---

Hot! Hot! Cool! - Recap for Thursday Aug 1, 2024

Racenight Recap for Racenight #5 - Thursday Aug 1st, 2024

.
Our 5th Race-night of the season was held on Thursday August 1st. It was the hottest raceday of the season so far with temperatures near 30 degrees in the afternoon, only dropping down to 22 at the end of the night. We had some hot racing too. Despite the temperature, drivers kept their “cool” though with no major incidents during the night; it all made for a great night!

We switched up our event order a bit during the evening, starting off with the Lakeway Automotive Factory Stocks, followed by the Northland Autobody Factory Fours, the Service Rental and Sales Super Late Models, the NAPA Reyco Automotive Modifieds, and then for the last race of the night the AIM Recycling Enduros. We had scheduled Spectator Drags for intermission but had a lack of registrants so reverted to the Lawnmower Race and School Bus race instead. We’ll attempt to have Spectator Drags again before the season is complete so if you are interested in taking your car out on the track to race it, please speak with Stephanie at Lakeway Truck Centre and register.

Once again for the 5th time this season the grandstands were loaded! Thank you fans for your continued support! Announcer Greg Brazeau was accompanied in the announcer booth by Oval Reving – “The Mouth from the South”. Oval makes his way up from Indian River Michigan every week to work with Braz and keep fans entertained. Thanks Oval!

The Lakeway Automotive Factory Stocks were brought up on track, then our national anthems were sung by Annette Bouchard and heat racing got started.

Lakeway Automotive Factory Stock Division:

Twelve Lakeway Automotive Factory Stocks were out to qualify earlier in the night, including #26 Buddy Palahnuk out for the first time this season in a great looking Oldsmobile. #44 Christian Medaglia was also out for qualifying. Fast qualifier was #51 Jamie Fox with a time of 16.184 seconds.

The first Factory Stock heat was the first race of the night, right after opening ceremonies. All 12 were on track but #44 Christian Medaglia was unable to get his car started and was pushed off the track by the Laird Towing truck, leaving 11 to start.

Leading them off was #15 Andrew Givens inside, with #88 Rob Wagner outside. Givens had a great start, keeping the lead, with #12 Owen Brown right on his tail. Within a couple laps Wagner had lost ground to #08 Daniel Bibeau, and #80 Brad Bibeau who were both running outside Givens and Brown. A couple laps later the Bibeau’s swapped positions, with Brad challenging Brown for 2nd spot. As they completed lap 7, Daniel fishtailed out of corner 4 into the infield; he kept rolling though and came back on track, with no caution, then drove around and left the track on lap 8. Givens led all laps to take the checkered flag. Brad Bibeau took 2nd, Owen Brown 3rd, #51 Jamie Fox 4th, #77x Ed Lapish 5th.

The second Factory Stock heat was also caution free. Leading them off again were Givens and Wagner. Givens didn’t have as good a start in this race and by the end of the first lap of the 10 lapper #12 Owen Brown had the lead. Rookie #44 Christian Medaglia may have been having car issues and left before completing the first lap. The race progressed with Brown leading all laps to take the checkered. #77x Ed Lapish had a great run and took 2nd right behind the leader. #05 Tyler Praysner 3rd, #80 Brad Bibeau 4th, & #08 Daniel Bibeau 5th.

The Factory Stock Feature was a 20 lap event, right after intermission. The 12 qualifiers were joined by #33 Cody Champagne to make 13 cars to start with #15 Andrew Givens and #88 Rob Wagner once again leading them off. Givens and Wagner led the first lap. During lap 2, #80 Brad Bibeau ran between the two leaders going into corner 3. Coming out of corner 4, cars still clumped together and going three wide, Givens got loose in front of #12 Owen Brown and both spun up the infield bringing out the first caution. Givens was unable to restart.

Wagner led them off out front on the restart, with #80 Brad Bibeau inside and Brown outside 2nd row. #33 Cody Champagne left after lap 2. As the leaders were coming down the backstretch after the restart Wagner was a bit high allowing Bibeau to sneak underneath and take the lead. #05 Tyler Praysner got past Brown and Wagner as well to take up 2nd. On lap 5 caution was pulled out, this time for #26 Buddy Palahnuk taking a spin by himself coming out of corner 2.

The restart saw Bibeau start single up front, with row 2 occupied by Praysner inside, and Brown outside. Within a couple more laps caution was out again, this time it was the leaders Bibeau and Praysner colliding going into corner 1. Bibeau was being sent to the back for the incident and Praysner left the track during the caution, possibly needing a tire change. He came back on track before the green and also started at the back.

