By Ken Keating
The final curtain came down tonight for the I.M.S. 4 Mini Stocks, the Old Time Racers Association, and the Stock Cars for the 2011 season at Western Speedway. There was a lot at stake as the Stock Cars were running for the Jerry Ferrie Memorial Trophy and the OTRA Series ran for the Hall Of Fame Trophy on Championship night for the Stocks and Mini Stocks.
Trophy Dash wins went to Giles Parenteau and Matt Szauer in the Mini Stock Series, Joe Dardengo and Larry Joyce in the OTRA Series, and Aaron Wilkie and Dan Myers in the Stock Car Series. Joe Dardengo used the last lap to slip by Ron Simpson for the win in the OTRA Dash winning by a very narrow margin. Heat race wins were recorded by Matt Szauer and Alex Mouner in the Mini Stock Series, Larry Joyce and Joe Dardengo in the OTRA Series, and Dave Reside and Aaron Wilkie in the Stock Car Series. Dardengo and Tom Cinnamon battled side by side for several laps in the OTRA Heat race before Dardengo finally got the win. The Stock Cars tried racing three wide going through the corners and that didn't work and Jeremy Gardiner got the worst of it breaking an axle and wound up well off the track in turn four as there was some contact between the drivers.
George "The Jet" Jenson was on his way to Western Speedway to race with the OTRA Series and as he passed the Loghouse Pub, he lost his transmission in his personal pickup. Some good samaritan came by and stopped to see what happened and just happened to have a chain with him. He pulled George, the broken down truck and trailer along with the #25 race car to the parking lot at the Speedway knowing George was planning on racing. They unhooked and thanked the owner for the assistance, but he got away before anyone could get a name. George and his wife would very much like to extend a further heartfelt "thank you" to this individual as without his help George may not have made it to the race track to compete. It is pleasant when you hear or see there is still good people in this world willing to extend a helping hand.
Glen Percival and Giles Parenteau shared the front row for the start of a twenty lap Feature event with the I.M.S. 4 Mini Stock Series. Jeremy Waksel had the lead after five laps and quickly had Alex Mouner falling into the second spot. By lap nine, Mouner took over the lead with Waksel in second and Percival running third. Sharon Constantine dropped out early and Caleb Van Bree drove to the pits on lap twelve. Once in the lead, Mouner built up a good lead and the best race on the track was with Percival and Justin Woodske for third and fourth. Mouner went on for the win followed by Waksel and Woodske gaining the third spot on lap seventeen. Mouner stated he was very pleased with his season as he captured another Feature event and successfully defended his I.M.S. 4 Championship winning his second consecutive title.
Kail Beck and Stephen Dardengo had the front row for the OTRA Feature event scheduled to run twenty-five laps. By lap six, Joe Dardengo had the lead followed by Beck and Tom Cinnamon. Just a couple laps later, Cinnamon took over the second spot and James Campbell moved up to run third. On lap nine there was a massive pileup that included pretty close to the whole field as it was the front runners that spun out. Everyone checked up and got stopped before any major damage was done to any of the cars, but it resulted in a yellow flag. On the restart, most everyone was caught sleeping as the starter dropped the green flag and Campbell got a great jump and grabbed the lead with Beck running in second. Campbell started to check out on the rest of the field as Larry Joyce closed in to race with Beck taking the second spot on lap sixteen. On lap twenty-one, George Jenson moved up to the third spot but no one could catch Campbell as he took the chequered flag and the Hall of Fame Trophy. Larry Joyce placed second followed by Jenson, Dennis Morneau, and Duane Zeinstra rounding out the top five.
The Stock Car Series was scheduled to run seventy-five laps and they were introduced on the frontstretch with Aaron Wilkie holding the pole position with Daryl Crocker on the outside. On lap five, the yellow came out as the #02 car spun around in front of the flag stand and everyone was able to avoid a collision. For the double file restart, Wilkie had Cody Aumen on the outside as the field came around to retake the green flag. Wilkie again got the lead and after a few more laps had Kyle Cottam running second as Ryan Wade moved up taking the third spot from Crocker. On lap fourteen, disaster struck the #95 car of Wade's as he backed way off the pace and headed for the pits with a blown drive shaft. Wilkie continued to lead with Cottam right on his back bumper and Crocker still in the mix. On lap twenty-one the yellow came out again as Sagmoen went around in turn one and backed into the wall. He might have had some help in the spin out. On this restart, Wilkie had Larry Graham on the outside but by lap twenty-four, Wilkie again had the clear lead with Cottam still close. Graham, Crocker, and Garrett Smith were in a tight battle for the third, fourth and fifth spot. On lap thirty, the yellow came out again as Dan Myers spun out. On this restart, Cottam again chose the outside with Wilkie on the front row. Wilkie got away again and went back to the lead. The yellow again came out and this time Smith chose the outside restart position along with Wilkie as the field took the green flag. Wilkie again got the lead followed by Smith and Cottam running second and third and Graham still in the hunt. On lap fifty-five the yellow came out again as Smith went around on turn one from a light touch from Graham. On this restart, Wilkie had Dan Myers on his outside. The race was only a couple laps under the green when the yellow came out again as Smith went around and hit the wall on turn four. On the restart, Wilkie had Crocker back on his outside but quickly took the lead. On lap sixty-one, Wilkie had Cottam running in second with Crocker still holding the third spot. Cottam got up to run side by side with Wilkie for several laps and on lap sixty-eight, Wilkie slipped just enough for Cottam to get a clean run and take over the lead. On lap sixty-six, Graham took the third spot from Crocker. When the chequered flag dropped it was Cottam crossing the line first as he came around to stop in Victory Square. It was here that the win was for naught as his car was found to have an illegal tire thus resulting in a DQ and handing the victory to Aaron Wilkie. Larry Graham, Daryl Crocker, and Mike Derepentigny followed for the next positions.
Wilkie was handed the Jerry Ferrie Memorial Trophy by members of the Ferrie family and the Feature event Trophy by Elsa Josionek and Carolyn Fortune, the Western Speedway Trophy Girls on this night. With this victory, Wilkie completed a clean sweep on his return to racing.
Ryan Wade became the first driver to win five consecutive Championships in a row in the Stock Car Series as he basically had to just qualify his car to become the Champion for 2011.
Western Speedway will close out racing for 2011 on Saturday, the 1st of October, as the Demo Cars, Demo Trucks, Figure 8s, and the Bombers run on their Championship night with a couple of titles still up for grabs.