OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY: 3rd annual Northern Summer Nationals this Friday

OHSWEKEN, ON – The sixth round of Ohsweken Speedway’s Friday Night Thunder hits the track this Friday, July 2nd with a big event.  This week’s event is presented by Jones-Brown Insurance, and features the third annual “Northern Summer Nationals” for the Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Cars, Southern Ontario Sprints, ASCS Sprints on Dirt, and ASCS Patriots. The ESSO Thunder Stocks, ESSO Mini Stocks, and Bombers will also be a part of this special night.

A large field of Sprint Cars is expected on Friday night at Ohsweken for the third annual Northern Summer Nationals event.  The Northern Summer Nationals feature winner is slated to take home a $3,000 prize, and all four participating sanctioning bodies will be awarding points towards their respective championships on Friday.

Dave Dykstra of Port Colborne is back on top of Ohsweken’s weekly Corr/Pak Merchandising division standings thanks to a second place finish last Friday.  Dykstra leads by just three points over current Southern Ontario Sprints points leader Keith Dempster of Alton, and by just five markers over South Dayton, NY’s Kyle Moffit.  Defending Corr/Pak champion and 2009 Northern Summer Nationals winner Tom Huppunen is currently eighth in points and has one feature win this year.

Dempster leads the SOS standings by a comfortable margin over Consecon driver Tyler Rand, while Ohsweken’s Glenn Styres sits third.  Dempster got the win in the SOS opener at Brighton in May, while Jamie Collard of Burford took the most recent series win back at Brighton on June 19.  Collard is expected to debut a second car for Miles Hill on Friday at Ohsweken as a teammate to Mike Ling of Mount Brydges.  Ling made a spectacular charge through the field last Friday at Ohsweken to finish third after starting seventeenth.

Jared Zimbardi of Salamanca, NY is the ASCS Patriots championship leader heading into Friday.  2008 Northern Summer Nationals winner Brian Howland of Auburn, NY is second on the list, followed by Brookfield, CT driver Jimmy “Bubba” Broderick.  Zimbardi has been a semi-regular visitor to Ohsweken in recent years, and already has three starts under his belt at the track this year.  In each of those events, he finished in the top five.

Dain Naida of Tecumseh, MI leads the ASCS Sprints on Dirt tour to Ohsweken by a narrow three point margin over St. Johns, MI driver Ryan Grubaugh, while Gregg Dalman of Bellvue, MI is third.  Naida was in action at Ohsweken last Friday and claimed the feature win in dominating fashion.  Portland, MI driver Dustin Daggett is also expected at Ohsweken Friday night.  The twenty-seven year old has six career feature wins at Ohsweken, including one on the Friday of Northern Summer Nationals when it was a two day event in 2008.

Billy Bleich of Port Robinson continues to lead the ESSO Thunder Stock standings after taking second and seventh place finishes in last week’s Twin Fifteens.  Caledonia’s Lee Winger and Jamie Cox of Cambridge are tied for second, sixteen points behind.  Jeremy Bean of Stoney Creek, and Grimsby’s Rob Disher round out the top five.  Mike Thorne and Devin Habiuk took the wins in the Twin Fifteens last week, and both are expected back this week despite the damage Thorne’s car suffered.

Trevor Goulding of Welland holds a twenty-five point lead in the ESSO Mini Stock standings.  Amazingly, his third place last Friday was his worst finish all year at Ohsweken.  Brantford’s Kevin Hilborn, Craig Erskine of Brantford, Paul Goodale, and Caledonia’s Mike Evers round out the top five.  Abel Castelein of Cayuga won last week’s feature in thrilling fashion, beating Hilborn by just a few inches.

Karl Sault of Dundas leads the Bomber division standings, followed by Hamilton’s Kacey Huffman and John Cote, and Jeremy Hughes and Shawn Ireland, both of Burlington. The Bombers also ran twin features last week, with Hughes and Adam Reidel taking the wins.

Advanced reserved seat tickets for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars July 30 and 31 at Ohsweken, and Canadian Sprint Car Nationals September 16, 17, and 18 at Ohsweken are on sale now! Please visit www.OhswekenSpeedway.com and call 1-888-720-RACE to order yours today!

Ohsweken Speedway’s Friday Night Thunder returns this Friday, July 2nd when Jones-Brown Insurance presents the third annual “Northern Summer Nationals” for the Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Cars, Southern Ontario Sprints, ASCS Sprints on Dirt, and ASCS Patriots, plus a full card featuring the ESSO Thunder Stocks, ESSO Mini Stocks, and Bombers.

Jones-Brown Insurance helps you manage the ‘total cost of risk,’ by working with you to identify, measure and address the entire financial impact of your risk.  For more information about Jones-Brown Insurance, please visit their website at www.JonesBrown.com.

Spectator gates open @ 6:00p.m., with the first race taking the green flag at 7:45p.m. this Friday, July 2nd!

From Tommy Goudge