Story By: BRENT OTCHERE / OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY – OHSWEKEN, ONT – Friday Night Thunder TV presented Halloween in July on Friday at Ohsweken Speedway; Mike Bowman, Brett Stratford, Ryan Beagle, and Jeff Elsliger took A-Main wins.
Southern Ontario Sprints “Tammy Ten/Little Ben” Night
Mitch Brown started on pole for the race which honoured his grandfather Harold, while Holly Porter started alongside to start the 25 lap 360 Sprint Car A-Main. A caution flag appeared on the first lap due to Tyeller Powless clipping the wall and coming to a stop. Ryan Turner capitalized on the restart, quickly taking the lead away from Brown, however Brown reclaimed the lead on the following lap. The battle between the two drivers raged on until Ryan Turner retook the lead midway through the race.
The second caution of the race came out due to Mike Bowman getting tangled up with traffic on lap thirteen. Bowman was able to continue though and took full advantage of the restart, claiming the lead for himself and building a gap of over 2.5 seconds over second place.
Bowman became the star of the show, picking up his very first 360 Sprint Car win and the $4,010 Tammy Ten/Little Ben winner’s prize thanks to Tammy Ten Media and Nitro 54 Variety. Next to cross the finish line was Ryan Tuner in second, Dylan Westbrook third, Brown fourth, and D.J. Christie fifth. Ryan Turner now leads Ohsweken’s Kool Kidz/Corr-Pak 360 Sprint Car championship standings over Dylan Westbrook by six points.
Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars
Brett Stratford and Mack DeMan brought the 28 car field to the green flag for the 20 lap Crate Sprint Car A-Main. Stratford led the first three laps until the first caution of the race was caused due to Brian Nanticoke coming to a stop off turn one. The green flag flew to restart the race and Stratford retained his lead. Things got more difficult for Stratford as he began navigating through the traffic with DeMan right on his rear bumper. DeMan finally got around Stratford for the lead, albeit only for a little while as Stratford reclaimed the lead with two laps left to go.
Stratford had yet one more challenge as a late-race caution fell, leading into a two lap shootout with DeMan to the finish. Stratford defeated the all-time Crate Sprint winner at Ohsweken Speedway, picking up his maiden Crate Sprint win.
Finishing out the top five were DeMan in second, Dale Curran third, Steve Murdock fourth, and Jesse Costa fifth. Mack DeMan now leads the championship standings over Jesse Costa by 74 points.
Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks
The front row of the grid featured Donny Lampman and Gofast Teeple to begin the 20 lap Thunder Stock A-Main. Mike Thorne rocketed into first, leading the first lap after starting sixth in the grid. An early caution and the following restart allowed Ryan Beagle to gain precious positions, sitting comfortably in the top five by lap nine. Lap ten saw another caution flag as Rodney Rutherford retired from the race due to severe damage to his car during a wreck involving two other drivers.
Thorne held off the pack well on the restart to retain the lead, however, Beagle chased him down and overtook him with only six laps remaining. Beagle was unstoppable as the laps ticked down, claiming yet another victory this season. Thorne, after leading most of the laps, settled for a second place finish, with Kyle Wert in third, Logan Shwedyk fourth, and Ryan Dinning fifth. Wert now leads the championship standings over Dave Bailey by 27 points.
HRW Automotive Mini Stocks
Shawn Taylor started on pole with Paul Longboat next to him for the 15 lap Mini Stock A-Main. Taylor enjoyed a brief lead until Tristan DaSilva ran him down and overtook for the first position on lap three. Wayde Thorne became the new race leader on lap five, only to relinquish the lead to Jeff Elsliger two laps later.
The race, already with four different race leaders, was slowed with only six laps to go as Longboat lost his front left wheel on the front stretch.
The remaining six laps became a shootout between the leaders, but it was Elsliger who crossed the finish line first, picking up his second win of the season. Rounding out the top five were Thorne in second, Ashton Dickie third, DaSilva fourth, and Tim DeBoer fifth. Ryan Hillar now leads the championship standings over Dave Mike Sarantakos by 16 points.
