Perfect track conditions on Saturday made for some amazing racing at Saratoga Speedway as 16 Wilroc Lite Sprint cars took to the track, alongside a season high 36 car field of Hornet cars, with the Roadrunners and Bomber cars also adding on to the card.
Early dash races saw wins go to #5 Darren Larson, #18 Austen Hack, #60 Evan McLuckie, #45 Darren Monk, #32 Ryan Orchard, and finally #44 Tim Openshaw, who took home the Wilroc Lite “Dash for cash”, winning himself $100.
Heat race action saw #87 Boston Larson take home the 10 lap Bomber heat, with the 10 lap Roadrunner heat going to #66 Nick Leavitt.
In the 20-lap Bomber main event, a very tight battle between Boston Larson, #9 Darrel Larson and #98 Rob Gaudreault ensued, with Boston getting the edge on the pack, grabbing the lead on lap seven and not looking back from there, holding on to take home his second main event win of the year, with second going to uncle Darrel, and third to father Darren.
The 20-lap Roadrunner main event proved to be a tight battle between #66 Nick Leavitt and #88 Ryan Guest, with Leavitt managing to hold off Guest to take home his first main event win of the year, snapping Guest’s six main event winning streak. But it was not all good news in the Roadrunner class. Promoter Paul Hargrave announced that due to unsportsmanlike conduct on and off the track, he has decided to ban the 99 Roadrunner and the driver, Dennis Leavitt, permanently from the Speedway.
Following the Roadrunner main, 25 cars entered into a 25 lap Hornet B main event; points leader Westra took the early lead and held it for the first 15 laps, until #81 Andy Inglis made his move around Westra, taking home his second main event win of the year, with Westra taking second, and #08 Trey Woolcock placing third.
The Hornet A’s also had a 25-lap main event; #12 Raymond Fortier took the early lead, pulling away from the pack.
The real battle ensued for second, third, and forth between #51 Nate Bonn, #98 Nigel Neufeld, and #05 Luke Dixon, with Bonn managing to hold off Dixon for second, with Dixon finishing third, and Fortier taking home first place.
All 16 cars took to the track for the Wilroc Lite 30 lap main event which saw over 13 passes through-out the pack over the course of the main event; some early cautions forced some of the main contenders out of the race early, opening the door for #15s Mark Stuart who had the race in the bag, until yet another caution put points leader #33 Jeff Montgomery on his back bumper who took advantage of this, passing Stuart on lap 20 and not looking back from there, holding off a hard charging field to take home the win, with second going to #22 Mike Haslam, and third to Stuart.
Extra laps…Next weekend the Old Time Modified Stock cars will be back at the Speedway for the second time this season.
These beautiful cars are one of a kind, ranging in years from the 1920s to the 1930s. Accompanying these cars will be the I.M.C.A Modifieds, Dwarf cars and the Bomber cars, with Courtenay Auto Repair sponsoring the card. Only two more weekends remain until the highly regarded Monster Truck weekend returns to Saratoga, with 17-year-old Rosalee Rosner set to make her debut in B.C, as she brings her truck known as Wild Flower to the Speedway.
Her father, Kelvin Rosner, will be making his return to the Speedway. Kelvin teared up the Speedway back in 2009 in his truck known as Time Flys, rolling it over in his first run of the evening. Blown Income and Tow Monster will also round out the Monster Truck show over the August long weekend, so make sure to mark your calendar for these amazing upcoming shows.