Having a great team behind you is a recipe for success in almost every sport and on Saturday night at Saratoga Speedway, the local Modified class showed it is one big team when helping each other have success.
After qualifying fastest out of 10 cars, Oyster River’s Chris Beaulieu discovered he had blown his motor on his last lap and while that should have ended his night of racing, it was just the beginning of an incredible effort to have him back racing without missing any races.
It began with a sprint back to his shop in Oyster River to collect another motor while as many as 10 fellow drivers and pit crew members began to remove the blown motor and – 45 minutes later – the motor swap was completed just in time for his first race of the night. Which Beaulieu then went out and won. But he wasn’t finished there, he then capped off an unforgettable night by powering his way to the win in the 25-lap main event.
The race night sponsored by Novecosky and Associates also featured the Bomber cars and the Dwarf cars and they filled out the night’s race program with some exciting competitive races with Campbell River drivers winning their respective main events. In the Bomber class, Boston Larson was a double winner as he first captured the 12-lap heat race then dominated the 20-lap main event while Charlie Ackerman kicked off the nights racing with the win in the trophy dash.
In Dwarf car action, Stewart Lee was in a class of his own as he dominated both the heat race and main events handily winning both races. Other race wins went to Braydon Aumen in the trophy dash and Kyle Kennedy in the B heat.
This Saturday night, the Black Creek oval hosts a full night of racing entertainment featuring the Hornet cars, Mad Max and Crash to Pass cars and the Road Runners. Going into this weekend, the season point leaders are Austin Hack in the Road Runners, Danielle Antonik in Mad Max, Scott McLellan in Crash to Pass, Carter Hintz in Hornet A and Brandon Carter in the Hornet B’s.
Racing action every Saturday night has gates open at 5:30 p.m. followed by qualifying at 6 and racing begins at 7 p.m.
Guest talk…Akerman had his night end early in the heat race after snapping an axle after overcoming motor issues earlier. Mike Dionne did double duty racing his Modified as well as his Bomber car. The Dwarf main ended with Aumen crashing hard into the wall, heavily damaging his car but leaving him uninjured. The way everyone worked together to get Beaulieu back racing is a testament to the spirit within the Modified class and the reason this class has had such a resurgent over the past couple years…great job to all.
