Thursday, July 17, 2014

George W. Drummond Memorial and Hall of Fame Inductee Night: An Event Full of Cash, Prizes and Fun!

Stittsville, ON – Wednesday, July 16, 2014 – Kirk Mulligan – The threat of rain was upon us Wednesday evening at Capital City Speedway (CCS).  But, the threat was not enough to keep one of CCS’s biggest nights of the year from firing up!  It was George W. Drummond Memorial and Hall of Fame Inductee night at the speedway.  G. W. Drummond Memorial night has been one of CCS’s classic events every year since the Drummond family has taken over the speedway.   This event not only brings an exciting night of racing, it brings larger payouts for the heat and feature race winners and a plethora of cool prizes for the fans.  I guess the word got out across the nation as Edmonton, AB, driver Rob Fountain was back for another week of racing with his 4-For-Fun (4FF) machine (car #29).  Other visiting drivers were birthday boy Ian Burney (car #33) and Ross Evans (car #6x) of Orillia, ON and Peteborough, ON, respectively.  Former regular driver, Ken Baird (car #2), in the late model (LM) division, was also back at the speedway.  Many thanks to you all for coming out to be a part of CCS!
 
       

    

 The night began with heats from 6 classes.  Photos of the winners receiving their heat winning bonuses are shown below.



 











At intermission, two of CCS’s most respected people, Steve Yendall and Julio Pasinetti, were inducted into the CCS Hall of Fame.  The presentation began with a wonderful autobiography by the longtime track announcer, “Motormouth”.  Todd Gow, promoter of CCS, was also on hand to make the presentation of the awards.  Congratulations again to Steve and Julio!  I also want to make special mention again this week and thank Legend driver Steve Yendall (car #1) and Hunter McCaig of Rideau Auctions for donating another brand new kids bicycle that was to be raffled off at intermission.  Congratulations to Alex Bellemare for winning the bicycle! 


Next up was the feature events of the evening.  This week fans were treated to the five weekly feature races of Late Model, Legend, Mini Stock, Thunder and 4FF divisions as well as an additional Vintage Modified feature race.  The 4FF SFL Metal Works feature race was up first.  Similarly to last week, a total of 9 4FF cars were set to go in a 10 lap feature race.  Fantastic racing has been seen in this class in the last couple of weeks.  The race began with two rookies Dwayne Armstrong (car #11) and Joann Blais (car #81) in the front row.  Unfortunately for them veteran 4FF driver Sara Sproule (car #99) was lurking in the third position.  On lap 2, Sara maneuvered her way into the lead.  Sara then thwarted off challenges from Blais for the remainder of the race.  This marked Sara’s first feature win of the season.  Congratulations Sara!


In the Drummond’s Gas 20 lap Late Model feature Steve Munro was looking for his fourth feature win.  The race began with Paul Dejong (car #88) and Tim Kirby (car #10) making up the front row.  Paul jumped out to an early lead after the green flag dropped.  Sean “Bulldog” Kennedy was coming on strong from the third position and began challenging Kirby for second spot.  In turn 4 during lap 2, Sean managed to push his way through between Kirby’s #10 machine and the inside of the corner.  There was definitely some rubbing going on here.  Unfortunately, Kennedy ended up spinning into the infield.  On the restart Dejong again pulled out into the lead.  That left Kirby having to fend off challenges for second place from none other than the points leader, Steve Munro (car #00).  Kirby and Munro soon caught up to Dejong.  In turn 2 or lap 10 Dejong got loose coming out of the turn.  Kirby and Munro seized the opportunity and passed on the outside.  On lap 12, Chris Ferguson (car #08) spun on his own in turn 2 to bring out the caution flag.  This gave Munro the chance he needed.  On the restart, Kirby began to lead the race but, suddenly got loose in turn 3.  Munro and Justin Holtom (car #17) slipped through on the inside of the corner.  Munro easily hung on to take home his fourth feature win of the season!

