South Buxton Raceway Mid-Season Championships‏

The rain stayed away from South Buxton Raceway on Saturday allowing four drivers to reign over the track on Mid-Season Championship Night.

Chatham drivers Brad Authier and Eric Vanderiviere both took advantage of their outside front-row starting positions to win the Dover Sanitation UMP Late Models and Windride Transportation Services Sport Stocks mid-season championship races, respectively.

Merlin’s Joe Brosseau went from fourth to the lead in one lap to win the Schinkels Gourmet Meats UMP Modifieds feature while Nate McNally of Charing Cross survived a four-car pileup involving the leaders to win the Four Seasons Driver Education Comp 4 feature.

Dover Sanitation UMP Late Models

In the Late Model feature, Authier and reigning series champion Dale Glassford staged a great 25-lap battle that had the fans on their feet throughout the race.

“That was an excellent race,” Authier said after his fifth career mid-season championship victory. “I’m sure the fans loved it.”

Authier led the first 16 laps but not without constant pressure from Glassford, whose persistence paid off when he took the lead coming out of turn two on lap 17.

But Glassford’s lead was shortlived as Authier returned the favour coming out of turn four a lap later. He led the final seven circuits to win his second feature of the year.

“He was so strong off one and two, he got a good run off of two and got around me on the straightaway,” Authier said of Glassford’s challenge.

“But I got a fabulous run through three and four,” he said of his return pass.
Glassford said the outside line was the fastest for him, but that was where Authier was running.

“I could stay with him but I knew I wasn’t going to get by him on the outside,” Glassford said.

“I thought he would eventually slide up a little but he didn’t do it the entire race. I have to hand it to someone who can hang on to it like that.”

Ironically, Authier regained the lead at the same point on the track where he lost the lead in last Saturday night’s feature race to the eventual winner Glassford.

“He did a little bit of a bump-and-run,” Glassford described Authier’s pass. “I got out front and thought I was taking off but I got pushed up to the high side. He said there were a couple of races this year that I got into him, so we’re even now, we’re all cool,” Glassford smiled.

Authier, however, said he didn’t intentionally move Glassford out of the way.
“You can see, there’s not a mark on the car,” said Authier, adding that he came away with a flat tire from the previous week’s encounter with the 60 car.

“I just came up underneath him, rolled the car into corner, backed off and then got on the throttle and he pushed up a bit,” he described the pass to regain the lead.

Once in front, Authier said he had to change his line. “I knew I had to take his line away or he’d be back in there again and I didn’t want to give him another opportunity,” he said.

Kirk Hooker, Jim Jones, both of Chatham, and Goderich’s Mark Glassford rounded out the top five.

In a preview of the feature, Authier finished first and Glassford second in the pursuit race. Glassford was also second in the heat race to Hooker.

In the 24 total races run in the Late Models this season, Glassford has five wins and 14 second-place finishes.

Schinkels Meats UMP Modifieds

While the Late Models put on a great 25-lap battle, Merlin’s Joe Brosseau needed just one corner to get the fans on their feet.

Brosseau was running in fourth place on a lap 10 restart when he passed two cars in the first corner and had the lead by the time they crossed the start-finish line.

“I can’t wait to see what happened myself,” said Brosseau, trying to explain his bold move between turns one and two to get by Merlin’s Brad McLeod and Wyoming’s Brian Speelman.

He then got by the leader Jim Dale Jr. in the next corner and led the final 15 laps for his first second feature win in four weeks.

“It seemed like someone hit the brakes and everyone checked up, I really don’t know what happened,” he said. “I just figured we’re down here now, we might as well go for it.”

Brosseau, McLeod and Speelman ran one-two-three for the next seven laps until John Brooks, a visiting driver from Wayne, Ohio, put on a late race charge to move into the top three.

Brooks, who finished third in last September’s Modified Shootout and seventh in 2008, passed Speelman for third on lap 17 and McLeod a lap later for second.

On lap 20, however, McLeod and Brooks made contact in turn three with the Ohio driver spinning and bringing out the caution.

Brooks restarted at the back while McLeod and Speelman regained their second and third place positions, which they held for the final five laps.

