LONDON, ON - Matt Koricina’s sister Michelle won her first feature in Demar Aggregates Trucks earlier this season and now Matt has a first victory of his own in a race that was shortened by a spectacular crash.
There was trouble very early in the Demar Aggregates Truck feature race. On the night of his birthday, pole sitter Mickey Brydges (17) was fighting to hang onto his lead despite a threat from Steve McCaw (82)when three trucks made contact and spun on turn one. Points leader Paul Fothergill (33), Gary Triska (57)and Michelle Koricina (99) were involved.
McCaw did take the lead off the restart. Fothergill went to the pits but made it back out in time to barely miss another mix-up 3 laps later on turn three that caught up Gary Adriaensen (55), among others, and mixed the line-up up again. At this point the 99 had to be towed off the track and the clean-up crew took care of a significant oil spill. That, plus an aborted restart allowed the 99 to get back out. The 56 of Jeff Showler came in because of a heating problem. Chad Rijnen’s 16 experienced a mechanical issue and went into the pits.
Yet another restart on lap 3 went from green to yellow in a flash as Fothergill ‘s 33 broke an axle, sending him into the cement on turn two.
By lap six, Matt Koricina (93) had grabbed second place and lap traffic at lap 9 shortened McCaw’s lead to a truck length. At lap 13 Koricina took the lead a tangle on turn three took out the second and third place drivers – McCaw and the #3 of Shae Gemmell.
During this caution, Fothergill and Showler both came back to the race.
With Matt Koricina out front at lap 16, Derek Clark’s #7, driven by Scott O’Connor, slammed into the front straightaway wall and burst into flames. The safety crew and emergency response team were on the scene in seconds and O’Connor was out of the truck fast. Clark, who had sprinted to the scene to help his friend, later told the crowd that O’Connor was bruised but mostly okay. The #7 truck, however, is in much worse shape.
The race was immediately declared complete and Matt Koricina won his first ever feature trophy. Shawn Johns ended in second place, Gary Adriaensen third, Steve McCaw fourth and Mickey Brydges, 5th.
Another first-time winner took the Delaware Super Stocks hardware. With Matt Humphrys (04) at the pole, the first caution came at lap 1 with a crash on the front straightaway involving four cars – Jason Lidster (11), Jake Ott (60), DJ DeJesus (9) and Devon Bloemendal (66). Bloemendal actually carried his door panel onto pit road before Whitworth put what remained of the 66 on a hook. Ott’s 60 also got towed off. Lidster’s 11 looked a little crinkled but came back out to join the race.
Humphrys had Steve Smith (84) on his bumper for several laps when the yellow flew at lap 11 as the 74 of Al Bowman took a spin at turn three and he bought himself a place at the back of the pack on the restart.
Kris Lawrence broke away to grab third and Smith kept trying to find his way around Humphrys for the lead. Stephen Richmond joined the top three and the four-pack created a straightaway’s length of empty pavement between themselves and the rest of the competitors.
Lap traffic caused trouble at lap 22. Bowman spun on turn two and caught Stephen Richmond and others up with the slowing traffic, taking Richmond out of the top 5. Steve Smith went to the pits. That left Kris Lawrence to battle Humphrys but he couldn’t quite do it. Humphrys held on to snag his first ever feature win. Kris Lawrence ended second and Jared Shields, third.
Another first-lap caution, this time in NASCAR Late Models. Ron Sheridan (52)was sneaking to the inside of pole-sitter Scott Lindsay (20) when Sheridan spun and the 21 of Matt Pritiko had nowhere to go but into his side. Sheridan pitted to take care of a left rear tire. Pritiko pitted permanently. Jamie Ramsay (22) moved up to second on the restart but it was short-lived. A lap later Ramsay spun on turns one and two, ending up facing tight traffic, but amazingly he wasn’t struck by anyone.
Within a handful of laps, Ron Sheridan was bearing down on the tight top five: Lindsay, Steve Robblee (28), Cole Powell (25), Andrew Gresel (81) and Shawn Thompson (72). That snug fit between Sheridan and Thompson got a little too tight and brought out the caution flag at lap 14. Once again, Sheridan was given the task of working his way up from the back of the field.
At lap 20, the #8 of Marc Jacobs spun, bringing out Sharpie’s yellow flag. The #2 of Doug Stewart had been slowing and came in for some tweaking during the caution.
The final third of the race was caution-free and despite having Robblee on his bumper, Scott Lindsay held on for the win. Robblee was second followed by Cole Powell, Andrew Gresel and Jamie Ramsay.
By comparison, Transmission Direct Enduro was a smooth and virtually trouble-free race. Jeremiah Rabideau had the pole and held on throughout the 35 lap feature to take the win. What made his victory particularly sweet was that after his heat win, his team replaced the #5’s transmission in time for the feature race. Steve Book was second followed by David McCullough, Ed Jeffrey and Steve Lovie.
Transmission Direct Enduro – Heat #1 winner, Jeremiah Rabideau (5). Heat #2 winner, Barry Watson (45).
Demar Aggregates Trucks – Heat #1 winner, Matt Koricina (93). Heat #2 winner, Shawn Johns (00).
Delaware Super Stocks – Heat #1 winner, Matt Humphrys (04). Heat #2 winner, Stephen Richmond (24).
NASCAR Late Models – Heat #1 winner, Jesse Kennedy (5). Heat #2 winner, Ron Sheridan (52).
Next weekend it’s two nights of racing in the Delaware Classic. ISMA – the International Super Modified Association - is making only one stop at a Canadian track this year and that’s right here at Delaware!
Super Modifieds are the fastest vehicles on short tracks and they’re here for two nights – Friday August 6th and Saturday August 7th. Weekend packages and single-night tickets are available. In addition to the ISMA action, Friday night’s action includes Demar Aggregates Trucks and NASCAR Late Models. On Saturday, we’ll have Delaware Super Stocks and Powerade Modifieds ahead of the ISMA feature race.
From Lisa Brandt / Delaware PR
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