DELAWARE, ON - In the last race night before the Great Canadian Race weekend, front-runners didn’t make their way to Victory Lane but one driver did get his first experience in the winner’s circle.
Dion Verhoeven (77) started out front of the NASCAR Late Model field and within a half-lap he had the top points leaders on his tail; Scott Lindsay (20) in second and Ron Sheridan (52) third. Sharpie’s yellow flag went up at lap 5 for a spin out on turns one and two by the 72 of Shawn Thompson.
Mark Watson (78), Andrew Gresel (81) Steve Robblee (28) completed the six-pack out front.
At lap 10, Watson overtook Sheridan, who slipped back to sixth within another lap, just behind Robblee. By the halfway mark, Verhoeven and Lindsay were a tight one and two up front but Watson caught up and shrunk the gap until lap traffic at lap 21 nearly cost Verhoeven his lead.
At lap 24 a bunch of cars got caught up in a spin on the front straightaway – Jamie Grover (33), Terry Jacques (35) and Jay Doer (43) found themselves turned around and creating a blockage on the track. Lindsay was able to knock off some dangling material from the #20 during the caution and didn’t have to pit. But at lap 26, Lindsay and Robblee connected and Lindsay’s car struck hard into the cement off turn three and nearly went airborne. He was out of the car quickly to show he was fine but the vehicle didn’t fare as well. Robblee was black-flagged for this incident but instead of going to the back of the field, he drove to the pit area and parked. Doer also came in for the evening. Mark Watson moved into second place for the short-lived because of trouble on turn four involving Jamie Cox (00), Marc Jacobs (08) and Rick Emery (14).
Yellow again at lap 27 for Matt Box (27) and Shawn Thompson (72) where the 72 ended up with some right front damage.
On this restart, Gresel got a length up on Watson for second and Cole Powell (25) moved into fourth with Sheridan tracking fifth. Although Gresel got a nose under Verhoeven on the last time around turn 3, Verhoeven got the win. Gresel ended up second followed by Powell, Sheridan and Watson.
Jake Ott, ranked 6th in points at the start of the night and coming off several weeks of bad luck, had the pole in the Delaware Super Stocks feature. By the 6th lap, Ott had clean air with Darrell Lake (77), Jason Lidster (11) and Jared Shields (07) fighting for second and third. Lake had second and near the half-way point, Lidster took it away.
At lap 15 the points leader, Kris Lawrence, (28) called it a night with problems in the car’s rear end. It looked to be a great night to gain points for second-place driver Lidster but trouble hit him late in the race. Ott had a full straightaway lead on the pack and Lake had grabbed back second place from Lidster at lap 20. At lap 23 Lidster’s 11 lost a tire and the car spun out on the front straightway. The tire continued on to the billboards between turns one and two before bouncing into the infield. Lidster waved to cheers from the 11 as it was towed off the track. Steve Smith 84) moved into third.
Another caution shortly after the restart: the cause was unclear but Matt Humphrys (04) ended up with some damage and needed a tow. Jared Shields (07) hit a tire at turn four but limped off the track without a yellow having to fly. Ott’s domination of the race continued right to the checkered flag and his first trip to Victory Lane. Darrell Lake finished second and Steve Smith third. Paul Fothergill was fourth and Scott Nagy, fifth.
The Demar Aggregates Trucks feature got in 3 laps before the first caution and a driver to end his night on a Whitworth Towing hook.
Gary Triska (57) had the pole and the 16 of Chad Riejen overtook him in the second lap. Jeff Showler (56) moved into second pushing Triska to third as Shawn Johns (00) caught up with Matt Koricina (93). Johns was towed off but Koricina was back out for green however he didn’t finish the race.
Showler made several attempts to go high on Reijen as the two trucks broke away from the rest of the field. By lap 8 points leader Paul Fothergill, had worked his way up from 12th to third position and Triska was out of the top five. At lap 10, Showler started experiencing cornering problems and started to slip in the line-up, allowing Fothergill to move into second with Devon Bloemendal (01) third.
Caution at lap 13 for debris on the speedway. Jeff Showler used the yellow to make a quick visit to the pits and rejoined the race in time for green.
It was Reijen and Fothergill in a tight duo out front with Bloemendal, McCaw and Gary Adrieansen (55) rounding out the top five. At lap 18, McCaw made his move and claimed third while Fothergill repeatedly tried the high side to get past Riejen. They took most of the last lap side by side but Riejen hung on and won the race. Fothergill ended second, McCaw third, Showler fourth and Bloemendal fifth.
The Transmission Direct Enduro Challenge was missing the division’s points leader, David McCullough. Bill Brekelmens (88) was the pole-sitter and led a lap before Jim Fergusson (06) took over. At lap 13, the most recent Enduro winner, Jeremiah Rabideau (5) took the lead and soon created a multi-car-length lead for himself. At lap 18, some contact involving the leader dropped him down to third and Fergusson reclaimed the lead. Steve Book (64) moved into second. Rabideau grabbed the lead back for a couple of laps until Book got it again at lap 24 and Rabideau leap-frogged over Book again at lap 25.
A tangle on the front straightaway a lap before the end threatened to catch some traffic but everyone went low and avoided it. Jeremiah Rabidaeu took the checker – his second in a row. Steve Book finished second. Barry Watson, third; Jamie Klumper fourth.
From Lisa Brandt / Delaware PR
