBoer, Lampman and Bleich. DeBoer, Bailey and Bazuin were also heat winners earlier in the night.

HRW AUTOMOTIVE MINI STOCKS
The HRW Autmotive Mini Stocks produced arguably the most thrilling Feature of the night in their first Insta-Panels Duel on the Dirt home track race. Jonathan Ayrton and Wayde Thorne started up front and Thorne grabbed the early lead, but Gillian Hils quickly moved into the battle up front.

Thorne led the opening three laps until Hils took over the point on lap four, but was quickly under siege from both Ayrton and Thorne. Behind them, opening night winner Nick Masi was charging from the 17th starting spot to the front and was up to second by the time of a lap seven caution.

On lap nine, Ayrton, Masi and Hils went three-wide for the lead for more than half a lap. Masi and Hils then locked into a side-by-side battle for the final five laps. Masi used a better drive off of turn four to lead laps 10 through 13 before Hils used a strong drive off turn two to claim the lead on lap 14 and then held on to the point on the last lap for her second career Mini Stock win at Ohsweken. Masi claimed the second spot while Matt Nuell was third, Jeremy May was fourth and Ayrton settled for fifth.

Sean Iftody, Ayrton, Hils and Rob Twitchett claimed the heat race wins. Mike Taylor and Nuell scored victories in a pair of B-Mains.

OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY STATISTICAL REPORT
May 25, 2018
Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada
Friday Night Excitement presented by McDonald’s of Brantford and Paris
Total Entries – 110

Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars (16 Entries)

A-Feature (20 laps – No Time)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 47x Dylan Westbrook (7); 2. 97 Cory Turner (4); 3. 17x Mack DeMan (5); 4. 80 Chris Steele (8); 5. 38 Tyler Hendricks (1); 6. 80 Chris Steele (8); 7. 49 Todd Hoddick (12); 8. 55 Mike Thorne (14); 9. 14h Jim Huppunen (13); 10. 91 Ryan Turner (10); 11. 6 Curtis Gartly (15); 12. 9 Steve Lyons (6); 13. 0 Glenn Styres (2); 14. 15 Dan Nanticoke (16); 15. DNF 22 Shawn Sliter (9); 16. DNF 11 Jamie Turner (11)
A-Feature Lap Leaders – Glenn Styres 1-2; Tyler Hendricks 3; Dylan Westbrook 4-20
Hard Charger – Dylan Westbrook +7 (7th to 1st)

Lucas Oil Products Heat Race No.1 (8 laps – 2:01.629)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 97 Cory Turner, Caistor Centre, ON (3); 2. 38 Tyler Hendricks, Pain Court, ON (4); 3. 0 Glenn Styres, Ohsweken, ON (6); 4. 9 Steve Lyons, Carlisle, ON (7); 5. 91 Ryan Turner, Caistor Centre, ON (5); 6. 11 Jamie Turner, Caistor Centre, ON (1); 7. 49 Todd Hoddick, Cheektowaga, NY (2); 8. 15 Dan Nanticoke, Ohsweken, ON (8)

Creative Edge Signs & Graphics Heat Race No.2 (8 laps – 1:59.963)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 47x Dylan Westbrook, Scotland, ON (3); 2. 80 Chris Steele, St. Catharines, ON (1); 3. 17x Mack DeMan, Mississauga, ON (2); 4. 29 Dain Naida, Adrian, MI (7); 5. 22 Shawn Sliter, Port Colborne, ON (5); 6. 14h Jim Huppunen, Fenwick, ON (4); 7. 55 Mike Thorne, Caledonia, ON (6); 8. 6 Curtis Gartly, Thamesford, ON (8)

Ackland Insurance “Top Gun” Award ($150): Dylan Westbrook

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Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars (29 entries)

A-Feature (20 laps – Time)
Finish. # Name (Starting Position)
1. 29 Liam Martin (5); 2. 12 Brad Herron (2); 3. 52 Jesse Costa (1); 4. 1 Holly Porter (7); 5. 49L Lucas Smith (6); 6. 4 Hannah Ferrell (8); 7. 87x Shone Evans (3); 8. 68 Aaron Turkey (10); 9. 5d Jacob Dykstra (12); 10. 49h Jerry Hill (4); 11. 56 Derek Lemyre (20); 12. 08 Steven Beckett (17); 13. 74 Rob Neely (15); 14. 51 Trevor Young (22); 15. 1eh Paul Klager (23); 16. 9c Brian Nanticoke (9); 17. DNF 88h Josh Hansen (11); 18. DNF 5 DJ Chrsitie (14); 19. DNF 43h Ryan Hunsinger (19); 20. DNF 24 Jeff Newham (13); 21. DNF 7 Caleb Wood (21); 22. 9 Paul Ballantyne (18); 23. 18x Davey Boughton (24); 24. DNS 69 Joshua Hill (16)
A-Feature Lap Leaders – Brad Herron 1-7, Liam Martin 8-20
Hard Charger – Derek Lemyre +9 (20th to 11th)

