Submitted by Terry Guest
Photos by Fernando Pereira
Saturday night at Saratoga Speedway marked the first appearance of the I.M.C.A Modifieds, Dwarf Cars, and the Motorcycles this season.
Sunny conditions made for some great racing in the Modified division, with fast time going to #53 Kevin Noble who set a time of 15.797. The first dash of the season for the Modifieds went to #8 Brad Purdy, who travelled from Port McNeill to come race. The first of 2 heats saw Purdy take an early lead and hold for the first heat. The reverse heat saw rookie driver #32 Dano Bryant battle with Purdy for the whole race, but Bryant would eventually take the win. The 15 lap main saw Purdy lead for 9 laps until mechanical issues caused him to withdrawal from the race, giving the lead and eventual win to #53 Kevin Noble. 2nd went to Bryant, and 3rd to Purdy.
#68 Bruce Moran dominated the Motorcycle class on Saturday. Moran set fast time on the night with a time of 23.362. Since Moran was so much faster than the rest of the field, he started on the top of the hill for the dash, bottom of the hill for the heat, and on the backstretch for main. Moran proved his dominance, managing to win every race on the night despite of his huge disadvantage. The other two bikes; #1 Manno, and #2 Andre both swapped finishing 2nd and 3rd all night.
11 Dwarf cars filled the pits on Saturday. Local driver #11 Mike Meeres set fast time of 15.826. The B dash went to #9 Tyler Peters, and the A to Meeres. The first of 2 heats saw #24 Jim Pridge get out to an early lead and hold it for the 10 lap heat. The reverse heat saw #95 Jeremy Stevens, who took a year off last year, take the lead on lap 3 and never look back. 9 cars took to the track for the 20 lap main; Pridge took the lead on lap 2 and spread his lead so far that no one could catch him, eventually taking the win. Stevens would finish 2nd, with 3rd going to #8 Mike Schott
Are largest field of 33 Hornet cars took to the track on Saturday. Fast time went to #01 Kevin Lawrenuk who set a time of 18.218. The D dash went #40 Dave Erdman, C to #66 Justin Mchale, B to #23 Marlin Gait, and the A to #33 Tristin Gait. The D heat saw Erdman take the lead on the final lap and hold on for the win. The C heat was dominated by #59 Ted Dimitrov, who held on for the win. The B heat saw #09 Cameron Phillips work his way from the very back to take the win. The A heat saw #08 Daryn Cahill take the lead on lap 7 and battle his way to the win. The 25 lap B feature saw #91 Carl Behan lead for 5 laps until Erdman took away the lead on the front stretch and eventually taking the win. 2nd went to Behan and 3rd to #17 Brad Dimitrov. The 35 lap A feature saw 4 lead changes; #22 Jennifer Lawrenuk led for the first 6 laps until #99 Chris Perkins took away the lead. Perkins lead was short-lived due to #08 Daryn Cahill taking away the lead on lap 8. Daryn led up until lap 23 when his brother Daryl Cahill took the lead and never looked back. 2nd went to #01 Kevin Lawrenuk, and 3rd to Daryn Cahill.
Extra laps…Next week marks the 2nd appearance of the Bomber cars; accompanied by the Crash to Pass cars, Hornets, and Roadrunners. June 25 will be our first showing of the Wilroc Sprint and the Wilroc Lites. The following weekend; July 2, is our first ever “Eve of destruction” which includes the jet dragster car, a huge limo jump, and fireworks. I.M.C.A Modifieds, Dwarf cars and Bomber Cars will complete the racing card for the night. Make sure to mark your calendars for those special race nights.