Saratoga Speedway July 2nd

By Terry Guest 
Photo Credit Fernando Pereira 

 

The 30^th year anniversary of Saratoga Speedway was capped off by an amazing firework display. North Island College sponsored the amazing night of racing at Saratoga Speedway.

The night started off with a race car parade, thanking all the race car drivers on there commitment to racing over the years. The Dwarf cars ran the first dash of the evening, with the B going to #7 Mike Schott, and the A to #11 Mike Meeres. Schott held the lead in the 12 lap heat for the first 9 laps, but Meeres fought his way from the back to take the lead and he went on to take the win. #44 Bob Greenaway held the lead in the 10 lap reverse heat for the first 3 laps until #95 Jeremy Stevens took over the lead and never looked back from there. The 25 lap feature saw #7 Mike Schott take the lead early and stretch it from there. Meeres would eventually catch Schott on lap 17 and take over the lead and hold onto it from there, taking the win. Schott finished 2^nd and 3^rd went to #4 Sean Sanger.

7 I.M.C.A Modifieds took to the track on Saturday, which marked are biggest field in years. #98 Pat Brown set yet another track record on Saturday, setting a new track record of 15.296, beating his old record of 15.383. The B dash went to #32 Dano Bryant and the A to #53 Kevin Noble. #89 Gregg Sagmoen held and early lead in the heat, but #8 Brad Purdy soon took over that lead and held it for the remainder of the heat. #53 Kevin Noble led the reverse heat from the very first lap, winning his 2^nd race of the night. Noble carried over his winning ways into the main, leading every lap of the 20 lap feature, winning his 3^rd race of the night. #48 Rob Ryan finished 2^nd, and #98 Pat Brown finished 3^rd.

#99 Gilles Cyr once again set fast time in Qualifying in the Bomber car division, setting a time of 17.733. The B dash went to #33 Brian Baltis and the A to #24 Charlie Ackerman. #97 Ken Hallgarth Jr. led the heat for the first 3 laps, but Ackerman eventually found his way around Hallgarth on lap 4 to take the lead and he would go on to take the win. #11 Mike Dionne took an early lead in the reverse heat and never looked back, leading 8 laps in the 10 lap heat. #24 Charlie Ackerman once again took an early lead in the 25 lap feature. #11 Mike Dionne managed to stay with Ackerman for the whole main event but couldn’t find away around him. Ackerman went on to the win the feature, leading all but 2 laps. Dionne finished 2^nd and third went to #97 Ken Hallgarth Jr.

Extra laps... Duane Zeinstra successfully destroyed the limo in our only car jump of the season. This was Zeinstra’ first ever car jump, and after the jump he said “I just tried to hit the jump properly and hold on”. Bryce Muyr was the driver in the Roll over. Muyr flipped over 3 times and eventually landed on his roof. Next weekend marks our first Crash to Pass Boat Race of the season. If you have not seen a boat race, you are missing out. The car tossing competition will also take place next weekend, along with the Hornet Cars and the Roadrunners. Make sure to check out next weekend’s racing.