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By Dave
Sully
(Thorold,
Ontario) Brad Rouse, from St. Catharines, scored a
tough win over Tyler McPherson, also from St.
Catharines, in the fifty lap Lucas Oil Sportsman
Shootout, on Saturday, June 21 at Merrittville
Speedway.
Rouse,
starting on the outside pole, took the lead from
polesitter Rob Knapp at the drop of the green and
held it through three early cautions as drivers
battled for position behind him.
Things
began heating up, when McPherson, who started tenth,
moved into third on a lap nine restart. Rouse once
again steamed out to a big lead, while Chad
Chevalier now engaged McPherson for second.
McPherson won that battle and set out to run down
Rouse, who had caught lapped traffic. McPherson
used that to his advantage, closing in on lap
thirty, and then taking the lead in heavy going on
lap thirty-five.
Rouse
chased McPherson through the maze of lapped cars,
and then on lap forty-eight, made a move down low to
retake the lead. He then slid up in front of
McPherson coming out of turn four, with contact
being made in the process. Rouse held the lead the
final two laps to take the win, followed by
McPherson, who was hobbled by a softening rear tire,
Chevalier, Knapp, and Mark D’Ilario, up from
fifteenth to round out the top five.
McPherson registered his displeasure with Rouse’s
winning pass by making contact with him on the cool
down lap. Rouse, no stranger to controversy,
commented, “(It was) just racing. He left me a
little room in the center. I went underneath.
Earlier he was pushing lap cars up top, pushing them
into the side of me. We didn’t say anything about
that, but he has to hammer me after the race. If
that’s the way he wants to race, we’ll race that
way.”
For his
part, McPherson noted, “It was hard racing. Brad
did what he had to do, but at the same time, I’ve
seen a lot of guys pull a slide job, and it’s not
the same. That was more of a door slam. I’m not
into that. I’ll race you hard. I’ll race you
clean. I’ll pull a slide job, but that was no slide
job. Well, what goes around comes around.”
Steele’s
first modified win followed a similar script, as
Steele used a good starting spot and a strong
running car to beat a quality modified field.
Starting from the outside pole, Steele took the lead
from Darren Peters on the first lap and then held it
through a rash of early cautions.
The car
on the move was current point leader Chad Brachmann
from Sanborn, NY, who picked his way up from
fifteenth to take second from Lemyre on lap
twenty-eight.
A lap
twenty-nine caution seemed like an opportune moment
for Brachmann to steal the win away from Steele, in
his second modified season after moving up from the
open wheel lites. Steele was up to the task,
however, as he held off the No 3B of Brachmann and
opened a bit of a lead before the rain, which had
been moving into the area for some time, finally
descended. Though track officials hoped to complete
the event, it was wisely checkered with thirty-three
official laps in the books.
Brachmann came home second, followed by Richner,
Pete Bicknell, who started eleventh after unveiling
his new Lucas Oil sponsorship earlier in the
evening, and Lemyre to complete the top five.
Regarding his first ever modified win, Steele,
observed, “I don’t like to win it that way (rain
shortened), but it’s a win.” In dealing with the
rain, he added, “I really didn’t notice it. I was
just driving, trying to keep it straight and not
jump the cushion.” As for the final restart with
Brachmann on his bumper, he explained, “I tried not
to let it (rattle me). We got R done. It’s hard to
believe, racing with Pete Bicknell and Chad
Brachmann. It’s a good feeling.”
In other
action, former Hoosier stock champion and current
point leader, Dolf McCready, from St. Catharines,
registered his fourth win of the season. Amazingly,
McCready came from eighteenth to take the lead from
Pierce on lap sixteen of the twenty lapper.
Finally,
Shawn Sliter from Pt. Colborne moved up from tenth
to take the lead on lap thirteen of the Open Wheel
Lite Feature, and Chris Laskey from Welland won his
first ever mini stock feature.
NOTES:
Despite the approaching weather, an extensive track
grooming session was conducted prior to the heats,
when track officials deemed it necessary in the name
of driver safety. The track was very racy as a
result, and the rain mercifully held off until the
very end of the show…………During the evening, as noted
earlier, Lucas Oil was introduced in a major
marketing effort at Merrittville, including
sponsorship of the No. 42 of Pete Bicknell. Copious
thanks were afforded to the past support of Texaco
Haviland, which is cutting back on its racing
efforts……………….Lucas Oil Sportsman point leader going
into the night, Rob Pratt from Brockport, New York,
a winner in the first series event at Genesee, had a
rather forgettable night. After being involved in a
scrum in his heat and failing to qualify, he easily
won the consi, only to start near the back, get
involved in another scrum that sent him to the rear,
and ultimately finishing nineteenth in the
twenty-five car starting field.
Results:
Modified: (33 laps) Chris Steele, Chad Brachmann,
Rick Richner, Pete Bicknell, Dereck Lemyre, Tim
Jones, Bill Bleich, Larry Lampman, Boyd Mactavish,
Travis Braun, Scott George, Scott Wood, Ken
Cosgrove, Tom Flannigan, Brian Stevens, Darren
Peters, George Bosse, Todd Gordon, Dan Miller, Todd
Kendrick, Travis Cunningham, Graham McKay, Derek
Wutzke, and Fred Carleton. Heat winners were
Peters, Steele, and Gordon.
Sportsman (50 laps) Brad Rouse, Tyler McPherson,
Chad Chevalier, Rob Knapp, Mark D’Ilario, Greg
Panunte, Mat Williamson, BJ Willard, Brandon Easey,
Mike Bowman, Nick Cupolo, Jim Johnstone, Joe
Middlemiss, Luke Carleton, James Friesen, Norm Mark,
Ryan Susice, Ken Winfield, Rob Pratt, Rick Bellante,
Tony Cowell, Darren Zumpe, Jesse Cotriss, Justin
Sharp, and Mark Dixon. Heat winners were Easey,
Mark, Zumpe, and McPherson. Consi winners were
Pratt and Winfield.
Hoosier
Stock: (20 laps) Dolf McCready, Shayne Pierce,
Barry Blanchard, Cody McPherson, Rob Murray, Brent
Begolo, Bill Hogue, Kirk Wilson, Kevin Kocarik, Rick
Beales, Jeff Dayman, Mike Dooley, Ron Kingsbury,
Kevin Knapp, Jason Fontaine, Mark Fawcett, Bill
Bleich Jr., Dave Small, Rob Disher, Russ Davidson,
Ron Loggie, and Vince Fargnoli. Heat winners were
Small, Begolo, and Pierce. Consi winner was
Fontaine.
Open
Wheel Lites: (20 laps) Shawn Sliter, Jamie Gilbert,
Jordan Curran, Adam Leslie, Josh Sliter, Dan
Russell, Wayne Robins, Kellie Mason, Derek Bredin,
Wally Billing, Bob Bredin, Scott Phillips, Rick
Brubacker, Dale Leonard, Jason Corless, Kory howe,
and Scott Billing. Heat winners were Leslie, Wally
Billing, and Shawn Sliter.
Mini
Stock: (15 laps) Chris Laskey, Aaron Wiley, Carey
Gore, Trevor Goulding, Ron Cosco, Garnet Wilson,
Abel Castelein, Matt Deschamps, Tony Kelly, Terry
Larmet, Bob Gill, Greg Wilson, Rocco Conte, Don
Lessard, Bill Stoner, Eddie Wells, Roger Gilbert,
Mike Giberson, Jocelyn Wiley, and David Lopes. Heat
winners were Deschamps and Goulding.
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