Kyle Sopaz #12 took home the checkers in the Vanderlaan Building Supplies Pro Late Model Feature Saturday May 13th at Brighton Speedway. (Photo: Brighton Speedway)
BRIGHTON, Ont. – The 50th Anniversary season at Brighton Speedway resumed on Saturday night with a full card of racing including a pair of Triple Crown events.
Moore Grabs First Career Win
The Bill’s Johns Comp 4 division took to the speedway for the first feature of the evening and first leg of the Larry’s Towing Triple Crown. Matthew French (No. 51) and Keith Dunk (No. 22) started on the front row of the 20 lap affair. French jumped to the early advantage, but was chased down early by seventh place starter Josh French (No. 08). An incident in the opening laps took point leader Tyler French (No. 0) out of contention due to a cut tire on the left side of the car.
Josh French held off challenges from Matthew Moore (No. 14) and Adam Flieler (No. 11) until lap 18 when lapped traffic bunched up the top three. Moore passed French on the outside line, took the lead and held on for his first career feature victory. French finished second while Flieler was third. The win gives Moore the early advantage in the Triple Crown standings heading into race two on June 3rd.
Canadian Modified Feature winner #32 Doug O’Blenis parked it in victory lane for the first time in 2017 on Saturday May 13th at Brighton Speedway. (Photo: Brighton Speedway)
O’Blenis Gets Redemption
After suffering mechanical problems on opening night Doug O’Blenis (No. 32) was looking to redeem himself in the second OilGard Anti-Rust Canadian Modifieds feature of the season. The evening started off well for the Napanee native as he won his qualifying heat and started on the pole for the 25 lap main event. From the drop of the green flag O’Blenis was the class of the field and led the race from start to finish.
The battle for second was hotly contested as Shawn Gregory (No. 1), Curtis King (No.07) and point leader Andrew Hennessy (No. 87) raced closely throughout the event. With 10 laps remaining the three got bottled up behind a lapped car and collided with one another in corner one. King was able to continue while Gregory lost laps making repairs. Hennessy went to the pits as well, but was able to return on the lead lap and salvage a fourth place finish.
O’Blenis completed the sweep as he picked up the heat and feature win. Adam Whaley (No. 12), and King completed the top three.
Sopaz Snags Win Over Sandercock
The Vanderlaan Building Products Late Model feature was led to the green flag by Terry Hunt (No. 20) and Andy Mayhew (No. 1). The early stages of the 30 lap race were led by Hunt as he paced the field for the opening three circuits. On lap four a crash on the front stretch involving Mayhew and Caley Weese (No. 77) allowed fourth place starter Kyle Sopaz (No. 12) flex his muscle and move to the top spot.
The Carrying Place driver used the outside line to command the race while positions two through six battled it out behind him. Charlie Sandercock (No. 57) was able to close the gap in the final laps thanks to a daring pass on Steve Baldwin (No. 5) and a pair of lapped cars that moved him to second. Sopaz however was too much on this night for Sandercock as he cruised to the victory. Sandercock and Baldwin finished second and third while opening night winner Adam Turner drove from his tenth starting spot to end the night in fourth.
Ramsay Returns In Triple Crown Win
The final race of the evening was the first event of the Larry’s Towing Triple Crown for the Brighton Automotive Pro Stocks. Chris Dorland (No. 14) and Carissa Burrows (No. 02) started on the front row of the 25 lap event. Dorland led the race until lap four when Austin Reid (No. 85) slipped by and grabbed the top spot. Reid ran at the front for the next 10 laps while holding off challenges from Justin Ramsay (No. 03) and Brandon Murrell (No. 19).
The trio raced three wide until a caution on lap 16 set up a final shootout for the win. On the restart Ramsay got by Reid and never looked back enroute to his second win in a row. Murrell finished second while Doug Anderson (No. 72) completed the top three.
With the victory Ramsay is the only remaining driver in 2017 to be undefeated in feature competition and holds the lead in both the regular season and Triple Crown point standings.
Up Next – Southern Ontario Sprints
Next Saturday night, the Southern Ontario Sprints take to the track with Canadian Modifieds, Comp 4 & Late Models Triple Crown Race 1. Adult admission is $20. Race time is 7:00pm. For more information visit www.brightonspeedway.com
