By Andy Guest
For the third time this summer the rain forced a cancellation of a night of racing for the IMCA Modifieds Saturday night at Saratoga Speedway and in doing so, their 2017 points championship was clinched.
Oyster River’s Chris Beaulieu who won his first points championship back in 2002 in a Bomber car beats out his uncle Martin Beaulieu for the most championships with seven as his 225 point lead over Travis Stevenson is untouchable.
He also won championships in Modifieds in 2006, 2007, 2010, 2014 and 2015. The Saturday night racing program was to feature along with the Modifieds, the Bomber and Dwarf cars – along with the Road Runners – leaving the 2017 season with only three race dates remaining, including the championship race night for the Mods and Bombers Sept. 23 with season ending race Sept. 30.
This Saturday night will feature the second-to-last race for Hornets, Mad Max, and Crash to Pass while the Road Runners – also part of the program – have three races remaining. Three of the four point battles look to like they will need all the remaining races to decide point champions with only the Hornet A’s point battle not close enough to change over the remaining races.
The tightest battle is in the Hornet B division as five drivers have a chance for a championship season as only 90 points separate the top five drivers led by Randi Joyce who has a 52-point lead on Jimmy Antonik followed by James Laidlaw, Evin McLuckie and Taylor Pheaton.
The Hornet A’s have Carter Hintz leading second place Luke Dixon by 245 points – a difference that could clinch the championship after Saturday’s racing. The remaining top five drivers are Glen White, Darren Monk and Ashley White.
The Mad Max division is down to two cars as Danielle Antnoik holds a 26 point lead on defending point champion Damon Dunn while two straight main event wins has put Brad Dimitrov solidly in third, however the 282-point difference has him out of the championship battle.
A missed race night on Sept. 3 has changed up the points race with the Crash To Pass division as Troy Ordano has taken over top spot but has four other drivers breathing down his back as only 71 points separate him from Chris Campbell, Rich Hutton and Mike Jenkins while Scott McLellan has an outside chance being only 138 behind.
The Road Runner division with three races remaining go into the weekend with two-time defending point champion Ryan Guest leading the way only 67 points ahead of Austen Hack who lead the points race over the first half of the season while third place Garrett Ann Rosner sits 282 points back.
The final race of the season on Sept. 30 will include a giant fireworks show which will run rain or shine and will feature the Hornet cars, Mad Max, Crash to Pass and the Road Runners along with the seasons final race the annual speedway Great Pumpkin race.