Lucas Oil Products Heat Race No.1 (8 laps – Top 6 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. DQ 7 Caleb Wood, London, ON (1); 2. 1 Holly Porter, Delhi, ON (3); 3. 12 Brad Herron, Waterford, ON (2); 4. 52 Jesse Costa, St. Thomas, ON (6); 5. 68 Aaron Turkey, Ohsweken, ON (4); 6. 24 Jeff Newham, Windsor, ON (7); 7. 69 Josh Hill, Six Nations, ON (8); 8. DNS 38 Derek Miller, Ohsweken, ON (5); 9. DNS 18x Davey Boughton, Carlisle, ON (9); 10. DNS 8mk Matt Hill, Ohsweken, ON (10)

Klotz Automotive Heat Race No.2 (8 laps – Top 6 Transfer – 2:04.993)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 87x Shone Evans, Scotland, ON (2); 2. 29 Liam Martin, Binbrook, ON (3); 3. 9c Brian Nanticoke, Ohsweken, ON (1); 4. 88h Josh Hansen, Beamsville, ON (5); 5. 5 DJ Christie, Beachville, ON (6); 6. 08 Steven Beckett, Fonthill, ON (8); 7. 51 Trevor Young, Ancaster, ON (4); 8. 43h Ryan Hunsinger, Stouffville, ON (10); 9. 56 Derek Lemyre, Hamilton, ON (9); 10. 22jr Al Gilletta Jr., St. Catharines, ON (7)

Creative Edge Signs & Graphics Heat Race No.3 (8 laps – Top 6 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 4 Hannah Ferrell, Vanessa, ON (1); 2. 49h Jerry Hill, Hagersville, ON (2); 3. 49L Lucas Smith, Brantford, ON (7); 4. 5d Jacob Dykstra, Port Colborne, ON (3); 5. 74 Rob Neely, Rockwood, ON (9); 6. 9 Paul Ballantyne, Brantford, ON (4); 7. 70 Baily Heard, Niagara Falls, ON (8); 8. 1eh Paul Klager, Beamsville, ON (6); 9. 99 Michael Bell, Hagersville, ON (5)

B-Feature 1 (12 laps – Top 6 Transfer – 3:14.132)
Finish. # Name (Starting Position)
1. 43h Ryan Hunsinger (1); 2. 56 Derek Lemyre (6); 3. 7 Caleb Wood (8); 4. 51 Trevor Young (2); 5. 1eh Paul Klager (3); 6. 18x Davey Boughton (9); 7. 70 Baily Heard (4); 8. 22jr Al Gilletta Jr. (7); 9. 3b Blaine Barrow (5)

Ackland Insurance “Top Gun” Award ($100): Holly Porter
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Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks (29 entries)

A-Feature (20 laps – No Time)
Finish. # Name (Starting Position)
1. 49 Dave Bailey (1); 2. 21x Mark Bazuin (11); 3. 23 Trevor DeBoer (8); 4. 28 Jim Lampman (2); 5. X Billy Bleich Jr. (4); 6. 84rk Ryan Beagle (10); 7. 8 Ryan Dinning (3); 8. 25 Ken Sargent (6); 9. 37h Rob Hoskins (13); 10. 79 Christopher Hale (24); 11. 7 Jason Lungaro (19); 12. 53 Logan Shwedyk (28); 13. 93k Ryan Klazinga (5); 14. 40 Jay Liverance (22); 15. 1 Chris Dickie (16); 16. 777x Chase Hess (14); 17. 11 Brian Teeple (23); 18. 46 Kevin Pauls (21); 19. 3c Devon Bacher (27); 20. 13 Kacey Huffman (25); 21. 38 Terry Martin (26); 22. 24 Blake Bomberry Jr. (7); 23. 52 Tony Fraser (20); 24. 28d Donny Lampman (9); 25. 63 Brandon Crumbie (15); 26. 93 Melissa Miller (12); 27. 4 Aaron Rewutzsky (17); 28. 2 Lee Winger (18); 29. DNS 57 Josh Lerrno (29).
A-Feature Lap Leaders – Dave Bailey 1-20
Hard Charger – Logan Shwedyk (+16 – 28th to 12th)

Lucas Oil Products Heat Race No.1 (8 laps – Top 7 Transfer – Time: 2:41.909)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 23 Trevor DeBoer (2); 2. 8 Ryan Dinning (4); 3. X Billy Bleich Jr. (3); 4. 25 Ken Sargent (6); 5. 37h Rob Hoskins (8); 6. 1 Chris Dickie (7); 7. 7 Jason Lungaro (1); 8. 40 Jay Liverance (5); 9. DNF 79 Christopher Hale (9)

Caledonia Auto Supply Heat Race No.2 (8 laps – Top 7 Transfer – Time: 2:39.473)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 49 Dave Bailey (8); 2. 93k Mike Klazinga (2); 3. 93 Melissa Miller (4); 4. 28d Donny Lampman (1); 5. 777x Chase Hess (5); 6. 4 Aaron Rewutzsky (6); 7. 52 Tony Fraser (9); 8. DNS 53 Logan Shwedyk (3); 9. DNS 3c Devon Bacher (7)

