8/9/2025
Laird Raceway
Thurdsay August 7th was Hot in More Ways than One!
Recap for Thursday August 7, 2025
Our fourth racenight of the 2025 race season was a hot one, in more ways than one. We were watching the weather forecasts and radar quite closely earlier on in the day. There was a 50% chance of precipitation just prior to the beginning of the racenight but we lucked out and the rain came down well north of the Sault area. Skies were mostly cloudy but the temperature and humidity was high, with the temperatures about 30 degrees when people were arriving at the track. Mostly cloudy skies and a breeze helped to make it tolerable. Even at the end of the racenight temperatures were still above 20 degrees - quite comfortable.
Hot temperatures can be more of a challenge for drivers and teams. Besides just the added heat in the car, stressing the driver, there are also car setup issues. Track temperature affects tire grip and performance. Hotter tracks can lead to tires overheating and reduced grip, while colder tracks can cause tires to become too hard and also reduce grip. Drivers and teams must adjust their strategies and driving techniques to account for track conditions. We were lucky that skies were partly cloudy during race time, to keep the sun from beating down on the track making it hotter and more "greasy".
Our race night was sponsored by the nice folks at Equipment World; they had a couple new Bobcat machines on display behind the main grandstand for fans to check out. Equipment World is located on Drive In Road. They are a one-stop shop, selling and renting new and used machines and equipment and more! They've got it all. Plus, they back it up with full-service support and parts. Whatever you need, they're there to keep you moving. Visit their website at https://www.equipworld.com/ to learn more about what they can do to help you with your projects and needs.
The national anthems were once again sung by Annette Bouchard on the front stretch. Accompanying announcer Greg Brazeau for Late Model driver introductions was 3 year old Cole Plath. Cole counted them down with fans and gave the command to "start your engines". Greg posted a video clip on his Braztv Facebook page here. Cole was all smiles! Our racenight then got started with a Super Late Model heat.
Service Rentals and Sales Super Late Models:
The car count in the Service Rentals and Sales Super Late Model division was up from previous weeks to 10 cars, including Chase Wilson out for the first time in a late model this season driving the #46 machine owned by Dan Byrnes. Also out doing "double duty" was Dustin Jackson in the #61; Dustin has primarily been running in the Modified division this season. Fast qualifier of the ten was #33 Jordan Rocchetta. The top 7 qualifiers were separated by less than 2/10ths of a second. The division ran a 10 lap heat and a 30 lap heat during the night.
Dustin Jackson in the #61 led them off in the heat and maintained a commanding distance over the rest of the field for the entire race. The white flag came out and before the entire field had crossed the line caution was out for a single car spin in corner 3. On the restart Jackson maintained the lead with #47 Jordan Sims right behind. Rob Hiiemaa ran third for most of the race but on the restart got bumped, possibly cutting down a tire and he fell back on the last lap to finish 10th.
The 30 lap Late Model Feature was plagued with 9 caution flags through the race, mostly for cars spinning. Nine cars started; missing was #15 Jake Irwin. The fourth caution of the race on lap 10 saw #33 Jordan Rocchetta drive into the back of #79 Roddy Bolduc into corner 3 sending both for a spin. Both were able to restart but within a lap Bolduc left. #56 Mike Heinonen also left during that caution.
The fifth caution came out on lap 21 when #51 Jeremy Van Hoek spun in corner three. Van Hoek had been running second behind leader Jackson with Sims working outside him for a number of laps. Van Hoek was sent to the back. Immediately after the restart caution was out again, this time Van Hoek and #826 Jordan Parniak came together entering corner 1. Van Hoek was done for the night.
After the restart leaders Jackson and Sims had a little bump session on the front stretch and when they straightened out Sims had the lead. Caution was out again, this time for #50 Rob Hiiemaa and #46 Chase Wilson coming together into corner 3. Wilson left and Hiiemaa restarted at the back. The green flag flew for the restart but it looked like Sims wasn't ready an blew the start with outside cars quickly going past him. Going into corner 1 Sims and Hiiemaa got together; a lucky break for Sims as he got another chance for the restart and took advantage of it, checking out over the rest of the field. Jackson would get one more attempt at Sims after the last caution of the race flew on lap 26 with #33 Jordan Rocchetta bumping Jackson into a spin out of corner 2. Sims got a good restart and led the rest to take the checkered flag almost 2 seconds ahead of Jackson.
