Bill
Oldroyd
Ohsweken
Speedway – July 30, 2004
A
solid field of twenty-six sprinters was on hand to
do battle under threatening skies but that
didn’t dampen the emotions in the pits after the
feature. Bob
Crawford of Sutton became the sixth different
winner in nine races as the Southern Ontario
Sprints returned to Ohsweken Speedway Friday, July
30th.
Earlier in the evening, Crawford had
dominated his heat race and then he capped off the
night by winning his first feature race with the
SOS. The
ever-popular Crawford had a grin from ear-to-ear
after the race as he accepted congratulations from
his fellow competitors and their crews.
Crawford joined the Southern Ontario
Sprints last season after a lengthy career with
the Can-Am Midgets.
Dick
Mahoney from Newmarket lead the field to the green
but before the first lap was completed, a red flag
halted the field.
Stephanie Christiano of Tonawanda, NY was
involved in a crash in turn two that saw her
sprinter go through the inside wall.
Fortunately, Christiano’s only injury was
a minor cut and bump to her left knee but her
sprinter suffered major damage.
The race was stopped for several minutes
while track officials repaired the damaged wall
however, once the race was restarted, it would run
from green to checkered with no cautions.
A
light sprinkle of rain began to fall as the field
was being pushed off for a complete restart.
At the drop of the green Dick Mahoney
grabbed the lead.
Jack Pillon of Belle
River started the feature in forth but quickly
moved up into second, followed
by Daryl Turford of Stratford in third and
Crawford in forth.
Dick
Mahoney held the lead for the first five circuits
but on lap six, Crawford took over the point
position with a pass coming out of turn two.
Pillon was still in third with Warren
Mahoney of Lefroy now in forth and John Riegling
from Chatham in fifth.
At
the halfway point, Crawford found himself with a
comfortable lead as the two Mahoney’s, Pillon
and Riegling were battling hard for positions two
through five.
Cody Geldart from Mossley was now up to
sixth with SOS point’s leader, Glenn Styres of
Ohsweken a close seventh.
The 1999 SOS Champion, Garry Evans from
London made his first appearance of the season and
at mid-race was up to eighth place from his
twenty-first starting position.
Rounding out the top ten were Adam West of
Ridgetown and Turford.
As
the race wound down, Geldart was on a mission.
With two laps remaining, the battle for
second was intense as Geldart and both Mahoney’s
were all determined to take the position.
At one point they ran three wide through
turns one and two with Geldart the eventual winner
of the battle.
However the night belonged to Crawford as
he negotiated lapped traffic most of the race to
take the victory.
Geldart would come home second followed by
Warren Mahoney, Dick Mahoney and West.
Rookie
Pillon had his best night of the season with a
career best sixth place in the feature to go with
his first ever heat race win earlier in the night.
Styres would finish in seventh and see his
points lead now down to only five points over
Geldart. Riegling
held on for an eighth place finish, followed by
Kyle Patrick of Tilbury and Les MacMillian from
Belmont. The
hard charger of the night was Curt Sherwood from
Sanborn, NY who started the feature at the tail of
the field and finished in eleventh place.
Heat
race wins on this night would go to Styres,
Crawford and Pillon.
Due to the threatening weather and
attrition, the “B-main” and Dash for Cash were
cancelled.
Next
up the series was scheduled to go to Brighton
Speedway July 31st to close out the
weekend, however, this race has been cancelled due
to the large amount of rain in the area.
The series will now take a week off while
several SOS drivers head west to Knoxville, Iowa
to compete in the “Brodix Tournament of
Champions” race.
The series will then make a return visit to
Ohsweken on August 13th.
Signet
Tool Heat
1.
#0 – Glenn Styres, Ohsweken, ON; 2. #17 – Gary
Evans, Thorndale, ON; 3. #77 – Les MacMillan,
Belmont, ON; 4. #99 – Al Gaukel, Cambridge, ON;
5. #2 – Vinnie Christiano Jr., Tonawanda, NY; 6.
#26 – John Watson, St. Thomas, ON; 7. #18 –
Stephanie Christiano, Tonawanda, NY
Wiseco
Heat
1.
#10 – Bob Crawford, Sutton, ON; 2. #6 – Cody
Geldart, Mossley, ON; 3. #79 – Dick Mahoney,
Newmarket, ON; 4. #25 – Warren Mahoney, Lefroy,
ON; 5. #33 – Jamie Collard, Princeton, ON; 6.
#30 – Adam West, Ridgetown, ON; 7. #12 – Willy
Northcott, London, ON; 8. #75 – Jim Sweers,
Westover, ON; 9. #31 – Curt Sherwood, Sanborn,
NY
Leaf
Racewear Heat
1.
#18j – Jack Pillon, Belle River, ON; 2. #1a –
John Riegling, Chatham, ON; 3. #93 – Daryl
Turford, Stratford, ON; 4. #27 – Paul Ballantyne,
Brantford, ON; 5. #17m – Charlie McCann, London,
ON; 6. #32 – Mark Schulz, Newfane, NY
Pennzoil
Feature
1.
#10 – Bob Crawford; 2. #6 – Cody Geldart; 3.
#25 – Warren Mahoney; 4. #79 – Dick Mahoney;
5. #30 – Adam West; 6. #18j – Jack Pillon; 7.
#0 – Glenn Styres; 8. #1a – John Riegling; 9.
#33k – Kyle Patrick; 10. #77 – Les MacMillan;
11. #31 – Curt Sherwood; 12. #17 – Gary Evans;
13. #93 – Daryl Turford; 14. #2 – Vinnie
Christiano Jr.; 15. #12 – Willy Northcott; 16.
#17m – Charlie McCann; 17. #33 – Jamie
Collard; 18. #69 – Garry Evans, London, ON; 19.
#27 – Paul Ballantyne; 20. #71 – Craig
Downing, Burlington. ON; 21. #75 – Jim Sweers;
22. #26 – John Watson; 23. #18 – Stephanie
Christiano
DNS:
#5 – Keith Dempster, Alton, ON; #32 – Mark
Schulz; #99 – Al Gaukel
LEAF RACEWEAR AWARD - Mark Schulz
