By Tommy
Goudge (September 5, 2009) – Glenn Styres
returned to Southern Ontario Sprints competition in
style on Saturday night, claiming the feature win
during the first night of Labour Day Classic weekend
at Brighton Spteedway. Styres and
teammate Keith Dempster swapped the lead twice before
the “Ohsweken Flyer” prevailed for his third SOS
feature win of the year. The
Championship chase took another dramatic turn when
Adam West got tangled up with a lapped machine and
spun with just three laps left, handing the points
lead back to Justin Martin with just one event left on
the schedule.
Travis Cunningham and Ryan Hunsinger started the
twenty lap to feature on the front row, and it was
Hunsinger using the top side of the track to take the
early lead, but behind him Rick Wilson spun in turn
two to bring about a complete restart. With
the green flag back out Hunsinger once again took the
lead, but it would be short-lived as Keith Dempster
was moving up quickly from his starting spot outside
row three.
Dempster was already into the lead on lap three when
Jason Martin spun to bring out a caution, while Rick
Wilson had already made it back to tenth, and Adam
West moved up from seventh to fourth in front of
Justin Martin who entered the night four points behind
West in the title chase. A longer
green flag run followed, with intense action going on
throughout the field as slower traffic began to play a
factor. Dempster and Styres battled
through the lapped traffic sometimes going three wide
before Styres took the lead on lap eleven, while
behind them West made his way around Hunsinger into
the third spot, and Rick Wilson was up to sixth.
Another caution flew on lap fourteen when Kyle
Wilson spun to a stop off turn three and bunched the
field once again.
Back under green, Dempster went to work trying to
reclaim the lead while West did his best to keep his
competitors for the title behind him. Dempster
would take the lead again briefly but Styres was back
out front when disaster struck at the front of the
field. Styres made his way around
the lapped machine of Kyle Fraser, but the rookie
driver slipped high in turn three just as Dempster was
making his way around the top side and the two made
contact and spun. Dempster was able
to keep going, but Fraser stopped and Adam West was
forced to spin and stop to avoid contact. With
just three laps left, West had little hope of making
up the ground lost from the back of the pack, while
Justin Martin was in the top five.
Styres was able to hold on for the victory over the
final laps, while Dempster slowed and dropped out
after the white flag flew, handing the runner-up spot
to Ryan Hunsinger, and Justin Martin held off Rick
Wilson by a nerf bar for third. Travis
Cunningham came home fifth, followed by Warren
Mahoney, Chris Jones, Bob Crawford, Jamie Collard, and
Tyler Rand rounding out the top ten.
Heat races for the twenty-one cars in attendance were
claimed by Rick Wilson, Justin Martin, and Keith
Dempster, while Glenn Styres won the Black’s
Transport Dash for Cash.
NOTES:
- Kyle Fraser made his first ever sprint car start on
Saturday behind the wheel of Mike Cushman’s #01
which went to victory lane with Rick Wilson on August
8 at Brighton.
- Erin Joyce suffered frame damage in a heat race
incident and is done for the weekend.
- The SOS tour gets back to action Sunday night when
Justin Martin will try to hold on for his first ever
SOS title over former champs Adam West and Warren
Mahoney. Racing action begins at
6:00 p.m.
RACE REPORT – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2009
SOUTHERN ONTARIO SPRINTS
2009 SEASON EVENT #8
Brighton Speedway - Brighton, Ontario
ENTRIES
(Number Name - Hometown)
0 Glenn Styres - Ohsweken
01 Kyle Fraser - White Lake
01m Jason Martin - Shedden
5 Keith Dempster - Alton
7m Justin Martin - Shedden
9j Jim Munsie - Pickering
10 Bob Crawford - Sutton
11J Chris Jones - Demorestville
15aw April Wilson - Joyceville
16k Kyle Wilson - Joyceville
25 Warren Mahoney - Lefroy
27 Jamie Collard - Burford
30 Adam West - Ridgetown
33j Erin Joyce - Alcove, QC
42w Rick Wilson - Joyceville
66 Frank Baranowski - Mt. Hope
71 Travis Cunningham - Grimsby
77x Ryan Hunsinger - Brantford
79 Dick Mahoney - Newmarket
84 Tyler Rand - Consecon
98 Paul Pekkonen - Brockville
HEAT RACE #1
(8 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 42w Rick Wilson (1)
2. 30 Adam West (4)
3. 16k Kyle Wilson (3)
4. 98 Paul Pekkonen (5)
5. 66 Frank Baranowski (2)
6. 33j Erin Joyce (7) DNF
7. 01m Jason Martin (6) DNF
HEAT RACE #2
(8 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 7m Justin Martin (1)
2. 71 Travis Cunningham (2)
3. 25 Warren Mahoney (5)
4. 79 Dick Mahoney (4)
5. 10 Bob Crawford (3)
6. 84 Tyler Rand (6)
7. 9j Jim Munsie (7)
HEAT RACE #3
(8 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 5 Keith Dempster (2)
2. 0 Glenn Styres (1)
3. 77x Ryan Hunsinger (4)
4. 11J Chris Jones (5)
5. 27 Jamie Collard (3)
6. 15aw April Wilson (6)
7. 01 Kyle Fraser (7)
Black's Transport Dash for Cash
(4 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 0 Glenn Styres (2)
2. 71 Travis Cunningham (1)
3. 42w Rick Wilson (5)
4. 30 Adam West (4)
5. 5 Keith Dempster (3)
6. 7m Justin Martin (6)
'A' FEATURE
(20 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 0 Glenn Styres (3)
2. 77x Ryan Hunsinger (2)
3. 7m Justin Martin (4)
4. 42w Rick Wilson (5)
5. 71 Travis Cunningham (1)
6. 25 Warren Mahoney (9)
7. 11J Chris Jones (12)
8. 10 Bob Crawford (14)
9. 27 Jamie Collard (15)
10. 84 Tyler Rand (16)
11. 79 Dick Mahoney (11)
12. 98 Paul Pekkonen (10)
13. 30 Adam West (7)
14. 9j Jim Munsie (19)
15. 66 Frank Baranowski (13)
16. 15aw April Wilson (17)
17. 01 Kyle Fraser (20)
18. 5 Keith Dempster (6) DNF
19. 16k Kyle Wilson (8) DNF
20. 01m Jason Martin (18) DNF
DNS. Erin Joyce
UNOFFICIAL TOP 5 IN POINTS AFTER ROUND #8
Rank. Number Name Total (positions gained/lost)
1. 7m Justin Martin 1055 (+1)
2. 30 Adam West 1014 (-1)
3. 25 Warren Mahoney 1012 (--)
4. 10 Bob Crawford 906 (--)
5. 27 Jamie Collard 899 (--)
NEXT SOS EVENT:
SOS Labour Day Classic -
Sunday, September 6, 2009
@ Brighton Speedway
Brighton, Ontario
www.BrightonSpeedway.com
www.SouthernOntarioSprints.com
