Central Ontario race fans found the perfect way to welcome the summer of 2016. They spent it watching the edge of your seat action at Canada’s Toughest 3^rd of a Mile Paved Oval. With the Jiffy Lube Mini Stock, Renegade Truck and Earl Ireland Auto Sales Late Model divisions joined by the Can Am TQ Midgets and INEX Ontario Legends, Saturday, June 25^th was Autism Awareness Night at Peterborough Speedway.

Feature race headlines began with a 30 lap main event for the Earl Ireland Auto Sales Late Models as Chris Mitchell and Bryan Sudsbury brought the field to the Great Canadian RV green flag. The inside has long been the preferred racing line at the tight, tricky bullring on Mount Pleasant, west of the Liftlock City and Mitchell ran it to perfection in a caution-free feature for his first win of the year. The popular home-towner was followed across the line by Sudsbury, Tyler Betts, Ryan Kimball and Rick Spencer-Walt.

Jordan Dallin and Stacey Bierworth occupied the front row for the Trent Lakes Complete Plumbing Renegade Truck Series feature. With his brother Jack – the division’s 2-time track champion forced to the sidelines with mechanical issues – the younger sibling led every lap in green-to-checkered showdown. Stacey Bierworth recorded her best-ever finish in second, over Chris Burrage, Steven Bierworth and Brandon Vennor.

Cole McFadden and Matt Haufe brought the 18 car INEX Ontario Legends starting field to Canada’s Toughest 3^rd of a Mile Paved Oval for their 25 lap feature tilt. Nick Ledson jumped out to an early lead, but hard contact with the front stretch wall between Cole Ledson and Cole McFadden brought proceedings to a halt. Both drivers were unhurt, but Ledson was finished for the night. Back under green, the multi-time series champion was in control of the field, until surrendering the lead to Kevin Foisy with 8 laps on the scoreboard. The pair caught the backmarkers with 11 circuits complete and on lap 22, the field went red again for a heavy wreck that saw Foisy’s ride get upside down on the back straight. Once the crash was cleared, Nick Ledson picked-up the win over Haufe, Dave Riopelle, Robin Jongen and Terry McClelland.

With 20 laps to settle the score, the Jiffy Lube Mini Stocks rolled from the staging area with Ember Junkin and Noel Snow on the front row. With just 3 laps on the board, a yellow flag for an incident exiting the second turn slowed the pace. Kevin Strutt took control of the event on the restart and was the lead dog in the hunt until Brandon Hannah slipped past with just a handful of laps remaining. Strutt would hang-on for second, with James Townsend, Neil Hannah and Snow following the lead duo to the line.

Steve Murdock and Adrian Stahle brought the Can Am TQ Midget pack to the green flag. A quick yellow – before there was even a single lap complete – slowed the pace and necessitated a repeat performance of the original start. While Murdock would slip back through the field, Stahle turned his early lead into a dominating effort until a lap 18 caution tightened the running order for a late charge. Nothing would keep Stahle from victory lane on the tour’s only Peterborough Speedway stop. Darren Dryden, Ryan Fraser, Mack DeMan and Rob Neely would round-out the top 5.

To kick-off the night Bryan Sudsbury, Tyler Betts, Mark Gordon and Steve Munro won qualifying heats with the Earl Ireland Auto Sales Late Models. Chris Burrage took a pair of Trent Lakes Complete Plumbing Renegade Truck preliminaries. Dave Riopelle, with a pair, Matt Haufe and Jamie Riberdy claimed the INEX Ontario Legend opening rounds, while Donovan Price, Brandon Hannah, Kevin Strutt and James Townsend won the Jiffy Lube Mini Stock qualifiers. Adrian Stahle and Steve Murdock went to victory lane with heat wins for the Can Am TQ Midgets.

Bullring Bullet Points: Teresa McClelland of Renfrew, Ontario won $533.75 in the night’s 50/50 draw…Mini Stock driver Marilyn Junkin and Late Model runner Paul Pierik both celebrated birthdays on Saturday night. Junkin’s #61 was the only one of her family’s 3 car effort running at the end of the main event, while a workplace injury kept Pierik out of action…The Earl Ireland Auto Sales Late Model field was bolstered by the addition of Ryan Kimball, Steve Munro and Rob Warnes who all made their first starts of the year…Peterborough Speedway proudly welcomed Trent Lakes Complete Plumbing as the title sponsor of the Renegade Truck division for the balance of 2016 and all of 2017.

Saturday night racing at Canada’s Toughest 3^rd of a Mile Paved Oval takes a rare night off July 2nd. Sunday, July 3^rd Peterborough Speedway will host the Chase for the Colours Pole Qualifying event. Earl Ireland Auto Sales Late Models will run a 75 lap feature, with the Paul Davis Systems Thunder Cars logging a 40 lapper. The Battlefield Equipment Rental 4Fun and Jiffy Lube Mini Stocks have 25 and 30 lap main events respectively. Each division’s ‘A’ main will decide the front row starting spots for the 24^th Annual Autumn Colours Classic.

Full schedule details, along with up to the minute news and results are always available at www.peterboroughspeedway.com, by liking the track on Facebook or following it on Twitter. You can also download the free Peterborough Speedway app on your Smartphone.