WILROC SPRINT CARS, WILROC LITES, OTRA, MINI STOCKS and DWARF CARS
September 20th, 2008
By Ken Keating, Illusion Photography
Western Speedway presented the Championship night for the WilRoc Lites, WilRoc Sprint Car Series, and the Island Dwarf Car Series with the I.M.S.4 Mini Stock Series and O.T.R.A. also on the card. A full program of Dashes, Heats, and Main events were planned and three Champions would be named by night’s end.
One had to feel for the point’s leader in the Serious Coffee I.M.S.4 Mini Stock class as Lois Pollard-Grant entered last night’s Main event sporting a sixty-one point lead over her closest rival Sean Constantine. Matt Szauer had the pole with Glen Percival starting on the outside for thirty laps of racing in the I.M.S.4 Mini Stock series. With the drop of the green flag Percival took the early lead and led for the first eight laps. Gord Percival then took the lead while Ryan Paterson moved into third. On lap eight Pollard-Grant had moved from her ninth starting position to take over the third spot and three laps later moved into second dropping Glen to third while Ken Schuurman moved into fourth spot. Pollard-Grant took the lead on lap twenty followed by both Percivals and Schuurman still in the hunt. On lap twenty-six a yellow flag came out as the #41, Aaron Willison, spun. At the same time Glen Percival entered the pits with a flat tire suffered from a little contact with another car. On the restart, Pollard-Grant again led and on lap twenty-eight she fell off the pace and just about every car sailed by her going down the back stretch. With every car she passed the fans burst into a loud applause as the “Lady from Sooke” worked her way to the front and was on her way to the win only to fall two laps short with transmission problems. The good news is she will be back next weekend for the Championship run in this series.
Dave “The Hammer” Emmerson had a forty-seven point advantage entering the Feature event for the Island Dwarf Car Series chase for the Championship last night. He has dominated this series all season. Sixteen cars started the Main and Bruce Garside got out early leading for two laps but was overtaken and passed by Jim Meeres who in turn lost the lead to Jeremy Stevens four laps later. James Dore moved into the second spot on lap seven and then took over the lead on lap sixteen with Stevens second and Meeres still third. Throughout the middle of the race, there was a hectic battle between Meeres, Garside, Armitage, and Bob Greenaway. On lap twenty-six, Ike Armitage took over the third spot and followed Dore and Stevens across the finish line. On the checkered flag lap, Garside slammed the front stretch wall hard but appeared to be ok as he was checked over by the ambulance crew. Emmerson was a victim of no brakes and had to retire early and had to wait to see if his point total is enough to carry the former WilRoc Champion to Dwarf Car Champion.
Although the Old Timer Racing Association drivers do not run for points, they are extremely competitive and entertaining. Dano Ryan and Larry Joyce took turns leading early with Terry Cessford up front as well. George “The Jet” Jenson moved up to third on lap six with Bob Martin in the mix. Jenson took the out right lead on lap thirteen with now Dennis Morneau behind him. For several laps these two raced side by side and bumper to bumper for several laps before Morneau took over the lead on lap twenty-three. James Campbell took over the third spot on lap twenty-five and finished behind Morneau and Jenson.
Jessie Dardengo traded his Old Timer for a run in the WilRoc Lites Series for 2008, a series he has dominated through out. Last night was no exception as he took the lead on lap five and held off a strong challenge from Rob Morneau and Marc Parkinson. Parkinson only trailed Dardengo by thirty-six points entering the Feature event but with Dardengo taking the checkered flag secured the first ever WilRoc Lite Championship for this talented driver.
A few years ago, Rob Scott suffered a fall from the roof of his house that put the former IMCA Champion in the hospital and a wheelchair for an extended period of time. Medical persons feared that Scott would not be capable of ever driving a race car again. Scott proved everyone to be wrong and the following year got behind the wheel of the high octane Sprint Car and drove hard as that is the only way Scott knows how. Saturday night Scott again drove hard and won the WilRoc Sprint Car Championship race. He has had minor car problems all year but on this night the car was on a rail and even the hard charging Jeff “The Hurricane” Montgomery couldn’t get by Scott taking the second spot while the WilRoc Champion Scott Aumen couldn’t catch either Montgomery or Scott finishing third. Aumen successfully defended his WilRoc Sprint Car Championship for the third year in a row as he carried a large point gap between him and Guy Barrett.