In the season points championship #47 Jordan Sims retains top spot. #826 Jordan Parniak took over 2nd, dropping #79 Roddy Bolduc back to 3rd. Parniak is 19 point behind Sims; Bolduc is running 22 points back. 4th is Mike Heinonen, 5th is Jordan Rochetta, only 7 points separate 2nd through 5th in the points championship.
Results:
Qualifying: 1. 33-Jordan Rocchetta, 00:14.129[5]; 2. 47-Jordan Sims, 00:14.202[3]; 3. 51-Jeremy Van Hoek, 00:14.281[10]; 4. 46-Chase Wilson, 00:14.283[4]; 5. 79-Roddy Bolduc, 00:14.379[1]; 6. 50-Rob Hiiemaa, 00:14.389[9]; 7. 61-Dustin Jackson, 00:14.426[7]; 8. 21-Jake Irwin, 00:14.709[8]; 9. 826-Jordan Parniak, 00:15.015[6]; 10. 56-Mike Heinonen, 00:15.106[2]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 61-Dustin Jackson[1]; 2. 47-Jordan Sims[7]; 3. 46-Chase Wilson[5]; 4. 51-Jeremy Van Hoek[6]; 5. 33-Jordan Rocchetta[8]; 6. 79-Roddy Bolduc[4]; 7. 826-Jordan Parniak[2]; 8. 56-Mike Heinonen[9]; 9. 21-Jake Irwin[10]; 10. 50-Rob Hiiemaa[3]
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 47-Jordan Sims[8]; 2. 61-Dustin Jackson[2]; 3. 50-Rob Hiiemaa[3]; 4. 33-Jordan Rocchetta[7]; 5. 826-Jordan Parniak[1]; 6. (DNF) 46-Chase Wilson[5]; 7. (DNF) 51-Jeremy Van Hoek[6]; 8. (DNF) 79-Roddy Bolduc[4]; 9. (DNF) 56-Mike Heinonen[9]
Highland Ford Factory Stock Division:
There were thirteen Highland Ford Factory Stocks out for qualifying earlier in the evening. Top qualifier was #80 Brad Bibeau with a time of 16.015 seconds. The division was split in two for a single 10 lap heat each, then a 20 lap feature with all later on.
The first heat was with six cars. Caution flew once at the very beginning with #88 Rob Wagner leaving the track. #05 Tyler Praysner took the win. Tyler was absent last race night needing time to repair his car that was badly damaged during an earlier race night.
The second heat included 7 cars to start and ran fast and caution free. #29 Xavier Carter started at the front and led all 10 laps for a decisive win 1.5 seconds ahead of #80 Brad Bibeau.
All thirteen were out for the feature. The race started with #88 Rob Wagner leading the first lap, then the lead was taken over by #15G Andrew Givens who had started inside 2nd row. Givens led up until lap 9, first with #4 Dale Tucker behind then later he had #08 Dan Bibeau right on his tail. Givens had a noticeable "wiggle" up the front stretch then slowed around corners 1 and 2 and down the backstretch, he made an attempt to roll up the track but got in front of the 04 car of Ethan Dewar and the two collided. It took a few minutes for track workers to remove the cars. Both Dewar and Givens were done for the night.
Before the restart #66 Alex Rankin left the track, then the lap after the restart we saw #29 Xavier Carter slide up against the back guardrail then immediately leave the track without bringing out a caution. Dan Bibeau led the remaining laps with a quarter lap lead at the checkered flag. Through the last laps #4 Dale Tucker held on to second with #80 Brad Bibeau challenging. As they came out of corner 4 to the checkered flag it was a drag race between the two and Brad took second over Tucker by inches, 7/100ths of a second separated 2nd from 3rd.
Going into the evening Owen Brown had the points lead. Brown was out for hot laps before qualifying but something must have broke on his car so he was unable to run during the night. This dropped him back in the points battle in the division. Taking up the lead is Shanna Harten with 109 points. 2nd is now Dale Tucker just two points back, Brown is now 3rd - 4 points back, and Xavier Carter is 4th just 7 points behind Harten. The division is very close.
