CANADA 200 KATANA BOAT SERIES and VI RENTALS STOCK CARS September 6th, 2008 By Ken Keating, Illusion Photography Campbell River’s Jason Beaulieu had an impressive run in the Katana Boat Sportsman Canada 200 at Western Speedway Saturday night and came away with the win. Ryan Wade was also impressive in the V.I. Stock Car Series as he won the fifty lap Feature event for this series. The evening’s event began with Trophy Dashes for both series, Heat races for Stock Cars, and Feature events for both series. Mike Soppit and Ken Jorgensen were winners in their respective Dash races while Dave Reside and Ryan Wade won the Stock Car Dashes. Mike Dibblee and Josh Reaume were the winners in the Stock Car Heat races. The night also included demonstration races put on by the Karting Series that run regularly at Western Speedway. These carts can reach speeds over seventy miles an hour running on the big oval. Former NASCAR driver Harry Gant and Larry Pollard traded stories with track announcers Rocky Horn and Barry Rankin in an interview at Victory Square. This marked the first time that Gant has visited this side of Canada and has never been a Grand Marshall during his illustrious career. Pollard is a local man that also has found success both as a driver and now has his own business in North Carolina and still works with NASCAR teams. Nineteen cars lined up to take the green flag for fifty laps of racing in the V.I.Rental Stock Car Series with Don Hallgard and Don Krickmeyer sharing the front row. Hallgard grabbed the lead on the second lap followed by Krickmeyer. Mike Dibblee spun around very early and was tagged by Buck Ford, with no where to go, bringing out the first yellow of the night. On the restart, Hallgard still lead as Ryan Wade, Kyle Cottam, Brian Clutchey, Rory Smith, and others were trying to get through traffic from deep in the field. After just two laps of green flag racing, another yellow came out but Wade and Rory Smith had passed Clutchey and into fourth and fifth respectively. Chris McInerney slammed the front stretch wall bringing this yellow out just seven laps down. He was unhurt and walked away from the crash. Wade wasted very little time trying for the lead as he took the outside groove to go side by side with Hallgard while Clutchey went side by side with Krickmeyer in a good battle for the first four spots. On lap fourteen Wade made the clean pass and grabbed the lead. Clutchey passed Krickmeyer on lap twenty-one for the second spot leaving Krickmeyer in a battle to hold on to third place. Wade began to open a good lead and did not slow as he lapped the back markers. Clutchey also had a comfortable lead on the third place car as he too went through lapped traffic. At the checkered flag it was Wade, winning his fourth Feature followed by Clutchey, Krickmeyer, Kyle Cottam, and Mike Dibblee rounding out the top five. Darrell Midgley and Steve Lengert shared the front row for the Katana Boat Sportsman Canada 200 Feature event of the night. Grand Marshall, Harry Gant, threw the green flag to send twenty-three cars on their way with Lengert taking the lead on lap two followed by Midgley and Robbie Haslam. Meanwhile behind these drivers, Jason Beaulieu and Korbin Thomas were coming from their starting spots very quickly. By lap five, Dave Willison had moved to the fourth spot followed by local driver Geoff Morris with Beaulieu moving into the sixth spot. On lap twelve, Willison spun between turn one and two and was hit by Midgley who had no place to go. Both cars entered the pits with Midgley done for the night and Willison coming back to race later. After sorting the field, Geoff Morris and Haslam brought the field back to the green flag with Beaulieu now running third and Brent Morris in fourth. On lap sixteen, Beaulieu went to the outside trying to take the second spot from Haslam. Haslam slipped somewhat and the two cars got together with Beaulieu stopping just short of hitting the wall. Beaulieu entered the pits for a quick check on his car and both drivers were forced to start at the back of the pack for the restart. On the restart Geoff Morris and Korbin Thomas lead the field with Thomas taking over the top spot followed by Geoff, Brent Morris and Tim Christy in fourth. These drivers continued to battle until Brent passed Geoff on lap twenty-seven with Christy going into third one lap later. Over the next several laps these drivers continued to chase with last year’s winner, Dave Hemrich, now running the fifth spot. Meanwhile Beaulieu had started his run forward in a hurry passing cars with each lap. On lap forty-one Christy took the second spot and continued his battle with the Morris brothers while Thomas continued to lead. A couple of laps later, Ken Jorgensen moved into fifth knocking Hemrich back with now Beaulieu set to move into the top six. From lap forty-five through lap fifty-six these cars continued the relentless chase of one another taking turns at trying to move up. On lap sixty-four Beaulieu took over fourth behind Christy while the leader was being challenged by Geoff Morris who did take the lead on lap seventy-one. On lap eighty-one, Thomas again grabbed the lead with Beaulieu taking third from Christy and into second spot three laps later. On lap ninety-one the yellow came out again when Willison had mechanical problems coming to a stop on corner four. Officials decided to use this caution for a fuel stop and brought out the red flag. The double row restart would put Thomas on the inside with now Beaulieu on the outside as the field came around to take the green flag again. Beaulieu grabbed the top spot immediately with Thomas, Geoff Morris, Christy, and Jorgensen rounding out the top five. Bealieu started to stretch his lead on each lap as the rest of the top four continued to trade spots over the next several laps. On lap one hundred eighty-six, the yellow came out again as Beaulieu ran into a spinning Haslam going through turn one. Beaulieu kept going after the glancing blow but now had smoke coming from the rear. After a closer look it was determined that the fender was rubbing a rear tire but he could continue. On the restart, Beaulieu got away again and led the remaining laps to take the win. Korbin Thomas held on for a second place finish while Christy had moved in to take third followed by Geoff Morris and Ken Jorgensen rounding out the top five. In the interview Beaulieu admitted this was a rough race to win but dedicated the win to WilRoc and N.S.R.A. Sprint Car driver, Dan Fisher who lost his life in a boating accident just a week ago. He also praised the support from his crew and wife as he admitted: “I wouldn’t be here without their help.” The other top drivers interviewed admitted they had nothing for Beaulieu at the end. STOCK CAR CLASS: FAST TIME:  #98 Brian Clutchey 18:683 B TROPHY DASH: Dave Reside; Don Hallgard; Donny Krickmeyer; Rory Smith A TROPHY DASH: Ryan Wade; Brian Clutchey; Shane Scott; Kirk Peacey 1ST HEAT: Joshua Reaume; Chris McInerney; Donny Krickmeyer; Trevor Emmory 2ND HEAT: Mike Dibblee; Kyle Cottam; Brian Clutchey; Ryan Wade MAIN EVENT: Ryan Wade; Brian Clutchey; Donny Krickmeyer; Kyle Cottam; Mike Dibblee; Shane Scott; Aaron Wilkie; Ray Anderosov   LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN CLASS:  (CANADA 200): FAST TIME:  #33 Dave Hemrich  16:962 B TROPHY DASH: Mike Soppit; Dave Willson; Don Nickel; Robbie Haslam A TROPHY DASH: Ken Jorgensen; Korbin Thomas; Dave Hemrich; Geoff Morris 200 LAP MAIN EVENT: Jason Beaulieu; Korbin Thomas; Tim Christie; Geoff Morris; Ken Jorgensen; Brent Morris; Harvey Hoogenboom; Otto Bohati; Steven Lengert; Dave Hemrich