Up Next at Ohsweken Speedway
The Friday Night Excitement racing series will take a week off as Ohsweken Speedway is the host venue for the annual Grand River “Champion of Champions” Pow Wow July 21-23.
The Friday Night Excitement event is set for Friday, July 28 when Slack Lumber presents Christmas in July, featuring the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars, Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars, Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks, and HRW Automotive Mini Stocks.
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Ohsweken Speedway Statistical Report
Friday, July 14, 2023
Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada
Halloween In July Presented by Friday Night Thunder TV
Total Entries: 113
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Southern Ontario Sprints (26 Entries)
A-Main [Started] 25 laps – NT
1. 71-Mike Bowman[5]; 2. 15-Ryan Turner[3]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[6]; 4. 10-Mitch Brown[1]; 5. 5-DJ Christie[12]; 6. 9-Liam Martin[4]; 7. 1-Holly Porter[2]; 8. 90-Travis Cunningham[19]; 9. 12DD-Darren Dryden[8]; 10. 88H-Josh Hansen[23]; 11. 17X-Cory Turner[7]; 12. 70-Baily Heard[13]; 13. 7-Eric Gledhill[16]; 14. 0-Glenn Styres[17]; 15. 19D-Allan Downey[11]; 16. 21-John Burbridge Jr[25]; 17. 21K-Kyle Phillips[18]; 18. 81-Derek Jonathan[14]; 19. 1 10-Jake Brown[21]; 20. (DNF) 46-Kevin Pauls[20]; 21. (DNF) 45-Nick Sheridan[9]; 22. (DNF) 11-Jamie Turner[10]; 23. (DNF) 77T-Tyeller Powless[15]; 24. (DNF) 87X-Shone Evans[22]; 25. (DNS) 15F-Mike Ferrell
Hard Charger – Josh Hansen +13
Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 17X-Cory Turner[1]; 2. 10-Mitch Brown[3]; 3. 15-Ryan Turner[4]; 4. 45-Nick Sheridan[5]; 5. 70-Baily Heard[6]; 6. 77T-Tyeller Powless[8]; 7. 87X-Shone Evans[2]; 8. (DNF) 88H-Josh Hansen[7]; 9. (DNF) 15F-Mike Ferrell[9]
Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – 2:03.640
1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[4]; 2. 71-Mike Bowman[6]; 3. 11-Jamie Turner[1]; 4. 19D-Allan Downey[3]; 5. 7-Eric Gledhill[5]; 6. 90-Travis Cunningham[2]; 7. 21K-Kyle Phillips[9]; 8. 1 10-Jake Brown[8]; 9. 21-John Burbridge Jr[7]
Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – 2:08.020
1. 12DD-Darren Dryden[1]; 2. 9-Liam Martin[4]; 3. 1-Holly Porter[2]; 4. 5-DJ Christie[3]; 5. 81-Derek Jonathan[6]; 6. 0-Glenn Styres[7]; 7. 46-Kevin Pauls[5]; 8. (DNS) 49L-Lucas Smith
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Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars (31 Entries)
A-Main [Started] 20 laps – NT