Results:
Qualifying: 1. 80-Brad Bibeau, 00:16.015[2]; 2. 08-Daniel Bibeau, 00:16.194[1]; 3. 74-BRIAN JOBST, 00:16.237[4]; 4. 29-Xavier Carter, 00:16.266[11]; 5. 711-Shanna Harten, 00:16.308[3]; 6. 75-Kenn Schwarz, 00:16.427[12]; 7. 4-Dale Tucker, 00:16.456[5]; 8. 05-Tyler Praysner, 00:16.546[10]; 9. 15G-Andrew Givens, 00:16.618[6]; 10. 66-ALEX RANKIN, 00:16.923[13]; 11. 72-Teagan Lapish, 00:17.019[8]; 12. 88-Rob Wagner, 00:17.029[7]; 13. 04-Ethan Dewar, 00:18.902[9]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 05-Tyler Praysner[4]; 2. 75-Kenn Schwarz[6]; 3. 4-Dale Tucker[5]; 4. 72-Teagan Lapish[2]; 5. 15G-Andrew Givens[3]; 6. (DNS) 88-Rob Wagner
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 29-Xavier Carter[2]; 2. 80-Brad Bibeau[5]; 3. 08-Daniel Bibeau[4]; 4. 711-Shanna Harten[1]; 5. 74-BRIAN JOBST[3]; 6. 66-ALEX RANKIN[6]; 7. 04-Ethan Dewar[7]
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 08-Daniel Bibeau[8]; 2. 80-Brad Bibeau[11]; 3. 4-Dale Tucker[4]; 4. 74-BRIAN JOBST[9]; 5. 711-Shanna Harten[7]; 6. 75-Kenn Schwarz[5]; 7. 88-Rob Wagner[1]; 8. 72-Teagan Lapish[2]; 9. (DNF) 05-Tyler Praysner[12]; 10. (DNF) 29-Xavier Carter[6]; 11. (DNF) 66-ALEX RANKIN[10]; 12. (DNF) 15G-Andrew Givens[3]; 13. (DNF) 04-Ethan Dewar[13]
NAPA Reyco Automotive Modified Division:
There were 8 NAPA Reyco Automotive modifieds out on track for qualifying early in the evening. Fast qualifier for the night was #61 Dustin Jackson.
The modifieds ran a single 10 lap heat and a 20 lap feature during the night. Caution was out right away on the first lap of the heat. Cars went three wide into corner 1 with #22 J.P. Delpaggio inside, #01 Jerry Ross in the middle and #78 Jason Herrington outside. The three collided with Herrington spinning backwards over the bank on corner 2, and #86 Dylan Connolly off over the corner 2 avoiding a collision. All were able to continue for a full restart. A lap in after the restart and they went three wide again down the backstretch then 3 wide into corner 3. Jerry Ross was pinched in the middle again, this time with #84 Mark Laakso below, and #28 Mark Porpealia above. Laakso escaped unscathed leaving Porpealia and Ross to collide then Delpaggio running close behind with nowhere to go went into the back of Ross. Porpealia was able to keep going, Ross and Delpaggio were done for the race. The remaining laps went caution free. #61 Dustin Jackson made his way to the front early and took the checkered flag.
All nine were back out for the 20 lap feature, which ran much more smoothly and caution free. #02 John Ross started front row and did a great job leading the first 6 laps of the race before he was passed by Delpaggio. Delpaggio was unchallenged for the remainder and took the win ahead of #84 Mark Laakso and #61 Dustin Jackson.
In the season's point standings Jackson remains in the lead. Laakso moved up to 2nd, now 25 points behind Jackson, and Herrington dropped a position to 3rd in the standings 31 points back of Jackson.
Results:
Qualifying: 1. 61-Dustin Jackson, 00:15.209[4]; 2. 22-JP Delpaggio, 00:15.245[5]; 3. 78-Jason Herrington, 00:15.399[1]; 4. 01-Jerry Ross, 00:15.477[3]; 5. 28-Mark Porpealia, 00:15.550[2]; 6. 02-John Ross, 00:15.638[6]; 7. 81-CRAIG SEABROOK, 00:15.739[7]; 8. (DNS) 86-Dylan Connolly
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 61-Dustin Jackson[6]; 2. 84-Mark Laakso[7]; 3. 02-John Ross[1]; 4. 78-Jason Herrington[3]; 5. 28-Mark Porpealia[2]; 6. 81-CRAIG SEABROOK[9]; 7. 86-Dylan Connolly[8]; 8. (DNF) 01-Jerry Ross[4]; 9. (DNF) 22-JP Delpaggio[5]
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 22-JP Delpaggio[5]; 2. 84-Mark Laakso[7]; 3. 61-Dustin Jackson[6]; 4. 02-John Ross[1]; 5. 01-Jerry Ross[3]; 6. 28-Mark Porpealia[2]; 7. 86-Dylan Connolly[8]; 8. 78-Jason Herrington[4]; 9. 81-CRAIG SEABROOK[9]
Equipment World Factory Four Division:
In Equipment World Factory Four action we had 18 cars out for qualifying, with fast qualifier being #3 Christopher Viotto. The division was split in two and each had a single heat, then later the group was together for a 20 lap feature. We had a couple of first time rookies in the division; welcome to #15 Caleb McHale and #51 Mark McLean.