Forty laps would be the distance for the WilRoc Sprint Cars with Scott taking the lead on the first lap. Jeff “The Hurricane” Montgomery settled into the second spot with Duane Zeinstra in third. Behind them Guy Barrett and Darren Yates were in a tight battle for fourth and fifth. On lap fourteen Yates took over the third spot and Barrett moving to fourth. Barrett got by Yates on lap twenty-four with Scott Aumen moving to the fifth spot on lap twenty-one. A couple of yellow flags put Montgomery on Scott’s nerf bar but each time, on the restart, Scott maintained the advantage over the former N.S.R.A. and WilRoc Champion. On the very last lap, Aumen made the pass to move into the third spot to follow Montgomery and Scott to the checkered flag. On this night Scott’s car worked to perfection as he led start to finish in a very entertaining Feature event and finale to the WilRoc Sprint Car season.
DWARF CAR CLASS:
FAST TIME: #34 Ike Armitage 17:856
TROPHY DASH:
Dave Emmerson; James Dor'e; Jim Pridge; Ike Armitage
1ST HEAT:
James Dor'e; Jim Meeres; Brent Peck; Jeremy Stevens
2ND HEAT:
Ike Armitage; Dave Emmerson; Miles Maxie; Bruce Garside
30 LAP MAIN EVENT:
James Dor'e; Jeremy Stevens; Ike Armitage; Jim Meeres;
B.J. Bradley
IMS4 MINI STOCK CAR CLASS:
FAST TIME: #97 Lois Pollard-Grant 18:994
TROPHY DASH:
Gord Percival; Ryan Patterson; Alex Mouner; Matt Szauer
1ST HEAT:
Gord Percival; Mike Derepentigny; Glen Percival; Ryan Patterson
2ND HEAT:
Alex Mouner; Lois Pollard-Grant; Aaron Willison; Ken Schuurman
30 LAP MAIN EVENT:
Gord Percival; Ken Schuurman; Ryan Patterson;
Mike Derepentigny; Chad Dobranski
OLD TIME RACERS ASSOCIATION (O.T.R.A.) CLASS:
FAST TIME: #23 Dan Morneau 18:266
TROPHY DASH:
Dean Gill; James Campbell; Dan Morneau; Jim Rankin
1ST HEAT:
Stephen Dardengo; Terry Cessford; Larry Joyce; Doug Morton
2ND HEAT:
Bob Martin; Dennis Morneau; George Jenson; Jim Rankin
30 LAP MAIN EVENT:
Dennis Morneau; George Jenson; James Campbell;
Stephen Dardengo; Jim Rankin
WILROC LITES WINGLESS SPRINT CAR CLASS:
FAST TIME: #5 Marc Parkinson 16:203 (New Track Record)
TROPHY DASH:
Rob Morneau; Marc Parkinson; Deter Lejeune; Jesse Dardengo
1ST HEAT:
Marc Parkinson; Rob Morneau; Paul Verhagen; Natalie Garrett
2ND HEAT:
Rob Morneau; Jesse Dardengo; Marc Parkinson; Brian Bickford
20 LAP MAIN EVENT:
Jesse Dardengo; Rob Morneau; Marc Parkinson; Brian Bickford;
Paul Verhagen
WILROC WINGED SPRINT CAR CLASS:
FAST TIME: #44 Scott Aumen 13:974
TROPHY DASH:
Scott Aumen; Randy Price; Richie Larson; Matt Mansell
1ST HEAT:
Mark Fisher; Randy Vincent; Rob Scott; Duane Zeinstra
2ND HEAT:
Darren Yates; Guy Barrett; Mitch Egner; Chris Schmeltze
40 LAP MAIN EVENT:
Rob Scott; Jeff Montgomery; Scott Aumen; Guy Barrett;
Richie Larson; Darren Yates; Randy Price; Duane Zeinstra;
Merv Barcello; Joe Dardengo
WILROC SEASON POINT CHAMPION: #44 Scott Aumen
