By Doug Townsend
VARNEY - Open Wheel Modifieds returned to the bull ring this past Friday night with their thundering excitement. Feature one saw short-track legend "The Ironman" #36 Gary Elliot from Waterdown bring the field to the green flag. From the drop of the green Elliots' car was hooking up as he tried to build some distance on the field as he knew #8 Gary McLean from Conn had to work his way through the field. But with a lap three caution bring the field back together on the restart Elliot found McLean on his outside. McLean jumped to the lead and had everything well in hand. Then with another caution at lap eighteen McLean found himself leading the field to a green white checker restart where anything can happen. In the end it would be McLean, Elliot, third would go to #19 Dean Scott from Beachville, fourth 23 Paul Milligan from Innisfil Beach and fifth going to #79 John Harper from Cambridge. Feature two saw #19 Dean Scott bring the field to the green but with a slight wheel spin off the start allowed outside pole sitter #8 Gary McLean to get the jump out front. Once out front McLean is hard to beat and tonight would be no different as he would lead every lap to his second victory of the night. The battle this race would be between #19 Scott and #23 Milligan for second. In the end it would be McLean, second to #19 Dean Scott, third #23 Paul Milligan, fourth #36 Gary Elliot and rounding out the top five #0 Phil Shaw from Orangeville. Video of this race can be seen on You Tube by going to Full Throttle Motor Speedway or by following this link http://youtu.be/CBvdshKeMb8.
V8 Thunder Stocks also invaded the highbanks this past Friday night with one of the closest finishes we have seen all season. Feature one came down to the last two laps with #17 Tristan Gill from Waterloo in the lead and #01 Brandon McConnell from Tara on his back bumper. This race came down to a last corner pass attempt by McConnell who was able to edge out Gill by less than a couple feet at the line. Third would go to #41 Brent Wheller from Toronto, fourth #05 Steve Brook from Hillsburgh, fifth to #5 Dave Grey Jr. from Hanover. Feature two would see the same two quick cars up front as the battle between McConnell and Gill would continue. This time the finish would not be as close as McConnell was able to get out front and Gill would find himself trying to chase him down, he would get close but never close enough. In the end #01 Brandon McConnell would have his second checker of the night followed by #17 Tristan Gill, third again would be #41 Brent Wheller, fourth this time would be #5 Dave Grey Jr., and rounding out the top five #05 Steve Brook.
Mini Stock action this week saw more clean fast racing in feature one the two drivers on top of the point's race would find themselves starting deep in the field and both knew they had their work cut out for them to get to the front. In this caution free feature driving skills where tested and in the end it would be #51 Clark Hartman from Waterloo coming out on top with #36 Corry Young from Owen Sound close behind. Third would go to #34 T.J. Edwards from Fergus, fourth #73 Scott Schlueter from Milverton, and rounding out the top five #35 Tim Tolton from Guelph. Feature two saw current points leader #36 Corry Young on the outside of the speeding Nick Clarke running the #86 car this week and from the drop of the green Clarke got out in front and looked like the car to bet. A lap seven caution for a spin by #51 Clark Hartman brought the field back together. On this restart the battle up front was #86 Nick Clarke and #7 Paul Boyd from Harriston, these two would battle until making contact with each other on lap thirteen sending both cars to the back of the field for yet another restart. From the restart it was all #36 Corry Young to the checker as he was able to hold off #35 Tim Tolton, third would go to #34 T.J. Edwards, fourth #51 Clark Hartman, and fifth #73 Scott Schlueter.
In Pure Stock action feature one this week it looked like we had a first time winner as #9 Sandy Eccles was doing the driving in the former #17 car of Nick Clarke. Eccles started pole and was able to put a bit of distance between him and #34 Don Tremble from Durham in this caution free race and cross the line first but was unable to pass post race inspection giving the win to Don Tremble. Second would end up being #14 Luke Bos from Conn, third #01 Travis Farrow from Dromore, fourth #95 Jonathon Bates from Owen Sound, and fifth #66 Doug Lepard from Owen Sound. In feature two fans saw one of the hardest hits to take place this season as #73 Sheri McIntyre would spin out on the bottom between corners 1 and 2 and was hit hard by #34 Don Tremble. After clean-up and a number of attempts to restart the race the drivers finally got everyone going in the right direction and were able to go the rest of the way caution-free. In the end it would be #01 Travis Farrow for the win followed by #14 Luke Bos, third #9 Sandy Eccles, fourth #4 Jesse Lamont from Hanover and rounding out the top five #12 Mark Wetlauffer from Cambridge.
Crazy Trains this week saw yet another couple roll-overs. In feature one it would be Here We Go from Listowel putting their third car over. In the end this one was one by Rockford Rednecks, second Texas Traincar Massacre from Mount Forest and third Jonathon Bates Roofing from Owen Sound. Video of this race can be seen on You Tube by going to Full Throttle Motor Speedway or by following this link http://youtu.be/WOKNcBSgiY8. In feature two with three sets of trains trying to make it through corner four it was the middle car of the middle set Rockford Rednecks ending up on his side on the front straightaway. After a quick look over and flipping the car back on its wheels it was buckle back up and on with the race. In the end this feature would go to Texas Traincar Massacre followed by Jonathon Bates Roofing.
Next racing action is this Friday Sept 5th starting at 7:30 for Pro Late Models, V8 Thunder Stocks, Mini Stocks, Pure Stocks and Crazy Trains along with King of The Hill at intermission.
