DEMO CARS, CLAIMERS, DEMO TRUCKS, MINI FIGURE 8’s and MINI VANS April 5th, 2008 Mini Vans Debut at Western Speedway Langford, BC, April 5, 2008: by Ken Keating                 For the 150 plus souls that braved rather cool temperatures for the opening race of the 2008 Western Speedway season were treated to a preview of things to come in the Demo classes. Mini Vans raced for the very first time and should prove to be very entertaining as the field grows. Kevin Knight, Kail Beck, and Glen Percival put on a good showing as they raced down the front stretch and then had to do a double loop around tires at both ends of the course. Beck could not get his van running for the Dash but the youngster got it going for the Heat. Starting in the rear, Beck got to the inside of Percival on three corners and finally made the complete pass and held on for the victory. Percival got a little revenge by taking the victory in the Main Event holding Beck at bay.                 Tim Fraser had problems qualifying his Figure 8 car but he, like Beck, got it going and came away with a win in the Heat race. He had it going pretty well in the Main as well, however, after building a good lead over only two laps, the car quit again coming to a stop in the cross over. Last year’s Champion, Kyle Ridley took over the lead and held same for the next four. Shawn Hitchings then passed Ridley and took the checkered flag adding to his win in the Trophy Dash.                 Mark Lefebvre had a good start to the Demo Truck series as he pulled a “clean sweep” taking the Dash, the Heat race, and the Main Event win. Officials decided to run a combined Main with Trucks starting behind the Demo Cars for a twenty lap race. Trucks were to hit only trucks and of course cars were to hit only cars. That only lasted for a short time as Mike Noyce didn’t notice that he was behind a truck and took out Lefebvre. He was motioned to the pits for a rules reminder. Jim Young had the lead for three laps until his rear axle broke bringing out a caution flag. Last year’s Champion Doug Richens powered his way to the front and held the lead until lap thirteen. After another yellow, Richens didn’t get a good jump and was promptly taken out by Kirk Peacey with the drop of the green flag. Steve Miller, driving the 02 car, then grabbed the lead and walked away with the Main Event for Demo Cars while Lefebvre beat Barry Morrison to the line in the Demo Trucks.                 Racing three wide in the Claimer series was normal last year and if Saturday night was an indication, then it will continue into 2008. With the drop of the green flag cars raced through turn one three wide. Earlier in the Heat race, Mike Noyce showed a very fast car easily taking the win. Behind him however, Sam Hunt and the #88 car had a good tussle running for second. As they rounded turn two, a slower car had spun out and as he tried to gain control went up the track right in the path of both the second and third place cars putting them into the backstretch wall. Neither driver was seriously hurt but the #88 car was done for the night. Noyce starting in fourth spot got out to the lead on the second lap and never looked back. Chris Broughton and Brian Wakelin starting in the final positions worked their way through traffic with Broughton taking second spot on lap ten while Wakelin moved into third on lap fourteen. No one had anything for Noyce on this night as he took the checkered flag in the Feature race to go with his earlier win.                 Western Speedway now has a mascot desperately looking for a name. You can enter the “Name the Mascot” any race night at Western Speedway. CLAIMER CLASS: DASH:  Brian Wakelin; Chris Broughton; Paul Verhagen; Dennis Stewart 1ST HEAT:  Mike Noyce; Sam Hunt; Mike Derepentigny; Teresa Johnson 2ND HEAT:  Brian Wakelin; Chris Broughton; Matt Vermagen; Dennis Stewart MAIN:  Mike Noyce; Chris Broughton; Brian Wakelin; Paul Verhagen; Dennis Stewart   DEMO CAR CLASS: DASH:  Kirk Peacey; Douglas Richens; Mike Rutty; Michael Noyce HEAT:  Douglas Richens; Michael Noyce; Kirk Peacey; Jim Young MAIN:  Steve Miller; Douglas Richens; Kirk Peacey; Michael Noyce   DEMO TRUCK CLASS: DASH:  Mark Lefevre; Barry Morrison; David Cates; Aasen Baker HEAT:  Mark Lefevre; Barry Morrison; David Cates; Aasen Baker MAIN:  Mark Lefevre; Barry Morrison; Richard Milne; David Cates   MINI FIGURE 8 CLASS: DASH:  Shawn Hitchings; Cody Young; Kyle Ridley HEAT:  Tim Fraser; Cody Young; Kyle Ridley; Shawn Hitchings MAIN:  Shawn Hitchings; Kyle Ridley; Cody Young   MINI VAN CLASS: DASH:  Glenn Percival; Kevin Knight HEAT:  Kail Beck; Kevin Knight; Glenn Percival MAIN:  Glenn Percival; Kail Beck; Kevin Knight