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When the 2008 Southern Ontario Sprints season began, a trio of drivers had a chance to become the first ever 3-time champion in series history: Glenn Styres, Keith Dempster, and Warren Mahoney. Heading into the season, Styres also had a chance to become the first driver to win consecutive SOS championships, having won his 2nd title in 2007.
The 13th season of SOS competition kicked off on May 10 at Brighton Speedway with 17 cars signed in for competition. All-time SOS feature win leader Rick Wilson added to his total by sweeping the night’s events, winning his heat race, dash, and the feature. Wilson and Glenn Styres started the feature side-by-side in row 3 and quickly made their way to the front, with Wilson taking the lead on lap 3 and Styres giving chase. When the white flag flew, Styres was in striking distance, but lapped machines tangled in turn 2, collecting Styres in the process. Styres was able to restart and salvage an 8th place finish. John Burbridge, Sr. followed Wilson to the checkered flag in 2nd – his best ever sprint car result. Jeff Daniels collected a heat race win earlier in the evening for his first ever checkered flag in a sprint car.
May 31 saw the tour move to Brockville Ontario Speedway, the first ever visit to the track located in Eastern Ontario. 19 cars and an enthusiastic capacity crowd were on hand despite threatening weather, and their perseverance paid off as a great night of racing ensued. The 3 main title contenders asserted themselves in heat race action as Keith Dempster, Glenn Styres, and Warren Mahoney claimed the wins in the 3 heat races, and all 3 started the feature in the first 2 rows. When the green flag dropped however, Styres once again had problems as he jumped the cushion during the 2nd lap. Mahoney led much of the feature, but a late race red flag for a scary crash involving Brian McDonald bunched the field and allowed Steve Poirier a shot at Mahoney, who took advantage and drove past the Mahoney machine to claim the feature win. The win was Poirier’s first in SOS competition in what was also the ESS champion’s first appearance in an SOS points race. With a 4th place at Brighton and a 5th place at Brockville, sophomore driver Chris Jones left Brockville with the points lead.
The tour was back at Brighton on June 14th for round #3 of the 2008 season, and Glenn Styres used the event to climb back into the title fight with a feature win, his first in SOS competition in over 2 years. Rick Wilson avenged his Brockville misfortune by charging from 8th to 2nd, followed by Warren Mahoney, Keith Dempster, and Bob Crawford. Chris Jones continued his fine start to the season with a 6th place finish, but lost the points lead to Wilson, who held a slim 1 point margin over Jones heading to the next event.
Canada Day weekend found the SOS tour with a doubleheader on tap, with a Saturday night date at South Buxton Raceway followed by a Sunday event at the Humberstone Speedway. Only 1 race would be run however, as the South Buxton event was rained out. The wet stuff also found Humberstone and the 27 competitors who signed in at the Port Colborne oval, delaying the evening’s activities briefly. The show went on however, and Glenn Styres once again found victory lane at the end of the night. Rick Wilson did not make the trip, handing the points lead over to Chris Jones, but his lead would not last through the end of the night as Styres’ feature win catapulted him to first in the standings, 1 marker ahead of 5th place feature finisher Jones.
Rain once again found the SOS tour 2 weeks later at Brighton after the heat races, won by Chris Jones and Warren Mahoney. By virtue of the heat win, Jones drew even with Styres at the top of the points standings, while the feature was postponed until the next SOS visit to Brighton in August.
Friday, July 18 found the tour at Ohsweken Speedway with clear skies overhead and 28 cars signed in for action. Co-leader in the points standings Chris Jones was not 1 of those 28 however, giving Glenn Styres a golden opportunity to take command of the points chase. Styres had trouble in his heat race however, relegating him to 17th on the grid come feature time. A combination of determination and attrition in the rest of the field allowed Styres to salvage a 5th place finish, but Keith Dempster and Warren Mahoney followed Kevin Job to the checkered flag in 2nd and 3rd, moving them both to within 15 points of Styres’ lead. The win was the first at Ohsweken for Job, who had previously won SOS events at South Buxton and Brighton. ’05 champ Adam West was also set to assert himself as a title contender until mechanical problems late in the race sidelined a probable podium finish for “The Batman”.
A standing room only crowd greeted the SOS competitors when the tour visited South Buxton Raceway on August 2nd, and at the end of the night a very happy Warren Mahoney was in victory lane for the first time in just under 5 years. “The Wile One” started 7th and quickly sliced his way through the field, taking the lead from father Dick at the halfway point and driving away for the win. Glenn Styres came home 2nd to minimize the damage to his points lead, cut to just 8 markers over Mahoney. Dick Mahoney rounded out the podium, with Adam West and Bob Crawford completing the top 5.
Rain once again caused a problem for the SOS tour at Brighton Speedway on August 9, washing out the entire evening, including the July makeup feature, which was postponed once again, this time to Labour Day Classic weekend back at Brighton.
With an extra feature on tap, much was left to be decided in the SOS points race on Labour Day Classic weekend at Brighton on August 30 and 31. The July makeup feature was first up on the schedule on Saturday night, and only served to add to the drama of the points chase as Glenn Styres ran into trouble in the feature while racing with Warren Mahoney for position, spinning after getting too close to the infield tractor-tire barriers. Styres would fight back for an 8th place finish, but Mahoney finished 5th and took over the points lead, while rookie Ryan Hunsinger dominated at the front to take his first career SOS victory. “The Gunslinger” was followed under the checkered flag by Rick Wilson and Adam West.
The roles reversed yet again in the night’s regularly scheduled feature as Warren Mahoney was caught up in a tangle between Dave Dykstra and Kyle Wilson early in the race. Mahoney restarted at the back of the pack and salvaged a 7th place finish, but ahead of him Styres made the most of his chance to retake the points lead, driving quickly from 5th to 1st and holding on for the win over a fast-closing Rick Wilson, while Derek Jonathan took home a fine 3rd place finish. After starting 18th on the grid, Chris Jones made a spectacular charge through the field to come home 4th.
With a 24 point gap between himself and Warren Mahoney heading into the final points event of the season on Sunday, August 31, Glenn Styres stood a good chance of repeating as SOS champ for the 2nd year in a row, but his task got much more difficult when he tangled with Dave Dykstra early in the feature event and had to go to the pits for a tire change. Returning at the rear of the field, Styres began to pick his way through the field while Warren Mahoney tried to move forward and put himself in position to win the championship, and Keith Dempster - suddenly with a real shot at the title again after Styres' trouble - raced towards the top 5. More trouble struck Styres with 8 laps complete as the #0 spun to a stop in turn 4, bringing out another caution and once again forcing Styres to start from the tail. Mahoney and Dempster were having trouble capitalizing on Styres' misfortunes, however, as Mahoney was mired in 8th, unable to make any headway towards the top 5, while Dempster, who was fast early on, began to fade through the field, and eventually dropped out of the race before it's conclusion. In the end, Styres was able to salvage a 10th place finish and solidify the championship, while up front teammate Ryan Hunsinger took his 2nd feature win of the weekend followed by Rick Wilson and Bob Crawford.
In November, the SOS honoured Styres as the first 3-time champ in tour history in the awards banquet at the Best Western Cairn Croft Hotel in Niagara Falls, while Ryan Hunsinger was presented the Rookie of the Year award. It was guest speaker Jack Hewitt who brought the house down however, as his hilarious anecdotes about his life in sprint car racing kept the crowd entertained.
A total of 47 different drivers competed in SOS events in 2008, with 6 of them finding victory lane in one of the most competitive seasons to date. The club will return in 2009 for a 14th season of top-notch sprint car racing!
by
Tommy Goudge
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