With 9 laps complete caution flew one more time, this time it was #88 Rob Wagner and #26 Buddy Palahnuk running at the back making contact at the beginning of the backstretch and coming to rest up against the guardrail. Both were unable to continue. Another restart and caution was out again, this time for #29 Xavier Carter spinning onto the backstretch – he may have been tapped by one of the Bibeau’s right behind him.

The next restart had Brown at the front, with Fox inside and Lapish outside right behind. #44 Christian Medaglia left the track immediately after the restart, leaving 7 to race it out for the last 10 laps. Fox stuck close to Brown for a couple laps then moved to the outside to challenge for the lead. Fox was a nose ahead of Brown on lap 15 then got ahead on the next lap, eventually taking the win. Owen Brown finished 2nd 2.5 seconds back, #77x Ed Lapish had a great race, finishing 3rd, #80 Brad Bibeau 4th, #05 Tyler Praysner 5th, #08 Daniel Bibeau 6th, and #29 Xavier Carter 7th. It was a very close and tight race with 2nd to 7th only separated by about 2.75 seconds.

Northland Autobody Factory Four Division:

The Northland Autobody Factory Fours were second in the lineups for the night. There were 12 cars out for qualifying with fast time being clocked by #7 Gianni Viotto at 17.508 seconds. Dyllen Sherrard normally driving the yellow #16 had car problems and to keep himself in the points standings he was loaned the #8 car for the night, normally driven by Alex Lapensee.

In their first heat there were 13 cars on track, including the 12 qualifiers plus visiting driver #166 Wyatt Dubois. The 10 lap race ran caution free. Leading them off was #94 Seth Ralph inside, and #4 Kayleigh Tucker outside. Tucker got a good start for the lead, but got passed on the first lap by #24 Christopher Viotto. A couple laps later, #22 Shanna Harten got past her for 2nd. Another lap later #7 Gianni Viotto and #51 Ken Schwarz also got past Tucker. On the next to last lap of the race, as they were going through lap traffic Harten dropped a couple spots. The race ended with Christopher Viotto leading all laps for the win, Gianni Viotto was 2nd, Schwarz 3rd, Harten 4th, and Tucker 5th.

Later, the factory fours were out again for their 2nd 10 lap heat. This time they were joined by #13 Logan Lavoy to make it 14 cars on track. Again, it was Ralph and Tucker leading the group at the green. This race Ralph got the better start and led for a couple laps until being passed by Christopher Viotto. #22 Shanna Harten got past Ralph on lap 4. On lap 5 Harten began to work on Christopher Viotto on the outside. As they were rounding corner 1 & 2 at the beginning of lap 6 Harten had the lead on the outside by about ¾ of a car length. Viotto was running a bit high and came up spinning Harten into the backstretch. Viotto was sent to the back.

Harten restarted up front single, with #7 Gianni Viotto and #94 Seth Ralph in row 2. Viotto ran close behind Harten but wasn’t able to challenge for the lead. Harten had the checkered flag in hand, Gianni Viotto 2nd. #51 Kenn Schwarz 3rd, #94 Seth Ralph 4th, and #8 Dyllen Sherrard 5th.

The Four Cylinder feature included 13 cars, missing was #13 Logan Lavoy. Lavoy had left the second heat midway, so may have been experiencing car issues. The starting lineup was switched up a bit, with #166 Wyatt Dubois taking the pole position with #4 Seth Ralph outside. The front two got a great start, and running side by side almost instantly had a 3 car length lead on the rest of the field. A lap in and the first caution came out. #22 Shanna Harten, having started near the back was making a fast inside run on #17 Shaun Desjardins when the two collided near the end of the backstretch. #7 Gianni Viotto reacted quickly, went up the track and down the track exit to avoid the collision.

Cars restarted and both Ralph and Dubois got another great start, running side by side a few car lengths in front of the rest of the field for 8 laps. On lap nine the #8 car being driven by Dyllen Sherrard got between the two, then passed Dubois for the lead on lap 11. While the leaders were racing earlier in the race #22 Shanna Harten was moving up in the field and by lap 13 had moved into second after passing Dubois. The leaders were working to move around some lap cars on the backstretch on lap 15 when there was a collision between two of them - #6 Wayne Devon and #17 Shaun Desjardins – which brought out the caution.

For the race restart it was Sherrard single up front with Harten inside and Dubois outside second row. Dubois didn’t get a great start and quickly fell back, getting passed by a number of cars. As they rounded corner 4 on to the front stretch of the restart lap, Sherrard got passed by Harten on the outside and #24 Christopher Viotto on the inside. Harten and Viotto were side by side with Harten ahead for a lap, then Viotto leading by less than a car length for the next laps.

