For Immediate Release – Ken Pelkie, SOS Public Relations

Whenever the Southern Ontario Sprints return to South Buxton Raceway, one of the crowd favorites is local veteran John Riegling. The quiet and gentle man from nearby Chatham, Ontario has been a mainstay on the tough SOS circuit since it’s inception some eleven years ago and with a series championship under his belt, Riegling remains one of the guys to beat. That was reinforced Saturday night as Riegling claimed a convincing win at his “home track” in his one hundred and first start with the touring group.

With qualifying events completed, twenty two cars answered the call for the twenty lap feature event. “Little” Gary Evans and Rookie Bob McDonald on board the Ray Ballentyne sprinter paced the field to the drop of the green flag. McDonald won the race to the first turn and grabbed the early lead with Riegling darting into second from his inside, second row starting position. “Big” Garry Evans claimed the third spot as the field completed lap one with Bob Crawford and Brad Malloy completing the top five. By lap four, Riegling took an opportunity to power by McDonald into the lead that he would not be challenged for over the remaining distance.

Caution waved on lap eight as Malloy spun to a stop on the exit of turn two. Rookie Tim Zack and veteran Dick Mahoney exited the race at this point with Daryl Turford joining them pit side as Malloy restarted and joined the back of the field.

Over the remaining distance with Riegling checked out, McDonald was having the best run of his rookie season holding off challenges from Garry Evans, Bob Crawford, and Warren Mahoney to finish in the runner-up spot.

The only other incident of the feature event came on lap thirteen when Jeff Daniels made contact with a marking tire on the inside of the track. The contact seemed to have been hard enough to cause the front axle to collapse putting him out of the race while running just outside of the top ten.

At the finish, McDonald followed Riegling across the line with Warren Mahoney, Crawford and “Big” Garry Evans rounding out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Craig Downie, point leader Glenn Styres, Mike Lauterborn, Rookie Kevin Job, and Ken Swan. John Watson, who started twentieth completed another solid run, passing nine cars to finish in the eleventh spot and earning him “Hard Charger” recognition for the race.

Heat races were won by Garry Evans, Riegling, and Bob Crawford while Mike Lauterborn claimed the “Dash”.

Next up on July 28th the series will begin its second half of the season with a return visit to Ohsweken Speedway. The last outing at Ohsweken produced a record car count of forty-three “winged warriors” at the smooth and fast clay oval. Race time will be at 7:45PM with gates opening at 5:30PM.

Be sure to come out to a speedway near you as the series continues on it’s 2006 tour and for all of the latest news and information on the Southern Ontario Sprints be sure to log on to the official website at www.southernontariosprints.com .

Results: 23 cars in Pit

Heat #1
1. 69 – Garry EVANS, London, ON 2. 71 – Craig DOWNIE, Burlington, ON  3. 21X – Kevin JOB, Campbellville, ON 4. 11m – Joe MIDDLEMISS, St.Catherines, ON
5. 93 – Daryl TURFORD. Mitchell, ON 6. 9JR – Tim ZACK, Dain City, ON 7. 83 – James WHITTAKER, Lynden, ON 8. 79 – Dick MAHONEY, Newmarket, ON 

Heat #2
1. 1a – John RIEGLING, Chatham, ON 2. 5m – Brad MALLOY, Niagara Falls, ON 3. 0 – Glenn STYRES, Ohsweken, ON 4. 17 – Gary EVANS, Thorndale, ON 
5. 20 – Jeff DANIELS, Chatham, ON 6. 42s – Ken SWAN, Lockport, NY 7. 26 – John WATSON, St. Thomas, ON 8. 21J – John BURBRIDGE, Simcoe, ON 

Heat #3
1. 10 – Bob CRAWFORD, Sutton, ON 2. 25 – Warren MAHONEY, Lefroy, ON 3. 41 – Mike LAUTERBORN, Rochester, NY 4. 24 – Bob McDONALD, Woodstock, ON 
5. 94 – Stan ZANCHIN, Fort Erie, ON 6. 10m – Rob MIDDLEMISS, St.Catherines, ON 7. 96 – Jim DAVIES, London, ON (DNS) 

Dash
1. 41 – Mike LAUTERBORN 2. 71 – Craig DOWNIE 
3. 69 – Gary EVANS 4. 5m – Brad MALLOY 5. 1a – John RIEGLING 6. 25 – Warren MAHONEY (DNF) 

“A” MAIN
1. 1a – John RIEGLING (3) 2. 24 – Bob McDONALD (2) 
3. 25 – Warren MAHONEY (8) 4. 10 – Bob CRAWFORD (6) 5. 69 – Garry EVANS (4) 6. 71 – Craig DOWNIE (7) 
7. 0 – Glenn STYRES (12) 8. 41 – Mike LAUTERBORN (10) 9. 21X – Kevin JOB (9) 10. 42S – Ken SWAN (17) 
11. 26 – John WATSON (20) 12. 5m – Brad MALLOY (5) 
13. 11m – Joe MIDDLEMISS (11) 14. 94 – Stan ZANCHIN (15) 15. 21J – John BURBRIDGE (21) 16. 17 – Gary EVANS (1) 17. 10m – Rob MIDDLEMISS (18) 18. 83w – James WHITTAKER (19) 19. 20 – Jeff DANIELS (14) 20. 93 – Daryl TURFORD (13) 21. 79 – Dick MAHONEY (22) 22. 9JR – Tim ZACK (16) 


Unofficial Points after July 15th:

1 Glenn Styres  1043 
2 Warren Mahoney  1033
3 Bob Crawford  1002
4 Ken Swan  902
5 Kevin Job  900

KENETIC Photos Hard Charger after July 15th:

1 Glenn Styres  45
2 Rick Wilson  40
3 Warren Mahoney  37
4 Fred Pigeon  23
5 Jamie Collard / Kevin Job 22

Post Race Awards:

Ohsweken Speedway Winners Bonus - John Riegling

Grisdale Racing Products - Joe Middlemiss

Keizer Wheels - Ken Swan

Leaf Racewear - John Riegling

Kenetic Photos Hard Charger - John Watson