By Ken Keating
Western Speedway hosted another great night of racing with the second appearance of the Stock Cars, and the O.T.R.A., and the WilRoc LiteSeries as they opened their season racing for the first time this year. A great crowd was on hand to witness close racing in all three classes right from the Trophy Dashes, Heat races, and the Feature events that made up the program on this night.
Bob Martin, Duane Zeinstra, Joe Dardengo, and George "The Jet" Jenson lined up for four laps of racing in the O.T.R.A. Series "B" Trophy Dash and that was a sign of things to come as Jenson used the last lap to run side by side with Martin and won the opening Dash by just a few inches in a drag race down the front stretch. The "A" Dash also saw some great racing as Tom Cinnamon, who has not raced in several years, returned with Denis Morneau, James Campbell, and Larry Joyce going head to head for the Trophy. As Cinnamon, Joyce, and Campbell were running in a tight battle behind Morneau, Joyce and Cinnamon touched just a bit; Campbell had to back off to avoid disaster, and that left to door open for Morneau to grab the Victory. Aaron Wilkie, Dave Reside, and Ryan Wade were three wide going down the backstretch during their Trophy Dash with Wilkie getting the win in the "A" Dash with Garrett Smith taking the "B" Dash Stock Car Trophy. Steven Dardengo won the "B" Trophy Dash in the WilRoc Lite Series using the last lap to get the lead from Jim Giles. Chris Root, driving the #25 Roadster, won the "A" Dash also in the Lites Series.
Roger Beck took the lead on lap three and ran away in the "B" Heat in the O.T.R.A Series with Tom Cinnamon winning the "A" Heat after a great battle with Larry Joyce and James Campbell with Joyce prevailing for the second spot by a very narrow margin. Garrett Smith won the "B" Heat with Daryl Crocker holding on for the Stock Car "A" Heat victory. The "A" Heat produced four wide racing that didn't work as Chris McInerney got caught up and spun around breaking the rear axle in the #25 car and Dan Myers slammed the big tires on the inside of turn three as he too spun out in this incident on lap three. Deter Lajuene powered his way to the lead on lap four and cruised to the victory in the WilRoc Lites "B" Heat. Robbie Haslam, driving the #8 WilRoc Lite car grabbed the lead, in the "A" Heat, and on lap three the red flag came out as Paul Verhagen was involved in a spectacular crash rolling his car three or four times exiting turn four. The car suffered a lot of front end damage and thankfully Paul was unhurt but his night came to an end. The remainder in this race produced some great racing as Jesse Dardengo and Chris Root tried everything to get by Haslam for the lead but to no avail as Haslam took the chequered flag.
This program was the Annual Hall of Fame Night with several Hall of Fame members introduced prior to the start of the Jim and Lorraine Haslam Memorial race with the O.T.R.A. Series competing for the Jim and Lorraine Memorial Trophy. The Hall of Fame was open and several fans took the opportunity to view the profiles and memorabilia of all the great racers that fill the Hall. James Miller and Kail Beck shared the front row for the start of thirty laps of racing in the Feature event for O.T.R.A. with George "The Jet" Jenson taking the lead after the second lap. Over the next few laps several cars jockeyed for position with James Campbell taking over the second spot followed quickly by Tom Cinnamon after seven laps. Jenson opened up a pretty good lead but Campbell reeled him in by lap fourteen and began a relentless pursuit of the leader. Behind him Cinnamon and Larry Joyce made their way up and into contention after Campbell put a light bump on Jenson momentarily slowing both drivers. Campbell and Jenson drove side by side for several laps until lapped traffic became a factor with Campbell dropping all the way back to fourth and Joyce taking his turn running door handle to door handle with Jenson still leading. Joyce actually won a drag race and led lap twenty-seven by a very slim margin over Jenson as he tried high and then low to gain the edge needed for a victory. At the chequered flag it was George "The Jet" Jenson taking the win followed by Joyce, Cinnamon, Campbell, and Roger Beck rounding out the top five in a great race start to finish. A very emotional Jenson accepted the Jim and Lorraine Memorial Trophy presented by Hall of Famer, Roy Haslam, his sons Mike and Robbie, and the newest of the Haslam family Courtenay and Peyton, Robbie and Mike's daughters respectively.
Dean Mackney and Billy Stidston led seventeen Stock Cars to the green flag for forty laps of racing in their Feature event with Daryl Crocker jumping into the lead after just three laps followed quickly by Kyle Cottam and Brian Clutchey driving the #47 car. These three drivers broke away from the pack a bit until the yellow came out on lap twelve. Several cars were in a tight battle deeper in the field that included Cody Aumen, Dave Reside, Dan Myers, and others. Aumen cut a front tire with the rest of the field taking evasive action and bunching up with several cars spinning coming out of turn two. On the double file restart, Crocker again got the advantage and took the lead followed by Cottam and Myers for the next four laps when the yellow came out again as Steve Copp got a helping hand and spun out between turn one and two. Crocker again got the advantage on the restart with Myers taking second and Clutchey running third. On lap nineteen, Ryan Wade made the move into the fourth spot following Cottam who also advanced forward. On lap twenty Myers and or Cottam, while fighting for the lead, got into Crocker a bit but enough to send the leader around and a penalty sending them to the back of the pack. The resulting double file restart now had Wade and Aaron Wilkie with the share of the front row as they came around for the green flag. Wade got the advantage and took over the lead while Aumen passed Wilkie for second with Mike Derepentigny moving up to run fourth. Wade built a comfortable lead and went on to claim the victory followed by Aumen, Wilkie, Derepentigny, and Garrett Smith rounding out the top five in another tough, competitive, Stock Car event.
Fourteen high powered wingless Sprint Cars lined up for thirty laps of racing led by Wayde Heckford and Eli Ross as the WilRoc Lites came around to see the green flag for their first Feature event of the year. Heckford got the quick jump as did Steven Dardengo moving into second before lap one was complete. Behind them Darryl Morneau, Robbie Haslam, and Jesse Dardengo were in a tight battle for the next positions. On lap seven Dardengo grabbed the lead followed by Heckford and Haslam just before the yellow came out for a spinning Chris Root on turn four. Frank Mayell also needed a push to the pits on this same yellow as his came came to a stop on the frontstretch. On the restart, Dardengo again grabbed the lead followed by Heckford and Haslam. On lap eleven Haslam took over running second with Deter Lejeune taking the third spot and Guy Barrett, driving the #5 car, moving into fourth. Over the next several laps Lejeune and Haslam ran side by side and bumper to bumper with lap cars also a factor. At the chequered flag it was Jesse Dardengo with the win followed by Haslam, Lejeune, Barrett, and Chris Root rounding out the top five positions.
The next event, at Western Speedway, will feature the Demo Cars, Demo Trucks, the Bombers, and the Mini Figure 8's on Princess & Pirate Night plus a Roll Over competition and Fireworks. This is an opportunity for kids, big and small, to dress as their favorite Princess or Pirate with a parade to show off their best costumes along the frontstretch plus watch exciting race action and of course the fireworks.