Harten was relentless on the outside and on the last lap of the race as they were going down the backstretch she had the lead. They went into corner 4 fast and Viotto pushed up the track a bit, bumping and upsetting Harten enough to steal the win. Harten took 2nd. #7 Gianni Viotto pulled up 3rd, #8 Dyllen Sherrard 4th, #38F Dylan Couturier had a great run taking 5th, #17 Shaun Desjardins 6th, #166 Wyatt Dubois 7th, #94 Seth Ralph 8th, #4 Kayleigh Tucker 9th and #6 Wayne Devon in the mini 10th. #86 Tyler Mortimore finished a lap down, and #22x Adam Lapensee and #51 Kenn Schwarz exited mid race.

Service Rentals and Sales Super Late Models:

There were 10 Late Models out for the qualifying session early in the evening. Fast qualifier was Jeremy Vanhoek with a time of 14.488 seconds. Division leader #77 Chase Wilson was having some car issues during the qualifying session, got it straightened out before the single heat race of the night and Chase opted to start “scratch” for the night to avoid a disqualification for over running his qualifying time. Included in the lineup was rookie #33 Jordan Rocchetta, for his second race night of the season. Fans may recall that Rocchetta crashed into the tire barrier in front of the beer garden during qualifying in an earlier race in the season.

In their single 10 lap heat race for the night 9 cars were out. Missing was #826 Jordan Parniak. The race ran fast and caution free. Starting up front was #61 Dustin Jackson and #01 John Ross. Jackson got the better start and led through all 10 laps for the win. Ross held 2nd through to lap 8 then was passed by #21M Cody Maclean. Ross finished 3rd, #77 Chase Wilson 4th, #21K Kevin Errington 5th, #20 Mike Hearty 6th, #33 Jordan Rocchetta 7th, and #15 Ryan Rocchetta 8th. Fast qualifier #51 Jeremy Vanhoek was running 5th on the last lap but spun out of corner 2, with no caution as it was the final lap.

The Late models were back out later for a 30 lap feature. All 10 qualifiers were out to start with Jackson and Ross once again leading the group to the green. As in the heat race Jackson got off to a great start while Ross slipped back a couple of positions on the first lap to #21M Cody Maclean and #51 Jeremy Vanhoek. On lap three, as they were coming down the back stretch Vanhoek was moving up on Maclean on the inside. As they went into corner 3 the two made contact and spun, with #77 Chase Wilson also spinning to avoid a collision. All three were able to continue, Maclean restarted at the rear. #15 Ryan Rocchetta left the track during the caution, leaving 9 for the restart.

The race restarted with Jackson alone row 1, and Vanhoek inside, Wilson outside of row 2. Caution was out right away before a lap was complete as #01 John Ross went into a sideways slide going into corner 3. The restart was another good one for Jackson, with Wilson right behind, then Vanhoek. Wilson made a number of attempts at an outside pass on Jackson over the next few laps, then on lap 8 got ahead by a half car length up the front stretch; a half lap later Wilson was ahead and in the lead.

The race continued with Wilson opening up that lead on Jackson to nearly a ¼ lap, with Vanhoek running about 15 car lengths behind Jackson. On lap 18 caution flew when #33 Jordan Rocchetta spun on his own on corner 3.

The caution served to tighten up the field again on the restart but Wilson out front just opened a gap again on Vanhoek, and further back #21K Kevin Errington. The race progressed and caution flew one more time on lap 27 with #01 John Ross and #20 Mike Hearty making contact on the backstretch. Ross left under caution, Hearty continued. #61 Dustin Jackson also left during the caution
.
With 4 laps remaining, the race restarted and there was no change in the running order. #77 Chase Wilson continued his feature win streak, winning all 5 features this season. #51 Jeremy Vanhoek finished 2nd, about 1.3 seconds back, #21K Kevin Errington was 3rd, about 2 seconds behind Wilson, #20 Mike Hearty 4th. Jordan Parniak in the #33 ran a great race, his first feature, finishing 5th. #826 Jordan Parniak finished 6th, 2 laps down. Parniak was well off the pace during the entire race.

NAPA Reyco Automotive Modified Division:

In the Reyco Automotive Modified division there were 7 cars out to qualify with fast time being clocked by #20 Matt Lewis at 15.445 seconds. There were two 10 lap heats and a 20 lap feature for the division during the night.

In the first heat the 7 qualifiers were joined by #97 Michael Gold, out for his first run in a modified. Gold was Laird Late Model track champion in 2004 and 2006. Starting at the front were #01 Jerry Ross inside and #28 Mark Porpealia. The 10 lap race ran caution free with Ross holding the lead throughout. Porpealia maintained 2nd until lap 4 when he was overtaken by both #78 Jason Herrington and #84 Mark Laakso. Despite seeing the checkered flag, Ross was disqualified for the night’s races during a tech inspection at the end of the race night. The official win went to Jason Herrington, 2nd to Mark Laakso, 3rd to #97 Michael Gold, 4th to #20 Matt Lewis, 5th to #22 JP Delpaggio, 6th to #15 Chris Miller and 7th to #28 Mark Porpealia.