Leamington’s Joel Dick, who won his heat and pursuit races earlier in the night, finished fourth, with Woodslee’s Clayton Smith fifth.

Windride Transportation Services Sport Stocks

Eric Vanderiviere knew his best chance to win was to be the first car into turn one at the drop of the green.

“That was my strategy, to beat Doris (Lajeunesse) into the first corner, to get ahead of him and stay there,” the Chatham driver said.

And it was mission accomplished for Vanderiviere, as he led all 25 laps in the Windride Transportation Services Sport Stocks mid-season championship feature.

It was Vanderiviere’s third feature win of the season and the sixth of his career – and his first trophy-race victory.

“I’ve got a few trophies, but this is the first for finishing first,” said Vanderiviere, who was the runner-up to Chatham’s Louis Clements in season championship races each of the last two years.

Merlin’s Steve Shaw ran second for the first half of the race but saw his hopes for an eighth career mid-season championship fizzle on lap 16 when he pitted under caution for a flat tire. He got back on the track to stay on the lead lap and got as high as sixth before going to the pits for good with five laps to go.

The two-time defending series champion Clements, making his first start since losing a motor in the second week of the season, got around Lajeunesse for second a lap later but had nothing for Vanderiviere.

“Tonight was the best the car has been from start to finish all year,” said Vanderiviere, who opened the night with a heat race win.

Lajeunesse, the points leader, finished third while Dover’s Tyler Lozon and Essex’s Gerald Martin rounded out the top five.

Four Seasons Driver Education Comp 4s

Nate McNally thought his chance of winning was done when the four leaders tangled in a tag-team crash between turns one and two on lap 11.

“I don’t really know what happened, other than someone smashed into the back end pretty hard,” said McNally, who was leading the pack at the time of the pileup. “I got spun around, people were hitting me on both sides and I wound up sitting on top of Rob (Quick).”

Chatham’s Randy McKinlay was able to drive away while Cottam’s Denis DeSerrano had to go to the pits for repairs.

McNally got out of the car, figuring he was done for the night. “I saw a coil spring sitting on the track and thought it was mine,” he said, “and even if it wasn’t, I figured I’d have two flat tires. But I couldn’t believe the car was still in one piece.”

McNally strapped himself and resumed the race lead. McKinlay restarted second and Blenheim’s Reid Fenton, who was running fifth and managed to steer around the wreck, moved up to third.

Quick was deemed responsible for causing the accident and restarted at the back with DeSerrano, who made repairs under caution.

McNally, who took the lead two laps before the melee, said his car lost its handle but still was able to pull away, leaving McKinlay to fend off Fenton for second.

“It was really, really pushing going into three and four so I just took it a little slower and tried to make up the ground in one and two,” he said.

It was McNally’s second straight feature win and his track leading fourth of the season.
Points leader Shawn Jones of Blenheim finished fourth, followed by Tilbury’s James Beaulieu and Kingsville’s Norm DeSerrano, the last car on the lead lap. Denis DeSerrano finished one lap down in seventh.

Pit Notes

* A series of scattered thunderstorms raced across the region late Saturday afternoon but South Buxton Raceway stayed dry, a far cry from the last two seasons when rainouts reduced the season to 10 regular race nights. This past Saturday marked the 10th straight week of racing in 2010 with 10 weeks to go. The only rainout occurred on opening night, May 8.

* This July 24, is the third annual Country 92.9 FM Night At The Races, with one of the feature winners receiving a guitar trophy from the radio station, which will broadcast live from the track from 3-7 p.m.

Prior to the race night, drivers and team members will join the youngsters at the Junior Fan Club Party, beginning at 3 p.m. The drivers will go in the dunk tank and engage the young fans in a tug-of-war battle.

Release Prepared by Mike Bennett

For more information contact Mike at (519) 351-4765

Photo: The four leading cars in the Comp 4 feature were involved in a tag-team crash on lap 11, including Rob Quick (18), Nate McNally (8), Denis DeSerrano (69) and Randy McKinlay (26), as Reid Fenton (47) was able to get by on the high side.

Photo Credit: James MacDonald Apex One Photo