By Ken Keating
Tonight's program at Western Speedway, sponsored by O'Dell Slinger, provided fans with spectacular racing in the Island Dwarf Car Series, I.M.S. 4 Mini Stocks, Stock Car Series, and the Late Model Series racing for Trophy Dashes, Heat races, and the Feature events. Bob Greenaway won the B-Trophy Dash with Mike Meeres, with his first appearance of the year in Victoria, won the A-Dash for Dwarf Cars. Rory Smith and Brandon Carlson won their respective Dashes in the Late Model Series, Caleb Van Bree, returning after a crash the first of the year, and Justin Woodske won their Dashes in the Mini Stock Series, and Dave Reside and Ryan Wade were victorious in the Dash races for the Stock Car Series. When Woodske crossed the line he was just a few feet over Aaron Willison in second while Alex Mouner was just inches back in third in a real close finish between those three drivers.
Meeres won both Heat races in the Dwarf Car, while Tyler Clough and Rory Smith took the victories in the Late Model Heat races, Alex Mouner and Caleb Van Bree were winners in I.M.S.4 Heat races, and Dave Reside and Chris McInerney won Heat races with the Stock Car Series.
Randy Vincent and Bob Greenaway shared the front row for the start of the Dwarf Car Feature event scheduled for fifteen laps. Mike Meeres was looking for the clean sweep after victories in the Dash and two wins in Heat race action as he lined up in the eighth starting position and driving a very fast car. After a near collision in the first couple of laps, Sean Sanger jumped into the lead on the third lap followed by Tyler Peters and Bob Greenaway. On lap six, Meeres had moved up to third putting Greenaway back a position and two laps later passed Peters to send him back a position to run third. Wayde Heckford, driving for Jim Pridge, moved into the third position on lap twelve. On this night time and laps ran out on Meeres and he could only watch as Sanger took the victory ahead of him with Heckford in third followed by Greenaway and Carl Carlson Jr. rounding out the top five.
Glen Percival led thirteen Mini Stocks to the green flag for twenty laps of racing and led for the first four laps. On Lap five, Sean Staniford took the lead with Alex Mouner moving up to run third and Aaron Willison running in fourth. Over the next several laps, Staniford, Matt Szauer, Willison, and Mouner waged a great four car battle trading positions at will. Willison finally got a clear lead on lap nine and left the other competitors to joust for the next positions. On lap ten, Bill Beasley another driver from the Lower Mainland, got into the mix running in fourth place. Willison continued to build the lead as Szauer, Mouner, and Beasley continued their close racing behind him. Willison took the victory while Szauer held off the charge taking second, while Mouner held off Beasley for third, with Justin Woodkse coming in fifth in another great race.
Rory Smith and Doug Richens shared the front row for the start of the Late Model Feature race set to run forty laps. With the drop of the green flag, Smith immediately went into the lead followed by Gord Quaite in his first appearance in 2011. Smith got a decent lead but Quaite was able to reel him in and run bumper to bumper for several laps with Richens running in third and Rob Haslam in fourth. By lap ten, Wade Bland, starting from the ninth spot began to move forward in a hurry taking the fifth spot and his sights on Jason Tarasenko running fourth. Smith and Quaite had built a big lead up front and were cruising along as Wade passed Tarasenko and Richens and moved up to third. Each lap Bland gained on the two front runners and was right in the thick of things by lap twenty-four. On lap twenty-six Bland moved passed Quaite for second and then blew by Smith for the lead on lap twenty-seven leaving Smith to deal with Quaite and Brent Morris who had moved through the pack. Morris continued his charge taking the third spot on lap thirty-three leaving Smith and Quaite to exchange the third spot back and forth for several laps. Bland had too much Ford power on this night and took the chequered flag by a large margin while Morris took second with Quaite, Smith and Brandon Carlson rounded out the top five in another flag to flag race.
Billy Stidston led sixteen cars to the green flag for forty-five laps of racing in the Stock Car Series. Tyler Woods got the early advantage and went into the lead for the first seven laps with several drivers dicing for positions behind him. Dave Reside, winner of the Dash and Heat race and looking for his first Main event victory, got the lead on lap eight followed quickly by Chris McInerney. By lap twelve, Ryan Wade made his way through the pack to run second with Aaron Wilkie taking the third spot one lap later sending McInerney back to fourth and Daryl Crocker moving into fifth a couple laps later. Over the next several laps, Reside made his car very wide while leading with Wade and Wilkie running side by side with inches between them and inches behind Reside. On lap twenty-five, Wilkie took over the second spot when Wade slipped just a bit and now trying to get that position back. On lap twenty-nine Wilkie took over the lead while Wade and Reside drove side by side for position. For some reason, Wilkie suffered a stop and go surrendering the lead to Wade while behind him Reside, McInerney, and Crocker were racing three wide. In those close quarters, Reside suffered a flat tire leaving Crocker in second and Derepentigny in third with McInerney dropping to run fourth. When the chequered flag dropped, Wade crossed the line as the winner followed by Crocker, Derepentigny, McInerney, and Dan Myers rounding out the top five in yet another great competitive race. All of tonight's trophies were presented by Kayla and Kyra at Victory Square.
The next race will be the opening night for the Hornet Series running from June 22nd until August 31st while the next regular race at Western Speedway is June 25th and will feature the Demo Cars, Demo Trucks, Bombers, and the Mini Figure 8's on Elton John Night with a karaoke, look-a-likes in your best Elton John attire, plus dancing to "Crocodile Rock". Also on this card is the first appearance of "Mr. Dizzy" (aka Mike Buse) known for blowing himself up along with a four tier car jump. You won't want to miss this one so come early to get the best seats. This event will be sponsored by Galaxie Motors.