For Immediate Release – Ken Pelkie, SOS Public Relations

Ageless veteran Dick Mahoney of Newmarket, Ontario has had a season he would have like to have forgotten. That is until last night at South Buxton Raceway when the Southern Ontario Sprints made their final appearance in 2006 before a capacity crowd under threatening skies. With former sprint car champion and Indy Car veteran Jack Hewitt helping to turn the wrenches on the purple 79, the long time friends turned a season full of bad moments into jubilation as Mahoney lead from start to finish to capture his first win of the season.

“I have been telling everyone that if I wasn’t running so bad I would quit” exclaimed Mahoney in victory lane “but the Pig still has a few good runs left in it”.

After preliminary action was completed to set the starting field for the twenty lap feature event, Mahoney along with veteran Tim Phillips paced the field to the green flag. Mahoney won the drag race to turn one and never looked back as he led virtually unchallenged to the checkers. Joey Middlemiss mounted the only serious threat to overtake Mahoney as the pair exited turn two on lap eleven but running out of racing room, Middlemiss lost the handle and spun the car to a stop on the racing surface. Restarting at the back of the field, Middlemiss recovered to post an eleventh place finish.

Several cautions slowed the event along with three red flags with the most serious coming on lap five for Ken Swan. After contact with the back stretch wall, Swan completed a series of violent flips completely destroying his mount which sat in victory lane just one week before. Although bruised and shaken, Swan emerged from his badly damage machine unassisted. Two other incidents involving Kyle Patrick in turn three and Brad Malloy in turn two were cause for the other red flag stoppages. Malloy was out of the event however Patrick was able to make repairs and return to action, only to have drive line problems keep him from finishing the race. An earlier incident during a pre race “warm up” period also found the machine of Garry Evans completing a series of aerial maneuvers knocking him out of further action for the evening.

Several teams posted best finishes on the season along with stellar drives. Rookie John Burbridge finished third while young April Wilson came home in fifteenth. Rick Wilson kept the crowd on the edge of their seats while riding the outer rim of the speedway to post a fifth in his first visit to South Buxton. Series point leaders Warren Mahoney and Bob Crawford after having to qualify through the “B” Main posted sixth and ninth place finishes, good enough to keep them in their first and second place standings at the conclusion of the event.

Heat races were won by Rick WILSON, Tim PHILLIPS, Joe MIDDLEMISS and Dick MAHONEY while Andrew REAUME claimed the “B”.

Next up the series will return to Brighton Speedway Saturday and Sunday, September 2nd and 3rd for the final time in 2006 to run the annual Labour Day Classic at the action packed quarter mile. The Saturday /Sunday affair has grown into one of the premier events on the Southern Ontario Sprint calendar. Then it will be back to Ohsweken Speedway September 8th for the 2006 series closer where a champion will be crowned in an “Invitational” format event.

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: 28 cars in Pit


Heat #1

1/ 42W – Rick WILSON 2/ 0 – Glenn STYRES 
3/ 32 – Keith DEMPSTER 4/ 17 – Gary EVANS
5/ 16 – Larry ATKINSON 6/ 83 – James WHITTAKER (DNF) 
7/ 69 – Garry EVANS (DNS) 

Heat #2

1/ 21 – Tim PHILLIPS 2/ 33K – Kyle PATRICK 
3/ 21J – John BURBRIDGE 4/ 42S – Ken SWAN 
5/ 33P – Jim PORTER 6/ 10m – Rob MIDDLEMISS 
7/ 25 – Warren MAHONEY (DNF) 

Heat #3

1/ 11M – Joe MIDDLEMISS 2/ 30 – Adam WEST 
3/ 71 – Craig DOWNIE 4/ 93 – Daryl TURFORD 
5/ 96 – Jim DAVIES 6/ 15AW – April WILSON 
7/ 8 – Brian LEE (DNF) 

Heat #4

1/ 79 – Dick MAHONEY 2/ 5m – Brad MALLOY 
3/ 20 – Jeff DANIELS 4/ 21X – Kevin JOB
5/ 1a – John RIEGLING 6/ 42T – Andrew REAUME 
7/ 10 – Bob CRAWFORD 

“B” MAIN

1/ 42T – Andrew REAUME 2/ 10M – Rob MIDDLEMISS 
3/ 25 – Warren MAHONEY 4/ 10 – Bob CRAWFORD 
5/ 15AW – April WILSON 6/ 83 – James WHITTAKER 
7/ 8 – Brian LEE (DNF) 

“A” MAIN

1/ 79 – Dick MAHONEY (1) 2/ 30 – Adam WEST (9) 
3/ 21J – John BURBRIDGE (5) 4/ 0 – Glenn STYRES (4) 
5/ 42W – Rick WILSON (10) 6/ 25 – Warren MAHONEY (22) 7/ 32 – Keith DEMPSTER (7) 8/ 21X – Kevin JOB (15) 9/ 10 – Bob CRAWFORD (23) 10/ 1a – John RIEGLING (19) 11/ 11m – Joe MIDDLEMISS (11) 12/ 96 – Jim DAVIES (18) 13/ 17 – Gary EVANS (12) 14/ 10m – Rob MIDDLEMISS (21) 15/ 15AW – April WILSON (24) 16/ 33P – Jim PORTER (17) DNF 17/ 5M – Brad MALLOY (6) DNF 18/ 42S – Ken SWAN (13) DNF 19/ 33K – Kyle PATRICK (11) DNF 20/ 93 – Daryl TURFORD (14) DNF 21/ 21 – Tim PHILLIPS (2) DNF 22/ 16 – Larry ATKINSON (16) DNF 23/ 42T – Andrew REAUME (20) DNF 24/ 20 – Jeff DANIELS (3) DNS 

Unofficial Points after AUGUST 26th:

1 Warren Mahoney 1761 

2 Bob Crawford 1716

3 Glenn Styres 1710

4 Kevin Job 1598

5 Joe Middlemiss 1591



KENETIC Photos Hard Charger after August 26th:

1 Warren Mahoney 71

2 Glenn Styres 61

2 Rick Wilson 60

4 Kevin Job 49

4 Bob Crawford 49


Post Race Awards:

Ohsweken Speedway Winners Bonus - Dick Mahoney

Grisdale Racing Products - Daryl Turford

Leaf Racewear - Joe Middlemiss 

Kenetic Photos Hard Charger - Warren Mahoney