Terry Guest
Special to the Mirror
Eve of Destruction at Saratoga Speedway lived up to expectations on Saturday, leaving the fans fully satisfied after seeing one of the most destructive nights of the 2016 season.
Josh Beckel and his team from The Crusher Stunts group, put on one of the best Car jump shows we have ever seen at Saratoga, putting on not only one but two amazing stunts. First, Josh drove his Ford Taurus through a mini van going full speed, landing hard on his roof, but Josh would be just fine as he moved on to his feature jump which would see Josh fly through a stack of four cars going 85 miles per hour. Josh once again would be fine, and will be returning on Sept. 3 to put on an even bigger show.
The Galaxy Motors Mad Max Extreme Racers, Hornet cars and Crash to Pass cars were also on the card Saturday, with Courtenay Kia sponsoring the night of carnage.
Once again the Galaxy Motors Mad Max Extreme Eacers set a new high for car count, this time bringing out a field of 12 cars to accompany the 43 Hornet cars and six Crash to Pass cars. Heat race action would see wins go to Clancey Beamish, James Laidlaw, Don Clark, Carter Hintz, Ryan Jensen, and Troy Ordano. A very exciting Galaxy Motors Mad Max heat race would see all 12 cars enter into what would turn out to be one of the craziest heat races we have ever seen at Saratoga. First, Toryn Davies would roll over his Scooby Doo Machine in turn 1, than would grab another car from the pits, just to have it go head on into the wall, ending the night for both cars. #
Rowland Westra and Danielle Antonik would find themselves both in a pile of tires in turn 4, ending their heat races as well. After 25 minutes and four laps completed, the win would end up going to Damon Dunn, who somehow managed to get through the carnage to take home the win. Twenty-four Hornet B cars would enter in a 25-lap main event which would see points leader Westra and Michael White jump from the back to the front in less than five laps and they would pull away from the pack, battling bumper to bumper for the remainder of the race, with the advantage once again going to Westra who continues his dominance in the Hornet B division.
A record 19 Hornet A cars entered into a very exciting 25-lap main event which saw a very tight pack battle bumper to bumper early, but Jensen, who took home the heat race win earlier in the night, would find the fast line and get himself into the lead on lap 6 and he would pull away from the pack from there. The real battle was for second and third as Kevin Lawrenuk, rian Sallis, and Blair Mangles battled one another, constantly swapping spots back and forth, but it would be Lawrenuk who got the last laugh as he would emerge into second on lap 22 and would hold the pack off to take home second, with Sallis taking home third.
Nine Galaxy Motor Mad Max cars survived to take to their 15-lap main event. Just like their heat race, a ton of hitting would take place throughout the race, knocking out a few cars early, opening the door for Dunn and Craig Gagne to pull away from the pack, but Gagne would manage to pull away from Dunn to take home his first main event win of the year. The final main event of the evening would see even more carnage take place as the Crash to Pass cars put on a show of their own; Jason Beaulieu and Cam Edwards would emerge early as the clear favorites and would battle one another for all 15 laps, with the final blow going to Edwards as he would absolutely rock Beaulieu, taking Beaulieu out of contention and he would pull away from their, taking home his second main event win of the year.
Extra laps...Next Weekend Saratoga welcomes all of the open wheel classes on the island back to the Speedway. The Wilroc Lites, who were just here two weeks ago, will be back once again to put on some of the best racing you will see at Saratoga. After being rained out two races in a row, the Dwarf cars will once again try to make their 2016 season debut. The I.M.C.A Modifieds, Bomber cars, and the Roadrunners will round out the night of open wheel action at Saratoga Speedway.