The heat for the first group consisted of 8 cars. Caution flew on lap 2 after race leaders went 3 wide down the backstretch into corner 3; no one let off. #3 Chris Viotto and #97 Dustin Couturier spun into corner 4, and #16 Dyllen Sherrard escaped on the outside. Viotto left the track, and Couturier restarted at the back. Sherrard had the lead at the restart and maintained it to take the checkers. #4 Kayleigh Tucker maintained a second place restart to finish there.
In the heat for the second group consisting of 11 cars caution came out once at the beginning when #27 Kohle Kennedy spun in corner 2 then got t-boned by a car following. Kennedy was unable to restart. The remainder of the race was caution free. #70 Kayden Lapish led from the start up through lap 7 then lost the lead to #13 Logan Lavoy on lap 8. Lavoy took the checkered flag.
The Equipment World Factory Four feature was a 20 lap race, next to last in the night's program, with 19 cars participating. The green flag flew with #70 Kayden Lapish starting up front and holding a good lead for the first 5 laps before he slowed a bit allowing #13 Logan Lavoy to take over the lead on lap 6. #77 Harmony Swain was the first to leave the track during the green flag run with 5 laps complete.
Caution flew on lap 7 when #27 Kohle Kennedy got spun in corner 2; this served to bring the field back together for a restart. Lavoy restarted up front and opened a quick lead on the rest for a lap until he had #3 Christopher Viotto on his tail. Going down the backstretch Lavoy left the bottom of the track open allowing Viotto to get underneath and take the lead into corner 3. Caution flew for the third time on lap 13, this time it was #166 Wyatt Dubois getting spun by #4 Kayleigh Tucker in corner 1. The remainder of the race ran caution free, with Viotto taking the win with a 6 second lead over second place finisher Lavoy.
In the points championship #16 Dyllen Sherrard maintains the points lead with 128 points. #4 Kayleigh Tucker is 2nd, 24 points back, #70 Kayden Lapish 3rd 41 points back, and #27 Kohle Kennedy is 4th, 43 points behind the leader.
Results:
Qualifying: 1. 3-Christopher Viotto, 00:17.175[2]; 2. 14-Chris Pinder, 00:17.529[10]; 3. 16-Dyllen Sherrard, 00:17.715[1]; 4. 38F-Dylan Couturier, 00:17.733[3]; 5. 86-Ryan Sharpe, 00:17.871[7]; 6. 4-Kayleigh Tucker, 00:17.924[12]; 7. 97-Dustin Couturier, 00:18.103[13]; 8. 166-Wyatt Dubois, 00:18.259[14]; 9. 07-BILL SIDDALL, 00:18.271[15]; 10. 70-KAYDEN LAPISH, 00:18.509[11]; 11. 27-Kohle Kennedy, 00:19.279[8]; 12. 76-Tim Pascall, 00:19.669[9]; 13. 94-Seth Ralph, 00:19.995[4]; 14. 30-Tehden McBride, 00:20.082[6]; 15. 79-Cody Herrington, 00:20.576[5]; 16. 77-HARMONY SWAIN, 00:20.581[16]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 16-Dyllen Sherrard[3]; 2. 4-Kayleigh Tucker[2]; 3. 86-Ryan Sharpe[7]; 4. 14-Chris Pinder[5]; 5. 97-Dustin Couturier[1]; 6. 07-BILL SIDDALL[8]; 7. (DNF) 22X-Lucas Crosato[6]; 8. (DNF) 3-Christopher Viotto[4]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 13-Logan Lavoy[8]; 2. 166-Wyatt Dubois[9]; 3. 70-KAYDEN LAPISH[1]; 4. 76-Tim Pascall[3]; 5. 08-Alex Lapensee[4]; 6. 79-Cody Herrington[6]; 7. 77-HARMONY SWAIN[7]; 8. (DNF) 30-Tehden McBride[5]; 9. (DNF) 27-Kohle Kennedy[2]
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 3-Christopher Viotto[9]; 2. 13-Logan Lavoy[5]; 3. 16-Dyllen Sherrard[10]; 4. 97-Dustin Couturier[4]; 5. 4-Kayleigh Tucker[6]; 6. 70-KAYDEN LAPISH[1]; 7. 22X-Lucas Crosato[13]; 8. 07-BILL SIDDALL[11]; 9. 94-Seth Ralph[15]; 10. 166-Wyatt Dubois[7]; 11. 86-Ryan Sharpe[12]; 12. 79-Cody Herrington[8]; 13. 27-Kohle Kennedy[2]; 14. 76-Tim Pascall[3]; 15. (DNF) 14-Chris Pinder[14]; 16. (DNF) 71-Taryn McCoy[16]; 17. (DNF) 77-HARMONY SWAIN[17]
