“DAFFODIL CUP” WILROC SPRINT CARS WITH NSRA CARS, WILROC LITES and OTRA August 16, 2008 By Ken Keating, Illusion Photography Aumen Wins Prestigious Daffodil Cup:                 A large crowd entered Victoria’s Langford Speedway to witness the 48th running of the prestigious Daffodil Cup with the WilRoc Sprint Car Series along with cars from Alberta, the BC Interior, and the N.S.R.A. The Daffodil Cup was initially run in Victoria in 1961 and has been one of the premier events at Western Speedway over all the past years. Twenty-three of the Winged Sprint Cars competed at this year's event for this coveted trophy. Also on the program was the O.T.R.A. with their brand of open wheel racing and the WilRoc Lite Series.                 Dean Gill and Doug Morton were winners of their respective Trophy Dashes while Jesse Dardengo took the WilRoc Lite Dash with Mark Fisher and Chris Schmelzle, driving the #25 N.S.R.A. car, winning the Sprint Car Dashes. Wayne Herrmann was taken to hospital for possible whiplash in a collision during Heat races in the O.T.R.A Series.                 Jesse Dardengo has won just about everything in the WilRoc Lite Series but he entered the pits with a suspected bent axle in the first WilRoc Lite Heat race won by Robert Morneau. Morneau also won the second Heat in this series while Dardengo would be asked to run the WilRoc Sprint Car usually driven by Randy Price as he was ailing possibly due to the heat.                    Kail Beck led the first two laps in a twenty-five lap Feature event for the O.T.R.A. Series. On lap three George The Jet Jensen took over the lead and led until lap twelve when he was passed by a hard charging Dennis Morneau who had worked his way through traffic. Dan Morneau was also coming through the pack from well deep in the field. Morneau took over the second spot when Jensen entered the pits. When the checkered flag dropped it was Dennis, followed by Dan and Bob Martin.                 A big crash played havoc with the WilRoc Lites Series Feature event. Before the first lap was complete, Brandon Hutchinson got together with Natalie Garrett going through turn three sending the Hutchinson car airborne flipping several times. He cleared the hay bails, the cement barriers, a truck and trailer landing on his side in a bunch of trees. The good news is neither driver was hurt even though a lot of damage was inflicted on both cars. This is the second bad crash for the young Hutchinson in as many races. As very few cars were available to continue and the night was getting late, officials decided to cancel the Feature for this series.                 Chris Root held the pole and led twenty-two Winged Sprint Cars to the green flag in a forty lap run for the Daffodil Cup and Denny Rand Memorial race. For the first twelve laps Root had the lead followed by Duane Zeinstra and Darren Yates while the faster drivers were trying to get to the front from deep in the field. On lap twelve the yellow came out for a spinning car and by that time Jeff  "The Hurricane” Montgomery had moved up to run sixth while Scott Aumen entered the pits for some adjustments to the suspension of his car and placing him at the very back for a restart. On the restart, Root again got a good jump and led Darren Yates in second and Mike Basher, from Tacoma; Washington in third. Montgomery moved up one spot when disaster struck the former WilRoc and N.S.R.A. Champion. The pan-hard bar broke on the front end causing the car to jump wildly bringing out another yellow and the end to Jeff’s run. Again on the restart, Root got a good start leading Yates and now Guy Barrett moving in to challenge the front runners. Meanwhile a very fast and determined Scott Aumen was working his way from the back using the outside groove and his patented slide to pass cars at will. By lap twenty he was eighth and by lap twenty-three had taken over the fourth spot. Five laps later, Aumen blasted by Yates for second place and started to reel in Root who had built a good lead over the rest of the field. Guy Barrett brought out a yellow as his rear tire went flat and his car came to a stop on corner one. This is the last thing Root needed as this put the high flying Aumen on his rear nerf bar. With the drop of the green flag for the restart, Aumen was all over Root and looking to take the lead. Meanwhile Gary Smith had moved through traffic to take over the third spot by lap thirty. Just as Aumen made the pass, blasting to the lead, Root entered the pits and left Aumen and Smith to battle it out as the laps were winding down. Smith was all over Aumen but couldn’t get underneath to get the lead. Chris Schmelzle had very little seat time in the #35 car but was around all night long and did finish in third with rookie Mitch Egner and Brain Smith rounding out the top five. Aumen had the fans on the edge of their seats as his run from the back to the front was as exciting as it could get with his outside passing and break neck speed. Mrs. Donna Rand was on hand to present the winner with the plaques and along with Willow and Tamara, the Western Speedway Trophy Girls, they also presented the winner with the Daffodil Cup.   OLD TIME RACERS (O.T.R.A.) Fast Time:  #23 Dan Morneau  18:335 B DASH: Doug Morton; Wayne Herrmann; Duane Zeinstra; Terry Cessford A DASH: Dean Gill; Dennis Morneau; Dan Morneau; Larry Joyce 1ST HEAT: Dano Ryan; Wayne Herrmann; Kail Beck; Ron Simpson 2ND HEAT: George Jensen; Bob Martin; Dean Gill; Larry Joyce MAIN EVENT: Dennis Morneau; Dan Morneau; Bob Martin; Brian Eaton; Doug Morton   WILROC LITES (WINGLESS SPRINTS): Fast Time:  #5 Marc Parkinson  16:333 (New Track Record) TROPHY DASH: Jesse Dardengo; Marc Parkinson; Deter Lejeune; Brandon Hutchinson 1ST HEAT: Robert Morneau; Marc Parkinson; Brandon Hutchinson; Daryl Morneau 2ND HEAT: Robert Morneau; Marc Parkinson; Deter Lejeune; Daryl Morneau MAIN EVENT: Cancelled due to crash.   WILROC SPRINT CARS & SUPER MODIFIEDS: Fast Time:  #44 Scott Aumen  13:788 B DASH: Mark Fisher; Monte Zema; Marty Venoit; Jim McKay A DASH: Chris Schmelzle; Gary Smith; Randy Price; Jeff Montgomery 1ST HEAT: Chris Root; Duane Zeinstra; Richie Larson; Guy Barrett 2ND HEAT: Randy Vincent; Mark Fisher; Monte Zema; Marty Venoit 3RD HEAT: Brian Smith; Mitch Egner; Gary Smith; Chris Schmelzle MAIN EVENT (40 laps--Daffodil Cup): Scott Aumen; Gary Smith; Chris Schmelzle; Mitch Egner; Brian Smith