Mid Season Championships Run Under Clear Skies For the second week in a row, rain was not a factor at Canada’s Toughest 1/3 Mile Oval! Peterborough Speedway held its annual Mid Season Championship under perfectly clear skies as the For Funs, Peterborough Hyundai Mini Stocks, Ontario Legends, and Discount Car and Truck Rental Late Models all hit the asphalt for a night packed with intense racing action that ended with extended feature races. To add to the excitement, in all four classes, only a handful of points separated the top five drivers in the points standings meaning that every inch counted on Saturday night! In the Peterborough Hyundai Mini Stock Division, Mike Nelson started the night the same way he did the week before – with a checkered flag in the first heat race! Justin Bierworth aka “The Bancroft Basher”, who entered the night only 20 points ahead of Nelson in the points race, finished second in the first heat, but was able to take the win in his next heat, while Nelson finished that one in third spot. Neil Hannah and points leader Mike Wallace also won heat races. In the 30-lap feature, Nelson led for most of the race with Bierworth and Bobby Love in close pursuit. A yellow flag came out on lap 18 when a tire came flying off of one of the cars and shot across turn #4. On the restart, Bierworth moved past Nelson on the outside and Wallace moved into third spot just ahead of Tyler Junkin who sat fourth. On lap 23, Wallace and Junkin passed Nelson but Bierworth proved to be too much on this night, hanging on for the checkered flag and boosting his position in the points standings. Wallace finished second ahead of Bierworth who took the bronze. The For Fun Division had one of the tightest points standings in its history when racing began on Saturday. Terry Hubbert was only a few points ahead of Wayne Dewdney heading into the nights action. In the four heat races there were four different winners. Stacey Bierworth, Lance Foster, Brandon Hannah, and Trevor Clubine all hoisted the checkered flag. The feature race began on the wrong foot, with a number of collisions and caution flags throughout the first 5 laps. When the dust settled, it was Stacey Bierworth in the lead, but she was passed on lap 10 by Trevor Logan and Terry Hubbert and fell back to third spot with Dewdney right behind in fourth. The top four remained unchanged for the rest of the race, as Logan finished a half-car length ahead of Hubbert for first place while Bierworth settled for third. The Ontario Legend drivers were also at Peterborough Speedway to battle for points and positions on the leader board. Fresh off a feature win at Peterborough Speedway the week before, “Dandy” Andy Warbutton picked up right where he left off, winning both of his heat races. Paul Dejong and Tim Fernandes won the other two heat races. In the feature, the #24 of Warbutton started in the poll position with points leader Bruce Grime right behind him in the second spot. There were no lead changes during the first 14 laps when a caution flag came out for a one-vehicle turnaround between turns three and four. Before the restart, mother-nature was back to her old tricks again as a light dusting of rain fell on the track. At the same time, there was a medical emergency in the pit area, which brought the red flag out in order to allow the medical response unit to deal with the situation. As a law, whenever the EMS crew is attending to an issue, racing must be delayed until they return in case they are called to an emergency on the racetrack. By the time the medical emergency was resolved, the rain had stopped and the track had dried, but with only 15 minutes of racing time left before the 11:00 curfew, the night of racing was cut short. On lap 20, the red flag made its second appearance for the Legend feature, as Paul Pierik came out of turn 4 facing the wrong way and got stung by Rick Cook who had no time to avoid Pierik. The ambulance was called back onto the track for precautionary reasons and Russell and the Peterborough Speedway Tow Truck were called to duty to clear the mess. With only five laps left, the Legend feature was cut short because of time and the checkered flag was awarded to Andy Warbutton who was the leader after 19 laps. Grimes finished second and Fernandes third. Also because of the township bylaw, the curfew prevented the Late Model feature from starting. It will be run at a later date, so be sure to check out www.peterboroughspeedway.com for start times and dates of all upcoming events. In the four heat races the Late Models did race, Amanda Connelly and Todd Delisle each won two. The OSCAAR Super Late Models return to Peterborough Speedway next Saturday, August 30th and we will celebrate by having a pre-race corn roast! For information on that and all other upcoming events, including the 16th Annual Autumn Colours Classic and the second season of Gateway Poersports Grass Drags and Radar Runs, check out the website or stop by the souvenir booth at the track. Old Smoke House 250 It was round # 4 of the Cathcart Trucking Enduro series on Sunday afternoon and it was clear sailing over 100 laps before the first red came out. Jack Hannah and Victor Vowels got a little too close for comfort coming out of 3, which caused the first dust up of the day. Hannah left with some major smoke coming out the front and did not return right away. Russell and the Peterborough Speedway tow truck pushed out Vowles to the pits. Vowles returned in his #53 shortly after. Leaders after 120 laps included the 08 of Steve Lillico driving for Gus’s Pizza, Tyler Junkin in the #401 and Stan Tisnovski in the lucky # 7. Lillico was still among the leaders at the 150 lap mark as was “Big” Bill Goddard, #29 Greg Morris and the #10 Mike Gosselin. All 3 looked very strong and perhaps a safe bet to take it all. With less than 50 laps to go the red would come out for just the second time on the day after the #75 Monte Carlo of Darrell Maun caught on fire bringing the race to a halt. A few laps later the fireworks began as Lillico was sent hard into the wall in turn #2 by the #31 Ryan Mitchell who had been spun just a few seconds earlier by the #08. Mitchell who spent most of the day driving backwards got disqualified, as did Lillico. Lillico was among the top 3 cars at the time and left very disappointed at the turn of events. After serving his stop and go penalty Mitchell was prevented from coming back on the track as Lillico met him at the entrance and blocked his way. That led to some cheers from half the fans and jeers from the others. In the end it was it was indeed a lucky day for the #7 Tisnovski who took the victory in the 6/8 cylinder class and the #401 Junkin who won the 4 cylinder division. Pete In the Pits: Jim Lapointe made the trip Sunday all the way from Trout Creek just outside of North Bay. It’s a long way to haul but it was well worth it as he won the Shriner’s 50/50 draw taking home $145… Round 5 of the Cathcart Tru Enduro Series is October 25…Cheryl Crosgrey won the Peterborough Speedway Employee of the Week award….Head scorer Mike Charest just celebrated his 27th anniversary working at the speedway. He has been everything from a flagman, head starter and once was seen making popcorn back in the late 80’s as well…….If you have any speedway news send it to info@peterboroughspeedway.com.