8/28/2022
Laird Raceway
Friday Night Lights! Part 1 of Mike Parsons Memorial Aug 26, 2022
Friday Night Lights! Racenight Recap for Friday Aug 26, 2022
Our racenight of Friday August 26, 2022 was the 6th racenight of our season at Laird International Raceway, and was night one of the Mike Parsons Memorial Weekend. We had excellent weather, a packed grandstand, and fantastic car counts. It’s been good like that all season! We had some visiting drivers, weekend camping, and even a band in the beer garden.
Our races for the night got started at 7 pm, right after Annette Bouchard sang the national anthems.
Super Late Models
We had sixteen Super Late Models in attendance at the track for the night. Included in that number were five visiting drivers from Southern Ontario; #03 Dario Capirchio, #17 Brandon Passer, and #51 Ethan Courneyea all from the Innisfil area; #52 Adrian Foster from Newmarket; and #73 Mike Miller from Caledonia. We also saw Josh Ware driving the #88, and Cody McLean in the #61 for the first time this season. For the night, the Late Models were split into two groups of eight cars and each ran a heat and a feature during the night. The group was split mainly to help preserve equipment for the longer race happening on Saturday night. In the drivers meeting track promoter Donnie Varcoe said, “Be calm tonight, tomorrow is the big show; if we run 16 cars together tonight, we’ll have fewer on Saturday night. Let’s showboat tonight and race like we are on glass.” The strategy seemed to work out as all 16 cars survived the night.
In qualifying, all 16 cars were out. Top qualifier was #77 Chase Wilson with a time of 14.170 seconds around the 1/3 mile.
The first group of 8 (B group) were out for their 10 lap heat. Caution flew twice through the race. #73 Mike Miller led the first laps then later was overcome by #100 Ron Raynor. Raynor took the win, #0 Dan Byrnes 2nd and Miller 3rd.
The heat for the second group (A group) was caution free. #17 Brandon Passer led the entire race but was shown a black flag for running under his qualifying time by more than ¼ second, he did so on the first 7 laps of the 10 lap race. #51 who ran second for all but one lap of the race was credited with the win. #90 Jay Palumbo 2nd, and #21K Kevin Errington 3rd.
Right after intermission the Late Models were out for their 20 lap features. In Feature B, caution flew 3 times early in the race, and twice more later. With the cautions the race took nearly 19 minutes to complete. Ron Raynor took his second win for the night, #61 Cody McLean 2nd, and #5 John Ross 3rd.
In the A group feature, caution flew once with 17 laps complete. Up front at the start of the 20 lap race was #50 Rob Hiiemaa and #51 Ethan Courneyea. Courneyea took the lead and opened it up through the race. Hiiemaa was doing battle with #90 Jay Palumbo for 2nd. By the time Palumbo cleared Hiiemaa there was about a half lap to make up. The lap 17 caution served to bring them back together, but Courneyea got a good start and Palumbo didn’t have anything to get past. Courneyea got to take the checkered flag for a spin around the track, Palumbo 2nd, #77 Chase Wilson 3rd, and #61 Dustin Jackson 4th.
Atomic Blonde Factory Fours
The Factory Fours were second up after the Late Models through the night for two 10 lap heats and a 20 lap feature. Shanna Harten was back out after her crew spent the week changing an engine that blew up on her the week prior. Ten four bangers were out for qualifying with #12 Anthony Mannarino being fast qualifier with a time of 17.916 seconds.
Caution was out once in the first Factory Four heat, at the beginning of the race. Harten led most laps except the one that counts. The young lady had car problems on the last lap and her car just died on the inside of the front stretch. The checkered flag was handed to #7 Terrance Devon. #12 Anthony Mannarino took 2nd, and #95 Chuck Siddal 3rd.
Harten was back out for the 2nd heat; it turned out that her problem was related to an oil pressure switch. Harten quickly moved to the front. Caution flew twice during the race. Harten picked up the win this time, with #05 Tyler Praysner 2nd, Mannarino 3rd and Siddal 4th.
In their 20 lap feature they ran a fast clean caution free race. Harten again led and took the checkered flag. Devon 2nd, Mannarino 3rd, and #4 Dale Tucker 4th.
Service Rental Factory Stocks
Seven factory stocks were out for qualifying at the beginning of the night. Top qualifier was #29 John Carter with a time of 16.121 seconds. The group ran two 10 lap heats and a 20 lap feature during the night.
In their first heat all seven took the green, with #88 Rob Wagner and #88B Owen Brown leading them off. #51 Jamie Fox got past Wagner on lap 2 then the yellow flew on lap 3. Fox restarted at the front and held the lead for one more lap then got passed by #3 Brent Fewchuk. Fox dropped back another spot to 3rd after being passed by #29 John Carter. Fewchuk took the win, Carter 2nd, Fox 3rd, and #67 Jarritt Varcoe 4th.
