Results
September 2ndMonster Trucks, Monster Crash At Western Speedway
A good crowd was on hand for an action packed night at Western Speedway for night 2 of the “Monstrous Weekend” that featured all Demo Classes, Dwarf Cars, Hornets, and the Monster trucks. Fans didn’t have to wait very long for the action to begin. Don Banasky, driving the #44 Dwarf Car for BJ Bradley, crashed big time in the Dwarf Car Heat race. As the field got the green flag, Banasky caught a tire, from another car, and went airborne rolling end over end several times and came to rest well clear of the track on turn one. This was one of the worst crashes in this series since they started racing at Western Speedway. Preliminary examination, by medics, seemed to indicate that Don was sore but ok. Later he would be transferred to hospital for further examination as the pain in his neck got worse.
Not long after this crash, Brad Campbell fired up the big Monster Public Disturbance. As he came down from his first jump something went wrong and the engine was turned off. Once around to the back of the truck it was readily apparent that he blew a rod right through the oil pan ending the night for this truck.
In another tuff Figure 8 Main, lead changes and hard hits were aplenty. Kail Beck started dead last and found his way to the front for a short time. Brad Watkins ran in the top two or three until he got knocked out. Sean Hitchings always seemed to be in the right place and at the right time as when the dust settled he took the checkered flag ahead of J.J. Taylor and Kyle Ridley This marked the first time this driver won a Feature event.
Tyler Peters and John McNabb shared the front row for the Dwarf car Main. Peters got the lead very early and had to try and hold off a determined Carl Carlson Jr. until he spun out on lap 16. On the restart, Peters then held off BJ Bradley and Bob Pridge for the remaining five laps for the win.
Darrell Crocker likes racing the big oval although it doesn’t really matter. After taking the Hornet Car Championship the previous Wednesday, Crocker went on to win the Feature event again Saturday night. This is the second time he has come through the field to take the checkered flag with a big field of cars and very entertaining racing all around the track.
After 3 laps, Dave Reaside, driving for Eric Fournier, found his way to the front of the Claimer Main. Aaron Wilkie and Kevin Knight, driving for Glen Percival, found their way to the front and over the course of the event saw four abreast on several occasions. Wilkie had the lead for several laps and built a good lead leaving Reaside, A.J. Quakenbush, and Chris Broughton in a tight battle for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. After a yellow on lap 11, Broughton got to the outside of Reaside while Wilkie was trying to hold off Knight. On lap 16, Wilkie lost a rear tire going through turn 1 giving the lead to Knight. After clearing the track of some debris, Knight had to contend with Broughton on his bumper. Over the last few laps, Broughton gave up the second spot to Reaside and continued to fall back. At the line, Knight took the checkered flag with Reaside holding second followed by Quakenbush. The win gave him the Feature trophy plus the Jeff Wilson Jr. Memorial Cup. Mark Anderson was on hand to present the trophy and a big cheque of $800.00 to the winner. Anderson, from Ocean Care Health and Support Services sponsors of this race, expects this event will get bigger and better each year as more and more sponsors are getting involved in this particular event. This will become a very significant race for Claimer car racing
Darren Keeler returned to Demo Truck action after a year and a half off and took over where he left off. The past Demo Truck Champ won the Demo Truck Feature ahead of Mark Lefebvre, who also was away for awhile, and Bill Shire rounded out the top three.
Mel Jeffries led a stellar field of Demo Cars to the green flag in a “Crash for Cash” Feature event. The hitting was hard and often. Smokin Joe Liberatore had one of the fastest cars in the field but broke his steering early in the race. Troy Tarbuck brought out a red flag when he went off in turn one and no one could see him moving around. This was a false alarm as he was ok but the car wouldn’t re-fire. George Haywood led the field back to green followed by Bill Stidston and Jeffries. Doug Richens suffered flat tires when he tried to take out Jeffries but worked his way back to the front and was all over Haywood. He got the lead on lap 18 and surrendered that shortly thereafter as he got tangled up with Kirk Peacey on the backstretch. Before he could get away, Haywood caught him and took him out again. Haywood went on to the win followed by Stidston and Richens. Haywood collected a $1000.00 cheque as well as the Feature event trophy. After entering the pits, Richens had to be helped out of his car with a possible shoulder injury suffered in one of the hits in another tuff Demo Car race.
This night was capped off by the Monster Moose, driven by Brad Campbell, for the finale. He pulled off pretty good wheel stands as he smashed a series of cars and a van to a pile of rubble as the huge 10,000lb Monster climbed up and came crashing down on the cars.
STORY AND
PHOTOS BY
KEN KEATING
ILLUSION PHOTOGRAPHYPHOTOS BY DALE ERDMAN DWARF CARS:
DASH: Don Banasky; Bruce Garside; Bob Pridge; B.J. Bradley
HEAT: Tyler Peters; Bruce Garside; Bob Pridge; Steve Jacques
MAIN: Tyler Peters; B.J. Bradley; Bob Pridge; Bruce Garside; Steve Jacques
HORNET CARS:
DASH: Daryl Crocker; Phil Lagan; Jean-Luc Lagan; Phil Colman
1ST HEAT: Rick Hargraves; Robin Trotter; Jonathan Reaume; Jessica Hall
2ND HEAT: Rory Smith; Jean-Luc Lagan; Phil Lagan; Brad Davies
MAIN: Daryl Crocker; Phil Lagan; Phil Colman; Rick Hargraves; Rory Smith
CLAIMER CARS:
DASH: Erik Fournier; Aaron Wilkie; Paul Verhagen; Teresa Johnson
1ST HEAT: Brian Wakelin; Matt Verhagen; Teresa Johnson; Kevin Knight
2ND HEAT: A.J. Quackenbush; Mike Dash; Bill Lushaw; Chris Broughton
MAIN: Kevin Knight; Erik Fournier; A.J. Quackenbush; Chris Broughton; Mike Dash
DEMO CARS:
DASH: Doug Richens; Joe Liberatore; George Haywood; Kirk Peacey
HEAT: Doug Richens; George Haywood; Kirk Peacey; Joe Liberatore
MAIN: George Haywood; Troy Tarbuck; Doug Richens; Billy Stidson; Mel Jeffries
DEMO TRUCKS:
DASH: Mark Lavoie; Darren Keeler; Craig Holfeld; Dave Cate
HEAT: Craig Holfeld; Dave Cate; Bill Shire; Mark Lavoie
MAIN: Darren Keeler; Mark Lavoie; Bill Shire; Dave Cate; Aasen Baker
MINI FIGURE 8 CARS:
DASH: Kail Beck; J.J. Taylor; Cody Young; Dennis Smith
1ST HEAT: Shawn Young; Shawn Conarroe; Aaron Propp; Shawn Hitchings
2ND HEAT: Kail Beck; Kyle Ridley; Cody Young; J.J. Taylor
MAIN: Shawn Hitchings; J.J. Taylor; Kyle Ridley; Kail Beck; Shawn Young
