By Ken Keating
There was yet another great field of cars on hand as the Steve Copp Construction sponsored Hornet Series invaded Western Speedway. Five Trophy Dashes, twelve Heat races, a "B" Main, and two Feature events made up the full program as eighteen drivers qualified for racing in the Expert Division while twenty-three qualified for the Rookie class. Garrett Smith and Matt Schultz won the "A" and "B" Trophy Dashes in the Expert Division while Jay Young and Chris Reid were winners of the "A" and "B" Trophy Dashes in the Rookie class, and Laura-Ashley Grant continued to win as she took the Bumblebee Dash.
Expert Heat races went to Daryl Crocker, Graham Schuurman with two, Ryan Smith, Richard Shuck, and Bill Peacey. Laura-Ashley Grant, Bruce Duffis, Cole Schuurman with two, Gennifer Isles, and Derrick Street won the Rookie Heat races. Heat race action had a little bit of everything as front tires came off, blown motors, as well as complete blow outs as first place drivers checked out and left the rest of the field to battle for second and third place finishes.
Ken Plante and Stephen Crowe shared the front row for the start of the "B" Main and scheduled for fifteen laps. The top two Hornets and the top two Bumblebees would advance to the "A" Feature event. Chris Reid jumped into the lead on the second lap as Mike Ravenhill jumped into the second spot with Helen Thorne running in third. Ravenhill and Thorne traded positions a couple of times before Ravenhill got the lead on lap nine while Bruce Duffis got into the mix and grabbed the third spot dropping Thorne back to fourth. On lap twelve Derrick Street took over the fourth spot dropping Thorne back to fifth. When the chequered flag dropped, it was Ravenhill taking the win followed by Reid, Duffis, Street, and Thorne rounding out the top five positions. Originally from Victoria, Ravenhill joined the field tonight as he was here for the David Foster Foundation and hails all the way from Arizona. He now has a story to tell and the trophy to back it up.
Laura-Ashley Grant and Devin Fournier led seventeen cars to the green flag for twenty laps of racing in the Rookie Feature event. Grant was hit by Fournier on the first corner but maintain control and come out with the lead and had the lead until she was passed on lap four by Cole Schuurman as Jay Young moved into contention running third by lap five. Gennifer Isles, returning to racing, picked up an errant tire in the front wheel well causing a yellow to come out as crews pulled the tire out of the car. Over the next several laps, Grant, Young, and Ian Walker staged a real battle for the second, third, and fourth positions. On lap nineteen, Young got by Grant while Walker kept the heat on the young driver from Sooke. When the chequered flag dropped, Schuurman had the victory followed by Young, Grant, Walker, and Glenn Rand rounding out the top five positions.
Matt Schultz and Rocky Sandhu shared the front row for the start of the Expert Feature event scheduled for thirty laps. Shultz grabbed the lead with the drop of the flag with Sandhu chasing him while John Lerick followed in third. As a bunched up field exited turn two there was a huge pile up of cars flying in all directions but everyone made it through without a yellow coming out. On lap six, the yellow did come out as Karl Parker spun out. On the previous lap John Lerick received a black flag and entered the pits. On the double file restart, Rory Smith lined up along side of Shultz and on the green flag, Smith got the jump and took over the lead while behind him Garrett Smith and Cam Stanfield got inot the mix and passed Schultz for second and third respectively on lap nine. On lap ten, Ryan Smith moved up to run fourth and Bill Peacey, on his return to racing, took over the fifth spot one lap later. Over the next several laps, Rory absolutely checked out on the field while Garrett Smith tried to hold off Stanfield while he tried to hold off Ryan Smith all running bumper to bumper. When the chequered flag dropped, Rory Smith had the convincing win followed by Garrett, Stanfield, Ryan Smith, and Bill Peacey.