FREDERICTON, NB – Mother Nature continued to shine on Speedway 660 on Saturday night with over 3500 fans treated to another great night of racing. The event was a combined event with DQ Kids day and the LeisureFamilyRV.com Street Stock 75 lapper highlighting the night. Over 800 children turned out for the always fun Candy Scramble, a record number for the event.
On the racing side of things it was the big event for the LeisureFamilyRV.com Street Stock division with a 75 lap main event. The experienced drivers rattled off 64 laps before the first caution when the 4th place driver at the time Mike Francis had to pit unexpectedly for a flat tire. This just didn’t seem to be Francis’ night. Earlier in the night in one of the qualifying races Francis went hard into the turn 4 cement wall almost certainly ending his night. His crew worked hard to get him to the feature and now it seemed it was all for not or was it? Francis did catch a break with a caution flying before a lap could be completed.
That allowed Francis to get back on the track and stay on the lead lap. Starting 10th off the restart in front of the cars that were down laps, Francis made a charge to the front. Francis ran out of laps but not before he was able to secure a third place finish. The winner of the race, who led from start to finish in dominating fashion, was the #20 of Peter Gaddess. Gaddess had his hands full with point’s leader Rick Cashol nose to nose with him for a better part of the race. Cashol would eventually give way to the 20 and Gaddess picked up the main event win with Cashol finishing in 2nd place.
The two new divisions at Speedway 660, the Bandoleros and the 4 Cylinder division entertained to say the least with the young bandoleros turning out their best run of the year and the 4 cylinders mixing it up! In the bandoleros, the # 1 of Ryan Messer took home his second consecutive checkered flag. Messer made the pass on the last lap to take home the victory. Rounding out the top three were a strong finish by Dawson McIntee in 2nd place and Dana Hamm in 3rd place.
In the 4 cylinder division the competitors came to race. Mike Weagle who had dominated the division in 2010 started deep in the field and made his way to the front quickly only to be involved with the leader at the time that saw both Kevin Dunster and Weagle put to the back. Off the next restart Weagle again quickly made his way to the front and would eventually take the lead with just 5 laps to go in what appeared to be clear sailing. With just a few laps left Weagle caught up to the #77 of Ira Farnell who was down a few laps and a different plan for the finishing order. As Weagle attempted to make the pass around the #77, Farnell drove the #60 of Weagle high up the racetrack into the beach allowing the entire field to get by the leader. The caution flew and the 77 of Farnell was black flagged and soon after the 60 was black flagged as well. That left it to Kevin Peterson to take home the checkered flag with Kevin Dunster finishing 2nd and T.J. Madore in 3rd place.
In the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman division, there was another fantastic display of driving by the 25 competitors who took the green flag. Point’s leader Michael Banks started well back in the field but needed just 20 laps to weave his way to the front of the field with Ken Mackenzie hot on his tail. Banks was very strong all night and would eventually take home the checkered flag. Mackenzie started the night just a few points back of first but would not improve his position in the points finishing 2 spots behind Banks in third place. Rounding out the top three in 2nd place was the 03 of Steve Halpin.
In the Coastal Blending and Packaging Pro Stock division, Brent Wiggins took home the checkered flag with his strongest performance of the year. Wiggins took the lead midway through the race from the #18 of Brian McNaughton who seemed to temporarily have mechanical difficulty. That opened the door for Wiggins who made no mistake. Chris Duncan of Rothesay continued his great season with a second place finish just in front of point’s leader Greg Fahey. That brought Duncan within 3 points of the lead with just 1 week left in the points chase.
Speedway 660 resumes action next Saturday night August 28th with Fan Appreciation day and the Night of Champions. Speedway expects a huge crowd for final point’s day with less than 7 points separating 1st and 2nd in all three main divisions. For more information logon onto www.speedway660.com.
From Angela Coffey // Speedway 660
