Cold Night, Hot Tempers

Submitted by Ken Keating
Langford B.C., October 16th, 2010

On a cold night, the 2010 race season, at Western Speedway, came to and end with the Championships on the line for the Demo Cars, Demo Trucks, Figure 8s, and the Bomber Series. Misha Gervais opened the program with a great rendition of Oh Canada followed by Trophy Dashes for all classes with Heat races and Feature events making up the full race evening. 

      Jarrod Sagmoen, Marc Parkinson, Aason Baker, and Cody Young were winners in their respective Trophy Dashes while Heat race wins went to Alex Carey and Jarrod Sagmoen in the Bomber Series, Cody Young in the Demo Cars, Mark Keeler in the Demo Trucks, and Ashton Campbell plus Cody Young in the Figure 8 Series.

       Ashton Campbell led a field of seventeen cars to the green flag for the start of forty laps of racing for the Figure 8 Feature event. He led for the first three laps until he surendered the lead to Alex Carey on lap four. Both Cody and Brandon Young jumped into contention after just four laps running second and third. On lap nine, Cody took the lead with Brandon taking the second spot dropping Carey back to third just after a short caution period. By this time several cars had quit or became immobile after some really heavy hits all over the frontstretch. On lap ten, Carey regained the second spot dropping Brandon back to third while Kyle Rozok moved into the fourth spot. On lap twenty-three Brandon passed Carey again to run second and five laps later Rozik took over third. When the dust and smoke cleared, Cody Young came away with the win putting three laps on the field followed by Brandon Young and Kyle Rozik in the top three positions. When Cody took the chequered flag there was only about four cars left running in a very rough Figure 8 Feature event. Even with double points on the line no one could catch Brandon Young as he took home the 2010 Championship for the Figure 8 class. Before the Bomber Feature could take place, several crew members and drivers were escorted from the infield as tempers began to flare up over some of the hits and this would not be the end of private battles for the night.

       Dakota Hodgkinson and Andy Riddoch shared the front row for the start of a forty lap race in the Bomber Series. It only took one lap for Ronnie Kiefert to grab the lead followed quicky by Mike Derepentigny and Jarrod Sagmoen. Brandon Steen, the points leader quickly moved from his seventeenth starting position to run fourth by the fifth lap followed by Alex Carey. On lap eighteen, Sagmoen moved to the outside of Derepentigny and took over the second spot as Steen and Giles Cyr were now running in a tight pack. Over the next few laps, and lapped traffic playing a part, Kiefert, Sagmoen, Steen, and Cyr wrestled up front for the lead trading positions every lap. Steen actually got shuffled all the way back to fifth by lap seventeen as Cyr made his march up to second. On lap twenty-two, the yellow came out as Dakota Hodgkinson spun around. On the double file restart, Sagmoen had Cyr on his outside while Steen was on the rear bumper and Derepentigny in that bunch as well. Sagmoen got a great jump with the drop of the green flag and grabbed the lead followed very quickly by Steen, Derepentigny, and now Chris Stone as he moved up and into contention as Cyr dropped way off the pace after some contact knocked the steering out of whack. Steen and Sagmoen ran door handle to door handle for several laps with Derepentigny and Stone doing the same thing behind the front runners. There was some contact between Derepentigny and Stone that sent Stone toward the inside wall but after a glancing blow he managed to keep going. When the chequered flag dropped, it was Sagmoen with the win, and a clean sweep, followed by Steen, Stone, Billy Stidston, and Aaron Cameron in the top five positions. Going into this race, Steen had a twenty-nine point lead on Cyr and with this second place finish he is the Bomber Series Champion for 2010.

       Mark Keeler and Kevin Knight shared the front row for the start of the Demo Truck Feature event. Keeler took the lead on the very first lap while Kenny Baker grabbed the second spot followed by Heath Cooper. This race also produced some heavy hitting and as the laps were winding down, a private battle was taking shape in the staging area for the drag racers as the Baker team, Paul Scotthorne and Kevin Knight began to hit each other well away from the racing surface. Security and track officials moved in quickly to separate the combatants as the chequered flag dropped for Keeler. All four of these drivers were disqualified for this night. Richard Milne had a fifteen point advantage over Cooper in the points battle but he was forced out of contention due to a blown motor. Heath Cooper, finishing second, won the Demo Truck Championship for 2010 after a great see-saw battle all year with Milne. 

       Greg Sagmoen had the pole for the start of the Demo Car Feature race flanked by Chris Romkey. Sagmoen led for the first three laps and was then overtaken by Troy Tarbuck for the lead. Smokin Joe Liberatore was running third until he was taken out by points leader Marc Parkinson on lap six. 

 Parkinson moved up to run second one lap later and then chased the leader for two laps before he then took over the lead on lap nine. Robin Trotter moved into contention taking the third spot on lap seven and followed Parkinson to run second also on lap nine. Going into this race these two drivers were separated by a mere thirteen points and have been close all year. When the chequered flag waved, Parkinson came home with the win followed by Trotter and Sagmoen. With the victory, Parkinson secured the Demo Car Championship, for 2010, to go along with his Championship in the WilRoc Lites Series. Tempers, in this race, cooled somewhat over the past couple of races, on this night, but the #70 car did sustain some heavy damage before taking the win. When Parkinson was not running, Kirk Peacey also kept the #70 car in Victory Square with the team of Brad Smith and Robbin Trotter keeping the pressure on these two and making it close in the final event of the year.

       The regular race season is over for 2010 and Western Speedway would like to thank the many sponsors and fans that have shown great support throughout the year. Western Speedway would also like to congratulate all of this year's Champions as they have put on some great racing throughout this season. All the best for the remainder of 2010 and we look forward to seeing you again in 2011. 

       On October 31st, Western Speedway will open the gates for another in the Steve Copp Construction sponsored Hornet Series winter schedule. These events are 200 Laps or 2 Hours- which ever comes 1st, Rain or Shine. Gates open 12:00 Racing 1:00 - 3:00. November 21st, December 12th, January 16th, February 6th & 27th, and March 20th mark the full schedule so mark your calendars for these dates.