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Rain-shortened race weekend made for super Saturday at Saratoga

Pat Monsigneur
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Ace Brewing Bombers line up for the heats led by points leader #24 Charley Ackerman. Photo by BlackWolf Photography

Pat Monsigneur

Special to Black Press

Mother Nature challenged the Quinsam Sprint Car Classic at Saratoga Speedway over the July 8-9 weekend, ultimately forcing two evenings of racing into one.

Friday’s show had to be cancelled, but the cars hit the asphalt Saturday night.

The first to race in the weather-modified schedule were the Old Time Racing Association cars starting their 20-lap main with a field of seven cars. The ’32 Plymouth Coupe #24 driven by Troy Tarbuck took pole position but it was Matt Polley who finished the 20-lap contest first in his ’34 Chevy followed by the 41 of Jamie Morgan. Tarbuck added to his Glacier Valley Homes sponsored Pole Award earnings by crossing the line in third place.

The Ace Brewing Bombers were next up for a 30-lap race featuring paint trading and exciting door-to-door racing. The Bomber division pole award recipient, Gary Marcus, who came oh-so close to setting a new track record, struggled with mechanical issues and went several laps down. At the line it was Charley Ackerman who wheeled his Camaro to another victory after leading most of the race. Chad Taks took second and Mark Stephens earned his first podium this season with a third place finish!

The WILROC Lites, struggling with thin car counts in the ’22 season, joined the action with five cars lined up for a shortened 20-lap contest. At the flag it was the 71 of James Miller on top of the Powerhouse Sheetrock Victory Lane Podium with hard charging Brayden Aumen in second and the #46 of Mike Schott in third place.

That set the stage for the Quinsam Communications Sprint Car Classic fielding 13 high-winged racecars on the 3/8 mile oval that was heated up and ready for action!

That action was hard to get started as it took nearly 20 minutes to complete the first two laps due to a couple mishaps that ended the night for three cars, including Cumberland’s Trevor “The Tornado” Montgomery and both Ron and Chase Larson. Racing resumed but at lap 14 another incident brought out the caution ending the race for the third Larson of Larson family racing when Ricky # 22 suffered mechanical failures as did #48 Stewart Lee.

The race was shortened due to fuel concerns and at the flag it was Randy Price of Millstream who put on a clinic in restarts and ran away from the pack but was unable to pass the technical inspection discovering a rear track width that was outside allowable limits, handing victory to #14 Arron Willison who set a blistering lap time of 12.402. Brad Auman (8) moved up to second and it was the #66 of Kyle Vantreight whose persistence and smooth wheeling earned him a third place Powerhouse Sheetrock Podium finish.

Next week Saratoga Speedway hosts: “Home Track Heroes” with a salute to first responders, military members and veterans with an all home track points race line-up and featuring a special drag race demo to set the stage for the July 30/31 Comox Valley Bobcat and McQueen Construction sponsored Outlaw Drag Race Shootout. Tickets are still available for both these events; to reserve yours go to: www.saratogaracing.ca