Story By: ACTION SPRINT TOUR – BRIGHTON, ONT – The Labour Day Sprint Car Classic lived up to its ‘Classic’ name this weekend at Brighton Speedway. A record number of race teams filled the pit area for the two-day annual event, thrilling the fans in the packed grandstands with blazing speed and classic finishes.
Local fans erupted when Picton racer Andrew Hennessy won Sunday’s Action Sprint Tour feature event, while Eastern Ontario was well represented with Brockville’s Matt Billings winning Saturday night’s AST feature.
Series veteran Brian Nanticoke from Ohsweken, Ontario, jumped to an early lead on Saturday night, but Matt Billings wasted little time advancing from his third starting position to assert his position in the lead. Billings held off all challengers in a race rarely slowed with accidents, holding off local standout Adam Turner and Quebec racer Mathieu Bardier at the finish line.
Sunday night saw a pair of firsts, with Hennessy scoring the popular win and Ashton VanEvery taking his first career podium finish. Billings, Austin Roes, and Lee Ladouceur rounded out Sunday’s top five. The strong weekend for Billings and car owner Ryan Hunsinger allowed Billings to leave Brighton with a 16 point lead in the AST Pinty’s National Series standings. Adam Turner, Lee Ladouceur, Mathieu Bardier, and Andrew Hennessy hold the remaining top five positions with four National Series events remaining.
Can-Am Speedway in La Fargeville, New York is next up for the AST Surprenant Truck Shop East Series, while Ohsweken Speedway’s Northern Crate Nationals is next up for the AST Pinty’s National Series.
Action Sprint Tour Pinty’s National Series
Statistical Report – Saturday, September 2, 2023
Brighton Speedway – Brighton, Ontario, Canada
A-Main [Started] 25 laps
1. 52-Matt Billings[3]; 2. 9-Adam Turner[5]; 3. 19-Mathieu Bardier[2]; 4. 3S-Austin Roes[4]; 5. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[1]; 6. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[8]; 7. 2S-Al Sleight[6]; 8. 87-Andrew Hennessy[7]; 9. 97-Sheldon Bender[10]; 10. 00-Ryan Poole[9]; 11. 50LS-Adrian Stahle[15]; 12. 20-Johnny Miller[12]; 13. 71-Mike Bowman[21]; 14. 55-Jeffrey Weare[17]; 15. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[11]; 16. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[19]; 17. 28T-Cameron Thomson[22]; 18. 13-Evan Reynolds[23]; 19. 88-Lance Erskine[16]; 20. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[14]; 21. 19M-Will Marche[13]; 22. 4K-Jamie Kay[20]; 23. 115-Dan Deyo[25]; 24. M52-Marc Surprenant[24]; 25. (DNF) 31C-Dale Curran[18]
Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps
1. 19-Mathieu Bardier[2]; 2. 87-Andrew Hennessy[1]; 3. 52-Matt Billings[9]; 4. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[3]; 5. 20-Johnny Miller[6]; 6. 31C-Dale Curran[5]; 7. 71-Mike Bowman[7]; 8. 28T-Cameron Thomson[8]; 9. 115-Dan Deyo[4]
Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps
1. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[1]; 2. 3S-Austin Roes[3]; 3. 00-Ryan Poole[2]; 4. 97-Sheldon Bender[5]; 5. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[4]; 6. 88-Lance Erskine[6]; 7. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[8]; 8. 13-Evan Reynolds[7]
Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps
1. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[1]; 2. 2S-Al Sleight[3]; 3. 9-Adam Turner[5]; 4. 19M-Will Marche[2]; 5. 50LS-Adrian Stahle[4]; 6. 55-Jeffrey Weare[6]; 7. 4K-Jamie Kay[8]; 8. M52-Marc Surprenant[7]
Action Sprint Tour Pinty’s National Series
Statistical Report – Sunday, September 3, 2023
Brighton Speedway – Brighton, Ontario, Canada
A-Main [Started] 25 laps
1. 87-Andrew Hennessy[4]; 2. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[1]; 3. 52-Matt Billings[8]; 4. 3S-Austin Roes[6]; 5. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[9]; 6. 9-Adam Turner[13]; 7. 19-Mathieu Bardier[11]; 8. 20-Johnny Miller[3]; 9. 71-Mike Bowman[14]; 10. 28T-Cameron Thomson[2]; 11. 31C-Dale Curran[17]; 12. 55-Jeffrey Weare[7]; 13. 17-Chris Herbison[10]; 14. 13-Evan Reynolds[15]; 15. 50LS-Adrian Stahle[12]; 16. 88-Lance Erskine[20]; 17. 2S-Al Sleight[21]; 18. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[18]; 19. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[23]; 20. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[5]; 21. 15-April Wilson[16]; 22. 00-Ryan Poole[19]; 23. 11W-Josh Robertson[22]; 24. (DNS) 4K-Jamie Kay
Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps
1. 52-Matt Billings[4]; 2. 87-Andrew Hennessy[1]; 3. 19-Mathieu Bardier[2]; 4. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[6]; 5. 13-Evan Reynolds[3]; 6. 71-Mike Bowman[7]; 7. 00-Ryan Poole[9]; 8. 88-Lance Erskine[8]; 9. 19M-Will Marche[5]
Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps
1. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[1]; 2. 28T-Cameron Thomson[3]; 3. 50LS-Adrian Stahle[2]; 4. 17-Chris Herbison[6]; 5. 9-Adam Turner[7]; 6. 31C-Dale Curran[5]; 7. 2S-Al Sleight[9]; 8. 97-Sheldon Bender[8]; 9. M52-Marc Surprenant[4]
Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps
1. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[2]; 2. 55-Jeffrey Weare[4]; 3. 3S-Austin Roes[6]; 4. 20-Johnny Miller[8]; 5. 15-April Wilson[3]; 6. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[5]; 7. 4K-Jamie Kay[1]; 8. 11W-Josh Robertson[9]; 9. (DNF) 4B-Darrell Pelletier[7]
B-Main [Started] 12 laps
1. 00-Ryan Poole[1]; 2. 88-Lance Erskine[4]; 3. 2S-Al Sleight[2]; 4. 11W-Josh Robertson[6]; 5. (DNF) 4B-Darrell Pelletier[9]; 6. (DNF) 4K-Jamie Kay[3]; 7. (DNF) 19M-Will Marche[7]; 8. (DNF) 97-Sheldon Bender[5]; 9. (DNF) M52-Marc Surprenant[8]