(BOWMANVILLE, ON) Mosport Speedway was truly rocking last Saturday night, not solely due to the trio of hotly-contested feature races, but also courtesy of the sounds of Oshawa's The Rock 94.9, the evening's presenting sponsor.
The R.P.Oil Ltd./ Five Points Mall Late Model 50 Lapper
Following the Old Dutch Snack Foods intermission, a dozen of Mosport Speedway's top Late Model drivers lined up their cars for the Five Points Mall 50 lap feature. Exploring unknown territory, the Late Models ran twice their normal race distance.
With their fuel tanks well topped off, Todd Delisle in his #22 Drake's Auto Glass Cadillac led the field to the green flag, with Amanda Connolly, John Baker Jr. and Dwight Brown following in close formation directly behind him. While his three primary challengers were battling among themselves, Delisle was able to stretch his advantage on a clear track. On lap seven, Brown broke clear of his running mates, and set his sights on the distant Cadillac. Ever so slightly, Brown began to close in, eventually coming within striking distance on lap 14. Running in lockstep for the next six circuits, Brown took the low line as the pair entered Turn One, forcing Delisle high, and moving into the lead.
"I saw Dwight coming, and if he was going to get by, I was going to let him go and save the car," said Delisle.
Opening up a gap on the field, Brown saw his advantage disappear with a caution period on lap 31 for an incident involving Terry Betts and Shannon Kimmerly. Circulating behind the pace car for several laps, Brown once again got the jump at the drop of the green flag with Delisle and Connolly tucked onto his back bumper. With the laps winding down, Dan Kimmerly in his #01 Dom's Auto Parts Pontiac replaced the #16 Love's Tire Sales Monte Carlo of Connolly for third place, the lead foursome settling into a comfortable rhythm.
As starter Gary Downing was presenting the Two-To-Go flags to the Late Model pack, Brown's #12 Bourque Transmission Chevrolet suddenly slowed as he headed onto the back straight. Making a last second, evasive maneuver to avoid contact, Delisle swung low past the stricken race leader to assume the point and watched his mirrors as Brown silently coasted into the pits, his Chevy starved for fuel.
Running out the remaining two laps in order, Delisle claimed the victory, his first of the season, by eight car lengths over Dan Kimmerly. Connolly finished in third place, three car lengths in front of Jim 'the Professor' Rossiter (#66 Roy Nichols Impala) at the stripe.
"With five to go I really started to push," said Delisle. "Dwight got loose a couple of times and I had my chance. When he slowed, it startled me, but it made the pass a lot easier."
The THORSONS EVT Six Or Less
Kevin Hinds and Duane Jeffery each added to their points totals on Saturday night by scoring a pair of heat wins apiece, setting up the 'rubber match' in the 20 lap feature race.
Jeffery worked his #26 Car-Du Automotive Camaro around leader Nick Mulders for the point on lap six in a wild, three-wide scramble in Turn Three. Hinds, moving up from his mid-field starting position was chasing down Jeffery and by lap seven had moved in for the pass. One lap later the lead belonged to Hinds. With Jeffery and division points leader Kevin Pickford (#19 Vic Priestly Contracting Skyhawk) firmly affixed to his back bumper, Hinds survived a late race caution period restart, eventually taking his #57 Rad Man/ Exceltec Grand Am to the checkered flag by a single car length. Jeffery edged out Pickford by mere inches to claim second place.
"The car was really hooked up tonight," explained Hinds. "We've done some work on it and I can pull a lot more cornering speed now."
Nick Mulders (#89 Link Greenhouses Cavalier) faded slightly, finishing the 20 laps in fourth place and Anthony DiBello (#27) claiming a top five result.
The Bob's Towing Sportsman
With many of his Five Points Mall sponsors in attendance, defending Sportsman series champion Bill Northam was determined to make them proud.
Starting the feature from the outside of the second row, Northam moved into the lead following a caution period on lap five, the yellow brought out when long time rivals and front runners Steve Mayhew (#14) and John Baker Jr. tangled in Turn One.
Getting the jump on Terry Shaw's #27 Thunderbird, Northam powered his #85 Bill Shackleton Re/Max Pontiac into the lead, a position that he would never surrender.
"I was watching Terry (Shaw) and Bob (Kish) fighting behind me," laughed Northam. "I loved to see that because it gave me the chance to pull away while they're concerned with each other."
Kish, in his #78 Buckhorn Woodworking Monte Carlo, has quickly removed any existing rust from his driving skills and had moved into second place by the contest's halfway mark. He would finish the race in fourth position but was relegated to fourth spot at the checkers when he was freight trained with Two-To-Go by Ken Downer (#73) finished in the runner-up position, John Baker Jr. (#63 Marksmen Club Chevy) took third and Kish (#78 Buckhorn Woodworking Monte Carlo) finished fourth. With the hard charging Chad Strawn (#77) filling his mirrors, Shaw held on to score a top-five finish.
Release Prepared By Ryan Chalmers
ryan@mosport.com
Mosport 800-866-1072 (office)
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