fine night for two 50s

I look forward to the Toursec Twin 50s every season and I hope you are as excited as I am for Friday night.

The stars of the Toursec Thunder and Lightning put in a ton of work to their race cars and this will be on full display on Friday.

Who will find their way to the front over 50-laps though? It’s hard to tell.

It is hard to tell after the first race in the Toursec Lightning division but I’d have to believe heavy favorites are Steve Matthews and Scott Thibodeau for Friday night. Matthews waxed the field by a full straightaway during CTV Night but he also had track position. By the time Thibodeau worked his way through the field, it was too little, too late to run down Matthews. Both showed speed and with the pair having to start at the rear with their handicaps after Night One, it will be a show to see them run to the front.

While they might be the favorites, I think there are easily another half dozen that could challenge under the right conditions after seeing CTV Night play out.

Obviously, you cannot count out “Rational” Richard Drake. Rational Richard is in a new car this year that the Ken-etic Auto Racing team spent the last few seasons building. Now, whatever the case is, whether it is a brand new Super Late Model or a Dodge Neon, this thing is a game of inches and it takes race laps to perfect a setup on a new car. The team was slightly off the mark, but that will not last long.

David Jollimore ran to a top three finish on Opening Night. David had an opportunity to run a Sportsman car this year but that hasn’t come to fruition yet as the car is not ready. Jollimore showed his skills in the Toursec Lightning division on CTV Night by racing to a podium finish and is likely an adjustment or two away from battling with Matthews and Thibodeau, who he kept pace with for numerous laps.

Travis Keefe is going to win a race this year. Keefe is too good of a young driver and has a great car not to win his first Lightning feature. Does that first win come on Friday? It could. He has help from the Smith crew, one that has turned former Lightning champions into Late Model drivers. He’s in a really good position with everything going on in that program and Keefe is a great young man. You can’t help but root for the kid and I know that first win is just around the corner.

Tom Stewart is getting better at these long races. Early in his career, we’d see the No. 171 go hard in the early laps, like we see during a 25-lap feature, but fade at the end. Stewart had issues on the first night and we didn’t see him race so this will be his first time on track in 2018 to prove himself. Same can be said to Darrell Sullivan, who is a former feature winner and will be a threat when he puts it all together. Keep your eye on them!

You’ve got Jamie Dillman, Chevy MacDonald, Kenny Hopper, Mike Jollimore, Marshall Bezanson, Bruce Larter and more that will also have a great chance to score big on Friday night in the 50. It is sure to be a great second round on 2018 for the Toursec Lightning division.

On the Toursec Thunder side, man that thing is going to be wide open on Friday night!

If I am picking a winner for Friday’s Thunder on the Hill race, based on what I’ve seen in the first two races, it’s got to be Chris Hatcher. Hatcher figured out something last season and whatever it was he has had a boatload of speed in his Civic. Track position means a lot too and as we’ve seen in the last two weeks, he hasn’t had that.

Hatcher and defending champion Dave Matthews battled for second last week and while Hatcher tried the second groove a number of times, he couldn’t get it to hook up. Matthews was just fast enough to keep ahead the No. 11 and Hatcher showed a lot of patience to not rough the No. 99 car up when he had a chance. There is a lot of respect between two of the guys that have dozens of wins between them over the last decade racing in this class and in turn it puts on an absolute show for our fans.

Not to mention, Dave and Chris have won the last two Toursec Thunder 50s, so you might be able to consider this the “rubber match” to break the 2017 tie. 

I mentioned on Friday night that our Toursec Thunder drivers were making me look good. Before the season started, I mentioned three drivers would get their first wins of the year. Neil Miousse and Darren Flemming have made me look like a genius so far. If the third driver in that line, Jesse Deveau, can win Friday night, I’ll be sliding over to Irving at the Airport to grab a LottoMax ticket after the Thunder feature. Deveau has run well over the last year or so, but does he have enough long run speed to win his first Toursec Thunder car race?! We have 50-laps to find out.

Drew MacEachern has been getting his new car tuned in and Nic Baker has been known to have some speed in his No. 88 car. Of the CARSTAR Weekly Racing Series drivers that have ran the first two races, I would count those two as drivers to watch to extend our different race winner streak to three. Richard Ramsay, Greg McKay and the returning Jason Pickles continue to gain speed and while a win on Friday may be a long shot, seat time and race laps will go a long way to putting them as favorites when we have this Thunder on the Hill conversation again in August.

Can anyone stop Emily Meehan in the Strictly Hydraulics Legend division? Whatever Meehan Racing has figured out has worked with two straight wins to open the season. For comparison, only two other point drivers have done that in this region this season - Sam Rogers in his Bandolero at Petty International Raceway and five-time champion Dave O’Blenis at Speedway 660 in his Pro Stock. That is pretty elite company to be mentioned with and while all three drivers will look to extend their streaks to three this weekend, Meehan will be first up at the plate to do so.

The Affordable Fuels Sportsman feature was quite intriguing last Friday. For 17 cars on track and only a single caution to bunch up the field in the 38-lap run was great. Matt Vaughan and Pete Miller both had track position early with the way the handicap system works following less than desirable runs on Week One. They both showed the way up front and while Pete found himself in the spin cycle on the last lap in a hard battle with Jordan Veinotte and Kirk Ryan for third, Vaughan went on to win his first race of the season. It was great to see Frankie Fraser back and while he wanted to win, a second place run is a good shakedown for the Robby’s Towing No. 31 car.

“Mr. Excitement” leads the points after two races with Aaron Boutilier in second. Where it gets interesting is third to eight and only seven points between them. You have last Friday’s winner Matt Vaughan pacing Brentley Pirri and Alex Johnson by a single point. Johnson tells me he’s not running full time at Scotia Speedworld this year but one would have to think with the season he’s having early it would be hard to stray from home. Two points behind Pirri and Johnson sits Veinotte, who you know will be in the championship conversation in September as he has been so many times in the past.

Then comes the rookies. Deven Smith and Megan Parrott only have two points between them with Parrott scoring her first top five run in a Sportsman car one week ago. Parrott impressed me with the run, she ran within the top five for most of the feature and fell to as low as seventh. She battled with those that made their way around her but never rolled over and gave up a spot. When Pete and Jordan had their set to coming out of Turn Four on the final lap, it allowed Parrott to squeeze into the top five. Deven’s advantage on paper over Parrott has come in the heat races, which is where a two point advantage in the way of the No. 94 comes after two races.

Friday will be fun with our top two divisions on the card along with the Toursec Twin 50s. Oh, did we mention it is $20 Carload Admission in the grandstands?! Pack everyone you can into the car, truck or van (safely of course) and bring them out to Scotia Speedworld for an action packed night of racing!

Until Friday, keep the hammer down and we’ll see you at the track!