All 8 were back out for a 2nd 10 lap heat later on, with Ross and Porpealia occupying front row again. Ross maintained the lead for the first 4 laps, while Porpealia steadily fell back to other cars passing. With 4 complete Ross then slowed and left the track, possibly with a tire down. #84 Mark Laakso took over the lead at the mid point of the race, with #78 Jason Herrington a couple car lengths behind. Caution flew on lap 7 with a spin by Porpealia in corner 3. The race restarted with Laakso in the lead to eventually take the win, Herrington 2nd, #97 Michael Gold 3rd, #20 Matt Lewis 4th, #22 JP Delpaggio 5th.

In their 20 lap feature Ross & Porpealia started them off. Caution flew before the first lap of the race was complete with #15 Chris Miller sliding to the infield on the backstretch. The race had a complete restart. Ross took the lead right away while Porpealia held 2nd for a lap then fell back a position or two per lap running on the outside. Herrington moved up to second working on the outside of Ross, with #84 Mark Laakso inside following right behind Ross. Lap after lap Herrington ran up alongside Ross but was unable to get by. Caution was out on lap 17 with a spin by Porpealia in corner 4.

Ross was out front single on the restart with Herrington inside and Laakso outside row 2. Ross kept the lead, while Laakso made a couple attempts to get past on the outside. Herrington maintained his position right behind Ross. Eventually Laakso fell back a bit and lined up behind Herrington for 3rd. It was a real close race right to the end with the top 6 finishers all crossing the line within 1.6 seconds. Ross crossed 1st but was disqualified later in tech. #78 Jason Herrington was credited with the win, #84 Mark Laakso 2nd, #97 Michael Gold 3rd, #20 Matt Lewis 4th, #22 JP Delpaggio 5th, #28 Mark Porpealia 6th, and #15 Chris Miller 7th.

AIM Recycling Enduro Division:

There were 19 Enduro’s on track for the final 15 lap feature of the night. #79 Cody Herrington and #77x Teagan Lapish led them off. The two maintained the lead for the first 2 laps then Lapish got passed by #44 Eric Sylvestre on lap 3. Sylvestre took over the lead from Herrington on lap 4.

Sylvestre kept it rolling and began to lap cars on lap 5. As the race progressed #86 Dylan Connolly, who started way back in the 9th row got past Herrington to take over 2nd on lap 12. At that point though Connolly had four lapped cars between himself and Sylvestre. Slyvestre continued getting past lap cars leaving Connolly to battle the same. The race ended with Sylvestre taking the win. Connolly took 2nd 3 seconds behind. #79 Cody Herrington took 3rd, #721 Tehden McBride 4th and #54 John Morrin 5th – nearly a lap behind. The remaining cars finished either 1 or 2 laps down.

Intermission Activities:

We gave away a couple new bicycles to a couple lucky kids during intermission. Put a smile on their faces.

Also during the intermission once again we watched a Lawnmower Race, courtesy of the Algoma Lawnmower Racing Association (ALMRA). At the mid-way part of the race there was a scary incident when Brad Macadam, out for the first time this year, made contact with Chuck Siddall, sending Siddall and his lawn tractor flying and rolling. Siddall looked to be ok and was brought to the EMS team in the pit. I contacted Chuck on Friday afternoon, following the race night to ask how he was and find out what happened. Chuck said, “I’m still in the hospital but think I’ll be out tomorrow. I have a broken wrist for sure. I think he (Brad) ran in to the corner too hard and just hit the corner of my bumper.” Chucks mower then “dug in” and flipped.
The race winner was #18 Darcy Reid. Darcy didn’t stop for a quick interview post race with Greg Brazeau, but 2nd place finisher, Ray Ferguson stopped and handed Braz a hot dog. For information about ALMRA visit their facebook group page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/101494564073784

Also during the intermission the School Buses were out for a race with 6 drivers taking part. A couple of them were once again going back wheel in the air around corner 2 (near the exit to the pits). Ben Jones in the #77 was one of them putting a wheel in the air and won the 5 lap race.

Photos from the night can be found on our website under the “media” menu item - https://www.lairdraceway.com/gallery/

The next Thursday Night Thunder is set for Thursday August 8th. We postponed our 100 lap Enduro race at the beginning of the season due to a rainout and will hold that race during the night, along with Lawnmower races and racing in our other divisions. It will be a jam packed action filled night!

Fans are 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 on our website at https://www.lairdraceway.com. There you will find post-race writeups, photos, points standings, race results and more.

---

Article Media

Back to News