The following race was the Perkins Lumber Home Building Centre 12 lap Vintage Modified feature.  This race was packed with excitement.  Points leader Denzil Billings (car #x22) began in the pole position.  Denzil took the lead in the early going.  On lap 3, Rod Saunder’s (car #1) in the second position had a mechanical failure and began to slow.  This caused all kinds of problems for drivers behind him.  As a result, Pete Stapper (car #27) and Paul Billings (car #B22) collided on the back straight to bring out a caution flag.  The two drivers would stay in the race.  Denzil Billings was a man on a mission! Even some lap traffic in lap 8 didn’t seem to faze him.  Meanwhile, Stapper and Paul Billings continued to battle over second position.  With two laps to go in the race the two drivers, Stapper and Paul Billings, touched tires coming out of turn 2 and spun in different directions.  The damage to Stapper’s car was minimal and thus he stayed in the race.  The race then became a 2 lap shootout for the win.  The more professional term is called a green white checkered finish.  The race restarted and from out of nowhere Stapper began challenging Denzil Billings for the lead.  But it didn’t matter as Denzil Billings had more magic left in his modified as he cruised to another victory at CCS.


The Autovation Thunder 15 lap feature race was missing a couple of cars this week.  Mike Hennick (car #71) was missing as he was in Saskatoon, SK volunteering as a Nascar Canadian Tire Series (NCATS) official.  The smaller number of cars made the race all the more exciting!  It will also make the next couple of races all the more important in the division points race.  The race almost resembled a Dash for Cash race, only it was better!  Jean Leblond (car #08) and Chris MacDonald (car #03) started in the pole positions.   The race began as Jean Leblond took the lead.  This lead was short lived as in lap 2 coming out of turn 4, Jean Leblond got loose and Casey Cavanagh (car #49) ran right into his rear bumper.  This collision pushed Leblond into the infield and the caution flag was dropped.  On the restart, Casey took the lead followed by points leader Neal Leblond (car #88).  Midway through the race visiting driver Ross Evans and MacDonald touched on the back straight.  Jessica Pasinetti (car #56) driving her new car for the second week squeaked pass the two drivers in the outside lane.  Pasinetti could not repeat last week’s victory as Cavanagh and Leblond were five car lengths ahead with 5 laps to go.  Cavanagh continued to fend off challenges from Neil Leblond throughout the remainder of the race.  Cavanagh won the race and tightened up the points championship battle between himself and Neil Leblond.

In the Stittsville Trailers 15 lap feature race, Cory Wilson (car #33) was at CCS looking for his first feature win of the season.  Starting in the pole position, Wilson definitely had a good chance.  After the green flag dropped, Wilson followed by Dwayne Emon (car #72) began to pull away from the rest.  Other notables in this race, were points leader Jason Moss (car #12) and last weeks feature winner Nolan Gould (car #28).   By the end of the race, Moss and Gould moved from positions 10 and 11 to positions 1 and 2, respectively.  Unfortunately, Gould ran out of laps to chase down Moss.  Moss went on to win the feature event and in doing so extended his lead in the points championship.


The last feature of the night was the Enstone Construction 15 lap Legend race.   This was a race not to miss!  The race began with newly crowned hall of famer Steve Yendall in the pole position.  In lap 2, it appeared as though Terry McClelland (car #64) and Brian Saunders (car #15) car’s touched on the back stretch.  All of a sudden, when Saunders came out of turn 4 and down the front stretch, sparks began to fly!  The front right spindle of Saunder’s car must have given way as the wheel detached and flew down the speedway.  After the safety crew removed Saunder’s car from the track, the race began again.  This time Matt Haufe (car #7) and points leader Kevin Foisy (car #57) battled for the lead.  Foisy ran strong and took over the lead from Haufe in lap 4.  Foisy then continued to dominate the race and won his fifth feature of the year. 


This coming week, Wednesday evening, July 23, 2014, is a regular race night.  The race night will feature Late Models, Mini Stock, Thunder and 4-For-Fun divisions.  Also in town are special feature races by the Revstar SRT Mini Sprints and the Dinardo’s Karts.  The races will start at 7:15 pm sharp!  Regular general admission is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $10 for teens (13-16) and as always children 12 & under are free.

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