Six cars were out for the Factory Stock second heat; missing was Wagner. Owen Brown led for a lap then John Carter moved up front. The race ran caution free and ended with Carter taking the win, Fewchuk 2nd, Brown 3rd, and Varcoe 4th. This was rookie Owen Brown’s best finish to date.
Wagner was back out to join the group for the 20 lap feature. Again, Brown was able to hang on to lead the first lap then Fewchuk and Carter both got around him on lap 2. Fewchuk and Carter raced side by side for a few laps then Carter took over the lead on lap 6. On lap 8, caution flew with #77x Ed Lapish spinning to the infield on the backstretch. This brought the group back together for a restart. Brown was still holding third at this point.
After the restart Carter maintained a lead and Varcoe moved up ahead of Brown, with Fewchuk in between. Carter opened a lead of about 10 car lengths on Fewchuk, with Varcoe right behind. As laps progressed Fewchuk and Varcoe closed on Carter then caution flew again on lap 17 with a spin in corner 1 by Jamie Fox, further back in the pack. On the restart, Carter opened a lead again and took the checkered flag. Fewchuk pulled up 2nd, 1.2 seconds behind the leader, with Varcoe 3rd another ¾ of a second further back. Jamie Fox managed 4th, Brown 5th.
NAPA Auto Parts Modifieds
Fourteen Modifieds were out during the evening with 12 of them attending the qualifying session, including #7W Josh Ware for the first time this season. Fast qualifier was Mike Hearty with a time of 14.967 seconds.
Thirteen of the mods were on track for the first 10 lap heat. #21 Jake Irwin and #28 Mark Porpealia had the front row at the start. Caution flew on lap 5, with Irwin still in the lead. #01 John Ross got alongside to lead one lap, then Irwin moved ahead again. Irwin won, #79 Rod Bolduc right beside him on the outside, just 4/100 of a second behind finished 2nd, with #90 Jay Palumbo right on Irwin’s tail for 3rd. #27 Dustin Jackson took 4th place.
Eleven were out for the modified second heat with Irwin and Porpealia at the pole again. The two ran side by side. Irwin led a lap, then Porpealia led a couple then caution flew on lap 4 with Porpealia spinning out of corner 4. Irwin restarted at the front, this time with #84 Mark Laakso beside him. Laakso took the lead then on the last lap got passed on the inside through corner 3 and 4 by Jackson, having to live with 2nd. Hearty showed 3rd, #01 John Ross 4th.
All 14 were out for the feature. Porpealia and Irwin were in the front row again. Caution flew before the first lap of the race was complete, due to a tire pushed up onto the track in corner 4. The pair led the first couple laps of the race after the restart, then caution flew as #90 Jay Palumbo, running near the back, spun out of corner 4. On the restart Porpealia inside second row didn’t get off to a good start and lost a couple of positions. #79 Roddy Bolduc was right behind Irwin and coming out of corner 4 Irwin slid a bit, allowing #27 Dustin Jackson to whip by and take over the lead.
On lap 6 Porpealia got spun out of corner 4 bringing out the caution. A few more laps and Porpealia brought out the caution again, this time into corner 2. Jackson maintained the lead from that point forward to snag the win. Palumbo took 2nd, Bolduc 3rd, #7W Josh Ware 4th and #01 John Ross 5th.
Lakeway Automotive Enduros
The last race of the night is the Enduros. Twenty (or maybe more) came up on the track to run a 20 lap race with no cautions allowed. Smashin’ and crashin’ galore! Cars and parts were scattered around the track. #97 Devin Service wheeled around avoiding all of it for 17 laps, then got tagged and slid down the embankment on corner 4 towards the track entrance. #4 Dale Tucker then had the lead for a lap until he got into a pileup at the bottom of corner 3 & 4. Tucker was able to continue, but not before he got passed by #19 Rob Morrison. Morrison went on to win the race, Tucker 2nd, 68T Trevor Reid 3rd, and Devin Service somehow recovered from his slide down the bank to get back on the track to take 4th. #13 Logan Lavoy rounded out the top 5.
A video of our feature races for the night, including the Enduro race can be found by going to the “Media – Video” link on this website.
Intermission Fun
Once again the Lawnmowers were out to run a race on the infield. We also had a School Bus Race featuring 7 busses. Spectator drags were also held during intermission. A video of it all can be found by going to the “Media – Video” link on this website.
Full race results can also be found on this website by clicking on the "Schedule" link on the menu, then clicking the "Results" button beside the particular event you are interested in. Points standings can be found on the "Points" link on the menu bar.
Article Credit: Tom Stephenson
Submitted By: Tom Stephenson
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