Twin 50s On Tap

It’s hard to believe our Summer at Scotia Speedworld has come down to only four more weekends.

The championship battles are in full swing and while some are closer than others, contenders are beginning to emerge late in the season. Drivers like Colton Noble, Caden Tufts and Braden Langille are turning up the wick as of late, putting pressure on drivers in their respective divisions with multiple feature victories over the last few weeks. In the case of the Late Model Sportsman division, Deven Smith has had the heat turned up all season.

But Friday, the Four Cylinder classes will have their time to shine during the Toursec Twin 50s.

Let’s start with the Toursec Thunder division. While the numbers have been on a bit of a decline, the division is still one of the most competitive we have on a weekly basis at Scotia Speedworld. In seven races, five different drivers have held a checkered flag with two of those scoring repeat victories. Dave Matthews experienced motor issues two weeks ago during Toromont Cat 250 weekend, handing the keys to the point lead to Jesse Deveau. Deveau has been solid all year long but has turned up the heat the last few weeks, not only at Scotia but also in touring competition. Deveau did experience some overheating issues with his car last weekend at Riverside and we’ll quickly see if that is behind the No. 51 team on Friday.

Deveau, Matthews and Darren Flemming battled for the championship last year and it looks like it’ll come down to those three again. Flemming won the Toursec 50 back in June and will need to be up on the wheel on Friday to keep this thing close. Flemming and Deveau are the only multi-time winners this season and you best believe both of those drivers will look to break the tie for their third win on Friday.

Who else will we see on Friday? With it being a big race and the East Coast Mini Stock Tour idle, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the likes of Tim Webster, Neil Miousse, Matthew Warren or the like. Nic Baker is home and I know Baker has been working on his car to try and get it ready for Friday night. It would be great to see the No. 88 car back out at the track on Friday. Greg McKay and Jason Pickles will look to also punch their ticket to victory lane this week and record their first podium finishes of 2019.

The Toursec Thunder and Toursec Lightning divisions each had firsts during the last time they raced. Taylor McLean scored his first career feature win in the Thunder class during the Cat 250 weekend while Chevy MacDonald was all smiles a week ago in victory lane for the Toursec Lightning feature on INEX Night.

I think that is as good of a transition as any to talk about the Toursec Lightning class.
With nine races in the books this season, the class has had five different winners. Two of those, Steve Matthews and “Rational” Richard Drake both have three wins each with single wins going to MacDonald, Marshall Bezanson and Matthew Barkhouse. Barkhouse won the June leg of the Toursec 50s and with the HellKitty sitting second in points with four events to go, a sweep of the 50s would go a long way to helping his effort in the championship battle.

I think if a sixth different winner emerges Friday, I think it comes out with Jamie Dillman, Paige Drake or Bruce Larter. Now, the two Ken-etic Auto drivers in that trio have never won a feature event but have shown they belong with strong runs. Can they win against the likes of Matthews, Drake and Barkhouse? So far that remains to be seen, but with these long races being mentally and physically taxing on car and driver, anything can happen. Dillman has led laps in the last two feature events but has failed to convert. Two straight podium finishes after an up and down start to 2019 further cements the fact that he is ready to get back to the top spot of the podium.

While neither of them have top five finishes this season, Kenny Hopper and Garth Bezanson could be a factor to get their firsts of the season in the Toursec 50. The Jollimores, Dave and Mike, have quietly gone about their business in this second half of the season and are due to return to the podium soon. Travis Keefe is also expected to return on Friday evening, which is another driver that will vie for the win in the Toursec 50. Scott Thibodeau has been thrashing to get his motor back together and you know if he can he’ll be a contender for the win.

The Rookie of the Year battle is still tight with four races to go in the Toursec Lightning division. Roy Christian has a 20 points advantage between himself and Matt Burgoyne with Ashley Stevens stuck in the middle. Stevens matched her career best last week with a tenth place finish and with the top feature finish of any of our rookies being ninth, if one of these three can hit on something late in the year, they would emerge as a favorite in the fight. Right now, I don’t think you can pick a winner between the three.

After the fireworks we saw in Strictly Hydraulics Legends victory lane, combined with two extended lap Toursec Thunder and Lightning races and the Hydraulics Plus Bandoleros, Scotia Speedworld will be the place to be on Friday evening. Make plans now to be at the Speedworld, it’ll be a good show on Friday evening.

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