|
The
Southern Ontario Sprints 10th Anniversary season
is now a matter of record as the series continued
to show a steady growth in many areas. A record 46
different drivers competed with the SOS in 2005
including 16 who were first-time competitors with
the series. There were seven different Feature
winners in the fifteen-race schedule, which
included a record-tying 6 victories by former SOS
Champion, Glenn Styres (Rick Wilson had 6
victories in 2002). Jim Porter and Adam West were
also among the Feature winners for the first time
in their careers.
The 2005 SOS Point’s Champion was Adam West from
Ridgetown, ON. West becomes the ninth different
champion in the 10-year history of the club and
once again the championship was decided during the
last race of the season. West began his sprint car
career back in 2001 with the SOS where he missed
the Rookie of the Year honors by a single point.
Then in 2003 West was selected as the winner of
the Knoxville International Driver Development
program where he competed full-time in the United
States. In 2004, West returned to the SOS and
finished a respectable fourth in points. During
his 2005 Championship run West racked up eleven,
top-five finishes in the 15-race schedule, which
included 2 Feature wins.
The 2005 season also saw another strong group for
rookies join the SOS with John Watson of St.
Thomas taking the Rookie of the Year title. Along
the way, Watson picked up a couple of Heat race
victories and had several strong Feature races
including 4 top-five finishes. Former ASA and dirt
Modified competitor Fred Cade, also made his
depute in a sprint car and had several strong runs
including 4 top-fives and a couple of Heat race
wins. Other members of the 2005 rookie class were
Brian Lee, Jeff Daniels, Ken Swan, Andrew Reaume
and Chris Pyle.
For the second year in a row, the SOD and SOS
clubs got together to compete for the Can-Am
Challenge, a two race mini-series between the
clubs. Former SOS Rookie of the Year and current
SOD regular Kyle Patrick, won the first round and
then went on to capture the mini-series with a
strong third-place finish in round two.
The first annual, Canadian Sprint Car Nationals
was held at Ohsweken Speedway in September where
seventy of the top 360 sprint cars were on-hand to
do battle. The SOS was one of four affiliate
sanctioning bodies to participate in the running
of the Nationals. The winner of this prestigious
event was Kenny Jacobs driving a Mike Woodring
prepared sprinter. Jacobs also established a new
track record for Ohsweken Speedway during
qualifying.
Other major races involving SOS competitors were
the Winter Nationals at East Bay, Florida, 360
Nationals and the Kele World Challenge in
Knoxville Iowa and the Full Throttle Nationals in
Michigan.
Former club President Peter Turford, who had been
at the helm for the past five seasons, decided to
step down at the conclusion of the season to
concentrate on his son’s race team. At the
annual awards banquet Turford was recognized for
his accomplishments and was presented with a large
picture capturing many of the memories of the past
five years.
by
Bill Oldroyd
|
