Weekly Racing Series
Race Wrap & Full Results

July 15th - Toursec Twin 50s

Toursec 50 - Toursec Lightning Division
“Rational” Richard Drake (Halifax) spoiled the welcome back party for former champion Mike Brown (Urbania) as the #13 Ken-etic Auto team took their third straight victory of the season in the Toursec 50 for Lightning cars.

Like the previous week, Drake took the lead from Jamie Dillman (Carroll’s Corner) but the final lead change of the night took place just past the halfway point in the race. If it was a regular 25-lap feature, Dillman would be back in victory lane, but with the extra laps it was Drake being able to run away from the field.

That is until a yellow flag came out with nine laps to go, which tightened the field for a dash to the finish.

Drake was lights out on the final restart of the race with nine laps remaining. While Drake inched away, the field raced on for second on back. Brown, who had been tabbed to substitute for Scott Thibodeau (Williamswood) in the #169 car, had taken second before the caution and would hold on to that spot for his first time on track since his championship season in 2014. Dillman hung on to his first podium finish of the year with a third place run in the #158 Pete-za Perfect Dodge. Joey Holland (Eastern Passage) had the best run of his young career thus far, finishing fourth after running many laps in the top three in the first half of the race. Greg Snelgrove (Elmsdale) had the car hold on for 50-laps after a mechanical problem plagued season to finish fifth in the 17 car field.

Snelgrove and Garth Bezanson (Lake Egmont) won the heat races on the night.

With Travis Keefe (Clayton Park) substituting for Deven Smith (Lakeside) and bringing home an eighth place finish, it will close the #169 team to one point out of the lead after six races. Drake’s win moves him to within seven points heading into their next race.

Toursec 50 - Toursec Thunder Division
Stevie Lively (Shubenacadie) proved once again why he is one of the best at four cylinder racing on Friday by winning the Toursec Thunder portion of the Twin 50s for his third feature win in seven races.

In the final 20 laps, the race saw two restart, including one with five laps to go. While many teams experienced mechanical hiccups in the final 25 laps of the race, the #32 was rock solid up front to take home the longest Thunder race of the season at Scotia Speedworld.

Kyle Gammon (Middle Sackville) snuck by Dave Matthews (Kennetcook) with under 15 to go and held on for second. Matthews, who was having issues with his car periodically shutting off under green, was third, followed by first-time feature winners on the season Andrew Lively and Merle Corbin, both of Sackville. Corbin was forced down pit road on a late restart when his car became low on fuel and rallied late for a fifth place finish.

The 50-lap feature saw mechanical attrition wear on the cars. Front runners including Tim Webster (Beaverbank), “The Ironman” Drew MacEachern (Dartmouth), Chris Hatcher (Beaver Bank) and first-time heat winner on the night Nic Baker (Sackville) were all sidelined before the checkered flag because of failures on their cars.

With Lively’s win, he goes back to the championship standings by a single point over Matthews.

Coors Light Trucks
Dan Smith (Lower Sackville) had a big night at Scotia Speedworld by taking his second feature win of the season and extending his point lead.

Smith took the lead early from Cory Leonard (Goodwood) and managed to hold the point from there on in but it was far from easy. Jason Fenton (Eastern Passage) pressured Smith early while Megan Parrott (Beaverbank) rebounded from a spin in the first few laps of the race to join the division veterans up front. As Parrott began to pour the pressure on Fenton, Smith gained breathing room to pull away for his second win on the season. Fenton and Parrott held down podium positions in second and third, while Matt Vaughan (Fletcher’s Lake) and Leonard were fourth and fifth.

Kevin Clark Jr (Goodwood) entered only nine points behind Smith for the championship lead but had to pit on the pace laps of the feature and returned two laps off the pace of the leaders. Clark, by virtue of winning the heat race, was able to maintain second in the standings.

Hydraulics Plus Bandoleros
While the Hydraulics Plus Beginner Bandoleros put on one of the best shows of the evening, the second feature for the combined Bandit and Outlaw classes got a bit messy.

When it looked like Tyler Hutchinson (Onslow) was going to score another feature victory following a practice accident that bent the back of his race car, a spin with four laps to go ended his reign up front. Malcolm Jollimore (Terence Bay) took advantage to score his fourth win of the season over a hard charging Hutchinson and Morgan Mosher (Mahone Bay), who was impressive on the evening after winning the heat race for the class. Brooke Dowe (Bedford) was fourth while Dylan MacMillan (Glenholme) spun out of a podium position on the last lap and was relegated to fifth, ahead of Bear Cove’s Chase MacKay.

In the makeup feature for the combined Bandit and Outlaw classes, it was Josh Langille (Coldbrook) scoring his first overall win of the season, taking the Outlaw win over Sam Rogers (Lower Onslow) and Nathan Blackburn (Timberlea). Colton Noble (Upper Nine Mile River), fifth overall, took home the first Bandit feature of the night over point leader Nathan Langille (Coldbrook) and Owen Mahar (Hubley).

In the second feature, things got a bit hectic. In the Outlaw feature, the finish saw three cars scramble at the end with Blackburn sliding backward across the line. Austin MacDonald (Pictou), heat race winner, had led the most laps in the feature and had led to the final restart with two laps to go. Rogers and Blackburn both locked down on MacDonald coming out of the final corner and calamity ensued. Blackburn slid on the inside backward across the line and Rogers had enough momentum to edge both out for the feature win. Blackburn was scored second and MacDonald third, both of whom were upset with the way the race finished.

In the Bandit division, Noble stayed clear of the confrontation in front of him to score his second win of the night, finishing fifth overall in the feature. Mahar was second and fan favorite Danny Chisholm (Canning), sporting new colors on his car, was third. Nathan Langille was involved in an incident with Dylan Dowe (Bedford), which saw Dowe intentionally wreck the #3 car twice in the same caution lap after the two tangled to bring out the yellow flag. Dowe was parked for the evening and will serve a one race suspension for his unsportsmanlike and dangerous actions on track.

Langille’s point lead in the Bandit division is down to seven points over a tie for second with Noble and Mahar. Josh Langille has three points in the Outlaw class over a tie between Rogers and Blackburn. Hutchinson has a three point lead over Jollimore in the Beginner Bandits standings. All told, all three Bandolero track championships are still very much in the air at the halfway point in the season.