AIM Recycling Enduro Division:
The AIM Recycling Enduros ran a 15 lap feature at the end of the night with 14 participants. The race ran without any spin outs or major incidents and all 14 competitors completed the race. By lap 2 #44 Eric Sylvestre surfaced to the front, having started near the back, and maintained that lead for the win. Sylvestre was followed at the checkers by #19 Dayne Lorenzo, less than a second behind, then #95 Chris Pinder about 2 seconds behind the leader.
In the points standings in the division Lorenzo took over first place, with 16 points, Pinder is one point back in second, and Sylvestre is third, 2 points behind the leader.
Results:
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 44-Eric Sylvestre[12]; 2. 19-DAYNE LORENZO[11]; 3. 95-Chris Pinder[14]; 4. 55-Hayden Lewis[6]; 5. 57-JOHN DUBOIS[10]; 6. 96-Justin Matheson[3]; 7. 77-Ben Price[1]; 8. 66-Cord Hughson[4]; 9. 07-Tannis Wirth[9]; 10. 25-ASHLEY MORIN[7]; 11. 94-hunter lewis[8]; 12. 03-Chassie Stjules[5]; 13. 92-Tiana Wiegand[13]; 14. 420-SAMARA JAMES[2]
Intermission:
During intermission we had another Lawnmower Race courtesy of the Algoma Lawnmower Racing Association (ALMRA). Unlike the week before dust was not an issue as the guys put a couple thousand gallons of water on the clay track on the infield earlier in the day. Only three were competing during the race, Aaron “El Chapo” Chapman, Darcy Reid and Ray Ferguson. Reid went over on two wheels, almost rolling on corner 1 on one lap. El Chapo took the win and was interviewed on the front stretch by announcer Greg Brazeau.
Also during intermission and through quiet times in the program a number of fans were handed some gifts by announcers Brazeau and Ron Caruso who travelled down the granstands in opposite directions. One young fan even wanted the empty cardboard box and Caruso obliged! A couple lucky kids went home with new bicycles that were given away during the night too.
Our racenight ended at 10:15 pm. We work hard to have the evening program complete by 10 pm, but this evening we were delayed by cautions that took time to remove broken cars.
Photos from the night can be found on our website under the “media” menu item - https://www.lairdraceway.com/gallery/ You will find there driver photos, qualifying and car photos, and various photos from our racenight. Did we get your picture during the night? Look there to see.
Fans are also invited to view the Laird Raceway Facebook page to get current news and updates including weather cancellations, announcements, and more at https://www.facebook.com/lairdraceway
General track information is available here on our website at https://www.lairdraceway.com. Here you will find post-race writeups, photos, results, point standings and more.
More news articles and videos relating to Laird Raceway and other local sports events can be found on Jay Houslander's SaultSports.com website
Our next race night is scheduled for Thursday August 14th, with a full Thursday Night Thunder show! That will be our final Thursday night of racing before we head to the Mike Parsons Memorial Weekend on Friday and Saturday August 22nd and 23rd. You won't want to miss any of those shows!
Article Credit: Tom Stephenson
Submitted By: Tom Stephenson
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