Mansell Impressive In Strawberry Cup Win Langford BC, June 13th, 2009:                 Matt Mansell drove his WilRoc Sprint car to an impressive win in the 25th Annual Times Colonist Strawberry Cup race hosted by Western Speedway Saturday night. The Old Time Racers Association, the WilRoc Lites, and the WilRoc Sprint Car Series made their second appearance for 2009 in front of a very large crowd to watch a full program that included Trophy Dashes, Heat races, and Feature events for all classes. Jenny Rhodes got the evening underway with a great performance singing both the U.S. and Canadian National Anthems much to the delight of the many fans.                  The WilRoc Lites would have to race for thirty laps to the checkered flag in their Feature event with Paul Verhagen taking the early lead. On the very first lap, Rob Morneau, running third missed turn three and wound up spinning into the grass bringing out the caution flag. On the restart, Richard Lejeune grabbed the lead with Marc Parkinson in second and on lap seven Parkinson made a bid for the lead followed by Richard Lejuene and Jesse Dardengo. These three drivers were joined by Joe Dardengo to make a four car battle up front. They traded spots on a regular basis throughout the middle laps darting underneath and running side by side to try and gain the advantage with Joe finally getting the lead. On lap twenty-four, Wade Heckford brought out another yellow as he spun going through turn one. On the restart, Parkinson now running second, again jumped quickly and into the lead dropping Jesse Dardengo back to third. In the earlier Heat race, Jesse Dardengo and Parkinson waged a great battle before Dardengo won a drag race to the flag winning by just a few feet. This race would prove more of the same except this time Parkinson held off the hard charging Joe and Jesse Dardengo and would finish in that order.                 Roger and Kail Beck shared the front row for the start of forty laps of racing for the Old Timers Feature event. Kail jumped quickly to the front but Steven Dardengo took over the lead only three laps down. George "The Jet" Jenson moved up to run third. Over the first few laps, Dardengo, Jenson, Dan Morneau, and Rob Morneau were all running in a tight bunch side by side and bumper to bumper. On lap thirteen, three cars tried going through turn one three wide with Dardengo taking out Dan Morneau as they were both dicing for the lead. This tangle brought out the yellow flag. On the restart, the battle for the lead included Rob Morneau, Bob Martin, Dean Gill, and Jenson again running in a tight bunch. On lap eighteen, Gill led the pack as Denis Morneau also entered the lead pack looking for the lead. Rob Morneau dogged Gill throughout the remaining laps but couldn't overtake the leader. At the flag it was Gill taking the win followed by Rob in second and Bob Martin placing third.                 Tony Menard and Mark Fisher led the field of fifteen Sprint Cars to the line for a fifty lap race to the Strawberry Cup, Lorraine and Jim Haslam Memorial Hall of Fame Trophy. Fisher jumped to the early lead followed by Menard and Rob Scott jumping into the third spot. On lap six, Darren Yates took a wild ride going down the backstretch. He wasn't quite sure what happened but he rode the wall for several feet before his car flipped landing on the wing and then back on it's wheels. Luckily Yates was unhurt in this spectacular crash but his night would end very early. On the restart, Fisher again brought the field around to retake the green flag and now Matt Mansell moved into the mix. Menard grabbed the lead followed by Scott and Mansell. Fisher dropped out entering the pits while Mansell moved quickly to pass Scott and then Menard making a great inside move to take the lead. By the eighteenth lap, Guy Barrett jumped up to run in third with Scott now running fourth. Mansell, once in front, powered his way to a half lap lead over Barrett and Menard. On lap thirty Aumen was on the move taking the third spot and gaining ground on Barrett. On lap thirty-two the number three car, driven by Doug McLees, slowed right off the pace bringing out a yellow and tightening the field. With such a big lead, a yellow was the last thing Mansell needed as now he had Barrett and Aumen right on his tail. On the restart, Mansell got a great jump and resumed where he left off setting a great pace. On lap forty-two, Aumen ducked around Barrett for second but no one had anything for Mansell as he stretched his lead and went on to another big win. Earlier, Mansell said he and his crew chased his setup as it wasn't working at all. He said, "We went back to the first crazy setup and this did work. I am speechless". Mansell is off to a great season winning the first Feature of 2009 and adds the Times Colonist Strawberry Cup and Lorraine and Jim Haslam Memorial Hall of Fame Trophy to his credit so far.                 A very happy Mansell accepted the trophies from Roy, Mike, and Robbie Haslam representing the Haslam family while Trophy Girls Cadie and Lori presented Matt with the Feature race trophy and the Strawberry Cup.  OLD TIME RACERS ASSOCIATION (O.T.R.A.): FAST TIME: #03 Denis Morneau  18:238 B TROPHY DASH: Rich Bennett; Larry Joyce; Terry Cessford; Bob Martin A TROPHY DASH: Dan Morneau; Rob Morneau; Dean Gill; Denis Morneau 1ST HEAT RACE: George Jenson; Kail Beck; Stephen Dardengo; Dano Ryan 2ND HEAT RACE: Bob Martin; Denis Morneau; Dan Morneau; James Campbell MAIN EVENT (40 LAPS): Dean Gill; Rob Morneau; Bob Martin; Denis Morneau; Dan Morneau   WILROC LITES: FAST TIME:  #5 Marc Parkinson  16:211 B TROPHY DASH: Paul Verhagen; Wade Heckford; Mark Gall; Brian Bickford A TROPHY DASH: Jesse Dardango; Marc Parkinson; Deter Lejeune; Joe Dardengo 1ST HEAT RACE: Deter Lejeune; Wade Heckford; Rob Morneau; Matt Verhagen 2ND HEAT RACE: Jesse Dardengo; Marc Parkinson; Paul Verhagen; Mark Gall MAIN EVENT (30 LAPS): Marc Parkinson; Joe Dardengo; Jesse Dardengo; Deter Lejeune; Wade Heckford   WILROC SPRINT CARS: FAST TIME:  #44 Scott Aumen  13:901 B TROPHY DASH: Randy Vincent; Doug McLees; Rob Scott; Gerry Vantreight A TROPHY DASH: Guy Barrett; Randy Price; Darren Yates; Scott Aumen 1ST HEAT RACE: Mark Fisher; Gary Smith; Gerry Vantreight; Rob Scott 2ND HEAT RACE: Randy Vincent; Darren Yates; Scott Aumen; Tony Minard MAIN EVENT (50 LAPS)--STRAWBERRY CUP AND JIM/LORRAINE HASLAM MEMORIAL HALL OF FAME TROPHY Matt Mansell; Scott Aumen; Guy Barrett; Gerry Vantreight; Randy Price