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FRIESEN BLOWS OUT THE CANDLE ON FIRST MODIFIED WIN AT MERRITTVILLE

THOROLD, Ontario (August 24th, 2024) … While the Pro Rider Freestyle Motocross show wowed Merrittville fans well above the clay surface on Service Master Restore Niagara night, the cars on track put on a show of their own. James Friesen of Niagara on The Lake, On won the Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modified Feature. St. Catharines, On native Cody McPherson picked up the win the Semenuk’s Esso/Baron Roofing DIRTcar Sportsman feature. In the Hoosier Stocks, Dave Bailey of Hagersville, On went to victory lane for the fourth time while Port Colborne’s Josh Sliter scored his fourth win in the Rona Doidge Modified Lites. In the Vansickle Pet Valu/PV On the Lane 4 Cylinders, it was Ken Hair of Niagara Falls, On picking up his 4th win as well.

The Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modified feature began with Darrell Farraway on the pole, who jumped to an early lead. After building his lead to a healthy margin over Dylan Davidson, Farraway caught the tail end of the field, where Brandon Gruhl fought hard to stay on the lead lap. This caused Farraway to fall back into the clutches of Dylan Davidson, who was able to take the lead on lap 17 with Gruhl still on the tail end of the field jamming up the leaders. Farraway tried to retake the lead one lap later but spun after driving too deep in turn three to bring out the race’s first caution. On the restart, James Friesen took over the top spot from Davidson before another caution came out on lap 24. Friesen would survive another restart on lap 27 to drive off to his first Modified Feature win, on his birthday no less. Gary Lindberg drove up to second, but ran out of time to steal the win, however his strong finish has unofficially put him in position to claim the 358 Modified track title at Merrittville Speedway. Brad Rouse was third with Justin Sharp finishing fourth, and Pete Bicknell rounding out the top five.

Doug Walsh Jr. and Nigel Pendykoski lead the field to green in the Semenuk’s Esso/Baron Roofing DIRTcar Sportsman. Walsh, who picked up a heat win earlier in the night, had considerable pace to start the event. On lap 14, Dan McKay spun while running fifth, placing Cody McPherson to Walsh’s outside for the restart. McPherson takes the lead and never looked back. Taylor Vanderzanden and Billy Bleich Jr. were also able to slip passed Walsh to finish second and third to McPherson. Mitch Dumont completed the top five finishers.

The Rona Doidge Modified Lites began with calamity when the inside lane stacked up from the second row back, ending Ryan Anderson’s night early. Anthony Kelly led early, followed by Jame Gilbert who grabbed the top spot after another early caution. On lap seven, championship leader Josh Sliter took over the top spot, but he would be tasked with multiple late restarts after a string of yellow flags from lap 16 forward. While Tyler Winger showed great pace, he never got the green flag laps he needed to be able to pull off the pass and Sliter picked up win number four and extended his lead over Brent Begolo in the track championship. Winger finished second with R.J. Pietz, Begolo and Leroy Buscumb rounding out the top five.

Pole Sitter GoFast Teeple jumped out to an early lead with great pace to start the Hoosier Stock feature race. Mitch Petta spun on lap 6, erasing Teeple’s early advantage, and allowing Dave Bailey to jump to the top spot when the green flag returned. Teeple’s great run went on lap 16 when suffered a flat tire and came to a stop on the frontstretch. Bailey held off Kyle Pelrine on the restart to pick up his fourth win of 2024 at Merrittville Speedway. Zach Bleich finished in third with Mark Fawcett and Evan Curtis finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

In the Vansickle Pet Valu/PV on the Lane 4 Cylinder feature, Ray Cerenzia jumped out the lead from the outside of the front row. A restart on lap four allowed Randy Alway to take the top spot, however his lead was short-lived as Olivier Larocque went to the top spot. Larocque’s lead would be short lived, as championship hopeful Ken Hair took the top spot just passed halfway in the race. Hair entered 18 points back of leader Alex Riley for the championship, who struggled in the heats and had to start 18th after winning the B- Main. Riley would rally to finish eight, but Hair would score the victory, narrowing the championship point battle drastically with one race left. Larocque finished second to Hair, while Mason Anderson, Always and Cerenzia completed the top five finishers.

