Terry Guest
Special to the Record
Saratoga Speedway opened their gates to their 32nd season of the Island’s best racing on Saturday, with hundreds of fans filling the stands.
The Hornets, Crash to Pass, Roadrunners and the Figure 8s were all on the card, with an amazing firework extravaganza capping off the night.
Twenty-five cars and eight new drivers took to the track in the Hornet car division. #14 Kyle Fallowfield set the pace for the year in qualifying with a time of 18.466 seconds. #05 Trevor Cannon, #53 Rowland Westra and #28 Brianne Fenn all took home wins in their respective dashes.
#24 Carl Kurpiela won his first ever race at Saratoga, the C heat, with the B going to #81 Jeremy Stormo, and the A to #01 Kevin Lawrenuk.
Two 25-lap main events were run for the Bs and the As. #12 Raymond Fortier took the lead in the B main on lap eight and never looked, almost lapping the whole field on his way to his first win of the year. #17 Brad Dimitrov drove a borrowed car into second, with third going to #98 Nigel Neufeld, who was sporting a brand new car for the 2013 year.
In the A main, #01 Kevin Lawrenuk and #14 Kyle Fallowfield both dominated the field, battling each other to the end, but Kevin would finally take the lead on lap 14 and held off Fallowfield for the win. Third went to #15 Lane Pearson.
#77 Chase Stevenson dominated the Figure 8 division, winning the dash, heat and main to take home a clean sweep. #66 Nick Leavitt had a great night in the Roadrunner class, winning the dash and the heat. #17 Dan Kemp held off Leavitt in the main, leading all but two laps to take home the win. With last year’s Roadrunner champion #59 Ted Dimitrov taking the year off, it’s going to be a fight all year between Leavitt and Kemp for a new champion.
Twelve Crash to Pass cars also filled the pits on Saturday. Defending champion Jeff May set fast time in qualifying with a time of 18.647. May continued his winning ways into the heat, dominating the field to take his first win of the year; #40 Cam Edward won the B heat. In the 20-lap main event, #8 Brad Kotscherofski led for the first five laps but retired due to mechanical issues and a flat tire, opening the door for May to take the lead. May got tangled up with a lap car on lap 18, opening the door for #72 Travis Stevenson to steal the win. Edward finished third.
EXTRA LAPS This weekend marks the annual Brian Sullivan Memorial race … Sullivan raced at the Speedway for many years in his big #12 Ford Bomber car: he will always be remembered as a driver who was concerned only about having fun and enjoying each and every night, not caring about where he finished, which is something we wish to pass along to all drivers … the IMCA Modifieds and Dwarf Cars will accompany the Bomber cars … May 18-19 is the first monster truck show of the year with California Kid and Rockstar ready to rumble … in previous appearances they have both rolled over after getting huge air from various jumps, proving that they know how to put on a show … the Hornets, Crash to Pass, Roadrunners, Figure 8s and a drifting demo will also be on the card both nights …
– Saratoga Speedway
