By Doug Waller
Special to Black Press
A record setting crowd came to Black Creek’s Saratoga Motorsports Speedway on Aug. 14.
I suppose they came for the thrills of speed and the excitement of car contact. That is exactly what they were entertained with. The Sunwest RV Crash-to-Pass crashers and boat smashers were the feature event in this first of two boat race weekends. The two Kyte Delivery Hornet classes were also out for speed along with the Capital City Drifters smoking the track.
The Sunwest RV Crash-to-Pass 25 lap main event was shortened to just 11 laps when winner Mike Noyce collided in a shower of sparks with the front straight wall damaging the oval track entrance gate. Finishing in second, close behind Noyce, was Sheldon Hopp. Longtime Crash-to-Pass driver Glenn Ordano took home the third place trophy.
In the Hornet B division the Glacier Valley Homes fast qualifier was Stephanie Addison with a 19.188 second lap. The Kyte Delivery Hornet B main was interrupted by a crash with Talia Lippy making contact with the front straight retaining wall that had been damaged and repaired in a prior race. Talia walked away from her wrecked racecar unhurt. She was a little shaken up and possibly a bit uncomfortable but all the safety gear drivers are required to have and the increased safety requirements did their job. The race was stopped to allow repairs to the wall and to let other races to happen before it got too late. The driver of the 85 car was declared the winner after just six laps of the oval but no name for the driver was available at press time. The Kyte Delivery Hornet A main was cancelled due to the time required to repair the damaged front straight wall. The crowd was cheering to see the always popular Crash-to-Pass Boat Race.
The Sunwest RV Crash-to-Pass feature race started with all the cars and trucks lined up on the water-wetted front straight. Behind each competitor vehicle is a fibreglass boat about 15 feet long connected to the back of the vehicle but not being towed on a trailer. The vehicles race around the track trying to hit the boat to disconnect it from the towing vehicle. You can now better imagine the carnage to vehicles and boats as they race around the left turn only track with the boats whipping around on the slick wet surface. The winner is usually determined by which vehicle has the biggest piece of boat still attached. On this night the race was finally stopped due to the time of night and the crowd cheers determined the winner from what was left with a lot of boat still attached. Troy Ordano was awarded the win on the event with George Haywood in second.
We look forward to seeing you at the track Saturday Aug. 21 for the Gary Marcus Trucking and Ace Brewing Bomber Invitational Twin 50s. We will also be entertained by the two Kyte Delivery Hornet divisions and the Outlaw4 Ministocks. Qualifying is at 5 p.m. and racing is at 6 p.m. Great to see you back at the track. Thank you for the support.
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Big rigs featured at Black Creek’s Saratoga Speedway
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