Might not have been a full moon Saturday night but it appeared to be out in full force as the racing action at Saratoga Speedway was highlighted by a night of aggressive racing with the IMCA Modifieds, Bomber cars and the Dwarf cars.
The racing action on the Black Creek oval featured lots of trading paint and bending metal which eliminated three cars. Another two were elminated for motor problems and one other for a blown transmission. The biggest incident came in the Modified heat race when Jamie Fleming and Chris Beaulieu tangled, sending Fleming hard backwards into the tires and heavily damaging his car. It left Beaulieu with a bent spindle which he replaced in time for the main event while Fleming was done for the night.
The 20 lap Modified main event had a first time winner as Campbell River’s Jeff Monks put early season problems behind him. He took an early race then held off a strong challenge from Beaulieu in the race’s final laps to capture his very first Modified main event win, ahead of Beaulieu and Brad Kotscherofski.
Campbell River’s Travis Stevenson began the Modifieds night of racing by winning his second straight trophy dash with the 12 lap heat race win going to Kotscherofski, ahead of Don Hallgarth and Peter Muloin.
A 14-car field of Dwarf cars were also on hand for the night’s racing. Unfortunately, they lost two cars before the first race as Kinser Kennedy blew his motor while qualifying and Stu Hopewell never made it through hot laps as he blew his transmission. The Dwarf cars began their night with a four-lap trophy dash with Brayden Aumen taking the win, followed by heat race wins for Tovay Helgesen – the only female Dwarf car driver – and Campbell River’s Stewart Lee.
The 25-lap main event was a spirited affair as 12 drivers took the green flag and saw Victoria’s Adam Smith lead the first 18 laps before he got involved with Brad Struck which brought out the yellow flag, giving the lead to Courtenay’s Mike Meers. After two restarts, Meers, with Lee right on his bumper, would lead for the next three laps before Lee would power his way by on the outside on his way to his fourth Saratoga Dwarf car main event win ahead of Meers and Aumen.
In Bomber car action, Parksville’s Charlie Akerman took the lead on the ninth lap then challenged in the 25 lap main event to take the win ahead of Chad Taks and Boston Larsen. Powell River’s Devon Degraag kicked off the Bombers night with the win in the trophy dash, with Taks taking the win in the 10 lap heat race.
Next race for the Modifieds and Bombers will be July 15 while the Dwarf cars don’t race at the oval until Aug. 26.
This coming Saturday night, the speedway hosts three special attractions to go along with the Mad Max cars, Hornets, Road Runners and the always entertaining Crash to Pass cars. Along with a full night of racing, special attractions for the night are the return of the Robo Dragon, the very first Crash to Pass trailer race and a stunt show by the Crusher who will be performing two car crashing jumps – one into a stacked car wall and one nose first into a row of cars.
The trailer race, unlike last year when cars towed trailers in a non-contact race, this one will feature full contact – much like the popular boat race – where trailers will be destroyed with the winner being the driver with the most remaining trailer.
Guest talk….Helgesen is not just the only female Dwarf car driver, she is also the only female Sprint car driver in the Wilroc Lite series. Dano Bryant began his night changing a blown clutch, then saw his night end in the Modified heat race with motor problems. Note to all drivers, after this Wednesday night practice, the next one will be July 26 as the speedway goes to practices every two weeks. Local racing suffered a loss from the past last week as Campbell River’s Tommy Hamilton passed away, leaving behind a history of highly successful race car driving. He joined George Stuart as the only local drivers to be inducted into the Victoria Racing Hall of Fame. He was known as Terrible Tommy in his racing days, racing stock cars at Oyster River speedway (now known as Saratoga Speedway), Victoria and the defunct Langley Speedway. He was also the winningest Mustang driver on the former Westwood race course in Vancouver. Tommy, who served as one of the first tech-men at Saratoga, was a friend to many and his friendly smile will be missed but he will be remembered for having lived a very good life. Racing history will never change what he did and how he did it…thank you, sir, for your friendship.