By Douglas Waller
Saratoga Speedway in Black Creek was the location for BIG fun this past weekend with a big crowd in attendance to enjoy what Ed Sullivan would proclaim as a “Really Big Shoo.”
The Hornet B division put on the really big show with 21 cars taking the green flag to start their 30 lap Main event (that is a lot for this division of drivers). Taylor Pheaton and Miles Beaulieu both started the race back in midfield of the 21 cars but by lap 30 only 6 cars were on the lead lap. The two aforementioned drivers wove through lap down traffic as professional drivers would do and in the process put on a driving clinic for the other B division drivers.
There was only one caution flag early in the race due to a spin by one vehicle. The rest of the race ran clean and green with all the drivers earning big commendations for how caution-free the rest of the race was. When the checkered flag flew to end the race, Pheaton was in second place 0.247 seconds behind the leader Beaulieu.
The fun of the evening did not end there. The faster Hornet A division drivers fielded eight cars to take the green flag in their 25 lap Main event. Blair Mangles in his #10 had been fast all evening but in post race inspection, his car failed the tech inspection. The result of that disqualification resulted in the first place trophy being awarded to Jimmy Antonik who had raced the #10 hard all race and especially after a late race caution flag brought both cars close together to restart the race with about four laps to go. The #87 driven by Boston Larson was moved up to second place and third ended up going to #45 Darren Monk after another car was disqualified in post race tech inspection.
In the last race of the evening, the Saratoga Bombers put on a big show in their 25 lap Feature race even though only six cars took the green flag. In this race, Larson drove his Bomber division car to Victory Lane with Darrel Larsen finishing 0.509 seconds behind. Gary Marcus captured the third place podium finish 8/10ths of a second behind the leader.
Saratoga Speedway will put on another “Really Big Shoo” this coming Saturday night June 29 with the always popular Crash to Pass Boat Races sponsored by the Comox Valley Record and the Campbell River Mirror. The cars tow an old boat around behind them on a water soaked track and win by having the biggest piece of boat dragging behind when the checkered flag drops.
There will be other race events as well with the very quick Dwarf cars, a new class of figure 8 track cars, the paint trading Mad Max Extreme racing and the BIG field of Hornet B division cars.
Saratoga Speedway always provides great family entertainment in a safe race environment, check them out on Facebook and Trip Advisor. When you come bring a friend that has never been to the track. We look forward to seeing you at the track.