Next Saturday, track titles will be settled as Semenuk’s Esso presents Championship Point Finale Night. All five Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing Series divisions will be in action, with the Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modified’s contesting the 50 lap John Spencer Memorial. Race fans in attendance will also be entered for the Semenuk’s Esso door prize giveaway. Pit Gates will open at 5pm, with grandstands opening at 5:30pm, and racing will get underway at 7pm. For more information, visit www.merrittvillespeedway.com and can follow the action on My Race Pass.

Follow Merrittville on social media including Facebook (facebook.com/MerrittvilleSpeedway), Twitter (@Merrittville), and now on Instagram (@merrittvillespeedway). For results, point standings, and more, check out www.merrittvillespeedway.com

RACE RESULTS –- August 24th, 2024.

Commercial Auto Electric 358 – JAMES FRIESEN, Gary Lindberg, Brad Rouse, Justin Sharp, Pete Bicknell, Jay Mallory, Shayne Pierce, Dylan Davidson, Fred Carleton, Scott Wood, Darrell Farraway, Paul Gaboury, Tommy Flannigan, Nelson Mason, Jacob Dykstra, Brian Page, Luke Carleton, Bill Gill, Brandon Gruhl, Todd Gordon, Ken Winfield, Chris VanMil, Martin Polhill

Heat Winners – Justin Sharp, Darrell Farraway, Jay Mallory

Semenuk’s Esso/Baron Roofing DIRTcar Sportsman – CODY MCPHERSON (11), Taylor Vanderzanden, Billy Bleich Jr., Doug Walsh Jr., Mitch Dumont, Brett Senek, Nigel Pendykoski, Matt Sharpe, Jacob Chevalier, Adam Leslie, Jeff Panunte, Noah Mamo, Terry Smith, Tyler Puchalski, Curtis Friesen, Kyle Rothwell, Graeme Toth, Daniel McKay, Kraig Handley, Tyler Lafantaise, Elijah Knutt, (DNS) Matteo Panunte

Heat Winners – Doug Walsh Jr., Mitch Dumont, Billy Bleich Jr.,

Hoosier Stocks – DAVE BAILEY (4), Kyle Pelrine, Zach Bleich, Mark Fawcett, Evan Curtis, Donny Lampman, Pete Reid, Rob Disher, Kacey Huffman, Steve Johnson, Mitch Petta, Gofast Teeple, Dustin Duga, Jason Fontaine, Spencer Smolders, Jim Lampman, Chris Crowe, Kyle Haynes, Kevin Kocarik

Heat Winners – Mark Fawcett, Donny Lampman, Gofast Teeple

Rona Doidge Modified Lites – JOSH SLITER (4), Tyler Winger, R.J. Pietz, Brent Begolo, Leroy Buscumb, Anthony Kelly, Roger Pardis, Jamie Gilbert, Ashton Anderson, Chance Kotar, Sean Iftody, Cohen Corbett, Dave Cornish, Tyler Colbert, Ryleigh Sliter, Greg Zack, Cole Hardy, Nick Sarantakos, Chris Watson, Ryan Anderson

Heat Winners – Jamie Gilbert, Tyler Winger, Ryan Anderson

Vansickle Pet Valu/PV on the Lane – KEN HAIR (4), Olivier Larocque, Mason Anderson, Randy Always, Ray Cerenzia, Hana Rothwell, Rob Goulding, Alex Riley, Brendan Lefrancois, Cierra Keus, Austyn Werstroh, John Lubeck, Jeremy Cooper, Joshua Dmytrow, Sam Iftody, Steve Robsion, Nick Bowman, Sierra Robison, Grayden Lyons, Mark Deagle, Jesse McDonald, John Trivieri, Richard Hadler, Braden Keus, (DNS) Matt Christie, (DNS) Cameron Lane

B Feature – ALEX RILEY, Austyn Werstroh, Matt Christie, Steve Robison, Joshua Dmytrow, Jesse McDonald, Richard Hadler, John Trivieri, Cameron Lane, Joe Stevenson, James Marshall, Sierra Robison, Blair Rousselle, Tina Ronning

Heat Winners – Ray Cerenzia, Hana Rothwell, Randy Alway

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