It was a great weekend at Speedway 660. We had sunshine and awesome action on the track. The Firecracker 150 was the highlight of the weekend. We had a good car count and the racing was excellent. The second ENDURO of the 2013 racing season was pretty special too! Check out our photo album of podium finishers from this past weekend.
Dave O’Blenis (center) faced strong challenges from Brent Roy (right) and John Rankin (left) before crossing the finish line to win Speedway 660’s Firecracker 150 last Saturday night. Roy, who finished 2nd earlier this year at the Martins Home Heating 100, had to settle for 2nd place again. Rankin had a great run finishing third.
Dave O’Blenis, flanked by his racing daughters Alexandra (left) and Courtney (right) celebrates the Firecracker 150 win in the Riverview Ford Lincoln Victory Lane. Dave gave credit for the win to his crew (behind the car) who worked hard to prepare his Irving Blending & Packaging sponsored machine for the big race.
Brent Roy, “The Camry Kid”, is making a habit of finishing second in big Sportsman races at Speedway 660. After a 2nd place finish in the Martin’s Home Heating 100 back in June, Roy had to settle for 2nd best again in the Firecracker. Brent says his crew will head back to the garage to prepare for our final two point races and then try to find a way to finally get to Victory Lane in a big race. The third and final big Sportsman race, the Irving Blending & Packaging 150, is scheduled for SpeedWeekend.
John Rankin had a great run in the Firecracker, leading several laps and challenging O’Blenis for the win before the clutch on the 28 started to slip on the restarts. But John brought his machine home in third and is looking forward to another strong run come SpeedWeekend. This coming weekend Speedway 660 fans will see the 28 in action without its regular driver. John is working with his friend Lonnie Sommerville to help a rising star. Drew Greenlaw, the West Wood Estate Apartments Bandolero point leader will make his Martins Home Heating debut in John’s car.
Peter Martin was the top gun in the DMR Auto Sales & Service Street Stock Division. In recent weeks, the youngsters have been showing the veterans that the times are changing in the street stock division. 18 year old Peter started racing go-karts about ten years ago, before moving into a Bandolero car and then up to street stock. He’s having his best season ever and is looking for strong finishes in the final two point races in the next two weeks.
Geoff Tugwell only started racing with us earlier this season, but he has adapted to Speedway 660 and on Saturday night grabbed his first podium in our tough street stock division. He brought the 29T home in 2nd place and looks forward to more success here in the future. Congrats Geoff, that was a great run!
Robert Raynes has become one of the most consistent runners in the DMR Auto Sales & Service Street Stock Division in recent weeks. Rob had a third place finish to get to the podium again and hopes to continue his string of strong runs in the last two point races of the 2013 season. Rob ran the #4 on Saturday night to honour Mike Stevens who lost his life at a Parts for Trucks Pro Stock race on PEI a week ago Saturday night.
Darren Beatty had a night to remember in the Fredericton Gun Shop Sharp Shooter Division. Darren followed up his first heat win with his first ever feature victory. Darren was pretty pleased with his great night at Speedway 660 and wouldn’t mind a few more visits to the Riverview Ford Lincoln Victory Lane before the 2013 racing season wraps up in a few short weeks.
Malcolm Suley is having a blast in our Sharp Shooter division this year. Malcom brought his machine home in second place on Saturday night. He encouraged fans, who would like to get into racing, to consider starting out in a Sharp Shooter. He says its lots of fun and relatively inexpensive to build a car. However he also says it can get a little rough out there when these little front wheel drives start slip-sliding around!
Daniel Clark had another good outing in our Sharp Shooter division on Saturday night. Daniel, who won the feature just a few weeks ago, settled for third this time out. Clark is a young guy who has traded in a seat in the stands for a seat in a race car. Speedway 660 is proud of our Sharp Shooters and the thrilling racing they provide our fans every week.
Ashton Tucker was our top BandoKid on Saturday night. At just 12 years of age, Ashton became the youngest driver in the history of Speedway 660 to ever win a feature race! But it wasn’t easy because Ashton had to hold off Drew Greenlaw, our points leader, to get the win. What a great ride – way to go Ashton!
Drew Greenlaw continued his string of podium finishes in the West Wood Estate Apartments Bandolero Division on Saturday night. Drew spent most of his podium interview congratulating Ashton Tucker on his first win and telling fans that Ashton is destined to be one of the top Bando drivers here at Speedway 660. Next Saturday night Drew will take the next step in his racing career, when he gets into John Rankin’s #28 to make his debut in the Martins Home Heating Sportsman Division. Good luck Drew!
Alexandra O’Blenis and her Dad Dave are all smiles as they celebrate another Bando podium finish. Alexandra came home third on Saturday night as she gets set to graduate from the Bando division at the end of 2013. Dave’s oldest daughter has already run a few street stock races with us this year and we look forward to seeing her move forward in her racing career in the years to come.
The Mercer Boys are riding high in Speedway 660’s ENDURO Division. Chuck (left) and his cousin Clifford won the 2nd ENDURO 200 of the year on Sunday afternoon. The defending champs are really on a roll after winning both events this year. The Mercer’s have their sights set on a 2nd straight title when they head back to the track for the final race of the season on SpeedWeekend.
For the second time this season Brody Seveck has had to settle for a 2nd place finish behind the Mercer Boys in the ENDURO 200. But Brody is OK with that, because he knows he’s got a chance when SpeedWeekend rolls around to take the ENDURO title, if the Mercer boys have a tough day.
Dale Gilbert finished third in Sunday’s ENDURO 200. Dale pretty much used up his car, not to mention the shirt off his back and his jeans, to get to the podium! Good run Dale!
Images by Speedway 660 Photo Journalist Michelle Roy