Miska Trailer Factory Heat Race No.3 (8 laps – Top 7 Transfer – Time: 2:42.208)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 21x Mark Bazuin (2); 2. 28 Jim Lampman (3); 3. 24 Blake Bomberry Jr. (1); 4. 84rk Ryan Beagle (7); 5. 63 Brandon Crumbie (6); 6. 2 Lee Winger (4); 7. 46 Kevin Pauls (8); 8. 11 Brian Teeple (5); 9. 13 Kacey Huffman (9); 10. 57 Josh Lerrno (10)
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HRW Automotive Mini Stocks (37 entries)

A-Feature (15 laps – No TIme)
Finish. # Name (Starting Position)
1. 32 Gillian Hils (5); 2. 222 Nick Masi (17); 3. 2 Matt Nuell (22); 4. 16J Jeremy May (19); 5. 21 Jonathan Ayrton (1); 6. 15 Sean Iftody (10); 7. 9 Tim DeBoer (8); 8. 60 Martin Schroeder (7); 9. 69 Rob Twitchett (9); 10. 3 Dale Millard (13); 11. 23 Dusty DeBoer (14); 12. 6 Jason Dixon (12); 13. 19 Kyle Wert (3); 14. 96 Brian Crosgrove (23); 15. 63 Dave Crumbie (18); 16. 11p Patrick Abrahamsson (4); 17. 17 Mike Taylor (21); 18. 01 Tristan Da Silva (24); 19. 13m Daniel McKay (15); 20. 54 Christopher French (28); 21. 6x Mike Sarantakos (26); 22. 88 Aidan Nigh (27); 23. 16 Fabio Olivieri (11); 24. DNF 46 Wayde Thorne (2); 25. DNF 13 Bobby Tolton (6); 26. DNF 1 Jason Tolton (16); 27. DNF 188 Paul Longboat (20); 28. DNF 26 Tim Nuell (25)
A-Feature Lap Leaders – Wayde Thorne 1-3; Gillian Hils 4-9, 14-15; Nick Masi 10-13
Hard Charger – Matt Nuell +19 (22nd to 3rd)

Lucas Oil Products Heat Race No.1 (6 laps – Top 5 Transfer – 2:12.814)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 15 Sean Iftody (5); 2. 9 Tim DeBoer (9); 3. 46 Wayde Thorne (3); 4. 3 Dale Millard (7); 5. 222 Nick Masi (6); 6. 93 Andy Ryckman (8); 7. 11 Mike Giberson (2); 8. 05 Dave Goodacre (4); 9. 177 Tim Jamieson (10); 10. 64 Nick Erskine (1)

Caledonia Auto Supply Heat Race No.2 (6 laps – Top 5 Transfer – 2:15.845)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 21 Jonathan Ayrton (3); 2. 13 Bobby Tolton (5); 3. 19 Kyle Wert (2); 4. 23 Dusty DeBoer (7); 5. 63 Dave Crumbie (9); 6. 96 Brian Crosgrove (6); 7. 17 Mike Taylor (8); 8. 88 Aidan Nigh (4); 9. 26 Tim Nuell (1)

Miska Trailer Factory Heat Race No.3 (6 laps – Top 5 Transfer – 2:18.687)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 32 Gillian Hils (6); 2. 6 Jason Dixon (5); 3. 60 Martin Schroeder (3); 4. 13m Daniel McKay (2); 5. 16J Jeremy May (9); 6. 54 Christopher French (4); 7. 6x Mike Sarantakos (8); 8. 8 Barry Westman (1); 9. 2 Matt Nuell (7)

O’Neil’s Farm Equipment Heat Race No.4 (6 laps – Top 5 Transfer – 2:15.133)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 69 Rob Twitchett (6); 2. 16 Fabio Olivieri (2); 3. 11p Patrick Abrahamsson (3); 4. 1 Jason Tolton (1); 5. 188 Paul Longboat (5); 6. 01 Tristan Da Silva (7); 7. 10 Zach Buchwald (4); 8. 11e Jeff Elsiger (9); 9. 517 Cody Sommerville (8)

B-Feature 1 (8 laps – Top 4 Transfer – 2:33.788)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 17 Mike Taylor (4); 2. 96 Brian Crosgrove (2); 3. 26 Tim Nuell (7); 4. 88 Aidan Nigh (6); 5. 11 Mike Giberson (1); 6. 05 Dave Goodacre (3); 7. 177 Tim Jamieson (5); 8. 64 Nick Erskine (8); 9. DNS 93 Andy Ryckman (9)

B-Feature 2 (8 laps – Top 4 Transfer – 2:09.427)
Finish. # Name, Hometown (Starting Position)
1. 2 Matt Nuell (5); 2. 01 Tristan Da Silva (4); 3. 6x Mike Sarantakos (2); 4. 54 Christopher French (1); 5. 8 Barry Westman (3); 6. 10 Zach Buchwald (6); 7. 517 Cody Sommerville (7)