1. BS39-Brett Stratford[1]; 2. 4-Mack DeMan[2]; 3. 31-Dale Curran[6]; 4. 2M-Steve Murdock[8]; 5. 52-Jesse Costa[5]; 6. 74-Rob Neely[7]; 7. 88-Lance Erskine[3]; 8. 20-Johnny Miller[15]; 9. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[14]; 10. 71C-John Cadman[12]; 11. 14-Larry Gledhill[9]; 12. 94-Ryan Fraser[22]; 13. 3S-Austin Roes[18]; 14. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[4]; 15. 45-Curtis Gartly[24]; 16. 28-Cameron Thomson[25]; 17. 97-Sheldon Bender[20]; 18. 00-Greg Smulders[23]; 19. 11W-Brandon Murrell[11]; 20. 14W-Greg Wilson[26]; 21. 16X-Keegan Baker[27]; 22. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[17]; 23. 29W-Tyler Ward[19]; 24. 69K-Ken Hamilton[13]; 25. 51-Trevor Young[28]; 26. (DNF) 9C-Brian Nanticoke[16]; 27. (DNF) 72-Tanner Podwinski[21]; 28. (DNF) MK8-Matt Hill[10]
Hard Charger – Ryan Fraser +10
Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – 2:05.009
1. 4-Mack DeMan[10]; 2. 74-Rob Neely[2]; 3. 11W-Brandon Murrell[1]; 4. 69K-Ken Hamilton[4]; 5. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[6]; 6. 71C-John Cadman[9]; 7. 29W-Tyler Ward[7]; 8. 51-Trevor Young[5]; 9. 2-Travis Hofstetter[3]; 10. 16X-Keegan Baker[11]; 11. (DNF) 45-Curtis Gartly[8]
Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – 2:06.432
1. BS39-Brett Stratford[4]; 2. 14-Larry Gledhill[2]; 3. 31-Dale Curran[6]; 4. 2M-Steve Murdock[8]; 5. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[1]; 6. 3S-Austin Roes[3]; 7. 97-Sheldon Bender[7]; 8. 94-Ryan Fraser[10]; 9. 28-Cameron Thomson[5]; 10. 19-Will Marche[9]
Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 52-Jesse Costa[5]; 2. MK8-Matt Hill[1]; 3. 88-Lance Erskine[7]; 4. 20-Johnny Miller[2]; 5. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[10]; 6. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[3]; 7. 72-Tanner Podwinski[4]; 8. 00-Greg Smulders[8]; 9. 14W-Greg Wilson[9]; 10. 99-Joshua Hill[6]
B-Main [Started] 12 laps – NT
1. 94-Ryan Fraser[2]; 2. 00-Greg Smulders[3]; 3. 45-Curtis Gartly[10]; 4. 28-Cameron Thomson[5]; 5. 14W-Greg Wilson[6]; 6. 16X-Keegan Baker[7]; 7. 51-Trevor Young[1]; 8. 99-Joshua Hill[9]; 9. 19-Will Marche[8]; 10. (DNF) 2-Travis Hofstetter[4]
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Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks (28 Entries)
A-Main [Started] 20 laps – NT
1. 84RK-Ryan Beagle[18]; 2. 55-Mike Thorne[6]; 3. 19-Kyle Wert[12]; 4. 53-Logan Shwedyk[10]; 5. 8-Ryan Dinning[15]; 6. 49-Dave Bailey[19]; 7. 28D-Donny Lampman[1]; 8. 37-Robert Hoskins[11]; 9. 23-Trevor DeBoer[14]; 10. 32-Mark Fawcett[13]; 11. 25-Ken Sargent[23]; 12. 28-Jim Lampman[7]; 13. 427-Tim Phalen[5]; 14. 93-Melissa Miller[3]; 15. 97-Ron Loggie[9]; 16. 07-Scott McPhail[21]; 17. 11-Gofast Teeple[2]; 18. 96T-Todd Shaw[20]; 19. 03-George Grosul[25]; 20. 17W-Travis Whittal[4]; 21. 93K-Mike Klazinga[16]; 22. (DNF) 76-Jamie Goudge[24]; 23. (DNF) 24R-Rodney Rutherford[17]; 24. (DNF) 79-Christopher Hale[8]; 25. (DNF) 13-Kacey Huffman[22]; 26. (DNF) 43-Kyle Andress[26]; 27. (DNF) 196-Gino Duguay[28]; 28. (DNS) 96O-John Overholt
