Chris Lammle (No. 95) had a successful night on two fronts as he not only claimed the win in the first 12 lap Super Stinger feature of the season, but also found victory lane in the Vantastic main event at Brighton Speedway Saturday. (Photo: Rod Henderson)
BRIGHTON, Ont. – It was a ‘Vantastic’ night of racing at Brighton Speedway on Saturday as seven divisions took to the 1/3 mile clay oval as part of Salute to our Forces night. It marked the first night of competition for both the Junior and Super Stinger divisions in 2017. The Mini Van races and Fan Appreciation autograph session were also highlights during the fifth race night of the 50th Anniversary season.
Three-Peat for Sandercock
Since claiming his first win of the season on May 20, Pro Late Model driver Charlie Sandercock (No. 57) hasn’t let off the throttle. The Trenton native drove from his 11th starting position to capture his third straight win.
Adam Turner (No. 92) and Greg Belyea (No. 25) led the field to green in the 30 lap feature, however half the field never made it across the start finish line. A multi-car pileup on the initial start sent two cars up and over as both Tyler Rand (No. 84) and Trevor Lewis (No. 73) rolled their cars. Elmer Stevenson (No. 10) and Eli Mayhew (No. 01) were also heavily damaged in the accident while the remainder of those involved were able to make repairs to rejoin the race.
By lap 9 Sandercock, who was also involved in the lap 1 accident, had moved his way in to the second position and was drawing closer to leader Belyea. The inevitable finally happened on lap 13 as Sandercock sailed by Belyea for the race lead and eventual win. Phil Potts (No. 29) and Brandon Mowat (No. 46) slipped by Belyea in the closing laps to finish second and third. Belyea held on to finish fourth while pole sitter Turner completed the top five.
King of the Castle
After coming up just short in the season opener Curtis King (No. 07) has begun to flex his muscle in the Canadian Modified division. The Wooler driver survived a caution filled race and heavy body damage to win his second straight feature.
The 25 lap feature was led to the green flag by Adam Whaley (No. 12) and Kraig Handley (No. 91). Much like the Pro Late Model feature an opening lap pileup involving many top competitors occurred in corner two. Shawn Gregory (No. 1) took the worst of the damage while point leader Andrew Hennessy (No. 87) was also involved. Hennessy would make repairs in the pits and return to play a factor in the final outcome of the race.
Outside pole sitter Handley dominated much of the race leading the opening 20 laps using the outside line. On lap 21 though, King powered by on the bottom lane to take the lead and the win for the second week in a row. Justin Ramsay (No. 78), filling in for Shelby Mills, drove to an impressive second place finish while Handley would have to settle for third. Hennessy recovered to finish a solid fourth and Doug O’Blenis (No. 32) was fifth.
Anderson Smooth in First Win of 2017
Although he hadn’t quite hit the panic button, Doug Anderson (No. 72) was getting anxious to find victory lane in Pro Stocks. His wait would take four weeks, but was well worth it as his first win of the season came in the first Duel on the Dirt series qualifier of 2017.
Rob Dier (No. 7) and Jeff Howard (No. 41) made up the front row for the 25 lap feature. Dier took early control of the race and led until lap 5 when Howard spun and brought out a caution. On the restart Austin Reid (No. 85) took over the top spot, however the lead was short lived as Anderson was smooth and steady on the bottom and snuck by for the top spot. He went on to lead the final 18 laps and pick up his first win of 2017. Justin Ramsay (No. 03) finished second while Reid crossed the finish line third. Wade Purchase (No. 53) and Chris Dorland (No. 14) completed the top five.
Moore Finds More Success
After capturing his first career win in the first Triple Crown race for the Comp 4 division earlier in the year Matthew Moore (No. 14) was looking for more success on night five. The Port Hope driver found just that as he claimed his second win of the season on Saturday night.
The 15 lap feature was led to the green flag by Josh French (No. 08) and Keith Dunk (No. 22) with French pulling out to the early advantage. Problems on lap 4 though caused his car to slow and drop through the running order. His car managed to regain full power a half lap later, however the damage was done and he was out of contention. Moore took the lead on lap 5 and didn’t look back as he held off several challenges from Tyler French (No. 0) in the closing laps. Adam Wells (No. 48), Jeff Humphry (No. 17) and point leader Adam Flieler (No. 11) finished in positions third though fifth.
Golden Shines; Lammle ‘Vantastic’ in two Victories
After a one month delay due to weather the Stingers finally had their chance to compete in 2017. In the Junior Stinger division, defending champion Brittany Golden (No. 85) continued where she left off by winning the 12 lap feature. A strong car combined with a couple of bold three wide passes helped propel her to the victory.
Chris Lammle (No. 95) had a successful night on two fronts as he not only claimed the win in the first 12 lap Super Stinger feature of the season, but also found victory lane in the mini van main event. He led the final six laps of the Stinger feature to capture his first win of the night over Rick Phillips (No. 7) and held of Comp 4 driver Adam Flieler (No. 11) to claim the ‘Vantastics’ checkers.
