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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Fans Beat On Car For Charity - Agassiz Speedway

By Kris McKenzie

On the second annual racing for the cure cancer fundraiser there was hard hits on and off the track. During the intermission fans and drivers got together in front of the grandstand to take out some aggression ( and raise some money for cancer research) on a pink painted car. Some highlights from the festivities was the first up, a young fan, took out the front passenger window to cheers of the fans watching. Another person that got the crowd cheering was driver Troy Globe, who several times jumped up on the hood and pounded his way through the roof creating  a custom sunroof. Big thanks for all the donations from fans and drivers.

 In the street stocks Warren Kurry in the 12 and B heat winner Kelly Moto in the 48 led the field to the green. Moto Would take the point on lap 2. The first yellow would fly on lap 6 when the 25 of Howie Webb found himself turn around, the 8 of John Chatwin and the 44 of Keith Tourand would also become involved but all would continue. The yellow would come out for a 2nd time for debris bunching the field up and putting the hard charging Murray Jones in the 28 on the back of the 8 who had taken the lead a few laps earlier. On the restart several good battles would develop. Out front the 8 28 44 and x of Paul Tourand fought for the top spot while further back the 6 of jessie Bridge and the 92 of Russ Luke had a good battle. In the end Lap traffic would pin the 8 on the bottom while all three other front runners would go by on the high side. Jones would take the win followed by Paul and Keith Tourand in 2nd and 3rd. The A heat went to the 55 of Trent McArthur.

The Focus midgets where next up On the pace lap outside pole sitter James Pirie slowed in one and would need to be pushed to the pits, he would unfortunately not make the call. On the start the 55 of Billy Bell out braked the 77 of Jeramiah Franklin in to one and took the lead. He would be followed by the 11 of Troy Globe (heat race winner) and the 41 of Kris McKenzie. The 46 of Steve Hora would make a quick shot to the pits after his car popped out of gear. He would return to the race several laps down. As the field spread out the fans where entertained by a great three car battle up front. Bell held the point with Globe pressuring on every turn, who in turn was pressured by McKenzie. This would be the way they ran until with two to go Bell would slip half a lane up, opening the door for Globe down the back stretch, who would take advantage and pick up his third win of the year. This was also the debut of young rookie Brayden Planko in the 00 who made continuous improvements all night.

The hornets saw the 11 of Matt Ostermeier and the 15 of rookie Liam Bell lead a 20 car field to the green, they would find themselves battling for second though as veteran driver Gary Radford in the 29 would spilt them going in to one and take the lead. The 15 would then find himself looking the wrong way in three when the field bunched up. The first yellow would fly when the 25 of Jack Striker spun in turn one. On the restart the 61 of Robert Adams would go high on the 29 for the lead,  he would be followed by the 6 of Dean Bridge. Deeper in the pack a great battle was going on between the 49 of Alex Thorley and the 53 of Neil Stratford, unfortunately the 53 would end up slowing in one with a broken axle, ending his night and bringing out the yellow again. On the restart the The 41 of Curtis Williams who had been making a steady climb through the field made his way past the 61 and took the lead and eventually the win. In the dying laps a great display of driving can from the 15 who made impressive moves on several cars showing that he will soon be a force to reckon with.  Heat race winners where Adams 61, Darren Barrett's 19, and Andrew bodnar's 22.

The Minis where the headliner of the evening. The heat races saw local crowd pleaser Wayne Goodwins 94 take the b heat. The A heat saw the 51 of Billy Beasley take a wild ride into the turn 3 wall. This was due to an attempt at going three wide with visiting island drivers Gil Parenteau (62) and Alex Mouner (96), contact was made resulting in the 51's night being finished. Aaron Willison in the 41 would end up with the win. The Main saw the 94 lead the field to the green. Going into 3 the field would bunch up resulting in the 62 spinning and bringing out an early  yellow. The 41 would continue his dominance at Agassiz taking the lead on lap 11, he would not look back.  The battle would be for the 2nd spot between the 94 96 and 50 of Norm Hillert. Goodwin would hold point until lap 28 when he would slide high and fall back to 5th. The field would calm down through the half way point until a mix up with the 50 62 and 77 of Jeremy Waxell which sent the 50 to the pits. The race would end with the 41 taking the chequered followed by the 96 and Marius Dunford in the 2.

The final class of the night would be the season debut of the hit 2 pass cars. The action stated before the cars even got to the start finish line with all drivers looking for someone to turn. Among the action some of the highlights where a chain reaction hit involving the 53, 174, and 42. And in the dying laps when the 24, 42, 420, 08, 55 and 53 awarded the crowd with a massive pill-up in turns 3 and 4. In the end the 174 was announced the winner to the cheers of the crowd.