Hard Charger – Ryan Beagle +17
Heat Race 1 [Started] 10 laps – 3:24.476
1. 32-Mark Fawcett[10]; 2. 49-Dave Bailey[14]; 3. 28-Jim Lampman[6]; 4. 19-Kyle Wert[9]; 5. 8-Ryan Dinning[11]; 6. 55-Mike Thorne[5]; 7. 53-Logan Shwedyk[8]; 8. 84RK-Ryan Beagle[13]; 9. 11-Gofast Teeple[3]; 10. 17W-Travis Whittal[4]; 11. 07-Scott McPhail[12]; 12. 25-Ken Sargent[7]; 13. 03-George Grosul[2]; 14. 96O-John Overholt[1]
Heat Race 2 [Started] 10 laps – NT
1. 24R-Rodney Rutherford[12]; 2. 28D-Donny Lampman[1]; 3. 79-Christopher Hale[6]; 4. 427-Tim Phalen[4]; 5. 97-Ron Loggie[7]; 6. 37-Robert Hoskins[8]; 7. 23-Trevor DeBoer[10]; 8. 93K-Mike Klazinga[11]; 9. 93-Melissa Miller[3]; 10. 96T-Todd Shaw[14]; 11. 13-Kacey Huffman[2]; 12. 76-Jamie Goudge[9]; 13. (DNS) 43-Kyle Andress; 14. (DNS) 196-Gino Duguay
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HRW Automotive Mini Stocks (28 Entries)
A-Main [Started] 15 laps – NT
1. 11E-Jeff Elsliger[9]; 2. 4-Wayde Thorne[10]; 3. 1A-Ashton Dickie[16]; 4. 01-Tristan DaSilva[8]; 5. 9-Tim DeBoer[11]; 6. 21H-Ryan Hillar[17]; 7. 6X-Mike Sarantakos[12]; 8. 54-Christopher French[7]; 9. 66-Jon Janssens[20]; 10. 14L-John Lubeck[25]; 11. 1-Jason Tolton[6]; 12. 34-Randy Alway[19]; 13. 76-Shawn Taylor[1]; 14. 17R-Blair Rousselle[23]; 15. 265-Mike Evers[22]; 16. 79-Steve Miller[5]; 17. 20J-Nathan Joyner[18]; 18. 1417-Teddy Sheppard[21]; 19. 32L-Grayden Lyons[15]; 20. 11-Mike Giberson[24]; 21. 81D-Crystal Soules[26]; 22. 9K-Kylie Dixon[2]; 23. (DNF) 64E-Nick Erskine[13]; 24. (DNF) 14DD-Dustin Duga[14]; 25. (DNF) 188-Paul Longboat[4]; 26. (DNF) 88-Steve Conway[3]; 27. (DNS) 16-Fabio Olivieri; 28. (DNS) 27-Niko Hansen
Hard Charger – John Lubeck +15
Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 4-Wayde Thorne[7]; 2. 88-Steve Conway[3]; 3. 54-Christopher French[5]; 4. 76-Shawn Taylor[1]; 5. 32L-Grayden Lyons[10]; 6. 14DD-Dustin Duga[9]; 7. 6X-Mike Sarantakos[8]; 8. 79-Steve Miller[4]; 9. 20J-Nathan Joyner[12]; 10. 9K-Kylie Dixon[2]; 11. 1417-Teddy Sheppard[13]; 12. (DNF) 17R-Blair Rousselle[14]; 13. (DNF) 14L-John Lubeck[6]; 14. (DNF) 16-Fabio Olivieri[11]
Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – 2:52.490
1. 11E-Jeff Elsliger[6]; 2. 1-Jason Tolton[4]; 3. 1A-Ashton Dickie[10]; 4. 188-Paul Longboat[3]; 5. 64E-Nick Erskine[8]; 6. 9-Tim DeBoer[7]; 7. 01-Tristan DaSilva[5]; 8. 21H-Ryan Hillar[11]; 9. 34-Randy Alway[12]; 10. 66-Jon Janssens[13]; 11. 265-Mike Evers[14]; 12. 11-Mike Giberson[1]; 13. 81D-Crystal Soules[9]; 14. (DNS) 27-Niko Hansen