By Bill OLDROYD;

The Southern Ontario Sprints made their final visit to South Buxton Raceway Saturday, August 4th and for the third time this season there would be a different winner. Local favourite Adam West from Ridgetown, ON won a hard fought battle to capture his first-ever win at his home track. “I’m hot, I’m tired and I’m out of fuel but we finally got the monkey off our back with this win” said a jubilant West in victory lane. On the opening lap, a spin by Garry Evans in turn 2 brought out the first caution of the night forcing a complete restart of the feature. At the drop of the green flag, John Watson driving the #29 of Daryl Turford jumped into the early lead followed closely by John Riegling who came from sixth on the grid. 

Watson lead the first few laps until mechanical problems brought him to a halt on the back stretch. Watson was forced to retire for the night. Riegling would take over the top spot followed by Adam West, Kevin Job (winner of the last race at South Buxton) and rookie Justin Martin with Joe Middlemiss round out the top five. 

West put pressure on Riegling for several laps and at the mid-point of the race made his move in lapped traffic. Riegling dove under Mike Ferrell and West drove around the outside and while coming down the front stretch three wide, Ferrell came in contact with West and flipped high into the catch fence. Fortunately Ferrell was uninjured in the crash but it took several minutes to repair the fencing. On the restart, Riegling maintained his lead however West was determine to take over the top spot and on lap 15 West completed the pass for the lead. 

With one lap remaining, Keith Dempster spun and flipped coming out of turn 4 bring out the red flag. West would hold on for the win but a fierce battle for 2nd through 5th would see Middlemiss and Warren Mahoney both get past Riegling with Kyle Patrick narrowly edging out Glenn Styres for 5th. 

Heat races were won by Jamie COLLARD, John RIEGLING and Derek JONATHON. The win by Jonathon was his first ever win in a sprint car. The DASH was won by Kyle PATRICK. 

Next up the series will have a double header weekend with Ohsweken Speedway Friday, Aug. 10th and Brighton Speedway Saturday, Aug. 11th. Come out to a speedway near you to be a part of the action as the series continues on it’s 2007 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: 24 cars in Pit 

Heat #1
1/ 37f – Jamie COLLARD, Princeton, ON 
2/ 25 – Warren MAHONEY, Lefroy, ON 
3/ 29 – John WATSON, St. Thomas, ON 
4/ 4z – Joel LEHMAN, Guelph, ON 
5/ 69 – Garry EVANS, London, ON 
6/ 14 – Bill BALDWIN, Coutice, ON 
7/ 24 – Bob McDONALD, Woodstock, ON 
8/ 66 – Frank BARANOWSKI, Hamilton, ON (dns) 

Heat #2 
1/ 1a – John RIEGLING, Chatham, ON 
2/ 30 – Adam WEST, Ridgetown, ON 
3/ 21X – Kevin JOB, Campbellville, ON 
4/ 11 – Joe MIDDLEMISS, St. Catherines, ON 
5/ 5m – Brad MALLOY, Niagara Falls, ON 
6/ 10m – Rob MIDDLEMISS, St.Catherines, ON 
7/ 15 – Mike FERRELL, London, ON 
8/ 83 – James WHITTAKER, Lynden, ON 

Heat #3 
1/ 81 – Derek JONATHON, Lockport, NY 
2/ 42 – Kyle PATRICK, Tilbury, ON 
3/ 7 – Justin MARTIN, St. Thomas, ON 
4/ 5 – Keith DEMPSTER, Alton, ON 
5/ 10 – Bob CRAWFORD, Sutton, ON 
6/ 20 – Jeff DANIELS, Chatham, ON 
7/ 79 – Dick MAHONEY, Newmarket, ON 
8/ 0 – Glenn STYRES, Ohsweken, ON (dns) 

DASH 
1/ 42 – Kyle PATRICK 
2/ 25 – Warren MAHONEY 
3/ 81 – Derek JONATHON 
4/ 1a – John RIEGLING 
5/ 30 – Adam WEST 
6/ 37f – Jamie COLLARD 

“A” MAIN 
1/ 30 – Adam WEST (4) 
2/ 11 – Joe MIDDLEMISS (10) 
3/ 25 – Warren MAHONEY (9) 
4/ 1a – John RIEGLING (6) 
5/ 42 – Kyle PATRICK (12) 
6/ 0 – Glenn STYRES (23) 
7/ 21x – Kevin JOB (7) 
8/ 7 – Justin MARTIN (1) 
9/ 37f – Jamie COLLARD (5) 
10/ 20 – Jeff DANIELS (18) 
11/ 10 – Bob CRAWFORD (15) 
12/ 79 – Dick MAHONEY (21) 
13/ 10m – Rob MIDDLEMISS (17) 
14/ 83 – James WHITTAKER (22 
15/ 5 – Keith DEMPSTER (8) 
16/ 81 – Derek JONATHON (2) 
17/ 4z – Joel LEHMAN (11) 
18/ 69 – Garry EVANS (13) 
19/ 15 – Mike FERRELL (20 
20/ 5m – Brad MALLOY (14) 
21/ 14– Bill BALDWIN (16) 
22/ 29 – John WATSON (3) 
23/ 24 – Bob McDONALD (19) 
24/ 66 – Frank BARANOWSKI (DNS) 

Unofficial Points after Aug.4th: 
1 0 – Glenn STYRES 1020 
2 21x – Kevin JOB 984 
3 25 – Warren MAHONEY 955 
4 5 – Keith DENPSTER 933 
5 10 – Bob CRAWFORD 929 

Unofficial “Rookie of the Year” Points after Aug 4th: 
1 James WHITTAKER 754 
2 Mark SWAIN 734 
3 Mike FERRELL 724 
4 Bill BALDWIN 543 
5 Justin MARTIN 515 

Grisdale Racing Products winner – Warren Mahoney