Mulheim Wins Canadian Sprint Car Championships & Geldart Crowned 2004 Southern Ontario Sprints Champion

Bill Oldroyd

Ohsweken Speedway – September 18, 2004

The Southern Ontario Sprints 2004 season is now in the history books with the running of the Canadian Sprint Car Championships and once again, the closer was a real thriller.  Nick Mulheim of Ohio, who is a regular with the Michigan-based Sprints on Dirt series, captured the prestigious CSCC title while Cody Geldart from Mossley was officially crowned the 2004 SOS Champion.

John Riegling of Chatham paced the twenty-five-car field to the green and immediately jumped into the lead with Brad Knab from Delevan, NY and Mulheim in hot pursuit.  The SOS Rookie of the Year Jack Pillon, from Belle River brought out the first caution of the night with a spin in turn two on the third lap and on the restart, Knab was able to take over the top spot.  Adam West of Ridgetown got around Mulheim for third and within a couple of laps was up into second challenging Knab for the lead.  

On lap eight, Pillon would see his rookie season come to an abrupt end as he flipped in turn two bring out the red flag.  Fortunately Pillon was not injured in the crash but he sprint car had to be cradled off the track.  On the restart, West became the third leader of the night as he dove under Knab in turn one to take over the top spot.  For several laps, West, Knab and Mulheim would do battle, running side-by-side much of the time.

Turn two would continue to be the trouble spot on this night.  On lap ten, Paul Ballantyne of Brantford lost control in this turn and did at least three, three-sixties making contact with Tim Phillips from Grand Island, NY.  Phillips would receive damage to his front end causing him to spin in turn three and forcing him to retire.  However, Ballantyne was able to regain control and keep running but under the caution, he did stop to check for damage putting him back to twenty-second position.  He would fight back to finish a respectable twelfth.

On lap twelve, Riegling would spin in corner two bringing out the third caution of the night and then one lap later, last years CSCC winner Keith Dempster of Alton would tangle with the John Schuyler from Jamestown, NY forcing the final caution of the night.  Schuyler was able to keep going while Dempster came to a stop.  Dempster would re-join the field in twenty–second position without his front wing but would battle back to earn a top ten finish.

Mulheim became the forth and final leader of the night when he was able to make a pass on West with ten laps remaining in the twenty-five lap event.  He successfully negotiated the lapped traffic during the balance of the race to take home the victory and the CSCC Title.  West would come up one position short with a second place finish.

Geldart ran a very steady race to finish in third position and with his start, secured the 2004 SOS Title.  At only sixteen years of age, Geldart has already proven that he has what it takes to become a champion and there is no doubt that he has a very promising career ahead of him if he chooses to remain in racing.

The forth place finish would go to John Schuyler from Jamestown NY who was racing with the SOS for the first time.  Taking the fifth position was Knab who ran in the top five all night and led the event early.

Glenn Styres of Ohsweken had an up and down night as he was actually up to third at one point but late in the race he did a three-sixty in turn two dropping him back to ninth.  He would battle back to finish in sixth.  Mark Broughman of Hillsdale MI. was forced to start the feature in twenty-forth position but ran a very strong race finishing in the seventh position.  Kyle Patrick of Tilbury was strong early on but dropped back late in the race to finish in eight.  Garry Evans of London and Dempster were both involved in spins that put to the rear of the field but they would bounce back to finish ninth and tenth respectively.

Heat race winners on the night were Patrick, West and Dempster with West also picking up the checkered in the Dash for Cash.

Leaf Racewear Heat

1. #33k – Kyle Patrick, Tilbury, ON; 2. #25 – Warren Mahoney, Lefroy, ON; 3. #21 – Tim Phillips, Grand Island, NY; 4. #69 – Garry Evans, London, ON; 5. #12 – Willy Northcott, London, ON; 6. #0 – Glenn Styres, Ohsweken, ON; 7. #3e – Evan Skinner

Signet Tool Heat

1. #30 – Adam West, Ridgetown, ON; 2. #38m – Nick Mulheim, Navarre, OH; 3. #10 – Bob Crawford, Sutton, ON; 4. #3t John Schuyler, Jamestown, NY; 5. #18j – Jack Pillon, Belle River, ON; 6. #17m – Charlie McCann, London, ON; 7. #93 – Daryl Turford, Stratford, ON; 8. #79 – Dick Mahoney, Newmarket, ON

Pennzoil Heat

1. #5 – Keith Dempster, Alton, ON; 2. #1a – John Riegling, Chatham, ON; 3. #38 – Brad Knab, Delevan, NY; 4. #6 – Cody Geldart, Mossley, ON; 5. #27 – Paul Ballantyne, Brantford, ON; 6. #77 – Les MacMillan, Belmont, ON; 7. #17 – Gary Evans, Thorndale, ON; 8. #20 – Vic DeVries, Kitchener, ON

Kenetic Dash

1. #30 – Adam West; 2. #38m – Nick Mulheim; 3. #33k – Kyle Patrick; 4. #5 – Keith Dempster; 5. #25 – Warren Mahoney; 6. #1a – John Riegling

Wiseco Feature

1. #38m Nick Mulheim; 2. #30 Adam West; 3. #6 Cody Geldart; 4. #3t John Schuyler; 5. #38 Brad Knab; 6. #0 Glenn Styres; 7. #52 Mark Broughman; 8. #33k – Kyle Patrick; 9. #69 – Garry Evans; 10. #5 – Keith Dempster; 11. #10 – Bob Crawford; 12. #27 – Paul Ballantyne; 13. #12 – Willy Northcott; 14. #25 – Warren Mahoney; 15. #77 – Les MacMillan; 16. #1a – John Riegling; 17. #93 – Daryl Turford; 18. #71 – Craig Downie; 19. #4z – Joel Lehman; 20. #17 – Gary Evans; 21. Vic DeVries; 22. #79 – Dick Mahoney; 23. #21 – Tim Phillips; 24. #18j – Jack Pillon; 25. #17m – Charlie McCann

dns: #3e Evan Skinner; #32 – Mark Schulz; #33 – Jamie Collard

Time Trials